4A
EDITORIALS/The Charlotte Post
January 18, 1996
tKIje Cljarlotte
Gerald O. Johnson
Publisher
Robert Johnson
Co-Publisher/
General Manager
Herbert L. White
Editor
Economic
empowerment:
A few words to the wise
By James Clingman
NATIONAL NEWSPAPER PUBLISHERS ASSOCIATION
"Now is the time — not in some far-off future, but now is the time —
for us as a race to prove to the world that. We have the abihty and
the inclination to do our part in owning, developing, manufacturing
£uid trading in the natural resources of our country. If we let these
golden opportunities slip from us in this generation, I fear they will
never come to us in a like degree again. Let us act before it is too
late, before others come from foreign lands and rob us of our
birthright.”
Those words were spoken on Aug. 21, 1912, by Booker T.
Washington. He was speaking to the National Negro Business
League in Chicago, Ill. Haunting, ironic, prophetic? How would you
characterize these words? From any direction, we can see that we
are at least 75 years behind when it comes to black economic empow
erment. Washington pleaded for his people to work together. He
begged for solidarity among black people. He admonished against
what has now become a reality for many African Americans — eco
nomic apathy and disinterest. The gravest insult and most dramatic
display of his warnings against the futility of merely seeking pohti-
cal offices without economic undergirding can be found in Tuskegee,
Ala.
I recently spoke with a friend who had spent some time in
Tuskegee last summer. She described a town with little or no eco
nomic infrastructure — a tovm whose residents must travel to other
towns for medicine and other vital needs. Tuskegee, where it all
began for Booker T. Washington; Tuskegee, where the philosophy of
economic self-sufficiency was nurtured everyday, now serves as a
monument, in name only, to the principles that Washington
espoused.
Sad to say, many other cities are no better off. Lost somewhere in
our zeal to integrate, having access to the economic resources of oth
ers, is our own economic plan for survival. We have ignored the
"...Civilization in any people is to a large extent the ability of the
individuals of that people to combine their efforts for the good of
the whole; it is the ability, while holding fast to individual differ
ences of opinion and sentiment on minor matters, to be able to put
these differences in the background whenever it is necessary to
unite for the benefit of the whole community or the whole state."
-Booker T. Washington
words of Washington and many before and after him, and we are
Steadily making his dire prediction come true. To some people
Washington's ideas were radical; to others his talk of black economic
unity was threatening. Some people believe his untimely death, at
68, was contrived in some way. Some believe he was simply mur
dered. Whatever the case, Washington spoke words that are eerily
haunting and foreboding, even more today than in 1912. He warned
us that unless we take responsibility for our own economic destiny
we will surely miss out on the opportunities that exist in this coun
try. We have already allowed most of our land to slip away from us, a
la the Native Americans. And you know what happened to them.
I Our access this country's natural resources is limited, as
Washington predicted it would be if we did not act. Our concentra
tion on gaining high office and being able to spend a ''dollar at the
opera" blinded us to the fact that we must build our own economic
foundation first before we take on other efforts that will not help our
community as a whole. Even today, as in Washington's time, some of
our people do not want to hear those words. Needless to say, even
today some people are still threatened by the prospect of economic
unity among blacks. I do not plan to meet the same demise as Booker
T. Washington, but I must continue to exhort my brothers and sis
ters to move toward economic unity. Unity, not to the exclusion of
amyone else, white, red or yellow, but unity that includes all African
Americans.
When asked in 1907 what black people need most, Washington
•■replied, "Solidarity! We need as a race to learn to pull together.
Civilization in any people is to a large extent the ability of the indi
viduals of that people to combine their efforts for the good of the
whole; it is the ability, while holding fast to individual differences of
opinion and sentiment on minor matters, to be able to put these dif
ferences in the background whenever it is necessary to unite for the
benefit of the whole community or the whole state."
If we do not learn to work together, to trust one another, to agree
to disagree and still be friends and, more importantly, to pool our
resources, Washington's "before it's too late" prediction will one day
soon reverberate throughout our communities, across this nation,
and around the world.
JAMES CLINGMAN is editor of the Cincinnati (Ohio) Herald.
