- READERS WRITE -
RS. PARKS:
"_'--' -- .
pl .
III .
You, of my
mind, I lw ys imagin th t if
J us were to com back to arth
now, it would a someon lik
you. As a wis and dignifi and
elderly Black woman, on
who knew life's suffering and
orrows as well life's joy. And
I keep remembering Jesus'
conti nued from page A6
L U T do i do!
omething po it iv with ourl
young people in our own commu-I
niti . All w must do i t k on
those whose only answ r ito!
build prisons. All we mu t do .
stand for what is right and oth-l
ers willjoin us. But we must take
that first step lik you did -
alone and in faith.
You taught us that, Mr .
Parks. May we be strong enough
and brave enough to once more
follow your lead.
May God grant you peace and I
a feeling of safety and comfort
and may God grant U$ th rour-I
age to help "so many of our chilo,
dren who are going astr y." I
I
ONCE WE WERE a people
of principle, who served as the
conscien of this nation. That's
why the whole world stopped for
a moment on that day wh n you
wouldn'tgiveupyour eaton he
ow, .p r ,I liev we
re a people struggling for our
v ry oul . Your muggin is but
the visibl and very sad evidence
of that struggle.
The brief life - and death -
of 11 year-old Robert Sandifer is
noth r tangibl eviden of it.
A child not yet fiv feet tall who
murdered another child and who
was murdered, in tum, by other
childr n.
An l1-year-old who wa
abus d nd neglected by the
time he was only th months
We n ch d th for our
people. We can continue to 110
other people to decide our future.
W can conti nue to I dru and
guns be sold to our children. We
cancontinu to pretend that just
bees our own nuel r family
isn't in jeopardy that there's re­
ally no problem.
We can continue to blame
white people, foreign people,
rich people, poor people, conser­
vative people or liberal people.
We can continue to spend our
own money for the here and now
- at fancy conventions and
meetings, at soirees and parties
instead of on our children and on
our future.
Or we can choose life for our
people, a nurturing life of com-
J.: 1\ t(1 •
a
..
. .
.
. .
dir tor. D pite th lack of any genuine support or recognition
by t.he black community in New York City or anywher el ,
Meyers was r peatedly £; atured on national television and on
th op-ed pa of The New York Times. Meyers' main criticism
was that Chavis' qu t for black olidarity dir. ly contra-
dicted h. c ntr 1 pur e of the iation. Meyers rt
"Th NAA P ha n ver purported to be an all-black 'big
organization dedicat d to racial unity."
The Jun , 1994 "ummit of African-Am rican Lead rship
al 0 ipc the litical attacks agai t Chavis. The .
ity of 'h''''A�tri '''''n: mer I rile ectad officials, trad unid '1
e and" r dltional" civil tight 1 d uch ru .J ,
head of the outh rn hristian Leadership Conf rence, and
oretta cott King, refu ed to show up. By contrast, aboutone
hundr d black I ders repr entingorganizations totaling mil­
lions of people did attend the historic gathering.
Dr Manntn� Marable L Prof, sor of History and Poliucul • cience.iand
Director of thv In. titute [ur ill'S arch lit IIfruYl17-lImprICun • twit .L'olumbui
Unw r: tty, N w York City "lIlflnR th '()lor Line" uppears in ooer 250
publtcatum and LS brtxulcast by more thun 75 rodio stauon tnt. rnatumall .
READERS WRITE
Midnight Basketball
.• -
,
k birt ,and gang- and drug-
lat le hal viol n in U.S.
By Walter C. Farrell, Jr.
. '
/J, "111",1/"""'i' """/ .'/,""(".".,:,
"''/Ie 11'''( ('"II"",II11( S(II,('. ut (I"
('""",,'1, "/ \\""""'11 \'ilIIII,'J ... · ••
('\\.\1", h.'" h. ,11'1' '1,':-.,," th» }!",,f,, :
III,' ;1111111\ III I ',.f"" S",I/,,'"