Newspaper Page Text
8
October 3, 1996
GOING PLACES By J. Philip Waring
Another grand prize for
research possible for CSRA
hereisstill a more-than-probable
' I chance for ustoget another grand
' prize for research. I am referring
‘to the Ft. Gordon Signal Corps national
‘headquarters, with that wonderful
‘Eisenhower Medical Center thrown in.
Then there is the huge Savannah River
Authority energy plant, and the MCG
pool of hospitals and health centers —
which have in turn spawned a huge
complex of educational, business, sports,
cultural and other venues in Georgia
counties and across the river in South
Carolina.
A boost for CSRA economics
Now what is it that the Augusta area
is seeking? The above-listed research
project, which would be international in
character, could bring 10,000 jobs and
$6 billion into the CSRA locations.
We join with others who feel that the
current SRS would be a timely location
for the vast billion-dollar-plus nuclear
research project.
Dozens of American urban areas will
be vying forit,as will Japan and Canada.
The first is highly earthquake-prone.
And Canada is just too darn cold as
compared with the CSRA site. The lat
ter would result in greater economic
savings in the long run.
The SRA, asis well known, isnearthe
upper reaches of the south-flowing Great
Savannah River. It and its tributaries
could help greatly on the matter of
nearby water.
SRS is but a short distance from the
FOCUS IN SOUTH CAROLINA By Lawrence Harrison
The best-laid plans
f there were a plan to put guns and
Idrugs within the minority.commu
nity and have the people there di
vide and destroy themselves, it worked
very well. The results are what African-
Americans and others have to focus on
and do something about. Discovery of
evil means little without action to cor
rect it.
Historically and perhapsrealistically,
we have reason to be suspicious. The
powerful have.never been too kindly
toward the powerless. True African-
American history relates many in
stances of neglect and harm being in
tentionally inflicted. If we are truly
recalling, we also can note that it oc
curred much later than after the Civil
War, well into the late 20th century. It
should not surprise us too much on any
scale, from personal to collective.
We can also know that, for evil of any
kind to succeed, a measure of coopera
tion and acquiescence must be obtained
on many levels, either voluntarily or
involuntarily. Economics have been
used for the excuse over and over again,
and it is probably accurate to do so in
such a materialistic society. Have we
sold our souls, present and future? The
answer lies within and is difficult at
best for so many. If we are victims of the
world around us, then indeed we are all
victims, of every class and of every
kind. We can know that evil knows no
boundaries: It cannot be contained to
any one people once it is loosed. It is
surely the one lesson of history past
and, as we see every day, of current
history as well.
Any plans of correction and salvation
have to begin with the people affected.
st JeydS
Since 1981
A Walker Group Publication
1143 Laney Walker Blvd.
Please send your local news to the Augusta Focus. Call us at (706) 724-7855, fax us
at (706) 724-6969 or write to us at 1143 Laney-Walker Blvd., Augusta, Ga. 30901.
AUGUSTA FOCUS
ports of Savannah and Charleston, S.C.
and this distance is beset with excellent
federal highways, airports, railroad lines
and rail yards.
November bond issue passage still
important
Most important at this point would be
passage of the slls million Richmond
County School Board bond issue in No
vember. This would bring our schools
further up to snuffand enrich our train
ingin mathematical and technical skills.
Many colleges, universities and profes
sional associations, such as the United.
Negro College Fund, would be expanded
and involved.
Allofourfine citizens out there whoare!
looking for a better future for our CSRA
and its children in the 21st century will -
give all support possible for passage of'
the school bond election in November. Its’
passage will help us get a better shot at’
the nuclear research project.
Our Chamber of Commerce helped!
create this group of citizens who are’
working on avision for the 21st century.
Won’t you help them?
Good news
As we close this column, however, it is
good to note that basketball superstar
Michael Jordan just donated $1 million!
for a new Family Life Institute at his’
alma mater, North Carolina State Uni--
versity. Also, the College Board noted at
healthy rise in SAT scores for Afro--
American college students during the?
past decade.
While evil can be imposed from outside,
resistance cannot come totally from the
‘outside, it has to come mostly from
within. The glorification of evil by me
dia of any kind should not completely
dull our senses or our values, and that
must not be a message for just the
young. For African-Americans, there
has to be a balance in reliance on both
the spiritual and physical factors.
