[This text is machine generated and may contain errors.]
| by Jamal E Watson
NEW YORK, NY - Despite the war
in Iraq, polls suggest that Secretary
of State Colin Powell Ts popularity
among the American public remains
strong. The same is true among Af-
tican-Américans, who favor Powell
even.as they've collectively de-
nounced the Bush administration
and disagree with the war in Iraq.
So when Powell, the country Ts
first African-American Secretary of
State, announced that he was resign-
ing from the post - a move that had
been long anticipated - it came as
unwelcome news even for some
loyal Black Democrats,
oT like him a lot, ? said Ralph
Glover, 34, of Harlem. oI thought
he was the conscience of this admin-
istration. He understood the issues
that African-Americans faced. ?
Despite Powell Ts alignment
with the Bush administration,
Glover, an investment banker who
isa Democrat, said that he contin-
ued to support Powell because of his
public positions on supporting a
womans right to choose and his
strong embrace of affirmative action
- two issues that have put him at
odds with the Bush administration.
oT admire the fact that he did
not change his positions, ? said
Glover. oFhat says a lot about the
man. ?
Donna Brazile, who served as
campaign manager for Al Gore Ts
2 Serving Eastern North Carolina's Minority Communities Since 1988 |
2000 piesidential bid, said that
Powell was a obridge builder and an
important voice on issues facing the
country and the world. ?
oHe gets an A-plus in my
book, ? said Brazile. oHe is a man of
valor and a person of character. ?
Powell Ts departure opened the
way for Bush to appoint his Na-
tional Security Advisor Condoleezza
Rice to the post, making her the sec-
ond African-American to hold the
job. She is also the second woman
in history to hold the job. President
Clinton made history when he ap-
pointed Madeline Albright to he
position.
oThe secretary of state is
America Ts face to the world, and in
Dr. Rice the world will see the
strength, the grace and the decency
of our country, ? Bush said in an-
nouncing to reporters that Rice had
been selected to replace Powell.
oDuring the last four years I Tve
relied on her counsel, benefited
from her great experience, and ap-
preciated her sound and steady
judgment, and now I Tm honored
that she has agreed to serve in my
Cabinet, ? Bush added.
Political pundits have credited
Bush with appointing minorities to
high-profile positions within his ad-
ministration. Last week he an-
nounced that Alberto Gonzales, the
White House counsel, would replace
Attorney General John Ashcroft
when he steps down. ?
iat teenth
ea,
_ serve him. ?
oI think this administration is
committed to diversity, ? said
Brazile. oThey have shown that,
and I hope that the president will
continue to reach out not only to
Black Republicans and Democrats. ?
It Ts unclear how popular Rice is
with the overall electorate. Polls sug-
gest, however, that she does not en-
joy the same popularity among Af-
rican-Americans that is granted to
Powell.
William Strickland, a professor
of political science and African
American Studies at the University
of Massachusetts, Amherst, says that
both Powell and Rice have lost their
way.
oPowell is just our contempo- _
rary Booker T. Washington, ? said
Strickland. oHe Ts out of the loop.
They're sending him around the
world and he has no credibility. ?
Criticism of Powell has intensi-
fied over the last few years. In 2002,
singer Harry Belafonte compared
Powell to a plantation slave who .
moves into the slave owner Ts house
and says only things that will please
his master.
TThere Ts an. old Saying, ?
Belafonte said in an interview. "In
the days of slavery, there were those
slaves who lived on the plantation
and there were those slaves that
lived in the house. You got the privi-
lege of living in the house if you
served the master ... exactly the-wa
the master intended to have you
At the time, Powell called the
comments ounfortunate ? and said
he was oproud to be serving ? his
nation and his president.
Rice grew up in segregated Bir-
mingham and was exposed to the
racial horrors of the South. Four of
her classmates were killed in the Six-
Street Baptist Ch
to have dreams and aspirations when
half of your neighbors see you as in-
capable or uninterested in anything
better, ? Rice said in a speech given
early this year at Vanderbilt Univer-
sity.
oI know what it Ts like to live in
progress.
ST know what it Ts like to live in ?
Segregation. ... 1 know what it means-
Still, both Powell and Rice have
been faulted by critics for failing to
use their positions and access to
Bush to push for changes that they
see necessary for African-American
|Complimentary Issue }
Please Take One|
(Retail Value: 50 Cents)
against our interests, ?
Strickland.
Some speculate that Bush, who
_ will likely make two to three addi-
a ras
; ¢ a
.
g
oThey have advocated posi-
tions that have fundamentally been
said
30, 2004
tional Supreme Court appointments
during his second term, will prob-
ably appoint the first Hispanic to
the court and may appoint a Black
woman.
" " " " "
io
Above Rev. Willie Joyner is surrounded by his father and brother, along with Rev
fis suri t with an eee of hostility, cold | 100 BLACK MEN HONOREES... Attorney Paul T. Williams (left), president of the One Hindred Black men, |
Payton (far left) and other ministers who congradulated him on his nomination to stares, and the threat and the ever-_ | Inc., con adulates (from left) Dr. Johnnetta B. Cole, president of Bennet College, baseball legend, Hank Aaron,
the position od Bishop of the South East B Conference of Churches. A lunch and Presence of violence ... a threat that SHS] defense attorney, entertainer, Willie Gray; actress and singer, Janice Ja
n_ after honoring them on the
then back to the planning tables to pursue their of agenda of up lifting our people behalf of the organization at an awards gala held at the Hilton Hotel in Manhattan (for more on this story see Janet
sometimes erupted into the real
thing. ?
ae oe ee
to work together and create better and safer communities for young people to live in
prow in.., A
NEWS IN BRIEF
tary: Jim Rouse
by Herb Boyd
EW YORK, NY - While violent
crime and property crime declined last
year, there was an alarming increase in
the nation Ts prison Population, accord-
ing to a newly released report.
At the end of last year, there were
1,470,045 men and women in state
and prisons in the United States.
Including the inmates in city and
county jails and incarcerated juvenile
offenders, the total number of Ameri-
cans behind bars was 2,212,475 on
Dec. 31, 2003, said Allen Beck, chief
of corrections statistics for the
department's Bureau of Justice Statis-
tics and an author of the repoft.
The report estimated that 44 per-
cent of state and federal prisoners in
2003 were Black, compared with 35
G-Unit
Young Buck performs at the MTV stu-
dios on Nov. 13, 2003,
LOS ANGELES - Rapper Young Buck
has given himself up to police after being
suspected of stabbing a fan at the Vibe
Awards, an assault apparently rated
when Bucks musical mentor, Dr. Dre, was
punched just before being handed a life-
time achievement award,
ent,
s posse G-Unit. He
the group, replacing original member
Tony Yayo who was sentenced to prison
for gun possession,
percent of young
percent white, 19 percent Latino and 2
rcent other races. Clearly, there has
been little change over the last decade
or so.
Among the more than 1.4 million
sentenced inmates at the end of 2003,
an estimated 403,165 were Black men
between ages 20 and 39.
At the end of 2003, 9.3 percent of
Black men between the ages of 25 to
29 were in prison, compared with 2.6
percent of Fispanic men and 1.1 per-
cent of white men in the same age group.
Raymond A. Winbush, director of
the Instituté for Urban Research at
Morgan State University, said that re-
cent numbers of African-American men
who are incarcerated should be viewed
within the context of the osocial condi-
tions that African-American men find
Young Buck was charged with at-
sempoed murder an assault with a
weapon after stabbing the fan last Mon-
day (Nov. 15) at the awards in Santa
Monica.
The 23 year old rapper was released
after posting $500,000 bail. He will face
court of December 20,
Buck fled the Santa Monica airport
hangar where the awards show was bei
Monday night, police Lt. F
said in a statement. A warrant was
dead Prepared alleging assault with a
n.
An audience member holds up a chair
shortly after a fight broke out in the audi-
ence at the Second Annual Vibe Awards.
Val ces was sparked as Snoop
jon about to give Dre a ean
achievement award. A man later identi-
fied as Jimmy James Johnson approached
Dre, wh ata table in front of
the stage, and appeared to ask for an auto-
raph before punching the veteran
Finale, ice said.
Peo shoving, chairs were
thrown tr flew Some in the
sn of out LO ct
exits, t's top winner
wich awards fora of he pao
R&B song, was among those who fled.
Johnson was away by secu-
rity staff, but then s a serious stab
audience member holds
at the Second Annual Vibe Awards.
Jackson on Page 5).
themselves in. ?
We fail to connect the dots to the
real-world issues of what's going on
when it comes to Black men, ? said
Winbush, adding that record levels of
unemployment for Black males and rac-
ism in sentencing guidelines are con-
tributing factors for the stiff prison sen-
tences that Black men typically face.
