Newspaper Page Text
2A
March 3, 2005
National World
Anti-Tobacco ‘Truth’ campaign
Is threatened by dwindling funds
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WASHINGTON
(NNPA) - It’s hard to for
get those hard-hitting anu
tobacco television spots
produced by young people
as part of their truth® cam
paign. One such commer
cial shows a group of kids
marching down a crowded
New York City street carry
ing a flag pole. The group
stops in front of a tobacco
company with the Ameri
can flag flying at half mast.
“After a tragedy, America
flies flags at half mast,
which is why we're here in
tront of this tobacco com
pany,” the kid says on a
bullhorn, while people on
the street stop to watch.
“It’s out of respect for the
1,200 people killed by their
products everyday.”
He continues. “So, we
have a question for the tolks
in this tobacco company.
Shouldnt you lower your
flag? I mean, they were your
loyal customers.”
Seven years ago, a land
mark settlement required
tobacco companies to fund
efforts that would reduce
smoking among youth and
teens and educate them on
the hazards of tobacco. The
Devin Brown's mother files claim against L.A.
By GENE JOHNSON JR.
Sgccial to the NNPA
LOS ANGELES (NNPA)
~ The mother of 13-year
old Devin Brown, who was
shot and killed by an LAPD
officer recently, has filed a
claim against the city seek
ing unspecified damages
and more police reforms,
her attorney announced.
Brown was shot at around 4
a.m. Feb. 6 near the corner
of 83rd Street and Western
Avenue. Police said the boy
was behind the wheel of a
stolen 1992 Toyota Camry
and was backing the car
into a police cruiser when
Officer Steven Garcia
firedlo shots at the vehicle.
At a press conference held
at Bethel AM.E. Church,
where Brown'’s funeral was
held a week earlier, an attor
ney representing the family
said that Brown posed no
threat to officers and there
fore should not have been
killed.
However, because of the
negligence on behalf of the
officers involved, and the
inadequate training they
received by the LAPD,
Brown’s life was cut short,
causing Evelyn Davis,
Brown’s mother, and the
rest of her family to suffer
lifelong injuries “to their
minds and bodies” from
“being deprived of the love,
comfort and society of a son
... and close family mem
ber, in addition to severe
emotional distress and civil
rights violations,” the claim
final payment was made in
2003 by tobacco companies
Phillip Morris (Altria),
Brown and Williamson,
R.J. Reynolds and Lorillard.
Now, the 5-year-old truth®
anti-smoking youth cam
paign might come to an
end.
“Because of the terms of
the agreement, we can't
lobby ourselves,” explains
Cheryl Healton, president
of the American Legacy
Foundation, the group
responsible for the truth®
campaign. “We are already
cutting programs lett and
right and making annual
reductions to the truth®
campaign. Because tobacco
companies spend sl2 mil
lion a year in advertising, |
think this has the potenual
to diminish our effect.”
In 1998, a Master Settle
ment Agreement (MSA)
was reached between attor
ney generals in 46 states,
five U.S. territories and the
District of Columbia. The
group filed suits against the
tobacco industry secking
compensation for the mil
lions of dollars it had lost
on tobacco-related illnesses.
The Washington-based
American Legacy Founda
tton was established in
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Photo by Myung J. Chun/LA Times)
Students at Audubon Middie School in Los Angeles, where Devin
was an eighth-grader, remember their classmate with a memo
rial T-shirt worn by a friend.
states.
Davis is being represented
by the firm of famed civil
rights attorney Johnnie L.
Cochran. Attorney Brian
Dunn will serve as lead
counsel.
When contacted,
spokesman with the city
attorney’s office said the city
had not yet received the
claim. They have 45 days to
respond. If the city chooses
not to issue an answer
before the deadline, the
matter will be rejected and
Brown’s family can then
move forward with a law
suit, a spokesman with the
city attorney said.
“This is the aftermath of
one of the worst cases of
police abuse that our city
has ever seen,” Dunn said.
