TH CHIE executive of GM,
she said "h d n opulence that is
ob cene." She aid he took cut
in salary from $1.2 million to $1.1
million, while workers were losing
their total livelihood.
She added that GM was not
10 ing money, but wa firing
HIS, H emph ized, w s
before the d y of civil right 1 ws
and equal rights law and other
I which protect employee ."
He also advocated improve­
ment in education, tating th t his
pl n to provide vouchers for
private schools would end the
"monopoly" of public chools,
forcing them to improve by
making them "competitive."
ENGLER
continued from A-1
within the next two weeks.
To many, however, the Com­
munities first initiative can hardly
make up for the damage IOcial ser­
vice recipients have incurred due to
Gov. Engler's program cuts.
�e just started cutting away
without paying any attention to the
people he was hurting." said Ricky
Mathis, an "Englerville" resident.
"There are disabled people out
there on the street who can't work
and have no way of making money
with elimination of GA; they're
starving to death."
"Englerville" is the term used to
discribe the homeless people who
have been living in tents. on the
Capitol lawn for the past several
weeks in protest to Gov. Engler's
cuts in social services.
ERIN DANIELS, of the
Michigan Welfare Rights Or­
ganization, said that with Gov.
Engler's cuts to general assistance,
the burial allowance, transporta­
tion for kidney dialysis patients and
mental health homele s shelters
are bursting at the seams and four
pUo programs won't begin to make
a dent in the problem.
A steering committee in Mus­
kegon, made up of community
leaders and a representative from
the Nelson Neighborhood Associa­
tion, plans to meet March 13 to find
out what problems the neighbor­
hood is facing and which services
are available to have the quickest
impact on employment.
. "We intend to offer better and
quicker services, and to streamline
existing programs by reducing the
duplicate services that, until now,
have held up progressive move­
ment," said Ron Schofield, deputy
director of the DSS in Muskegon.
Paul Roy, chairman for the
steering committee, said he
believes the Nelson neighborhood
FRAME
continued from Pag 1
downtown Detroit Here, they sell
artwork and add custom frames to
paintings, pints and photograpas.
"Blades have become more cul­
turally aware, and that increases
their interest in art," said the elder
McKissic. "Art is beginning to be
. accepted in the mainstream, too.
Sometimes, when people see a
work by a Black artist featured on
"Ibe Cosby Show,' they come in
hue to see if I have it
"I want Black people to recog­
nize that they do have a culture, and'
that it's as rich as any other," he
added. "Younger Blacks especially
need to understand and appeeciate
that By displaying things and
being an avenue for young artists to
expess themselves, we hope to
make that appreciation happen."
THE SENIOR MCKISSIC'is
actually the quieter of the two,
walking about the store in a simple
smock, happy just to be involved
with art for art' s sake, but realizing
that business expertise is needed as
well, That' where his son, in a
hirt and tie, comes in.
.Alta" gra01atmg froJ}l college,
&ic oped to return to Detroit and
run the kopwithhis father, instead
of going to work for a corporation.
"I dido't want to work for cor­
porate America because I feel-that
we (Black people) need to em­
pqwer ourselves, not work to make
someone else's business
pofitable, " he explained.
"I like this better than being in
an office," he added "In an office,
you are less responsible. Your job
is not fundamental to the
company's success or failure,
whereas here, I am in control I
have a hand in everything that hap­
pens, or doesn't happen."
And it seems that the younger
McKissic has an eye toward the
future with Creative Arts ' N
Frames.
"People are becoming more in­
terested in art, particularly
African-American art," he said
" As a result, businesses that sell art
are going to prosper, Eventually we
hope to go into multicultural
markets."
THE MCKISSICS hope that
the location of their shop will be
advantageous as well. Located in a
shopping center on Lafayette and
Orleans near Jefferson, among con­
dominium and high-rises oc­
cupied mostly by middle- to
high-income Black professionals,
and not far from downtown office
buildings, the shop is close to its
target clientele.
It's clear that while both Me­
Kissics believe in their business
and are working hard, each has his
owngbals.
"I want to get into multiple
marketing," &ic said
" I' 11 do it as long as I enjoy it,"
said his father.
Creative Arts 'N' Frames is lo­
cated at 1537 La/ayetk in Detroit
For more in/o111lQtion, call 567-
0250.
Another factor in understancing
the rise in appreciation of Black
Nationalism is the failure of
tablishing B lack political fJgWeS
to continue deliver meaningful
progress.
