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Editorial Articles Do Not Necessarily
Reflect Or Represent The Views O f
The Jlo rtia n h ffibseruer
in y S
J i teve
t v f C obble
B
’ ow Newt Won! In 1 9 9 4 ,
the Gingrich tidal wave
.w as not all th a t high;
Instead, our sea walls were too
low. Our people stayed home dis
illusioned. uninspired, locked out,
alienated from a political pro
cess that offered them little.
Hi
The 13 critical seals that put Newt
Gingrich over the top of our sea
walls, and into the Speaker’s Chair,
were won by the GOP by a total of
only 38,378 votes. A switch of less
than I9,2(X) votes would have kept
Newt on the back bench.
Low Turnout! Turnout was up
overall over the previous off-year
election in 1990, but down among
our voters, especially among work
ing people and the poor (particularly
women). For instance, voters whose
incomes were below $ 15,000 a year,
decreased their participation by 21
percent! Overall, Black voter turn
out was down 2 percent, but in 7 key
states where Democrats lost 2 1 con
gressional seats, African American
voter turnout was way down;
State
Decrease
CD Seats
In Turnout
Lost
North Carolina -19.8%
-4
Georgia
-11.5%
-4
Ohio
- 9.8%
-4
Indiana
- 9.4%
-3
Illinois
-7 .4 %
-2
ww
C O A L IT IO N
Reclaiming Our House
South Carolina -5.9%
-I
Texas
- 5.6%
-3
I he resu lt ol all this despair
am ong the people was N ew t’s
c o n q u est o f the C o ngress--w hich
in turn re su lte d in w idespread
d e s p a ir am o n g D e m o c ra ts. In
early 1995, ju st over one year
ago, the situation for progressives
looked very grim .
Rainbow Resistance! The National
Rainbow Coalition stood firm. One
year ago in January, 1995, Rev. Jesse
L. Jackson called this country’s pro
gressive leadership together in Wash
ington, DC and announced the start
of a campaign to defend the family,
defeat and announced that start of a
campaign to defend the family, de
feat Gingrich, and take back the Con
gress. Toquote from the conference’s
Jan. 7th statement: “This season of
hostility and retreat from American
values and efforts to exclude vast
num bersof the American people will
be short-lived and resisted Let us
begin by targeting 50 congressional
districts-and organize to register
people to vote, educate them on what
their vote means, and mobilize them
to vote. If each of us act in a coordi
nated fashion,we can make certain
that radical conservatives experience
the term limits they promised but will
not pass.”
Target ‘96! The Rainbow launched
the political resistance, and the Rain
bow has continued i,-a n d on Satur
day, March 2nd, at the Rainbow an
nual conference, the breakfast and
morning plenary session will focus
on targeting 40-to-75 seats, with the
goal of regaining control of the U.S.
House.h)0”0*0*is session will plan
the strategy for our 1996 mobiliza
tion, and will feature a number of
America’s top political leaders: m i
nority Leader, Rep. Richard Gephard;
D em ocratic Congressional C am
paign Committee Chair, Rep. Marlin
Frost; Rep Maxine Waters; Rep.
Cleo Fields; Now President, Patricia
Ireland, AFL-CIO Political Direc
tor, Steve Rosenthal; General Chair
man o f the D em ocratic N ational
C om m ittee, Sen. C h ris Dodd; N a
tional C hairm an o f the D em o
c r a tic N a tio n a l C o m m itte e ,
D onald Fow ler, P ollster, C elinda
L a k e ; P re sid e n t o f the C ook
C ounty B oard o f C o m m issio n
ers, John S tro g er, the m ayors o f
several o f A m e ric a ’s largest cit
ies; Pollsters, Vic Fingerhut & Ron
Lester, Rep. Jesse L. Jackson, Jr. and
many others.
We will leave Chicago with agame
plan for reclaim ing the peoples’
house, our Congress. Please join us
at this political session if you c a n -
we need all the Rainbow, to win in
November!
Civil Rights Journal
Praying For The Healing Of Aids
B y B ernice P owell J ackson
thousands o f children of color are
t ’s something we still
made orphans because their parents
don’t talk about much in
have died from AIDS. While w e’re
the African Am erican
silent about it thousands of teenagers
community. We still don’t of
talk
color are engaging in behaviors
about it in the Hispanic commu
which make them the fastest growing
nity. We still don’t ta lk about it in
sector of the population infected with
the Native American community.
HIV and AIDS.
We still don’t ta lk about it in the
HIV, or the Human Immunodefi
Asian American and Pacific Is
ciency V irus, d e stro y s the blood
lander communities. W e don’t
c e lls w hich fight o ff infection
ta lk about HIV and AIDS.
and d ise a se once it e n ters the
I
But while w e’re silent about HIV
and A ID S 1 4 6 ,2 8 5 A f r ic a n
A m erican fam ilies have been a f
fe c te d by th is d is e a s e . W hile
w e ’re silen t about it som e 3,000
A fric a n A m e ric a n b a b ie s and
ch ild re n are liv in g w ith A ID S.
