D ecember 29, 1993 • T he P ortland O bserver P age 2 MK « \ \ LÈ! ®je ^artlattfc ® bsertter v e s Volunteer Electricians “Light Up” The Grotto e c t i p Health Plans: Another Year Of Uncertainty? f e r s by P rof . M c K inley B urt W hen it was said that “ the best laid plans of mice and men often go astray,” it was part of the dialogue of a novel by John Steinbeck (, 01 Mice And M en”). Today that memorable line provokes a treasonable expecta­ tion that it may be applied to the Clinton(s) health initiative, given all its uncertainties, converge, insurable and funding. That novel w ent from Broadway to Hollywood to world wide acclaim ; how far will “The Plan” go? The state of Oregon has carved itself a definite niche in the evolution of American health plans. Meeting head on with the realization that there arc only so many health care dollars, it was dec ided to prioritize a list o f 696 medical conditions,” the devil take the hindm ost” as the old saying went. W ell, that attitude drew some favor­ able com m ents around the nation, but not from the administration. Politi­ cians, it would seem, always have difficulty dealing with reality (except, of course, in situations such as raises and perks). The Clinton gang has recoiled in horror from such a “ wide-open, fish bowl process” as a Princeton econo­ mist puts it. Evading decision-m ak­ ing and responsibility, they say “ we give you a global budget and you decide what kind of care you’re going to give. And if there has to be ration­ ing’ you do it in the privacy of the H MO, using "your’ best medical judge­ ment.” W ell, you might say ,“ so much for the expectations o f many O rego­ nians (both 'm ic e and m en’). But then we have the very strong opinions of people like Dr. Paul Kirk of Oregon Health Sciences University who be­ lieves that “ sooner or later national health planners will have to grapple with the Oregon question: which arc the more im portant health care ser­ vices?” Another area of a very uncertain developm ental stage in this health care process is the treatment o f the “ small em ployer” . And, again, O r­ egon is receiving nationwide atten­ tion in its effort to devise a plan afford­ able to the em ployer, yet providing substantial coverage to the employee. Preliminary information released by a W ashington“ thinktank” (RandCorp.) indicated that small Oregon em ploy­ ers get less health insurance for their dollars than do large ones. This is o f great concern to them as the adm inis­ tration sways back and forth on the issue o f “at what work force levels sh a ll th e re b e m a n d a to ry r e ­ quirem ents?” The Rand study conclusion rein­ forces the com m on notion that small em ployers in Oregon would gain from the increased buying pow er o f con­ templated large insurance purchasing combines. Earlier this year, I wrote on this issue and other health care prob­ lems in the state. Many more remain, for instance, G ov. Roberts is on the hot seat again as she seeks defend recent increases in health insurance benefits the state has agreed to pay two unions:The American Federation of state. County and Municipal Em ploy­ ees (8.5) and the Oregon Public E m ­ ployees union (avge. 4%). Cost in­ creases were m uch less! The ’backdoor” wage increase has provoked a storm of criticism, not only from taxpayers who voted down a sales tax as the governor was ac­ cused o f failing to make prom isedcuts in the cost of governm ent - but from state employees who were not mem­ bers o f those unions and felt they did not get a fair share of the wealth M anagement Em ployees, Nurses As­ sociation). Additionally, there is lin­ gering resentm ent on the part o f many taxpayers because the Public em ploy­ ees get all o f their health and dental coverage paid by the state (in lieu of a raise in pay during the 1970s). At­ tempts to rescind this perk are under­ way; quite a battle is anticipated. Another area where the adm inis­ tration is seen to be a little fuzzy and uncertain is the degree o f emphasis (and funding) on Drug and Alcohol Education. It is difficult to imagine a higher “health priority”. You cannot ration the future of America! To all my readers for the New Year(s) to come, “Learn to love and love to learn”. that involve animation