MR. IELD, WHO is Jewish, said the
charge was made in a television interview be
t n Mrs. Shabazz and Gable Pressman, of
WNBC's "New Forum" program. The column ran
the day before the show aired.
"The Post maliciously, deliberately and unlaw
fully characterized the language from that inter-
In. Lout F rrakhan (second from right) is fl n ed by on Joshua and u tapha nd Ra oul
Muhammad, th son of the Hon. Elijah Muhammad (far right). Photo:Jam.. hammltd/Flna' Call
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•
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How can African American womenjlnd and keep ,a husband?
CHICAGO, IL - There is a
growing scarcity of eligible Afri
can American males in this
country. African American
wo fi 1 t . grea chal-
lenge trvi to "_th·
out a husband and father for
their children. The University of.
Chicago has estimated that by
the year 2000 more than 70% of
African American males will
either be unemployed, in jail, on
drugs or dead.
"How can the family procre
ated and grow if there are no
males?" asks Dr. Jawanza Kun
jufu. His recent book, The
Power, Passion and Pain of
Black Love offers these sobering
statistics:
• There is a 70% chance that
those Black males failed by their
teachers between kindergarten
and third grade will not gradu-
from . gb 1IChool, .
them ·ineligib and
husbands to .. he Black femal
looking for an upscale relation
ship.
"Sexism is an illusion that in
secure men use to rationalize to
themselves that their differ
ences make them better. As a
result, hen tb mal in re
lationship has a college degree
d the mal doee no , tb .
ten percent greater chance of di
vorce."
Dr. KUl\iufu has discovered
some practical approaches to
solving the problems of finding
and keeping a mate. He recom
mends that a woman start by
examining her own suitability
for marriage by answering these
questions:
• Do you have a realistic per
ception of what marriage is and
what it is not?
• Do you ,have an adequate
amount of self knowledge?
• Are you emotionally
healthy with the appropriate
amount of self-esteem? ,
• Are willing to compromise?
• Are you a fairly effective
communicator?
• Do you really want your
marriage to last?
"We do a better job selecting
cars, clothes, houses, colleges
and careers than choosing a
mate," says Dr. Kunjufu. By an-
takes a look at tne philosophical
reasons behind the fact that the
divorce rate in Africa is only five
percent compared with the 80%
rate in America.
"Many African scholars pro
pose that the reason we were
able to stay together in the past
was because we felt that family
and marriage were important
and something to be valued. Our
ancestors felt that the family
was the basic unit of the nation
and the only way Mrican people
could survive was if the African
family survived. "
And, as to the success of Afri
can marriages he observes, "One
of the major reasons for the tre
mendous disparity between the
divorce rate in Western and
Eastern society is that in Amer
ica, everyone is present for the
wedding eeremony., but few are
involved in the reconciliation. In
an African value system, the two
individuals are not just married
toeach other, they are married
to the larger community that
sanctioned the wedding. "
Dr. KuJ\jufu explores these
and other vital issues affecti� ,
th future 0 �.African Ame '
can cOmmuruty. As an educatIon"
consultant with African Ameri
can Images, Dr. Kunjufu leo
tures and conducts workshops
for students, parents, teachers
and community residents
around the country. His wealth
of wisdom derives from a variety
of sources that include his own
extensive ezperience and teach
ing. And, most importantly, his
advice works within his own suc
cessful marriage.
Whether your are single, .
married, emotionally or physi
cally separated, or divorced, ,
both women and men can draw
encouragement and find an
swers to real problems from The
Power, Passion & Pain of Black.
Love .
To learn more call 1-800-552-
1991.
CONSIDERING THESE
statistics, how does a woman
find a qualified mate when there
are so few available? How do
these somber statistics affect re
lationships, economic survival,
marriage, the family, and even
tually, the future of the Black
race in America? Kunjufu iden
tifies other phenomena that af
fect the stability of African
American relationships, such as
sexism and racism. .
