warsaaMLMUENFditorialsCredo of the Black BressThe Black Press believes that America can best lead the world away from racialand natural antagonisms when it accords to every person, regardless of race,color or creed, full human rights. Hating no person, fearing no person in thefirm belief that all are hurt as long as anyone is held back.Cetter to the EditorIN SEARCH OF THE AMERICAN DREAM...My Dream Deferred or a Deliberate Conspiracy...?First of all, let me start by thanking you for having time to listen to the words of an angry and hurt-heartof a victim searching for "America's Dream". | find myself tangled in between the red and white stripes of justiceamong the 50 stars deep in space... wondering why there isn't any blackness in the word "Liberty" for a lot of usAfrican-Americans (A.A.) who are shackled by the American flag.Greetings to the reader of this cry for help. My name is Abdullah Rasool Shakoor. My intention in this letteris to express the feelings of a lot of brothers who are trapped within this booby-trap of America's justice, andalso, in hopes of getting the attention of our big brothers and sisters to help us diffuse this conspiracy law andmisrepresentation of counsel bomb that is triggered to explode and destroy the race of the African American maleshere in this "Land of the Free" and "Home of the Brave;" where our proud Americans, who aren't racists, | mightadd, hide behind the white sheets of justice and judge and convict a black brother for his action within a ten-yearperiod of his past life, while ignoring the burning crosses of tracks that are traced in their own blood line thathold a conception in their minds to continue the traits of destruction of the original man.Conspiracy, a plot, a treasonable combination. This is America's most commonly used weapon today -- tohang the African American males by the rope of the American flag: to divide and conquer us. The governmentis kidnaping our brothers from their families and charging them with conspiracy to sell invisible drugs. Even ifa brother has changed his character of the past and become a better man in society today. he's still heldaccountable for his action played yesterday.So, tell me, why aren't the CaucasiansT participation in enslaving, kidnaping, raping, and slaughteringgeneration of African American families treated the same way as well in this conspiracy. Even though the presentCaucasian isn't the past Caucasian who committed these acts, the traits of their forefathers, the mental thinking_ of destroying the black man of their forefathers, the land, the possessions and the money that came from all thecriminal acts against the African Americans of their forefathers was passed down to the ones of today; whichthey use to live in luxury and also to keep us down in poverty. Why haven't the land, possessions, and money ofthese criminals been seized by the government? Is it because they are the great-great-great grandsons of thesewicked people, or is it because African Americans are not entitled to the same justice as the Caucasian behindthe black roles in America?I find that "equal justice" is not practiced here in America. Even after all the years our forefathers andmothers spent shedding sweat and blood to build this land into what goodness and pureness that exist today. thejustice system still doesn't acknowledge us as being equal. Constantly, we're being manipulated in the courtroomsacross America by the judges, D.A.'s, and lawyers. The ones who are appointed to protect our rights are the oneswho are denying us our rights the most. Why is that?There is so much going on being this conspiracy law that is not seen by the concerned ones in the public.For instance, federal agents get indictments on brothers for what they may have done in the past, then roundthem up like cattle, and put them in a roughed-up environment with no privileges. Then they threaten them withlife sentences, promising them that freedom will not be in their sight for a long time... unless they agree tocooperate with the government for a time-cut at sentencing.If agreed upon, which is nearly never rejected because of one's fear of "life," the brothers are forced to signa plea bargain that consists of 5-to-40 years or 10-to-life for exchange of a list of statements or lies on otherbrothers to put them in the same position to cause a domino affect of our race of men today. Because of theignorance that lingers in the younger generation, no other alternative is seen by them. They accept the swap asa favor from the government for a less-than-life sentence. The very few that do have enough courage to fight fortheir freedom are then misrepresented by their court-appointed attorney and paid lawyers in this big moneyscheme.Convicted drug dealers, who wrote the statement and lies to start the conspiracy on a person, testify toseeing this invisible dope for the same of another time cut. What convicted felon wouldn't lie under oath for hisfreedom. What type of credibility to these inmates (who are not even a part of society today because they havebroken the law) have? Yet they are used as a piece of evidence by the government... as key witnesses for aconviction. How can one win in a no-win situation -- when the guardian of your rights possesses fangs in itsmouth and slithers around you hissing advice to you to bite into the "forbidden apple"I trust that you will take this cry for help seriously and get back with me about your feelings towards thisletter. I'll be eagerly anticipating a response from you. Thank you and may God bless you.Sincerely,Abdullah ShakoorAchievement is CoolBy Hugh B. PricePresident, National Urban League_Achievement is cool. That's one way of