Newspaper Page Text
Help Line
volunteers
on the line
By Alicia Gardner
At 4 a.m. the phone rings.
A woman has just been brutally
beaten by her husband. A Help
Line volunteer tries to calm her
and to collect the needed infor
mation—name, address—and asks
the key questions: “Are you
presently in danger of being har
med again?” “Do you need an
ambulance?”
At 4:39 a.m the phone rings
again. The phone will ring 40 or
more times in the next 24 hours.
The person answering the phone
is one of 22 Help Line volunteers.
He or she will listen to your
problem, suggest options for
solving it, and most important,
provide emotional support.
These volunteers of all ages,
sexes, and races give their time
without pay or even public
gratitude, since their identities
must reamin anonymous.
“Not even the caller knows to
whom he or she is telling his or her
problem,” says Jean Gardner,
Crisis Intervention Coordinator.
“In return, anything told a
volunteer is kept confidential,”
comments Gardner, “only the
volunteer and the appropriate
authorities know the name and the
problem of the caller.”
The problems come in many
forms and at all hours. During
the day the Help Line is answered
by a staff member at the Help Line
office located at the United Way.
Gardner says most of the calls
received during the day are from
people asking for financial
assistance, for clothing and food,
or for information about who to
contact for certain services.
During the evening and late
night hours she says most of the
calls concern domestic violence,
rape, drug and alcohol abuse, or
suicide.
This is when the Help Line
becomes the responsibility of as
many as three or more volunteers a
night.
Using a telephone diverter
system, the Help Line is tran
sferred to ring at the home of a
volunteer.
“The Help Line volunteers are
trained to handle a variety of cir
cumstances”, says Gardner,
“ranging from domestic violence
and rape to simplfy the need for
someone to talk to somebody.”
Each volunteer is required to at
tend an intensive six-week
workshop. Gardner says these
workshops are held several times a
year and consist of training in the
areas of personal growth, com
munity resources, interviewing
techniques, and social problems.
Even after training, not all volun
teers immediately answer the
phone. Beginners often answer the
phone under the guidance of a
seasoned volunteer.
Gardner says just knowing the
other volunteer is there to help if
necessary, often gives the new
volunteer confidence that he or she
can handle the problems of others. ,
When the volunteers are finally
on their own, they rely heavily on
the Help Line Resource Booklet.
This booklet contians information
on the various resources and ser
vices available in the Augusta area
and helps the volunteer refer each
client to the appropriate agency.
And volunteers do just that —24
hours a day. If you need help or
want more information call 724-
HELP.
Black History
contest held at
I. C. A.
In celebration of Black History
Month, the Immaculate Concep
tion Academy Class of 1969 spon
sored an essay contest entitled
“What Black History Means To
Me.” The contest was open to 6th,
7th and Bth grade students of the
school. Essays were judged on
originality, creativity, clarity,
grammar, and punctuation. This
activity culminated with an assem
bly program which was held at the
school on March 1.
The first place winner was
Tyrone G. Davis, son of Mr. &
Mrs. Lewis Davis. Tyrone is in the
7th grade and is the winner of a
SSO Savings Bond. Second place
winner was Ernita J. Terry,
daughter of Mr. & Mrs. Ernest
Terry. Ernita is in the Bth grade
and is the winner of a sls gift cer
tificate from the Pyramid Music &
More Shop.
•*
' V.
- I '
u mJ/
Charles Derrick Larke
Charles Derrick Larke wins contest
The Trustee and Steward Boards
of Mt. Zion A.M.E. Zion Church
held their annual Baby and Tots
Contest on March 3. We
congratulate the winners, their
Z" JL <
~Tr i 7
WILLIE TYLER and Lester
Ventriloquist Tyler performs here
By Nita Wiggins
Like an old car or a good
marriage, if it works, don’t tamper
with it. Ventriloquist Willie Tyler
agrees.
He was in Augusta last week
where he did a 45-minute show at
the Laffing Stock Comedy Club.
He and his partner, Lester
Woodcock, have maintained a
successful act for more than 20
years.
Tyler, a lyricist adn comedic
writer, plans to try recordingand
album —with Lester, of course.
His musical interest subsuded
slightly as his recognition for ven
triloquism took off. However,
row he’s ready to try it.
“Hopefully, Lester and 1 will
become recording artists. I have to
know on Lester.” More seriously,
Black youth lack appreciation for heritage
COLUMBUS,OHIO—An ef
fort to increase opportunities for
Black youth may have backfired
and cost young Blacks an ap
preciation of their cultural
heritage.
It’s gone so far that today’s
Black college students don’t fully
understand the need for affir
mative action programs and can’t
recognize the importance of the
civil rights movement of the 19605.
A study by a reseracher at Ohio
State University suggests that
Black college students have been
sheltered from the societal
struggles that allowed their access
to higher education and industry.
And the culprits, it seems, are
both public education and the
students’ own parents, the resear
cher says.