Alfred Blumstein, a criminologist at
yanege Mellon University, told the New
York'Times that such a high proportion of
oung Black men behind bars not only
has strong impact on Black families but
is, in many ways, self-defeating.
oThe criminal justice system is
built on deterrence, with being sent to
prison supposedly a stigma, ? he said.
But it Ts tough to convey a sense of
stigma when so many of your friends
Rapper Young Buck
wound when he was attacked by a num-
ber of people, including Buck, whose real
name is David Damell Brown, accordin,
to police. He is signed to Dr. Dre's re
label as part of the G-Unit clique, which
was named best group by the music maga-
zine
oBrownis clearly depicted (on vid-
up a chair shortly after a fight broke out in the audience
Black men behind bar's
and neighbors are similarly stigmatized, ?
Blumstein added.
The report also disclosed that rough
e
sentencing laws led to a growth in
prison population from 522,000 in
1995 to 615,400 in 2002. This increase
may be attributed to the draconian
Rockefeller drug laws, some activists
have contended. With the recent elec-
tion of David Soares as the District At-
torney in Albany, the drug laws will have
an active opponent who won on the
platform to reform the laws.
In New York, the report noted,
there was a 2.8-percent decrease in new
inmates, reflecting the continued sharp
fall in crime across New York City.
The number of women in state and
federal prisons is at an all-time high and
growing fast, with the incarceration rate
Johnson, 26, was in stable condi-
tion at a hospital.
oTt is unfortunate that an event so
many people worked very hard to create
as been tainted by the actions of a few
individuals, ? Kenard Gibbs, president
- of Vibe, said in a statement.
Many in the constantly feuding rap
, i
eotape) as holding a knife after the as-
sault and is one of a number of fight
participants that was pepper-sprayed b
7 ca
in their attempt to stop this fight, ?
Police Chief James Butts told a news con-
ference. oWe're ashing Mt David Darnell
Brown to surrender
imself to police. ?
community speculated that longtime
Dre antagonist Suge Knight, who at-
tended the awards, arranged for Dre to
t punched. Suge and Dre started the
egendary Death Row record label to-
gether in the late 1980s, then had a bit-
ter separation over money. and the vio-
| .
for females increasing at nearly twice that
of men, the report further noted.
In the case of these women, most
are arrested for crimes such as prostitu-
tion, drug use and writing bad checks,
Winbush says that there is a direct cor:
relation between the crimes of Black
women olooking to ially sup
themselves ? and their boyfriends or
bands being incarcerated.
USS. prisons held 101,179 women
last year, 3.6 percent more than in 2002,
the Justice Department said. It was the
first time the riation Ts women Ts prison
population has topped 100,000.
» men are still far more likely
than women to be in jail or prison, and
men are more likely than any other
group to be locked up, At the end of
2003, U.S. prisons held 1,368,866
men, the Bureau of Justice Statistics said.
Jamal E. Watson contributed to this
report.
us-
Surrenders
lence that has surrounded Knight dur-
ing his 15 years in the music business.
Knight denied any involvement in
the attack on Dre.
i thing elds iy some- "
ing, Pm (taki bility) ? Knight
id T ae show. Tn not art
idiot. See, an idiot would go out there and
do stuff. ? }
Buck, a native of Nashville, Tenn., ig
a member of superstar 50 Cent's G-Unit
posse. pone wate solo abu
t Outta in
ido Serta ee
7 pr those who listen to Buck and G-
it Ts hardcore rhymes, its no surprise thai
Buck would spring to the defense of hig
godfather Dre, one of the architects of
gangsta rap. And although there were:
ere at the door, performers
aren't typically searched when th entef
an as show, 7 °
It wasnit the first hip-hop awards show
to be jon by violence: The 200d
were marred by fights - and
ever.
ibe fracas was squelched
thnday igh tthe taping contined. The
Tuesday night on UPN;
ited to remove any trace
oThey can't stop me, I don't care, ?
Dre said on television as he accepted his
award, showing no signs of injury,
By Dr, Marcellus Andrews, Ph.D
The just
concluded
presidential
~~ economy lag-
Bing in impor-
i tance while
uestions
oabout pov-
erty, eco-
racial justice languished in the shadows.
As always, the concerns of black people
were invisible to the parties and to white
memgheiee en sonar were
. gain caught in a vise
ful white nationalist conservatism of the
Republicans and an increasingly indiffer-
ent business liberalism of the Democrats.
But one geis the sense that black
America is at a breaking point in matters
of politics, The old alliance between blacks
and the Democrats is about to end while
the war between blacks and conservatives
is going to get much wotse. Most of all,
the unique solidarity between the black
middle class and the black poor will soon
end as the pressure of economic sutvival
turns former allies into enemies. Poor black
people are about to become the victims of
a great political betrayal that is as predict-
able as is me i Detrayal is due to
e unyie of modern economic
life, whch he slowly but inexorably de-
stroyed the basis for black unity. A brief
assessment of our current economic pre-
icament shows why the old forms of
unity cannot endure.
The Republican Party, that peculi
union of fundamentalist i pike an
fundamentalist Christians, is all about
cutting the size of government through
low taxes and fewer regulations, includ-
When
final
the
votes came in,
- President
Bush's black
vote looked
ike adrop in
the bucket
amid his na-
~ tional flood,
= -but it looked
: Sirhis Democeatico ponent... r
na Diack vote'that surged upwar
about 25 percent from 2000 to 13.2
million voters, 11 percent of it went to
Which
_ Rev. Jessee Jackson
Dip Gop Vore REPUBLICAN?
Youd think so if you listen to some
of the evangelical supporters of George
Bush.
Regular churchgoers véted dra-
matically Republican in the election.
20% of the voters identified omorals ? as
their major concern and voted over-.
whelmingly for George Bush. (Whereas
those who named the economy and jobs
or Iraq as their lead concerns voted three
to one for Kerry). Bush charged John
Kerry, a religious, practicing Catholic,
with representing Hollywood values.
d many voters believed in Bush be-
cause he said he straightened himself out
by taking Jesus into his life, and because
¢ uses the imagery and language of
evangelicals - othe culture of life ? -
through his speeches. Democrats, Re-
publican operatives charged, are simply
divorced from the values of mainstream,
religious America.
But Republicans have no mo-
nopoly on religion or on faith: And Re-
publican policies often seem a far di-
vorce from the moral teachings of the
Bible. The Bible tells us we will be mea-
sured by how we treat the least of these.
But under this president, poverty is ris-
ing, Childhood poverty is up. Poor chil-
dren grow with inadequate nutrition,
no health insurance, no preschool, Mr.
Bush Ts policies of top-end tax cuts and
cuts in support for the poor only make
things worse.
esus was born in a manger, notin a
mansion, He had a manger-up view of
the world, not a mansion-down view.
Jesus taught that a rich man was as likely
to get into the Kingdom as a camel
through the eye of a needle. This isnot
exactly a widespread sentiment at the
Republican National convention.
He urged his followers to beware
of worldly ig to simplify their lives
and follow him. He instructed them to
serve the poor, not neglect them. Jesus
taught us to love every child, to rise above
hierarchies in America,
Ce
No Exit in Black: Trapped
ing public action to counter the outcomes
of peivake racial discrimination in the
economy or other parts of the private sec-
tor. icans have done a brilliant job
of buildi an alliance between capitalist
and racists that does not rely on govern-
__ Ment power to promote racial segregation
or racial inequality. Instead, the leadi
sectors of conservative America have reli
on the typical mechanisms of economic
inequality and social class to sustain racial
ing them to
champion competition, choice and indi-
vidal ight in ¢ face of persistent racial
ties in économic outcomes.
Modern Ametica is, according to Re-
publicans, a place where the economic for-
tunes of different groups reflects the cul-
tural and intellectual capital that these
groups bring to an impartial competitive
lace, which assigns value to people
icles of what they do rather than
what they are. So, according to this view
of things, black people are poorer than
other fo » well, they are just not
as smart or as industrious as other people.
Poverty and racial inequality are not due
to discrimination, but rather mean that
black people should imitate the culture of
: if they want to get ahead.
This boats "etlerale eae racial
inequality is an electoral winner for free
matt sdrocees who oppose most forms
of redistribution as well as white national-
ists who are loathe to support blacks who
they view as biologically and morally infe-
rior
Can blacks appeal to American liber-
als and progressives for support in their
drive for real equal opportunity? tts
doned its concern with the needs of poor
and badly schooled Americans of all colors
in the modern, technology driven global
economy in favor ofa of business
liberalisn thatis largely in-ifferent wo black
interests,
- The harsh reality of American eco-
Bush, compared toa paltry 8 percent in
2000.
