Winston-Salem Chronicle
I >.<? /vvjn City's Award-Winning Weekly"
. Established in 1974
Ernest H. Pitt ? Ndubisi Egemonye
Editor/Publisher Co-Founder
Member in good standing with
National N?w*pap?' North Carolina Audit BufCilU Amalgamated
Pubfc*h?f? A*?oc>at>on Pr?s* A??ooafion Of ClfCUliltlOnS PuWifxri, Inc.
Editorials
Kwanzaa Celebration
Looking for words to live by? Look no further than the seven
principles of Kwanzaa: unity, self-determination, collective
work and responsibility, cooperative economics, purpose, cre
ativity and faith. Think of what we could do if we were truly
united. Unity doesn't mean that we must all vote or think simi
larly ? if we could i
simply end black-on- Practice the seven
black crime, what a principles of Kwanzaa
tremendous accomplish- vear.roun(i
ment. What is coopera
economics? Sup
porting black businesses, and pressuring majority-owned
companies to do the same.)
As individuals, we need self-determination, purpose, creativity
and tremendous faith. Of all these, faith may be the greatest
concept, for without faith nothing els& is possible.
This year's Kwanzaa celebration in Winston-Salem will be
held New Year's Eve at the Diggs Gallery on the campus of
Winston-Salem State University.
Whether you celebrate Kwanzaa publicly, in the privacy of
someone's home, or simply in your heart, remember to support
and practice the seven concepts: they are our link to both the
past and the future.
A Better Day
As George Bush bows out and Bill Clinton builds his team, the
future seems to hold new promise.
It has been encouraging, if not exhilarating, to watch Clinton's
cabinet selections. Naming African-American entrepreneur
Vernon Jordan as head of his transition team was a good start.
African-Americans and people of Hispanic origin have
accepted top positions in the new administration. For^the first
Htrie, women are well ^presented in the presidential cabinet. ^ -
In the history of this country, never has the leadership bf
women and people of color been so eagerly sought after. The
"good old boy" network and the configuration of voting dis
tricts has ensured that the deck has been stacked against non
whites and women.
For over 200 years, African- Americans have been calling for a
chance to represent their own. For ten years or more, the Rev.
Jesse Jackson has envisioned a Rainbow Coalition, a concept
based on purely democratic principles: a. government which
truly represents its people.
A Rainbow Coalition is
coming together ? in the
White House.
Yet it will require a myr
iad of talent to tackle
America's economic
problems, and the new
administration can be
A
expected to make some mistakes. Some economists refer to the
country's current economic status as a "contained depression."
Many are continuing to forecast a slow recovery, but so many
factors influence the economy that a downturn can't be com
pletely ruled out yet.
Unemployment is currently at 7.2%, well below the 10.8 %
high we saw during the Reagan administration. It may be a
year before most employers decide it's safe to start hiring
again.
Foreign competition, with its cheap labor, poses a larger threat
than ever to American companies. Many have developed a
global marketing strategy based on moving their operations
off-shore, closing plants and putting American workers out of
jobs. The effects of this policy ? rising unemployment in the
states and use of child labor in Third World countries ? are
currently getting some much-needed exposure.
Clinton and his team have a great challenge before them. We
hope and pray they meet with unbridled success.
Practice the seven
principles of Kwanzaa
year-round.
A Rainbow Coalition is com
ing together in the White
House to tackle America's
gr^at challenges.
About letters . . .
The Winston-Salem Chronicle welcomes letters
from its readers, as well as columns.
< Letters should be as concise as possible and should
be typed or printed legibly. They also should include the
name, address, and telephone number of the writer.
Columns should follow the same guidelines and will
be published if we feel they are of interest to our gener
al readership.
We reserve the right to edit letters and columns for
brevity and grammar. "
Submit your letters and columns to:
Chronicle Mailbag
P.O. Box 1636
Winston-Salem, N.C. 27102
Citizens United Mourns With Clergy
i ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
To the editor:
Greetings in the name of our
Lord. We trust and pray things may
grow clearer in this Advent/Christ
mas season.
This is an official letter of c6q
dolence from Citizens United for
Justice at the fragile killing of Ms.
