t i
he cal
a
VIEWS OPINIONS
-Afr c n pro rb
J
',I , I
Gov. John ngJer must re lize he h m de
mist e nd revoke hi ppointment of tephen
to the Parole Board.
The Berrien County voter id no to Mar c
past prim ry election nd . th good re on. c e
u ed racism for political g in. The evidence can be een in '
the adverti ement he r n in his election bid. The d depict
Blac m e youth handcuffed hile n officer e rche
the trun of n uto a M r chke pre ide over the cene.
"It's bout time," i printed under the picture.
The d m e President Bush's Willie Horton d 100
li e a popsicle commerci 1.
Far more disturbing i M ch e' role in the drown in
death of Eric McGinnis. After more than a year following
the puzzling event surrounding the death of young Mc­
Ginn' , did' Mar chke -who w sheriff t the time­
admit he had een Black youth believed to be McGinnis
running down the street of lily-white St. Jo eph with
white man in pursuit.
The public is still waiting for full explan tion of �l the
contradictions and questions urrounding young
McGinnis' dis ppe ranee and drowning.
Marschke's failure to get involved as the chase ran p st
him, the night of McGinnis' disappearance is tantamount
to malfeasance. An omission that bars him from public
trust. A failure that disqualifies him from any appointment.
To hand out seats on the parole board as political plums
no different than any other plush political patron ge ap­
pointment is callous and cold. Unlike other patronage
positions picking up garb ge, planning city development
or running tedious bureaucracie , the parole board h life
and dea h uthority over the prisoners themselves, and an
impacr aa tb,e whole of society.
Engler has shown a lack of insight nd even morality in
his cavalier approach to the parole board appointments.
To pick a racist malfeasant like Marschke only high­
lights that callous disreg rd for the value of life.
Gov. Engler must remove Marschke.
The public must make sure that he does so.
G i � I ,t',lO,J'{ .,Obltl IVlll esn h
Only in America
Authorities have locked up the woman who fingered
alleged serial killer Benjamin (Tony) Atkins. '{hey are
holding her in jail so that she will not disappear before she
can testify that Atkins raped and attempted to strangle her
last fall.
Though not charged with a crime, she has been held in
jail since September 23 at the request of the Wayne County
Prosecutor.
Seems the young woman -like Atkins - is a crack ad­
dict and the police say they want to protect her since she
is in danger because she owes people on the street money.
Thus, the police case solving the serial killings is based
on the testimony of one crack addict against another.
Both accuser and accused are homeless and addicted.
Both need treatment. Unfortunately, both live in a brutal
and inhumane society that prefers to punish the poor
rather than provide resources for productive lives. This
is a society that will spend money to jail people, but not
treat their sickness or prepare them to contribute to
society. '
If either accuser or accused had money of their own, she
might be in a rehabilitation program, not jail; and perhaps,
Atkins might not be facing the charges he faces.
Our willingness to only fund prisons, not pay for preven­
tion is eroding our freedoms, destroying our resources,
killing our way of life.
It's madness.
By the time
,
the fool has
learned the
game, the
players have
dispersed.
-Afrtcan proverb
DR. VINCENT HARDING'
H rding' other recent wor ,
Hope and History, challenge all to
te ch and learn deep 1 ODS from the
tory of the Freedom Movement
Dr. H rding nd hi wife,
Ro em rie, have conducted
numerous wor hops throughout the
nation on ocial j tice, personal
piri tuali ty and ocial responsibili ty.
THE HONORABLE Wilma P.
Mankiller in 1987 became the first
woman to be elected Principal Chief
of the Cherokee Nation. Chief
Mankillerwas re-elected in 1991 and
h emerged one of the most
effective global leade for human
liberation and justice.
As Principal Clief of the second
. Fred," h ec 0 tely
the Direc or of
Colour Common Ground
ouo lion b in el
d i devoted to implementin
youth evelopment ed tio
pro for inne city youth.
Willi ,ho been youth
leader for over 16 years, . en d
nd e pericnced community
organizer, lecturer, counselor, and
natioDalleader on the i of urban
policy and community youth
leadership development. Fred
Williams also w th founder of
Common Ground' Drop-Out
Retrieval Program d d 90
percent succes rate of retrieving
youth, grades 2-12, back to 001.
He' credited with ingle handedly
retrieving more than 17,000 children
OM THE HEART of the from drop-out status.