He came as the Messiah segs people
were expecting, praying for, a mi
warrior that Tight deliver them hy
their oppressors, Instead, God brought
them a baby, wrapped in the manger.
Jesus taught the power of love, hope and
charity - not of weapons. He delivered
" by sacrificing himself that they may
ee.
His teachings are a far remove from
George Bush's war of choice in Iraq, the
euphemism used to describe an
sive war on a country that posed no terea
to us. The Pope has harshly criticized
Bush's war; the U.N, Secretary General
Kofi Annon has called it illegal.
Democrats, particularly those like
Senator Kerry who serve in the Senate a
long time, do fall into the trap often of
talking about plans and programs, not
right and wrong. They talk policy, not
ues, Not surprising, the Democrats
who have fared well politically - Jimmy
Carter, Bill Clinton save been raised in
the church and are comfortable with the
teachings of the Bible. Americans sensi-
bly want their leaders.to have a stron
moral grounding as they meet the chak
lenges yet to come.
But God is not a political animal,
The Bible tells us to tell a tree by the
fruit it bears, not the bark it wears. Christ
warns against hypocrisy - the public dis-
play of faith without a true heart or with-
out deeds of faith.
Coriservatives now suggest that
God is on the side of Republicans at
home and America abroad. That Bush is
right.to » that he has a mission
from above in the war on terror, This
gets the stakes exactly wrong. It isn't a
nothic life is that the blue-collar road to
the middle class has collapsed in the face
of a world economy dominated by trade
and technology. A large fraction of the
American work force have been stranded
in the declining sectors of the American
economy, even as their luckier counter-
parts in the growing sector are experienc-
ing a sustained economic boom. The
majority of black American workers have
been stranded on the wrong side of the
economic divide and -un-
skilled labor, a far larger fraction than
among the white majority. Even skilled
workers face job and employment threats
from trade and technology, so they are in
no mood to help people in even greater
need then themselves,
Black Americans need government
help more than whites in order to achieve
a middle class standard of living, which in
America, means their claims fall on deaf or
hostile ears. The Republicans argue against
Big Government help for anybody,
thereby ensuring that poor people stay
poor forever, Every time that a conserva-
tive claims that "people can spend their
money better than government can," he
or she isalso saying that poor people are on
their own because ri wing povernmen t
is not about to offer them a bridge from
the broken me ad economy to the
i obal economy. Even
educational efor isa fraud, since most
dollars for schools come from local districts
which depend on local and state tax mon-
ies that reflect yawning disparities across
class and color lines. government
conservatism, as a practical matter, means
that poor people will be locked out of edu-
cational opportunity for as long as the right
is in ee
Democrats are not much better.
The Democrats T business liberalism pto-
motes the well being of the middle class
majority by increasing the competitiveness
of the business sector ina hyper-competi-
tive world. For example, Democratic sup-
lina (14 percent, up from 9 percent) and
ident Bush improved his
in America. On the matter of travel, |
understand that his next stop is Douglas
High School, Atlanta, Georgia on No-
vember 18, 2004,
If Cosby is accurate in his
ra
0
from his pleasure of golf
mij moor poetic in the Berk-
shire Mountains of Massachusetts, We've
pissed him off is what we have done. He
wants to know how can poor Black folks
justify spending $200.00 for a pair of
sneakers yet NOTHING for the educa-
tional Hooked on Phonics or any-
thing women sal, Not that how any
parent s money, ent
stipend or thong 40 hours oflabor in-
tense sweat, is any of his business- yet it's
t some. spend money on that defies
sensible thinking to him. ting that
the sneaker is true, are some of us
guilty child sacrifice to the Baal god lord
consumerism and other lessor but as mor-
ally drainitig ones?
Cosby's unbridled anger has no less
arrested the attention of the Media, Paula
Zahn in particular, Attention that allows
hay sayers to replace Clarence Thomas and
meporailhdr title
race traitor who's aiting our
award. ? Clearly Cosby is no mere anaes
traitor than Farrakhan. isa Bush confi-
dant. Besides whom better than Cosby
to give his beloved agood tongue-
ang. Lan obightench othe
neglect ofthe poor, however, is obviously
not one them, baal
stair
b
| Because whatev:
rt for cutting the cost of health care for
families and seine par
and should be especially when
compared to the Republicans T limited ini-
tiatives that leave too many people with-
out insurance. The same is true of Demo-
Cratic proposals to reduce the burden of
college tuition and housing on family bud-
gets, which use various tax incentives and
subsidies to help people pay for the goods
that they need.
Do the Democrats have a program
to create genuine equal opportunity for
education, health care an te chances in
America? No. Middle America is far more
interested in shoring up schools, medical T
care and life chances for them and their
children than they are in creating real fair-
ness for all. In this divided society where a
sizeable group of poor and working class
big draw for black Bush voters, too.
his home state of Texas (1 percent, up A recent poll by the Joint Center for
But the real cost to Sen. John Kerry from 5 percent). Political and Economic Studies, a Wash-
appeared in key battleground states like Since African-Americans are the ington-based think tank specializing in
io, where Bush received an impres- Democratic Party Ts most loyal major eth- black issues, forecast a surprisingly large
sive 16 percent of the black vote, 7 points nic or racial group, that Ts alot of Kerry's black turnout for Bush. It also found that
more than he received in 2000. political base that jumped the fence. pro-Bush blacks were more likely than
And in Florida, where 13 percent Many of those fence jumpers ap- Kerry supporters to be regular churchgo-
of the black vote went to Bush, almost to be new voters, part of Bush po- ets, over age 50, opposed to gay marriage
twice the 7 percent he received there four litical adviser Karl Rowe's successinmo- and not as worr, about where their next
yearsago. . bilizing the 4 million evangelical Chris- dollar would come from.
ahaa eer nai ihich Kerry :. tianisnwho)teportedly:stayedshvonne in. 1-64 he Supreme Court put Bysh'in
won, Bush nevertheless took 16 percent 2000. The omoral values ? issue, however the White House in 2000, ? David
of the black vote, up from 7 percent in | you define it; that emerged surprisingly Bositis, the Joint Center's senior pdlitical
2000. . . in exit polls as.a bigger concern for voters analyst, observed, othe Massachusetts
~ And. in Georgia (12 percent, up than any other issue, including Iraqand " Supreme Court (which upheld gay mar-
from 7 percent in 2000), North Caro- the economy, apparently proved tobea riage in that state) probably put him back
@ ! | oY in the White House in 2004. ? .
ide Is oO n et itboinsrucie note bow
. BO ff quickly same-sex civil unions, a radical
} the divisions of race or tribe or religion. "_ question of whether God is on America Ts idea just a few short years ago, have be-
When the men gathered to stonea pros- side. The question is whether America is | come the new politically safe alternative
titute, he challenged them. Who _ on God Tsside. And as war in Iraq | position for candidates of both parties.
amongst you, he asked, can throw the _and children hungry in the richest Even President Bush endorsed civil
first stone? He asked us to stand with ° nation on » the question should so- | unions, oif that Ts what the states want to
the weak, the ill, the stranger in a forei ber the political operatives who see God | do, ? in an October interview on ABC Ts
land. The Good Samaritan stops for the asa political weapon rather than an abid- | Good Morning America, disagreeing
wounded man on the Jericho Road, stop- ing guide. " with his own party's platform.
ping to aid someone from another tribe, .
even when his own tribesman cross to t We Sacrifice the
ea ai ithe road o pas him by
We are called on to be our brothers T . . aaa Fae Ezekiel 16: 43-63, Genesis 18:20 and
ae . ar pE .B : is ,
se The division politics practiced in of Jon shed aan ed 19:4-1)
the last election, the appeals to our fear (Theodore Shaw. Wash; n Post, May Cosby while on CNN Paula Zahn
of the other contrast starkly with those 2 ree Now, Thursday, November 11, 2004, asks
27, 2004 "Beyond What Bill Cosby the lot of poor Black America: "How
Nordocs George Bushs rollback of Si T. a: you ging wp whisper hore
[¢) .
environmental regulations reflect well. missions erase He hab i ni epidemi Sn your apartment when the
The bible teaches that nature is God Ts launched ea hosts knoe but ies are coming out in sheets?" The
creation. We may use it for a while, but not caring who us willbebrened epidemic to which he's refering (pet tran-
we have no ownership of it. We are as b nego het script records), that Blacks make up 65%
stewards to the bounty that God has °Y La his words in missile styl of the prison population can neither read
created. We should be working to pre- formation, while traveli through our 2F write and a are thus termed illiterate.
