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Volume 79 – Number 15
A stronger Wayne County heads into 2016
WHAT’S INSIDE ‘Boxes of Love’ distributed by UAW-Ford (Page B-1) Thanks to UAW-Ford and many volunteers, more than 25,000 “Boxes of Love” were distributed to those in need. Each box included a turkey, stuffing, macaroni and cheese, cranberry sauce, corn bread mix, canned vegetables, cake mix and frosting.
But some big challenges remain
By Keith A. Owens SENIOR EDITOR
In a way, it’s admirable that Wayne County Executive Warren Evans even took the job. Because several years ago, while most of the breath-holding attention was focused on all of Detroit’s bankruptcy woes, Wayne County wasn’t doing so hot either. The deficit was crippling, and the talk of corruption, bloated salaries and sweetheart contracts was severely tarnishing the county’s image. But worse than merely image, the concern was what was it going to take to set the county right-side-up again, and was anyone willing to face up to what it would take.
The black press: The need is still strong (Page B-4) Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis maintains that the black press is of great importance, always has been and will continue to be. “The black press of America not only has a definite future,” he writes, “it has a powerful strategic place in the world as long as millions of African Americans continue to push forward for equality and empowerment.”
Comcast announces upgrades (Page C-1) Comcast has announced a series of changes that will not only benefit its subscribers, but the community as well.
Debt collectors target black community (Page C-3) Charlene Crowell is blunt in describing how abusive debt collection agencies take aim at African American communities, and “make money and lots of it” in the process. Something must be done.
Family connections in entertainment (Page D-1) Is it genetic, a matter of one’s environment, or a combination thereof? Many sons and daughters have followed their famous parents into show business, influenced but still walking down the road of success on their own terms.
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December 23-29, 2015
The holidays
and the meaning of love By Keith A. Owens SENIOR EDITOR
It’s not about the shopping, it’s not about the presents, and it’s not just about Christmas. It’s about the spirit of the season. To most of us, the holidays are always a special time, and that’s a good thing. There’s nothing better than spending quality time with family and those whom you love, and letting them know just how much they mean to you. Although, hopefully, this isn’t the only time of the year when you make that effort. In a word, the spirit of the season is about love. That’s a rather small word expressing a concept so large that for most of us who truly ponder its meaning, it can seem nearly impossible to render a satisfactory description without sounding like a Hallmark card. But it can be argued that Dr. Martin Luther King, more than just about anyone else in modern times, understood the true power, significance, and relevance of love throughout the boundaries of time and space as it relates to the human condition. King understood that true love can be as simple as a peck on the cheek, or it can be more powerful and devastating than an unleashed atomic weapon. He understood the unbreakable connection between love and justice. Love is not merely a sappy sentiment.
Love is a transformative force that no manmade creation will ever be capable of harnessing. King, one of our nation’s greatest warriors for civil rights as well as human rights, understood this phenomenon as few others did. And so, in this holiday season, as we share what we believe to be the meaning of love with others, perhaps this is the right time to reflect on the deeper meaning of the word as expressed by Dr. Martin Luther King. From “Paul’s Letter to American Christians” sermon, delivered at Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama, on November 4, 1956. “I understand that you have an economic system in America known as capitalism. Through this economic system you have been able to do wonders. You have become the richest nation in the world, and you have built up the greatest system of production that history has ever known. All of this is marvelous, but Americans, there is the danger that you will misuse your capitalism. I still contend that money can be the root of all evil. It can cause one to live a life of gross materialism. I am afraid that many among you are more concerned about making a living than making a life. You are prone to judge the success of your profession by the index of your salary and the size of the wheel base on your automobile, rather than the quality of your service to hu-
See THE
HOLIDAYS page A-4
Once Evans took office at the beginning of this year, he set a tone by not just asking others to bite Warren Evans — the bullet, but Monica Morgan photos by shouldering some of the burden. He knew what had to be done was painful, but he gambled that if he just laid the cards on the table — all of them — then folks would be willing to come to the table. Today, nearly a year later, it appears that Evans’ gamble has largely paid off. At least so far. The year 2016, and whether or not Evans manages to achieve a comparable amount of success facing his next round of challenges, will be critical in establishing the stability of his foundation for however many years he remains in that office. In a one-on-one interview conducted in his 33rd floor office in the Guardian building last week, this is some of what he had to say about the accomplishments of his office thus far, and what remains to be done. The deficit “We’ve gotten an awful lot done, but I always temper that with we’ve got an awful lot to go, but it doesn’t minimize at all the work that got done. The structural deficit is gone, $82 million. …Structural deficit is, every year we spent $52 million more than we took in, in revenue. You’re budgeting artificially because you know the $52 million is gonna be short, but you’d rather panic at the end of the year and worry about it than budget for it at the front end. “So now, through reorganization, reduction in the number of appointees, pay reductions from my staff,” not to mention reducing unfunded healthcare liabilities by nearly $1 billion by eliminating retiree health care benefits, the
See WAYNE
COUNTY page A-4
Kwanzaa, us, and the well-being of the world; a courageous questioning Editor’s note: The following article was taken from the official Kwanzaa website. Dr. Maulana Karenga is the founder of Kwanzaa, and this is his Kwanzaa message for 2015.
legacy of the good they left in the world. It is too, a time of sustained reflection on the moral and expansive meaning of being African in the world, especially on how we understand and live our lives and engage The celebrathe critical issues tion and season confronting our comof Kwanzaa is a munity, society and deeply meaningful the world. And Kwanand special time of zaa is also a time of remembrance, reself-conscious recomflection and recommitment to honor the mitment for us as a awesome ancestral people throughout legacy left us by prethe world African community. It is a Dr. Maulana Karenga serving and expanding it; to uphold the timetime of appreciaresistant moral and cultural tive remembrance of our ancestors, great and ordinary, of the values that ground and guide us models of human excellence, in our daily lives; and to follow achievement and possibility and hold fast to the ancient Afthey offer, and of the enduring See KWANZAA page A-4