In the past, Black elected
official officials and those in
charge of civil rights organizations
were able to go to the Democratic
party bosses and exact concessions
on behalf of African Americans.
The election of President jimmy
was chosen due to its Carter brought a winnowing down
demographics and Muskegon's of this practice, Although President
. Carter did much for Detroit, he
proven cooperation between local· failed to deliver much for African
agencies to work well together in · Americans across the country. His
past pilot programs.
insistence upon inaeasing military
"The Nelson neighborhood is s pending and decreasing social
made up of 2,000 families, 800 of . et the " e for the
which are welfare recipients," he de days of Reaganomics.'
said. "Fifty percent of the families An sam Ie of his reluctance to
are African-American, 47 percent act of African Americans
are white, 3 percent are Hispanic
and 80 percent are low income." can be found in his-neutering of the
Humphrey-Haw kins Act President
Carter ran for p-esidcnt in 1980,
promising to pass this bill which
would have the Federal
Government reduce
unemployment by hiring the
unemployed for public works
projects. The government would
continue to hire the unemployed
until unemployment was reduced
to three percent
Once President Carter was
elected he took out all meaningful
provisions in the bill. The bill
ended up being a resolution
committing the Federal
Government to full employment
Only one voice of protest among
Black elected officials 'was heard
against this travesty and that was
from Congressman John Conyers.
Mayor Coleman Young and
other Black elected officials posed
at the signing of this worthless
Iegislation and were given the pens
that a.rtcr signed the bill with.
Today, nobody even remembers
that the law was passed.
The' failure, of Black elected
officials to stand resolutely against
Carter's backtracking on this issue
has been dev as tating. The
deibcmstrialization of the auto and
steel towns such as Gary,
Youngstown, Pittsburg and Detroit
forced workers out on the street
who could have used the
employment that the
Humphrey-Hawkins bill promised,
The final proof that Black
politicians had lost touch with the
masses of Black people was shown
during the 1984 Jacbonbidfor the
presidency. They we{.e to busy
lining up behind Mondale to notice
that their constitueats were not
following them. African
Americans have lost hope that'
mainstream Black politicians and
organizations can deliver African
Ameri� out of their political
quagmire,
P
1
1
hou ing," he id."If we n or
out an greement with HUD nd
properly pend money given to u ,
the problem can be olved."
But Sunder id more in-
nov tive progr re needed to
renovate housing, instead of te r­
ing down building .
"I HA 'T convinced
th t any of them need to be torn
down," he said. "Right now, I
think housing can be dequately
renov ted, but all thi will be
made clear s the Action Team
continues to meet."
Engler said the st te cannot
receive full blame for the v can­
cies. He aid ome of the local
housing commis ions are respon­
sible for keeping up the units.
"We've got to get these
programs turned around," Engler
said. "The thing that urban com­
munities need are some oppor­
tunities. It's an amazing set of
challenges that we face."
COMMUNITIES FIRST IS at­
tempting to catch those individuals
who have slipped through the
cracks.
"This program has a unique
aspect built into it, in the form of
guarantee from the governor, that
says if we identify regulations in­
hibiting the development of ser­
vices beneficial to the people" he
will do everything he can to change
them or have legislation passed
abolished those laws," Roy con­
tinued.
Roy called Michigan's welfare
system self-perpetuating and said
rewards for getting into school and
off welfare need to be built into the
system.
"If that means giving people a
reduced welfare check in order for
them to get transportation, child
care, a wardrobe or tools after
they've gotten a job, then so be, it,"
he continued. "Because as it stands
now many people can't afford to get
outfitted even if they were able to
. get ajob."
Although the Nelson Neighbor­
hood Project is in the initial plan­
ning stages both Roy and chofield
say a working plan will be on the
table by Oct.1.
A GOVERNOR'S PAPER on
social welfare - and the welfare
policy in Michigan is due out in
April.
One aspect that officials say per­
petuates the poverty cycle is the
$490 a month welfare recipients
receive. Currently Michigan has
one of the highest welfare rates in
the country, spending more then
$100 million a year on welfare.
"But you have to 100 at the fact
that we have $50 to $60 million in
our emergency needs pro�am,"
Engler said, "compared to states
like Arkansas, where Clinton
eliminated all general assistance
back in 'f!7, that have no emergency
needs program,"
However, Engler said welfare
should be a humanitarian issue, not
a budget issue, to get people off
welfare and into the rahks of the
'employed.