People perish for lack of vision
By Ron Daniels
SPECIAL TO THE POST
Martin Luther King was a
visionary whose capacity to
dream and articulate his
dream to the suffering masses
of African humanity in the
U.S. helped to fuel one of the
most profound social move
ments in the history of this
nation and the world.
Unfortunately, the forces of
reaction have gained ascen
dancy in this nation and
through their "Contract on
America" seek to turn back
the clock on the hard fought
gains of the '60s. Indeed, black
people, people of color, poor
and working people and the
struggling middle class are
being conditioned to believe
that the kind of Economic Bill
of Rights which King was
speaking to and fighting for at
the end of his life is an
anachronism in the current
climate of the "free market"
and "global competition."
The American people are
being conditioned to accept a
kind of modern day Social
Darwinism, a "survival of the
fittest" doctrine where there
are winners and losers in the
new world order of global com
petition. We are being condi
tioned to accept obscene levels
of inequality, poverty, misery
and a prison-jail industrial
complex as part of the natural
order of things. We are being
conditioned to accept the
notion that the concept of a
culture of rights where the
government and the public
sector guarantee a basic stan
dard of living for all of the
people who live in this country
is simply an outmoded and
unworkable idea.
“Where there is no vision,
the people perish." If the
masses of black people, people
of color and poor suid working
people cannot conceive and
dream of new possibilities, if
there is no vision of a new and
humane society, then we will
surely perish. But if we are
true to the spirit of Martin
Luther King, then we are
challenged to confront the cur
rent crises with the resolve to
pose the visionary alternative.
It was Martin Luther King
who called upon us to push for
a transformation of AmericEm
society: "I am convinced
that...we as a nation must
undergo a radical revolution
of values. We must rapidly
begin the shift from a ‘thing
oriented' society to a ‘person
oriented' society. When,
machines and computers,
profit motives and property
rights are considered more
important than people, the
giant triplets of racism, mate
rialism, and militarism are
incapable of being conquered."
The contemporary meaning
of this message from Martin is
that we must reject the notion
that the "market," profit,
property, and materialism are
more important than people.
We do not have to accept the
contention of the radical right
and the Republicrats that
gross inequality and extremes
of wealth and poverty are
inevitable in American soci
ety. We do not have to be
bound by their view that there
is something old fashioned
and unrealistic about the con
cept of a culture of rights
which ensures that every per
son in this society is entitled
to certain basic human rights:
a decent job with decent
wages or a guaranteed
income; quality affordable
health care for all; affordable
housing; quality education;
and, a safe and clean environ
ment.
On the contrary we must go
on the offensive articulating a
vision of a culture of rights as
an integral and indispensable
ingredient in a new and more
humane society; a society
where social and economic
rights are accepted as inalien
able rights which cannot be
"I am convinced
that...we as a nation
must undergo a radi
cal revolution of val
ues. We must rapidly
begin the shift from a
'thing oriented' soci
ety to a 'person ori
ented' society"
-Martin Luther King, Jr.
violated. And, like Martin
Luther King, we must be pre
pared to put our bodies on the
line to struggle for the realiza
tion of our vision and our
dreams.
The recent general strike
and turmoil in France demon
strates that somewhere in the
world there are working peo
ple who are unwilling to accept
the demands of the corporate
elite that the safety net for
poor and working people and
the middle class be dismantled
to protect the competitive posi
tion and profitability of the
bankers and bosses, share
holders and bondholders and
the captains of commerce and
industry. Similarly, in the
Chiapas region of Mexico, the
indigenous people have revolt
ed to resist the destructive
impact of NAFTA and other
international and national
policies being imposed on them
by an undemocratic and cor
rupt government. The
Zapatista Liberation Front is
determined that there will be
a new day, a new society for
indigenous people into the 21st
century. They are not pre
pared to accept the status quo,
to suffer and die.
“Where there is no vision, the
people perish." Black people,
people of color and poor and
working people must be equal
ly determined to become
ungovernable in the U.S. in
defense of the basic human
rights of the vast multitude of
people who are being victim
ized by the Contract on
America. As Martin Luther
King once put it, "true com
passion is more than flinging
a coin to a beggar; it comes to
see that the edifice that pro
duces beggars needs restruc
turing." We must offer a
vision of social transforma
tion, of a radically changed
society where social and eco
nomic justice and genuine
democracy are essential to the
very fabric of the nation.
