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OPINIONS/tOt Ctarlatte
Thursday, January 19, 2006
Let’s get rid of
Congress
Considering the things that have taken place just over
the past few months, it is obvious our Congress cannot do
anything to stop the thievery, the cronyism, and the
at)solute power of King Geoi^e and his band of miscreants,
so we may as well call it day for Congress.
We are just wasting our money paying their salaries; Fm
sure Cheney and the gang can put it to better use. So let’s
try it, at least for a while, and maybe our Congress will
finally realize they work for us - not George
Bush and company
Isn’t Congress there for checking and bal
ancing? Aren’t they in Washington to leg
islate on behalf of “the people?” Didn’t you
elect them to protect your interests? Aren’t
they getting paid six figures, with the best
retirement plans on earth to boot? Are
they doing their jobs? The answers are
obvious, so let’s kick ‘em out in November
2006.
Dubya recently called a meeting of political “O.G.s,”
James
Clingman
which also included his two Black tokens, Condi and Cohn;
Bush did his fake mea culpa, we’re-all-in-this-together
charade, and his photo-op, to get us to believe he is sin
cerely interested in what we think. That was just after he
w^t back into his bag of tricks and made another recess
appointment of one of his gals, Julie Myers, a no-experi
ence, neophyte who is now responsible for a $4 billion bud
get and 20,000 employees at the U.S. Immigration and
Customs Enforcement Agency no less. Bush is definitely a
Playa. I might start calling him, “Goldie! Goldie!”
Congress meets and speaks and meets and speaks, ad
nauseam, only to disappear when George starts to pimp
“the people,” which is virtually 24/7/365. You can’t find
them with a search warrant in the Capitol Building when
you really need them to stand up for us. Are they afi'aid of
the diabolical “Darth Vader” Cheney and the evil villain
“Simon LaGree” Rumsfeld?
Why do we need a Congress when we have a King and
his court? Or, should I say court jesters? It looks like most
of them will be busy for a while anyway, either in court or
in prison, after taldng bribes fixim Jack “Rip-’em-off”
Abramoff (Did Jack give any of his ‘jack” to CBC mem
bers? I didn’t see any black folks on his list.)
Congress doesn’t have time to stop Bush’s budget cuts in
agencies that help poor people. They don’t have time to
look into what Bush knew prior to the mine tragedy in
Tallmansville, W. Va, just as they didn’t have time to hold.
him aax)imtable for the information he had before the
levies broke in New Orleans. Should I also mention the
informatio^i Bush had prior to the World TVade Center dis
appearing act? David Copperfield couldn’t top that illu
sion.
I’m telling you, we don’t need Congress. Those folks are
doing a lot to us but very little for us? Are they really rep
resentin’ you? They voted for a bankruptcy bill that allows
big corporations to continue to file but prevents poor peo
ple fi*om doing so. They voted for a raid on Iraq’s natural
resources, disguised as a “war on terror,” in which thou
sands have been slaughtered. They allow King George to
lock-up U.S. citizens without due process, tap our phones,
and check our records. What’s next? Internment camps?
Or worse? Watch out for those new televisions you are so
eager to buy especially you “gangstas” out there. As Jill
Scott says, “Am I watching it or is it watching me?’
Let’s throw the Congress out. Based on what it is doing
now, we dorut need it. Brothas, let’s get out our platfoiin
goldfish-heeled shoes, our pink and mustard-colored
crushed velvet, elephant-ear bellbottomed suits, and our
wide-brimmed hats with the feathers on the sides, and let’s
kick it like George.
Sistahs, like Johnny Gill sang, “Put on your red dress;”
break out your spiked heels, and maybe a feather boa to
accent it all. Cowboy King George is cornin’ to a street near
you looking to add to his stable. If you ain’t quite up on
your game, maybe heill let Condi give you a refi^her
covirse on how to “get over.”
Heck, we don’t need no stinkin’ Congress. We can get
paid without them; George and his buddies. Let’s see if
theyll let us roll witii ihem, ‘cause (jeorge and his homies
prove it really is aU about the Beiyamins. Aw-ai^t?
What good is (Congress if it cannot or will not impeach
this Cbmmander-of-Thieves? After all, they impeached the
real Playa, the original Pimp, Bill CTinton, for getting’ it on
with just one of his ladies. George Bush has been doin’ it to
most of the country and a brotha can’t even get a hearing
on Bush’s high crimes and misdemeanors, John Conyers’
efforts notwithstanding.
