"WHE YOU H VE div
SWAP
continu d from Page 1,
Legislators expect the Senate to
reject the bill orthe governor to veto
the bill if it passes the Senate.
Hollister, who sponsored the bill,
sa id the goal is to create an
alternative for single, able-bodied
individuals who were eliminated
from general assistance when the
new state budget went into effect on
Oct 1.
Hollister said SWAP is necessary
because 65 percent of those people
are "functionally disabled." They
cannot read or write, have not
worked in, years or do not have a high
school diploma, Holli ter said.
"We've got to give people an
option. We've got to give them
hope. If you participate in this
mandatory employment program., if
you get your GED, get your diploma,
get an education your grant will
continue. As long as you are willing
to be trained we will support you,"
Hollister said.
REP. BILL MAIUIN, R-Battle
Cree�said a stipend should only be
'given for working toward , the goal of
finding gainful employment Martin
said some programs train people for
jobs that are not available.
"A stipend for the sake of a
stipend is just General Assistance
warmed over. It doesn't make any
sense," Martin said.
The propo ed funding source.Is
another major sticking point. SWAP
would cost $165 million which'
would come out of the State Budget
Stabilization Fund, more commonly
known as the "Rainy Day Fund."
The release of money from the fund
happens when unemployment has
reached a predetermined high rate '
and the tate economy bas sio eel to
a certain rate. The House and the
Senate can also declare an ecoaomic
emergency and trigger the fund
through a three-fifths vote.
"In tho e communities (that ve
been hardest hit by budget cuts), it's
an emergency if the local community
doesn't have the resources to deal
wi th (people eliminated form
welfare)," Hollister said.
Martin said the proposed funding
source is "the fatalistic flaw of the
program. " Martin aid a worse
economy than projected would
throw the budget off-balance and the
Rainy Day Fund would be used to
save existing programs and balance
the budget, not to fund a new
program.
JOHNTRUSCOTI, pokesman
for Gov. Jobn Engler, ·d Eng1er i
sed to the bill because there is
oney to pay for the program.
Tone
te-funded job trainin pro m
h, operated trough
th Sturgi h 01 tern, Bierma
. d. Job Search refers people
and pI ce 275 people ye r
u fully in job. Bierma id
people elimin ted from general
j tan no Ion r eligible to
particip te in Job Search.
Becky B iley, Job Search aide,
. d th S J\P pro i nothing
new. Bailey aid that .although Job
Search doe not provide a monthly
payment, j t provides training and
education just SWAP would do.
"As far another center like thi
one, we don t need another one,"
Bailey aid
rtin aid the state does not
need another work program beca e
there are many existing state and
federal programs. Consolidating
them in one department ould make
the programs more efficient and
more effective in helping people cut
from welfare, Martin said.
"We'd get more bang for a dollar
and help those with the biggest need.
"WE REAlLY haven't helped
people by putting them on welfare.
We've sustained the situation they
were in, " Martin said.
Hollister aid consolidating
exi ting work programs is a goal that
ould take two or three years to
reach. The, St te Work
Advancement Program i needed
immediately and is one step toward
consolidation, Hollister said.
MICRO-RADIO
continued from Page l'
refused to pay, they took him to
federal court. Kantako then refused
to participate in the court process
because the judge would not appoint
an attorney for his defense and there­
by lost the case by default. The
federal judge issued an order on
Marcb 30, 1990, tbat was supposed
to shut down the station, but Kantako
has defied the court order and con­
tinues to broadcast.
Springfield police again
retaliated against Black Liberation
Radio. Mbanna Kantako, Jr.,
Kantako's 9-year-old son, was
recently arrested, booked,
fingerprinted and photograpbed for a
police mug bot fOr being involved
in a hoving match during a soccer
game at his elementary school. The
'arresting officer, who patrols the
Kantako neighborhood and is
reported to work as a security guard
for the school district. Kantako and
his wife Brenda responded by
removing tbeir three children from
public school and teaching them at
home.
The response of mainstream
media in the Dlinois capital to the
intriguing and gutsy Black Libera­
tion Radio experiment has been
uniformly negative, ranging from an
almost complete failure by
Springfield' nine commercial radio
stations to cover the story, to oc­
casJonal reports in the daily Copley
Pre newspaper fOCUSing attention
on the illegality of the station, to
hostile and intentionally misleading
reports by the local NBC-affiliate
TV station.
None of the local media have
defended Kantako's right of acee
to the airwaves. None have
defended the free flow of informa­
tion that the U.S. demands in certain
other countries. None have men­
tioned racial discrimination.
KANTAKO'S PROGRAM­
MING corslsts of interviews with
author, scholars and activi t
around tbe country concerned about
Black genocide, politically con­
scious rap and reggae music, critical
di cussto nd commentary on.
local and national even aff�g
the BI c community; interviews
with victims of police misconduct
and abuse: criticism of the NAACP
and Urban League for being co­
opted and irrelevant to current con­
ditions in Blac America; anti-drug
-The current e tablishred media
does not represent the interests and ,.
concerns of this excluded popula- .
tion.
