Newspapers / Winston-Salem Chronicle (Winston-Salem, N.C.) / April 23, 1992, edition 1 / Page 6
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Forum You can save two genuises Because two young black geniuses are threatened, I am requesting that 99 other black peo ple join me in making a donation of $1,000 each to secure their future. If you can help, call me at (212) 575-0876 after you read this column to make a pledge or to rec ommend a person or organization to donate $41,000 to a $100,000 trust for the maintenance and edu cation of two youths in desperate need. On Sunday afternoon at the Black Expo U.S.A. at Philadelphi a's Civic Center, I told 1,500 cheering black people that the sal vation of the black community is__ the development of black people into "human capital. "It was church. Income and wealth are differ ent, I said. Income is what you earn; wealth is what you're worth^ And what you're worth is based on what you know. An informed, edu cated people will earn large incomes; the uninformed, uneducat ed will permanently comprise marginalized groups on society's economic and social fringes. My theme throughout was when we help the least in our group, we do the most for our group. It was church, again .The next morning, April 13, church became real. "A Child Shines Amid the Shambles," said a six column front page headline in The Philadelphia Inquirer over Kimberly J. McLar in's wrenching story. "Mother Jailed, Money Short, Yet Grades Excel." "Karesha Lowe is 14, and fatherless and poor, with a mother serving life, a half-sister as a reluc tant guardian, a crowded house, an angry brother and an intellect so hungry she thinks algebra is fun," proclaimed McLarin's lead para graph. In one way Karesha's life is no different from millions of black youths trapped in a cycle of pover ty, rough schools and peer-group pressure to conform to failed expectations and anti-social behav ior. In another sense, put eloquent ly by McLarin: "Karesha Lowe is a rose growing through rubble, one that will unfold or be trampled underfoot" "Trampled underfoot" is a dis tinct reality, unless there is an orga take. To succeed and reach their potential, he and Karesha need a supportive home life and a college education, preferably at a black uni versity, where they will be appreci TONY BROWN Syndicated Columnist nized intervention in her life to secure her maintenance and her education McLarin's story tells how Karesha's father was shot to death during a fight before she was 11; how her mother was convicted of murder and sentenced to life in prison when she was 12; and how _ the pretty teenager and her 13- _ year-old brother, Chris, now live in a "dim and crowded rowhouse" with a stepsister who has three children and two grandchildren of her own. In spite of all of the curves that life has thrown, Karesha makes straight A's at Vaux Middle School, graduated from eighth grade at the top of her class and has been admit ted into the best public high school in the city, the Inquirer reported. McLarin's article said that "no one would have been surprised if Kare sha Lowe slipped into the pit of failing grades and falling hopes long ago. Thousands of other chil dren have." In spite of the well-adjusted math whiz's accomplishments, she's not out of the woods yet According to the Inquirer , Chris, at 13, is try ing to fit in with the losers for peer acceptance. Being "smart" doesn't get the small young&tfir very world of expensive sneakers and retrograde values. Failure, jail ? perhaps death ? are the options of black male children in this social milieu. Kare sha is going to the High School of Engineering and Science next year. In a figurative sense, it's problemat ic what direction her brother will ated and nourished. Karesha might make it. but even then, without help, she may not reach her full potential. Her brother's future is even more precar ious. Without intervention, it could become a familiar black male statis tic. It will cost taxpayers $25,000 a year to keep him in jail, a lot more than it will cost to send him to col lege. That's why I'm inviting 99 other middle-class black contribu tors to join me, Karesha, her broth er, her supportive teachers, (Flo rence Johnson and Lynne Johnson), Kimberly McLarin of the Inquirer and Mary Mason and George Woods of WHAT-AM on national television to make their donations to this trust fund. I'm asking for money from black people only because black people should save these two young people. These are our children, our potential human capital; this obliga tion is our responsibility. If we have $16 billion to give to white hotels each summer for meetings, we certainly have $100,000 to save the boy or girl who may discover the cure for AIDS or set up the first space sta tion on Mars. ^ "CM! m at (212) 57*4)$$ with your $ 1 ,000 pledge or th* names of those you think might make a pledge. (Tony's Brown's weekly commentaries and one-minute news updates can be heard on the Buy Freedom 900 Network by calling 1 900-454-0411 for $1.99 the first minutes and $.99 each additional minute.) Blacks' image improving Clear and strong signals indi cate that African-American people are on the verge of enjoying a new year of much-improved race rela tions and a more-inclusive role in the workings and benefits of main stream America." I know that recent facial fric tion has sparked fires of hatred and the abortion issue and second, by