characterizing the goal of our Campaign for African-AmericanAchievement, the national effort we and a broad-based coalition of black religious, professional, fraternal, andcivic organizations have launched to inspire more African-American youngsters to strive to do well in school.Recently, we held our inaugural induction ceremony for the Thurgood Marshall Achievers Society, ourCampaign's honor-society, which, of course, is named.after the late civil rights hero and United States Supreme1) ice.In twenty-seven cities across the country, local Urban League affiliates joined with our partnersT localrepresentatives to honor more than 2,200 elementary and high school-aged youth. Each youngster received acertificate attesting to their induction in the Achievers Society and a jacket with the Society's logo designed bythe talented young fashion designer, Karl Kani.We want our youth to believe that achievement is cool. As in "hip." As in desirable. As in good. Millionsof black youth already know that, and are acting on it. They're the ones who are doing well in school - - whoare flexing their intellects and developing the discipline and scholastic skills they need to prepare for their future.Our emphasis on educational achievement, of course, is hardly something new. Its zealous pursuit has beenboth a cornerstone and a guiding star of African AmericansT very existence in this land.____ But we want to emphasize that it must become even more so if African Americans as a group are to prosperin the twenty- first century. More of our youngsters must understand the full meaning of the expression found- in so many 19th century memoirs of former slaves who had educated themselves: I studied because I found that. knowledge is power. The meaning of those words is even more profound now.Our coalition, which includes the eight denominations and 65,000 churches of the Congress of National | Black Churches, has made a start in expanding the efforts many of us have carried on individually for years.The Campaign coalition also includes such organizations as the Pan Hellenic Council of black fraternities andsororities, the National Alliance of Black School Educators, the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation, the *National Bar Association, and the National Black Child Development Institute., rribble Ir prese group bn rare on orion Eocene eee established a decade ago by Dr. Israelole, Jr., e obased Flori ion Fund and an Urban League trustee. That prohas i sasengs a teed of 4,00 tack y a ae throughout the state. o pegewas in ngton, D.C., along with General Colin L. Powell, (U.S. ' Ret.) and Justice Marshall'sson, Thurgood Marshall, Jr., at the ceremonies at Metropolitan Baptist Church, a pillar of strength for itsinner-city neighborhood. We all saw the excitement on the faces of the 24 students we inducted and witnessedtheir acceptance of the responsibility General Powell charged them with.We didn't work this hard," he said, holding the students' rapt gaze. "We didn't come this far. We didn'tpile D aps-crog upon generation of achievement to fail now. Achievement is what I want you to get. It's yours #asking. It's yours for the dreaming. But it will only come if you're willing to work for it."___ Our inductees, from schools in and around the District Columbia told us they got the message Melody Shaw, aninth-grader at Washingjon's Patricia Roberts Harris Education Center, said, "I think we are setting a good example forstudents who come behind us. We're showing them that if they want to excel in they really can.___ Heavenly Hyder Houston Hicks, a junior at Central School in Prince , Maryland, called the= a very moving experience for me. The (Achievers) Society is a good place for young African Americans to be ableThe responsibility of us adults- - parents, educators, and religious, civic and political leaders- - is to make sure thatbuild, as General Powell told the inductees, "a community of adults who will help you achieve to the best of your ability.? .That idea, as I've written is the other pillar of the ign for African-American Achievement. We adults(re ee er natural inclinations 10 try to do their best by improving ized learningour youth that we the best of them. ! . yiThe students that we've inducted into the Thurgood Marshall Achievers Society are evidence that many of our youthcM. ~ feanv eee THE PROBLEM WITH POLITICIANS: TRUTHFULNESSKleaver's Klippins by Jim CleaverLos Angeles SentinelForty Acres and a MuleThe Lord Giveth, but Andrew Johnson Taketh AwayThere is an adage that says that politics makes strange bedfellows. Politics also makes people tell lies ©more politely, make misstatements. TheT case which immediately comes to mind, is the recent statement by ?gubemnatorial candidate, Al Checci. Checci claims to have marched for civil rights with the late Dr. Martin ?Luther King, Jr. Perhaps he did. Perhaps his statement needs some clarification. The Civil Rights Movement ":evolved more than 40 years ago. The primary push taking place in the mid- 50s. oeThe emergency of Dr. King began in the second half of that decade and as the '60s came along, so did °:the major Civil Rights Movement. That was nearly 40 years ago. The question then arises as to what ifanything, could this candidate have done in the movement, considering his present age of about 50.RonOwens, of KABC Radio first brought this issue to the forefront several weeks ago. He finally determinedthat Checci had indeed gone on the civil rights marches, but not on his own. It was explained that he hadaccompanied his father. Checci himself was a young boy at the time. The moral dishonesty of this campaign :ploy is fairly clear. He is seeking the minority vote. There is nothing wrong with wooing a particular ethnicvote. It happens all the time. It become angering however, when the candidate insults the intelligence of the :people he seeks to enlist in his campaign. Please note. This is not a personal issue. 