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community: Masons and Shriners,
Elks, most of the Black sororities and
fraternities, church clubs, ministers,
women's societies, celebrities, doc
tors, lawyers and funeral directors.
AOIP Involvement
The above-listed organizations are
among the same groups that are be
ing awarded a *center stage role" in
the National BLACK MONITOR dur
ing 1995, as we celebrate our 20th
year of service to the Black commu
nity in general and to the national
leadership (past and present) of the
interorganizational coalition, known
as AOIP* in particular.
Under the guiding leadership of the
Grand Exalted Ruler Dr. Donald
P.Wilson,the|.B.P.O. Elks ofthe World
--with the close cooperation of and/or
*back-up" supportfromthe Prince Hall
Masonic family (including the
A.E.A.O.N.M. Shrine, "Shriners* atthe
direction of its Imperial Potentate
William Pratt)--heads the AOIP Stand
ing Committee which hasthe respon
sibility of helping to planand oversee
all of AOIP's collaboratively-focused
economic development activities, with
the campaign of “Targeting Our Dol
lars To Where They Make The Most
Sense." This conceptwas promoted
quite heavily bythe late Dr. CalvinW.
Rolark (who, along with the Rev. Dr.
Leon H. Sullivan, was a Founding
Enabler of AOIP) with the invaluable
assistance of Past Grand Exalted Ruler
of the Elks, John Goss and, of AOIP's
*elder statesman," Dr. William *Bill*
Pollard.
Dr. Pollard's more than 20 years
experience as a national official of the
AFL-CIO, along with his history of in
* The letters AOIP originally siood for As
sault On liliteracy Program--a networking
and coordinating framework for assault
in%the root causes of illiteracy (i.e., lack of
self-esteem and self-efficacy). However,
two things were soon iacognized. One
thingrecognizedwasthai, wheneverthese
root causes ‘were assauited, we simulta
neously were cngaged in a process for
assaulting aimost allthe otherills imposed
most heavily onine Black community (i.e.,
dru|?s, other crimes, needless forms of
welfare, teen pregnancy, etc.). The other
thing recognized was that it was impossi
ble to assault illiteracy at its core among
many Black Americans without simulta
neously aodressingthose other ills. Thatis
whenthe amazing and long-needed Goals
for The Year 2000 and Beyond were devel
oped, and the name changed to Assault
On lliteracy Process, or simply AOIP.
volvement with the NAACP, both as a
national Board member and as the
Deputy Executive Director of the
NAACP under Dr. Benjamin Hooks,
addsinvaluable knowledge and guid
ance "tothetable* asthe morethan 90
national AOIP-affiliated organizations
begin earnestly to promote this en
deavor of buying fromthose who pro
vide jobs and other economic bene
fitsto Black Americans. The American
automotive industry--the Chrysler
Corporation, the Ford Motor Compa
ny and the General Motors Corpora
tion--has been the stalwart in provid
ing continously these hope-engen
dering opportunities and benefits to
Black America.
The Elks and The Masons
The Elks lead the Black Business
and Professional Supportand Involve
ment Committee which generates
and/or dversees all of AOIP's eco
nomic development activities like this
jobs provision. We all know that the
prospect of a good jobis vitalinterms
of motivating our young people to
learn so as to be able to earn the right
to a productive and responsible
lifestyle.
It is up to the Black Business and
Professional Supportand Involvement
Committee to take the lead in devel
oping proceduresfor getting this Buy-
Where-It-Helps-Us philosophy across
to both our leadership groups and to
AOlP'stargeted masses--andthis phi
losophy surely includes non-Black
enterprises--large and small--when
there is extraordinary community
building support coming from them.
Also, since the Elks--with Prince Hall
Masonic cooperation--take the lead
in AOIP's collaborative economic de
velopment activities, these organiza
tions (along with the NAACP and the
Omega Psi Phi Fraternity) are being
accorded center stagethismonthand
with other AOIP organizations
throughout the year.
