,
- .
Senior Service Line
by Matilda Charles
(
care.
.'
Health & Nutrition
by Judith Sheldon
HVIL , -Th bea 0
Black Central Police Officer
Re inald Miller on Monday, Decem­
ber 14, h ra' ed local and national
fe that uch lnciden contin
be the tr ditional relatlo hip be-
tween Blacks and the police.
"H d thi not been police 0 eer,
this incident would never have been
reported," the Rev ames Tho ,
p tor of Jeffe on Street ionary
Baptist Church, id durin ne
CCORDING TO POLICE
reports, at approximately 8:40 p.m.
on Monday, Miller w working un­
dercover as part of a pro titution sting
·cal
t Crim Suppre ion Officers
t n .arrived and told everyone in­
volved that Miller police of-
cer. Miller treated for � groin
Inj ury t Oenefal H pi 1 and w
rei . Miller, four-year veteran
of the force, third-degree Blac
belt n rate, but never fou ht b ck.
v. 0 ST HA ar ,
IMP P ident, id Miller lucky to
be alive. "If that other policeman h d
not come, he (Miller) would have
been inj ured much more th n he w ,
or po ibly dead."
The IMP called for dismi al of
PETTY D B U who
were on the enger ide 0 the
truck, then joined Johnston, who w
kneeling down attempting to hand­
cuff Miller.
While Mill�r was on the ground,
Officer D vid Geary arrived, pi ced
__a _--"knee in Miller' back, and put hi
gera in Miller's eye sockets, c-
cording to Geary, to get Miller to
comply with demands. Seconds
later, Officer Jeffrey Blewett arrived
and, he ppro ched Miller, kic ed
Miller In the groin. Blewett said he
did 10 to t Miller to spread Ie.
lve force. Blewett lso w
charged with lying bout kicking
Miller in the groln.
(A M di Rei e, dated Decem­
ber 18, from the hville police
dep rtment 'obtained by the
A. It tated, in part: "Police
Chief Robert Kirchner tod y fired
Central P trol Officers D vid Ge ry
and Jeffery Blewett for the busive
tre tment of Officer Reggie.
'Miller ... Chief Kirchner is on record
ying the use of exce ive force
will not be tolerated. )
Geary, 27, and Blewett, 25, have
the right to appeal t eir di mi al.
Both were hired by the police depart­
ment on February 1, 1991, according
to the release. '
THE OTHER three 'offi�rs in­
volved in the'incldent=Jobnston, 28,
who stopped Miller; Petty 26, and
Bauer, 23-the release further tated,
"remain on administrative leave, �ith
pay, pending further inv tigation."
Luther Hunter, head of the African
American police officers group, ;he
Nashvill Peace Officers ocla­
tion, called Miller's beating "totally
unprovoked" and said the incident
was racially motivated.
"We call it as we ee it," Hunter
aid, adding "There is a problem with
re en
flce .
Councilm n Mansfield Dou
id Miller' beating d ci lover­
tone ,which hould not be tolerated.
"TIll i not n isolated incident,
Dougla aid. "The onfy re on
you're re ding bout it now i be-
e (Miller i ) a policeman. The
officers are eroding our j nee ys­
tern, so we (h d) better wak' up and
do omething."
T P TIM none of the
police office�olved were v il­
able for comment.
Nashville yor Phil Brede
publicl logized to Officer Miller
hortly after tli: beating incident. "I
wanted to ay to you a citizen that
I apologized on beh If of
Metropolitan Government for what
ha pened to you.
t houldn't have happened to
, anybody, whether citizen in the
community or a police officer. This
is omething that we have got to fig­
ure out how to stop in the police
department," id Mayor Bredesen.
o
lack·
n fora W
k of pray
r
America's sterec-typiclal and to effect in us by permitting us to go
degrading asse sment of us, as a through this experience.
people, rather than holding fast to We want to confess and repent for
own heritage, history and values. our sins. In fact, the clergy prayers
_ Repentance for having rejected should focus on confessing and
the God of scripture, for America's repenting for our sins as individuals
gods of materialism and humanism. and pastors as well as those of the
_ Repentance as pastors, chur- church," said Rev. Alexander.
d . Thu d y' prayers hould foc "
on our race, as a whole,--.:..on o�
fami ies, our churches and other in­
stitutions, such as colleges, l'lAACP,
Urban League, SCLC.
The men's prayers should focus
on our sins as individuals, for failing
to be the heads and leaders of our
families, churches and communities,
as well as, for the sins of our familie .
