�Th M: c n, on hi
r d th iv a one
compo it whol ; an or anie
ntity, progr vely driving
to d e t r hannony .
d ity, who individual
part xi t IDe rely a
int rd p nd nt a peet of
hoi , r alizin their
full t life in th corporate
life ho communal
contentment i the ab olute
IDea ure of value .'
ide,
o
. ,.
ANTON LEMBEDE, in Mandela,
Higher than Hope, 1991
.. _, ... ,,. ,
r bri
liberalism, Clinton
right . thin on r
coming p ident. Clinton'
t t on th nomination otLani
Guinier h d of th Civil
Rigb divi ion oftbe Justice De-
partment, . to incr'eEUle
t minimum , his ilence
on program for urban ream-
truct.ion and jobs, and his em­
brace of the North American
F Trade Agreement, all indi­
cate a perspective of moderate
Republicanism.
IT WAS IN this context of
retreat that the R publican
Right was able to take the offen­
sive. First came the victory 0
Republican Kay Bailey
Hutchison in the Senatorial race
in Te Then in toe Angel ,
millionaire Republican buai-
man Richard Riordan over­
whelmingly trounced liberal
Democratic City Councilman
Michael Woo in the race for
mayor.
lORD
u fully 00 cted an alit-
i t, nti-bl ck united front,
hich received broad, bi . n
upport. H 40 rcent
of th vot from r gistered
Democrats, one-half of the J -
ish vote, and the overwhelming
majority of the white uburban
vote. Despite the fact that Woo
. an Asian-American, about 31
percent of the Asian-American
electorate supported Riordan.
African-Americans were Woo'
strongest supporters, but a 10
turnout from the Black commu­
nity and th political n trality
by some Black. ders uch 88
Co manMuineW:
contributed to Woo' de
RiO�'8 "coaserv tive bi-
partisan. approach also in-
dicated by hi initial
appointmen He selected wn­
liam �ardlaw, who headed Clin-
Readers Write
.
Oakland is
'do-nothing
county for Blacks'
In light of current'backward' steps to disperse equal employ­
ment duties in Oakland County government, thereby literally
making no one accountable, requires investigation by the U.S.
Justice Department
to prohibit the County from further solidifying its do-nothing
position in affirmative action.
The task of affirmative action policy is to create an across
the board workforce that adequately represents the population
of the jurisdiction. The unfinished business for Oakland County
government is effective policy and action that moves it beyond
discrimination in its workforce.
Commissioner Hubert Price, Jr., continues his advocacy for
soundness of policy and action that eliminates treatment of
minorities as less.than equal by those who have the power to
hire, promote and dismiss.
IN ORDER FOR change to be meaningful it must be based
on experiences to direct the change. If affirmative action in
Oakland County had been tried.. valuable knowledge about
discriminatory practices and employment patterns could }:lave
been gained to give substance to any proposed changes.
Fact is, affirmative action has really never been tried; that
is, with real commitment in Oakland County government.
My tenure as Pontiac Area Urban League President (1977-
1988) included numerous meetings with county officials and
evaluation of affirmative action. The statistics never equalled
out for minorities: Knowledge since then only confirms the ever
present void in minority hiring and promotion. The proposed
changes, at best, shallow, hollow and expedient will further
widen the gap.
THE RECORD OF effective affirmative action policy and
practice centralizes authority in one person supported by ade­
quate staff resources and total organization committment to
accomplish the task. Proposed re-organization with.equal em­
ployment duties picked up by more than 40 personnel analysts
makes a mockery of accountability and urther commits the
County to a do-nothing posit 'on in affirmative action. Affirm- .
ative action was conceived to affect the generations of depriva­
tion which this nation has inflicted on Black workers-from
education, from apprenticeship, from hiring, training, promo­
tion, from consideration.
In 1993, Oakland County proposes to inflict more pain even
on generations unborn. Justice in Oakland County must prevail
even ifaction of the U.S. Department of Justice is required.
Hugh J ck on
Repub-
licans ant to run w y
from the crisis of social reality.
