L _
Mbanna Kantako
and the Micro-Radio
Movement
ICHAEL TOWNSEND
ion
ir
THECA EFOR
ICRO-RADIO .
•
Mb nna Kantako i Black,
blind, broke, and on the verge of
creating media revolution in
America. Kantako, who live
ju t up the treet from Abe
Lincoln' home in Springfield, D­
linoi ,i it 31-year-old un­
employed public housing resident
who operates the nation's mo t
notorious unlicensed radio ta­
tion. Known Black Liberation
Radio, it operate on a. L-watt
transmitter the ize of a toaster
ith broadcast range of only
one mile.
Kantako' station i five years
old and for the last year and a half
h operated in flagrant violation
of a federal court order to cease
broad ting. No one i quite
\U"C why the government, so far,
l:Y.i;��;���'." court order.
IUlJIJUUW vo he is wUlinI go
to prison If need be,' and sup­
porters of the tation say they will
ask Amnesty International to.
declare him a political prisoner if
he i jailed by the government.
Kantako (an adopted African
name which means "resisting
warrior") started broadcasting
five years ago as a result of his
disgust with the mainstream
media and their failure to cover
•
• Exelu Ion from
m I I.
undemocratic nd a
form of .ocl J control
• lero-Radlo
empow r.
Iow-Ineom
WHEN THE FCC could not
get Kantako off the air voluntari­
ly, they tined him $750. When he
See MICRO-RADIO, A-10
AFL-CIO calls for
national health care
By NANCY DONNELLY
Capt",1 News S.nic.
LANSING -National health care
is the only solution to what some call
the country s health insurance crisis,
says Frank Garrison, president of the
Michigan AFL-CIO.
Garrison says insurance
companies cannot solve. the
problem. The labor leader believes
the U.S. should adopt a health care
system similar to Canada's plan,
with a single payer.
"Chrysler builds a car $600
cheaper in Canada than they do here,
strictly because of health care costs,"
be said. "That's after the added tax
to support the (Canadian) national
health plan."
Garrison is a member of a panel
led by Michigan Blue Cross and
. Blue Shield that will meet at the end
of this month to try -and come to an
agreement on national health care.
Garrison will be joined by Gov. John
Engler and corporate heads like
General Motors and Ford officials.
REP. TRACEY YOKICH,
D-St. Clair Shores, has already
begun looking toward universal
health care for Michigan. Yokich is
a co-sponsor of' the "Michl care "
health plan, a bill introduced in the
House last week by Rep. Perry
Bullard, D-Ann Arbor.
or
h
I
,
to $8 per tudent depending on Ho
the d· trict.
According to n ide on the
o e Ed tion Committee, th
out-of-formul chool will be
receiving an extra 23 pe "pupil.
There will be two payment date
for th ye , on in December and Ute
other in April.
"11 b haring l a public act
th tenable chool di tric to hare
one h If of the commercial and
indu trial reven growth with
in-formula ch I di tricts," said
H Prince, a senior analyst for the
-'GA
swap or real hope?
I
Fi
Agerx;y.
. By JODI C KLEIN
c.,tW N. 6 S.nic.
1.AN o-Educators throughout
'the state are anxiously wa ching to
ee how the recently passed "Robin
Hood Plan" will atfect their children
and taxpayers.
Their concern follows
Michigan's recently announced tax
. base sharing plan to help in-formul
. chool districts (the school with'less
money).
The out-of-formula school
district (tho e with more local
i lance.
Children hav the opportunity to
learn at any chool in the Slate, but
all chool don't have the funding to
do it.
CHOOLS CmG get
mo t of their money form property
taxes, providing their tudents with
better education beca e of funding.
School funding per tudent
range from about $2,000 per tudent
JOB BILL
training and an education. A person
also would be eligible for food
stamps and allowances to pay for
transportation, uniforms, tools and
medical needs.
Rep. Glenn Oxender, R-Sturgis,
voted against the proposal.
"IT'S JUST A different GA
program. The bill doesn't get into
the root of the issue of providing job
training to eliminate dependency on
the government, " Oxender said.
The House passed the bill. The
Senate sent the bill to its
Appropriations Committee.
Se SWAP, A·10
money that these
trl are being gi en, they can
ply it to anything that they fit.
"They could use the money to
m ke improvement in tbe
educational program, to improve
pupil chievement, improvement of
the and 0 the schoo ,.. id
Ron Miller of the yne County
Intermedia School Di triet.
"'We are ways happy to receive
CHOOLS, A·10
?
Court
offlc
r
kid
By KHRISTINE FLORANTE
Captllli News Senic.
LANSING - A job training bill
aimed at former General Assistance
recipients is causing controversy in
the capital. The issues are whether
th plan truly would help promote
job training or just substitute a
catchier name for the old program
and whether the state could pay for it
anyway.
Rep. David Hollister, D-Lansing,
said the proposed State Work
Advancement Program (SWAP)
would give former GA recipients
hope by providing counseling and
$220 a month for seeking job
By DANNY COOK
'We need ...
universal
access to
health
care'
UL
ndor
WAP
The Detroit Urban League
heartily upports· the p ge
of Ho Bill 460S-tbe State
Work Advancement Program
(SWAP) said N. Charles
Anderson, President of the
Detroit Urban League.
The elimination of General
Assi tance benefi ts leaves
more than 40,000 people in the
Detroit area without the most
modest means of caring for
themselves, Anderson aid.
Thi move has the potential for
S e UL-SWAP, A·10
The plan would provide such
principles as comprehensive access,
free choice of provider nd simple
and equitable financing. .
"At least half of the workers in the
country do not have health care," she.
said. "We need this type (of health
insurance) for universal eligibili ty as
well as universal access to health
care."
Garrison tie th nation's ability
Sa AFL-CIO, A·5
. -The con­
people and
the manner in hidl they think
bout bat' going on today:"
DOROTHY BAILEY: "It repro­
seats the African American
heritage."
• •