MICHIGAN
CITIZEN
BENTON HARBOR
BUREAU
175 Main Str
B nton Harbor, MI 49022
(616) 927-1527
F�(313)927-2023
WORLD/NATION
CO YER' ME DM T
to grant temporary political ylum
to Haitians at Guantan mo or in
thi country w defeated by a vote
of 304-96.
Without conferring temporary
protected tat ,Conye d t
bill hollo moe ery of I
tated go 1 to protect H iti ."
If it ever becom la "it ill
pply ultim tely to p ctically no
one," id Conye , ho everthe­
I voted for the m ure. Rep.
C rle R n I,D-N.Y., conceded
that th bill may not ucceed in
topping rep triations. But "I real­
ly thin the pre ident i very
politic I anim I nd if nothing el e,
it sends tatement to him of what
the ense is in the Ho e.' ,
"I m convinced e h ve to do
what we can do," Rangel aid.
Since the Sept. 30 military coup
toppl d the elected government of
Pre ident Je n-Bertr nd Ari tide,
about 16,000 Haitians have fled the
I land nation.
Mo t were taken by the Co t
Guard to Guantanamo Bay, where
cramble ; on to replace
Hoo etn tm of NAACP
WASHINGTON, n.c.-Benjamin
Lawson Hooks, for 15 turbulent
years the executive director of the
National Association for the Advan­
cement of Colored People, the
oldest, largest, most enduring and
most respected civil rights organiza­
tion in the United States, is quitting
after this year, effective April 1993:
The scramble is now on for his
successor. Speculation is rife among
the 4OO,OOO-member, 83-year-old
organization. Some feel a easoned
person of the stature of Constance:
Baker Motley, the distinguished
New York federal judge an
NAACPstalwartnowinsemi-re .
ment, should be considered. O�,
however, feel the organization
a younger, more energetic band as
well as a seasoned eye with vision to
steer the orgauization "back on
track."
search committee will seek the
best executive director we can
find, one who can move this or­
ganization successfully into the
next century."
In an apparent shakeup,
NAACP President Hazel Dukes,
of -New York, Board members
Percy Sutton, of New York, Her­
bert Henderson, of West Vir­
ginia, Julian Bond, of Georgia
and Virginia, reportedly quit the
board or were bounced from of­
fice, after losing a "power strug­
gle" with Board Chairman
William Gibson.
The brawl reportedly centered
on the issue of limiting terms for
NAACP officers (last year the
Board voted 38-17), two thirds
majority plus four, to reverse a
vote limiting terms of office on the
board. Board Chairman William
Gibson had vigorously opposed
tenure}.
Bond termed the dispute an
"Amos 'n Andy" affair.
HOOKS' announcement that
he was leaving his $312,450-year
post, seemed to be triggered by
Board chaos. However, the
former Memphis judge, who in
1972 became the Federal Com­
munications Commission's first
Black commissioner, took pains
to distance his action his from any
connection with the board
'shakeup, and said "certain events
transpired later (that day) having
to do with internal board matters.
They were not related to my
decision to retire."
In his offices in Greenville,
S.C., Dr. Gibson, a dentist, said a
Search committee would be
formed this month, and denied
that he is the cause of organiza­
tional friction. "I don't control
the votes," he said, pointing out
that President Dukes was beaten
34-14 by Ms. Ru�ert Richardson,
bond to be
Benjamin Hooks
of Louisiana, and that Bond and
Henderson were also beaten in
the at-large election.
However, Sutton, a wealthy
New York businessman who con­
tributes $100,000 a year to the
NAACP, was a Gibson "victim'
wasn't he?
"No," said Dr. Gibson, "he quit
because Hazel Dukes was
defeated for office." '
But the knock on you, Mr.
. Chairman, is, that you want to do
it all: make policy and carry it
out, isn't that true?
"No it is not.. This is only said
by some people who resent the
fact that they lost," he em­
phasized.
Dr. Gibson, however, is 100 ed
upon by some as a stubborn offi­
cial, determined to have his way,
often interfering with staff
pero,ga�ives. They point to last
tabli
who said that the co-development
plan creates a foundation on which
all Africans can stand and which
puts into teality the Pan African
dream of W.B.B. Dubois, Marcus
Garvey and Kwame Nkrumah.