serve it, not rolling back regulations to communiti holding town hall style meet- Add to that the issue of black teen preg-
poison our air, neglect our seas and turn ings, his is an in your face effort to save dene apreportionately high con-
a blind Ts eye to a global warming that ote chil dren from the sacrificial altar he S#dering that Blacks in general are only
may threaten all of God Ts creation. hints'that we've fashioned for them here 13% of the total population. To that he
Finally, Jesus was a man of peace. adds, "We're off the board [with these fig-
ures}." (Paula Zahn Now, Interview wi
Bill Cosby, Transcript November 11,
2004). his
In this fight, Cosby is leaving no stone
unturned. He ing on politicians, com-
munities, and especially parents and fami-
lies. Although accused of using back bit-
ing techniques to drive his point, he prom-
ises that we ain't seen nothing yet! No
doubt with his money and clout, in White
America and as Black America's beloved
Heathcliff Huxtable, might there be forced
house cleaning in the near future? All dust
balls and cobwebs of immorality out, out,
out! I find myself just as anxious as I am
scared that he's gonna denounce our most
revered institutions as the greatest eminent
front there ever was. Remember, he said
we ain't seen nothi cee
ing the question 'sthe money?),
you can be rest assured that we're about to
witness a modern turning over of the
tables in the » OOPS, Don't
know about you but I'm looking for a
bomb shelter lay-a-way plan at this writ-
However unthinkable the practices
of child sacrifice it is not new. . .rarely dis-
cussed, but not new. Evidence of its an-
cient practice was found some time ago in
a place called Carthage. There bones of
children and animals were discovered at a
Phoenician altar or so called Ti . Old
Testament records that parents
made their children pass through the fire
in worship of the Baal gods Molech and
Chemosh at such places, 1 Kings 11:5-8,
for such favors as good crops, rain, for-
breed chil-
dren for this purpose. In 2 Kings, 23:8-
Bi ippe
) -_ -" 0
people simply cannot make it on their own,
black vote
to Black
ns
nomy and Politics
; Pee 0 a¢ Co, a oe
Y pal eh de me: a
an insecur F ?,? middle clas is not about to
spend money on other people, particu-
llyiftheyareblck. PP ?
The Democrats have no reason to
- champion real equal opportunity because
it is expensive and would take at least a
generation to achieve. The problem with
the Democrats is that they do not have a
common program of economic reconstruc-
tion that can unite the poor and the
middle class. The fact that there are mil-
lions of people who cannot make it on
their own, no matter how hard they try,
will not convince Middle America to help
out their ling countrymen unless
they see something in it for themselves.
This sense of looking out for number one
is not just or even racism, but is
also rooted in the politics of economic sur-
Despondent Democrats should take
heart from that shift as they wonder
where and how they lost their mojo:
Most Americans eventually grow more
comfortable with new frontiers of free-
dom and equality, but you can Tt push
them too fast.
So, take heart, dear Democrats:
Come in, come in off that ledge. Please
step away from that circular firing squad.
is wet lost ~
FRO Vis is a party at onice indisput-
, ably held the mor high ground in the
\bnids of most American voters, and you
can seize it again. .
First, you've got to stop letting the
other party do a better job of defining
your omoral values ? than you do of de-
fining theirs,
oure not likely to win over many
hard-core liberal-haters, but you can win
back many of the persuadable, middle-of-
the-road i ts who see themselves
as the people who President Clinton said
owork hard and play by the rules.
Their moral values question, for
example, the withholding of full fund-
ing for educational reforms (like oNo
Ram in the Thick
10, King Josiah dismantled the altar of
sacrifice in the Valley of Ben of Hinnom.
re Child sacrifice ir also manifest itself
ough instances of unrepented genera-
sonata The problems associated with
this can be so strong that one must break
all ties of iniquity coming down the fam-
ily lines ten generations backwards and
ten generations forward (Richard In
Spiritual Warfare, Whitaker House, 1996),
Biblically speaking the matter must be at-
tended to either before the fourth genera-
tion or immediately following it. See
Nehemiah 1:4-9; Jeremiah 14:20 and
Daniel 9:1-21. More importantly, it's not
only that the origins of generational sin
stops and begins with the Cl
also of discussion amongst pete
ists whose research points to ity and
family experience in addition to commu-
ity as the contributing factors to the moral
issues of children. (chn Santrock, Chil-
dren.1997).
In the absence of solid parental val-
ues and moral framing, of which Cosby
speaks, can we then attribute the unnatu-
systemic occurrences of delinquency,
pregnancy lack of educational attainment,
of self respect in the absence of re-
spect, poverty, through the roof rates of
incarceration to the sacrifice of Biblical ori-
gins? Ifsuch events are happening who's
gaining the return or rewards? Is it pos-
sible that the reward be discourse and fail-
ure for the unsuspecting subscribers to this
madness?
I recall reading last year, that a thir-
teen year old child a teacher to go
a knife and kill him. In this instance I,
didorkurhgresin Chee!
or generation ose sins
of the family had completely claimed his
soul. Was the child aware thaps, on
some other plane of thought, that his death
would meet the sacrificial requirements that
would allow his family to go on existing?
Might we sacrifice not our children, but
the ram re thicket instead? I remain
Yours in str uggle,
Susie Clemons,
opinionsandtalk@yahoo.com
Lamentations 5: 1-21
Remember, O LORD, what is come
upon us: consider, and behold our re-
proach, (2:) Our inheritance is turned to
strangers, our houses to aliens, (3:) We are
orphans and fatherless, our mothers are as
widows. (4:) We have drunken our water
r happens to
tag
KIDICKICA yirskt...
an
_ on
»butitis
America
vival.
So why do black people stay with
the Democrats, even ifthe party no
real program for creating genuine equal ~
opportunity that can command enough
support from Middle America to counter
opposition from free market co: iv
and their racist allies? A different politics
of survival: the black middle class needs
the Democrats to protect them froin white
ioe 7 class
Ir majority are just h
for dear life. Black America ica.is in an
existential bind between a party that will
tolerate their presence so long as they sup-
Port business liberals and the fierce white
nationalist wing of the Republican Party
bent on pushing blacks back into society's
CONTINUE ON PAGE 12
since 2000
Child Left Behind ?) to help fund tax
breaks for wealthy corporations.
Their moral values agree that when
a senior citizen has to choose between
paying for her prescription medicine and
paying her rent, it makes all of our lives
poorer, as Illinois Senator-elect Barack
Obama told the Democratic National
Convention.
oNo, people don't expect govern-
ment to solve all their rrr AA
that with just. a change in priorities, we
can make sure that every child in America
has a ore shot at life, and that the
rs Of opportunity remain open to all,
They know we can do ae they
want that choice. ? :
Yes, not every American voter shares
those moral values. But, as conservative
author Phyllis wrote in the year
of Barry Goldwater's disastrous loss 40
years ago, all of us deserve to have the
choice, not just an echo.
Page is a Pulitzer Prize-winning syn-
dicated columnist specializing in urban
issues. He is based in Washington, D.C.
cpage@tribune.com)
Instead?
Susie Clemons
for arene is sold unto us. (5:)
Our necks are under persecution: we
labour, and have no rest. (5) We have given
the hand to the Egyptians, and to the
Assyrians, to be satisfied with bread. (7:)
Our fathers have sinned, and are notyand
we have borne their iniquities. (8:) Ser-
vants have ruled over us: there is none
that doth deliver us out of their hand. (9:)
We gat our bread with the peri of our
lives because of the sword o: the wilder-
ness. (10:) Our skin was black like an oven
because of the terrible famine. (11:) They
vished the women in Zion, and the
maids in the cities of Judah. 12: Princes
are hanged up by their hand: the faces of
re hs not honoured. 13: They took
young men to grind, and the children
fell under dewee T
ee he » the young men from
their musick. 15: The joy of our heart is
ceased; our dance is turned into mourn-
ing, 16: The crown is fallen from our head:
Woe unto us, that we have sinned! 17: For
this our heart is faint; for these things our
cyes are dim. 18; Because of the moun-
tain of Zion, which is desolate, the foxes
walk upon it. 19: Thou, O LORD,
remainest for ever; thy throne from
eration to generation. 20: Wherefore tos
thou forget us for ever, and forsake us so
{ong time? 21: Turn thou us unto thee, O
LORD, and we shall be turned; renew
our days as of old. 22: But thou hast ut-
terly rejected us; thou art very wroth
against us. .