Janet Garland. Death is always
extremely painful and invasive pres
ence. Citizens United for Justice
joins the entire Winston-Salem com
munity in decrying the crime and
violence throughout this city.
It is certain that drug abuse,
murder and robbery cannot be con
fined to one area of the city or
another. An injury to one is an
injury to all and what affects one
neighborhood directly, affects all
other neighborhoods indirectly.
Citizens United for Justice joins
the interfaith clergy group in
encouraging you and your congrega
tion and the other downtown
churches in your important ministry.
So many inner city main line
churches have run willy nilly to sub
urban sprawls. The courage it takes
to stay and minister to the heart of
our municipalities is the courage of
order amidst chaos and community
in the face of socioeconomic and
racial strife and stereotyping. May
God continue to bless you and yours
in the new year.
Rev. John Mendez
Convenor
Save Our Children
To the editor:
We have a problem in our soci
ety with drugs. I know because I
was once a drug addict, along with
so many others. Drugs are destroy
ing our country and killing our peo
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Our Readers Speak Out
pie. Crime is on a rampage with no
end in sight. Something must
change; people must change. The
law has to change. We must take
charge of the young children and
save them in order to save ourselves.
The state and federal govern
ments "spend millions and millions
of dollars per year toward drug pro
grams to help teenagers and adults
with their drug problem. Who has
time for our children, the children of
the next generation? Nobody but a
few. That few is not enough. We all
must pull together and work with
our children. Don't wait until the
problem is out of hand. Head the
problem off before it has a chance to
get started.
If Ncan give my time freely,
then su'tan you. I will give all of my
free time speaking out against drugs,
starting now, while I am in ;on,
and will continue after 1 am
released. You people who are read
ing this^ can help now. Start off by
spreading the word help the chil
dren. If you do your part, our chil
dren will do the rest. I welcome the
opportunity to speak out against
drugs by reaching out to the chil
dren. Any school, church, or other
organizations wishing to hear me
speak when I am released can write
me now. Until then you do your part
out there now. And I will do mine,
starting now. If I can reach and save
one child out of ten from destroying
their life, you can save ten out of ten
out there ?
Australia J. Smith
Salisbury, North Carolina
AIDS Among Prostitutes Is Lower In Nevada
Among prostitutes in Nevada,
the incidence of those who are HIV
positive is very low, according to an
AIDS journal published in 1988. In
December of 1991, the AIDS Ginic
Health Department in Las Vegas
reported that no prostitutes had
become HIV positive.
That's surprising, given the fact
that prostitutes are the most sexually
active of any population. It's also
surprising if you believe, as the gov
ernment-sponsored rhetoric goes,
that AIDS is only sexually transmit
ted and all that you need to do pre
vent it is for the man to wear a con
dom.
If condoms constitute "safe
sex," why is AIDS on the increase,
along with the awareness and
increased use of condoms?
About one million Americans
are infected with HIV, the virus
accused of causing AIDS all by
itself, and 250,000 have AIDS,
acquired immune deficiency syn
drome. It costs $10,000 annually to
treat people infected with HIV and
$38,300 for those with AIDS.
By 1995, according to the U.S.
Public Health Service, those diag
nosed with AIDS each year will
reach I0Q,0(}0. pie cost of treatment
will rise 48% to $15.2 billion a year,
much of which is for AZT and other
chemicals that have never cured
anyone.
HIV and AIDS are expensive
and potentially deadly ? something
you don't want. Consequently, we
all have an investment in preventing
the spread of both . So let's investi
gate the habits of the Nevada prosti
tutes who have zero HIV infections
to see what we can learn. Overall,
HIV among non-intravenous drug
using prostitutes in the U.S. and
Europe is low ? and after sex and
herpes whitlow, along with the HIV
infection, is rare among them.
Therefore, the rate of AIDS among
these prostitutes is lower than the
normal female population because
of good hygiene.
