EDITORAL
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There are a whole lot of Bl c History Celebrations going on.
rything from concerts to dramatizations to readings to movies
lect to special worship services ... whatever your thing is,
re is Black History Celebration organized around it. Even the
hite press, the major media, the television tations and radio
tio have jumped on the Bl ck History Band Wagon. Uke Dr.
rtin Luther King ,Holiday, the white pariticipation Is a sign of
how far we've come and yet how far we hav to go .
. From our viewpoint, too many of the celebratio
• Black History observances are pure entertainment as miIlldJe.
: the last NBA game you at through or it-com you watcbec1 OD
.• television. An hour of your life that means nothiDa 10 you or to
: anyone else.
Think about the history of Africans in America. It is one of the
.. greatest epics every lived. Think of it! Built a country, made it the
: richest in the world and all the time in chains. Think of it. Tom from
• mother and father, deprived of name, religion, 1 oguage, famlly,
: history, culture, If-<letermination- and out of that truggle came
acnius unmatcbcd, unequaled cross the hole pectrum of human
.. endeavor: the arts, engineering, cholarship, sports, literature ...
: The missing element from much of the contemporary Black
; History celebration is the element of contribution, clive
: meaningful contribution. Jt' as though all the glory is past, All the
," chievement and struggle over.
We say, don't celebrate Black History Month if you're not
prepared to add to the story. How? Go register vo, and take
" someone else with you.
• Organize a block club meeting to improve whatever it is on your
: b,lock that needs bettering.
_ Write a letter, get three, five, ten people to sign it and send it off
to your congressman, governor, senator or president! Tell them you
, are tired of this country's out-of-whac priorities. Tell them you
want human needs, not the military, served. '
Go to your child's school and t Ute eber what the goals are
• for your child. Sit in the classroom a day and watch what goes on.
: Find out what books arc there , or are not there that arc supposed
• to be there. Find out if there is toilet tissue in the bathrooms, light
� bulbs that work in the light fixtures, supplies for the teachers. Then
• find out why these items are missing. Get some other parents and
� begin to complain and map your plans for changing the conditions,
supplying the things missing, improving the atmosphere if it's not
.. conducive to learning.
: Our point is, Black History month should bring home the need
• for each and everyone of us to get involved and do our bit for
making a bleak picture better. The future is ours, we have to build
on the strengths of the past, To only ing and shout and not to do is
.. to betray all those who bled and shed tears that we might come to
where we are.
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VIEWS OPINIONS
SKILL ULLY OSTERING
aoo exploi n hat rtin Luther
Kin called a "morbid anti-com
muni In," the cold war became the
pretext for the militarization of the
U.S. economy.
1be government aM thi nation'
"free mar et" economy bas always
been guided by the dictum, "the busi
n of government i busin ."
Hence the anna race and the U.S.
rivalry with the Soviet Union w as
much bout maldn the odd (par
dc:uIady the Third World) fe for
U.S. corporate investments it w
to promote "democracy" over com
munism.
U.S. mUftary power forged a
paternalistic protective shield over
tern Europe and Japan and an
offe tve that would be ed
time time again to thwart social
revolution in Third World countries.
Y
co pi
- Cam i
pendin for earch and develop-
ment a being llocated for
military/ earch.
While the U.S. w emerging
the unq tioned m cleman mong
the w tern democ cles, America'
potential economic competito
were inve ting in the growth nd
development of their civfli n
economies.
Japan and Germany, t 0
countri which have risen from ruin
to economic uperpower tatus, re
excellent examples of the resul of
investment in the civilian opposed
to the military/war economy.
J p n pends j t fourcen outof
every national tax doll r on the
military, while Germany pend
about fourteen een out of every na
tional tax dollar on the military
(compared to fifty cents for the U.s.,
based on the fiscal 1990 budget).
Both Japan and Germany pend
the v t majority of their research
aDd development dollars for civilian
Industries and commerce. In other
words, th e two economic giants
invest their national tax revenues on
developing better products in order
to be mote economically competi
tive and prosperous .
OAMOU TofJapanb hing
or capegoaung of the poor ill
change the hard reality oftbese fae .
