Newspapers / The Charlotte Post (Charlotte, … / May 11, 2006, edition 1 / Page 4
Part of The Charlotte Post (Charlotte, N.C.) / About this page
This page has errors
The date, title, or page description is wrong
This page has harmful content
This page contains sensitive or offensive material
4A EDITORIAL AND OPINION/ Vic Clccbltc $ll» Thursday, May 11,2006 Clje C|)arlotte JPosit The Voice of the Black Community 1531 Camden Road Charlotte, N.C. 28203 Gerald O. Johnson ceo/publisher Robert L. Johnson co-publisher/general manager Herbert L White editor in chief MATTERS OF OPINION Keeping Darfur in fdreiront Almost unnoticed, by the media in the national Hispanic mobi lization was the demonstration on the Mall in. Washington D.C. to bring and to keep attention focused on the continuing cata- strofiie in the Darfur, a region located in the A&ican coimtry of Sudan. Out on the groimds of the demonstration I could not help but notice the vivid contrast of a largely blads movement begun last year almost single-handedly by Joe Madison, fr ^ I Radio One talkshow host who was on the stage ' serving as the MC in the midst of a largely white turnout. This is important because if Black people cannot be depended upon to continue the leader ship on this issue, in the long run — and that is • always the case - how can the pressure build for the United States government to pressure its Cummings alhes to do something to stop the killing and geno cide. But the racial issue aside for the moment, the conflict is still critical and so, it was good that actor George Clooney , with Sudanese basketball player Manute Bol, Congressmen Elijah Cummir^ (D-Md.) and Don Payne (D-N.J.) and others drew some attention to the gathaing. They reminded the crowd that by now an estimated 200,000 people have been killed, raped and tortured and 1.5 miflion displaced by an armed force called the Janjaweed. The thugs continue to be sponsored by the Sudanese government trying to impose an Islamic culture on Christians and others observing traditional Afiican religious practices. Originally, the pressure on those in the South and West, who were non-Muslims, was resisted by several militant groups, such as the Sudanese Liberation Movement/Army and Justice and Equality Movement, that came together to resist the impo sition. The government responded by letting loose the Janjaweed. The group of about 20,000 rallied to protest the inaction by the world community and to attempt to spur the U.S. government into action. This is a strategic moment because in the Bush administration, there is a black Secretary of State who has for merly expressed an interest in Africa and a black assistant sec retary of state for Afiican Affairs. If they can’t move this issue who can? Furtheimore, at the momait, the United States has just began its term as the chair of the United Nations Security Council, placing it in a strategic position to lead, if it would. Some movement is occurring in the talks that have been initi ated in Nigeria between the warring parties under the sponsor ship of the Afiican Union. The AU has proposed a deal involving wealth-sharing and power-sharing between the militant groups and the Sudanese government; U. S. diplomats are involved in attempting to pressure the Sudanese to accept it. But, as one diplomat involved in the talks reported, “It all comes down to a power-play between Washir^ton and Ehartoum.” The deal is also dependent on the agreement of the militant groups that have had a history of internal conflict among themselves. With respect to Khartoum and the United States, however, there is the rising specter of oil politics as a factor in the back ground that limits the pressure that each can either employ or resist. Khartoum has recently begun the flow of500,000 barrels per day in a new fapeline that is a product of a jointly-owned Chinese pipdine, with both the Chinese and English (White Nile Ltd.) operating in Southern Sudan. The reserves of Khartoum are vast and an Italian firm has been contracted to build a refinery in Port Sudan. Thraefore, Sudan is involved in the increaflingly treacherous game of global oil politics and that tondg to guide the approaches of other countries to critical deci sions. Whether oil interests will trump the violence in the case of Darfur and provide a context in which aU parties can see the future (even African coimtries such as Zamiaa and Kenya are att^npting to establish access to Sudanese oil resoiuces) or, it win harden those interests remains to be seen The presence of oil in Southern Sudan should be a catalyst for pohtics that results in peace and stability but it cannot occur imder the oppressive control of the Sudanese government. Thus, real power-sharing and wealth-sharing are the only solution between the government and leaders of Southern organizations. All dfizens, incInJiug Blacks, need to monitor this situation and keep the pressure on the U.S. government to guide Sudanese government impulses toward peace and self determi nation for Southern Sudanese Afiicans. RON WALTERS is the Distinguished Leadership Scholar, Director of the African American leadership Institute and Professor of Government Defying odds to improve lives When a person dies, a dash is placed between the year of his or h^ birth and the death year. That dash symbolizes what hap- p e n e d between the time that per son entered the earth and the point of departure. In the case of Damu Smith, who died last week, he crammed more into his 54 years on earth than people who live twice as loirg. Yet, the feeling lingers that he left us too soon. Alwa3^ quick to greet one with a broad smile and a robust hug, Damu Smith, with his boundless energy resembled a meteorite look ing for a place to land. He was perpetually in motion. Damu traveled at waip speed and didn’t have much patience for those who only wanted to travel at the speed of h^t. There was always an air of urgency about him, because he didn’t know how long he would be on this earth. He didn’t know when he would come to the end of his dash, Damu was a man ofintegri- ty D.C. is a city where after shaking another person’s hand, you’re tempted to look down to make sure aU. of your fingers are intact. Yet, Damu, living in Washington, was able to transcend the culture of pin-stripped suits, business cards and selfishness and r^nain genuine. He was also a visionary Long before most of us had heard the terms environmen tal racism or environmental justice, Damu recognized the danger of people unknowing ly being exposed to toxic waste. The communities tar geted as dumping groxmds were populated by people of color and the poor, the very people least able to defend themselves. But Damu