EDITORAL
The Detroit
empo erin I
du .
In 60' empo erment w lled Community Control
t fight to bring th concept to re ity w
imple m tter of economi , lop- ided battl. hool bure rcra
were getting id while tiflin nd thrawtin th effo
community persons volunt rin tim t 1 ht or tt r chool .
o reemerging "empowerment", th m vern nt to in
local control over n igh rh d h I i oddly min not from
the bottom up, but from th top down. Th t m e us wond rho
in re the Board is.
Beca e, from thi view, if tru emp werm nt i re liz d, th
chool center building will b ev ntually old f. Th re will b no
n d for th m iv bureau ra y now in pi e t th ntr I office
and in the are offices.
If parents nd community re truly to run th h I then 11
that will required are few central dmini trators to find funds
for the local building, di pensing tho dolla on per pupil ba is.
Let the local chool community elect its own trustee to decide
cumcu1um, hire teachers and admini trators from a preapproved
pool or from whereever the parents find th talent th y think they
want to instruct their kids.
Let the local chool community buy the books, light bulb and
yes, toilet p per-an item in short supply at too many _ Detroit
chools.
The yawning great hole sucking up the precious education
dollars-the central and area administration -needs to be
• hovered over, buried for good. To accompli h thi , the community
cannot leave the empowerment struggle to tho e who will suffer
the most from the movement's succe . Who choo e extinction?
Only the community can bring true empowerment to life. There
may be a lot of games run down in the name of empowerment, but
true power i taken, not given.
-We can do it
Any American watching the current election debacle on
televi ion, or following the campaign in the pre i aware that
inner cities are pretty much being ignored.
Politicians are targeting their me age to the "middle .cla.ss."
One Jerry Brown backer explains that poor people have never had
anything and have thus accepted nothingness as the way things
are. And as long as crack cocaine and malt liquor remain atIor­
dable and readily available in the inner cities, there will be little
. demand for Change from within the cities, this same pundit obser­
ves. The change in America will come when the cutbacks and
downsizing hit "middle America," the analysis goes. Thus the
appeal to the "middle class."
Demographers are ontbe arne bandwagon. They note that for
the first time, there are more people outside of the cities than
within, thus making a campaign targeted to city dwellers an
ineffective campaign.
While everyone writes off the inner cities, too many inner city
elected leaders continue to watch and wait for salvation to come
to them.
"No one will save us, for us, but us," Jesse Jackson said, says
and will say again and again. It is the message that we have to hear
if we are to survive.
We have the resources if we tum to each other, focusing on
those things we share in common rather than the things that divide
us ..
Every contract let by a school board, library board, city council .
or sewer board should be money in the pockets of the constituency
, of that board. If it· doesn't, it's money wasted.
. The agenda of the political leaders should be to the immediate
benefit of the constituents. If it doesn'j, it's time wasted.
By that definition most political action in the inner city is
wasted. From Benton Harbot to Detroit, suburban firm'S mow the
lawns of inner city housing developments and colleges, Fences are
installed by non-resident contractors. Paving is laid by anyone but
the city dwellers.
Idled city residents sit on front porches watching their tax
dollars pay suburban folks to lay the sidewalks, fix up Belle Isle
for racing, consult about city kids, tear down badly needed but
wasted housing ... the list is too long and searing to tell.
City dwellers have to shake off the depre sion that keeps them
down. They have to get up, get two or three neighbors together and
start attending every municipal meeting scheduled and speak out
for their own interests. Afflict the comfortable who make an easy
living off of inner city despair,
Pastors should pray for forgiveness if there is one crack house
anywhere near their church, one hungry child on their block, one
homeless person passing by, one drop-out, dope addict or jobless
in sight.
Politicians pursue their own agenda: election and reelection.
They will only do for us what we make them do. It is up to us to
make them. And we can make them.
VIEWS OPINIONS
ot content ith 1 d
from the n tiv people, the colonis
tole p ople from nother 1 nd,
I uncing BI Holoca t that ent
millio of Afri into nightmare
of dehumanization, deculturation,
lavery and de th via th dreaded
Middle Pa ge.
Central to this epoch of historic
criminali ty w the e d glo
manifestationofraci m to] tifythis
carnage.
On ly Briti h pologi t for
European theft of Re� land ,
pamphleteer Robert Gray (1609)
wrote; "Although the Lord hath
given the earth to children of men,
the greater part of it (is) P d
and wrongfully usurped by wild
beasts, and unreasonable creatures,
,
fter Colombi n cont ct;: b re
750,000 Indi liv in om 27 U.S.
ta , tte over roughly three
hundred re IV tio ,wh on
ell over 10 million Indians lived
free. The v unted "progre "
bo ted of hardly tou h d dian
communiti w re lcoholi m i
endemic, and ra 0 unemployment
ranged from 14 to 67 percent, with
tional verag un mploym nt rate
of over 43 percent.
It would eem that the most
directly impacted and affected of
peoples touched by the landing 0
Europeans at Hi paniola in 1492
ve tb le t re on to celebrate in
the ub equent 500 years.
They, mi named "Indians,"
became the "Ne World'" first
lav ,the mo t d prived, the mo t
exploited, the mo t neglected in an
intentional pattern of conquest and
mass liquidation in the face of white
thirst for Lebensraum.