Watts section of South Central Los For more information on how you
Angeles, California, Fred Williams can join in and upport thi unique
i admired nd re pected a an awards program and dinner, please
effective youth leader. In the pring _ con ct Ms. Della Ow at 5113
of thi year, Williams helped to Georgi Avenue, N. W.,
e tablish the "Gang Truce" that Wa hington, D.C. 20011, or
successfully brought an end to the telephone (202) 291-1593. The
spiral of gang-related violence in Movement and the truggle
Los Angeles. continues!
Lester"
World '@ 1992
I' ,. 1) ,I, J\ II �oJVII lib '1 )t ,t', I
"
... AND IF
lAM
ELECTED,
MI WILL
GIVE YOU
THE l=XTRA
HELP TO
BREAK·THE
CYCLE OF
POVERTyt
- • () " ••••••• ..- \ "'_"w .• \... -.I"",U
I I H�_T� rq ADMIT IT.
���b�l���""'�
n..1 I.) S I Oct. E��ri
c;/Nerz @/Wz-
• �NGHf'" ICIIIH OIDION GflQW INC.
AU,MGHTO IItHINIO
M�rder by n gligenee
or by lncompe nee?
As is fairly common in prisons,
the sport of handball, and especially
cage-handball (handball played in a
cage), is strenuous, requiring peed,
dexterity and stamina.
It provides the p yer wi th a good
form of exercise ful,fills the need
for competition.
In early August, 1992, one young
prisoner .challenged an "old hand",.....
Lonnie Baker, to' a few games,
perhaps unaware �at Baker was an
old master of the sport, having
played for over a decade, in cages
and on walls, across Pennsylvania.
After 3 games, all in Lonnie'
favor, a man in a nearby cage
glanced over and observed the young
man was sweating profusely, after 0
few games.
AS BAKER was retrieving the
ball to serve for game 4, he heard his
opponent say, "Hold it! Hold it!"
Assuming he was going to contest
the score, Baker turned to him, onI Y
to ee him clutch his che t� and keel
•
over to the ground. He dove to catch
him, but his face struck the steel
girders holding up the fencing for the
cage, and as Baker cradled � head
from the concrete, he and other
prisoners sent up the alarm-"Guard
up 1 Guard up in the yard!"
An old pro at self-medications,
Baker recognized that the man
wasn't breathing, so he stroked an
massaged his arm, to focus his mind,
and the man drew several deep
breaths.
When guard arrived, they told
Baker to let him go, but Baker
disputed the logic of it, ying the
way he held him, allowed better
airflow. He told the guards, that the
man wasn't breathing, and if they
knew CPR
(cardio-pulmonary-re uscitation)
they'd better practice it
One guard, put �i hand
together, and began chest
compressions, but when it came time
for mouth-to-mouth, the other guard
demurred, opting instead to take his
MUMIA
ABU
JAMAL
neck pulse by pressure. Lonnie
exploded: "He's not breathin', man!
What are you taking his pulse for?"
,When a guard wi th radio
arrived, Lonnie and others gave the
man's name; Sherwin Thorne; his
inmate number, B0-4376; and his
cell no.; in "H" Block, so that medics
could be told.
FROM
DEATH
ROW
ACCORDING TO LONNIE B. ,
and Ameen McKelvey, it took at
least 20 minutes for a nurse to arrive,
and when she did, he had no
portable oxygen unit, but burst an
amonia capsule, and put it directly
under his nose, with no reaction.
Lonnie again: "What are you
putting an amonia capsule under his
nose for? He' not breathing!" 1be
nurse then unfolded a blood pressure
cuff put it around the man' upper
arm, and inflated it. When pressure
was released, Lonnie said the neecUe
took a traight fall, no props, no
tops. No life.
Lonnie watched the needle fall,
and got up, walking away from
Sherwin Thome's body. "I told y'all
he wasn't breathin', and y'all
wouldn't give mouth-to-mouth; then
the nurse came, don't bring no
oxygen, crack an amonia cap under
his nose, then take his blood
pressure 1 He' not breathin' I" The
nurse turns to a guard with her chart,
saying, "This is Stewart Thorpe; isn't
he diabetic?"
"Sherwin Thome- Thome 1 Not
Thorpel," Baker argued, but by then
Thome's lifeles body was being
borne upon a stretcher for a hospital,
in a needless rush.
No need for a rush now, Lonnie
thought to himself, no matter how
fast you get there, he's gone.
Thomew 24.
, ,