By Alton H. Maddox, Jr
After listening to Black leaders,
Age in a post-election analysis of the 2004
oe
ture of the political process nor its aims
and goals. Theit call now is for a political
summit to figure out what went wrong,
Speaking for the oFounding Fathers,
nothing went wrong except the partici-
pation of Blacks inthe conical process.
These political science neophytes
lacka fundamental kn of con-
stitutional history. It is for this reason
- @¢ rf
-By Bruce Smith :
the ofirst Negro president ? and Bill
Clinton as the first Black president ? il-
lsat the problem that Blacks have
-failed to Slave power, an oxy-
moron, and Black power, respectively,
accounted for their political ascendancy.
Balance of power is an ancient concept
in international relations and relates to
the distribution of power.
secretly Phiedeipie si 1787 heen
in in 1787, -
uitable distribution of political poe
was a matter of great concern in mere-
ing thirteen nations under one
is was a novel approach for Europe-
ans in fashioning a representative gov-
emment. Federalism wa copied fom
roquois C a
Jefferson became the third presi-
dent of the United States thanks to the
three-fifths ? provision of the Constitu-
tion. In order for the rural nations of the
| populous nations of the
Bi ann mp
i en Mark 60th
in Tuskegee, Ala., in 1945
Singe ger Lena Hore poses with cadets at the
. il! :
. .
)
In an era of Jim Crow when the Army
brass didn Tt think they were capable
of flying, a group of pilots changed
the way the military looked at blacks,
The Tuskegee Airmen, their ranks
thinnig 4 se Wor me WERE LA | EE
pilots age "Horr rredni
Carolina that begins Friday.
This year marks the 60th anni-
versary of the creation in 1944 of the
advanced combat training rogram for
the black airmen at asm | Army Air
Force base in Walterboro, S.C.
The program had started three
years earlier in Tuskegee, Ala. In all,
almost 1,000 pilots would be trained,
450 deployed overseas and 150
would lose their lives in training or
combat.
The pilots deployed to North Af-
rica and Europe flew support missions
including strafing enemy ammunition
dumps, rail lines and highways. Later,
the airmen flew escort for bombers.
Including ground support per-
sonnel, there were about 14,000
Tuskegee Airmen, said 85-year-old
Hiram E, Little, Sr., a retired school-
teacher from Atlanta.
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To the military, the program at
first was simply oan experiment to
rove the Negro could not fly and
ight, ? said Herbert Carter, of
Tuskegee, who went on to a 25-year
oWe were just determined that
all we wanted was an Opportunity, ?
he says.
But even after the pilots of the
first squadron were trained, the Army
delayed deploying the unit for
months.
oNo commander from Burma to
England wanted this all-black squad-
ron, ? said Carter, 85, oThey said it
would create problems. They were
firmly convinced no white personnel
would take orders from black officers.
The Negro press and other organiza-
tions and sympathizers brought pres-
sure on the War Department to do
something about this unit. ?
he airmen then proved they
could handle anything asked of them.
None of the bombers escorted by
Tuskegee Airmen fighters were lost
one to keep the Tuskegee Airmen go-
ing states to merge with the
sang pines peo
maintain parity, nations in-
voked the balance of concept to
protect their ideas and interests,
An Electoral College would be es-
tablished to decide the presidential elec-
tion. This institution was foreign to Eu-
ropean politics, Instead, it was copied
from the osavages. ? The League of the
Iroquois T Grand Counc was the model
for the sapresryat the ae
College even thor ois fai
to a Supren yommaiandee
The Electoral College, which is based
on the three-fifths principle of the Con-
stitution and is ive action for rural
counties, aliens the oone peony one
vote ? principle. It is rooted in design
Whe nay culevemen of Aca,
exercising the franchise, the slaveholders T
litical ie was enhanced in the
ouse of Representatives by one-third
and, concomitantly, their electoral votes,
After the Civil War, the rubber,
litically, hit the highway. In 1868, Gen,
Uses ee won the presidency.
razor-thin margin of victory was
310,000 votes, Southern Blacks, wi
federal protection, cast 500,000 votes
during World War II, although 66 of
the fighter ilots lost their lives and
33 other fighter pilots were shot
down and prisoner, Carter said.
At war's end, the airmen returned
to a nation where little had changed.
oWe were not so naive as to ink
~ America was pein to change that
«
much, ? he sai en we returned
after V-E Day things were as biased
and racist as they were before World
War Il.
It wasn Tt until the late 1970s that
__ the airmen began to receive recogni-
tion for what they had done.
Now, through conventions and
meetings, the group wants to pass its
story to future generations. People
with an interest in the history and in
getting young ple involved in avia-
tion can join the airmen.
oThe Buffalo Soldiers were with
Teddy Roosevelt in the late 1800s but
their organization is still living, ? Little
said. oWe're trying to bring new
people in as we die there will be some-
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| sGwaaly
»t ¢ ,
fot him. Afterwards, the white Demo-
it was never the intention of
ing Fathers Blacks to decide a presiden-
tal ection inan evenly dvdr
Eight years later, the Tilden-
Hayes Compromise arose after the in-
timidation of Black voters and the sup-
Pression of the Black vote'to ensure that
it would never be leveraged to decide
the outcome of another presidential elec-
tion. The exercise of Bla power is a
constitutional no-no. -
For white supremacists, this com-
Promise came in the nick of time. The
next three peesconsial elections would
be decided by less than 1 percent of the
vote. A margin of 3 percent would de-
dean During he ese
tions, nty-year petiod,
the KKK would stake oat ling places
to ensure that the original intent of the
Constitution would be honored. The
doctrine of stare decisis sustains the doc-
trine of original intent. ;
Kennedy 1960 b in of |
nnedy in 1960 by a n of less
than 1 percent, with the Black vote pro-
viding the margin of victory for
Kennedy, Nixon went into virtual po-
litical exile to fashion a Southern strat-
ing for the future. ? .
?,? reunion, which runs
through Sunday, will include a break-
fast, banquet and visits with school
children in Columbia. The airmen will
also appear at the Celebrate Freedom
Festival air show in Camden, S.C.
_ Looking back, Carter says he feels
sorry for those officers all those years
ago who could not see beyond the
color of a soldier's skin. He said he feels
opure pity for the people who are so
biased and prejudiced | in their ways
that they can Tt accept a persorron their
own individual merits,
Little says the airmen helped
open doors for those who followed.
oWe are proud of the fact that
maybe the record those pilots made
overseas paved the way for the young
people of. all races who volunteer for
military service, ? he said.
Bruce Smith writes for the AP
that
Found- |
_ tory for Bill
ichard Nixon lost to John _
; hich called for, once again, a solid
South which had emerge after the Civil
would be the beneficiary and history is
repeating itself like from 1800 to the
Civil War and from 1876 to 1965.
2 nee pe aryl na vote;
Bush 41 received 38 percent of th -
lar vote and Ross Perot received 1 er
cent. Spry coe the margin of vic-
Clinton, othe First Black President. ? Simi-
larly, the thtee-fifths proviso of the Con-
stitution put Thomas Jefferson into the T
White House in 1800 and allowed
Jeffersonians to dominate the federal yov-
_ ernment up until the Civil War,
Both white Republicans and white
Democrats still agree that it was never
the intention of the Founding Fathers
for descendants of enslaved Africans to
decide presidential elections. The origi-
nal intent of the Constitution was con-
strued in the Dred Scott decision. The
framers of the Constitution never in-
tended for Blacks to be members of the
political community. "
Even tho the Republican P.
benefited handsomely from the Bla
vote after the Civil War, white Republi-
cans with white Democrats that
the Black voting bloc must be sup-
pressed by withdrawing federal protec-
tion in the South. Whites of different
political stripes would adhere'to the will
of their ancestors.
The issue in 2004 is not the prefer-
ence of anyone party or another. It is
ton. This why whites call
se ctl ae deine bp Dh in bond i .
enslaved Africans notwithstanding the ~
havoc on di
which ppohibits il badges of slavery. The
Black vote is
cuutotcios se anil tho istoete of Matte
only three-fifths of whites.
Any real Black leadership would
boldly and vocifesotiely demon that the
entire Constitution escapees Blacks,
women, white indentured servants and
white males without property were
barred from the 1787 Constitutional
Convention in Philadelphia and the » ?
Constitution and its amendments were
not ratified by the popular vote.
Since the 1787 Constitutional 3
Convention, the United States hasbeen
divided into Jeffersonian America (red) -:"
and Hamiltonian America (blue). This
division has produced many close presi-
dential elections. Blacks on the other
hand fail to fit comfortably in either po-
litical camp. The Black reaction has been
bloc voting which, unwittingly and un-
consciously, has upset the balance of
litical power in the United States.