Maybe that has been our problem, reli
ance on too much of one or the other.
A people who lose their spiritual com
pass or center, no matter how we may
define it, certainly lose a great deal.
African-Americans had to rediscover
and redefine theirs in terms of a culture
not originally their own. They did so
gloriously. Generation after generation,
the key to our survival and prosperity
was rooted in our religious nature. The
only question we can have in this late
20th century is one of modernization.
We have to be of this time, for this time,
in message and method. We certainly
cannot afford not to be.
If the church is to move beyond its
walls, it has to have something to move
to. That must be a community inter
ested in its education, its economics,
andits politics. We areincomplete with
out the full range of concerns. A com
munity protected from within in all
areas is less likely to be destroyed by
outside forces. Sadly, we know the re
verse is also very true.
To counteract the results of an evil
plan is much better than just knowing
about it or its origins. The best-laid
plans of mice and men can go awry. Any
plan for our human improvement is
what we should and must be about.
Editorial
Charles W. Walker
Publisher
Frederick Benjamin
Managing Editor
Dot T. Ealy
Marketing Director
Rhonda Jones
Copy Editor
Timmy Cox
News Correspondent
Derick Wells
Art Director
Sheila Jones
Office Manager
Lillian Wan
Layout Artist
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BY ANDERSON FOR THE COURIER-J‘OURNAL. LOUISVILLE ‘.3
CIVIL RIGHTS JOURNAL By Bernice Powell Jackson
‘Green power’ in community
ernon Johns was considered one
‘ 7 of the foremost African-American
preachers in the 19405, ranked
with Howard Thurman and Mordecai
Johnson. He was Martin Luther King
Jr.’s predecessor at Dexter Avenue Bap
tist Church in Montgomery and one of
Dr. King’s mentors. He was also a fierce
proponent of economic development in
the black community and a visionary
whosaw a special role for the black church
ineconomicdevelopment, often prodding
his sometimes-reluctant.congregation to
accept that role;+ . - ki Bl
Vernon Johns’ modern-day counter
part might be Dr. Henry Lyons, presi
dent of the 8.5 million-member Na
tional Baptist Convention USA and
chief executive officer of the newly
formed Revelation Corporation of
America. Revelation is the new private
corporation founded by five of the larg
est African-American denominations to
provide greater access to home mort
gage loans, all kinds of insurance, auto
mobile and consumer loans, affinity
credit cards and discounts for food prod
ucts and durable goods to the African-
American community.
African Americans spend $1 billion
every day and Revelation’s founders be
lieve that putting our community’s dol
TO BE EQUAL By Hugh B. Price
Formula for change: E=mc¢?
o, this formula doesn’t refer to
NAlbert Einstein’s pathbreaking
discovery 90 years ago of the
code which opened the door to the
nuclear age: That combining energy and
‘matter at the speed of light would pro
duce unbelievable power.
Instead, this E=mc? identifies ele
ments that illuminate a different, but
no less important, pathway to power.
This E=mec? is the declaration that
Education equals Motivation, Courage,
Change. That is, that education stems
from motivation and courage, and that
it leads to change. The pledge to pursue
all of those elements has been made by
the 2,000 young people in 26 cities in 17
states directly involved in the Urban
League’s youth development initiative,
NULITES. The acronym stands for the
National Urban League’s Incentive to
Excel and Succeed program. (We esti
mate that the initiative actually reaches
another 100,000 youths through its com
munity service and educational activi
ties.)
That commitment to strive for excel
lence at home, in school and in the
community is exemplified by Kumasi
Adoma and Altovise Rogers, whobelong
to the NULITE chapter of the Houston
(Tex.) Area Urban League.
Kumasi, a senior at Katy (Tex.) Se
nior High School, ranks in the top five
percent of her class and was a first-place
winner of the Barbara Jordan African-
American Essay Contest held by the
University of Texas. Kumasi uses part
lars together can mean new-found eco
nomic clout. “The Revelation Corpora
tion of America is not a call for govern
ment assistance or handouts. Revelation
follows Dr. King’s vision of black Ameri
cans helping themselves through thelead
ership of the church,” said Dr. Lyons.