1 would not know Al °Checei if he came into my office and sat down next tome. My only frame of reference is a series of televisionads.My sense of outrage should be clear. It appears he is seeking the black vote and the surest way to getthe attention of the black community is to claim some interaction with the greatest civil rights leaderimaginable. Hence, he chooses to make points with the idea that he marched with Dr. King.From a purely political perspective, he has no functional track record. The facts of the matter may bethat he is totally capable of being the best govemor California has ever seen. The problem is with themethodology he engages to get the attention of the potential voters of a particular ilk. If he is willing to goto this length, then where will he stop? It brings tomind the matter of essential honesty. What can the people.believe? If he stretches the truth at this juncture, how do we know when to believehim? That is the problem:with politicians.This community has been subjected to just about every conceivable political ambition we have... Whyare so many American citizens confused by the strong and increasing white opposition to affirmative action?Because enemies of affirmative action have lied repeatedly, saying that afirmative action calls for "preferential -treatment on the basis of race? and that it abuses white people, usually white men. Many white people seem .to believe this false statement repeatedly made by Gov. Pete Wilson of California, Sen. Orin Hatch of Utah, -and other enemies of affirmative action. Some blacks have been confused and were fooled into the sameline of reasoning. How can black people fight against this false statement concocted by conservative -politicians and racists? Black people can say that they want, need and legally deserve repair of damages theyThave suffered since they became citizens of the United States, and restoration of all rights they lost over the:years because the U.S. government allowed others to deprive them of intangible as well as tangible assetsincluding farmland on one hand and safety, pride of citizenship and many intangible benefits on the other. The ;13th, 14th, and 15th amendments to the Constitution provide for equality of all citizens regardless of race, :religion or previous condition of servitude. -Black people should accept whatever benefits they can get from todayTs "affirmative action." But with:the lack of a clear and accurate definition of affirmative action, a new and more accurate term, "repair and.restoration,? should be used because it denotes damages and indicates a need for repair of those damages.African Americans can base their claims for "repair" of physical and tangible damages and for restoration ofmental, intellectual and psychological injuries on the following losses:The government failed to provide Homestead land to the freed slaves who were legalized citizens with"sweat equity" in American soil. President Andrew Johnson, the South Carolina bom pro-slavery presidentwho succeeded Lincoln, canceled Gen. Sherman's promise of "40 acres and a mule" and left the formerslaves homeless and landless, trying to force them back into slavery.The government's deliberate failure to provide land for the freed slaves resulted in the former .slavesT being arrested for vagrancy and sentenced to pay fines by working back on the slaveplantations.[While at the same time], the government gave or sold millions of acres of rich midwestfarmland to hundreds of thousands of white European peasants who were not citizens and hadno "sweat."In Retrospect...BLACKS MUST REGISTER TO VOTE FOR CRUCIAL ISSUESEditorTs Note: In lieu of this weeks election, The oM? Voice Newspaper once again has chose to repeat thefollowing editorial from last weeks publicationr. Now that the primaries are done and over with, black votersmust now look carefully at those candidates before them and whether their politically mandates will stunt'oraffect the growth and emotional development of their communities. They must now prioritize and ovote? yeaor nay for those issues that will effect them the MOST!oPower concedes nothing without a demand, it never has and it never will?Those powerful words, spoken many, many years ago by the great orator and abolitionist Frederick Douglass,still ring right today. But, apparently they are not being heeded by many in the African-American community whenit comes to empowering themselves af the voting booth. Is it apathy, laziness, or have major numbers of peoplemoved out of the city? We speculate a little bit of all those things occurred, and maybe those numbers will improveafter the general election in November. Primaries traditionally draw little interest, but there are several keycandidates and key contests in next month's primary that should have drawn more interest in the African-Americancommunity. Maybe many African-American voters are holding back until the big contest eight months from now.We hope that's the case. There are far too many important items on the political and social agenda in America forAfrican Americans to take a pass on registering to vote and then voting. Too many people died for AfricanAmericans to have that right.We must use it and use it often and wisely. Voting is one of the most profound ways to demand respect andchange.|jan| | | |eytadithip Sygate sg 6 Senet tp ily& e |. ?"? eT te a, te oe a a "wae SEED of canctaich auwdeo coyi aePia.t i