,
EDITORIAL
H
ho and for om • family
But the CIty i
citize nd their
community.
In t cin • d perat need
for econorm elopm nt. That .
oft n in the Inner citi .economi velopment I little m re than
codew rd for white corporate welfa . But ith th privatization
effort com the opportunity to m economi lopm nt real-
to pin il from garba e, it were.
Hightard Par might take orne of th ir economic development
dolJars and th money to help the laid offworke tabli h their
own busi . This fledgling company hould enjoy a period to have
the garb e collection contract uncont ted. Af r a onable tim
for the company to et on i fe t, then put-them to t bid t t.
Such a weddi need and opporturuty can h Ip correct th
hi tory that put African Am ncan communiti in a tat poverty
and deprivation. When Am nca w glvmg ay land nd opportu­
niti to create wealth, Africans in thi land were by law anned from
participation. At first th I was lav ry, then apartheid. In either
, the result w the ame: Blac w r hut out of th green.
We look to Afncan Arnencan politicians to tum the tide of hi tory.
to open up po ibiliti that have evaded the community before th ir
arrival in the hall of power.
Pursuing privatization with th qualified workers at hand, High­
lard Park has the chance to make hi tory. empower I people and
take a long tride towards economic independence arxi community
tability.
READERS WRITE
,
Ip
o
o
Ive
m
e
This letter i . in response to the article which appeared in the Michigan
Citizen' June 6- 12 edition reporting on the Highland Park YMCA.
The Highland Park YMCA h operated Project TRY, a federally
funded transitional housing program on two of the three r idential floors
ince January, 1 . Thi program was d igned to i t men achieve
goals of If- ufflciercy, economic indeperderce and personal r ponsi­
bility. According to federal guidelines men can remain in th program for
a maximum of 24 months.
. While participating in the program the men are provided with complete
case management including a vast array of ocial services.
TH Y provid a rent u idy so that they may seek additional
trairung while working part-time. The housing program requires that the
men et goals and work towards achieving th goals. These goals range
from connnumg educanon to ecuring and maintaining a minimum level
o employment.
There are rul of conduct and behavior that are enforced a part of
thi program. The key ingredient to the program i that the m n take
responsibility to work on problems and improve their condition.
TIl FF 0 resources of the YMCA are there to ist them.
The men und rstand that they must maintain minimum requirements to
ord r to remain 10 the program.
11u program I not d igned to be a flop ho e or an emergency hel ter
for the homel ; nor I It d igned to be a baby- itting ervice. It i a
program for adult m n who are serio about getting their lives b k
together. ,
Th YMCA wor very hard with th men in to program to help them
ucceed. S m of the men do not ucceed, or complete the program. 0
one who' m ng a mearungful effort to hieve their goal and adhe
to the to the building rul 0 conduct) removed from the program.
A Uruted Way A eocy Few men remain in the program for the entire
24 month penod. The majority chose to move into independent living
iruanors within 6-12 mopths.
rrn men are given the option of moving to the rental fl or
at market rc..nt.
Highland P rk YMCA has been'providin ing for men ince the
19 . We I t YMCA IS proVIding a val Ie commuOlty rvice 10
operatm thl program nd trenuously object to the fal picture painted
by your re rt r. .
Unda acQu en, Olr . etor Homel, aIR Id nc
R ndy cNell, Branch Executive Director 01 rlet VP
TIVE that Afri-
tuden learn the p' phy 0
elf-reliance, i emalize the v
of commi tment and ervice to the
Afri communi,ty, am ter the
kill to tnms the philo phy JXl
valu in fcctive p ctice. Educa­
tion for liberation i the ponsibil-
ity of the BI community.
The urvival development of
the BI c community 0 dicta
that we i ify tbe truggle 10 har­
n the resources of the BI com­
muni ty in order to build trong aJXl
viable economic infra- Uucture.
Community development corpo­
rations, coopemtives, entrepreneur­
ship, agricultural development,
banking and lending institutiom, ru­
ral-urban economic development
trategies aJXl Blac united Funds
vital engines for social, educational,
aD! economic development should
be integrated into a collcctive devel­
opment planlprognun for Black
communities.
IN TERMS 0 public policy a
•
better
We must cut wasteful spending for
frivolous programs and use the sav­
ings for educational reform.
Finally the Michigan Education
Association must be held accountable
for creating the crisis in educational
fuI¥1ingand then demanding that taxes
be increased so they can get even
more-what about our kids?
Mlcha.1 C. S._
Chairman, Macomb County
Taxpayer� A. oclatlon
WHAT I Q Dian
a enda of polici aod tiors which
i clearly "race pecific."
While civil rights and affirmative
. tionatenolongerinvogu beca e
of the current n� of co r­
v tive dogma in tb poll tical arena,
BI people cannot afford to retreat
in the truggle ainst racist polici
and practi which discriminate
. t BI peop and otherwise
hinder Blac pro
Hi tori cally , rae' t policies and
YTII LOGY of rae' m
ned th id of white uprem­
which in tum became th corner-
ton for a y tern of white
domination.
A racist educational ystem
p ed on If serving li and distor­
ti ns from generation to generation
providing a found ion for white su­
premacy and white domination .
Destroy that education and you
d troy the psycho-cultural under­
pinnings of raci t ideology and pave
th: way for the destruction of the
edifice of white domination.
The education of African people
cannot be left to the public scbools
alone, however. Reversing the dam-
RO
DA
VA TA
POI T
hall Plan 0 provide
m ive resources for rum .ur-
b dep ed , rep tio
to compe ate Afri in Ameri
forthecuItural, piri aOO physical
dam of lavery i ential,
Bl ck communiti m t 0 de­
vi ecovenan thatprovideacod 0
conduct for all busin which op-
erate in the BI c community
whether they are owned by Bl ,
other minorities or whit. b i­
nes hould be allowed to function in
the Blac community that do not
contribute back to the community in
a meaningful way.