"We need to make it not only
profitable, but a matter of pride for
peopl to be employed-instead of
sitting home watching TV," he said.
To m ny it e emplified the
mi ed opportunity for unity of
M lcolm X nd Martin Luther
King. arrakhan' presence gave
the masses of African Americans
new respect for the Nation of lam
also g ve many the first chance to
hear Bl ck nationalist philo OlDY.
When Jesse J on w forced to
jettison Mini ter F rrakh n
millions of African Americ n
defiantly embraced him. Tens of
thousands would throng together to
hear hi words.
LAGGING LEADERSHIP
OUT OF THE DESPAIR
Out of this period "'of despair
came two important cultural
phenomena. The first was the
sucees of filmmaker S pike Lee.
Spikewas, in his worck, "a Black
Nationalist with a camera." 'I1Ua
w followed by the success of the
rap group Public Enemy, a rap
group that openly embraced
Minister Loui Farrakhan and the
V UALLY OTH
farms could be built d the food .
n could be exported to African d .
Caribbean ations providing an I
economic b e to Pan Africanism.
ECO 0 IC ,ECO 0 ICS Oper tion . Get Do n already
kind of economic p'osram has begun an alliance to distribute
greatest possibility food grown by Black farmer
would have to employ through their food co-op.
number of African They are beginning with the
Ameri ithout kills. farmer in Belleville, Michigan
Tec nology ha rendered and hope to expand to distributing
u ele uch I bor-intensive food from Blac farmer from
projects in all are outside of around the country.
griculture. Mo t produce, fruit Most of these f rmers are
and vegetables are picked by hand, growing old and there are a few.
not by machine. young people coming along to
Other pojeds which deal with replace them..
Blac youth have as their aim the Add to this p'Oblem the loss of
educational development of the farmland in Black hanck yearly and
youth to work in white society. An it is evident that there will be
agricultural poject would have as almost no Black farmers by the end
its aim the development of of this century. An alliance of
agricultural experts who can work community organizations could
throughout the world, especially solve bothe urban and farm
the develoJing world' problem by becoming custodians
Soan agricultural economic, of the youth and Black farmland.
pogram could possibly have the
have the greatest effect on the
I ate t number of
African-American youth. Such an
economic program was once
promoted as the Beluahlan arm
Project" by the Shrine of the Black
Madonna.
The fact that the Shrine of the
Black Madonna has to date been
unsuccessful should not discourage
those considering serious solutions
to African-American problems.
THIS WOULD HAVE a much­
larger economic effect thatl a "Buy,
Black" campaign because it would
provide direct benefits to the'
community almost immediately. It
has the greatest op�rtunity of
succeeding t this pomt in historY
when African Americans are
looking inward for answers to
p'oblems plaguing us. It would be
a tragedy to waste the spirit of
Nationalism resurgent among'
African Americans.
Black Nationalists must come
forward with an economic olan so
that this new spirit is not wasted as
it was in the 1960s.
THEIR LACK of success is
mainly because of the internal
contradictions within the
organization. If they could
HELP FEED THE HUNGRY
----------------------
INDICATE THE NUMBER OF CASES OF EACH ITEM
YOU WISH TO BUY FOR HE HUNGRY
( ) Castleberry Beef Stew $14.06 case
( ) Bush's Deluxe Pork & Beans $10.85 case
( ) Star Kist Chunk Light Thna $40.00 case
( ) Kroger Peanut Butter $18.00 case
( ) Welch's Grape Jelly $19.35 case
( ) Ragu Old World Style Spaghetti Sauce $20.44 case
( ) Healthy Choice Chicken Noodle Soup $14.40 case
( ) Kroger Instant Potatoes $14.03 case
( ) Beech Nut Baby Food $ 7.20 case
( ) Juicy Juice (Grape Juice) $12.83 case
( -) Sunshine HiHo Deluxe Crackers $25.50 case
( ) S·M·A Infant Formula $24.86 case
( ) Kroger Toasted Oats Cereal $16.50 case
Gleaners salute the above food industry sodates for their involvement in our
continued efforts to Help Feed the Hungry. ,
Enclosed is my check in the amount of $ for
____ case(s) of food as a tax eductible contribution to
Gleaners Community Food Bank to Help Feed the Hungry.
Name _
Address ___
City/StatelZip ............. _
Please maKe checks payable to Gleaners Community Food
Bank and mail with this coupon to: 2131 Beaufait, Detroit
Michi an 48207.