“Most of these students identify
themselves as being in the middle
class, whether they really are or
not,” explains K. Sue Jewell, as
assistant professor and sociologist
in the Department of Black Studies
at Ohio State.
For that reason, they can’t iden
tify with the majority of Blacks in
this country or with the citizens of
African nations. That’s why there
has been little attention paid by
Black college students to the apar
thei< struggles in South Africa,
Jewell suggests. She interviewed
a
Christian V. Rhaney
parents and sponsors.
The first place winner was
Charles Derrick Larke sponsored
by Henry H.Brighan. Second place
Tyler said, “If I cut an album,
Lester will be there because he has
always been there.”
Tyler’s career blossomed after
his national television debut on
“The Merv Griffin Show.” A
regular spon on “Laugh In”
followed.
In 1981 Tyler again settled into a
television program—a Saturday
morning series based on bhildren’s
books and short stories.
Although Tyler and Lester have
worked together since the early
19605, Lester was not Tyler’s first
dummy. As a young boy in
Detroit, he first used a doll discar
ded by one of his sisters.
Today, though Tyler says he will
not incorporate any other charac
ters into the act because he exerts
so much energy into developing
Lester.
Lester is a look-alike of Jerry
122 students, 18 to 21 years old, at
a four-year and a two-year college
about their knowledge of racial
issues and matters of Black culture
and heritage.
She asked if they had ever ex
perienced racial discrimination
during their schooling. More than
60 percent said that they had not.
Almost half of the students did not
know their parents had been vic
tims of discrimination.
She asked them to identify a list
of names of civil rights leaders.
While more than half of them
could identify Jesse Jackson, Mar
tin Luther King and Malcolm X, a
similar number of the students
could not recognize the names of
Booker T. Washington, Frederick
Douglass, or Angela Davis.
More than 70 percent of the
students surveyed said they had
never had a Black history course.
More than half of the students
had not heard of affirmative ac
tion legislation of “Jim Crow”
laws. The latter required the
separation of the races in
restaurants, schools and other
public places.
“How can they (Black students)
assess whether affirmative action is
“Black parents, for the most
part, are to blame,” Jewell says,
for Black college student being
unable to relate to taese issues.
llEaij
Walter Jones 111
winner was Christian Victoria
Rhaney sponsored by Mamie G.<
Holliday. Third place winner was
Walter Jones 111 sponsored by
David Jones.
Mahoney (Paul Winchell’s dum
my). Although a brother suggested
the name, Tyler says he designed
Lester’s look.
“I got him out of a mail order
catalog. I painted him brown, ad
ded hair, and put glasses on him.
The look was my idea.”
The present Lester is actually the
same on Tyler received in 1965;
therefore, Tyler constantly updates
the appearance of his partner.
Lester wore a large afro int he
sixties, but now he sports a trim,
neat hair style. And he wears the
atest fashions.
“It’s really strange when Lester
and I go shoppin. I buy his clothers
in the little boys’ department and
the people stare at me. Even the
sales clerks look at me when I’m
trying clothes on Lester. I have to
elave the head at home because it
gets in the way.”
When most of Black education
took place in segregated schools,
students were sure to be taught
much about their heritage. But the
integration movement apparently
changed that by incorporating
Black students into an educational
system that fails to emphasize the
roles Blacks have played in the
building of the country.
“We actually believed that we
could turn our children over to
public education, and teachers
would make sure that our children
are culturally aware,” suggests
Jewell. “It has not happened.
“I know of few racial or ethnic
groups that permit their children to
be completely educated and
socialized by another group of
people. Instead, they devise means
to insure cultural identity and
pride.”
She blames Black parents for
not telling their children of the
sometimes painful struggles that
eventually led to the affirmative
action programs and student loans
and grants that aided many Black
college students.
“They (the parents) have
withheld the kind of experiences
they had while growing up,
thinking that this information may
prevent their children from moving
into mainstream America,” she
says.
The Augusta News-Review March 9,1985
GROWING IN GRACE
The ‘Lifeline’
By Cynthis Butler Omololu
The girl sat quietly or rather
there was a sense of quietness
about her. No. There was a quiet
pressence ar- " '
ound her. But
when Hooked
into her eves, I
saw a tur- '■£?/
bylence, ten
seness grop- -
ping for
Tell me 4W
about your
life,” I asked.
“Tell me about your life,” I
asked.
The question seemed to startle
her. Her eyes darted around the
room as if she were looking for a
corner to hide in. 1 did not have the
feeling that she wanted to leave the
room, but rather that she wanted
to hide inside the room. This took
at least three minutes. I waited. A
bit apprehehsive, 1 needed to
satisfy my urges to comfort her, to
assure her. But I knew that she
really had to do that for herself or
we’d spend the entire session in the
process of comforting and nur
turing.
The young girl of about sixteen
years old had to deal with all the
problems that she brouhgt into the
office.
My role was to be there for her.
To trust that she had the strength
to talk about those problems and
the courage to find a solution.
Just as she had walked into
the office alone, at least physically,
she would walk out alone.
Though tempting, 1 had to deal
with my needs to mother her and
give advice. My greatest strength
would be in showing and demon
strating verbally my interest in and
belief in the reasons for her
presence in my office.
After a start, a hearty breath in
and out , she answered, “1 don’t
really know when my problems
started. Most people would
probably say at birth. They would
probably be correct, because that
is when I was released.... freed
from my mothers womb. Freedom
is quite interesting, isn’t it. I was
slapped on the butt and made to
cry for it. I supposed if I had not
cried, the doctor would not believe
me to be free. He would have slap
ped me again. Fortunatelv. 1 was
crying, when I swam out of the
womb, but he slapped me anywy.
It was the procedure.
This tension probably started in
the womb and has just kept right
on. There have been brief momen
ts of non tension, but they were
filled with sadness and anticipation
of the tension to come. So the
good moments came, I supposed,
so that I would have the energy to
deal with the stress of the bad
moments.
All I know and feel is that my
By doing so, the parents
sheltered their children, not only
from the reality of racial
discrimination but from ways to
successfully cope with it.
“When Black students graduate
from college, they expect to get a
job and be promoted based on
their qualifications alone,” she
says. “When this doesn’t occur,
they blame themselves,” never
hinking that discrimination might
play a role.
Many Black people believe “that
all they have to do is to play by the
rules and they’ll be treated fairly,”
she says, adding that this just isn’t
working?if they do’t know what it
means?” Jewell says.
“What is being called a period
of retrenchment in the 1980 s is
really one of reassessment, but
young Blacks cannot evaluate the
effectiveness of current social
policies and programs without
vital information about their
past,” she says.
What this means is that the
people who are the most active in
Black social issues today are the
same activists of the 1960 s and
they don’t have the following of
young Blacks they once had and
that they need to be effective.
parents argued and fought all the
time. At the time, I did not know
that, but I felt that. I felt there was
an explosiveness in the air. My ilfe
involved simply waiting for the ex
plosion. It always came. 1 felt
frightened around both parents.
Though there was relief when only
one parent was around, there were
feelings of fright. There was a
fearfullness that ran up and down
my body biting me. 1 didn’t know
the bites. 1 felt the bites.
Os course, I can’t really give you
specific details, because I was so
young. I was between 0-3 years
old. But I can try to describe the
feelings of dread. At one time, I
though the feelings of dread were
similar to death. So I explained
that I felt dead. But, of course,
now that I embrace Christianity, I
don’t see death as a dread state but
rather, I can admit that my life was
dreadful
Even now at the age of sixteen
years, I feel a sense of violence
when I see a man and a woman
together. I feel that it will be a mat
ter of time before the explosion oc
curs. Now, I can move away from
them. Now, I know to run and hide.
But as a child I believed myself to
be helpless and I was. So I had to
remain within the situation. As 1
grew older, around two years old
maybe, I would find a place to hide
within the space of the violence.
For instance, under a bed. Even
worse, 1 think living in a state of
dread is being abandoned. It’s dif
ficult to express a state worse than
that.
Now during everything I am ex
pressing about me and my
problems, 1 had a brother who was
living through the same experien
ce. I don’t know what his inter
pretation of the situation was but I
do know that he was the only per
son that 1 clung to. He was the
only person in the world that 1
believed to be mine. I suppose that
in that state of dread, he was
the first lifeline. I felt love from
him. 1 trusted him. He was my
mother. He was my father. He was
four years old.
There was some activity going
on in the house. Suitcases were
being filled to the brim. My paren
ts were standing on top of
them,stomping them in their effor
ts to be finished with them.
There was an air of horror in the
house. The air had living qualities.
I swear to you, sometimes, I could
not walk into a room. The air was
too heavy, it would push me back.
One morning my brother and I
were dressed up and a note was
pinned to each of our coats. We
were carried to the train station by
momma. She asked the Black por
ter to take care of us from Califor
nia to Arkansas. My brother was
four. 1 was three. We were on the
train alone.
the case. And the frustration the
truth may bring could play a role
in the dramatic increase in mental
illness and suicide among Blacks
over the last 20 years.
Is there a remedy?
Jewell says the Black community
must accept more of the respon
sibility.
Parents must explain more to
their children about their heritage
and once again make sure schools
and institutions are fulfilling their
obligation to teach courses on
Black culture.
It is the job of each generation
of Blacks to transmit to each suc
cessive generation important in
formation about their history, she
said.
“We must look at this as a relay
race. Each generation hands the
baton to the next generation to
carry on the civil rights movement.
If we were to hand the baton to
this current generation of Black
college students, would they know
why they should run and in which
direction they should go?”
Her study, “Will the Real Black,
Afro-American, Mixed, Colored,
Negro Please Stand Up: Impact of
the Black Social Movement, 20
years Later,” will be published in
the June edition of the Journal of
Black Studies.
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