The Spotlight. (None) 1980-201?, November 01, 1980, Image 2
Page 2— EDITORIALS;
Spelman Spotlight
Save Our Children
November 3,1980
Special to the Spotlight
By Evelyn Lowery
President of SCLC/WOMEN
The recent rash of murders of ten
black children, the disappearance of four
other children, and the tragic deaths of
four children and one teacher at the
Bowen Homes Day Care Center have
touched all of us
Initially, there appeared to be some
lack of involvement and concern by cer
tain segments of the Atlanta community.
Many people close to the missing and
murdered children felt that the Atlanta
community didn’t care All of the child
ren were from lower income areas There
may have been a tendency on the part of
the middle class Black community and
the White community to subconsciously
feel that such tragedy could not happen
to “their” children because they took bet
ter care of their children. The fact is that
the majority of the missing and murder
ed children were abducted during the
daytime There is nothing to suggest a
lack of love, protection or caring by the
families involved
The recent explosion at Bowen
Homes alarmed the community because
while from all indications, this was an
unfortunate accident, it did strike fear in
the hearts of the Black community that
the possibility exists that our children,
our most precious possessions, can be
snatched from us, even when we send
them to a haven of protection. It awak
ened the White community to the possi
bility that Atlanta, “a city too busy to
hate”, could turn into a Buffalo or a
Miami It demonstrated the need for the
love, care and concern that is necessary
for all Atlantas to express to protect all
of our children.
We cannot view the Bowen Homes
situation without reminding the com
munity that because people live in low
income housing they don’t have to have
low level maintenance and low level in
come equipment. While we do not say
the murders are tied to racism—we
must see them in the context of violence
and brutality against the Black commu
nity in Buffalo T. Wayne, Chattanooga,
Miami and other parts of the nation.
The nation is too violent We must put
an end to violence or violence will put an
end to us. As my husband Joseph says,
“put of the ashes of grief can come re
newed and organized determination to
build community—Whether justice rolls
down like water and righteousness like a
mighty stream.” We are the city with the
biggest airport; but we must be the city
with the biggest heart.”
Francis Bacon once said “Adversity is
not without comforts and hope” As
tragic as the Bowen Homes explosion
was for all of us; as much as we wish
those four young lives and the live of the
teacher had been spared the explosion
did serve as the catalist to unite all
Atlantans to the need to work together
to protect all of our children. Those who
gave their lives need not have died in
vain.
SCLC/WOMEN joined the victimiz
ed mothers last July and has worked
with the coalition to Save Our Children, i
one of the early supportive groups. We
v'orked with the Prayer Rally at Central
City Park on October 5 to arouse in
terest and support from all segments o
the community, we worked with the
families of the Bowen Homes victims to
try to help bring some comfort and finan
cial relief from this major tragedy. We
apploud the way the Atlanta community
has unified in the last few days in the
universal recognition that these horren
dous crimes do not represent crimes
against Black children, but crimes again
st 10 of Atlanta’s children, the life blood
of our community.
We applaud the hundreds of volun
teers who came out to search for the
missing children. In spite of the criticism,
we applaud Mayor Jackson’s use of the
police and firemen to visit homes seek
ing informatioa We feel he is correct in
the utilization of these resources to
knock on doors, to pursue as
aggressively as possible, whatever is
necessary to resolve this problem that is
plaguing our community. Hopefully, this
aggresive pursuit will leave the killer (s)
no hiding place Some information
disclosed, while insignificant to you or
me, may serve as the needed link for the
police to resolve the murders.
We applaud the Coca Cola
organization, the Atlanta Falcons, and
other groups who have joined together
to provide funds for the distribution of
football cares to Atlanta’s children. This
may appear a small gesture but the car
ds will be of interest to the children, and,
more importantly, they will help to build
a rapport between the police and the
children of the community as well as
provide safety tips. We applaud those in
the A U Center who are identifying with
the community’s concerns but we are
alarmed at the apathy on the part of
those who still haven’t found it con
venient to join these efforts.
You may wonder as college students
how all of this involves you Many of you
have younger brothers and sisters or
nieces and nephews who deserve to live
in an environment where they will be
sheltered and allowed to grow into
healthy wholesome individuals. You owe
it to yourself and your community to be
concerned citizens. We are our brother’s
keeper. We are our sister’s keeper. No
man is an island Each mein’s grief is our
own.
While we applaud the wonderful way
the community has unified during the
last few days, we remember another
Bacon quote, “A wise man will make
more opportunities than we finds.” It is
our hope that the Community’s concern
will not die out after a few weeks as the
reaction to the Bowen Homes tragedy
begins to lessen, or even after the mur
der (s) is apprehended, thouc^i we pray!
for swift apprehension. The community
must make opportunities to prevent
these type social ills. The community
must continue to work together and
provide the impetus to assure that we
don’t give up any more children to this
type depravity.
SCLC/WOMEN will be working to
develop program to assure the healthy
development of our children and is 1 ,
developing an agenda for action. We will
be working with the Mayor’s office on a
citywide Christmas party for children.
We have a national conference schedul
ed for next spring where we will deal
with systemic issues affecting the survi
val of the Black Child both emotionally
and physically. We are also in the
process of developing other ongoing
projects. College students, sororities and
fraternities can lend a hand
Mrs. Evelyn Lowery
“Weeping may endure for a night, but working together to prevent conditions
joy cometh in the morning” Joy will be that will allow tragedies of this
the continued efforts of the Community magnitude to happen again
I SEE YOU VE
OVERCOME /
v"
( ° ° C LOOK!
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