FORUM
Protection: Children Need It
Last year, the Children's Defense Fund did
focus group research of black teens and parents
to learn how they viewed teen sexuality and
pregnancy. One striking result was that the
teens didn't relate to the terms "family plan
ning" or "contraception." Rather, they used the
term "protection" to refer to birth control.
I was struck by the appropriateness - and
the irony - of the term, in a time when teen
pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases
are growing epidemics. The danger is that,
even when well-educated about the risks of
pregnancy and disease and how to prevent
them, many teens consciously choose to put
themselves at risk.
And, in a time when crime and terrorism
are turning our .
that will not only equip them to better handle
themselves, but hopefully, begin to decrease
the violence that overshadows their lives and
holds their futures in hock.
We can campaign, vote for and hold
accountable our political representatives at the
city, state and national levels. We can work
with our churches to provide not only spiritual
sustenance, but after-school and weekend
activities that offer a haven from danger.
We can come together with others in the
community and take steps, as others have, to
look crime and drug-dealing and gang violence
in the face and say: "NO MORE!"
We can lead our social and professional
organizations to the forefront by putting the
neighborhoods and
schools into war
zones, the term
"protection" takes
on even more
meaning.
Besides the
GUEST COLUMNIST
By MARIAN WRIGHT EDELMAN
bullets that claim ? ?
more young lives every day, our children face
the dangers of preventable (and sometimes
deadly) disease, abuse and neglect at home,
violence in and outside of school, and the epi
needs of our children at the top of their agendas
and at their bottom line. We can support the
expansion of the Head Start program so that
every eligible child can be prepared to succeed
V
"We can lead our social and professional organizations to
the forefront by putting the needs of our children at the top
of their agendas and at their bottom line."
demic of hopelessness that underscores it all.
How can we protect them? When they're
very young, we can vaccinate them against
polio, measles, mumps and other diseases. We
can locate and fix environmental hazards like
lead paint, polluted water, substandard housing
and needle-littered yards and streets.
When they get older, we can caution them
against the dangers of drug and alcohol abuse
and encourage them to delay sexual activity
until they are matyre enough to handle the
responsibilities of parenthood and possible con
sequences.
At any age, we can begin to demonstrate -
and to teach - creative conflict resolution skills
in school and in life.
Protection. Our children need it. They
deserve it. And, they're counting on us to pro
vide it. It's a word they shouldn't need to under
stand so well.
The Black Community Crusade for Chil
dren is dedicated to solving these and other
problems. Give us a call at 1-800-ASK-BCCC
to find out how you can get involved.
(Marian Wright Edelman is president of
the Children 's Defense Fund , a national voice
for children, and a leader of the Black Com
munity Crusade for Children.)
Economics Through Self-Help
Let us build together
a friendship strong and sturdy,
beginning with a collective trust
that's made to last
for many years.
( Author Unknown)
There are two universal factors or truths
about economics. First, production follows
cheap labor. Second, capital follows high inter
est rates.vAsk yourself the following questions:
Is there an^lncentive to invest in America, if
interest rates are down here and higher, else
where? Is business motivated to leave this
country? Is labor, the last factor in this equa
tion, willing to change?
Our unions should "raise" the educational
and technical level of the masses, instead of
striking, and supporting, strikes to hold onto
would grow up to be a direct threat to their
children's employment opportunities.
Controlling education maintains the social
status of the "upper-middle class" and the
"world economic elites." Could this explain the
annual Crisis, solved by cuts and take-aways in
public education?
We must teach our best and brightest, on
Saturdays and Sundays, a sound, basic educa
tion in reading, math, writing and thinking.
The churches in our communities should open
their doors and begin this task "yesterday." We
have plenty of qualified, talented, and retiring
teaching volunteers. They would be willing to
help complement public education and chil
dren who are willing to try.
The preceding comments on self-empow
erment over education and economics were
written by Calvin Pearce who is executive
director of The Learning Logic Foundation,
"the way we
were." Civil rights
groups and unions
should lead the
charge into highly
skilled and techni
cal fields of work.
It is counter-pro
ductive to resist
BUSINESS EXCHANGE
By WILLIAM REED
improvements. Failure to do this means that the first intergeneratjonal think-tank in Illinois.
"We must teach our best and brightest, on Saturdays and
Sundays, a sound, basic education in reading, math, writing
and thinking."
~dur people must compete with unskilled labor,
all over the global community. The North
American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) is
better understood with these factors clarified.
As a community, we are responsible for
the education of our children. Not the "they"
we always blame. "They" are the "world eco
nomic elites." "They" always get more than
their share of the wealth and services around
the world. "They" have no countries or bound
aries. Their support base is the "upper-middle
class." The "upper-middle class" has a creed
they live and die by: Make sure their children
do better than they did.
This "upper-middle class" under the lead
ership of the "world economic elites," do not
want public education to educate more than 50
percent of the masses. If the masses are edu
cated anymore than this, you can no long tell
them what to think. If the "elite" and "upper
middle class" allow great numbers of
"unlearned masses" an opportunity to the same
educational conditioning, those "unlearned"
The think-tank's purpose is to promote educa
tional discussion and experimental programs
between senior citizens and school-age youth.
The mission of the Foundation is to decrease
illiteracy, homelessness, drug addiction and
domestic and gang violence.
Pearce's group is trying to organize objec
tives around the social problems of the com
munity. A community needs to hear its own
voice. Our communities need voices publiciz
ing mutual feelings, problems and hardships.
But, the majority of a community's time can be
spent reacting to the negative effects of prob
lems highlighted by the media. Thg actual
quality of life in a community depends on how
well it maintains the standards, morals and val
ues of its people.
* * *
(Want to do more toward building
together with people where you live? Contact
the Learning Logic Foundation , P.O. Box
805233, Chicago , III 60680-4133. Or catt
(312) 233-4442.)
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A Government Above the Law
For all of those who break the law and try to get something
for nothing, President Bill Ginton put on a textbook seminar in
breaking the law legally.
Beyond a shadow of a doubt, he showed us just how corrupt
our system of government has become as he paid for votes for
NAFTA with tax -collected money.
The last estimate was $1.7 billion ? or an average of $7.5
million for each of the 218 House votes needed to win.
Compare that to the $500,000 the Republicans allegedly
paid to keep the black vote down in New Jersey and
you'll get "peanuts," says Ross Perot.
Thing like giving $1.4 billion to build two C-17
cargo planes to win the vote of Rep. Eddie Johnson, a
Democrat from Texas, bothers Perot so much that he
wants a Justice Department investigation of corruption.
Fat chance that Clinton's justice will seek justicefbr the
taxpayers.
And we can expect the Democrats and all politicians to duck
the question that wonders why if it's wrong for the Republicans
to buy an election in New Jersey, it is not wrong for Clinton to
use public funds to buy votes?
This taxpayer-financed pork barrel should embarrass politi
cians. but is doesn't Rep. Floyd Flake, a minister, calls his $580
million payoff a "bridge to economic development"
4
In addition to playing Russian roulette with the jobs of
Americans, Clinton has demonstrated once again that he has no
principles.
Buying the NAFTA vote must be added to Clinton's lying
about raising taxes; his phony promise to cut the deficit by $500
billion when in effect, he is raising it to $300 billion over five
years; and his promise to save S5.6 billion "reinventing
TONY BROWN
Syndicated Columnist
government" when it really adds up to only $305 million.
These is not enough space to mention all of his broken
"promises." But his image as the leader of a country founded on
ethical principals is a disaster in progress.
(Tony Brown's Journal TV series can be seen on your
local public television station PBS.)
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