.Annual Holiday ba
T PRI T and fabric paint­
in di play the beauty and grace of
Black girl learning ballet, Black
: boy fi hing in a wollen creek, and
- Black people of all age and life­
tyle involved in a maj tic que t
for life' imple plea ur . Or t-
, By DANNY COOKS
Corr •• pond«tt
On Saturday, November 23rd
WESTERN MICHIGAN
" H
c talo nd
model , I ref e to upport th t
b ine . It might ound illy but if
th merch ndi er on't upport me,
I won't upport him or her."
How difficult i it to find po i-
tive Blac image in white
ociety? The obinsons travel
quite exten ively, including to the
Southern U.S., lookin for
figurin . They al 0 ttend doll
how in place like W hington,
D.C. and Detroit. "It' lot of wor
earching out the elemen of our
culture but I believe it' worth the
effort," Robyn ay, adding "I'm
proud of our collections." She
tugged at Baby Je us's blanket he
lept in the manger of the Nativity.
Ne rby wa a Black Santa.
With lightly more than a month
in busines , the Robinson Collec­
tion will b expanding its clothing
line, which now include weat-
hirts, te hirt, hat call <l
Baxter Community Center, located
at 935 Baxter, SE Grand Rapids
began its ixteenth Holiday Ba ket
Program at 8:00 a.m. Saundra
ram h I
Fleming, Community Service
Coordinator, aid arrangements had
been made to erve 250 familie .
"We're talking about ap-
proximately 1,000 people," Flem­
ing added, noting that mo t familie
"will get ten-pound turke ,though
familie of one and two member
will receive chicken."
The baskets doe n't merely rep­
re ent Thankgiving dinn r, Flern­
ing aid, although they contain it
and all the trimming. "We al 0
give them enough food to put on th
helt"
It co t more to live in Michlgan
during the winter, Fleming insi ted,
explaining the Center' rea on for
. providing the extra. Because of
the harsh weather, poor farnilie
wi thout tran portation to large
hopping center mu t use high­
priced though convenient corn r
grocery uores. "thi means there
food allowance doe n 't la t the en­
tire month." The food for th
Holiday Ba ket Program is donated
to the Center by Grand Rapid area
ident , according to Fleming.
. Baxter Community Center' Holiday Ba ket Pro ram, featuring its director, Saundra Fleming, Community
ervtce Director. (photo by D. Coo )
'!VIom defends neighborhood
agains·t busine se
I
I
I
r - .By DANNY COOKS
.' .
• Conw!pondent
,
,
A long-time resident of
�- -Xalamazoo's northside and
" mother of ten children took i sue
.: with recent characterizations of
�e� neighborhood, which include
"lawless, anii-Iamily, and despair-
I filled" depictions.
Donna Pratt doesn't tand by
, the 'northside because its streets
I have always been her-home. Born
: and raised on Kalamazoo's south
: 'and east sides, she moved to the
I northside in 1966. "I feel a part of
I the community," she recently ex­
I plained to the Michigan Citizen
I from the lounge of the Kalamazoo
I Junior Girls Organization, where
I she 's program coordinator. "I
I don't stay here, I live here. This
. is where I've made my home."
Pratt admitted she abandoned
Michigan in the 1960's for
California, seeking change, but
after four years discovered geog­
raphy didn't matter. "If you want
change, you must change your-
elf," she suggested. "I took all of
the problems I had in Kalamazoo
to California with me, If you're
troubled internally, location
'(:lacsn't matter, I've learned."
One of the mo t important les-
on Pratt has learned over the
years is the value of family in­
tegrity. Residing in America's
best neighborhoods wouldn't mat­
ter if the family wa divided
against itself, she stre ed. Pratt
and her hu band could not have
rai ed SlX girls and four boys in a
climate of anti-family lawlessness
where the cloud of' hopelessness
darkened th most sunny disposi­
tions. The fact that her children'
avoided the pitfalls of drugs and
crime di pell the notion that the'
northside i bad, in her mind.
Today's child-rearing situa­
tion, where "outsiders" pas on
their beliefs and values to "our"
offspring (particularly "babysit­
ters" like un-monitored, after­
school TV). does nothing to
improve Black family life, accord­
ing to Pratt. "Warehousing
youngsters in daycare and d.rop-in
centers is part
of the prob­
. lem, tQQ," she
added.
Ls a l a h
Thomas and
Mag i c
Johnson aren't
necessarily
the bes t role
models for
kids, in Pratt'
ing themselves in the Golden
Gloves, one going on to box
profe ionall y.
What i thi "expert" parent'
opinion of Kalamazoo's politics?
"I'm not happy with local politi .
They've totally emptied
downtown, taken out the major
things that people need, like
movie theatres and dime stores,
stuff like that. If you don't have
transportation to the mall, you're
in trouble." Ye , the buse go to
the malls, but Pratt in i ts that
everybody's not on a schedule that
huts down at ix o'clock (like the
rna tran it system).
tnscov. rin :fJ wond
of Afric n cuttur
Mardi Gras with an African beat came to Kat mazoo' northsi
recently, courte y of Pre-Kwanzaa '91. Held t the Blac "
Cultural Center, 241 N. Kalamazoo Mall, Pre-Kwanza featured 10
a.m. to 6:00 p.m. open m rket, along with airb h demonstratio ;
m kmaking, game making, and drummaking; Afric n Drum
calV orkshop; food- ling; and African gam •
Patricia Ball, managing director of the Center nd coordi tor of
the event, aid Pre-Kwanzaa' an annual celebration oflife and culture,
African-style. "I think it' impo nt that e uDd tand reci
the intricacy, balance, and refinement of African culture and tradition.
Pre-Kwanzaa i an effort toward that end."
"I WA A
full-time
mother," Pratt
conceded, the
conces ion an
acknowledg
ement of the
fact that part­
time parenting
is in the same
league with
part-time
pregnancies
-it do n't
exist. "My
Mom had ex­
plained to me
that children
are a trernen­
dou re pon­
sibili ty, that
nuturing and
caring for my
offspring are DON A PRATT, Expert Mom.
important
skills." She
said he wel-
comed the help of both
grandparent and variou aunts
and uncle, all of whom as i ted in
. guiding and molding her children
into healthy. active, po itive­
thinking adult .
IF YOU DON'T work at
Jame River Company or GM
you're in trouble, too, ay Pratt.
"There' no industry here."
view.
"Nothing i De pite Kal mazoo' problem. it
said about the i the right ize and ha all the
co u n tie. s components of a good City, in
thou ands of Pratt's opinion.
Black youth So, why i the northside con­
who are put on stantly badmouthed? "If orne­
the track to a .. body wants omething, the be t
career in way to get it i to say it' no good,
sports but who it's a problem. Negative publicity
don't make it i the only notice the northside
into profe _ gets. It' not all raci m, either. It'
ional sports, dollars and cen ." Pratt ee busi­
let alone to su- nes eye on the north ide,
perstar status." depre ing property value 0
While these youngsters bol ter their indu trial park plan. won't
high chool and college sport be 0 costly. Pratt' bottom lin :
programs, the chool do nothing "If I have a broken arm, don't give
for them. "Most don't even me a band-aid."
graduate," Pratt aid. Two of her
boy pursued ports, both involv-
'.
Enimlled call Iron coos .. re
r.t\k)n • Qua Loulnl"
.... 1IbIe In your t..o.t .. dePllnmmt and p.trmel Siores
A SCENTED CHRISTMAS
By Dawn Cu ick