-No Job., no Ju ee, no peace- chant d th d monatratora
pick Ing the con ruction alt. of th n Veteran Ad·
mlnatration Ho.p I at Canfl.1d and Bru h In Detroit. Above
David Burnley, of arlin Build ra walka the picket lin
Thuraday, ay 14. ( photo)
------- --- - ; .;.... � .. ''\'''\4 ..
e :: 'j ,'.
I I ;
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By TERRY KELLY
DETROIT-Architects,
I borers, engineers, draftsmen,
builders, carpenters and the
unemployed -125 strong
marched May 14 at the wor
site of the new $229 million
Veterans Administration
ho pita! to protest the I ck of
African American contractors
on the job.
Four groups representing a
cro section of Detroiters, the
National A sociation of
African American Busin
(NAAAB), the sodation of
Black General Contractors
� U
tion 0 Contracto and
ultao (UACC) and' tbc VA
OapUal MInority Contrac11ng
Executive Committee pick­
eted to focus public attention
on the failure of general con­
tractor BatesoD/Dailey to hire
local contractors, sub-eontrac-
tors and wor ers on the b pi­
ta} construction project.
Accoroing to tatemen is­
ued by AAAB at the protest,
the African American contrac­
tors are demanding that the
Bush Admini tration follow
government rules and regulations
and ee that the 20% goal of
minority participation on the
project be realized.
To do that, NAAAB execu­
tive director George McClain
,said, the participation pl n
drafted and submitted for VA p­
proval must be made public.
He explained that th re is too
much behinc1 c ed door deal-
10 aDd there
a lac of information comin to
the African AIDe can builders.
Thecontracto arelimply king
for "law and order B h to com­
ply with federal rules," McClain
aid.
S e yA PROTEST, Pag A·10
to recall Engler, but state officials
rejected many of them, because they
were signed in pencil or red ink in­
stead of black ink.
"THEY WERE using the letter
of the law to circumvent the will of
the people," she said.
She added that another problem
was the lac of unity between group
seeking a recall. She noted that there
were 655,000 collected by one
group, 250,000 by a second, and
119,000 by a third in a totally dif­
ferent county.
This year, she aid, "We con­
tacted people acro the tate and we
will all go as one." Voters are not in
favor of drastic, painful cuts (that
Engler made in services), Taylor
stated, dding. "The suffering is es-
f ctory to und rwri or re ul tors
except through a CDC."
The plan h met with p hive
response from b in own nd
churche .
"There is fire hut up in th
bon of our fol , and we n ed t
quench it in order to deal with wh t'
in our community," id Fellow hip
Chapel P tor Wendell Anthon .
Anthonyal 0 tressed that Blac .
should be more willing to inve t in
Black-owned bank in order (or
plans like this one to work.
"We h ve to start putting mon y
into banks run by our own," h aid.
"We all have a tory about a teller
that pi ed off or how w didn't
g t a personal loan, but that happens
at Co mer ica, BD and
Manuaf cturer' , but we till eep
our m ne . place . S why
can f we Caiffi u tour
people?
"Our Ivation won't come from
th White House, even ifBjJl Clinton
win ." he added. "We mu t et
together for our own good. Black
churche are the number nc
employers and train rs of Black in
the nation."
r
cio
By LEAH SAMUEL
"Wrlt.r
In a forum, "Economic Em­
powerment through th African­
American Church: A C 11 for
Action," busin leade and church
p tors introduced a plan to revital­
ize Detroit by linking th city' busi-
ne community with Blac
churche .
"The Black church h always
been a big part of the African­
American community," said Wayne
County Commi loner Ricardo
Solomon." ow i the time to pool
the resources of the church and
bring in cooperative economi a
mean of revitalizing our com­
munity.
Created by Solomon and First In­
dependence Bank Pre ident Don
Davi , the plan call for making
church into Community Develop­
ment Corporations (COCS) which
would give th church federally­
approved acces to other ource of
funding for projects like training in­
dividual in trade , rehabilitating
hom and e tabU bing mall b i-
n
"Creating CDCs 1\0 churche
to Ieve eli re ource ," ex­
plained DB • A CDC can tap Into
many kinds of leverage firms avail­
able throught government entities.
"IN THE P T, it was difficult
for churches to approach bank .
Regulations in banking were severe.
And the track record of a church
included projects that weren't satis-
"Thi i omething that the
legislature should look at," she
aid. "In 1991, when Republican
repre entative left office, House
elections were called forthwith."
SHE SAID that when he
eliminated the General Assistance
program, 94,000 people were cut off
state aid, many were unable to pay
rent and became homele . Many
people who were fonunate enough to
.get into a shelter had to leave and
walk the streets between 6 a.m. and
6 p.m.
This, she notes, was particularly
dangerous tor older people under 65,
who were removed by Engler from
General Assistance.
State Rep. Teola P. Hunter left
her po t representing District 5 in
the tate House. That was in
January. Until August, when, elec- "LAST YEAR, Republican
ti�ns are held, the �a Will be Senator Doug Cruse resigned in
Without a representative. the middle of a term, just like
Triette Lipsey, a former aide to Teola," added Lip ey, "and Engler
Hunter, would �ve run for the . catted a special election within
�tateHouse,seatl.nJan.uaryfollOw- three days. When Michael
mg Hunter s resignation, .but was Bouchard, another Republican,
�nable to because a special elec- resigned, the governor called a
non was not called by the gover- pecial election within 24 hours.
nor. But Detroit and its districts are
Hunter blame Gov. John very di enfranchised in Lansing."
Engler and parti n politics. She has attempted to find out
RUTH SIMMONS:
"Reverend J se Jackson. He' a
pokesperson for all Blacks
well other ethnic gr.oups."
calating each month. The suffering
grow like a pyramid. tt
She said that many people have
died because of Engler's cutbacks.
Coinmunity launches new
effort to recall Governor·
ByRON E�GEL
CotpM9f!""
DBTROIT - Starting Thursday
May 15, a new effort will be
launched to recall Michigan Gover­
nor John Engler and Lieutenant
Governor Connie Binsfeld.
The recall campaign is chcduled
to be announced in front of Lafayette
Clinic, a mental health institution in �
Downtown Detroit that the Governor
wanta to close.
Maureen Taylor, a Wayne Coun­
ty representative of the campaign to
remove the Governor last year, said
that p t efforts to recall Engler
failed because of technicalities used
to invalida many of the Signatures.
Taylor said the campaign col­
lected more than enough ignaturos
n I r igno D
5th district fights tor a rep
,
why the election of a repre-
entative was not placed on the
March 17 ballot wi th the presiden­
tial candidates and the Tiger
Stadium i ue.
"The governor's office aid that
it would co t too much and be too
confusing for the voters," Lipsey
said.
Although her di triet will be
eliminated next year wi th
redi meting, Lip ey, who i th
only candidate for the eat, aid
that she is not discoura cd from
running.
Sa DISTRICT, A 10
• RECALL, Page A·10
Q.
Who
peak
for
the
Black
c mmun"ty?
\ .
By lEAH SAM�EL
StI" Writ.,.