It is that vision which will
enable black people, people of
color and poor and working
people to rise above the con
straints of our current circum
stances to struggle for the
dawning of a new day. It is
that vision, the capacity to
imagine and dream that
things can be different that
will energize the apathetic
and indifferent to forge a peo
ples movement that will cre
ate a new tomorrow. In the
face of formidable odds we are
challenged to choose life over
death.
RON DANIELS is an
activist and writer from East
Elmhurst, N.Y.
Tomorrow’s Martin
Luther Kings
Bernice P.
Jackson
On January 15 we once
again celebrated the birthday
of a great American and citi
zen of the world. Dr. Martin
Luther King, Jr. Many school
children recited his I Have a
Dream speech given at the
1963 March on Washington
and we paid tribute to a great
religious and moral leader of
our lifetime.
But in the course of remem
bering Dr. King's life, it's
i'mportant to remember that
when he came into the
nation's limelight as a leader
of the Montgomery bus boy
cott in 1955 he was only 26
years old. As the civil rights
movement showed here in the
United States and the anti
apartheid movement did in
South Africa, young people
are often in the forefront of
social change.
Who, then, are the future
Martin Luther King Jr’s in
our time? Who are the young
people who are working for
justice for their people? While
the media often ignore the sto
ries of young people working
for positive change, the good
news is there are many young
people who are about the busi
ness of justice for all. Here are
the stories of just two of them.
Angela Brown
Angela Brown is the only
American winner of the
Reebok Human Rights Award,
an international award honor
ing young human rights
activists working on the front
lines for social change. We in
the Commission for Racial
Justice are especially proud of
Angela because we have
watched and encouraged her
from age 14, when she orga
nized young people around
education and voter registra
tion.
A child of the civil rights
movement, she has been
involved in the environmental
justice movement from its
inception and Angela now
works with the Southern
Organizing Committee and
Greenpeace in organizing
young people across the South
around environmental justice
issues. Her successful work
helped to prevent the installa
tion of a PVC plant in
Wallace, La. and a hazardous
waste incinerator in
Noxxubbe, Miss. She is also
an assistant pastor at Saint
Delight UCC in Louisburg,
N.C.
To today's young people,
Angela Brown says, "Our gen
eration is faced with a contin
ual epidemic of drugs, the cul
ture of violence, the sin of
racism, the pain of miseduca-
tion, the divisiveness of class,
and the indecisiveness to truly
end sexist oppression. As
young people we cannot con
tinue to aid in these kinds of
environmental atrocities. It is
our human right all over this
world to work, live and play in
a healthy environment. I hope
all people, but especially
young people, will hear my
call to struggle and demand
their humaui rights."
Justin Deegan
Justin Deegan is an
Arickara/Sioux from the Fort
Berthold Indian Reservation
in North Dakota. Currently a
student at the University of
North Dakota State
University at Fargo, Justin's
Indian name is We Cha Sha
Nahzin, which means
"Standing Man" in Dakota
Sioux, a name given to him by
his father who taught him
that "when a man falls down,
he must get back up again."
Justin was named North
Dakota Indian Student of the
Year in 1994 by the North
Dakota Indian Education
Association and was selected
for Who's Who for three con
secutive years. A natural
leader, Justin has served as
National vice-chair for
UNITY, the United National
Indian Tribal Youth organiza
tion. UNITY believes that as
Indian youth their members
can make changes through
their 12 inter-related goals —
Unity, Spirituality, Family,
Heritage, Health,
Environment, Sovereignty,
Mental, Service, Education,
Physical and Community.
An athlete and scholar,
Justin is also a Sunday School
teacher in the church which
his mother pastors in
Bismarck. He says, "I have
become more aware of educa
tion for myself and for other
Indian youth. I realize it is a
tool for us to become more
prosperous and spiritual.
Throughout my journey I have
dedicated myself toward pro
tecting our environment and
being drug/alcohol free." One
of Justin's role models is
Senator Ben Nighthorse
Campbell and he hopes to one
day be elected to public office
and serve in Washington.
Justin Deegan and Angela
Brown are just two of our
future Martin Luther King,
Jrs. I think Dr. King would be
proud.
BERNICE P. JACKSON is
executive director for the
Commision for Racial Justice.