“We are dealing with a cul
ture of violence within law
enforcement which has
struck at an unprecedented
level. This particular case
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1999 under the MSA. The
group developed national
programs, such as truth®
campaign, that delivers dis
turbing facts about tobacco
and industry’s marketing
practices.
In an unprecedented
show of support, every for
fher UES Secretary of
Health and Human Ser
vices (and its forerunner
agency, the Department of
Health, Education and
Weltare), every former U.S.
Surgeon General and every
former Director of the Cen
ters for Disease Control and
Prevention have expressed
has struck at the very heart
of this community by tak
ing the life of a child, all
because of the outdated
policies of the LAPD and
the negligent tactics of the
officers in question. We are
here today with the simple
reason that the life of Devin
Brown is going to stand for
the proposition that this
must never happen again. |
stand here with the family
of Devin Brown to state
that this young man did not
die in vain.”
Brown’s mother, who
fought to hold back tears,
refused to comment during
the press conference, where
she was supported by fami
ly, clergy and community
activists who all claimed a
small victory several weeks
ago when the Police Com
mission approved a change
in LAPD policy regarding
shooting into moving vehi
cles.
AUGUSTA FOCUS
support for the truth®
campaign and the continu
ing need to reduce youth
smoking.
“Ending smoking by
American children and
teens is crucial to the health
of our nation,” Dr. Louis
Sullivan, president emeritus
of the Morehouse School of
Medicine and Secretary of
Health and Human Ser
vices under President
George H.W. Bush, says in
a statement. “Raising the
price of cigarettes has not
been enough. Warning ven
dors not o sell cigarettes to
See Truth, page 11A
That policy change was
being considered for nearly
a year before Brown’s death
and was approved recently
because of the pressure
applied by the Black com
munity. Dunn said if LAPD
Chiet William Bratton
would have acted sooner,
Brown's death may have
been avoided.
Attorneys for the Brown
family expect to file a law
suit by April because they
do not feel the city will be
willing to offer the family
the kind of justice they are
secking.
“This is npot about
money,” Dunn said. What
the family wants are
reforms that have a dramat
ic affect, Dunn said, much
like those enacted in the
Riverside Police Depart
ment after the officer
involved shooting death of
Taisha Miller. Dunn repre
sented Mlller’s family in
that case.
Melanie Lomax, a former
police commissioner and
seasoned civil rights attor
ney, said the Brown family
definitely has a case that
could cost the city millions
even if it never goes to trial.
“This is a perfect wrongful
death case because of the
number of shots fired into
the car, the lack of visibility
on part of the officers, the
fact that the child was not
armed, and the ability of
the officers to move away
from harm,” she said. “You
See Brown, page 12A
Military recruiters face resistance
By E. WEIL-GREENBERG
Special to the NNPA
NEW YORK (NNPA) -
The military spends about
$3 billion each year to con
vince young people that
enlistment will give them
college money, job training
and an alternative to work
ing at McDonald’s. In the
wake of the growing con
flict in Iraq, which has
resulted in more than a
thousand U.S. casualties,
the military has become
more aggressive in scouting
out high school students
willing and able to serve.
In many New York City
public schools that are pre
dominantly black and Lati
no, military recruiters are a
heavy presence, promising
young people financial
security and a fulfilling
career. Recruiters roam the
halls, set up tables and even
pull students out of class.
But in recent months, a
group of teenagers and anti
war veterans have been can
vassing the neighborhoods
where the recruiters fre
quent, hoping to convince
students to consider other
options.
“We've heard everything
up to and including having
a desk in the guidance
counselor’s office,” said
Amy Wagner of Youth
Activists-Youth Allies
(YaYas), a group that focus
es on counter-recruitment.
Oral histories, photographs on civil
rights to go to Library of Congress
By CARL HARTMAN
Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) -
Franklin E. McCain wont ever
forget the “litde old white lac?'
who finished her coffee 45
fmrs ago at a “whites only”
unch counter in Greensboro,
North Carolina, while he and
three other black students sat
stubbornly trying to integrate
it.
