Newspapers / Winston-Salem Chronicle (Winston-Salem, N.C.) / Jan. 10, 1985, edition 1 / Page 4
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Page A4-The Chronicle, Thursday. January 10t 1985 Winston-Salem Chronicle f-nunrted tV'?4 ERNEST H. Pin, NDUBISI EQEMONY*. ^ ALLEN JOHNSON ( if I outfit' t ?? utnf t dihtt ELAINE L. Pin ROBIN ADAMS MICHAEL Pin f Wwtw*.' **0~ Black-and-white pictures * "To make a movie that stars eight black guys who don't sing takes a lot of guts in 1984. " * -- A BC- TV critic Joel Segal, who says ''A Soldier's Story *' is his nomination for an Oscar as "Best Picture" for the past year. ||B|||||- _ "A Soldier's Story" was notv according to .Holly wood* ?1 trirgYTeff^TT^da^ti^ l_ 1 I - ?1 - ? ? -- - _ - ui oiacK, piaywrignt enarJes huller's "A Soldier's Play,, and features superb acting, as well as Fuller's fine screenplay, "A Soldier's Story" involved black actors, a black storyline and black themes, and therefore wouldn't make money, the Hollywood establishment reasoned. That's Hollywood continuing excuse, lame as it may seem, for the consistent lack of black faces on the silver screen and the lack of work for black actors of even the highest caliber. (Remember, the best Louis Gossett Jr. could do after winning an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor in "An Officer And A Gentleman" was play a bumpkin of a theme park owner in the forgettable "Jaws III in 3-D," which looks terrible with or without those silly glasses. And "A Soldier's Story" star Howard Rollins has himself said that, after his role as Coalhouse Walker Jr. in "Ragtime," the job offers didn't exactly roll in, either, with Rollins keeping occupied with a part "on a daytime soap opera.) Still, "A Soldier's Story" is a success story in every sense of the word. Four major studios turned down Fuller's screenplay, but once Columbia Pictures finally agreed to finance the film, \ . - - * ? ooin critics and audiences liked what they saw. The film set attendance records in both the United States and Canada, according to^BJack^Enterprise magazine, and earned nearly $9 million during its first six weeks. By Hollywood standards, "A Soldier's Story" was a bargain to mfike. It was filmed with only a $6 million budget ? most feature films operate on twice that much and the big-budget white elephant "Dune" spent more than 10 times that much and has been received only lukewarmly by audiences and ravaged by most critics. What this all means is that Hollywood's excuse that socallecl **black"movies" doivT rriiake money because white people won'kp^TcTsee them doesn't wash. According to a study by Triad Consultants, the firm that promoted "A Soldier's Story," more than half of the audiences that have coon tV.o u 1 nr. awn niv iiivsvit nave uccn nuiiDiacKs. wnars more, two of the biggest screen attractions in recent years have been blacl comedians Richard Pryor and Eddie Murphy, both of whom have negotiated lucrative contracts to make their own movies for major studios. But Pryor and Murphy had to become nothing short of box office phenomena to do so. Here's hoping that moviemakers, white and black, wake up to the potential of^hlack directors, producers, actors, stuntmeri and cinematographers, and finally integrate their films ? if not because it's the right thing to do, then because it can pay. The NAACP complained two years ago, noting that black people make up a disproportionate share of the moviegoing public, and attempted to mobilize theater hA\rpnttc V-??-? *1-. ? - - - " " Wu;vv/uo uiai appaicnuy were noi very successiui. But maybe where the civil rights vanguard's appeal to decency and fairness didn't prevail, the love of money will. The color green is, after all, we thought, universal in this country. Crosswlnds Misguided attempt From Contrast (Toronto, Ontario, Canada). The United States' decision to withdraw from UNESCO and its covert attempts to persuade Britain to abandon the institution they both did so much to create are puerile and politically selfish. The United States has failed to justify its call for the dismissal of Director General Amadou-Mahtar M'Bow and its claim that UNESCO under his leadership had become "an anti-western propaganda forum." In fact, we suspect a conspiracy against the outspoken NTBow. A secret trip to London last month by U.S. ATnbassador Mrs. Jean Gerard, accompanied by comrade-in-arms and representative of the right-wing American Heritage Foundation, Mrs. Owen Harries, justifies our suspicion. ^ r J a reforms to make that trip. A former Australian Prime Minister, Mr. Gough Whitlam^ tells us that Mrs. Gerard "aided and abetted a disinformation campaign by a right-wing think tank" when Please see page A5 . \ < t J K 1 ' NO1 HO' STC A, ST*ND , ^jWepwu/ OMHHHtf// vAV OHWUHH.Y OM 7 11 Mmi mm*,, mfKFi w?