WESTERN MICHIGAN
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'v
DANNY COOK other organizations but they don't
ConNpond«tt have the imp ct of Junior Oir .
"I love ds. I'm doing what God
The Kalamazoo Junior Girl Or- called me to do," he ponded
. pnfzaUon, located at1114 W. Pater- when ked why he p be he elf.
son, pon ored "I w a teenage mother," he con­
tightly-choreographed, high- tep- fe ed. "I went through ome
ping f: hion how recently t the tr um tic experiences." She id
State Theatre in downtown "e m t e egativ experience
Kalamazoo. The Junior Girls had in po ltive w ys."
come a long way from i humble
beginnings in the pring of 1986. Junior Girls programming in-
Mcetings were called in the home of eludes clf-csteem training includ-
(i p ing lectures by Herman Hawld ,
tbe organization' ounder, amela head of a training and consulting
, Roland
" ,. company and author of a book en-
We s�rted �ith elght neighbor- titled Let Your Light Shine, which
hood children, Roland recall .. dea with motivation, eommunica­
"There w a need for a place where tion, Inspiration, ffirmation, and
younger girls �uld pursue construe- parenting and family. Tutors are
tlve activities. provided to gir having difficultie
The membersh,ip roll now boas in chool: officc equipment uch as
one hundred girls between the ages ' .
of eleven and eighteen. While the
organization i open to all ethnic
backgrounds, 99% of the member­
Ship is Black. However, Roland is
quick to stres that girls from all
walks, of life and economic back-
· grounds make up the organization.
Administl'Jltlve �tary for be y DANNY COOKS
• City of Kalamazoo for more tban �!pOI!dMt
· fifteen years, Roland threw in the
· towel, devoting herself full-time to
the Junior Girl . "When I tal1ed out
., I had no idea that things would tum
•
- out so well. Wc've truly been
:. blessed."
y,
typewri IS nd copying machines
are vailablc for those eeking train­
ing in office ill. St rtin in
January, programming will include
instructional typing, arobles, nutri­
tion orksbops, and ci demostra­
tio .
A large part of Junior Girls e­
tlvity Invol volunteer ork in the
community. The organ zalions
received the Star Award from the
Voluntary Action Center last April;
the J.C. Penney Golden Rule Award
from the Kalamazoo Junior League
in Feburary '91;'the Community ser­
vice Award from Delta Sigm .. S
Theta in '91; and recognition from
the aty of Kalamazoo as an "out-
tanding youth volunteer organiza­
tion."
Black Video Group Invad
Community Acc--- Chann
ROLAND SAID HER heart
went out to the youngsters, "It hurts
.. so much to ee teenage pregnancies
and drug use. If I can help just one'
• or two of the girts I will." She said
"we have a responsibility" to help
wherever and whenever we can. She
noted that there are Girls Scouts and
, Kalamazoo received a startling
bit of color on its community access
channels recently. "No Cream,
Please," subtitled, "a preview of fu­
ture video expressions from
Kalamazoo's Black re ident ,"
jarred awake access viewers Sunday
momIng, October 20th with an inter­
view of an adult Black male who w
a child victim of sexual abuse. Black
psychologist Robert Sydnor con­
ducted the interview. Spicing up the
interview were video flashbacks of
extreme philo ophical poetry and
speeche by the interviewee. Inner-.
"A lot of people think we're com­
peti. with WSFU [We'Spe For
U , another recently fonned Blac
video group], but it's not true," says
O.K. D vis, spokesperson for I�r­
City Moods. "We simply take a dif­
ferent approach to get to the ame
place: a society where all people can
'communicate their ideas and feel­
tngs. " She offered the analogy of
Malcolm X and MLK: "Different in
their approache but headed for the
same location." The workshop was
set up in early October to tocablecast
provocative yet positive ideas and
opinions originating in Kalamazoo 's
Black community, according to
Davis.
THE"
GRAMBLI�G
TIGER
READSTH,E
MICHIGAN
CITIZEN
SUB
CRIBE TODAYI
o
YES I want to ub crlbe to th
Ichl
n Cltlz n
o SILL
D· 21 for ONE YEAR
( off the new.tand price)
o I Hav .Enclo ad paym.�
o $16 Special Senior Cltlz n Price
( 10 .. vln off n tand price)
Ham
Addr Phon. �
Clty. -------ST Zip _
I 48203
M II to: Michigan Cltlz n, PO Box 03580, HI hi n� P rk,
.J
can
t the Mr.
e land.
John McCan i the Ion t- ur-
. v vi director In the twel -year ex­
i nee of the Blac Civic. He
dmi that ' the enth pe on to
occupy the director' chair, but he
Insis the othe had personal gen­
d . Ad lly, (I the truth i to be
told, ccordin to McCan ) before
he took over director two yea
o the Bl k Civic' management
n't eekin director who would
plant root. "Director were
groomed for bigger and better things
until I came." Now," t bility is im­
portant."
