Buffalo Criterion, 1985-01-16

              rochester wny's necessary minority newspaper - featuring paid legitimate circulation the buffalo criterion mmmmmmam wmammmmmmmawmmwamm tmm — -—' wmmmmmmmwmmmmmmm ni wednesday jani'ary 10 2 1.55 out-of-toun 2ic a-_-a mmammmaaaaaammmmmmmmmm vol io — no 3 niagara region nul releases state of black america annual assessment cites strengths washington d p — calling on president reagan to take a handful of small steps that could begin to heal the breach between his administra tion and black people and citing signs in 1984 of a new spirit in america that refuses to accept the prospect of a nation divided between a prosper ous majority and an im poverished minority john e jacob president of the national urban league today released the nul's annual assessment of the status of blacks the state of black america-1985 the release of the report marked the tenth year that the national urban league has brought together a group of outstanding scholars to assess and analyze the important events in a number of specific areas that took place in black america over the period of a year ithi . y.-j.'v dbxitiwtn dp eludes the following papers the phenomenon of the jesse jackson candidacy and the 1984 presidential election dr charles v hamilton columbia university modern technology and urban schools dr robert e fullilove university of california at berkeley blackening in media the state of blacks in the press dr samuel l adams university of kansas aged black americans double jeopardy re-examined dr jacquelyne johnson jackson duke univer sity medical center blacks in the u s labor movement working or not dr lenneal j henderson howard uni versity the black family today and tomorrow dr james d mcghee nul director of research the potentials and problems of black fi nancial institutions dr william d bradford uni versity of maryland in his overall assess ment of the status of f?_ck vir jltot con cluded we would suggest that the strongest message coming out of black america in 1984 was that it became increasingly aware of its own strengths and increasingly willing to act independently to achieve what it considers its won best interests this does not signal any lessening of the re sponsibility of government or the private sector to assist in the building of a black america that is equal in every respect to the other sectors of our society but it does signal that black america is not standing still waiting for others to come to its rescue it recognizes that its salvation lies within itself expressing the hope that this second reagan administration will be more forthcoming in reaching out to black and poor americans mr jacob listed a number of steps that would demon strate the truth of presi dent reagan's rhetorical statements that he cares deeply about raciar'jds tice they are 1 supporting the civil rights bill now before congress a bill that would protect minorities and wo men from discrimination and correct last term's supreme court decision in the grove city college case 2 ordering a reapprais al of u s policy toward south africa and an end to the policy of constructive engagement that gives the apartheid regime the security of america's friendship 3 instructing adminis tration officials to cool their rhetoric and stop fanning the flames of racial polarization by their ill-tempered attacks on black organizations and on important principles such as affirmative action and desegregation 4 ending the shameful pattern of exclusion of blacks from key positions that has given this ad ministration the worst minority appointment record in a quarter of a century 5 strongly support ing h_av own administra tion's initiatives that promise help for the poor such as enterprise zones and elimination of taxation of below-poverty incomes gov cuomo delivers state of the state message albany — governor mario m cuomo called for 1.2 million in tax reductions major initiatives to protect the environment and sought creation of new low and middle income housing op portunities when he delivered his third annual message to the legislature know n as the state of the state message wednesday in albany state-wide elected officials and leg islative leaders heard the governor's speech from the speaker's rostrum of the assembly chamber in the capitol aka to distribute black heritage posters black heritage posters featuring black american generals and admirals will be distributed by chapters of alpha kappa alpha sorority in in conjunction with black history month the posters the fifth in a series of works sponsored by nabisco brand inc are designed to serve as an educational as well as an aesthetic tool we are pleased to have this opportunity to continue to distribute the nasbisco posters said faye b bryant national president of aka we know that they will increase our youngsters knowledge of the contri butions of black amen cans and also serve as beautiful wall additions bryant said the posters will be dis tributed at selected schools churches and community centers how ever individuals interest ed in assuring that their group is on the list should contact the local aka chapter in their commu nity by january 30th if a local address or contact is not known requests may be directed to aka's national headquarters 5656 s stony island aye chicago illinois 60637 aka is america's premier greek-lettered organisation for black wo men it has more than 700 chapters throughout the u s virgin islands west africa bahamas and germany benefit performance to be held sun ship communications inc presents sweet honey in the rock in a benefit performance sun jan 27th at the tralfamadore cafe 100 theatre pake in buffalo at 3 p.m and 4:40 p.m two shows admission is 10.00 per person and 5.00 for senior citizens and children under 12 tickets are available at the talking leaves books 3144 main st emma buffalo women's bookstore 168 elmwood aye harambee books 1377 main st and all central tickets outlets sweet honey in the rock is the dynamic sound of black traditional and progressive music of five acapella voices deliering a powerful message of struggle love and dreams the quintet of black women singers began performing in washington d c in 1973 sweet honey's strength lies within its sound and is rooted in the tradition on black american un-accompanied charol singing the melodies harmonies that weaves a musical spell scanning the full range of vocal possibilities the members are evelyn maria harris yasmeen bheti williams ysage maria ban-well aisha