- - II |T1> ? ?=? Americaa By MANNING MARABLE Special to the Chronicle The recent anti-apartheid demonstrations across the nation represent, in the short run, an attempt to revive the old civil rights coalition of blacks, liberals, Latinos; Jews - and labor. Despite the refusal of some Orthodox and Conservative Jewish groups to take part in the protest because ofisraePs extensive ecnomic and political links with the South African regime - many Jewish rabbis and political activists have endorsed the actions. William Lucy, secretarytreasurer of th^ American Federation of State, County and Municipal EmptoyeeT7~ was among those arrested at the South African embassy in Washington. In San Francisco, members of the International Longshoremen's and Warehousemen's Union have r ? t " rciusca 10 unioaa cargo trom South Africa, and more than 500 dockworkers and community leaders have demonstrated on their behalf. As M. Carl Holman, executive director of the National Urban Coalition, observes, these "sit-ins have been useful" in bringing together all liberal, labor and minority forces around a The privat By JOHN E. JACOB Special to the Chronicle The prospect of another four years of an administration that fervently believes in voluntarism and private initiative rather than govern ment action to correct social inequities places a new responsibility on the private sector. In a way, it is similar to the situation that existed after the first Reagan electoral victory in 1980. Many in the business community welcomed government's retreat from solving social problems. But the deep recession dampened business' enthusiasm. And the enormity of the problems led many to wait and see whether market forces could solve social problems, as many believed they could. After a vigorous economic recovery that left blacks in place ? at the bottom -- we now know for sure that market forces alone won't do the job. So the ball is back in the private sector's court. What will it do with it? I am hopeful that an DCWXBM5 V.Qi (bO\HO Tio HAVfc T& PAC& THe HM2D Tt2i/TH.?. ' "l | ^ * I >p/ 1 can t 1 cam t z1 1ak6 kny p wko r6.</ S^"-- fL fs* <ii tf's 6chn<j . in th6cg -, it F1L m oj ind Africa: 1 A1 Marable * clear-cut issue of moral and political immediacy. "This I.! I . /? - - - Mna 01 action win probably result in a spurt of action in oTKer areas," he says7" Viewed historically, however, the anti-apartheid campaign represents a renaissance of black solidarity and identity with Africa. And, in many respects, this connection of culture and politics has very deep roots among AfroAmericans. In the 18th and 19th centuries, for example, black Americans were acutely aware of their African kinship, and sought to express their connectedness in numerous ways. Free blacks in the Northern states in the years before emancipation freauentlv nam e sector's n< enlightened private sector will rise to its new responsibilities, in part because playing a wider, more positive social role is in business' own interest. Many businessmen understand that improved public ser. vices and wider opportunities are essential to the survival of their companies and of the free enterprise system. For example, we see real concern about the deteriora"After a vigorous economic place - at the bottom ? w market forces alone won't d tion of a public education system that does not adequately prepare young people for productive roles in a high-tech economy. Some companies have responded through 4,adopt-aschool" programs, loaned executives and equipment, and lobbying for more public support for the schools. Others have set up training centers in low-income neighborhoods in association with communitybased organizations, such as the Urban League, to train AND STOP MAtfNGr excuses foQ THG P*QTV'S DfeCGM IN NCveAAflEQ. I flff? 'V^ I * * f geueve. V?-IHIS C ; HuCTS m MQCE ~~ IT HUBT5 VOU v". 'Is O/ '/ v* jf 0 ? g&ee&es tgiwwv\N& 7 TH& PeNWiON'S TbGVJA,\C9 Jf J< wr*. %. V W vamily ties i ir cd their fraternal societies and * educational institutions after N their ancestral home. The first black school in New York Ci- K ty, founded in 1787, was called n the ''African Free School." P Boston's black community v founded the "Sons of the P African Society" in 1798, to provide financial assistance to the poor. When Afro- ^ Americans were prohibited c' from worshiping in many n white churches, they started a their own denomination in c' 1816 -- the African Methodist * Episcopal Church. * Many 19th-century black al leaders, disillusioned with the P failure of American ? democracy to embrace black d freedom, proposed a mass emigration back to Africa. In cl 1887, the Kansas African ^ Emigration Association ad- n vocated the creation of a P "United States of Africa, for T tne elevation of the African w and for the perpetuity of our Ci race.'