By adopting the co-development
plan, which attempts to give
ec:onomic cooperation between
Africans and African Americans an
organizational structure, PAC does
what its less militant rival libera­
tion groUp, Nelson Mandela'
African National Congress (ANC),
refused to do, that is, give
African Americans membership.
Weston tried in 1990 to gain ANC
membership but was refused. Ac-
cording to an istant, Madoda
matshwayo, in the ANC's
Washington, D.C. office, one has
to be a South African to be a mem­
ber.
Youth rm Ion
o ou h Africa
o THO ,ju t 3,273 re
I ted to be ent b ck to Haiti. The
bill only appli to H itians who
h d been detained by Feb. 5 so even
fewer would benefit by the legi la­
tion. Republicans nd Bush d­
mini tration officials contend that
mo t Haiti ns re fleeing poverty
in tead of per ecution nd are
therefore ineligible for refugee
tat .
But supporters charged that the
NEW YORK NY - Dr. Wyatt Tee
Walker will lead a delegation of
youth to South Africa this August
to consult with the churches and
liberation group in South Africa.
The youth mission will investigate
the current status of the struggle to
free South Africa, and build ties be­
tween African"American young
people in the United States and
youth in South Africa.
Youth between the ages of 18 and
25 with demonstrated leadership
qualities should submit an essay on
"Why Apartheid Must Be
Destroyed, Not Reformed." Those
youth selected will travel to South
Africa at the invitation of the ANC
and the South African Council of
Churches.
"We need to identify and train our
B h dmini tration i d nyln
H i ti the me protection t
overnrnent h fforded to I
re ug from cri e in icara ua, ·
EI S Iv dor, 01 d, u It, Uby
nd el ewh reo
"We re king for colorblind .
concept of political net ry th t I
hono H iti for the r humanity :
r ther than in lin them out be- I
cue they re bl c ," id I
Democr tic Le der Richard '
Gephardt of . uri.
Although Ari tide reached n I
greement i th le ding Haitian I
legi lators to et up n interim . :
government to prepare for hi I
eventual return to power, up- ,
porters of the bill id it w needed I
to allow the political ituation to '
tabllize.
Publisher:
Charles D. Kelly
Editor:
Theresa Kelly
Managing Editor: ,
Wanda F. Roquemore
"f
Contributor.:
Bernice Brown
Mary Golliday
Allison Jones
FI?dean Riggs
Leah Samuel
Nathaniel Scott
Ron Seigel
Carolyn Warfield
Vera White
Consider Ernest D. Green, of
e famous Little Rock Nine. He
i former assistant U.S.
Secretar f Labor, a long-time
NAACP m ber who has no
negatives in rms board or or­
ganizational emies and now a
senior vice pr sident of Shearson
Lehman, a n, tional brokerage
firm. Would make an ideal
NAACP executf director?
Some observer. feel he would,
indeed. Others ar not so sure.
CP board
member, said that I will probab­
ly participate as a ember of the
search committee, "But I won't be
seeking, and I don't want, the job
myself. I have my hands full as a
senior vice president of my fum.
We are just coming out of a
depressed period and I will have
to spendall of my time and energy
here."
If drafted, would he serve?
"Well," he said, "we'll have to face
that when or if it comes. Our
year's image Awards as an ex­
ample where that function was
taken from staff hands and given
to a committee, resulting in con-
fusion and mismanagement.
DR. HOOKS AND the
NAACP have suffered a barrage
of criticism for not keeping up
with the times.
"That criticism used to hurt,"
he confided, "until I saw who was
, doing the criticizing."
Hooks said, "Let me make this
clear: I do not propose to spend
my. last year in office as a lame
duck executive, but will continue
to address every issue that comes
before us forthrightly and without
fear or favor."
He said he has been on .leave
from his church (in Memphis) for'
20 years and feels it time to
return. He also said that his wife
of nearly 40 years, Frances, 64, "is
also tired," and this added to his
decision to step down.
Mrs. Hooks said, "I need rest.
We need to get away." She has
. community's future leadership,"
aid Dr. Walker, Chairperson of
the Religious Action Network
which is organizing the trip. "This
youth mission will help them un­
derstand the global dynamics of
the struggle, and build links with
our brothers and sisters in Africa."
