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Ie IGA
publ h d
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rbor, I
• An Iroh
Andrich
Ad Repr
BobZw
VIEWS/OPINIONS
II
I
Th NAFT A i imply tep in
the U.S. trategy to e tabli h
economic hegemony over the entire
hemi phere including Central
America and the Caribbean. Thi
may well be the only way that the
U.S. can retain it' titl a the
dominant uperpower in th world.
The crucial que. tion for African
people i where will African and the
Pan-Africanworld fit into thi global
scheme of regional economic and
political power bloc? Africa, the
richest continent on the face of the
earth, is almo t never mentioned a a
potential regional power ba e.
EVEN TH MIDDLE East, a
region racked by the Arab-Isra Ii
conflict, is noted a a region where
the Arabs and Israeli will eventually
form some type of regional
economic entity after-a peace agree­
ment.
The va t continent, of Africa,
however, i virtually left out of the
global equation of developing
regional economic and political
power bases. Though orne regional
economic initiative are underway in
Africa, these efforts pale by com­
parison to the developments in the
other major center of regional
economic and political development
in the world.
Africa continues to uffer from
the long travail of slavery,
colonialism and neo-colonialism.
The wealthiest continent on the
planet is terribly di oriented, disor­
-ganized and remains a captive of
Euro-American cultural values and
Euro-American economic and politi­
cal interests.
abro d."
AC i the dawning of a
new entury, great regional
economic and political power bloc
app ar to b th wav of the future.
In 1992 the European Economic
Community win officially be con­
solidated making Europe an
economic and political power poten­
tiall y more formidable than the
United State on the world stage.
With the collapse of the Soviet
empire in Eastern Europe and the
di integration of the Soviet union as
a uni tary tate, the European
Economic Community will become
the center of gravi ty for all of
Europe. Hence what was once
We tern Europe and Ea tern Europe
is destined to imply become
Europe.
. In A ia and the Pacific Rim,
Japan i already a world class
economic uperpower. After
decades of looking westward to the
United State, Europe and other
areas of the world, Japan is begin­
ning to ee it' future tied to Asia and
t e East.
South Korea, Taiwan, Singapore
and a number of other nations in
Southeast Asia are also rapidly
emerging a major economic
powers. And of course there i mas­
sive pre ence of the People'
Republic of China. '
IN A lA AND the Pacific Rim,
owhere in th world c n
bo t th t our current cir­
cumstance re promi ing in t rms
of our own economic nd politi 1
empowerment. Everywh re in th
world, even in th be t of i tu tio ,
t economic and politi I tatus of
Africans i t nuous t be t.
Wh t African people th world
over must come to recognize i th t
all of hav a take and ve ted
intere t in th cu , resurrection
and redevelopm nt of Africa.
African centeredne nd
A rocentricity, beyond mere
rhetoric, must challenge Africans to
embrace Pan-Africani m and the
idea that all African people must
work for th development of Africa
as the economic and political power
base for African people everywhere.
What current events on the world
tate portend i a new world order in
which Africa and Africans will be at
the very bottom of the economic and
political ladder.
RO
DA I L
VA TAGE
POI T
OUT
-
reputation, he received large
numbers of Democratic, Republican
and independent votes in the South
and in other sections of the nation.
Unfortunately, racial politics in the
history of American politics has had
a long history. Will Bush again
utilize racist campaign
advertisements in 1992 as he did in
1988?
Duke's formal entrance into the
presidential campaign will certainly
influence both Republican and
Democratic strategies. There is
another interesting similarity
between Duke and WalJace. Both
announced that the real reason for
running for President was "for the
good of God and country." In other
words, in the tradition of George
WalJace, David Duke will attempt to
use Chri tian language and symbols
infuse with racial fear and hysteria.
Duke stated, "We've got to begin
to realize we're a Christian society,
we're part of Western Christian
civilization ... our value are being
torn away by immigrants and
others." Duke intends to whip up
racial hostility among white voters
because of the rapidly changing
demographic character of the nation.
,
Ron Dani Is serves as President f
of the Institute for Community Or- :
ganization and Development in
Youngstown, Ohio. He may be con- :
tacted at (216) 746-5747. ':
'.
\ I'
I
WORD MAKERS
Projects:
Where crime and violence are not just on TV
and survival is the daily goal of objects
swept under ocieiy's rug
emerging for the bi-monthly ritual
waiting for the mail .
Rejects:
Mostly women and children
A few older male castoffs from the industrial age
and lots and lots of younger males
who have never worked
and haven't grasped the significance of learning a skill
PROJECTS
, .
By DAVID RAMBEAU
Tyree Guyton' "Heidelber Project" w tom down recently
by Detroit' Dep rtment of Public Wor accomp nied by everal
quad cars of D troit' Police, in a dawn operation which w the
local version of Haiti ' Ton-Ton M cout .
