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OPINION/ FORUM Chron icle m PuettMMt* A? oclitton Ernest H. Pitt Publisher'Co-Founder Elaine Pitt Business Manager Michael A. Pitt Marketing T. Kevin Walker Managing Editor Horth Carolina Press Assoc otion Photo by Layta Farmer Meals are served at the Resource Center last week. Fighting the Good Fight (and Winning) When Andrea Kurtz and other community leaders announced just a few years ago that they were unveiling a Ten Year Plan to End Chronic Homelessness, there was more than a little skepticism. Homelessness. and the abject poverty it stems from, has existed seemingly since the dawn of time. Poor and disheveled men and women are regular characters in the Holy Bible, their plight a reoccurring theme in its writings, and judging from the streets of Winston-Salem and virtually any city on the globe. How then, could anyone be so naive as to believe that they could have a tangible impact on such an deplorable, yet resilient societal ill? Yet Kurtz, the United Way. Mayor Allen Joines, the City Council and many others didn't let history determine the future of our city, and we are certain that many among us today are eternally grateful for their optimism. No. Winston-Salem wasn't the first city to adopt a Ten Year Plan Other progressive municipalities have also taken on similar initiatives, but the Twin City is still on the cutting edge, as it has been quite often with respect to many impor tant issues over the last decade We applaud our elected leaders for. again, believing in us as a city despite the hardships we face in transitioning from a industrial to a technological workforce. We applaud the countless volunteers and paid staff members across Winston Salem who leave their warm and comfortable beds each morning in the pursuit of a little comfort for those who are without. Even as naysayers were poopooing the project, it began to grow. Like a gathering storm, it has swept more and more agencies into its partnership, broadening both its reach and its effectiveness. And the proof is in the pudding, as some will say. From a one-time, annual effort that sought to help people find the services they needed to turn their lives around, to The Resource Connection Center, a large-scale, monthly project that has likely served hundreds since its inception just over a year ago. and still the momentum continues. Folks like Benjamin, the recovering addict mentioned in the story on the Center's anniversary, will tell you that a lit tle caring and a lot of hard work can go a long way in empowering those who might have once believed they could no longer empower themselves. He knows that no matter what his problem is, the people who work at the Center will do everything they can to help him. not because its their job. but because they care about . him as a human being and they want him to do better. For many people living on the streets, that kind of attitude is a rarity. Often the choices that have rendered them homeless have also caused them to burn bridges with families or loved ones, the people who would normally offer such support and encouragement. Who doesn't need love? The Resource Center fills that gap. Other organizations, like the Samaritan Inn. the Salvation Army Shelter and the Winston-Salem Rescue Mission have long played a valuable and important role in combating homelessness. and with the added backing from the collabo rative partners of the Ten Year Plan, their work has become even more relevant. Isn't it amazing what can happen when people work together for a common cause? We think so. Economic Transformation Julianne Malveaux Guest Columnist I have a friend who has not had to struggle around money issues For the past 20 years. This year, though, she is counting pennies, cutting back, and warning friends that if there are gifts at all, they are likely to be small ones. Like many Americans, she is being whipped between the stock market (lower pension fund payments), and the lay offs of those in her close cir cle. Whenever she feels that she has a leg up, she is con fronted with a hand out. She's not the only one. At Bennett College for Women, the Parent's Association wanted to help send five students home. They ran an essay contest and planned to award prizes to the five best essays. In the end, the stories of economic trau ma were so painful that more than 15 young women got help with their travel. Others, equally needy, were too busy with finals to participate in the essay contest. They also strug gle to make ends meet. This economy is banging people around all kinds of ways, forcing them to make compromises that they don't like to make and, in some cases, to stop celebrating the holidays the way they once did. It's not all about the holi days. When January 1 comes, there will be those who cannot find jobs, or pay tuitions, or even pay for the cost of searching for a job or an opportunity. All eyes are on Washington, between the pos sibility of Congressional bail out action, and the excitement around the inauguration of our nation's first black President. There are some solutions that will emanate from Washington. State and local governments, too, have the opportunity to craft solutions. So do individuals who must now use every ounce of cre ativity they have to survive this economy. It will likely be another year before there is a hint of economic recovery. The folk whose holiday dinners are not as bountiful as they were a year ago are likely to have to continue to tighten their belts to make ends meet. This whack economy actu ally offers the possibility of developing a more just econo my. to look at issues of wages, benefits and distribution in the context of economic recovery. If we emerge from this econo my with an economic distribu tion that looks much like the one we started this recession with, we have emerged as fail ures, attempting to use old conditions to find new solu tions. So what must we do? We must focus on the creation of jobs that pay living wages and ensure that these jobs are dis tributed across a continuum that includes women, young people, people of color, and those who are too often left out of economic recovery. We must emphasize the jole that education plays in the economy and provide doHars to HBCUs