Winston-Salem Chronicle I >.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 II ? I til jr )J WIUjVWRK B&6HOQ WHEM1H6 FREE 11^ A6RBB^?te^^HEMg^TH6' WORKSHOP TDT70UAMA AMP WREPAU. MEXICAN CA0OR Hit CHRONICLE MAILBAG 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.