OPINION
Chronicle
Ernest H. Pitt Pubiisher/co-Founder
Elaine Pitt Business Manager
T. Kevin Walker Managing' Editor
EHvfcKJHCAIfON|
oaaad
File Photo
Golfers play one of Winston Lake's 18-holes.
More support
needed for
"The Lake"
Ernie
Pitt
This & That
Recently, I had the privi
lege of playing in a golf match
between the Winston Lake
Senior Golf Association and
the golf team in Charlotte. The
match-up was coordinated by
the legendary golfer, Mr.
James Black. The match was
held at the Revolution Golf
Course, which is now a part of
Revolution Park just west of
downtown Charlotte.
The course used to be an
18-hole course but nine holes
were eliminated to make room
for the park. The nine holes
are played twice to complete
an 1 8-hole round of golf.
What was so significant to
me about the match was how
proud the Charlotte golfers
were of Revolution Golf
Course. Even though it was
only nine holes and two hot
dogs cost $6. They were proud
of the history of the course
and proud of the recognition
given to some of the old play
ers. Some of the holes had
plaques with the guys' names
on them including their nick
names.
The other significant thing
to me was how envious they
were of the golfers from
Winston-Salem and Winston
Lake. They knew as much
about The Lake as we did.
They knew that it was con
structed for blacks way back
when. They knew that we
have had few problems sched
uling matches there. And they
knew that it was basically run
by African- Americans.
I'm certain that most peo
ple are not aware of this but
some black golfers actually
have vowed never to play The
Lake again. Why? Mainly for
personal reasons that they
don't seem to be able to get
over. It's easy to get upset
about things when they don't
go your way or when you feel
ignored or mistreated. But
utter listening to those guys in
Charlotte say the things they
said about The Lake, I actual
ly got a wee bit embarrassed at
the few times that I've gotten
angry over something that
happened at The Lake. I really .
felt bad.
Nothing should make any
of us so angry that we stop
supporting Winston Lake Golf
Course. Mr. Black made an
impassioned speech about his
love for the game of golf and
what we should be getting out
of the game. He said it was
about love... for the
game... for the
competition... for your part
U ue L r - f ? r
brotherhood . . fatherhood . . . sh
anng a few hours fellowship
Ping and the like. He broke
down in tears before he could
finish speaking.
Since Winston Lake is in
the Hast Ward, I'm calling on
City Council Member
JoJ-celyn Johnson and the
Winston Lake Senior Golf
Association to work together
to see how they can help revi
talize The Lake. The course is
a diamond in the rough, no
pun intended. We could really
make it more of an attraction
than it is. It is really a great
golf track, and it has a lot of
history, which is reflected
inside the club house and with
its name, the E. Jerry Jones
Club House.
But it needs to be promot
ed better and supported by all
golfers in the city and county.
And. I'm encouraging those
guys who have given up on
The Lake to let bygones be
bygones an<J come on back to
your home course. It needs
you and I believe you need it.
Ain't God good? God
olcss you. Amen? Amen!
Ernie Pitt is publisher and
co-founder of The Chronicle
and the president of the N C
Association of Black
Publishers. Contact him at
erpitt@wschronicle.com or0
723-H42H, ext. 104.
Correction
Incorrect cut
line informa
tion ran with
this photo in
last week 's
issue. The lit
tle girl pic
tured, Naomi,
is the daugh
ter of the
woman being
made-up,
M a r i e I
Aponte.
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m\QV\ APPARENTLY -tfa- INMBTTANTs PIftCE VERY UTTLE VALUE ON
Graduation as the only option
Linda
Harrill
Guest
Columnist
The high dropout rate
across North Carolina and its
effect on the future of the
economy is one of the most
talked about topics in educa
tion. Our business leaders are
talking about what will hap
pen to our economy, when the
reality is that our dropout
numbers are already causing
economic losses.
Research shows that youth
who drop out rarely leave their
communities and are a greater
strain on local economies.
Students who don't graduate
earn half of what their peers
who graduate earn and are
eight times more likely to end
up in prison. Girls who drop
out are three times more likely
to become teen mothers and
80% of youth who drop out
will depend on public health
care.
The economic reality is
that we need well educated,
functionally literate youth
with 21st century work skills.
The moral reality is that we
cannot allow youth to make
wrong decisions that will ren
der them incapable of support
ing themselves.
As responsible citizens,
we must first accept that drop
ping out does not begin in
high school, it simply ends
there. Dropping out begins
when a student enters elemen
tary school and realizes that he
or she is already behind. These
students receive similar nega
tive messages when they are
held back in the third grade aS
they do when their parents
give them permission to stay
home from school to baby sit.
By the time they reach high
school, they typically fall into
one of four "drop out" ?ate
gories: those who leave by
choice, those who get pushed
out. those who get pulled out,
and those who fall out.
Students who leave by
choice are those who become
bored with school because the
curriculum just isn't challeng
ing enough. While these stu
dents are rare, they do leave
before receiving a diploma
because a traditional high
school is "not fulfilling their
needs.
Then There are students
who get pushed out. They
receive subtle and overt mes
sages their entire lives that
there are other alternatives.
However, once out of school,
those promised alternatives
are never offered.
The students who get
pulled out are offered paying
jobs by employers who never
explain that a lucrative job at
sixteen won't support a family
or pay the mortgage. They are
told that a GED is just as good
as a high school diploma,
which is just not true. A GED
has its place, for older workers
who never graduated, giving
them a chance to provide for
their families in the ever
changing work force, but not
as an empty promise to
teenagers in high school.
Finally, there are the stu
dents who fall out of school.
