Newspaper Page Text
Page 4 — NEWS
Spelman Spotlights
March, 1981
Mother of Slain Son Expresses Mixed Emotions
By Bridgett M. Davis
News Editor
Mrs. Willie Mae Mathis is a middle-
aged black woman who brings daily proof
to the belief that black women posses an
indescribable and unyielding stregth that
is impossible to match. For eleven
tormenting months, Ms. Mathis prayed
and prayed to the Ford to give her the
strength that she has had to maintain
throughout her ordeal. Then, on
February 13, 1981 she received a call that
the bodily remains of her son had been
found. Jeffrey Lamar Mathis became
another victim on the steadily increasing
list of murdered children in Atlanta.
It’s an empty feeling,” said Ms.
Mathis. “Having a child for ten years . .
he walks out of the door one day . . . and
you never see him again for eleven
months . . .” she said.endingabruptly. “I
prayed and prayed, hoping Jeffrey was
still alive.” It was a big relief when his
body was found to at least know where he
was, yet - as anyone must realize - “it
hurt.”
Included in all of the emotions Mrs.
Mathis must have felt was anger toward
A two-day conference to address “The
Black Child Agenda” has been planned
for April 3rd and 4th by
SCLC WOMEN, (Southern Christian
Leadership Conference), as part of its
second national conference on the
“Survival of the Black Family in the
Eighties,” The first conference was held
last May and addressed male-female
relations.
Mrs. Evelyn G. Lowery, founder and
national convener of SCLC/WOMEN,
said the Second Annual Martin Luther
King Jr. Memorial Drum Major Awards
Dinner will be held after the close of the
conference on April 4, the 13th
anniversary of Dr. King’s death.
Amongthe honored guests will be ABC
News Anchorman Max Robinson and
U.S. Congressman Ron Dellums.
“The dinner will honor the life of our
founding president, nad will -rpvode
opportunity for the presentation of the
1981 Drum Major Awards to persons
who have made outstanding
contributions to the fulfillment of the
‘dream,’ ” Mrs. Lowery said, as well as
raise funds to continue the work of
fulfilling the ‘dream.’
Awards will be presented in
government, education, human rights,
the arts, law and justice, sports, business
and communications. Special awards will
be given to individuals outside these
professions whose contributions also
merit public recognition.
C tor-comedian Bill Cosby,
Congressman Wyche Fowler and Mrs.
Rosa Parks, the Mother of the civil rights
movement, are honorary co-chairperson.
Numerous professionals in the health
care field and in education and religion,
(among others), will lead workshops and
panel discussions for the Black Child
conference.
Doctors Ann and Alvin Poussaint will
keynote the conference with major
Mrs. Camille Bell, mother of the late Usef
Bell, Jean Blake, WAC.A reporter and a
mother of one of the missing children
were guests on the Phil Donohue Show.
anyone who would harm innocent
children. “These children were cute,
bright and talented kids. Who knows?
One of them could have had the cure for
cancer or could have been the next
president.” Yet, despite her grief, Ms.
Mathis also feels everything happens for a
reason and in an unfortunate sense,
something good has come out of it.
People have become more neighborly and
brotherly as a result of this crisis. Ms.
Mathis realizes that, as usual, it has taken
“tragedy to being people together.”
Sharing the feelings of so many others.
addresses and workshop participation.
Workshops will address “Improving
Educational Opportunities,” “Protecting'
Health and Welfare” and “Developing
Positive Self Concepts."
Topics for discussion include “Building
Quality Schools in Low Income
Neighborhoods,” “The Impact of
Integration,” “Child Abuse
Everybody’s Problem,” “Positive Self
Images in a Materialistic Society” and
“Effective Parenting.”
Child Psychiatrist Dr. Quentin Smith,
Dr. Barbara Whitaker of the Atlanta
Board of Education and Rev. McKinley
Young, pastor of Atlanta’s Big Bethel
AME Church are just a few of the
workshop leaders who will be available to
conference participanta.
Atlanta Police Chief George Napper,
Mrs. Camille Bell and Mrs. Willie Mae
Mathis of the Committee To Stop
Chidren’s Murders, Rev. Arthur
Langford, Atlanta city coucilman and
president of the United Youth Adult
Conference (the organization
coordinating the weekend searches), and
Dr. Quentin Smith w'ill comprise a panel
discussing “Crime Against Atlanta’s
Children — What Can the Community
Do?”
Mrs. Jean Young is honorary
chairperson of the conference and as
chairperson also of the International
Year of the Child, she will report on the
past year’s involvments.
Registration for the conference is S5
and the conference site is the Atlanta
Hilton Hotel. The Drum Major Awards
Dinner on April 4 is at 7 p.m. in the
Hilton. Tickets are S50 and may be
obtained by writing P.O. Box 42257,
Atlanta, G A 30311. Please send for your
tickets early. For more information about
the dinner or conference call (404) 344-
3970 or 522-1420.
