Indianapolis Recorder, Indianapolis, Marion County, 1 January 1994 — Page 2

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THE INDIANAPOLIS RECORDER

SATURDAY, JANUARY 1,1

New year wishes and age old hopes 1994 will mark the beginning of the countdown to the end of our first century of service. The Indianapolis Recorder will mark its one hundredth year in 1995. As we begin 1994, we hope to see the strength of the African-American press grow and we hope that we can livj by the credo that has guided the Black press for over a hundred years.... “The Black Press believes that America can best lead the world away from racial and national antagonisms when it accords to every person, regardless of race, color or creed, full human and legal rights. Hating no person, fearing no person, the Black Press strives to help every person in the firm belief that all are hurt as long as anyone is held back.” These are strong words that have meaning and promise for everyone as we look across the world. Parts of Europe, Africa, Asia, South America and the Caribbean are in turmoil as racial, religious political and ethnic differences give rise to war and killing. The Holy Land has seen its share of unholy acts as centuries of hatred turns into daily acts of retribution despite the recent peace accord. Home in Indiana we’ve witnessed hate crimes and fighting. We’ve seen White Sheets and Black Panthers engage in what has been so far a war of words with more confrontation promised in 1994. We’ve seen a quiet and proud woman forced to flee a neighborhood that was flooded with hate. We’ve seen a rash of killings in small towns that used to feel safe in their sameness. But yet, we still face the coming year with hope. It must have been that same hope that George P. Stewart possessed in 1895 when he started to report and write about his community. And from his hope has emerged this current generation of journalists who report on their community with love and passion and with the hope that their work can somehow in some small way make things better. In March of 1993, The Recorder sent our reporters into the white community to see what whites thought of race relations. In January we were first to report that Select Schools would be implemented because it did not violate federal desegregation orders. We’ve maintained a commitment to provide support for high school sports and sponsor a major local high school basketball all-star game, the city vs. county Super-Shoot Out every April. Our Journalism and Writing Seminars, (JAWS), program has been cited as one of the most creative youth programs in the community, with some graduates of the program receiving full scholarships to Howard University, Indiana University, DePauw University, Bradley University and elsewhere. In fact it was our JAWS students who first developed the idea of studying race relations in Indianapolis in October of 1992 with the headline “Can we All Get Along,’’ with this theme being picked up by the Indianapolis Star and WRTV, Channel 6 for further development several months later. Our JAWS students are one of the reasons we approach the new year with hope. 1993 saw us continue with the Hoosier Legends series which focuses on the accomplishments of local people who have given much to this community. We have also continued to monitor local politics and local public figures. We have done this without mounting personal attacks on people but rather, we’ve chosen to report on their actions and the way that they do their various jobs. We continue to try to live up to the credo of the Black press — hate no one, fear no one. So we approach 1994 with age old hopes for peace and community and justice. We hope that our community and our country can become a just and peaceful place. We hope that the world can find that same peace and that same justice in 1994. The odds may be against us, but we won’t give up on our community our country and our world. HAPPY NEW YEAR!I! Charles M. Blair Vice-President and General Manager The Indianapolis Recorder Newspaper

INDIANAPOLIS RECORDER DIRECTORY

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Clinton’s foreign policy: Effective,family planning

It is a tiny amount of money when you think of the hundreds of billions the United States spends each year. But the $13.2 million grant that the Agency for International Development (AID) announced recently to the International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF) sends a very large message. Under pressure from abortion foes, the Reagan administration in 1984 banned federal aid to family planning agencies that so much as mentioned the “A” word — abortion. The ban was continued by President Bush. So the IPPF, the United Nations Fund for Population Activities (UNFPA) and other groups were cut off from U.S. funds, depriving millions of Third World couples of adequate family planning services. As part of its new approach to foreign policy, the Qinton administration is bolstering

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support for family-planning around the world. The grant to IPPF is the first installment of a five-year, $75 million

commitment.

This change is vital on two vastly different levels — the future of our planet and the wellbeing of millions of individuals. There are presently some 5.5 billion people in the world. A decline in fertility rates led to a slowdown in growth during the 1970s and 1980s, but the numbers are starting to soar again, as children bom when fertility rates were high are now

having babies themselves. A report issued last year by the U.S. Academy of Sciences and the Royal Society of London warned: “If current predictions of population growth prove accurate and patterns of human activity on the planet remain unchanged, science and technology may not be able to prevent either irreversible degradation of the environment or continued poverty for much of the world.” The Washington-based Worldwatch Institute reports that none of the three main foodproducing sectors — farms, livestock ranches and oceanic fisheries — is still keeping pace with the growth in human

numbers.

According to the U.N.’s Food and Agriculture Organization, 786 million people in the developing world are chronically undernourished. Another U.N. agency has warned that

international migration “could become the human crisis of our

age.”