and liber-op­ tics, and enhance the “Peace On Earth Ih e 28 volunteers from Local 48 devoted their Saturday, prior to Thanksgiving, providing the electrical work needed to generate temporary power for over 50,000 lights V olunteers from the N ational Christm as festival at The Grotto. This is the sixth consecutive year E lectrical C ontractors A ssociation that The G rotto has featured the Fes­ (NECA), Oregon-Colum bia chapter tival o f Lights, and the num ber of and the International Brotherhood of lights has more than doubled from the Electrical W orkers (1BEW) Local 48 original 25,000. This year’s festival donated time and m aterials to wire the introduces three new lighting displays light extravaganza for this year’s “Youth Violence And Gangsta RAP" ì « m ore than 280 m illio n guns in America; 2.5 million were purchased last year alone. This is the central reason why firearms are the leading cause of death for black men between 15 to 24 years. O ver the nex t six years, more black men will be murdered by other black men than the total number o f American troops killed in V ietnam . T hat’s nothing short of a war. But this proliferation o f violence is not just a black phenom enon-it affects whites, Latinos, Asian-Am eri­ cans and others. The number of juve­ nile murders has alm ost doubled over the past decade, and the rate of juve­ nile violent crim e rose during the same time by over 40 percent. A ccord­ ing to the National Center for Juvenile Justice, a Pittsburgh based research institute, the murder arrest rate among all children between the ages o f ten and seventeen more than doubled, from 5.4 arrests per 100,000 to 12.7 per 100,000. In 1991, 5,356 young violence. people under age 19 were killed by According to the Bureau o f A lco­ firearms, or nearly fifteen each day. hol, Tobacco and Firearm s, there are I was sitting in my study, and the music from the bedroom o f my younger daughter. Sojourner, descended down the steps. Over the dull hum o f my electric typewriter, I could hear the menacing words of the popular rap artist Dr. Dre: “Rat-a-tat and a tat like that/N ever hesitate to put a nigga on his back.” In other words the lyric urged young African A m ericans to m urder each other. T h at’s exaedy w hat’s happening to o u r young p eo p le th ro u g h o u t America. “G angsta rap” -- Snoop Doggy Dogg, Dr. Dre and com pany - - only articulate the epidemic o f vio­ lence in our streets, schools and neigh­ borhoods. In p redom inately-black W ashington, D.C., for exam ple, in a three year period (1988-1990), the num ber o f juvenile homicide arrests nearly tripled. W ithin elem ents o f the popular culture of our young people, there is a dangerous glorification of / » •/ •A • t ? 2 "> • ■ ,&a '■ ■ '•' ÍW y¿4 >££5 s jy * - a «sr This year we have seen the fur­ ther growth of the holiday of Kwanzaa. It grow s am ong African people in the U .S., in Africa, Brazil and other coun­ tries o f South America, in Canada, in the Caribbean, in Britain and other European countries and now this year in India. Kwanzaa grows am ong A f­ rican people because it speaks to their need and appreciation for its cultural vision and life-affirming values, val­ ues which celebrate and reinforce fam ­ ily, com m unity and culture. It grows because it represents an important way Africans speak their own special cultural truth in a multicultural world. It grow s because it reaffirm s a rich and m ost anc ient tradition which lays claim to the first religious, ethical and scientific texts, and the introduction o f the basic disciplines o f human knowledge in the Nile Valley. It grows because it reinforces our rootedness in our ow n culture in a rich and m eaningful way. And it grows be- cause it brings us together from all countries, all religious traditions, all classes, all ages and generations, and all political persuasions on the com ­ mon ground o f our Africanness in all its historical and current diversity and unity. T h e v is io n a n d v a lu e s o f K w anzaa rev o lv e aro u n d the p ra c ­ tic e o f fiv e fu n d a m e n ta l a c tiv itie s w h ic h c e le b r a te a n d r e in f o r c e fa m ily , co m m u n ity and c u ltu re . F irs t, K w an zaa is a tim e o f in g a th e rin g o f the p e