it would. e m th t
uld m to n
00- good
en.ergy V e
good policy
-An irfant born in � nation' capi-
tal is likely to urvive until his or rer
fust birtlx1ay tmn a y born in C\.ba or
Jamaica.
--Only 43 rcent 0 all District two-
year rue fully immunized against
preventable childOOod . a rate 00
berer than Third W rld countri och
Haiti.
-Each night, 1.300 borrel .
children I p in reuers tOC city
while grown men. me 0 trern Cattle
sleep in rags on sidewalks rear til! Whi
H anil..i.rmln M rrorial.
PI(;HLAND PARK
o orr-All I am going to ay
i : it's 4:02 a.m. and my three ob­
noxious friends: Sam, Sister Pearl
and Wichita are on the line. '----------
In Washington, Third World poverty
i and First World privilege struggle to.
t coexist Two 0 expedations ani OJ>-
; portuniti exi t tor children woo chose
. neiirer tlI!ir paren mr �ighboJ'txxxE.
'Ire Dismct' privileged residents rmst
realize that their priva lives and ireir
rrighbortrods cannot forever remain Ul1-
lOocred by the diminisbed bopesof ore­
third of tbe District' mosny Black
children
If tre American Dream seems espe­
cially perverted in Washington.1)C it's
probably because rmeho tre w rtd
expects ner of tre capital 0 tre free
world. But even though most every in­
dicator f' hild health aOO well-being is
worse in tll! District than in oiber large
cities am most taes in tlI! U.s., 00 city
or state can be prow f bow it trea . its
children, AI.:. the land, children are
the poorest Americars.
In ur investigation into ire way the
District governrrent treats children, the
Children's Defense Fum fount that the
city's leaders are hampered by til! fact
that the federal government, as tre city's
predominantempl yer, isn'tdomg i�
share.
"IF YOU MEAN lie when you
say respectful, you're the one whose
insane," Sam said. "I am trying to
point out that today it is popular,
chic, and political 1 y smart to advo­
cate for the homeless and that yester­
day, most of those advocating today,
didn't know there were homeless
people." .
"Man, you are really something,"
Wichita said. "Almost all of Detroit
has mobilized to provide food, shel­
ter and clothing for the homeless,
many who were cut off of General
Assistance, and all you can do is find
fault."
"Have 'mercy Jesus. Have
mercy." Sister pearl said. "Feed the
hungry. Clothe the naked. Give com­
fort to the sick."
"Yeah!" Wichita said. "And give
old pea brain here some under­
standing."
"I'll smooch to that," Sam said.
"We all need to understand that noth­
ing last forever."
"And what does that 'last forever'
mean?" Wichita" asked.
J
I
"IT MFANS: when all this do­
good energy is gone, and all the
money these do-good people are able
to rake, scrape and borrow is gone,
the homeless will still be the home­
less because what these do-good
people are doing is addressing the
symptom; not the. problem," Sam
HOWEVER, 11IE REPORT also
discovered that tbe city is!lf has rot been
providing adequate leadership for
children It's being penny-wise aOO
poum-Ioolsh by not investing in preven­
tive measures such as childhood im­
munization aOO reighoorbood health
clinics. Extraordinary amounts are spent
on foser care am juvenile detention but
. very little is spent on family preservation
services am youth coursebng. That is a
'. sln1sighted policy that irevitably leads
1> worse ooOOitions CCEting several times
as much rmrey in ire long term.
Tre report folUXi that city officials are
not taking advantage 0 milli om of dol­
lars in available federal furds, am that
various city child-serving agerecs aren't
cooperating enough to belp correct
problems with iIXlividual children before
they get sick, drop out of school, or get
into trouble. Om your citY goverrunent
staIXi the sarre scrutiny?
