Newspaper Page Text
THE VOICE OF BLACK WOMANHOOD
Vol. xxvn, No. 3 Atlanta, Georgia November 14, 1983
Jackson Announces Bid For Presidency
by Karen M. Burroughs
Editor-in-Chief
Signaling what could even
tually lead to an unprecedented
coalition of minorities and
women in a presidential race,
Reverend Jesse Jackson recently
announced his plans to run in
the 1984 presidential race.
Speaking at Morehouse College
on Sunday, October 30, Jackson
informed the audience of his
intention to formally announce
his candidacy at the Convention
Center in Washington D.C. on
November 3rd.
“We need new leadership,”
he told the audience. “A
leadership that will defend the
poor and feed the hungry and
bring all the people back
together again.”
Introduced by Morehouse
president Hugh Gioster as a
“pioneering black swimmer in
the dangerous seas of the
American political system,” the
42 year old Jackson presently
serves as founder and national
president of Operation Push. In
addition to this position, he
writes a syndicated column
which is published in 75 major
newspapers around the country.
Jackson based his sermon on
the challenge of black
Americans to "keep the cove
nant.” A covenant, heexplained,
is a contract, promise or commit
ment. “The history of this nation
is a history of broken
covenants,” he said. “We are
here to challenge America to
keep the covenant. We must
study the commitment, study the
contract.”
Rev. Jackson commented on
the unequal representation of
black politicians in Georgia; a
state that is almost 30% black. He
informed the audience that out
of 51 state senators, only four are
black, and in the 150 counties of
Georgia, there are no black
sheriffs. He also remarked that
although Georgia does have ten
black mayors, there are 515 white
mayors in this state.
“We who vote must demand a
new relationship with the
democratic party,” he said. "It
has no right to run an all-white
slate over an integrated voting
block.
“We want our share,” he
continued. “There is a way to put
America back to work. There is a
way to study war no more. There
is a way to form a new covenant
between the locked out and the
democratic party.”
Jackson also remarked on the
inequality of blacks in the labor
movement and corporate
America. "Last year blacks spent
157 billion»dollars in American
corporations and yet there are
550 franchises with XX percen
tage of one owned by blacks,” he
told the audience. "We have the
power. We must demand our
share.”
Following his sermon, Jackson
held a “mini press conference,”
entertaining questions from
reporters who were present.
Questioned on the situation in
Grenada, Jackson told the
audience that the invasion by the
Americans was both illegal and
insulting. “It was an act that took
away America’s moral authori
ty,” he said. “It was a gross error
and I believe that it was an
attempt to divert attention from
the crisis in Lebanon.”
During the conference,
Jackson also informed the
audience of his dual purpose for
running for president. He stated
that his initial goal was to remove
the “repressive Reagan regime,”
and his second intention was to
achieve parity. “The absence of
Reagan is the presence of parity
and while Reagan is in office,
there can be no parity," he said.
“It is better to seize the wheel
and redirect it than to stand on
the outside and get hit.”
“Our time has come,” he
concluded. "We have the will
and we have the ability. We must
stand tall and not bow down in
the heat of the day. We must
have a new direction, a new
Course, a new leadership.”
t*e ««**r
IHW
Students protest in front of guest house.
Institute On Third World Ralley...
Protest At Spelman
by Layli Dumbleton
On Monday, October 10,1983,
at 3:50 p.m., the Institute on
Third World Policy of the Atlanta
University Center staged a
protest against the Spelman
College International Affairs
Committee’s invitation of a
group of South African
academicians to Spelman’s cam
pus. The group was sponsored by
the U.S.A. - South African
Leadership Exchange Program
(USSALEP).
Approximately fifteen
members of the Policy Institute
marched in a double line from
the Morehouse S.G.A. building
to the lawn of Spelman’s Helen T.
Albro Guest House, in which the
South African contingent was to
meet with some students, facul
ty, and staff. On their march, the
protesters were joined by other
members and friends of the
organization, and in the end the
number of protesters doubled.
Bearing placards of many
sayings, the students spread
themselves out along the curb so
that their posters could be read.
A few representatives of the club
distributed flyers, one of which
was a copy of the invitational
letter from the chairman of the
International Affairs Committee
to which comments explaining
the Policy Institute's concerns
were added. These concerns
included how any mixed group
of South Africans could repre
sent a racially segregated society,
(Continued on Page 7)