Hey Congress! Hello! Are you listening? Stop pimpin’
us; and hoUaatchaboy George about pimpin’ vis, too. If you
ain’t down for that and don’t wanna represent for “yo
peeps” then let the doorknob hitcha where the good Lord
splitcha. I’m out!
JAMES E. CIJNGMAN, a professor at the University of
Cincinnatit. is former editor of the Cincinnati Herald newspaper
and founder of the Greater Cincinnati African American Chamber
of Commerce.
Celebrating Dr.
King through
serving others
Answer the call to reach out
and touch others through deed
“If you want to be important - wonderful. If you want to be rec
ognized - wonderful If you want to be great - wonderful. But rec
ognize that he who is greatest among you shall be your servant.
That’s a new definition of greatness. And this
morning, the thing that I like about it: by giving
that definition of greatness, it means that every
body can be great, because everybody can serve.
You don’t have to have a college degree to serve.
You don’t have to make your subject and your verb
agree to serve. You don’t have to know about Plato
and Aristotle to serve. You don’t have to know
Einstein’s theory of relativity to serve. You don’t
have to know the second theory of thermodynam
ics in physics to serve. You only need a heart full of
grace, a soul generated by love.”
m
m'
Marian
Wright
Edelman
These well-known words are fiom Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr’s
sermon “The Drum Mqjor Instinct,” delivered at Ebenezer Baptist
Church on February 4,1968. In his sermon. Dr. King was explain
ing that we all start out with the ingrained instinct to be “dnmi
m^ors:” everyone wants to be important, to be first, to lead the
parade. Watch a group of children try to form a line, and ri^t
away you’ll see this instinct in action. But too many people never
outgrow this instinct. Dr. King said, and by constantly stru^Jing
to be the best and most important or wealthiest or best-educated
we forget one of the Gospels” and life’s largest truths: the real path
to greatness is through service.
It’s a key lesson to remember, and it’s also a key piece of what we
should be teaching our children about Dr. King. Many of them
have just studied Dr. King’s life in school in the days leading up to
Dr. King’s birthday, and many young people have learned to see
Dr. King as a history book hero - a larger-than-life, mythical figure.
But it’s crucial for them to imderstand Dr. King weisn’t a superhu
man with magical powers. They need to be reminded he was a real
person, just like all of the other ministers, paients, and neighbors
in the community, and like the all of the familiar adults in their
lives today
I first heard Dr. King speak in person at a Spelman College
chapel service during my senior year in college. Dr. King was just
31 but he had already gained a national reputation during the suc
cessful Montgomery Bus Boycott five years earlier. He became a
mentor and fiiend. Althoi^i I do remember him as a great leader
and a hero, I also remember him as someone able to admit how
often he was afi'aid and unsure about his nert step. But faith pre
vailed over fear, uncertainty, fatigue, and sometimes depression.
It was his human vulnerability and ability to rise above it that I
most remember. He was an ordinary man who made history
because he was willing to stand up and serve and make a differ
ence in extraordinary ways as did the legion of other civil rights
s/heroes in the T950s and 1960s. We need to teach our children
every day that they can and must make a difference, too.
“Everybody can be great, because everybody can serve.”
Tbwards the end of his sermon on “The Drum M^or Instinct,”
Dr. King told tiie congregation that like many people, he some
times thou^t about his own death and flmeral. He said when the
day came; he didn’t want people to talk about his Nobel Prize or
his degrees or hundreds of awards. The first thing he wanted
someone to say about him was “that Martin Luther King, Jr, tried
to give his life serving others.” Dr. King didn’t know just how soon
that day would come. He was assassinated two months to the day
after giving that sermon. But a recording of “The Drum Mqjor
Instinct” was played at his funeral, and many people think of the
moving words in Dr. King’s voice as his own eulogy He knew how
he wanted to be remembered. “If I Can Help Somebody Along the
Way” was his favorite song.
That is why Americans are now urged to celebrate the holiday
honoring Dr. King as “a day on, not a day off,” and to use his birth
day to come together for community service and action. But we
shouldn’t wait for the holiday to come back around to remember
and honor him this way We can honor Dr. King’s legacy best by
serving every day and standing together to build a movement to
realize Dr. King’s dream - America’s dream
Bennettsville, S.C., native MARIAN WRIGHT EDEIMAN is President and
Founder of the Children’s Defense Fund.