They disappear from the class
room and no one ever reaches
oiit to them to find out why.
simply assume that these
students don't want to gradu
ate, so we leave them alone.
As concerned citizens, we
must intervene. We must con
sider the research and studies
that confirm the creation of
effective alternatives such as
Performance Learning
Centers, small nontraditional
high schools, quality mentor
ing programs and personal
care teams that surround stu
dents and recognize their
needs.
Many communities have
realized that intervention is
necessary, and through corpo
rate, individual, educational
and community support have
asked Communities In
Schools (CIS) for help.
Recently, CIS collaborated
with the National Dropout
Prevention Center to create
Best Practices in Dropout
Prevention. CIS works at the
local level to incorporate these
strategies in their programs,
working to identify students
who are most at-risk early on
in their education. CIS creates
personalized, coordinated and
accountable plans to help
them graduate.
Statistics show us that we
can either pay for these pro
grams now, or pay for these
youth later as they end up in
jail or on welfare. It's up to us,
we must teach our youth that
there is truly only one option,
and that is staying in school
and graduating.
Linda Harrill is president
and CEO of Communities In
Schools of North Carolina.
Heros and Sheros needed
Marian
Wright
Edelman
Guest
Columnist
About this time each year,
Hollywood releases block
buster movies featuring super
heroes - typically a man in
tights and maybe a cape
opposing a master villain.
Fiction aside, what is needed
are real world heroes with
what it takes to oppose a truly
daunting foe. As the members
of the class of 2007. I. invite
you to take a heroic stand for
something bigger than your
selves and join the fight for
social justice. You have a great
heritage and legacy to carry
on. Your forefathers and fore
mothers fought to abolish
slavery, secure rights for
women, establish worker pro
tections, end poverty and
racial segregation and achieve
equality for all. Out of these
movements grew the
Children's Defense Fund, an
advocacy organization for
children who are the most
voiceless group in our nation
and world.
This year, we're fighting
to guarantee health and mental
health care to all children.
We're building a movement to
tear down the sinister architec
ture that funnels tens of thou
sands of children and teens
into the Cradle to Prison
Pipeline. We are working to
end gun violence against chil
dren. which takes almost eight
young lives every day. We're
establishing CDF Freedom
Schools programs across the
country to provide critical
summer and after-school
enrichment. None of these
efforts will be depicted In
scenes of superhero movies
coming to a theater near you.
Bi^t by embracing one of
them, you can make a differ
Pholu by Carol Fcxike-Mpoyo/NCCCUSA
Dr. Otis Moss is pastor of Olivet Institutional Baptist
ence in your community.
We need strong, smart,
morally-centered young peo
ple willing to take on the
struggle to truly Leave No
Child Behind and ensure
every child a Healthy Start, a
Head Start, a Fair Start, a Safe
Start and a Moral Start in life
and successful passage to
adulthood. We need young
people who won't look down
at their shoes if someone calls
them smart or a "do-gooder."
You don't have to have
super powers. ^4>ost of you
will never be stronger or
healthier, and have as much
energy as you possess today.
You have agile minds and
bodies and you have time -
you have more than 40 or 50
years of productive work
ahead of you - if you stay out
of the fast lane with the fast
crowd going nowhere. Two of
my mentors, pioneering social
activist Dorothy Height and
scholar John Hope Franklin,
arc both over 90 and they're
still going strong.
Spend some of your time
and energy helping others in
both your professional and
personal lives. There's a lot of
work for heroes and sheroes -
not with guns blazing or
swinging from a tall building
to save the cute imperiled co
star. Be a star teacher, go to
law school and represent the
unempowered. Become a
juvenile or family court judg^.
Go to medical school afld
work in an urban or rural clin
ic. Volunteer to help build
affordable housing with
Habitat for Humanity, teach in
or support a CDF Freedom
Schools program. Choose a
child in your extended family
or from your community and
stick with him or her as a men
tor until they're 18. It is alarm
ing how many children we
lose to the streets, drugs, and
crime for lack of just one pos
itive adult in their lives.
Find your voice. We need
people who will speak up,
shout out, if necessary, when
they see an injustice. Don't be
afraid to stick your neck out
and take risks. Establish clear
goals and take a focused and
strategic approach to what
you're fighting for. Don't scat
ter your energies on many
things that don't add up to a
better whole. Keep your
word and your commitments
and take responsibility for
your actions. Don't stop learn
ing; continue your intellectual
and spiritual development to
grow as a person and asset to
your family and community.
If you're right, don't take
"no" or "but" for an answer.
Be persistent and tenacious.
Things may get rough at
times. You may be challenged
by formidable opponents
backed by powerful and well
funded interests. The adversity
you encounter might be so
intimidating that you'll want
to give up. Don't. When trou
ble comes, hangtOn and hang
in. You're tougher than you
think. Don't expect to solve a
major concern with one big
effort - work steadily over the
long term. Movements are not
built in a day or a decade.
Don't confuse heroism
with fame or celebrity. As for
mer Morehouse College board
chair and Cleveland pastor
Otis Moss, Jr., says. "The hero
is known for achievements,
the celebrity for being well
known. Celebrities make the
news, heroes make history.
Time makes heroes, time dis
solves celebrities."
What is offered here is not
a life of sacrifice but of service
and purpose. You don't have
to take a vow of poverty to
share what you have with oth
ers. My own experience as a
civil rights lawyer and as an
advocate for children has been
gratifying beyond description.
If you want an exciting, pur
pose-driven life, join the effort
to make a difference in the
lives of the most vulnerable in
America - be a hero or a
shero.
Marian Wright Edelman is
President of the Children's
Defense Fund and its Action
Council whose Leave No
Child Behind mission is to
ensure every child a Healthy
Start.