Everywhere in America, irdlXling
the nation's capital, the worsening plight
of chikben demands everyore's involve­
ment-religiOl5 coegregadors, civic and
professional groups, child advoca all1
citi7.em. Cbildren are dying for lack of
leadership from elected officiaJs-Black
and whi . But we mist remember that
politicians don't lead, tlI:y follow. All of
is rmst let ttl:m kmw, from ttl: Whi
H to ire ta ro 10 city hall. that
they mllit put children first, not last
Mayor Dixon has 'd sre WdIl to
make youth ani devel�nt a
OOtrers ll: 0 her administration. We
weloome this pledge. But it will be her
action ani boo that oounl
T'HE
BOTTOM
LINE
"MISTER WROTE. Will you
please spare us your tirade?" Sister
Pearl asked in a faint voice
"No. Sister Pearl. I will not be
silent, " I said. "Silence is part of the
problem and white I am talking
about the problem, let me add:
mixing politics and religion is also a
part of th problem."
"Git down, Wrote. Git down."
Sam said as Wichita shouted: "You
are sick. Both of you are sick."
"I may be sick," Wrote said. "But
I understand folly when I see it and I
also understand the concept of: give
a man a fish and you feed him for one
day but if you teach him how to fish
you feed him for a life time."
"What in tamationare you talking
about Mister Wrote?" Sister Pearl
asked.
"I am talking about getting rid of
the problem, Sister Pearl," Wrote
said. "Creating jobs, affordable
housing, a national health care sys­
tem and voting politicans out of of­
fice w.hen they are not serving the
people, Sister Pearl.' That's whatl am
talking about. And it is the bottom
line."
'l'UESDAT. KOVDIBER 28. 1991
.
7:00 P.II.
Winona G. Humphrey, Sec�tuy
College Boud of Trustees .
'AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER
Conyer
Collin
ue
ngler
contlnu d from Page 1
,
muni m has fallen nd foreign na­
tions arc making more demand for
U.S. aid dollars. that the Michigan
legislature would adopt a budget that
may reduce thousands of our ci tizen .
to a level below that of ome Third
World nation. Perhap . the
legislature' trategy should be to
declare the State of Michigan a Third
World nation and ask the Federal
Government for foreign assistance."
Conyers continued, "This assault
on the impoverished, the sick and the
disenfranchised il') Michigan suc­
ceeded only in violating their rights
and hope , contributing to the ranks
of the homeless and the starving
across the state. We will likely see a
mass eviction of some 5,000 GA
recipient from re idential hotels in
Detroit alon thi week, and po sibly
the elimination of the county's
health program for 50.000 GA
recipients in the coming week .
Thousands of senior citizens have
been dropped from hot meals and
home care program as well. Thi is
simply not the type of compas ionate
leadership our state deserve and re­
quire ."
Conyers. one of the enior mem­
bers of the U.S. House Committee on
.the Judiciary and its subcommittee
on Civil and Constitutional Rights.
noted the well-documented basis of
the lawsuit. "The U.S. and Michigan
Supreme Courts have ruled on
several occasions on the due process
rights afforded welfare recipients by
the Con titutions of the United
States and Michigan.
Those rulings indicate, in no un­
certain terms, that Governor Engler
violated the constitutional rights of
GA recipients when he carried out
these cuts. Ingham County Judge
Gidding recognized that precedent;
I would hope th Supreme Court Jus­
tice do a wel1."
"The e cuts also make no .ense
when one considers government ef�
ficiency. Even with a $200 million
cut [rom GA, the Governor's budget
resulted in virtually the ame total as
last year. These cuts hurt businesse .
The Michigan League of Human
Services has estimated that Depart­
ment of Social Services monies
generate two dollars in local
economies for every dollar granted
to' recipients. Further, annual costs
per person for prison ca� is $21,000,
and $42,000 a year for psychiatric
ins ti tutionalization.
�
HIGHLAND PARK-At th
ovem r 12 meeting, the hool
bo rd vot d unamim ly to ta
m ure to obtain tate funding.
It vot d to:
- Ac ept $110,256 from the
tate for Operation Graduation,
providin for job pia em nt and
wag for id ntified hlgh-rt tu­
dents.
- Ace pt 257. 97 for up­
plementary reading and math er­
vice to identified low-a hieving
tudents from kindergarten to the
12th grade.
- Provide 267,500 to op rat 8
pre chool program of compensatory
- Inform t tat that th bo rd
h met requirem nt for funding to
adult education la e for part-time
pupil goin through high . h I
und r Section 107 of th tate
S hool Aid Act. Th board wa
notifying th tate th t it h d imple­
mented an adult du ation pupil
r tcntion program and approved
plan for adult edu arion that incor­
porate State Board of Education
tandard for quality, as Section 107
of the Act mandate .