Sin th n we've h d d b t on wh ther th "d orat d" aban-
doned ho were junk;ey ore, gar ge or art. orne white art
criti s th ught they w re creative.
Neighborhood Black folk, including a out �n hundr d
petitioners, ought their d truction for years a community blight.
Seldom has community-b ed creativ activity n endered 0
much di cussion.
In the 60s th "in" community art expre ion wa Wall of
Di nity or Wall' of Re p ct. The e mural' of varyin arti tic
worth were painted on vacant brick wall 0 ommerical buildings.
A c up le were painted on church wall. Generally the e were
applauded by the Community and were up for ev ral years.
EVE TU LLY buJldin and the mural de ayed a the
city deteriorated. On �hurch, with a change of pa t rs and heart,
removed their mural. This occurred irl th 7 when th Black Art
Movement had run its course. 0 outrage or debate happened. An
era had quietly pa ed.
With Guyton. community art h once more moved front and
center for a brief moment. Mayor Young ha become an art critic;
a televi ion documentary was produced and aired and arts
bureaucrats were offering vague, politically, sensitive analy e of
the general octal impact.
, La t in the mix wa the move of the proce from art to drama
and the questions rai ed. With thi change of fonn more important
i su could urface. What i art?
WHAT ROLE should the community and the body politic play
in th display of public art? How long h uld art be di played, for
the moment a with music, or for centurie as with cathedral? Can
art be used to help the demolition proces of decaying. abandoned
buildings?
With Guyton and Young till on the cene we can I ok forward
to more ocial dynami . With thou and of decaying buildings,
re idential and commericat, till on the treets, junk in the alley,
Guyton, other artists who want to expre themselves, and neigh­
borhood folk who want buildings tom down, the stage i set for a
dramatic sequel.
David Rambeau-journalist and director the Project BAIT, a
, media production andtraining organization headquartered in
I Detroit. Rambeau produce "For My People, " "Thedamu
Presents" and several other television productions, He is also a
teacher, playwright, and poet, '
Projects:
Equal people plus property divided by poverty
multiplied by needs unattended
•
I
.' l
Projects:
The last bastion of the underclass
the ripe pimple on the face of democracy
Where reality confronts equal opportunity
and twists on her own knife
Sharon Smith-Knight
Wine Sip and �her Dellcl.ous Poems
George Wallace, George Bush
and David Duke: 1992 and beyond
No one was surprised when
David Duke formall y announced
that he was running as a Republican
candidate for the office of President,
of the United States.
Remember, the majority of white
voters in the tate of Louisiana voted
for Duke to be Governor of the state
in spite of the fact that Duke is a
former Ku Klux Klan Grand Wizard
and Nazi s ympa thizer.
Likewi e, no one was surprised
when President Bush chose not to
forcefully challenge Duke from the
rank of the Republican party
becau e of Duke's r aci t
"anti-American" view' and political
landscape for the seeds of raci t
politics to grow. '
Remember, none wa urprised
in 1968 when George Wallace
launced a vote-getting march the
White Hou e for the Presidency
before being cri tical) y, wounded by
gunshot. In fact, Wallace did surpas
his standing in the national polls and
received millions of votes in favor of
him becoming the President
OTH
L
o
Duke sees the "browning of
America" as acurse rather than as a
blessing.
Like Wallace, Duke wants to get
50 to 6Q% of the southern white vote
to put Bush into a corner. The
problem is that Bush and Duke are
already in the "same comer when it
comes to multiracial progress and
empowerment. Thus, much of the
1992, Presidential race wm be
viewing a crowd of persons "running
backward" on racial justice issues in
order to politically move forward
toward the "White HOWie."
Million of "new voters need to be
added to the voting rolls in every
state.
The truth is that not nearly half of
the potential electorate in the United
States actually tes. Participatory
democracy in the nation has still not
been full y achieved.
o
PO SIBLE
BENJAMIN
CHAVIS
"
the Wallace campaign was that in
spite of his staunch segregationist
coun ter- balance to
Wallace-Bush-Duke poli tical
tendencies is for people of color
communities across the nation to
engage in massive voter education
and mobilization efforts.
The religious communi ty, in
CIVIL
RIGHTS
particular the Christian church. must '
not allow Mr. Duke' .perverted
theology to go unchallenged. Thi i
very important becaus e Duke'
skillfully equates this ociety
"o verwhe lmingl y Chri ti an"
character with its "overwhelmingly
European descent."
1992 and beyond ultimately will
be determined not by the David
Dukes of thi orld, but by people of :
good will, not only coming together
for a political moment, but also
staying together in a united justice
movement for the sake of all people
in the nation and throughout the
world community: