Page A4-The Chronicle, Thursda
Winston- \e.
Founded
KRNIIT H. PITT
NDUBISI EOEMONYE
Co-Founder
ELAINE L. PITT
Office Manager
EDITORIALS ~~
Thanks, we i
LAST week, the Natior
Association, or NNPA, an org
than 150 of the nation's bla<
Mid-Winter Workshops in P
governor of Arizona had re
recognizing Dr. Martin Luthe
Gov. Evan Mecham used a:
that the state's former gov<
bypassed the state Legislature
therefore causing it to be illeg?
to rescind it, he just did.
His real reasons surfaced ju
NNPA workshops.
First, the governor said that
in Arizona. Then he said that
another day off.
He followed those statemen
a black holiday. He even wan
the terrible backlash local bla
tion continued.
Of course, no one is afraid <
less afraid is America's black p
has always been in the fore
racism, bigotry and injustice u
occurred.
What the good governor 1
KTKTD A 1 A
aiiu /\merica 10 me
*
separate and distinct societies
white, the other black. ^
We say to Gov. Mecham: 1
Nowrperhaps, black men li
see that there still is a need
NAACP and coalitions of fair
Perhaps the NNPA will rea
more that needs to be done i
corporate America for an ad
Perhaps some of us will g<
many struggles that the bl
throughout its history and Y
Americans have been the true
North Carolina has yet to i
state holiday. There is an effoi
We hope Gov. James G. ^
something ugly happens befo
toward that end.
We know it will be an uphi
those who can see-beyond the i
push for what is right.
The Challenj
LAST Jan. 28, the public tr
cKllttlnr op ?
oiiuiiivj aa laijiy iUULlUC ?
airplane taking off and flyinj
longer than Eastern or Piedm
The only novelty seemed t
shuttles showcased: the first bl
woman astronaut, a.- coi
schoolteacher in orbit. Report
be the first journalist in space,
ed forward to booking a flight
Then something went wroi
went up in a tragic ball of flai
man crew. Along with it went
and our smug assumption that
, to be taken for granted.
The tragedy also hit close K
American in space, Ron Mc
nearby A&T State University,
Even 12 months later, the
our senses and saddens our hea
from it.
Certainly NASA is now mc
comings in ensuring safe flig
contractors.
The space agency also has
public-relations valjie of puttir
outweigh the danger that the
The wisdom of sending pe<
rockets into space has been u
> should be.
And the true heroism of th<
more deeply appreciated.
Ron McNair, for instance, i
of what vision, intelligence
complish.
Even in death, McNair
youngsters to reach for the
l 11 -f .1?: - ?i
ouunuicbb puwcr or incir minu
day get there.
I*
y, January 29, 1987
m Chronicle
1974
, Publisher
ALLEN H. JOHNSON
Executive Editor
MICHAEL A. Pin
P.im ilatirtn kJl o ?r* a ?
wnwuiuiiv/ii iTiai iav^ui
o
Q *
needed that
lal Newspaper Publishers
;anization representing more
:k newspapers, canceled its
'hoenix, Ariz., because the
scinded an executive order
r King Jr.'s birthday,
s his official reason the fact
ernor, Bruce Babbitt, had
in making the state holiday,
il. He didn't absolutely have
st before the opening of the
there was no discrimination
black people need jobs, not
ts up by citing the holiday as
ned outside black leaders of
cks would face if the agitaA
"
f\f rirtV MAPhom A r?rl
vi w v ? . iTivvnuiiii nnu wvwil
>ress. In fact, the black press tfront
of the fight against
whenever and wherever it has
las done is to awaken the
ugly realization that two
i still exist in America: one
'hanks, we needed that,
ike Clarence Pendletorrwill"
for affirmative action, the
-minded whites and blacks,
ilize that there is something
in America besides begging
or two.
d back and read up on the
ack press has dealt with
low the rights of Africancall
and should be so today,
nake Dr. King's birthday a
rt under way to change that.
4artin will not wait until
re he initiates some action
ill battle, but we encourage
nountaimtops to join in and
?er revisited
eated the launching of space
something akin to a big
I a little higher and a little
ont.
o be in the milestones the
lack American astronaut or
lgressman in space, a
ers competed nationwide to
and everyday citizens lookto
the moon someday soon,
ng. The shyttle Challenger
mes, killing its entire seven
much of NASA's credibility
: space travel was something
> home, as the second black
Nair, a proud graduate of
died with the crew.