LEGAL NOTICE
REQUEST FOR CONrRACTOR PROPOSALS
- HOUSING REHABILITATION-
The City of Highland Park is requesting firms to' submit propo als
for rehabilitation of housing in the Ashanti Village area of th city. The
area is along Woodward Avenue. John R., Six Mile and Ferris. .
The object of the program i to provide rehabilitati?n of (primarily)
single family units. The program is funded by th Michigan State
Housing Development Authority. All firms must ubmit the following:
1. Proposed (estimated) unit co t
2. Scheduling of work
3. Past Performance (reference from city of MSHDA)
4. Financial capacity
5. Bondability
6. Management Skills/Workforce
Proposals must be ubmitted to 'the office of the City Clerk
located at:
CITY HALL
30 GERALD AVENUE
HIGHLAND PARK, MI 48203
on or before 5:00 P�M .. December 9, 1991.
Highland Park, minority and female firm are encouraged to
participate.
Michigan Citizen IVJv 11/24191
Mattie P. Carter
City Clerk
SHOP IN YOUR COMMUNITY
AND WATCH IT GROW
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I can't, for the life of me, under-
tand why they insi t on calling at the said.
ungodly hour of 4 a.m. but they do "Sam!" Sister Pearl aid. "Don't
and for some strange reason they are you have any compassion for your
always olving a problem or eeking fellow human beings?"
advice.
"Compassion and reality are dif­
The latest call was a bit of both. ferent points of view, Sister Pearl,"
"Si terPearl," Sam said. "With all Sam said. "What lamsayingis: food,
due respect, who cares about praying shelter and proper medical attention
for the homeless? Mo t of the people are social' issues and should be ad­
who are praying for the homele dressed through the political
today wont be praying tomorrow be- process."
cause they didn't pray yesterday." . "What?" Wichita yelled. "You
"What?" Wichita said. "Are you and Wrote are just aliICe. The two of
insane or what? Sister Pearl is the you are alway talking about social
mother of her church and you need problems and the political process.
to be more respectful to her." Whatever happened spirituality?"
"Nothing," I, Wro e said, as I
entered the conver ation. "But
spirituality, religion and the politics
are different concepts. Besides,
Didn't Jesus acknowledge manmade
law when He said: 'Render unto
Caesar's what is Caesar's."
Glendale at Third
Hl,hlend Park. Mlchlga(1 4tt20:l
(313) 25:1·0475
PUBLIC NOTICE
OF A BUDGET HEARING
NoUce is hereby given that a PUBLIC HEARING on the propoled budget o(the
Highland Park Community College o( School District o( the City of Highland
Park for the year 1991-92 Will be held on .
"THE SATE CONTENDS that
cutting out the safety net under GA
recipients will make them 'more
self-sufficient,' but instead what we
are already seeing in Detroit is a stag­
gering 13O-percent increase in those
seeking help from homeles shelters,
warming centers and soup kitchens.
We will soon ee imilar figure
reflecting the burden placed on
emergency room • drug-treatment
facilities and law enforcement as a
result of the cuts.
"We can hope that the Supreme
Court will rule quickly on thi mat­
ter. as the facilities in place to as ist
the 90,000 GA recipients cut 100 e
by the Governor are training under
the weight. Legi lators acr the
country are watching the impact of
\ the e cuts if it w orne ociaJ
experiment. And we can hope that
the Governor will ee the error·of hi
policy, in view of th law and sod 1
j tice," Cony�rs concluded.
New Directory of African
Am.rlcan Print. " Craft .
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(313) 964-4247
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--
SAVEJ
ROODl336
BJ&bI.nd Park CommuDlty College
A copy of the proposed budget will be avallable (or pubUc InlpecUon at the
BusLne11 OLnce of the Hi,hland Park Community CoUe,e from G:OO a.m. to
4:�O p.m. o� and after Friday. o�mber 22. 1991.
This notice il &Inn Ln compUance with Act 267 o( the 1976 PubUc Acts of
the State of IrIlchJtan.
•
--