"
hack,
true u
learning
yo
t
ever urr
Inhuman
theorie of Verwoerd. "
-NELSON MANDELA,
Higher Than Hope, 1991
Readers Write
Twenty years ago when I first
began volunteering my services
to children in my immediate
neighborhood, it was thought
that neighborhood folks like my­
self and other were ill-equipped
in directing neighborhood kids
on a successful path.
Paid outsiders were always
bussed into our neighborhoods to
niiniSter' our youngsters.
Well, here we are 20 years
down the road and our kids and
neighborhoods are worse off than
they were back in the early
1970's.
I can recall a time some years
ago when myself and others care­
fully. recruited three-dozen
youth from the neighborhood to
take an active part in a commu­
nity-wide election by voting. This
election was to be held in the
basement of our local police pre­
cinct. We even rented a van (out­
of-pocket) to transfer these teens
to the precinct.
WELL, WHEN WE all ar­
rived at the precinct we weren't
welcomed at all. In fact the pre­
cinct brass censored us harshly
for attempting to teach Black
teenagers how to vote (the police
called them ruffians).
I remember another time
when a Detroit news staff writer
accused me of teaching a young
Black girl how to write.
The proposals that we submit
to various funding agencie for
the most part .go un-funded.
Even when money is awarded its
seeped in so much "red tape" un­
til we almost never get it in our
hands.
?
Right now, today, we have ix
donated computers sitting idl in
our building imply becau e we
don't have funds to pay our util­
ity bills. The D troit Edison o.
and Mich on bill us at a high r
comm rcial r t t r energy even
though we're a nonprofit 501 c.3
tax exempt organization. Ther
. no r lief.
LA T YEAR A reporter from
the "Children's First" program at
the Detroi t Free Pr came out
several times and viewed our
program, and yet w were not
added to th list of program to
receive donations from the gen­
eral public.
I've exhausted all my ca h ad­
vances from my MasterCard,
Visa and iscovery Card pro­
moting our fter-s hool ading,
writing and computer cl for
neighborhood kids. And now I'm
in deep troubl with my husband
because lately I'v n using his
Ford re irement check to pay for
utiliti .
Garr tt Goodwin, th eleven­
year-old youngst r caught 11-
ing drugs in my 11 i hborh ad,
participated in our program
daily, that i until our gas w
turned off la t wint r.
lund rs nd why kids in low­
incom n ighborhoods continu
to live in tr ful con iti n -
i partly u folks lik m
nd oth rs who} v
desir 0 a
ignored.
PEGGY ANN M<X>RE
Detroit Black Writ r' Guild
BUlboar4s
romanttci zing
g ns and vio
'TO THE EDITOR:
The citizens, governm ntalof­
ficials, and organizations of D -
troit are working very hard 0
curb the violence and to r u
the number of handguns in our
community.
That is why I w s so an­
guished when I came out of my
office yesterday and w a huge
billboard advertising th n w
movie "Beverly Hills Cops" fac­
ing south on Woodward Av nu
ju t north of Orch tr Hall
There on that billbo rd is th
huge. pictur of Eddi Murphy,
miling on all our ci izens hold­
ing air chrom pi tol in front
of him.
Why would Eddi , Hollyw d
nd he billbo rd ign comp ny
rom nticize guns when our citi­
z ns re trying so h rd to r u
viol n and bring st bility nd
PADRAIC 1. MULLI
R id nt of th Mdii
C n rAr
y
T T' BECAUSE T E
actual impact of "3 Strikes" will
not be f It for at least 10 to 20'
years from now, simply use
"1,' •
I u . '; .11/--'
j • ,. • I
I _. :.11 1"
P nn ylv ni
o r 6 0 million thi
or th ir pri ; C ifomia ,
o r 2.7 billion this year, with
for next y r expected to
top co for higher education ..
prisons b come increas­
ingly geriatric, with populations
hitting 50s and 60s, those al­
r dy atmospheric costs will bal­
loon exponentiaUyfor expected
health costs; so that, while many
Americans, an e timated 37 mil­
lion, don't have guaranteed
h lth care, prisoners will,
though of doubtful quality.
C NOM'C�
I JUSTICEr
f
_ '; /1 .
t � ;
A more cynical soul, viewing
thi pri on-boom-bill through
the lens of conomic inte t,
might sup that elements of
the correctional industry, build­
e , guards', unio and th like,
are-fueling the boom, at 1 tin
part.
OTHER ELEMENT IS
the eronomy itself, where Amer-
ry OlD, V ry
ry r ck ty
c nt of
or our children.
nder to th.
d barbaric
ica ente the post-indu trial
a , wh n J pan produce the
orld' computer chip ; Ger­
many pr uc high rform­
ance autos; and America
produ ... prisons.
Prisons he America'
job programs, housing pro­
grams, and soci I control pro-.
grams m rge into a dark whole;
and whe those lready outside
of the game, can be exploited and
utilized to k p the game going .
.. : ... �
Readers Write ----------
The chase their own cars instead of la .
receiving free tran portation
from the city. This could save th
city approximately $154,000 an­
nually.
s
.ea
To Mayor Dennis Archer
A
BY IMPLEMENTIN
uggested outlin , you can r d-
ily how this bud d ficit
n be reduced by millions of dol-
e q al
•
VC
o
u
pI
Using our dollars to care for Bl ck people as
- whi pl u th ir dollars to care for bite
Frank W. Burrell