kahili and vocal director bernice johnson reagan an interpreter he the hearing impaired will be avilable postal exam workshops offered workshops to help pre pare individuals for the upcoming u s postal service clerk carrier mail handler and ltr sort machine examination will be offered by the achieve ment center at howard johnson's niagara and buffalo hilton sessions will be held sat jan 19th from 8:30 a.m and 1 p.m and from 2 p.m to 6:30 p.m another session will be held on sun jan 20th from 8:30 a.m to 1 p.m and from 2 p.m to 6:30 p.m and mon jan 21st from 12:30 p.m to 5 p.m and 6 p.m to 10:30 p.m students need attend only one session the cost for this class is 35.00 which includes a text practice examina tions and home-study materials pre-registra tion is recommended by calling niagara falls 282-1001 or buffalo 632 8302 the training is being offered in anticipation that examinations will soon be held in the area according to elsom elderidge jr m ed harvard univer sity director of the achievement center the exact date for registration have not been released he explained however the last test was given about three years ago so it-is due to be given again now in the past we waited to offer our workshops when the dates for regis tration were finally an nounced but in many cases the exams were given so soon after regis tration and our course our students had a limited time to prepare eldridge explained to give them enough time to prepare for the examination we are now offering the work shops in areas we expect will be testing soon sconiers elected president of acmct rose h sconiers executive attorney of the legal aid bureau of buf falo inc was elected president of the new york state association of coun cil members and college trustees she previously served as the group's first vice president and second vice president founded in 1970 acmct provided a vehi cle for council members and trustees of state oper ated suny campuses to exchange information and recommend action on ad ministrative academic and fiscal problems facing units within the state uni versity of new york system a graduate of ub law school and former assis tant corporation counsel for the city of buffalo sconiers is past president of the buffalo chapter of the national bar associa tion and the community planning and assistance center for western new york editor recuperating frank e merriweather editor of the buffalo criterion has returned home from a 9-day stay in the erie county medical center controversy stalks richard pryor comedian richard pryor's professional and personal life has been fraught with controversy most know him through press reports of his speedy lifestyle but few know the real man on richard pryor rap 11 tony brown's journal probes the superstar's rise to stardom and the personal tragedies thai have touched his life this program will be seen in this area on wednesday jan 23 on wned tv channel 17 at 10:30 p.m star gives tony brown exclusive interview richard pryor rap d picks up where host hoyt introduces legislation to aid crime victims assemblyman william b hoyt d-buffalo an nounced that he is introducing legislation to aid crime victims by allow ing them to claim any money which their attack er may later obtain by sueing new york state it is expected that the value of law suits filed against new york state by prisoners in state prisons will exceed 4 billion in 1984 this bill will give victims the right to share to the extent of their injuries in any money obtained by prisoners under current law a victim may sue their attacker to recover the value of property taken or damaged to cover medical expenses to repay lost earnings and to compen sate them for any pain and suffering that may have occured such suits however are rare because the perpetra tors of crime rarely have resources sufficient to compensate their victims in addition the statute of limitations required such suit be commenced within one year from the end of the prosecution of the perpetrator of the crime whichever comes later the number and value of prisoner claims against the state have skyrocketed in the last nine years mr hoyt said in 1976 there were 11 suits seeking 4,500,000 while up to october of 1984 1,508 suits were brought against the state seeking 3,079,423,875 in damages estimated to exceed 4 billion in all of ' 1984 that's a 13.000 percent increase in the number of cases and a 58,000 percent increase in the damages sought some of these claims are legitimate for such things as injuries while many are frivolous and harassing in nature hoyt said in some cases prisoners receive large cash awards from the state yet their victims remain uncompensated because of the statute of limitations this bill is modeled after existing law which creates a similar process to allow victims to share in money received by a prisoner for selling his story as a book or movie through this legisla tion we will ensure that victims of such terrible crimes as robbery assault rape and the families of murder victims will be eligible for full compensa tion and we will make it less rewarding for prison ers to sue the sate with harassing claims assemblyman hoyt con cluded construction plan approved for v a medical center representative henry j nowak d buffalo has announced the approval of a construction project for the v a medical center in buffalo the estimated cost of the project is 1,900,000 which will provide the hos pital with a remodeled and modernized main kitchen area according to tentative construction plans an architect/engineer con tract for preliminary plans and working drawings will be awarded in april invitations to bid on the construction contract will be issued in august 1986 with an award of that contract in september the goal is to have the project completed by november 1987 building drive planned a building fund drive has been established by uganda's beauty salon and the buffalo pace setters for refuge temple 973 jefferson aye the fund drive will include a dinner on feb 16th at the kensington place 377 kensington aye from 7 to 11 p.m the dinner promises an evening of entertainment fashions and prizes the fund drive will help refuge temple establish a building addition that will provide space for their growing bible institute the facility will also house an outreach center for the community for donation and ticket information contact merline bell at 896-4585 richard pryor see page 7 j serving working leading in wny i inner cities since 1923 price only 20 c per copy