"Brazil i the mo t uc­
ce ful racist system in the
world"
w nsre 1beaune
Brazilian
tmr Gemal ASSI.�
. ted in United
am mh relati with
African..Anmcanpoliticalml
dalleade
On her first top, in
VI �n, O.C., tm Bl con­
gresswoman, am current can­
dida� for mayor of tm ooun.tIy'
IIXE popular city, Rio de Janeiro,
said that tI:r "t D ltv: Us., ".
promp1ed by a desire from me arxI
tOOusarxIs of my oountryrl'rn to
build bridges between African­
Braziliam aoo African-Am:ricam
wbose hisklrical expeoerces am
present-day conditions are so
sinn1ar."
Although most Blac
Braziliam, irx:luding two-term
Omgrtsswoman Da Silva, only
speak Po� �y kX> were
brought kl � Americas
from the same mas of Africa arxI
have a similar hiroty in tb::se laOOs.
Ms. Da Silva, a member d.�
Women's Party Ticket am one of
only five Blacks of the 564-mcm­
ber BlCI7ilian �onal body,
�t with civil rights leader Jesse
Jackson, Mayors Sharon Pratt
Kelly of WamngtoD. O.C am
David Dit11cim of New Yen: aty
VI' � 1st �.
? tl1UE m{)
�t! cussions: 'the' 'lhlfj}
economic issees in her oountty
wnh several of m congressional
oounaputs, iJx:luling Blade U.s.
Congttssman Mervlyn Dymally.
Acconting D the Wasbingt>n,
O.C-OOsed Bmzil NetwoIk, which
axxdimtcd much of Da Silva's
U.s. ageIXla, u'�,' es Con­
grcsswomandaSilva�kmwn,1e
men against an ockk. N1a B1aclc
woman from Rio's slums, wlae
� still resides, * hM oonfronted
1rip1e disaimination in a oountry
wmreBlacks, wonmand �poor
traditionally have little inflUCIX:e."
Da Silva berself s1ated at the
start of her U.s. tour that, "lack of
health care, rotation, job oppor­
tunities, discrimiration, violeoo:
aOO d)e iOOitI� aM insen­
sitivity of government, are
problems shared by Blacks in
America and Brazil." "Many
B1aclcs in America have vistcd in
resort areas of Brazil am oon't
kmw that Blades are in soch great
numbets in the country, mrdo �y
kmw tm very ge\Ue oomitions
uOOer which' tb::se people live,"
Brazil Networlc spokrsman Mike
Fmnklin lold reportelS.
Da Silva's four-city visit
thrOugh the u.s. was desigrM to
allow hertoe�programs that
address children's ardworren'sts­
sees here and make comparisons
between the two situations. AIr
oordingto repors, l,OOlchildrenof
color d:ie every day in Brazil of
malnutrition, hunger and other dis­
eases.
Brazil' ib: eleventh largest in­
dustrial power in the world and has
an avemge per capita ircorre of
$2,540.
BlACKS COMPRISE 70
pett:entof�country's population
With over 100 million Blacks
, throug1x>ut tm oountry, Brazil has
the 1arpt population of Blades
outside � �ntof Africa.
Seven out of every ten
Bnrziliam live below the World
Health OrganIzation' minimum
level of ubsis1m:e, d� mainly to
umnployment, low and
unfilled 1m1 n:fams.
AccoIdingb Otpnizationfor
Africans in b America, "artmg
� victims of � te8lity of Brazil,
46 million dlildren live in poverty
and 26 million live in ab8olU1e
poverty. \\'hi �t70
percent of the national i.n:o�.
Am � infant roor1ality rate in the
oountry for Blaclcs is las perl,an
BRAZIL contlnu d on B8
BUSINESS FINANCE
We want your business ..
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payment or flexible interest rates, our mortgage specialists will work with you
to tailor a loan to your needs. So, if you want a house, we want your business.
1800 CALL BD.
pr visit any BD branch.
Government uctio re
cheap ay to buy. Every year the
Po t Office nd m ny other
authorities hold uctions to get rid
of their 10 t-and-found, confiscated
M t Ameri die ithout a
will! Very e people ve a cle r
ide of hat will happen to their
property when they die. Well
here' a clue: urviving po i
alw ys entitled to a sub tantial part
J t hen you thought it w
fe to charge g in ... Well, you
might want to give that econd
thought. Lende till feeling burnt
from the effec of th rece ion re
looking to minimize 10 es. They
re re tricting credit card e or
revoking them all together a a way
to ccomplish thi .