-Exclusion from the media is a
form of ocial control that is un­
democratic and a violation of the 1st
and 14th amendments.
-Micro-Radio i a way of begin­
ning to empower low-income
citizens, it's the voice of the ex­
cluded.
KANTAKO'
CASE
I
gradually beginning to receive wide
attention, and thi i mainly due to
coverage by the alternative press.
Th mainstream media has picked up
the story with tabloid-type coverage
and little in-depth consideration of
any fundamental issues involved.
No story has recognized the po -
sibility of Black Liberation Radio
serving as a legal test case with na­
tional implications. None points out
that- the National Lawyers Guild is
actively researching the case.
Kantako's goal is to e tablish la­
tions operated by Blacks, Latino ,
Indians, Asians, and other minority
groups in low-income neighbor­
hoods all over the country. He has
alreadybeen contacted by grassroots
organizers and tudent groups from
45 states and four foreign countries.
Kantako believes he has developed
an inexpensive and easily replicated
model that would operate to em­
power low-income people in neigh­
borhoods all over the country.
Activists in several other states are
working on setting up stations.
Kantako appears to be in physical
danger as well. Recently, aslug from
a .357 magnum smashed through
Kantako's front room window, miss­
ing his head by inches. The bullet
temporarily interrupted a live on-air
telephone interview Kantako was
conducting on the subject of white
supremacy. The Springfield Police
did not investigate. Kantako ays
that such risks are a part of What he
calls the "Micro-Radio Movement."
Mbanna Kantako may be con­
tacted at: Black Liberation Radio,
c/o 333 N. 12th Street, Springfield,
IL 62702, (217) 527-1298
'KIDS
continued from Page 1
juvenile' judges," Chapman said,
"Youngsters don't have time to com­
mit crimes ifthey're involved in con­
structive activity."
After weeks of rehearsal at the
Black Arts and Cultural Center, lo­
cated on the Kalamazoo Mall, "On
Being Me," a collection of vi nge ttes ,
monologues, and songs, was the
result of juvenile efforts to create an
original play. It was presented to an
audience of nearly 300 at Comstock
Middle School in July of 1988.
We'v reproduced n actual BlacFax g m
card to give you a ample of th prid and
excitement peep e f I wh n playing th '
hottest holiday gam in th n ighborhood.
BI cF is mor than a Trivia game. It' a
learning experience for young and old alik .
Inclu s gam bo rd, playing pieces, instruc­
tion and over 500 game cards with ov r
3,000 question on BI c ccomplishm n in
History, Bu iness & Technology, Entertain­
ment, Literature & Art, Sports and more.
It's important, it's fun and it's priced right
Cooking
The African Way
Equsi soup ... fufu ... peanut sauce ... Jollof
rice ... baked plantain on the shell...These
classic East and West African dishes plus
many, more will come to life on your table
thanks to the easy and mouth-watering
recipes you'll get in this book. Each recipe
, takes you step-by-step through the creation
of a perfect African dish. In addition there's
information on the cultures and lands that
give us these wonderful foods. Priced
perfectly for stocking stutters. And don't
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now. Ju t 5.95
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gift . Or r tod y .
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A full house of heros. .Deck features 52
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complete with booklet of biographies which
tells 0 the contributions each of these great
men and women have mad to our country's
rich heritage. Learn about and remember
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Love at first bite ... oryeur money back.
You will find a lot to love in every box of
Merlene's West Indian Black Cake ... two and
a ha" pounds of the richest, "moistest" cake
to ever grace your holiday table.
First a special blend of finely milled raisins
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". we Corpontlon I Afrtcan-Amertcan ownecI8nd • OUr corporate ml Ion ,. to bring the conve-
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umpllng of the untque 8frocentrtc producte W"""""" for your enjoyment thl. Holiday MUon.
Order In com .... confidence. Everthlng I. ehlpped within 48 houre • U . Everything" covered by our
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African-Am rican Product Order Form
Please send the products I've ordered below under the terms of your Full-Satisfaction Money-Back
Guarantee.
ZIP
or
order to:
"THAT FIRST YEAR w bee­
tic," Chapman remembers, "because
I had to do most everything:
transport kids, counsel them, work as
costumer, etc."
The econd year C?f the dimlni b­
ing grant, courte y of the Irving S.
Gilmore Foundation, Cain Realtors,
and the. Kalamazoo Foundation,
ended up with three times the num- NAME
ber of juvenile court wards perform-
ing on stage. "Juvie" was a scripted ADDRESS
piece involving 30 youngsters on
tage at Kalamazoo Valley Com-
munity College. "Twenty-five kid crTY
from the Juvenile Home . ted in
building sets," Chapman aid. More STATE
than 800 people attended "Juvie," h
said, pointing out that the dramatic
arts program repre en the first time LJC Corp.
a juvenile court h ed drama to It. O. ., PA • 1 103 .
bulld up wards' elt esieem. L.�-�--�:----...:----.----------���� �
Descrtptlon .
To I
Qun
$24.95
Shipping &: Handling cake & BlacFax
"__ioioiiooio_-+- __ ___'
Cookbook & Card