Showing Bl ck play by Blac
American playrights i the Black
Civic's mi ion, ccording to Me­
Can . Why the need for two Bl ck
theatre groups in a town barely able
to support one? The Black Arts and
Cultural Center (BACC) i the other
•
ADVERTISE IN
TH E IG.A IGAN
CITIZEN
one. Mccants isn'lqulte we, if his
statemen re any Indication of hi
underst nding. "There's no dif­
ference between us nd the Bl
Arts And Cultural Center," he ys
before conceding that BACC I
looked upon a more .. root"
theatre group, hile "the Bl avic
i uppo to be a hite program."
arts d cultural orgaruza on. He
continued: "I'm ure e'll be wo -
ing together more often in tho fu­
ture."
McCan believ )lets an actor
ho i an educator: "I • h throuIb
the theatre."
Thi cason for the Blac Civic
began ovember 1 t with conte -
porary version of the original fairy
tale, Cinder Ella. It runs through
ovember 10th. In April two howl
dealing with reI tionshi , The Pt·
is The P t and Konvergence, ate
offered. Other lhows iDCludc Tam­
bouri to Glory and evi Moun­
tainDew.
, All these sbo il1um� �
unique of the African American
experience, accordihg to McCan •
"I invite everyone to join _ e
bare ,he brave, the bNl\t, the beauty,
and the brilUance of Black theatre."
Kalamazoo'
I
WSFU will be cablccasting
even like the recent Black Business
Expo ( cheduled for airing Novem­
ber 10th at 6:00 p.m. on cablc chan­
nel 33) and an upcoming panel
di cussion of Black rel1gious
leaders. Entitled, "Questions and
Challenge Facing Kalamazoo's
Black Ministry," the panel discus­
sion is lated for Monday, December
2nd at the Black Arts and Cultural
Center (BACC) from 7-9 p.m. Abe
Thompson, Station Manager of
WUBU, 96.5 FM will moderate the
discussion.
Inner-City Moods is reserved for
"rich, spicy food-forethought not
suitable for couch potatoes who must
restrict their intake of unpolluted
perceptions and the blatant truths
beneath them," according to Davis.
Which is not meant as criticism of
WSFU, she quickly added: "There's
room for both Malcolm X-style and
MLK-type of video exp� ions.
We only serve our oppressors. by
being uncomfortable with those
among us who don't think, act, and
feel alike. Self-expression was
never conceived by thi nation's
founding fathers to be limited to
what others approved of."
KALAMAZOO VICE-
MAYOR Beverly Moore, a Com­
munity Ace Boardmcmbcr, upon
hearing of the new video groups,
welcomed Black involvement in the
Access Center. "The more groups
and individuals involved, the better,"
she said, noting that few minorities
had taken advantage of the four cable
channels available for local
programming in the· nine years the
channel have been available.
Community Acces Center
Director Joan Burke said she weI­
com the Black community to be­
come a part of the Accc Center'
family of producers. "We have a
technical taff available anytime the
center is' open to help community
members in making e of cable ac-
cess."
To further Blac visual and
literary arts BACC and the Michigan
Citizen teamed up in early Septem­
ber to establish and upport W FU
and Inner-City Mood , offering
pace, expertise, and dministratlve
functions .Anyope wi.tb ideas or ug­
ge lions for Il1:-1er-City Moods
and/or WSFl T .;an contact the BACC
at 349- �jS and the Michigan
Citizr·. at 388-3088. .
INSISTING THE BLACK
Civic w not in competition Ith
BAcc. McCan id, " I meet ith
them all the time to layout joint
calendars 0 we don't present play
at the ame lime, detracting attention
from each other to both our dis d­
vantage," he said. "I've ent actors
over to BACC when e've had ex­
tras," McCan insisted, undoubted­
lytosho tbcqualltyoftbe orklng
relationship he maintains with
Southwest Michi n's .only Black
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THE ICHIGA
CITIZEN
Hom coming royalty
Covert Royalty: Covert'. bomecomlDa d Real
McCoy'crowned Idqand queen. Both are 17-year-01d nlo BurtoD
Is tbe n of Dave Burton of Covert and Alleyne Burton of Chic..,.
McCoy II the daupter of Rev. Paul and Mrs. Annie McCoy of Covert.
South Haven Royalty: Cory CuDDlngham and Pam WUkIDI
crowned 1991 South Haven bomecomllll kina nd queeD durt
me with AlIepD. Bo are 17 and nlora at L.C. Mobr H
CuDDlnab m the of Ralpb and Bernice Cuonlogb m. � II
the daulbter of J , aDd Sblrley WIlkIns.
"
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