That is why the Clinton administration has made population control — along with education, health care, economic growth, democracy — keys to its foreign policy goal of “sustainable development” in the Third World. Effective family planning, Atwood explains, will help make developing countries more stable. And that, in turn, will help developed nations like the United States. American troops became mired in the Somalia mess after going there originally to fight starvation. Both Europe and the United States are now tom by angry backlashes against immigration. “If we aren’t able to find and promote ways of curbing population growth, we are going to fail in all of our foreign policy initiatives,” cautions Atwood.

A name and a leader to be proud of

We all know what a difference the right name can make. It adds clarity and definition to our identity while sending the world a message about our history and purpose. And, we know how important it is to have the right leader, one whose talent and vision help us reach our goals and fulfil our potential. I want to tell you about a small California college that has replaced a number with a name and found a leader who keeps them in tune with their possibilities. Third College, one of nine undergraduate colleges at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD), recently ended a 23-year search for a name to match its ideals. I was honored to be present when it was officially renamed Thurgood Marshall College. “We wanted a name that would do right by our people — by all of our people,” says Cecil Lytle, provost. “Having the name 'Thurgood Marshall College’ is an inspiration to us all. It implies a first-rate

dedication to academics and

societal issues.”

Indeed, the new name perfectly symbolizes the college’s commitment to diversity, ethnic pride and

social justice.

Thurgood Marshall

College has more than 3,100 students from many cultural and ethnic backgrounds. The college’s philosophy is guided by the belief that each student’s education must include an awareness and understanding of

their role in society.

Scholarship and social responsibility go

hand-in-hand.

As part of the college’s public service option, students can be trained for and placed in tutoring and mentoring programs at nearby elementary schools. It feels wonderful to know that this great college has after so many years, found a name that fits so well.

No one in America has done more to help us live up to our ideals

than Thurgood

Marshall. I hope this inspires every student and faculty member to

cause change like

Justice Marshall did and not just to witness it. To those who would question the choice of this particular name, Provost Lytle reminds us that, “Renaming Third College Thurgood Marshall College is not a point of departure, but a point of return. It is but a continuation of the academic excellence to which our founders were committed.” One of Thurgood Marshall College’s greatest assets is Provost Lytle, whose many talents remind us what wonderful things can happen when potential is

fulfilled.

Not only does he provide the college with strong, dynamic leadership, but he is a world-class pianist as well. He chaired the UCSD Music Department for three years, received the Excellence in Teaching award of the college’s Alumni and Friends Association, and has won international praise from music critics and fellow musicians. Along with his concert and recording career, he has taught courses in classical music and Black music history. He records on several labels, performs on television and radio and plays live jazz. Lytle also originated the Bosendorfer concert series in San Diego and last summer performed at the prestigious Darmstadt New Music Festival in West Germany. Not only is Provost Lytle committed to diversity, he lives it. I look at him and think of the many children whose talent may go undiscovered or undernourished because of poverty, poor health, inadequate education, or family breakdown. And, I am reminded how important it is for us all to commit ourselves to finding and nurturing the scholars, artists and leaders among our children. This is what I believe Justice Marshall would want us to do in remembrance of his work. And, this is what Cecil Lytle inspires us to reach for today. Marian Wright Edelman is president of the Children’s Defense Fund, a national voice for children and a leader of the Black Community Crusade for Children. Call 1-800-ASK-BCC to join the Crusade to Leave No Child Behind.

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Don’t forget the Haitians

With charges of yet another President Bill Qinton sex escapade hitting the headlines, along with suspicions of his and his wife’s criminal misconduct in a SAL deal, even Michael Jackson’s problems took second place in the media. But Clinton’s many broken promises, don’t forget, include a mighty promise to the Haitians. As you know, Qinton’s own promise to change George Bush’s immigration policy and treat the Haitians the same way we treat the rest of the world has

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Tony Brown's Comments •y TOMYIKOWN

been denounced by Qinton himself. His promise to reinstate Rev. Jean-Bemard Aristede now appears to be another casualty of Qinton’s soeiopathic personality.

And conditions for the people of Haiti have deteriorated even further while waiting for the white saviour from the USA. Our foreign policy towards Haiti boils down to keeping them out of the US while imposing sanctions on Haiti that makes living more of a nightmare for most of its people. “What are you doing to our country?” A Haitian asked a New York Times reporter. “Either do what is needed to bring our President back, or have the honesty to say that you have

failed, and leave us alone.” A sack of rice costs $25, the story said, and if a Haitian is lucky enough to have a job, it pays about $3 a day. Clinton’s solution is as bad as the problem. Clinton has a mess of his own making on his hands, unfortunately the Haitian people are paying for it. Tony Brown’s Journal TV series can be seen at 1 p.m. Sundays on WFYI-TV 20, your local Public Broadcasting Station.