Lastly, in all 3 prayer focuses, we
"We'don't want the focus of the should seek God's direction for us as
prayers to be on "Whitey" or "the individuals, as families', churches.
, sy tern," but, on us. (Daniel's prayer We should, pray that as a race, we
in Daniel 9 offers an excellent will submit to the Lordship of Jesus
Christ and that as a race, we will
come to know ana commit ourselves
to the Mission He has. for us, said
Rev. Alexander.
- Seek God's directions and
vision for our freedom from racist
oppression and e rebuilding of our
families, communities and churches.
"It is hoped that ministers allian­
ces in thevarious cities will sponsor
joint' and community-wide call to
prayer acti . ies in their cities," said
Rev. Alexander.
model.) This does not mean that we'
are "blaming the victim."
Rather it means th�t we recognize
that our plight is no surprise to God.
Therefore, we want, through prayer
and repentance to understand and ac­
cept whatever it is that God is trying
after eat only what they could
produce from their own labors.
This ecologically-aware story was
first told over 500 years ago by th
Bini tribe of Nigeria, and was first
recorded by the anthropologist Ulli
'Beier. The author of this book,
NYU's Mary-Joan Gerson, was in­
spired to write it during two years in
the Peace Corps in Nigeria.
Why the Sky is Far Away: a
Nigerian Folktale, named one of the
ten best illustrated boo o( the year -
(out of 4,000 published) by lhe New
York Times, is published by Little,
Bro�,n & Company.
a
A Natloaal CaJ1 to African- erlcan Mea to
A Week 01 Pr ,.er!
FEBRUARY 14-20,1993
The AfriCAn A1Derican COlnJDunity o.n.d ·aunily
i b in{; destroy d by:
'( ', I
Alcohol
Gangs
Black on Black Crime
�ivo:cc, '_ ',"
If" ,'. •
Drugs
',-'
r
A few pastors and ministers in In­
dianapoli , IN, have been sharing
their once about the plight and
progno i of African-American
male" in particular, and African-
mcricans, as a whole.
..., As a re ult, of thi concern, and
through prayer, they are issuing a Na-
11
week of February
14-20, 19 , ac rding to Rev. Frank
i of Hope Baptist
"We ar ru king.individuals, pas­
t rs, ministers alliances, congrega-
- tions and denominations throughout
the US to join in thi National Call
to African-ArnericanMen to Prayer,"
Rev. Alexander said.
"We are asking that each pastor
and local congregation will focus i'ts
prayer in particular. Our prayers
focus should be in keeping with the
.. ords of Rev . Jesse Jackson, when he
aid, "Nobody can save us from us
but us."
In that vein, Rev. Alexander said,
prayer should be fourfold:
._ Repentance for having inter­
nalized and actualized Euro-
A Nigerian folk tale more than 500
years old, retold by New York
Unive ity clinical profe sor of pys­
chol gy Mary-Joan Gerson, tells the
tale of once-limitless food from the
ky, the ky' anger at people's was­
tcfulnc , and if entencing of all
peoples t �he need to grow and cul­
ivate their own food.
The tory, lavishly illustrated with
deep rich pictures by Carla Golembc,
begins with a -Nigcrian community's
daily preparations for ceremonies and)
ad cription of.the various ways the
. pieces f the ky could taste. But
mindful of the community's wasteful­
ne , the sky boomed out of warning,
and the king ordered hi kinldom to
n longer take more of the slcy to.eat
then they needed.
NI lIT OLLOWING a
eel bration, a woman took a piece of
the ky "for just another taste." This .
pie of the ky wa larger than she
c uld fini h, however, and after
tryi in vain to find omeone else-in
the \,111 ge to fini h the food sh
buried it.
Immediately thunder and lighten­
ing h. an, and the voice of the sky
C( ! zn d the c mmunity to ever
•
I I
IlICIUCUtltion
Homosexuality
Disease
LAck of God Consciousness
Sexual Immorality
"U My people who ore called by My name
will humble themselves, and pray
and seek My face, and turn from their
wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven,
and will 'or�ive their sin and heal their land,"
11 CbronJclc. 7:J4
An
� ...... formed
••
s
e
eo
e.
-Nigerian folk tale,
now achildren's book
to
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.I
The man with
one. eye thank (
God only after
he has seen a
blind man.
- Nlgerten PrQVerb
ay-!!L
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16) -Six 'months ($12)