Challenger tragedy numbs
irts. But maybe we can learn
>re fully aware of its shorthts,
as are some aerospace
no doubt learned that the
lg civilians in space does not
flights still present.
Dple rather than unmanned
ddely questioned, as well it
ose who man the shuttles is
will live forever as a symbol
and hard work can ac
will inspire other black
! stars ? and to use the
s and their dreams to some
h /
r'
(Vk,
^ ?
*
Oprah, Phil <
NEW YORK -- Oprah Winfrey
is locked in a death dance with
* *'
Phil Donahue over t^e right to
waltz across television land with
what used to be called the middleAmerican
housewife.
This seems, at first glance, to
be an unlikely duo to be battling
for studio hugs and handshakes
fhat generate millions of network
dollars. The target audience is
white females; yet Donahue i^a
white man, Winfrey a. black
woman. In
the maturing years of
feminism, one may ask why these ~
supertalk hosts are not drawn
from the target audience.
The answer lies in the duo's
skills at'exploiting the subtle
needs of their key television audience.
In Donahue, the veteran, and
Winfreyrthe newly arrived, we ?
have two masters of the con.
In bowing their audience's strings,
they make full use of the
fact that they are not white
women. Both are skilled actors:
Each knows when to caress a
wrist or touch a shoulder or milk
an emotion just so.
For his part, Donahue, attuned
to the times, has found acceptance
- and profits ? in surfing
the cresting waves of women's
consciousness. Early on, he jettisoned
the language of the
chauvinist and made himself over
as a highly merchandiseable,
anti-macho man.
>07. T?~
o/.~ ruung in
This article is the second
.in a two-part series.
NEW YORK - The new year
poses serious challenges to the
nation and to black citizens.
At the top of the list is the
challenge to revitalize our
economy to finally move toward
full employment, instead of
pretending that recession-level.
jobless rates are acceptable.
That's going to take serious action
by government and by the
private sector.
??A real trade policy will have to?
be implemented. Just talking a
good game of fair trade while
economic rivals dump their goods
and steal jobs from Americans
isn't enough.
Corporate America also needs
to concentrate on building its
long-term, job-producing productive
capacity instead of concentrating
on short-term finan
cial results ~ and on the mergers
and acquisitions that lead to
heavy debt loads, lost jobs and
less competition.
The year will mark the start of
political jockeying for the
presidential nominations, and
that could mean more grandstanding
than action from Congress,
even though it has a full slate of
important measures that need attention.
Failure to act could mean voter
dissatisfaction with both parties.
The Democrats, however, have
more to lose, since they now control
both houses of Congress and
are in a position to pass longneeded
legislation.
The legislative agenda should
include such priorities as closing
* "
20^f?/
lance million
LES PAYNE
Syndicated Columnist.
The macho man, at least for
now, has been discredited.
His natural successor, the trulv
' ?
non-assertive man, was not up to
the rigors of the climb. So into
this vacuum has moved the antimacho
man, for whom, in television,
Donahue is the prototype.
Such men have, of course, pro"In
(Phil) Donahue, the vet
the newly arrived, we hpve t\
liferated elsewhere: Dustin Hoffman
played the movie-model in
"Kramer vs. Kramer^
In the public arena at least, I
submit that this fellow, with all
his sensitivity, is a fraud. He fully
intends to lead, to dominate.
With the feminists snapping at
his heels, he seeks ways to run the
corporation, to host the show, to
hold on to the power.
Donahue, for instance, said in
an interview that he would like to
"be on '60 Minutes.' I'd like to
produce the Today Show.' I'd
like to be in the U.S. Senate."
These ambitions can be more
easily realized in a country where
women are the majority by taking
their needs into arrmint In nlav
sible social and fiscal policies, it
will have support from growing
numbers of Americans.
1987 could be a year in which
idealism and belief in principles
like equality of opportunity
return to the national scene after
'e challenges <
TO BE EQUAL
By JOHN JACOB
loopholes in civil rights and fair
housing laws, real welfare reform
that creates training and job opportunities,
and expanded federal
aid that helps the public schools
bring quality education to disad
-,> . H"|I^wm
<M? '\tt>yt
vantaged young people.
Congress also must act to implement
the broken full employment
promises of the HumphreyHawkins
Act and to start the
rebuilding of our deteriorating
infrastructure and cities.
If Congress is determined to
help lead the way to more respon
I
w
security mm
-dollar waltz
ing to this mass audience,
Donahue has been more successful
than most women,
especially the activist ones.