defended them, first as a staffer for Greenpeace USA and later as foimder of the National Black Environmental Jiistice Network. He and other activists drew national attention to a pollut ed stretch of land between New Orleans and Baton Rouge, labeling it Cancer Alley Petrochanical officials argue that they created jobs for local residents. But Damu and others argued that they caiosed cancer and other dreaded diseases and numer- oiis studies support their view. Writing for the Web site, SeeingBlack.com, investiga tive reporter Ron Nixon noted: “Nationally a 1987 study by the United Church of Christ’s Commission on Racial Justice found Blacks were four times more likely to live in areas with toxic and hazardous waste sites than Whites. A 1992 investigation by the National Law Journal found that when govemmait does enforce environmental regulations and fine compa nies, fines are much higher in White communities than in Black ones. “In Louisiana, reports by the US Commission on Civil Rights and an unreleased report by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Region Six, have raised concerns about the location of chemical plants and their pcesible impact on the health of their neighbors, who are primarily people of color.” Prior to those findings, Damu was a lonely voice in the wildemess. But that was his stjde. Rather than follow a pack, Damu would rather take the road less traveled or, better yet, one not traveled at all. Like Dr. King, the St. Louis native saw a connection between militarism and social injustice. And he became a leader of the anti war movement, creating Black Voices for Peace. In fact, he was on a peace mis sion to Palestine preparing to lead a Palm Sunday march when he became ill and was rushed to a Bethlehem hospi tal. It was not vmtil he was at Providence Hospital in Washington that he was told he was in the most serious stage of colorectal cancer. I visited Damu as soon as I learned he was in the hospi tal. He was always one of my biggest supporters when I was editor of Emerge maga zine, so I presented him with an anthology I had edited, “The Best of Emerge Magazine.” He thanked me and express^ appreciation for my finding time to visit him. I told him to dispense with the formalities. He was - and is - a natural treasure, I assured him, and a visit to the hospital was nothing compared to how he had ded icated his fife to uplifting his people. When I left Providence Hospital, Damu was doing the same thing as when I ente:ed - he was railing peo ple on his cell phone, more concerned about others than his own health. I pleaded with him to get some rest and he promised that he would. I am not sure he did. Until his final days, he was still work ing, even participating in peace marches to his doctors’ chagrin. Damu was given three to six months to live, but he survived more than a year. But he always defied the odds. And Damu has the dash to prove it. GEORGE E. CURRY is editor- in-chief of the NNPA News Service and BlackPressUSA£om. From polygamist to today’s player War In the Darfur region of Sudan has created an extended humanitarian crisis. Tbday terms such as “baby daddy”, ‘haby mama,” “baby mama drama,” and “player” are evolving into the American lexicon. However, I worry that the symbolism embodied in some of tiiese linguistic terms may be very counteiproductive to the academic development of many children now under their sphere of influence. Let me become a hood lexi con for a moment to offer my own definition of these terms so that we are all on the same wave length. 1. Baby I D a d d y : I Unmarried I birth fath^ of I a child who I may or may I not assume I fatherly responsibili ties for her socioeconomic development in the economic mainstream. 2. Baby Mama: Unmarried birth mother who is ham strung raising children fixm relationships with one or more baby daddy 3. Baby Mama Drama; Baby mamas attempting to exploit their own children as emotional leverage against baby daddy new relation ships. 4. Play^; Potential Baby Daddy seeking to impregnate as many baby mamas as he can without becoming responsible for the welfare of the children coming fiom this relationship and perhaps viewing the relationship with the mother as merdy a tro phy to his sexual prowess. It is common knowledge that parental involvement with public school sjstems will enhance the success potential of children. But when I ponder the legal lifestyle mindsets defined above, I shudder to think of the irresponsibility symbohc message they offer. I chatted with a middle- aged black player who told me that he had 20 children through seven different women. As I listened to this player speak, I wondered if he was still on some sort of female impregnation quest. I was about ready to ques tion his obvious sexual exploitation of his undeclared harem of baby mamas when hfo face radiated that he was about to make a major procla mation. This player said something to the effect, ‘T introduced all of my children to each other so tiiey will not have any sexual contact with one another.” He appeared to see these introductions as a major accomplishment ver sus something that might be expected of him. I concluded that this player relishes the role of being a mere sperm donor where baby mamas are relegated to being trophic to brag about when he is with his home- boys. What was disquieting in this scenario is the player’s children may never gain the socioeconomic upward advantage that comes with both parental families con tributing to their learning and access to mainstream opportunities. If we ectrapolate just a bit fiom the player’s comment, it may difficult for us to see this diap attending many parent- teacher meetings. PXurthermore, he mi^t find himself wreaked by the fall out of baby mama drama in just trying to make or avoid making child-support pay ments. Smely, this player may want to limit his contact with his baby mamas to merely sexual interludes. One might argue that the player’s children are lost in the economic mainstream even before they are con ceived. If you think about it, you may recall the name of a player that you know with children through multiple baby mamas. Thus, I see today’s player as nothing more than a morphing of yes terday’s polygamist, only he cannot be arrested for bigamy Hence, I find myself grappling with the question, Is today’s quasi-poljgamy one of the key elements underpinning poor public school performance in America? SHERMAN MILLER lives, studies for a PhD and writes in Wilmington, Del.
The Charlotte Post (Charlotte, N.C.)
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
May 11, 2006, edition 1
4
Click "Submit" to request a review of this page. NCDHC staff will check .
0 / 75