In addi tion, major corporations
which thrive on Blac comumerdol-
1 m t be compelled to contribute
sub tantially to the Blac commu­
nity e.g, a fair bare of job ,adver­
ming contrac ,schol�hips, grants,
loans and investmcn in the Black
community based on guidelines aJ¥1
directives laid out by Blac commu­
nities etc.
Black consumer dollars must
transla Ie into tangible benefits for the
Black community. Boycotts should
be used to enforce the will of the
Black communi ty in terms of these
covenants for community businesses
and major corporations that arenour­
ished by Black dollars ."
o THE POUTICAL cene,
Black people must control the politi­
dam and agencies which function in
the Black communi ty.
The respo ibility of politicians is
to promote Black interest via a Black
Agenda. Agencies am titutions
which function imide the Blac
community also advance Black in­
terest
Black people must devise the in­
struments and mechanisms to hold
poli ticians and agencies functioning
in the Black community account­
able.
Finally, there must be a Pan-Afri­
can and international component of a
program to combat racism and cul­
tural aggression.
DUBOIS AND GARVEY'S vi­
sion of cultural; economic andpolui­
cal bonding with Africa and the
Caribbean must come to fruition as
a means of strengthening Black
Power globally.
And, following the lead of Mal­
colm X and others that went before
him, the plight of Africans in Amer­
ica should be brought before interna­
tional bodies like the U.N. and the
World Court to call attention to the
violation of the "human rights" of
. Africans in the U.S.
o s tone can be left untum in the
struggle for the survival and devel­
opment of the African community in
the U.S.
Ron Daniels erves as President'
of the 'Institute for Community Or­
ganization and Development in
Youngstown, Ohio. He may be con­
tacted at (216) 746-5747.
nwa
roi 0 gr
When, if ever, was Detroit 'a great place to live' for all of her people?
One hears that cry all the time from our white citizens about how "great
Detroit used to be". Pray tell me when? That qu tion really deserves
erious di c ion-because anyone who has researched Detroit' history
know for fact the Black Derroiter's have had to ufIer and endure:
Caste ystem of the 18th century
Deed restrictions of the 19th century
Redlining of the 20th century
"Fencing" of the 21st century
No other race of people coming to America and ettling in D troit hav
been hit with uch hatred as th Black American ... not th Jew, n t th .
Polish or Irish, not the German, not the Italian or Asian not th Arab, n t
the Mexican or Chin e ...
JIM FlTZG LD' column of 6-6- 3 in th Free P reports
about remar made recently by a white female policc 0 fieer-who puts
all the blame on the Black community con ming pro lem now f ing
Detroit. I would imagine tha how all white pOlice 0 ice feel about us,
Any wonder why Malice' Green w beaten to death y white police
officelS? •
Wh
a?
�. ' _.
. , .
•• # ••
P ggy & Georg oore, Detroit
•
n-Co
yde
erve
Wayne, Oakland, and Macomb
Counties pay the top three highest
taxes to the State of Michigan. Out of
the 83 counties that receive money
back from th tate, they are at the
bottom of th list ranking in the eight­
i .
Proposal" A" would have been dis­
estrous for our tate if it became part
of our constitution. Th people w
need help th m t; enior citizens
people of mod rate means renters,
etc. would have I t their their circuit
breaker (home tead) tax credit
amounting to #393 million thi year.
All of us would have had to pay
$1.78 billion in higher sales taxes and
we were guaranteed a property tax
increase of at least the rate of inflation
or 5 percent, whichever w lower,
forever.
Proposal" A" w at least an overall
$133 million tax increase in th first
year, gettinglar er in futur years with
greater I in property tax credi .
Th citizens of Michigan were wi e
wh n they flatly rejected thi tax in­
crease/tax hift.
10TH R WORD Wayne,
Oakland, and Macomb have shared
their wealth with the rest of the tate
for years only to have it laundered by
m t of our tate legi lators,'
Th millage rat for educational
funding in Wayne, Oakland, and Ma­
comb are among the highest in our
tate.
The average i 57.5 mill tate­
wid ,m t 0 ou are 60 mill and
above. The tat wide average for lo­
cal funding for education is about 10 -
percent; in Wayne Oakland and Ma-
comb it i cl r to 80 percent.
The next tim you hear your tate
enator and representative complain
and place blame for inadequate educa­
tional funding tell them to blame it on
themselv .
Micro an d I rel y needs j b , eco­
nomic xpansion, and competition
th 10 th pnvate and public tors,
We don't need or want high r tax ,
In fact, what Michigan needs to i to
take care of i nior citizens rente ,
and othe y in reasin th 'circuit
breaker (h m tead tax credi ).
OW, Your State Rep-
resentativ and Senate are pittin
orthem Michigan against Southern
Michigan. Instead of blaming them­
elves they blame all of us. They
made the m in educational funding
they are the on who forced our -
men out 0 ight, and they re the
ones who have failed to equately
fuoo education.
Twenty years ago the tate and,
local paid an equal hare, 50 percent
each. Through tat forrnul ,they
tole education' m ney and pent it
on th�ir pet projects. Let m xplain.
When men 10 e tat
aid to our townships, citi ,vlll ,
commuruty colleg ,a'ld c I d­
crease vmgthe tat millions of dol.:
,
lars each year.
Instead 0 using the money to in­
crease funding for edu tion, they
quandered it-now th lam
in
men for everyone,
ro th board. We need to parate
property tax rellef from edu�tional
'fundmg. .
We m t et tandards for crools
nd d ide just exactly what we will
pay for and what th tate will pay for.
. .