“She strode toward me and |
said to myself, ‘Oh my, some
one to spit in my face or slap
my face, ™ McCain recalled.
‘Butshe ... puts her hands on
our shoulders. She said, ‘Boys,
I'm so proud of you. I only
regret that you didn't do this 10
ago, %l'hat was the bi%:‘t
m. morally, that I got that
whale din dnd ey the
biggest boost for me during the
entire movemnent.
McCains story is among
more than 4,000 oral histories
ollected during a 70-day bus
trip across the ??nitcd States last
sumlmcr, called the Vo;ccs of
Civil Rights project. It was
o?muui' by A}l)\}&a the larFmt
vocacy group for older
Americans, the . Leadership
Conference on Civil Rights
and the Library of Congress.
The collection deals mainly
with the avil rights of blacks,
but also touches on those of
other minorities, including
a.}-'l;ls'd;}a.nics, A{Anr;:‘nmn Indians
ericans.
A m has gone into an
exhibition that WI.EO open to the
public Thursday moming in
the Great Hall of the Library of
Congress. It indudes 20 oral
histories and 17 of the 7,000
photos from the tour. Later in
the day the collection will be
il ee
it m
Naditeul, Uiben Lakoe s
other organizations concerned
with av:] il rights.
Experiences such as McCain's
bring personal testimony to
milestones of the decades-long
“When the kid comes in to
talk to the counselor about
college, before the kid can
get there, they've got some
body in their face saying,
“You want to go to college?
How are you going to pay
for college?”™
New York City organizers
are educating people about:
alternatives to enlisting and’
the realities of military life.
Vietnam veterans and anti-*
war activists Jim Murphy
and Dayl Wise visit high’
schools, where they recount
for the students stories.
about their time in the serv
ice. '
In one class of juniors at
West Side High School,,
Murphy told them that.
before the service, he spent:
time making money play-'
ing seven-card stud. Once’
he left community college,
he was drafted. ‘
"I wasn't smart enough to
have fear about it,” Murphy -
told the class. “I didn’t have’
aclue.”
Wise, who was in the
infantry, didn't want to go.
to war when he was drafted.-
His father offered to help
send him to Canada.
“I took the easy way out
by reporting for duty,” he
said. “It takes a braver per
son. I let it happen to me? I
didnt have a plan. I gave up
control.” -
He warned the students:"
Sce Recrulters, page 11A
ush for black equality, amo
(511;"1 the lzi?nchpdrv]cze Co:rtg |
Silon o e d@c'
ton of übil]cg schools; the
E\dmark Eivil Rights Act of
1964, which banned racal dis
cnmination in businesses serv
ing the public and in hiring;
and its successor, the Voting
Riths Act of 1965.
n Brown v. Board of Educa
;jon. %1:&5 omfx: mmhxd( ldovwn the
is for school segrega
tfg?]l in more dclém 20 s:a]tcséghxl
ing “separate educatio -
t?g are inhcmnfl unequal.”
Many Southern school districts
held Lack for years, resulting in
confrontations betwccnuv’:iitc
parents and authorities enforc
ing the order and tension
between the federal govern
ment and resisting state and’
local officials. .
Nathaniel Briggs Jr., of Tea
neck, New Jersey, was involved
in one of the lawsuits consoli-/
dated in the Brown case. His
father, Nathaniel Briggs, and
his mother, Octavia, were,
natives of Summerton, South
Carolina, where they attended
g <
. ironic thing is that m
family only lived 300 yanz(,
from the school itself,” Briggs
Jr. said. “My father believed:
those who chd out in the
country needed to have access
to the school just like his kids.
did. So here's a man that could.
not afford to lose anything but
risked everything for this. :
“In retaliation for filing the
lawsuit whites denied him and
my mother credit. They fired,
him. And he tried to farm inde
pendently and took his cotton
to the market. They refused to
give him fair market value and,
in a couple of cases, they
refused to gin his cotton.” .
The exhibit will be on view
d’flfi!::d! March 26. Admission
is free.