A RACE IHAT \�
SOLELY DEPENDENT
UPON ANO-rnER FOR \TS
ECONOM\C EX\&TENCE
500NER OR � \ ER
DISS. "
-: � -MA�CUS GA.RVEY
._47 � 1 J
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Mumia Abu-] amal, the' :.
Philadelphiajoumalist hwwn as the" ::
"voice 0/ the voiceless" and a former r.
Block Panther Party spokesman, is' ::
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America's death row political.:
prisoner, framed for murder because" : ;
0/ his political views. To correspond; : �
with] amal, write to: Mumia , •.
Abu-Jamal; AM8335, Drawer R, I t'
Huntingdon; PA 16652.
READERS WRITE
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Reader fear
white doctor
Recently I was watching
T. V. 4 and they did a survey to
find out who were some of the
people who make a contribu­
tion to David Duke Presiden­
tial Campaign. And I was
urprised to find out that five
doctors from the Detroi t area
were on this list. This is very
dis turbing to have doctors in
our community supporting an
ex-KJansman and Nazi lover.
Knowing how they feel
about Black people, e hould
be very careful about putting
our physical wellbeing in their
hand. .
William Evan
Detroit
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The Michigan
Citizen
welcomes
readers, letters
and letters from
its readers.
Send to:
Michigan
Citizen, P.O. Box
03560, Highland
Park, 48203
Zimbabw
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Land reform
ow
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Reports from Zimbabwe are now
revealing one of the crucial issues
facing post-colonial Africa as the
dawn of the 21st Century rapidly
approaches. The issue is land reform
and redistribution of "land wealth"
held on to by white settlers even after
independence from the former
colonial powers.
While much has been wri tten
about Zimbabwe in recent years
concerning President Robert
Mugabe's successful triumph over
internal rival and the challenging of
the efforts of the apartheid regime in
South Africa to destabilize this
African nation, not much attention
has been given to the issue of land
redistribution.
It is an important lesson of
contemporary geopolitics to view
the position of the World Bank and
nations from the West concerning
Zimbabwe's. announced intention to
proceed to enact national legislation
that would acquire millions of acres
of land now held by white farmers
for redistribution to hundreds of
thousands of "landless" native
Zimbabwean farmers.
Zimbabwe (formerly Rhodesia)
declared its. independence from
Britain in 1980.
ONE OF mE conditions that
led to the negotiated independence kept its commitment made at the
w a ten year promise that the best time of independence, the western
land of the nation, almost 50 million world is threatening to pull the.
acres held by about 4,000 white international economic "rug" from
farmers prior to independence, . under Zimbabwe in response.
would not be nationalized.
Well, President Mugabe kept his
promise al though it was very
difficult for most of the 10 million
Zimbabweans to agree with given
the fact that the majority of the
population has been forced for ten
years to subsist on very small plots
ofland.
A recent pool taken in Zimbabwe
showed massive support for the land
.reformlegi lation that will be acted
upon thi year by the legislature.
The present plan is to first acquire
about 20· million of the 50 million
acres now held by affluent white
farmexs in-Zimbabwe. Great Britain
and the United States both have
cautioned President Mugabe not to
proceed with the implementation of
this type of land reform.
We wonder, why the United
States and other nations do not want
to see the native people of Africa
acquire a right to their land?
If President Mugabe had broken
the ten year promise, we are sure
Zimbabwe would have received the
wrath of the western world. But, it
seems even Tho�gh Zimbabwe has
Bank, Zimbabwe's representatives CIVIL
were told that western investors RIGHTS
might, not continue to invest in the JOURNAL
. rration if the land redistribution :,
began. Zimbabwe should not be . :;
"white-mailed" by the westto ensure . " ,_ .. "
Anglo economic injustice and and redlStri�utiOn IS not �onfront�d,., ::
privilege. at this crucial stage of Zunbabwe s., ::
From our perspective, this is an nation� development. ::
. issue of international racial justice. President Mugabe stated to the" : i
The centuries-long struggle against NEW YORK, TIMES, "You cannot, :!
colonialism. imperialism and racism run a ocrety of haves �nd •
hive expo ed the degree to which �ve-no ';" .and hope that the society � ::
these repressive forces will try to will continue to accept the who want! : :
disguise under neo-colonialism. to go into agriculture, land to do so." \ ::
The I . I ,We know that Mugabe is correct in ' ::
e mtemanona commumty hi t f th ituati , .'
should take greater notice of the .s assessmen 0 e SI on in- I'
ood thin that have happened in a Zimbabw�. � ::
�tion u � Zimbabwe in only 12 We further hope that the day wilt ::
years of independence. come when American society will : !
stop accepting the irreversibility of : I
the "haves and have-nets." Maybe \ ::
rather than criticize our sisters and ::
brothers in Zimbabwe concerning" , :
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land reform, the United States could •.
po ibly learn omething from them � ::
about ocia! transformation. : c
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AT A MEETING of the World
WHILE THERE have been
some problems, overall Zimbabwe,
even in the face of sub tantial
interference fiom South Africa, .
made teady progress, But !hi
progres would be put in serious
jeopardy if the i ue f land reform
BENJAMIN
CHAVIS