Honor King by continuing his work
Boycotting is a very potent weapon that Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. taught us. He did not teach us to quit and just allow whatever conditions we desired to elude us altogether. He taught us to network, substitute, and improvise, thereby maintaining our integrity and self respect.
If the bus companies demanded you to proceed to the rear; carpool, leave home early and walk. If the restaurant demanded you to order from the back door and eat in your car; make or bring your own lunch. If no hotel would accommodate you; other brothers and sisters opened up their homes because there was no room at the inn for the original people. Since Dr. King’s death the boycott has been used primarily to extort for personal gain.
With the CPS boycott a week ago, contingency plans should have been implemented because education for our children is pertinent. During the boycott, libraries and community centers with computer access needed to be utilized for learning, not just for chat rooms and watching music videos. Decades ago during a similar Chicago school crisis I remember Jesse Jackson, Sr., saying, “Parents, you don’t have money. But you can supply motivation.” It is essential that parents are involved and monitor their child’s studies.
Nzingha Nommo, owner of Afriware Bookstore in Oak Park, has a free math tutoring program at her shop for students on the weekend. Some of us individually or in specific groups are quite unique in our contributions in this way with time, work, money or ideas. However, as a people we fail miserably due to a lack of participation by the majority, for whatever reason-be it a lust for multi-culturalism in order to escape ones own identity or simply having a “plantation psychosis.” The end result is the same: a severe disservice to black children.
In spite of this horrific atrocity black babies are more than holding their own. I have found that the most intelligent black children are those who are home-schooled, or attend a charter school, or a predominately white school where caring teachers, the latest textbooks and software are available. If Mayor Daley refuses to use any city funds for Chicago’s poorest neighborhoods and instead saves it for the Olympics, airport expansion or some other pet project, we should exercise another potent weapon Dr. King achieved for us-the vote.
Henry Oats
Unite behind Barack Obama
On Aug. 28, 1963, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. stood before thousands at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. and challenged Americans to live up to the promises of the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution, which guarantee the unalienable rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness for all citizens, regardless of the color of their skin. Dr. King had faith that “we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood.” On Aug. 28, 2008-exactly 45 years later-Barack Obama accepted his party’s nomination for president of the United States. Obama is a true son of Dr. King. He’s also dreaming that he will not be judged by the color of his skin but by the content of his character. America will be truly free and will achieve even more for all when we are united-all of us together-working for what is best for all Americans. This should be our hope, taking the message of Dr. King and making it our own.
La Shawn K. Ford
State Representative 8th District
Ms. Bling is doing her thing
I am so proud of this international superstar, Ms. Bling, who hails from the West Side of Chicago [Ms. Bling, living her dream, May 22]. She is a phenomenal, talented and determined young woman, and I can’t wait to read about what she accomplishes next.
Vanessa Church
More to this crime
He is an innocent man. He did not do it [OP man arrested in Galewood murder, Sept. 5, web extra].
Tyasia Wills
Submitted at www.AustinWeeklyNews.com