As imbalancers, Blacks pose a grave
threat to national security and the preser-
vation of the status quo. Bush 43 Ts under
the radar mandate is to correct this politi-
cal threat since Blacks have refused the
command to evenly divide their vote and
maintain the status quo like behavior that
is being exhibited in the Latino commu-
nity. In the final analysis, the Constitu-
tion is about allowing those who own the
United States to govern it.
See: Legal Briefs at
www.reinstatealtonmaddox.com
about B partic ipating in the politi-
cal process. The three-fifths provision,
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NEW YORK , NY - Most of us knew
him as Ol Dirty Bastard, Dirt McGirt,
Big Baby Jesus or simply ODB, a found-
ing member of hip-hop Ts famous Wu-
Tang Clan, and later a solo rap star in his
But to his, ther Cherry Jones, 35
But to his mo erry Jones, 35-year-
old Russell Jones, who suddenly col-
lapsed and died in a New York City re-
cording studio on November 13th, he
was simply oRusty, ? her adored son
whom despite highly publicized run-ins
with the law, drug problems and several
t
GREENVILLE - Mr, James oPete ?
" Hagains, Sr. entered enternal rest on
Monday, November. 15, 2004 at his
home at 200 South Memorial Drive.
* Born August 9, 1927, he was a
member of Sycamore Hill Baptist
' Church where he served as an usher,
sung in the male chorus and was an avid
, student of the Bible and love his Sun-
day school class. He served honorably in
the U.S. Navy during World War II as a
young man and was honorably dis-
charged December 21, 1945. Pete
worked for many years in the banking
industry where he did various jobs. He
retired from BB&T. Some of his civic
involvements included being one of the
first oruff & ready ? volunteer fireman in
the city of Greenville; A civil right activ-
ist during the turbulent years of school
desegregation; served one term as Presi-
Pete Hagan: Community Member of o
iki ? the Cornerstone Of Communi
_ODB passes away in|
conditio
phone call that is every mother Ts worst
dream; oMrs. Jones stated the night she
was told of her son's death. oHe was the
pines most pe soul on earth and
' appreciate all of the support and prayers
t I have received. oRussell, ? his ai
ing mother added, o was more then a
rapper He was a loving father, brother,
uncle and most of all omy son. ?
Jones had complained of chest
pains before collapsing at the Manhat-
tan studio, according to a statement from
Roc-A-Fella Records, the Jay-Z/Damon
Dash-owned label he signed with last
out aly Tear te loved un-
dent of Eppes Alumni Association and
a member of the.Sertoma Club at the
time of his death. A self-professed chef
he had a passion for cooking. He loved
cooking at home and relished the op-
portunity to put on display his culinary
skills at his church whenever he was
needed. His parents Jonah and Cora
Hagans, a sister Elizabeth Hagans
Cherry and two brothers William and
Lawrence Hagans, preceded James in
death.
oPete ? leaves to cherish his memo-
ries... his wife of 55 years, Eleanor Cherry
Hagans of the home; daughter Patricia
Ebron of Bloomfield, New Jersey; four
sons, Deacon James oJimmy ? (Peggie)
Hagans and Pastor Jay (Debbie) Hagans
both of Greenville, NC, Jeffery (Sharon)
Hagans, Jace both of Atlanta, Ga.,
a brother, Alien of Chicago, I., and
oThis evening I received a °
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year; and for whom he was in the oe
cess of recording a new comeback album
at the time of his death.
The life of Russell Tyrone Jones |
began in Brooklyn, New York, in 1969. |
He grew up in Brooklyn's Fort Greene
section as a welfare child. Growing up
he hung out with his cousins Robert
Grice, sharing a love of
Diggs and G
rap music and kung-fu movies.
Their obsessions with hip-hop and
ki
the Wu-Tang Clan, and renaming them-
selves oDirty Bastard, the RZA, and the
Genius, respectively. The Wu grew into
an innovatively structured hip-hop col-
y Communications Passes Ot sain
Nastnee, munications ASSES " ? bums of the decade.
a beloved sister Gladys Hagans Clark of
Greenville, NC and devoted friend Dea-
con JJ Brown of Ayden, NC, sister-in-law
Virginia Hagans of Greenville, NC;
brother-in-law, John Singleton of Conway,
SC; twelve grandchildren; four great
grandchildren and host of nephews, nieces
and cousins. Thrée special friends, Joe
Louis Daniels of Scotland Neck, NC,
James Anderson of Greenville, NC and
Sue Creech of Greenville, NC.
GREENVILLE - Due to the constant
increase of HIV cases among youth
and young adults in Eastern North
Carolina and the current phenom-
PiCASO AND ECU PRESENTS WORLD AIDS DAY 2004
enon of the "Down Low" population,
the Pitt County AIDS Service Orga-
nization and East Carolina Univer-
sity is collaborating to present a spe-
cial World AIDS Day 2004.
This event, featuring renowned
- author and speaker J. L. ing, will be
held)at ECU's Hendrix Theater on
paonedan December 1, 2004 at
n'addition' to Mr. King's
appearance, there will be a youth pres
oor
o7:00 pm.
sentation, panel discussion,
rizes, and free onsite, confidential
IV testing.
Do your part in the global fight
against HIV and AIDS by joining us
for this spectacular event. For more
information, contact Shanae Couch
at (252) 830-1660 or Hope
- McPhatter at (252) 328-6794. For
ung fu morphed into the founding of
ec
barred delivery and concepts.
Although his career often soared,
the law, mostly for drug possession. Per-
happened in February 1998, when he
rushed the stage at the Grammy Awards
q = a i : a Shawn Colvin as she ted ani award.
ODB aka Russell Tyrone Jones ODB was apparently upser over loei
lective designed to hit big and then spin
off as many solo careers for its members Daddy.
as possible. Later that year, he was wounded in
Buoyed by the RZA s production = -
genius and a number of strong person-
alities, the Wu-Tang Clan Ts first album,
oEnter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers), ?
Earlier that year, ODB had been
convicted of second-degree assault in
New York, the only violent offense ever
Proven against him. However, trouble
caught up with him again in 1994 when
he was shot in the stomach by another
rapper in the Bedford-Stuyvesant sec-
O.D.B., Method Man, REA
female-sung chotus, made ie a damic
ODB hit. :
| unfortunately Jones, the father of seven
children, was frequently int trouble with
haps his most infamous public display
and grabbed the microphone from singer
the Best Rap Album Grammy to Puff
den and tragic death of our brother and
friend, Russell Jones, Ole Dirty Bastard, ?
said Roc-A-Fella CEO Damon Dash.
oRussell inspired all of us with his spirit,
wit and tremendous heart. He will be
missed dearly, and our thoughts, prayers
and deepest condolences go out to his
wonderful family. The world has lost a
great talent, We mourn the loss of our .
hd »
e
nd.
Another ironic aspect of ODB Ts
death was that this summer, the Wu-
Tang Clan reunited after a 10-year split,
with all of its principal members. Along
with ODB, the group is featured on the
?,? fap group launched the careers of
Killah.
tion of Brooklyn following a street argu- The WuSTang clan filming a video in 2000.
ment. After surviving the attack, he got and Ghostface
on with his life. . =
After a long hiatus from the Wu- shooting during a robbery in his apart-
Tang Clan, with his offbeat, unortho-
dox delivery, ODB parlayed his talents
into a successful solo career, releasing sev-
eral hit singles His first solo release, 1995's
oReturn to the 36 Chambers ?, demon-
strated that he could easily hold his own,
showcasing his semi-crazed, no-holds.
ment.
In 2001 he was sentenced to two
to four years in prison for drug posses-
sion, plus two concurrent years for es-
caping from a rehab clinic. He was re-
leased in 2003 and immediately signed
with Roc-A-Fella records, for which he'd
been at work on the above-mentioned
comeback album before he died.
Ironically, Jones Ts 36th birthday
After working with a number of
other artists including Busta Rhymes
and Mariah Carey, Dirty returned in would have been on Monday, Novem-
1999 with a new chapter of his quirky ber 15th. ' .
magic and unmistakably unique cha- oAll of us in the Roc-A-Fella famil
risma.
* The 1970s-Black-exploitation-
film-style video for the smash hit °Got
Your Money T is arguably his best-known
and appreciated solo single. Produced by
the Neptunes, ODB Ts ruckus raps and
syncopated singing over the song's boom.
ing bass line and handclaps, and a sexy
are shocked and saddened by the sud-
By Roderick C. Willis
BALTIMORE, MD - The fastest grow-
ing segment of the U.S. prison popula-
tion is women. A recent government re-
port cited that the incarceration rate for
women increased almost twice that of
men.