"One of the barriers to suc
cessful relationships is a form of
racism," he says. "Many of us
talk Black, but if beauty is "de
fined as long hair, blue eyes and
light skin then racism has once
again affected our definition of
beauty. Many African American
males expect African American
females to act like white
women." "
Depending on the geo
graphic area, there is only one
Black male for every two to five
Black woman;
• 80% of African American
marriages end in divorce;
Infant mortality in Black
communities exceeds the rates
in many economically underde
veloped nations worldwide (in
1991 the number of Black males
infants that died in infancy was
25% higher than that of Black
females);
swering some questions hon
estly to ourselvea we can make
the selection procesa more effec
tive.
DR. KUNJUFU ALSO
NAACP to challenge
major tetephone,
cable '& video ervice
cide what slice of the economic
or policy pie we as African
Americans are going to share.
We must invite ourselves to the
table and declare ourselves
equal partners. Then in a spirit
of mutual respect, join with
other key sectors in deciding
what the priorities will be for
implementing the Information
Super Highway for the benefit of
all Americans - not just the
super rich and the economically
ad vantaged. "
WASHINGTON, DC - The na
tion's oldest civil rights organi
zation, the National Association
for the Advancement of Colored
People (NAACP), launched a
new civil rights objective today
when they took aim at the Clin
ton Administration's high prior
ity item - the proposed
"National Information Super
Highway."
Prior to launching the new
campaign _;_ NAACP national
Board Chairman Dr. William F.
Gibson' and Executive Direc
tor/CEO Dr. Benjamin F.
Chavis, first met privately with
several associates and advisors.
Many attending 'the meeting
were also both knowledgeable
and involved in the onrushing
and complex information super
highway program - or it) the
field of telecommunications.
The announced purpose was
. to provide last minute updates
and information to NAACP offi
cials and Chairman Gibson, be
fore Gibson named the new
NAACP Telecommunications
Task Force - and the names of
the members who will sit on that
Committee.
The Task For members,
who are expected to be named
within the next few weeks, will
be comprised of NAAQP Board
members, public and private or
ganization officials - and in
dustry leaders from around the
nation.
THE PURPOSE OF the
Task Force, according to Chair
man Gibson, will be to "help for
mulate policy and
programmatic'recommenda
tions that will be aimed at bring
ing a more focused civil rights
perspective to the ongoing fed
eral, state and local delibera
tions now in progress.
The' ultimate objective is to
assure that AfricanAmericans
are participants in the owner
ship, management and total em
ployment package. This
participation can only happen if
the African American commu
nity participates fully in those
decisions that affect the quality,
accessibility, and affordability of
their area's hiring and distribu
tion." ,
Executive Director Chavis
concurred with GibJ'on's out
look, and added - "we cannot
afford to sit back and wait for
business and government to de-
BOTH CHAIRMAN Gibson
. and CEO Chavis indicated they
would also ask the NAACP Tele
communications Task Force to
review several of the policies
that are generally accepted as
having the support of the, Clin
ton Administration and tele
commcnlceuo.is industry.
Among them are the sched
ules on deployment of broad
band, and interactive voice, data
and video services. In addition
Gibson and Chavis said the�
will be a sharp focus on e�uring
that all African Ainericans are
totally involved in federal and
tate planning - and in the im
plementation of all phas of the
p
Gov. John Engler (right), Detroit Mayor Denni Archer (second right), and Mik Jon (I ft),
Anheuser-Bu ch Companies' corporate affair centr I region manager, join Wolverln B r
A soclatlon President-Elect Reginald Turner ( econd. left), In gre tlng gue t at th
preeident's reception held prior to the association' annual ball t the Renal ance Center.
More than 400 civic, business and political leaders attend d the reception, pon ored by
Anheuser-Busch Companies on behalf of the African·American attorn y 'org nization. The
annual gala is a major fund-raiser for the Wolverine Barri ter ,who e m mbers provid a
variety of legal ervices to the Detrolt-are community. ' .