The five denominations that control
70 percent of the Revelation Corpora
tion represent 20 million African Ameri
cans, nearly halfofblack America. Rev
elation is patterned after the American
Association of Retired Persons, offer
ing African Americans the opportunity
to join its buyers group and receive
discounted products and services. In
addition, 70 percent of all gross rev
enue generated by Revelation will be
depositedinto a National Housing Fund
designed to build affordable homes for
African Americans. The additional rev
enue will go to individual churches for
their own use and for their pastor’s
pension fund.
While Revelation focuses primarily
on the 43,000 congregations belonging
tothe five founding denominations, they
are also reaching out to other African-
American congregations. These congre
gations can also benefit from the dis
count coupons for goods and services,
which will be available to Revelation
of her allowance money to help support
a poor child overseas, and is a volunteer
for the Special Olympics, her local
United Way, and the United Negro Col
lege Fund.
Altovise, an honor-roll senior at Booker
T. Washington High School in Houston,
has consistently won high honorsin state,
regional and local scholastic academic
competitions sponsored by the Univer
sity Interscholastic League, all while hold
ing down a spot on Washington High’s
varsity tennis team and otherschool clubs
and being a leader in the youth council of
the Houston Red Cross.
We’re very proud of the achievements
and aspirations of all our NULITES.
But our focus on youth isn’t limited to
those within the NULITES program.
Far from it. That’s why this Saturday,
Sept. 21, we honored thousands of
young, inner-city people who are “Do
ing the Right Thing” with rallies, pa
rades, festivals, talent shows and award
ceremonies.
All these youth are showing, some
times against great odds, that many of
our young people already are an asset,
not a liability, to America, and that
with the right kind of guidance and
support from adults, more of their peers
can be too.
Our “Doing the Right Thing” event --
the first of what will be an annual cel
ebration -- is meant to applaud their
positive spirit and to inspire them to
reach even higher. And we want to ac
claim them so that all, including their
users and which will generate the fig%
million the corporate leaders expec
raise in the first two years. These %
lars, in turn, will be used to provi
loans to home buyers with a less thap
“A” credit rating. -e
Revelation Corporation is not w;@ll:xl
out controversy, as somein the African-
American community have questio fijfi
the 30-percent ownership of white.{ggj
veloper John Lowery ot Memphis, Teqp.
It was Lowery who came up with e
idea for Revelation, after working with
Bishop William Graves of the Christian
Methodist Episcopal Church in Mem;
phis, where they have built 190 homes
for low-income African Americans. Also
controversial is Revelation’s effort td
reach an even broader consumer popu;
lation by allying with conservative evans
gelist Jerry Falwell, who has said hé
will urge his supporters to buy Revela:
tion-sponsored products. i
Clearly, economic development is th
key for the future survival of the Afri
can-American community. Revelatio
Corporation follows in the tradition ol}
those African-American leaders likj
Vernon Johns, Booker T. Washingto
and Marcus Garvey, who have tried t
harness the economic power of the Afri
can-American community.
less-fortunate peers, can see the behav-{
ior that we as a community value. |
We accept the challenge that we
adults, within and outside the Urban
League, must do a better job of showing
our youth that we’re willing to “walk the
walk” when we say we care about them
-- that we’re working hard in myriad
ways to improve their schools and pro
vide them with after-school programs,
especially during the 3-6 p.m. hours,
that offer an alternative to destructive
behavior by helping them develop
needed skills.
Those are the goals that have led
businesses and community organiza
tions, churches and governors, mayors,
school superintendents and ordinary
citizens tojoin with nearly one hundred
Urban League affiliates in standing up
for our youth -- and America’s future.
This is what President Clinton meant
in writing in his letter of August 23
supportingthe event: “By nurturing the
confidence, hope, pride and self-esteem
of our young people, the [‘Doing the
Right Thing’] celebration is helping to
ensure a brighter future for us all.”
He understands, as do all those par
ticipating that, while each of us bears
the primary responsibility for forging
her or his own destiny, the larger soci
ety also has a role to play: That is to
support theindividual’smotivation and
courage to pursue the education which
makes change possible.
That’s a formula that works for all of
us.