There were 101,179 women in
prison in 2003, 3.6 percent more than
in 2002, the Justice Department re-
ported. This ngarks the first-time that the
women Ts prison population has topped
100,000 and continues a trend of rapid
growth.
Overall, men are still have the
greater likelihood to be in jail or in prison,
and African-American men are more
Aly than any other group to be incar-
aied Net QPCR A. DE.
By the end of 2003, U.S. prisons
held 1,368,866 men, according to the
Bureau of Justice. That total was 2 per-
cent more than in 2002, and es
into one in every 109 U.S. men in prison.
The report cites the fact that longer
sentences, especially for drug crimes, plus
fewer prisoners granted parole or proba-
tion, are the main reasons for the expand-
ing prison population.
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The number of women in prison
has grown 48 percent since 1995, when
the gu was 68,468. The male prison
population has grown 29 percent over
that time, from 1,057,406. Year by year,
the number of women incarcerated
an average of 5 percent compared with
an average annual increase of 3.3 per-
cent for men.
. Barber/Stylist - Bobby oIt coincides exactly with the incep-
$6.50 Brush Cuts Tues & Wed - Barber/Stylist - Anthony } tion of the war on drugs in the 1980s
Military Cuts Barber/Stylist-Carlos | 2nd continuing into the 1990s, ? said
Women's Hair styles Mon-Fri 9:00 - 6:00 Marc Mauer, assistant director of the Sen
Walk ins Welcomed Sat 7:00 - 1:00 tencing P seas which advocates alter-
Hemby.
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Now is the time
to commemorate the sacred memory of
your loved ones. Maybe there was so
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help you select a fitting way to mark the
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oBlade: Trinity ? film soundtrack and
CD, which will be released on Novem-
ber 23rd.
Some may have dismissed ODB as
just ere thug-thinking, somewhat-
ip-hop criminal. are wrong.
Theiuth is Russel Jones Wi one of the
most innovative, creative and important
hip-hop artists ever to bless a micro-
phone. He was a true original, with a
ong track record of successes in an in-
dustry plagued with imitators and 15-
See wonders,
His death came too soon. May ~
Russell ODB Jones rest in eternal peace.
Groups partner to address incarcerated
women Ts health issue
natives to long prison sentences.
Alfreda Robinson is executive di-
rector of the National Women Ts Prison
Project. This advocacy group has de-
veloped programs to assist women to
make the transition from incarceration
to oliving on the outside. ? With its
national office in Baltimore, the orga-
nization has taken on the task of sen-
sitizing the public on the issues of
women who are incarcerated and the
adverse impact female incarceration
has on families.
On Nov. 18, the National
Women Ts Prison Project will hold a
Thanksgiving luncheon for women
recently released from state or federal
__ Prisons, at2219 Greenimont Ave,
~~ oTe is important that women ré-
turning home from prison reconnect
with friends and family and have a sup-
port group to help them transition back
into the community, ? said Robinson.
oThe luncheon is our way of
fellowshipping and giving thanks to
for the opportunity to make things
right this time around. We will have a
est speaker, Minister Lorraine Heigh,
tom Calvery Baptist Church, We will
also have guest musicians and great food,
so we encourage women returning home
and supporters to attend. ?
Two local groups address the need
of incarcerated women in Maryland.
National Women Ts Prison Project
has recently formed a strategic part-
nership with Baltimore Area Health
Center. oThe strategic partnership will
go into prisons help educate women
who are iicatcersted | on health issues, ?
said Kim Williams, executive director
of BAHEC. oWe will also develop pro-
ramming to assist women ae th
ilies live healthier lifestyles and re-
duce preventable diseases. Baltimore
and Baltimore County have been de-
clared as having health disparities as it
relates to the number of African-
American physicians and the access to
affordable health services. ?
Roderick C. Willis writes fOr the Afro
Amaerican Newspaper
em
The power of words is immense. A
well-chosen word has often sufficed
to stop a flying army, to change
defeat into victory and to save an
empire.
-Emile de Girardin
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No Exit: Trapped by the
middle class's slow abandonment of the
Economy and Politics miei ere
CONTINUES FROM P, 8 : would be a relatively small population - Washington) is, byitsnanure, the defense of those in society's basement. cary havesowen, yi omiet
oe black poor is a sell out to white America, of ten to twelve million were it to magi at fomewieae The United States would become an even einer g ichigo pr
basement. White nationalists in America the act of sélfish Uncle Toms who have instantaneously, but would velopment tht so suck oppose T meaner place than it is now. and senior research og + Sas. New,
are convinced that black people are an forgorten what itis like wo suffer as racial be force in regions with the marriage of conservatives and racists An ascendant, angry, confident and pape: laps Andrews writes
inferior sub-race that could never tise a class outcasts in this society. Nothi 7 ions to theextent that its. that defines the Republi Party, The " successful black population in acold war on economic policy and economic justice
a lowly station without help from could be further from the truth or more interests in economic growth, competi- whole point of the New Washington so- with conser tive America; the abandon- iii lat ieee
ee ees, iberals.. But the black imelevant. Black middle lass abandon. tion nmol and public policy con- lution isto gather together the economic _ mentoftheblac:poorby theblack middle cluding The Politica Sener ef Hope
i class believes that the only way ment of the black poor is consis- verged with those of other groups. For and al resources of black people of class; a permanent war of words and im- Sacra eet ers ee the Black: Con
it can resist the onslaught of white na- tent with a strong sense of racial pride that example, a diverse but cohesive, asser- moderate means to build a self-sustaini ages, and worse, between success- bora eee Sb Press) and
tionalism is to make common cause with nonetheless blames poor black people for _ tive, achievement oriented and self-reli- culture of achievement motivated by a ful blacks whites who waited too long Taking Back Capitalism: Capitalist Road
the Democrats by offering to deliver the ing their bad situation worse. It is ant black community of 300,000 in profound historical sense of ¢ to jettison their racist parmers or who 0 Economic Justice (forthe NYU
votes of the black poor to the ballot box. Possible for middle class blacks New York City could tip the balance of st white conservatism as well as blac treated blacks like permanent junior part- Press). Dr. Andrews received a PhD in
Of course, black people are ina to be angry at conservative white pe power in that kaleidoscopic city of war- Shure. 7 ners. This is the bitter legacy.that two de- haar eyo nmr, Sa
ining position vis-t-vis the and poor black people at the same ime ring tribes, using its growing financial, The emergence of an assertive black cades of conservative victory and liberal iat pera tedbicou ta
parties. The Democrats can plausibly The Revenge the Black Middle Class: cultural and political influence to shape middle class in response to the victory of _ dithering has in store for Avnerica, The as the City University
insist that black people fold some of their The N ington Solution public discourse on everything from tax the right in American politics will bring a a carmen "
interests under the party's genet van the black middle class survive policy to the arts, very heavy price in sof national unity. | Pe " " " "
- and shut up about T else without political alliance with the black key point here is thatamiddle The New fashington solution is, by its
hy el inane forint oor? Can they survive without the class community intent on estab- very nature, based on the perception that
tection from racist bullies. Republican Democratic Parr? Middle class lishing and expanding its place in the the United States is so tainted by race ha-
entreaties for black support are-cruel black Americans could, if they choose,cré- worl would be in a position to trans- tred that black self-sufficiency is the only 7
jokes since the right has no intention of ate a culture of academic and commercial late its current advantages, meager way for poorte of Absidin descent to sur-
ing with the economic sources of i and success based on a shared though these may be when compared vive. The New Washington solution
black di nor do they intend to ding of the black American ex- to whites, into an ine for growth if it would not be a liberal p in
camangstheit white narionalistcoali- perience that thrives in the face of white edefincsinmdaion os eet because itis would prow out of
tion partners for a smaller, poorerand nationalist assault. Indeed, the marriage _ ing its poorer cousins to one of aggres- bihure of liberal itics to create a genuine
darker that does not command of conservatism and gacism that is the sive accumulation and competition. A post-racial society. Instead, the New Wash-
the respect of large iori of the white modern Republican Party might recom- community whose ethos is founded on ington movement would be a sophisti-
ulation. President Bush's appeals mend just such a srateay provided that achievement and competition will, like cated, multi-generational, non and even
to blacks to vote Republican anger ? the of racial solidarity the nation as a whole, see failure as an anti-governmental movement aimed a
a vicious mockery of a people caught a subtle shift along lines by individual matter linked to Particular creating a secure place for black Ameri-
an indifferent liberal protec- Cosby's complaint, choices if it has the means to prepare its cans, and those who would band together
tor and an conservative assailant. that black American middle children to co: in the wider world. with them, to live, work and grow.