* ? Black abolitionist leader Dr. P Martin Delany went to Nigeria a and successfully negotiated-"'" with local chiefs for a tract of- ~P land suitable for black * American emigrants. t( In the 20th century, however, a major shift in a Afro-American social thought occurred, produced by the rise P of racial segregation. Blacks S1 Please see page A5 11 c< V jw role ? c: g people for better jobs. ii Such efforts need to be widened. The private sector should actively enter into a partnership with the voluntary sector to deal with the social ( problems that undermine social stability and business* _ long-term interests. That partnership should be based on business doing some things directly, while others t< are performed by voluntary agencies with expanded recovery that left blacks in e e now know for sure that t| }o the job." business support. f Among the things business c can do directly are job crea- n tion, training and affirmative h action. The private sector needs to become far more creative in expanding the job ? opportunities at all skills levels. t( It is questionable whether its g reliance on caDital exDen ditures yields more productivi- o ty than similar expenditures in s' training and employing the h young people and minorities si Please see page A5 4 OUC ft SO**?TMIN6- PAR Tfc TVMkN AN IMJS66 PeOBL^A s A ihlld Wotch Children in limbo *v MARIAN WRIGHT ^DELMAN yndicated Columnist Gail Bales has two sons !ssic, 4, and Michael, 3 ~ ho are in foster care. Her >ster care service plan says lat the permanency goal for sr children is to "return ome." But Ms. Bates was not ermitted to vis|t her sons lore than once a month until le joined other parents and jed the state of Illinois, hich recently agreed to allow Ltk'ly 'I'iujfaiM i aaaia? ? Eugene D. is an 11-year-old lild afflicted with cerebral alsy who has spent the past [) years in foster homes. Dur ig this time, he has never eighed more than 20 pounds, low attorneys representing ugene are suing the state of entucky, charging that ?spi>nsible officials 4'failed to roperly monitor and superise his foster care lacement." Gail, Jessie, Michael and ugene are caught up in a Dster care^system that is strethed too thin to meet their < eeds. Although most foster ire settings are good, some hildren are placed in homes here their needs are not met, here they are neglected or bused. Parents who want to ut the family back together ften are denied the means to o so. Approximately 300,000 hildren nationwide - more tan 45 percent of them linqrity children ? are now in ublicly supported foster care, hese children are in limbo -- . ithout a permanent family to all their own. Black children specially tend to spend long eriods in foster care. As long s these children are left hangig, they wiU be at great risk of ermanent emotional harm, 'ith a very high potential cost > society. The two lawsuits mentioned bove have played an imporint role in calling attention to arts of this problem. But that till leaves hundreds of lousands of children (and oncerned parents) hanging. yhat we need is a complete verhaul of our foster care ystem. As parents and itizens, we must ask our state overnments for the follow more frequent rev? ws and nonitoring. Foster ca> is not / permanent solution -- / hildren in care shculd he eviewed every six months to nsure the quality of care they eceive and their progress Dward permanence. clear , strong laws to proset children in foster care. pro-family priorities. Staff _ hould be trained and services stablished to help families lend themselves whenever lat is possible. j training and support for oster parents, so that hildren's special needs -are let while they're in foster omes. enough funding to deliver dequate care. We need an eficient, cost-effective system 3 cope with this large and rowing problem. the elimination of racial or Hiac Qt o tor rV>^?U * -- vmo. uiuiVJ 3I1UU1U UIKC tcps to make sure minority or andicapped children don't uffer from discrimination. Please see page A5 : OF AN IKA>6 I -||[ ? V {
Winston-Salem Chronicle (Winston-Salem, N.C.)
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Jan. 10, 1985, edition 1
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