But in the final analysi ,
there will be no security gua ,
sophisticated alarm systems, or
concrete barrier which '11
tb turmoil of our central
from the well-manicured
la , country clubs and com­
fortableencla of whit ubur­
bi&.
If whites of the middle and
upper , along with t.bair
Black and Latino aftluent alli ,
believe that the Riordans and
Giulianis will protect them, they
will pay ly for their fraudu­
lent illuaio
Lester's World
As your agent I feel that
I should warn you .... it's
not good to publicly
support stuff like this .
SLACK
ORGANIZATIONS
P�SE CMtu: 0 tlC
ORMOQ.E _
tl ASSOC'An,,� �
AF�,CAAJ A "ER
STUPI£5 ,��
o 8LAct. PA�1Hfj?;
Dc.o.ne
o JI{;._ •
O NAAcp .
NATIOIJ Of ISLA
o ONE HO"'PREl) �
&..ACK M€A) OF
o ANl£R.�
a O�T/oA) Pu�
S,C,L.c_
o I) AliT£[) IJc&/C'D
('�I,U6C FunD
o {)�BAN lFAG'VE
By Mumia Ahu-Jam.al
It is an odd and unfamiliar
sensation to write of one never
known.
I've read of her.
I've heard of her.
But never had I met her.
We had what some would call
a third party relationship; a
friend-of-a-friend type thing.
I'd known her family.
Some of my family knew her.
So close. So far.
as a strong person, possessed of
strong positions. Grassroots, she
moved by the spirit in a wide
range of progressive move­
ments, from the August 8th Jus­
tice Committee (of which she
was Chairperson) to theNelson
Mandela Freedom Committee.
The Aug. 8th Justice Committee
sought freedom for the MOVE 9
political prisoners imprisoned
since the 1978 MOVE confronta­
tion. She fought for years for the
Freedom of imprisoned South
African ANC militant, Nelson
Mandela.
to her brother, prominent Phila­
delphia journalist, Elmer Smith,
"spiritually uplifting. "
"All the rallying in the world
didn't get Ramona out," Elmer
was quoted as saying, adding,
"but the fact that she was out
made my sister feel good .... "
Shebecame a key force in all
the various movements that she
worked in, contributing quiet
strength and determination to
them all.
No movement can exist with­
out the people who, like Cory, do
the little everyday things that
need. to be done; the phone calls,
the letter writing, the' calls to
talk shows, the mailing, etc.
They provide the passion, the
spirit, the motivation, the hu­
man drive that fuel movements
making hopes into reality.
--...-Waz�
opyr ight @1993
Kern De ign Inc.
HER AME WAS Cora Lee
Smith Karnis, but many knew
her simply as "Cory from West
Philly" to the anonymous many
who make up the hord of talk
radio fans who listened to
WHAT-AM.
She was a human dynamo,
actiVe in a host of organizations
in the field of human rights.
Small in stature, she de-
scribed by those who knew her
SHE ALSO worked for years
for the freedom of MOVE Com­
munications Minister,· Ramona
Africa, and although Ramona
spent the entire 7 years impris­
oned as a political prisoner, hav­
ing repeatedly been denied
parole because she refused to de­
nounce her faith, Ramona's
eventual release was, according
IT IS PERHAPS most tell­
ing of the kind of person she was
From
Death
Row
...I
that her last campaign was to
organize opposition to the con­
troversial July 4th, 1993 Liberty
Award ceremonies honoring
South Africa? State President
F. W. De Klerk and ANC Presi­
dent Dr. Nelson Mandela in � •
Philadelp hia.
Cora had fought long and
hard for Mr. Mandala's freedom, :
but could not abide the notion of
honoring the Prince of Apart­
heid, Mr. De Klerk, and ANC
President Dr. Nelson Mandela
in Philad lphia.
She died of a heart attack at
the age of 46 before the 4th of
July Protests, a demonstration
dedicated to her bright memory.
I send my belated thanks to .
her noble pirit for her valued
support in our fight for f om'
and true jus ice.
May her life be a light .