The Dilemma -_ "s.dlass ies begin an aggressive intellec- Persons who fai in school, or who make Ifall this sounds. bit of paranoid, it
There are two ways out of this trap: tual and cultural movement that sees learn- 2 ald tin ati por - should: the program outlined here is a riff
either black people themselves must ing, savings, competition and development city, would no longer be able to "blame on that of the Nation of Islam, stripped of
come up with a program of national _as the primary weapons in the war against the white man" for their troubles, but its cultish Nonsense, its racism, its sexism
economic policy that creates equal op- white nationalism. ine a situation _ would instead have to accept responsi- and homophobia. It retains two things
portunity under modern global capi- where black Americans not only accept _ bility fof'their mistakes. One hopesthat from the outlook of the Nation of Islam:
talism or else find a way to expand the the marriage of free market conservatism this middle class community is suf- first, a deep belief that politics is a dead
size of the black middle class without and white nationalism as a fact of Ameri- ficiently fair-minded to give peoplewho end for black development in America
government help. There is rather little can life, but as an assault that must be pe nine though han rug precisely because blacks will never be ac-
chance that blace Americans will beable resisted through independent develop- ped individualism is not inconceivable. cepted as genuine equals, and second, a
to craft a program of opportunity and ment rather than relying on American li N any case, once the community is able permanent antagonism to the dominant
economic renewal that willcommand erals. Suppose thatthe number and den- to establish a common culture of suc- political and cultural discourse of the cae cee
the assent of enough white people to siy of idle class blacks has reached criti- cess, failure would beseen asthe excep- United States so long as these are orga- - . .
pclae picleliiecers A mass so that they are able to sustain Neha Fe ee encase a OK KOK Ok ADVERTISEMENT KK ok
new growth wi ityis i t institutions - schools, media, ote that this sort of community remacy in daily life. to say, thi :,
enough for the richest and most ing, churches, businesses - that can does not rely on affirmative action to tance villa erent nta- WILL S MOBILE HAIRCUT SER VICES
powerful segments of American liberal- support a vibrant, diverse, but defiantly achieve wealth and power. American tion of American life by reducing the pos- Will Carroll i a graduate of Mitchell's Hairstyling Academy. He has 13 yrs of
ism, much less a group pushed to the bi intellectual and cultural universeca- white nationalists, for all their hostility, sibility of a shared sense of American na- experience, ? I've been into hair since the ape of 17. ? Growing up without a
wall by the economy on one side and Pable of sturdy interaction with the wider are not about to reinstate literal apart- _tionalism. The New Washington solution, lot of money wasn't always easy so he could not always afford to go to the
ignant conservatism on the other. _ world. This black world would be ableto "_heid, which is extremely expensive and born out of the victory of white conserva- ___ barber shop and geta professional hair-
ile the emergence of BarackObama _ insulate black children from the noxious economically inefficient. The free mar- _tism and the weakness of egalitarianism, cut. ? So he ae himself how to cut
that a growing portion of non- influence of white nationalism over school- ket partners of white nationalists within represents the emergence of intransigent, hair and like the saying goes ? the rest is
black America might be willing to lis- ing, media and character formation - per- the Republican Party go along with ob- post-liberal black nationalism at the hear history ?! really enjoy making people -
ten to public policy proposals from an haps by insisting ona high ofracial sessive racism because they want the of the republic that ultimately turns its look good because I feel that if'a person
African face, it will be some time before segregation in housing, schooling and in- votes of racists in order to keep taxes back on Martin Luther King's dream of a looks good outwardly then they will feel
Senator or someone else presents _tet-personal association, pethaps by the down. There is no way that a business" community". better about themselves inwardly. Now
acomprehensive program to thenation. "_ evolution of communities that are raci oriented white capitalist class is going to The Wi of the Nation he has created a totally new way for
that leaves the road of self-reliance diverse but which share a common and use government policy to reinstate afr What would become of poor black people to get there haircut. He calls it
as the sole road to black economic de- Positive view of black intellect and ability. mative action for incompetent whites people who were abandoned by their WILLS MOBILE HAIRCUT SER-
velopment in these times of economic ese communities would also de- over competent blacks in a global baer middle class partners? They would VICES. Carroll says, ono longer will you
a and right wing assault. But the yt arate i forcontrolling an economy t severely Punishes ineff- ai further into the shadows of American have to sit and wait in long line at the
community isnomoreimmune = - parti young men - whose y ciency wi ptcy and unemploy- |j , Suffering ever greater poverty, si ane, :
to internal class conflict than the larger behavior threatens isrupt the teaching ment. Blacks who succeed, and who are and early death the their white, prown i ha ei seme he
Aen, particulary when eco- and farming process, || dumm able to establish dbthiena ear and Ccountetpa aa Buck adds that, the only thing you will fave to do is pick up your phone make
When Bill Cosby lambasted what _ believe in black achievement, and that in a position to compete with whites, that poor strike at society - through home He added thathismain jer: is making life easier for poate
he described as "a culture of deliberately set themselves against the and, more importantly, just might be crime - ey would find themselves as- feels . oLet's face it, living in such a fast ace society getting a haircut can be an
victimhood" and the failure of black larger white nationalist project of Ameri- able to break up the agreement between _ sailed by a tainbow coalition of middle d ? T feel tha dy will be abl Bene. from this f
America to take responsibility for its ac- can conservatism as well as the fecklessness free market capitalists and racists lass folks insisting on "law and order." service "because, now nde de, and age i is all about pa ee i
tions, he made national headlines and "_of liberalism, would allow for the emer- ing the political utility of racism. Ifaf- Indeed, one can imagine a situation where money. ? I don't know anybody that does not want to save time and money. ? |
spurred the usual round of pundit de- gence of strong norms of individual re- _ firmative action disappeared, and blacks the New Washington solution would lead Ages 13 and up haircuts will only be $8.00 that includes facial hair also, ages /
The real story behind the Cosby sponsibility to self and community that were excluded from elite universities and to ever more Punitive approaches to crime 12 and under haircuts will only be $7.00 He specializes in cutting all hair
uproar is not what he said, but what it make it easier for these mini-societies to from high paying jobs by virtue of "color and punishment once the black middle types and hairstyles Another one of his objective for this service is tobrake All
reflects about black America, which is promote character formation. This world " blind" admissions and hiring criteria, one class sto ped tying the fate of the black racial barriers ,to him it does not matter what color you are he lives by this
itnessing the fraying of a historic bond would, in time, be able to build up black can stillimagi asituation the tem- poor to the nations history of slavery and ing ? HAIR Is HAIR ? he the only color h see is the col
between the black middle clas ender ital so that succeeding genera- Gllofin lack reresenation esa apartheid. Sympathy would shrivel still | °2¥98 give Willa call and stat roto ngcan see. the color
black poor. His sentiments reflect the tions of lack children would aoe the Ee followed by a resurgence powered by more for the poor social outcasts, with given tnoney)-So gre Will ; ee sea : Heal tle i easier For
b of a bond between middle tools for success in academic and economic very skilled, very elegant an very angry no segment of the middle class coming to Mee MSD isiness hoursare Monday-Friday from 10a.rn, an
class and poor black people being torn "_ competition, including access to pools of people.
apart by the « economic reality that the financial and cultural capital that permit Itisimportant toemphasize that what .
are riding high while the them to succeed in b multicultural we will call the "New Washington" solu-
poor black folks are battered by the US environments. tion of black middle class development
economy's turn against poorly educated This new, assertive black America (in honor of, and irony about, the legacy |
workers.
The hard truth of our time is that
the economic needs of poor black people
are much closer to those of other poor
Americans than they are to those of
middle class blacks. Poor blacks, like all
poor people in America, need an im-
mense array of social goods and services
that they cannot pay for - from health
care and education to safe streets and
housing. Middle class blacks, like all
middle icans, want high qual-
ity public services balanced against low
a in a society of self-reliant individu-
Middle class black people support
greater degrees of regulation and redis-
tribution in economic life because they
are poorer than whites and are still sub-
ject to discrimination. But the black
i not need or want gov-
ernment to the same degree as poor
blacks because they are no longer
trapped in the basement of the Ameri-
can job market. Many middle class
black people are no more interested re
paying taxes to support poor people
than ther white ieciles not :
because they see themselves as proof
that hard work and perseverance in the
face of white nationalism can pay off in
Cosby's complaint about poor
black people, unfair mM itis, is aria
less = view of many middle class Slack
0 See poverty as a trap m.
Seer eetin
Suggest that poor
themselves to heme fot hee erate
e ® *
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