the Anita Hill issue. Their power was demonstrated, in part, by the defeat of ex-Senator Dixon of Illi nois who was replaced on the Illi nois senatorial ballot by an African- American womarr, ^arot Moseley Braun. The action of the print media MINORITY REPORT By JAMES E. ALSBROOK, Ph.D. fighting on college campuses. I know also that various bigot groups have stashed nests of hate mongers in various locations nationwide. I know that nationwide elec tions will be held in November and that Willie Horton-like scares will be used. Also used will be Reagan like pilgrimages to the ghastly sites of murder where Ku Kluxers shot to death three civil rights workers and were implicitly pardoned and applauded by the grinning and vote-seeking Reagan at Philadel phia, Miss. But greater forces are at work. Unexpectedly appearing on the side of better deals for African Americans are two of the most powerful forces in America. They are: 1) The print and electronic media which finally have begun to exercise that social responsibility admired by good journalists. They seem to have begun a public relations crusade to reduce further racial hostility. 2) The women of American ? the single largest group identified as a 1 "minority." Most are motivated first, by has been shown by the more fre quent printing of success stories concerning African-Americans as positive role models. In various cities having large African-Ameri can populations, the newspapers have used their African -American reporters to find good feature sto ries that accentuate the positive. Buffoonery and ignoramuses are almost extinct nowadays. One of the most significant projections of a positive African American role model appeared Fri day, April 10, in the seven biggest newspapers in Ohio. These papers, reaching millions of readers, car ried the same full -page photograph of an attractive, dark-skinned, African-American customer ser vice representative who symbol ized the information sources at Ameritrust-Society, a billion-dollar bank. Moreover, television stations and networks have become power ful projectors of the better and more positive phases of African American life. College-bred, com petent. and attractive African Americans on-camera are con fronting white Americans as pro fessionals who are not their ser vants but their equals. In this new barrage of favor able African-American images showered upon televiewers by national advertisers, media owners, and consultants, American is expe riencing what amounts to a public relations campaign. This campaign has not been announced to the pub lic but its choreography is pleas antly evident. The first purpose of this cam paign is to soften racial hostility by demonstrating that African- Ameri can people are not stereotypical buffoons or duds previously shown on the stage or screen, but are nor mal, intelligent human beings wor thy of respect and admiration. The second purpose of this campaign is to signal to African American people that they are not the racial outcasts they once were, but are being recognized and accepted on the basis of their value to society. Someone is attempting to replace African Americans' hopelessness and agony with the idea that success is available to all. Both purposes are designed for maximum impact. History demon strates that public opinion is a very powerful factor in controlling peo ple. They vote for presidents on the basis of opinion, so it controls politics. They spend money on the basis of opinion, so it controls the > cconomy. Public opinion usually dominates human behavior. With print media, electronic media, and most women of Ameri ca putting positive faces on African-Americans, the climate will change and the sun will shine brighter. Just watch the better-balanced media and the politically active women! INOCU PROHOUN&\ YOUHUS BANPANP MFZ! a/ill you BB AT1TNIZN6 THB&PTH, MR.P* ZD) UH. ..NO. I CANT REALLY HANDLE THAT STUFF \ 1 | ^ Hjff L6AVB IT TO THE PROS' THAT'S UJHAT I ALWAYS SAY! \ ME, TOO HOUJ ION6VOYOU THINK IT'LL TAK? \ MA'AM? ? J :%i NAM. I WANT TO 0ETTERSTKK HIT A AROUNP ANP MOYtE* HOPCOTTH I M5AN, HmZU&WJfmG H&e, TH/S 8RANP-N5UJ UF?, THIS INSANE MIRACLE, IS TAK ING PLACE IN THB NEXT ROOM! IT* JUST \ Nice JOB, KJP.' t YOUkeNOT 700 P/SAP POtNUV SHE'S NOT A BA&y RJU-BACK* \ A PSAFBCT SAINT, 6ZT0U1A IT TURNS OUT. HER HERB ~ HIGHER SOP JUST SHE'S TDLPMB THAT IN PERFECT' HERPREM&UFE, \ SHZ WAS MOTHER BOOPS/E, MOTHER TERESAS UKM..SHE MOST BEUKE A SCOUT OR. STILL AUVB. ' SOMETHING. boopsizi pon7 w murrSKjr] IMPORTANT WH0SHBUIP6, B.R, ONLY WHO SHE unu.ee' SHE COULD B? A GREAT STAGE ACTRESS, OR A MAJOR FILM STAR.OR A FEATURED PLAYER OF A H(T, PRJME - TIME DRAMATIC SERIES , ... OR SHE COULP HAVE HER. OWN TALK SHOW, OR Be A RECORDING ARTIST, OR SHE COULP HOST HER CCUN SYN~ PtCATBDGAMZSHOH)! \ ^ v K The Winston-Salem Chronicle is the only JvL ^ alternative news source in this ? ^ community. Become a valued subscriber to the Chronicle and not $0* .o*** + only keep up with what's happening ^ in the community, but have some i *. * ? ? say-so about the coverage. Subscribe now! Winston-Salem Chronicle send your check or money order to: Winston-Salem Chronicle Subscription Dept. P.O. 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Winston-Salem Chronicle (Winston-Salem, N.C.)
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April 23, 1992, edition 1
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