We can honor Dr. King’s
legacy best by serving
every day to come together
for community service and
action.
The real King
remembered
Could (!Tiariotte be characterizcxi as a “Class Act,”
or “Woi'ld Class” dty by 2015? At tlie rate we’i'e going,
I don’t tliink so. Last week’s editorial talked of coiui-
dlniaii James Mitchell’s recent attempt to have a
Cliai'lotte stiwl iianud for tlie slain
leader Dr Mmlin Luther King, Jr.
His pn^sentation to fellow council
meinbei's ended witli a 7-4 vote, and
the decision to I'evisit tlie I'equest.
This is Cliarlotte’s st^cond piLsli for
renaming a miyor Chtu'lotte street
for Dr. King. Fonner itisident and
businessman Sam Yoiuig initiated an
attempt to I'ename Beatties Fold
Road for Dr. King ovei* 10 years ago.
Residents apjieiiled tliat eilbri main-
Fran
Farrer-
Nash
ly because of the degi'ee of change to legal ilociunents
and addiesses. Fortimately Rosa Pai'ks was luckit*r.
Prior to her death, a street offBeatlies Foixl Road was
named for her. But, how many ivsidents actually
know where it is?
We must howevei* give t^harlotte
some credit for tiying. In 1997 govern
ment mid civic leadeis established the
Conmumity Building Initiative, a non-
piofit oiganization to work to achieve
racial mid etlinic inclusion mid equity
in the CTiarlotte-Mecklenbui^r (‘ommu-
nity It convenes mid engages individu
als, oigmiizations mid institutions in
structm'ed and effective strategic
process aroimd issues of racial and etli-
nic inclusion and equity It’s a vital part of our com
munity, in helping witli cultiu'al mid social chmige,
but the pieople need to begin to see some actual
■ chmige.
Meeting and collaborating, educating
mid commimicating is good, but at
some point we must act. We must
decide to make change to show we
truly mean what we’re meeting about.
Five years after tlie city of CTim'lotte,
under the auspic'es of tlie C!ommunit.y
Building Initiative, kicked off
Crossroads (!Tiarlolte to help pi*epare
King
Bogues
for what we’d look like in the yem* 2015 we’ve only
seen marginal changes. This initiative came as a
result of our being rmiked 39 out of 40 cities polled in
racial trust. Wonder why? Most often in such polls,
those selected to poll, are those known. Most often
those known, are those in decision making positions.
Could be that’s why
CTiarlotte, to live up to the rich identity we’ve adopt
ed of being a historic New South conmumity, we must
decide to no longer be passive, we must be active.
A group of over 800 concerned citizens heard yet
emother appeal Monday at McCi'oi'ey YMCA’s 12th
annual prayer breakfast from CTiarlotte Sting coach
Muggsy Bogues. Joldn^y stated, but quite seiious,
Bogues asked what’s taking Climiotte so long to
name a street, or sometliing for Dr. King This is only
proof that CTiarlotte wants us to act, and act now. In
his thank you remarks Eifter receiving the Legacy
Award, Charlotte Bobcats owner Bob Johnson
acknowledged surprise at Bogues frankness, but sup-
jxirted his initiative.
And of course there is always somcjone in defense of
our aspiring, but still so prejudiced city As a group of
us were leaving the venue, a young lady spoke up say
ing, “we may not have a street, but we do have a pm k
named for him.” Several of us responded, ‘but who
knows where it is!”
CTiarlotte is among the soutlieni cities consideixd
part of the “Bible Belt.” Well, maybe it’s time
Charlotte stopped holding tlie Bible, and began living
it.
Charlotte should finally realize that indecision
either cost us money, or status. It took three bids to
get the CIAA basketball tournament. Relocating the
coliseum to Billy Graham when Harvey Gantt had a
solid proposal for uptown years ago cost taxpayers
and the dty much money And in 2006, where is tlie
coliseum? And, our world-class status is wreckfd
because 7p0 dties beat us by acknowledging what the
life of Dr. Martin King, Jr. meant to ALL of us.
The Post presented an outstanding alternative - to
rename the airport. It affects no residents, will cost
the dty less, and will truly be one major step to
becoming world class. Martin Luther King, Jr.
International Airport (MLK International Airport)
says it all. This would be a “Class Act.”
FRAN FARRER-NASH is (uh’ertisin^ anil mitrketinf’ man
ager at The Post.