Seaton recommends the follow
ing steps before sexual contact:
wash the hands, especially under the
fingernails which reduces transmit
ting viruses and germs if the vaginal
skin is torn; shower, paying particu
lar attention to the area between the
anus and the genitals and , of course,
the genitals; and brush the teeth and
rinse the mouth. I might add that it
wouldn't hurt for the woman to
septic, to cleanse the urinary chan
nel and eliminate harmful sub
stances.
You can also use a nonoxyl 19
based spermicide on the genitals
which kills viruses, including the so
called AIDS virus I'm told, an con
tact. Information on this virus killer
is at 1-800-544-0577.
TONY BROWN
Syndicated Columnist
inspect the man's genitals for
lesions ? and vice versa.
After, sexual contact you
should wash the hands and under the
nails; shower, with special attention
to the areas mentioned above; and
clean the teeth and rinse the mouth
with, perhaps, diluted hydrogen per
oxide. Urinating before and after sex
allows the body's uric acid, an anti
Safe sex is condoms alone.
Safer sex is using common sense
and practicing good personal
hygiene, in addition to condoms.
Remember, Seaton reminds us, doc
tors wash their hands and brush
around and under their fingernails
before the operate, don't they?
Next week: How To Find Can
cer Before It Finds You.
1 992 - Year Of Despair And Hope
It's not easy to categorize the
events of any twelve-month period
in a few words, but I think most
people would agree that 1992 was a
year of bleak despair countered by
fresh hope.
The despair derived from two
aspects of 1992 that brought pain
and suffering to so many Ameri
cans.
First, of course, was the devas
tating recession that hung on stub
bornly and refused to go away.
By year's end, all the experts
were crowing about how the eco
nomic statistics were looking better.
The consensus is that we're on our
way to recovery.
But those optimistic statistics
were joined by reports of new lay
offs as giant corporations acceler
ated plans to close plants and even
whole divisions.
Over the past two years, more
than two million people became
unemployed, and even if tht jobless
figures improve slightly continued
high unemployment is expected.
So it's hard to muster much
enthusiasm for an economic recov
ery that doesn't put people back to
work.
African-Americans are espe
cially dubious about reports of the
end of the recession. We recall that
while everyone was celebrating the
economic boom of the 1980s, black
workers suffered double-digit unem
ployment.
A recession isn't over until
there's full employment, and no one
? whether economists or govern
ment leaders ? should pretend oth
erwise.
A second negative aspect of
1992 was the rise in racial tensions,
so vividly dramatized by the Los
Angeles riots.
That eruption of anger was
sparked by one of the historic mis
carriages of American justice ? the
acquittal of the policemen who bru
tally beat an unarmed black man.
It was natural that attention was
focused on Los Angeles, but there
were disturbances in many the
cities. The conditions of despairing
anger that drove so many people in
Los Angeles into the streets could
be duplicated in virtually every city
in the nation.
Unfortunately, there doesn't
seem to be much evidence that the
nation is willing to act.
Just as in the 1960s, the riot
was followed by a commission
report, some small-scale effort to
improve conditions, and a bit of
soul-searching followed by a monu
mental national silence.
Surely, more of a response was
demanded by situation that
amounted to a test of whether this
nation of diverse peoples can learn
to live together with respect and dig
ologies, races, and ethnic and eco
nomic backgrounds into an electoral
coalition certainly inspired hope in
that direction.
But an election campaign is
very different from governing, and
winning votes from diverse groups
is very different from constructing
firm biracial, multiethnic alliances.
TO BE EQUAL
By JOHN E. JACOB
rjity for all.
t Too many Americans can't sec
beyond their own particular griev
ance or stereotypes. They need to be
educated to see that issues such as
race, poverty, and the survival of
our cities will determine our
national future for good or for ill.
In 1992, there was a glimmer of
hope that such understanding could
come about through invigorated
national leadership.
Bill Clinton's ability to unite
Americans of vastly different ide
Still, it is remarkable how much
hope has been sparked by the Gin
ton victory. Even among the most
hardened cynics, there is a feeling
that for the first time in so many
years the nation has a leader who
not only believes in diversity, but is
willing to champion it with youthful
vigor and powerful communications
skills.
Whether those expectations will
be realized remains to be seen, but it
is good to end the year on a note of
hope, ratheT than a note of despair.