Ms. Mathis questions the competency of
the Atl. Police Dept. “Why can’t they do
something about it?” she asks in earnest.
She acknowledges that the police are
doing everything within their power and
are working around the clock. Yet, she
strongly feels that: “If they’d started this
investigation sooner (and) if they’d asked
the GB1 and the FBI to come in sooner,
this would have been halted a long time
ago. It would have saved lives.”
Commissioner Lee P. Brown did not
acknowledge a pattern sooner because he
didn’t want to alarm the public. Not until
after the Bowen Homes incident (where
several children and one adult were killed
by an. explosion caused by a faulty
furnace system) and after the eighth
murder did they acknowledge a pattern.
Ms. Mathis expresses complete
disapproval of such actions. “It wasn’t his
choice . . .(Commissioner Brown)s) the
people should have known .... Lee
Brown said there was no pattern, so
everybody stopped talking about it.”
The apathy on the part of Atlantans
deeply disturbs Ms. Mathis. “They say
Atlanta is a city too busy to hate, but what
does it take for them to care?” She
believes that most Atlantans are
indifferent until it “hits home.” They
don’t care in Atlanta. Nothing seems to
get next to them.”
If the Atlantans have appeared
indifferent, the press has been totally
unfeeling toward Ms. Mathis. On the day
Jeffrey’s body was found, she had to leave
out of her back door and over a
By Bridgett M. Editor
News Editor
Dr. Sandra Sims, an instructor of
Education at Spelman College, has been
selected as the chairperson of the Special
Mental Health Task Force (MHTF).
which was implemented to address the
immediate and long term effects of the
"missing and murdered” children
phenomenon.
Due to the impact of the children’s
crisis, the emotional health of black
children and their families has been
affected. “The living and learning
environment of children at home, school,
and on playgrounds may not be
psychologically safe. Parents and
teachers are reportedly having diffuclty
handling the increased levels of stress and
anxiety exhibited by children as a result
of this crisis,” according to Public Safety
commissioner, Lee P. Brown.
The Task Force’s mission is to identify
and mobilize community resources which
could aid the concerns of those affected
by the problem. These resources would
be: Parent Block Organizations; YMCA
& YWCA affiliations; Boy’s Clubs;
churches; and other community groups.
The MHTF encourages these groups to
be more responsive to those children
affected psychologically by the crisis, and
to offer their services wherever needed
within the communities. By pooling their
services together, these groups can
become strong community support
systems.
neighbor’s fence to avoid the reporters,
who were everywhere - even hiding in the
bushes. During her son’s funeral, she was
again harassed by the crowds and crowds
of media persons. “The media doesn’t
care about your feelings,” she said. “1
wouldn’t talk to anybody before he was
found.” Now, she adds, her phone hasn’t
stopped ringing.
Ms. Mathis has her own theories on
who could be the cause of this nightmare.
She believes it is more than one person.
And, she doesn’t believe a black man or
woman is responsible because black
people have have too much respect for
their mothersand theirchildren. “A black
man will kill you for messing with his
mother or his kids,” she said. Believing
that Jeffrey would never have trusted a
stranger, she feels it must be someone that
has gained the children’s trust. Most
puzzling to her is what this person or
persons does with the children before they
kill them, since it has been proven that
some of the children had been dead for
considerably less time than they had been
missing.
The real ordeal that Mrs. Mathis and
twenty other mothers have undergone is
beyond full comprehension for those of
us who have not been personally
victimized by it. “No one else can relate if
your child is missing or dead except
someone else it has happened to" she said.
Nevertheless, we empathize with Mrs.
Mathis, and we share her sentiments fully
that, ’’with a lot of prayers, the Lord will
surely reveal these people.”
The M HTF believes that only in severe
cases should children with difficulties be
sent to mental health centers. It would be
the responsibility of the community
support services to define what is typical,
normal reactions within the children.
As chairperson of the M H FT, Dr. Sims
feels their main objective is to foster a
sense of community within the children.
“The crisis has made us aware that we
don’t have a great emphasis on
community. People often do not know
their neighbors . . . Children need to
know that there is someone within their
community that they can trust," said Dr.
Sims.
On February 14, 1981, a planning
conference sponsored by the Dept, of
Public Safety and the Mental Health
Tadk Force, was held at Atlanta
University to initiate the process of the
task force. The theme of the conference
was, “1 Am My Brother’s Keeper."
Future plans for the MHTF include
more parent workshops and workshops
with children to strengthen
communications and to minimize stress
within the black family. It also intends to
provide more after-school cj^re^aod
supervision of .children., , ; .Mpst
importantly, they will continue to .ident.i,fy
and coordinate community resources and
services, as Dr. Sims states: “We have a
responsibility to carry through., and
continue to be an advocacy to children
and families.” .,.
SCLC To Hold Conference On
Black Child Agenda
Spelman Education Instructor Heads
Special Mental Health Task Force