who are part of the solution, not part of the prob lem. Think about it! If we can seamlessly send tens of bil lions of dollars to the auto industry, why not send just a fraction of that to our 105 his torically black colleges and/ universities? We must get a handle on the housing crisis, not just for owners, but also for renters Banks can make profits with out exploiting people if they really try. Advocates for economic justice have to sing the same tune, over and over again. This is not the time to choose to switch focus because it is interesting and exciting. If we begin to fix the jobs problem, we will have a fair crack at fixing most of our nation's problems, or at least getting more of us in produc tive, remunerative work that is rewarding. If we lose sight of the jobs matter, sidetracked by other concerns, we'll look up and a year from now, American will still be out of work. Nobody is doing much public policy these next two weeks. People will be full of reviewing the exciting year that was, and ruminating about the .times we now find ourselves in. This is both per sonal and political for many of us - if we have not lost our jobs; we are affected by those who have, affected by the eco nomic pinch that is becoming a squeeze. We are not defined by our economic times. 1 told my friend who is paring down her feast that at least there is a meal to have. The student who needed a way home found, in most cases, that help was on the way. If we can share the concept of economic justice, we can build an economy that fills us with pride. We just have to stay focused on the economic transformation that is neces sary and the work we must do to attain it. Dr. Julianne Malveaux is president of Bennett College for Women. I am Not Dreaming of a White Christmas George Curry Guest Columnist There is a picture of me at the age of 7 or 8 decked out in my cowboy suit - replete with hat. gun. scarf and cowboy boots. My gun is drawn and pointed in the direction of my sister Charlotte, four years younger. Charlotte is appropri ately attired in a cowgirl suit as we stand smiling in front of a we 11 -decorated Christmas tree. Clutched in Charlotte's left arm is a doll, a White doll. It was not usual for Black girls to have White dolls in the 1950s, and at our age, it seemed no big deal. But it was a big deal to my stepfather, William Polk, who was con cerned about the self-esteem of Charlotte and. later. Chris and Sue, my other sisters. Although Black dolls were rare back then. William thought my sisters should only play with dolls that looked like them. With only a fifth grade education, my stepfather relied on his intuition to reach that conclusion. But what he felt in his gut was later quantified by husband-and-wife psycholo gists Kenneth B. and Mamie Clark. They conducted groundbreaking doll studies in the 1950s in which they sought to learn how America's con cept of beauty impacted the self-esteertV of African American children. The couple conducted a series of tests in which they showed Blacks kids White dolls and Black dolls. In each instance, most of the Black children preferred to play with White dolls over Black ones. Moreover, they considered the White dolls good and pretty and the Black dolls bad and ugly. Their research was cited in Brown v. Board ?of Education, the landmark 1954 Supreme Court case outlawing segregat ed public schools. Even during the season we celebrate the birth of Christ, racism does not take a holiday. And one of our defenses, in and out of season, has been to resort to laughter. I can't say that was my frame of mind in 1984 when I was covering Jesse Jftckson's first presidential bid. When you are on the road'seven days a week, often working 12- to 15-hour days, the mind comes up with all kinds of whacky things. Such was the case when I made the mistake of telling the candidate that I believed Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer was a brother At first, Jesse Jackson was dismissive. But that didn't pre vent me from arguing my point. "Think about the lyrics." I suggested. "Rudolph, the red-nosed reindeer had a very shiny nose. And if you ever saw him. you would even say it glows." Don't act like you don't know what I am talking about. When it gets cold, our noses definitely shine. But next came the defini tive proof - at least in my mind - that Rudolph was Black. "All of the other reindeer used to laugh and call him names. They never let poor Rudolph join in any reindeer games." It can't be clearer than that. Can't you just see them calling poor Rudolph the R-word? And of course, they didn't allow him to join their games But when the big, fat, bearded one chose Rudolph to guide his sleigh, everyone sud denly had a change of heart . "Then all of the reindeer loved him, as they shouted out with glee, Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer, you '11 go down in history ! " Jesse Jackson's response? "George, you have lost your mind." Apparently, I hadn't. It wasn't long before I heard Jesse Jackson telling my Rudolph story on radio. He was telling it to Tom Joyner as if it were his story. But any journalist who has traveled with Jesse Jackson for any length of time knows that's an occupational hazard. Sylvester Monroe, a corre spondent for Newsweek maga zine. showed Jackson a greet ing card on the campaign that had caught his attention. Again. Jackson did not appear to be impressed - not until we heard Jackson reciting the words during a speech. That's classic Jesse Jackson. Back to the White dolls, you would think that after nearly 50 years - and millions of Black dolls - that Black kids would have better self esteem. If you think that, think again. In 2005. Kiri Davis, an 18 year-old filmmaker, decided to replicate the doll experiments with 21 Black children at a daycare center in New York. In her experiment. 15 of the 21 children preferred the White doll, whom they considered nice and pretty. My stepfather knew what he was talking about. George E. Curry, former editor-in-chief of Emerge mag azine and the NNPA News Sen ice. is a keynote speaker, moderator, and media coach. He can he reached through his Web site, HM-w.georgecurry.com .
Winston-Salem Chronicle (Winston-Salem, N.C.)
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