AC Phoenix, March, 1992, Page 13
PHOENIX OPINIONS - EDITORIALS
Legal Aid, Tenant Responsibilites Belong Hand-In-Hand
From its very inception, the Legal
Aid Society has championed the
causes of the downtrodden. It has
allowed those with meager re
sources the ability to have legal
representatives equal to that of those
with ample resources.
The Legal Aid Society has been a
great ally of civil and human rights.
It’s attorneys have offered expert
advice to the many clients who have
come through its doors. Without
this organization the rights of many
Blacks would have been infringed
upon.
Yet, recurring local developments
have caused many people to ask
questions about this organization
relative to the strong hand it now
holds in landlord/tenant disputes.
Several trends have begun to
as far as to say that Blacks and
other people are being taught to act
Editorial
By Rodney Sumler
Phoenix Publisher
a:
surface locally that have many real
estate investors at an impasse.
Some have become vocal in their
disputes with the non-profit
organization. A few have even gone
irresponsibly as a result of the
strong advocacy of the Legal Aid
Society in “housing reform.”
Upon first glance, some of these
assertions might seem ludicrous to
the casual observer. But to those
with a vested interest in the course
of local housing trends, they are
questions that need to be answered.
Over the last year and a half, this
situation has really taken form. It
started when a couple who had
inherited rental property was
severely fined for accepting rental
payments from individuals who
were found to be living in
“unsanitary” conditions. Since that
time, the argument has continued to
escalate until now, some investors
are seeking to get out of the
business.
Sure, there are instances in which
landlords have asked tenants to pay
Continued on Page 14
Being Poor Does Not Let You Off The Hook
By Patricia Smith-Deering
Phoenix Managing Editor
Every time I visit my grand
mother, I know there are two things
I’m going to find: a spotless house
and a well-kept yard. It always
creates two diametrically opposed
feelings in me. First, there’s the
struggle with guilt because, while
I’m fairly meticulous in my own
home, I doubt that at all times I
could pass the “white glove” test
that my grandmother’s apartment
can. Then, there is a deep sense of
pride because this is a woman who
will turn 91 years old this year, and
she’s still going strong.
For as long as I can remember.
wherever she calls home. Grandma
has always made the quality of life
immediately around her as good as
if she owned the place she inhabited
or the grounds outside her door. A
proud and devoutly religious
woman, she is also self-sufficient.
She was this way when my family
lived with her in the mid'1940s on
Hickory Street, right across the
street from the Merita Bakery.
Most of the houses up and down
those blocks were poorly-con
structed and ill-maintained shacks.
But, Grandma’s house stood out
among them.
When the weather-beaten fence
needed repair, she got the tools to
fix it. It was the same for the
plumbing and virtually anything When my family moved out of the
else it took the landlord’s own ghetto (I didn’t Imow that’s where
My Side
by Patricia Smith-Deering
Phoenix Managing Editor
sweet time to repair. There was
always a well kept flower garden
and nice-sized vegetable garden.
The only reason you ever saw litter
in her yard was because she hadn’t
gotten up yet!
Grandma lived) and into the brand,
spanking new post-World War II
development on Ferrell Avenue,
Grandma stayed behind until urban
redevelopment forced her over to
Continued on Page 14
Separating 'Gospel Pimps' From Black Folks' $$$
I have recently been accused by
some of the Negro ministers of
being divisive! Under normal
circumstances, I would not reply to
this type of Black garbage. But
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these are not normal times. So I will
reply and make an exception in this
case because the Negro Community
is being given a diet of human
waste from some of the Negro
pulpits each Sunday morning, all in
the name of God and His Son,
Jesus Christ. I must respond
because some Negro Christians are
suffering daily, being fooled into
paying their money on the hope of
living in Heaven with the Lord
when they die, after living in
poverty and hell in this life.
Meanwhile, the Negro preacher and
■ his family live like little “Reverend
Ikes”! Now, let me address the
question of being divisive.
First, let me say that most of the
preachers see themselves as Black
or Negro men, but I see myself as a
“man” made in the image and tired of seeing Negro people being
likeness of my Father God, who is pimped of their money on Sunday
Community
Visions
By Bishop L.V. Stennis
a Spirit, and has no color. So since
I am like Him, I have no color.
When people prove to me that God
has a color, then I will be the same
coIot that He is.
Am I being divisive because I am
morning in the name of God? Yes, I
am guilty! Am I divisive because
these “Gospel Pimps”, under the
auspices of the Church, take poor
people’s money and don’t give
Continued on Page 27