In a poll of Milwaukee
secretaries a few years ago,
Donahue was selected as the person
they would most like to have
as a boss. He beat runner-up Erma
Bombeck and every other
female candidate in the poll.
Chief among cited reasons was
Donahue's ability to speak to the
eran, and (Oprah) Winfrey,
wo masters of the con. "
needs of women.
| In some ways, Donahue has
-become- one- of?the leading
iciiiuusis in me country. He is
softer than Bella Abzug. Warmer
than Gloria Steinem. Glibber,
even, than Betty Friedan. These
activists, not coincidentally,
helped make over Donahue, who
is notJ?urdened with their zeal for
authCTiticity.
Some years ago, I tried to expose
Donahue* arguing that his
r /> 1 n /* * - - - ? ' ~
unci i uincu women s evolutionary
move to empowerment in
the television industry. No matter
how sensitive a male television
host, 1 argued, it would be
healthier for a young girl to
Please see page A5
/")
of the juture
being dormant for so long.
In part, that's because so much
poverty and misery can no longer
be justified while whiz kids still in
their 20s make six-figure salaries
on Wall Street. Disgust at
speculative excesses calls our
era's dominant themes of
selfishness and greed into question.
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MWMSTO-fiM.EM
PP^Jr \S ^ ??iv,
Another reason for a turnaround
in 1987 lies in the growing
heritage of voluntarism. The
government's failures have led
many individuals to become involved
in social problems, and
thev see that th*?ir pffnric u/ili
w VI I VI VO TT 111
come to nothing without national
policies that reinforce their activities
and commit resources to
fill unmet needs.
A final reason for expecting
change lies in the failure of past
policies.
Government withdrawal has
Please see page Ab
t
CHILDWATCH
'Puppet power'
can help a lot
By MARIAN W. EDELMAN
Syndicated Columnist
WASHINGTON - Fifteen- *
year-old Sharyn has a lot of problems.
"I was up at 4:30 a.m. feeding
the baby," she says, "after I
changed her at 3." She has to
borrow money from her father to
pay a babysitter so she can attend
school.
"When I got to school, I was
late for first period," she says.
"The principal screamed at me in
front of all my friends."
Sharyn feels cut off from her
peer group these days. "A lot of
my plans and a lot of my dreams
have changed" - because of the
newborn baby, she admits.
Sharyn sounds like any teen
mother struggling with the difficult
realities of raising a child.
But Sharyn is a puppet, one of
several characteers in "A Table
for On?," a one-hour puppet
drama developed by The Kids on
the Block Inc. to help children
think and talk about teen
* /
pregnancy. ... '
. Sharyn, her baby daughter
Charlotta, her boyfriend Charles,
friend Joanne and the other
players in the show' are true-tolife
puppet characters with whom
children can identify.
The drama deals candidly with
the pressure teens feel to have sex
and the problems of teen
motherhood and fatherhood,
deflating the myths too many of
1 our children believe.
Best of all, after the show
children can ask questions of thte
? various characters-^- questions?=they
might not dare to address to
an adult or even a friend.
The idea of using puppets to
help children come to grips with
sensitive subjects was thought up
by former teacher Barbara
Aiello.
She was seeking a way to help
her students become more comfortable
with youngsters who
have disabilities. When she tried
using a puppet to help the
students understand the problems
of a child with cerebral palsy, she
discovered what she calls "the
power of puppetry'* - its ability
to communicate in a nonthreatening
way.
From this seed, Ms. Aiello
developed a very WccessFul production
company, The Kids on
the Block, which offers puppet
programs on a wide range of subjects,
from disabilities and
medical problems to social problems
like sexual abuse, drug and
alcohol abuse and teen-age
pregnancy.
Each show is carefully researched
- including testing script
ideas with children themselves.
The program materials ? scripts,
cassette, tapes, puppets and so
forth ? can be purchased from
the company.
In the past 10 years, the shows
i i 1
nave oecome very popular with
churches, schools, hospitals and
community organizations. There
are now 750 programs in use in 49
states and several foreign countries.
If you are interested in the teen
pregnancy puppet show or any
other programs from The Kids on
the Block, call this toll-free
number: 1-800-368-KIDS. ?
Marian Wright Edelman is a
National Newspaper Pub-'
lishers Association columnist
who is president of the
Children's Defense Fund, a
national voir.p for unnth
v ? * w> WW ? W ? J V/M^l I*
About letters
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Letters should be as con-i
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Submit your letters and columns
to Chronicle Mailbag, P.O.
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V