The appli�tion/essay submission
deadline is April 4, twenty-foruth
annivesary of the assassination of
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. win-
n rs of the contest will be notified
by April 18, and announced on
Ester Sunday.
For more information contact
Aleah Bacquie, coordinator,
Religious Action Network: 198
Broadway, New York, NY 10038
- 212r9(?2-1210.
e
Weston's plan:
"We further affirm that his policy
extends beyond the borders of the
African continent, and as such �,
cludes all those who are of African
descent in the diaspora.
"TO THIS END, therefore, the
NEC encourages and supports all
efforts by Africans around the
world to contribute in any manner
po ible, l.e., their skills, resources
and moral support towards the
Liberation of Azania.
The NEC in particular endorses in
principle the 'Economic,Develop­
ment Plan' ith African
Americans, initiated by the African
Committee, under the chairman­
ship of Mr. Frank Weston."
Weston was brought to the atten­
tion of the PAC leadelShip by i
Secretary of Labor, Moses Caleb,
hed
"UNTIL THE ANC permits open
membership by Africans in the
diaspora into its organization and
that they follow through on signing
the co-development plan as th�
PAC has done we should seriously
reconsider our support for the
ANC, " said Weston.
The PAC differs philo ophically
from the ANC in that it 1)
demands that white South Africans
return the land to the indigenous
Africans, 2) stresses African
nationalism and 3) i willing to use
arms in the struggle for African
self-determination.
The organization began April 6,
1959, after members of the ANC's
youth league saw the need to reaf­
firm the ANC's Africanist founda­
tion. The ANC was founded in
1912.
..
labored at his side without payor
portfolio.
Hooks cited the many NAACP
accompl'ishments under his
stewardship, including the pur­
chase of a permanent NAACP
headquarters home, in Baltimore;
establishing the popular youth or­
ganization, ACT-SO; successfully
prosecuting many, many civil
rights suits; forming the
NAACP's women group, WIN
(Women in the NAACP); move­
ments championing civil rights
winning millions in settlements;
and capping it all by helping to I
successfully shepherd the Civil
Rights bill of 1991 through Con­
gress and into law, despite Presi­
dent Bush's .often blatant
opposition. ,
"I have spent 15 of the hardest
years of my life as executive direc- '
tor of NAACP. My health right:
now is good, but I want to leave :
before I am pushing up roses. I :
want to do a little lecturing, writ- I
ing, may dust off the law books:
and join a law firm; and travel."
Production Manager:
. Kascene ,Barks
Production:
KaIAndrich
Anita�roh8
Account Executlv .:
Earlene Tolliver
BobZwolak
'.�
�..,
We accept all
signed letters.
Send to:
Michigan Citizen
P.O. Box 03560
Highland Park,
MI48203
Formal Afric,an./African American
By Michael V. On al
One of South Africa's leading
African liberation organizations
recenUy announced upport in prin­
cipal of an economic co-develop­
ment plan that foonally links
Africans and African Americafts.
At a meeting of ita National Execu- '
tive Council (NEC) held February
12 in Johann burg, South Africa,
the Pan Africanist Congress (PAC)
of Azania (aka South Africa) dis­
cussed the co-development plan­
the brainchild of the New
York-based African Commit1Ce
President Frank Westo�d '
resolved to affirm a "baic policy
ofPan-Africanlsm. "
With the approval of the PAC
President Clarence M. Makwetu,'
the PAC Seaetary General Benny
Alexander wrote regarding
A formal announcement of PAC'
adoption of the co-development
plan is 'scheduled for February 29
at the United Nations where the
PAC's Chief Representative to the
United Nations, Dr. S.B.M. Pheko
will sign the document.
PRECISE DETAILS on how the
agreement will be implemented
remain vague. There is, however,
talk of Weston travelling nation­
wide to promote the idea (especial­
I y ince this is a presidential
election year) and of bringing in an
economist from PAC to formulate
a budget and to wor on possible
organizational structures.
"The most important thing is to
agree on an idea, " said Moses
Caleb. "It is those involved who
have to mate it work. It h8s � great
potential of working."