Among all of the more than 90 pres
tigious AOIP national organizations,
the 1.8.P.0. Elks of the World have
long been recognizedas owning more
businesses. idividually, and owning
more property, olectively, than any
othersinßlack Ame:i=a Thestrength
ening struggie <! ile glks in over
coming many adversities also has
provided experiencewhich hastrans
lated into uncommon and sure-foot
ed wisdom.
Support those companies that provide jobs and other economic benefits for Black Americans.
Consequently, the Elks have been
hailed as one of theorganizations that
best reflects the kind of personal and
group qualities for building both self
esteem, as well asthe vital industry so
sorely needed for overcoming all
types of "ills* among the masses of
Black Americans.
AOIP's Long-Range Planning & Re
source Identification Committee--co
chaired by Dr. William Gibson, Chair
man of the NAACP Board, and Dr.
Dorsey Miller, Grand Basilus of Ome
ga Psi Phi Fraternity--already has
agreed on the need to prioritize this
focus of *Targeting Our Dollars To
Where They Make The Most Sense."
Aspokesperson for the Masons has
stated:
*...J[AOIP] recaptures most of the
flame lighted in our earliest days by
our founding American Freemason,
Prince Hall. This cooperative effort
commands a fraternal concern for the
well-being of every educationally dis
abledyouth, in the White communities
of America (with a more than 20 per
cent functional illiteracy rate) as well
as inthe Black communities where we
live.
AOIP revives the crucial spirit of vol
untary service which has almost gone
by the wayside in the wake of govern
ment *funded programs*--which, alto
gether unintentionally, aimost obliter
ated the impetus of brother or sister
helping a brother or sister to stand on
his or her own, and so to walk this
earth with heads held high. [The Ma
sons] aim to be the means by which
the vast majority of Black Americans
are mobilized for this particular effort,
as never before in our history as a
people.*
Background of AOIP's
"Win-Win" Campaign
The following is background for
upcoming features in the National
BLACK MONITOR on this campaign
which initially starts with supporting
the American-made cars and trucks
(focusingontheChrysler Corporation,
the Ford Motor Company and the
General Motors Corporation). On the
one hand, tHe ' American-Made" auto
industry--despite substantial invest
mentswithmany strategies--has been
at a loss as (0 how to counter its
continuing decline of market share
National BLACK MONITOR--January 1995
(within the last 20 years or so) among
Black car buyers who have shown a
distinct preference for "Import label*
cars, as well as faces a dilemma in
terms of finding profit-producingways
to support its Black-owned deal
erships.
On the other hand, America's Black
leadership groups find their
communities in serious disarray, and
have recently begun to realize that
there is no one answer to a multi
faceted dilemma; these diverse
groups must have a means/vehicle
forcoming together, planningtogether
and acting together. Also, this kind of
vehiclenever (despitemany attempts)
seemed possible until the *American-
Made" auto industry began to enable
the National BLACK MONITOR to
becomethe (indirect) means--through
operating on a not-for-profit basis--to
serve both the uplifting needs of Black
owned newspapers and (as a direct
offshoot) to become the fulcrum for
establishing (andmaintainingthrough
thoughtful evolvement) that coming
together coalition of more than 90
national Black-led organizations with
a firmly established Mission and
agreed-upon goals for collectively
transforming all of the communities
within Black America. '
These groups now are keenly aware
oftwothings that make the American
made autoindustry of vitalimportance
to them. One is that this industry has
provided far more good paying jobs
and other economic benefits to the
communities of Black America than
has any othermanufacturer. The other
is that the AOIP community-building
coalition could not have been
maintained without that crucial
support it receives fromthe "American-
Made" auto industry.
Accordingly, this "Win-Win" car
selling campaignwas initiated by AOIP
leadership groups in order to help
secure themselves for continuing
support--and to get across the
message to our Black car buyers all
over America that they "*hurt the hand
that blesses them with hope
engendering jobs and other economic
benefits' whenever they spend their
car-buying dollars where this returnis
less. Because of the ever-widening
global economy and the increasing
competition for goods and services,
everyone must work together. «
[To be continued next month]
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