The United States m t drastically
cut the military/w r budget (50-75
percent) and �iately emb rk on
a planned transi tion to a peace
economy.
The conver ion to a peace
economy must include greater
economic democracy in the U.S.
with a priority emphasis on com
munity economic development,
, community/worker-owned
enterpri es, worker-owned
enterpris , a greater utilization of
community development corpora
tions, and substantially increased
public allocations for non-profits to
enga e in hou ing rehabilitation,
rm
h
proclamation of the triumph of "the
undisputed leader of the age:" the
United States of America.
There was no humility at all, just
another glorification of U.S. im
perialism, militarism and arrogance
toward the rest of the world.
BUSH STATED, "But the big
gest thing that bas happened in the
world in my life, in our lives, is this:
By the grace of <Sod, America won
the cold war." be then went on to
attempt to historically j tify the'
us In Korea, Vietnam and Iraq.
Does the President really believe
tm\t the talk of "cold war glory" will
atisfy the needs of the hungry, the
homeless and the dispo sessed?
Yes, it is by the grace of God that
millio of African Americans, Na
ti� Latino Americans,
ian American doer op-
p communiti survived
carturl anddecad ofexploitation
aDd iDjustice. But God'. grace
nothing 10 do with upporting the
o-called "cold ar." Bush's at-
tempt to theologically on U.S.
leadmhip in war-making activity is
immoral.
In other ords, the 1992 State of
the Union speech was more of a par
tisan campaign Speed110 help the
President pt re-eICcted than' an ad- '
dress to a. 'on suffering from bad
economic political polldes of
the past. h boasted, "We are the
United Sta of America, the leader
of the West that bas become the
leader of the world."
Our nation can not afford to be
lured into delusio of grandeur.
These are hard times for most
famllie and communities and what
is needed i not new rhetoric about
American triumpbalism.
WE_� .........
flDally co
ship oftbe
11 tally wrong
th dtu onalJzed systan of
ecoooml and politics which fosters
maaslve exploitation and injuatice.
The "Sta of tile Union" needs IOCial
transformation toward a more just
and equitable society.
V TA
PO T
IN LLY, THE ENTI E
economic culture of thi COWltry
m t undergo the ti of "rad cal
revolution 0 values" blch Martin
Luther Kin called for near the end
ofbia life.
Respect for human needs and
human fulmlment, respect for the
environment and all living things
must become the principle values in
what I c 10 call a socially respon-
ible economy.
It i these values which can eon
titute the foundation for the new
ociety which all people of con
cience and goodwill must truggle
to bring to fruition we face the 21st
century .
Ron Daniels serves as President
01 the Institute lor Community Or
ganization and Development in
YOfUIgstown, Ohio. He may be con
tllCt. at (216) 746-5747.
Union
ran
CML
RIGHTS
JOURNAL
Thole something eerie and
haunting about President Bush's
1992 State of the Union address to
the nation. Most persons were wait
ing to � tbe President tate in clear,
terms the "new" direction that the
nation must go in order to repair the
economy as well as the social fabric
of our ociety which bas been tom by
racial polarization.
But it gave no new direction or
call to the people. It more of the
same old rhetorical utteran� that
have come to symbolize the Reagan-
hera.
Yet, PIeSident Bush did not deal
with the issues of the incIe8SiDg ab
ject povert for millions of
Americans, the il)CteUing infant
mortality for people of color com
muni , tbe increasing adS of ra
cially-mo�vate4 violeDCC that bas
pread in an sedions of the nation, or
i th the economic di location of
millions of persona who are no
longer even counted as part of the
"unemployed. "
In fact, President Bush used this
national moment to engage in a
We are concerned and oppose
those who would use the nation's
bad economic state an excuse to
tep backward from ensuring
economic j nee and racial justice
for all. It has been a long truggle 10
attain social progress in this country
and em t be ready to maintain tbe
Itruggle for j lice even amidst the
p t difftculties.
We come too far to let Presi-
dent or anyone else divert our
movement for justice. If the world
community can undergo historic
traDsformation, it is not an impos-
ible dIeam here.