o p le , the rich an d v a rio u s hum an h a rv e sts. It is, th e n , a tim e to com e to g e th e r and re in fo rc e the bonds b e tw e e n us as a p e o p le in spite o f o u r d iv e rs ity . T h u s, A fric a n s w ho arc M u slim , C h ris tia n , Jew (H e b re w ), fo llo w ­ e rs o f the a n c ie n t A frican tr a d i­ tio n s o f Y o ru b a , M aat, D o gon, A s h a n ti, D in k a an d o th e r r e li­ g io u s tra d itio n s c e le b ra te K w an zaa. F o r it is a c u ltu ra l h o li­ d ay n o t a re lig io u s o n e. In d e e d 1 A fric a n c u ltu re is d iv e rse and the hom e o f in n u m e ra b le re lig io u s tr a d itio n s . L ik e w is e , o ld and y o u n g reach a c ro ss g e n e ra tio n s and em b ra c e and fin d in K w anzaa a co m m on g ro u n d o f h e rita g e and p ro m ise . Secondly, Kwanzaa is a lime of special reverence for the Creator and the creation. It is, then, a time of thanksgiving for the good in life, for life itself, for love, for friendship, for parents and children, the elders and youth, man and woman, and for fam­ ily, community and culture. As a har­ vest celebration, Kwanzaa isalso time o f thanksgiving for the earth and all that is on it, hum ans, birds, animals, plants and all living things, water, air, land and all natural resources. Thus, Kwanzaa is also a time for moral com m itm ent to honor the Cre­ ator by honoring the creation and arc com mitting ourselves to respect and preserve it. Thirdly, Kwanzaa is a time of commemoration o f the past. It is, essence are ethical values - values of then, a time of honoring the moral love, sisterhood, brotherhood, respect obligation to rem em ber and praise for the transcendent, the human per­ those on w hose shoulders we stand, to son, for elders and nature. It is here raise and praise the names o f those that the Nguzo Saba (The Seven Prin­ who gave their lives that we might ciples) serve as the central focus of livefullerand more meaningful ones. Kwanzaa in thought and practice. It is also a lime to appreciate our role These com m unitarian values which as “heirs and custodians o f a great arc both cultural and ethical are: legacy” and to recommit ourselves to Umoja (Unity); Kujichagulia (Self- honoring it by preserving it and ex ­ D eterm ination), U jima (Collective panding it. W e are, as African people, Work and Responsibility), Ujamaa fathers and mothers of humanity and (Cooperative Economics), Nia (Pur­ human civilization, sons and daugh­ pose), Kuumba (Creativity) and Imani ters o f the Holocaust of Enslavement (Faith). We are, in the final analysis, and authors and heirs o f the reaffir­ mation of our Africanness in the 60’s. defined by our values and the practice Each period leaves a legacy of chal­ to which they lead. It is for this reason lenge, struggle and achievement. We at Kwanzaa that we should remember honor each by learning it and living and act on the ancient African teach­ ings of Maat which say “ Speak truth, it. do justice and walk in the way of Fourthly, Kwanzaa is a time of righteousness.,” Likew ise in speak­ recom m itm ent to our highest ideals. ing truth and doing justice, the Husia It is, then, a time o f focusing on says we must always show preference thought and practice o f our highest for the m ost vulnerable among us. cultural vision and values which in Thus, we must, the texts say,’’Give food to the hungry, water to the thirsty, clothes to the naked and a boat to those without one.” Moreover, we must be “a father to the orphan, a husband to the widow, comfort to the sick and a staff o f support for the aged, a shelter to the needy, a float for the drow ning and a ladder for those trapped in the pit.” Finally, Kwanzaa is a time for celebration o f the good, the good of life, fam ily, com m unity culture, friendship, the bountifulnessof earth, the wonder of the universe, the elder, the young, the human person in gen­ eral, our history, our struggle for lib­ eration and ever higher levels o f hu­ man life. Celebration is a ceremony, commemoration, a respectful mark­ ing, an honoring, a praising and a rejoicing. This and more is our holi­ day o f Kwanzaa which is both anc ient and modem thought and practice, a joyful achievement and an ongoing and unending promise.