Unu ual ctivity on your ac­
count i a warning to lenders th t
omething may be wrong. Sudden-
1 y making large purchase on your
credit card account could re ult in a
She chemed for ice ere Ill.
Now h ' th Gelato Queen.
For Myra Ev , it w n uphill
b ttle 11 the way. Sh w Bl c
young, in xperien d, fem le and
had no collater 1.
But her p ion tor u ,nd
a weet, low fat treat, led thi Y le
graduate to plunge into the ri ky
food b ine .
Myr Evans brought Gel to, the
Italian frozen de ert, from San
Franci co and introduced it to ice
cream lovers in New Yor : After
developing her own unique recipe,
n
I
n
mation technology industry nd
about the wor environment." Mc­
Cann id.
AB a profi lonal organization,
The d ire to wor with I I
youth in mentoring program drew
EDS' Wilbert McCann into the
Detroit Chapter of the Black Oata
Proce sing ociates (BOP A) in
1989. McCann's continued dedica­
tion to BDPA activitie recently in-
pired members to elect McCaM,
an dvanced sy terns e er at
EOS' GM account, to two year term
as president.
BOPA is a professional .or­
ganization with a focus' on teaching
youth about infonriation technol­
ogy. The Detroit chapter, with
�early 200, 11lC;� rs, i ,the _,.,�.,_
tarse t cbante n the nal���_
f tift ftldtr.f., Nn I� "
,nJuOlm
"We try to et the standard na­
tionally for the way a chapter
. should operate, from a human and
organizational perspective, well
as with all of our programs. We
need to get all of our members ac­
tive with committees and programs
o that we can reach many young
people and professionals as po -
sible," McCann said.
To enhance the level of educa­
tion at city elementary schools,
BOPA operates an adopt-a- chool
program. The program has proven
successful at the Goodale Elemen­
tary SchOQI 'in Detroit, where stu­
dents now have computer
equipment and receive hands-on
training.
WILBERT MCCANN
the BDP A Detroit chapter conducts
monthl y seminars and workshop
which are open to the public on
information technology.
, To further help BOPA' profes­
sionals, McCann plans to run
BOPA like a business. "This will
provide BOPA members with an
opportunity to increase their busi­
ne s skills. There is a need for
professionals in the technical in­
dustry to be well-rounded, balanc-
,ing both technical and business
skills," McCann said.
You want the house.
TO INTRODUCE local teens
to computer professions, BOP A:
hosts a four-week computer camp
every summer in the Detroit area.
BDPA also hosts an annual com­
puter competition for tudents in
Detroit and Highland Park from
which four finalists are cho en to
compete at the national BOP A con­
ference.
As president, McCann also
wants to focus on getting more ex­
posure for BDP A. "We need to get
our name out to let business profes­
stonals, as well as, members of the
community know what our or­
ganization is all about."
In August, the Detroit chapter
hosts the 14th annual BDPA 08"
tional conference. Nearly 400
BDPA members from 44 chapters
across the United State are ex­
pected to a�tend.
BOP A also extends its support to
college students. "We actively
recruit COllege-age students into
BDPA to give them an opportunity
to meet and network with other
professionals. This allows the stu­
dents to learn more about the infor-
You want low rates.
BRAZIL
continued from B8
shows that she i in second place as
the choice of voters there.
Da Silva generated much media
attention in North America in her
meetings with Randall Robinson of ·
TransAfrica and executives of the
Children's Defense Fund.
After her meeting with Je e
Jackson, which included an Invita­
tion for the civil rights leader to
vi It in Brazil for a first-hand view
of conditions, Jackson aid, "The
invitation to go to your country is
very exciting because it repre ents
hope, And it repre enll a distanc­
Ing form the status quo. Brazil I,
another example of a rich country
where the political force did not
use Itl trength and economy for the
advancement of all of the people."
According to the New York
Times in 1991, 'Brazil is the most
successful racist system in the
world."
Da Silva pointed out that, "Most
Americans don't know the
diplomatic corp are almost ex­
clusively white. I'm orry to tell
you, that the people you e� In the
OAS (Organization of American '
States) and the U.N., 'do not repre­
sent the true face of Brazil."
Da'SUva'. mayoral campaign
has been highlighted by the pre -
ing problems of the poor in tbat city
and her first-hand knowledge of the
problems through her permanent
residency in the 'favela," a term for
Brazil's slum.
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,
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•
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