T h a t’s h a lf o f the A m erican c h il
dren w ith AID S. While w e’re si
lent about it thousands of children of
color are made orphans because their
parents have died from AIDS. That’s
half of the American children with
AIDS. While we’re silent about it
body. A ID S, or A cquired Im m une
D e fic ie n c y S y n d ro m e , is the
nam e o f the c o n d itio n caused by
H IV . W hen the immune system is
destroyed, the body cannot fight off
infections.
This year will mark the 4th An
nual BlackChurch National Week of
prayer for the Healing of AIDS dur
ing the week of February 27 -March
2. It will culminate in a National Day
of Prayer which will be held in thou
sands of African American churches
across the nation.
In 1994, 2,(X)0 churches partici
pated in the Black Church National
Day of Prayer for the Healing of
AIDS. This day. a part of the larger
week of prayer, is a national reminder
of the power of the church in dealing
with the presence ol AIDS in our
homes and communities. Churches,
community organizations and people
o f faith w.ll be talking, working and
praying together during the week.
7 hen on Sunday they will be praying
for the researchers, the workers and
the doctors and nurses. They will be
praying for the people living with
AIDS and for their friends, families
and survivors. Most of all, they will
be praying that God will continue to
strengthen and direct them in the
work of helping to end the AIDS
epidemic.
I recently attended a meeting of
people of color working in AIDS
ministries across the nation. People
with a phenomenal commitment to
showing G od’s love to »hose living
with HIV and AIDS. People who
hold the hands of those whose fami
lies have turned their backs on, those
whose churches have shunned, those
whose triends and co-workers have
sometimes abandoned. People who
push bureaucracies to see past the
papers to the people who have been
affected by this disease. People who
are care-gi vers, who are pastors, who
teed and clothe those with HIV and
AIDS.
AIDS is now the numberone cause
of death for all people ages 22 to 44
in the United Stites. It’sadisease we
can no longer afford not to talk about.
It’s a disease we can no longer
affordh)0*0*0*t to pray about.
(For more information, contact:
The Balm in Gilead, Inc. l3OW.42ndSt„
NY, NY 10036, 212-730-7381 or The
Ark of Refuge, Inc., 2655 Van Ness Ave.,
San Francisco, CA 94109,415-673-1557
or the Centers for Disease Control at I -
800-342-AIDS or in Spanish 1-800-
344-7432.)
Vantage Point:
Forces Pose Danger To Democracy In Haiti
B y R on D aniels
security is the number on priority for
his administration. Re-enforcing this
leading the second Afri
view, over and over again in our
can American fact find
meetings w ith political leaders,
ing and support Project of Cam g o v ern m en t o ffic ia ls and c o m
paign for a New Tomorrow ( CN T).
m unity based o rg a n iz a tio n the
During our visit to Haiti we had
issue o f security was cited as a
an opportunity to m eet with rep
m ajo r problem . M any people e x
resentatives of peasant organi
p ressed the U N. force w ere di
zations, community based orga
rected to disarm terrorist organiza
nizations, political associations
tions allied with the coup leaders
and political leaders including
such as the macoutes, attaches and
members of the National Assem
the CIA sponsors FRAPjC
bly and Municipal Mayors. We
As a result of this failure to disarm
were warmly received by Manno
anti-democratic terrorist forces the
Charlemagne Mayor of Port Au
threat of violence directed at the
Prince, whom CNT hosted for a
forces of the popular movement for
four city U.S. tour in September
democracy is ever present. In recent
1 9 9 5 . In addition we had m eet
months deputies to the National As
in g s w ith C h a v a n n e s Jean
sem bly affiliated with President
Baptiste, the Coordinator of the
A ristide's Lavale party have been
Presidential Transition Commis
assassinated. Just prior to our depar
sion and President-Elect Rene
ture from the country a man was shot
Preval.
to death within blocks of the hotel
After an intensive seven day visit,
where our delegation was staying.
our delegation left with some very
Though it is possible that the man
serious concerns. As President-Elect
may have been a victim of banditry,
Preval prepares to succeed President
a rumor swept the neighborhood that
Jean Bertrand Aristide in the first
he was gunned down by macoutes
peaceful lia u sitio n o f power in Hai
because he was an Aristide supporter.
tian history, our conclusion is that
Not only has there been a failure to
democracy in the firs, Black Repub
disarm the forces o f reaction, the
lic in this hemisphere is still in dan
new Haitian National Police (HNP)
ger Indeed, Mr. Preval stressed that
force was largely selected is being
I
have just returned from
í better
trained by the United States. I, is an
open secret that the HNP infested
with macoutes, attaches and mem
bers of FRAPH While President
Aristide successfully disbanded the
army as an institution which was
traditionally used as an instrument of
rightwing dictatorship, he was un
able to prevent the U.S. from sowing
potential seeds of conflict within the
HNP.
There is also evidence that some
of the coup leaders that fled across
the border to the Dominican Repub
lic have established camps in that
country as well as in Haiti to train
their forces for contra type counter
revolutionary attacks against organi
zations and constituencies within the
popular m ovem ent. T hese reports
w ere co n firm ed in private off the
record co n v e rsa tio n s with m em
bers o f the U.N. peacekeeping
force including som e A m erican
C a n a d ia n so ld ie rs. T here is a
perv asiv e fear that the coup lead
ers and those w ithin the H aitian
e I i te w ho are opposed to the process
of democracy are simply laying low
waiting for an opportunity to under
mine and destroy the government.
One senator from the National As
sembly told our delegation that civil
war could bread out in Haiti at any
moment.
In addition to the serious concerns
about security, discontent over the
desperate stale ol the economy also
poses a danger to the unfolding de
mocracy in Haiti. The economic cri
sis in the poorest nation in the west
ern hemisphere has been exacerbated
by the effort of the World Bank and
International Monetary Fund, with
the support of the United States, to
force the government to implement a
structural adjustment program with
sweeping demands for privatization
is in effect holding the government
and the Haitian people hostage to an
economic program which they did
no, design and do not feel is in their
best interest.
I, is quite clear that the U.S is
using the threat of instability and
privatization as levers to control the
destiny of Haiti in direct defiance of
the will o f the Haitian people as
expressed in theiroverwhelming sup
port for the Lavalas movement at the
ballot box and growing demonstra
tio n s in the s tre e ts a g a in st
privatization. It is our responsibility
of African Americans, who support
the legitimate aspirations o f the Hai
tian masses for genuine democracy,
to demand that the U. S. government
respect the sovereignty of Haiti.
Uhe (SLfìitór
Send your letters to the Editor to:
Editor, PO Box 3137, Portland, OR 97208
p e r s p e c t i v e s\
Floods And Black
History, Continued
hanks again for a warm
munity in the audience. Needless
response to an article
to say, referrals from industry
of mine that I felt would
people carry a lot of weight, espe
address both areas of cultural
cially when your “product” cen
pride and the education sec
ters around technology and the
tors. Especially rewarding was
■ ■' ■—
...............i
—
i
i
the interest shown by teach
ers, within and without the Port
By
land district. Yes, I do strive to
âKZ / J I
Professor
thoroughly document and verify
Mcklnley
my presentations; that is ab
Burt
solutely necessary if we are to
gain the greatest impact from
recitations of black contribu
workforce. It is unfortunate that I
tions to the culture and tech
got cut off from the inner-city
nology of the world.
where I formerly was allowed to
T
The specific article - “Floods:
Black History Records Ancient
Triumphs - Accommodations” —
follows that mode exactly. Inter
estingly, I submitted carefully de
tailed account of the “African Hy
draulic Civilizations” (as they were
called by Dr. Karl W. B utzerof the
University of Chicago ) to the Port
land School District, while under
contract to develop such material
for their "Base line Essays” pro
gram in the area of science and
mathematics (1983).
This was just one element of a
twelve-part curriculum/lesson Plan
package I presented, ranging from
the dynastical periods o f Egypt to
the contemporary inventions of
blacks in the space age. Needless
to say, little o f it, if any, ever
appeared as an educational prod
uct (let alone in the classroom). In
co n se q u e n c e , m any te a c h e rs
brought me into their classrooms
on an individual school contract,
or, as several did, paid me out of
their own pocket.
Interestingly, all these years
later, “Operation shutout" is still
in full swing in the Portland School
District, where we have the pre
dominately black' schools—but it
is in the outlying 99% white dis
tricts where I am invited to make
presentations (year round) I have
begun to realize that this increas
ing acceptance (by whites) is a
result of referrals to local school
districts made by the participants
in my current workshops for in
dustry.
As was the case with my many
workshops for U.S. Forest Service
personnel around the Northwest,
quite often there are members or
relatives of the educational com-
deliver a much needed motiva
tional product. Perhaps some of
the readers have ideas about the
“who” and “why” involved.
Meanwhile, back at the ranch-
-I mean floodplain—I did not have
quite enough room last week to
detail some other sources and
d o c u m e n ta tio n . My sp ecial
thanks to Dr. Nohaud Toulon who
was head of the School of Urban
Studies at Portland State Univer
sity at the time I developed the
“Nile River Package”. The Black
S tudies D epartm ent w here I
taught was a component o f this
school, and Dr. Toulon, who was
later to take leave to become the
Housing Minister of Egypt, was
kind enough to provide me refer
rals of immeasurable value.
One reader would remind me
that Hollywood finally “acknowl
edged the “blackness of the Afri
can country of Egypt” by select
ing anh)()*0*0*rican American
actor for the role o f assassinated
President Abdel Nasser” (1956-
1970). Perhaps next time around,
they might again concede that
African countries produce black
p e o p le —and cast an A frican
American female as Cleopatra
(before Elizabeth Taylor gets an
other face lift).
Also, for those who are really
interested in the thousands of
years ol floodplain technology in
Egypt, you will w ant to re
view the un fo rtu n ate c o n se
quences o f som e m odern te c h
niq u es. See E ssay No. 24,
“C an
Egypt
S u r v iv e
P ro g re s s ” , in. P o p u la tio n ,
E volution And Birth C o n tro l,
G arett H ardin Ed., W.H. Free
man and Co., 1969 second Ed.
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