Buffalo Criterion, 1986-01-02

              ro4 ■-' ! " niagara reg!c the buffalo criterion " price only : * re l . '■ * vol 61 nr 1 ■ happy new year group to continue senior services membership drive for new senior program announced formation of a new community based organi zation to continue the delivery of senior citizen services in the jefferson east ferry area will begin a four-week membership drive it was announced friday dec 27th the membership drive will begin on monday dec 30th and will continue until monday jan 27th at which time members will elect a slate of members to serve as the board of directors the new community baaed organisation named the martin luther king jr senior citizens program is the result of recommendatons by a seven-member advisory board that was annointed to resolve alleged conflict of interest difficulties in relation to the federally funded senior citizen program that previously served that area the original seniors program the 1490 senior citizens program was administered by 1490 enterprises inc a non profit organization that is headed by buffalo coun cilman-at-large herbert l bellamy the department of housing and urban de velopment which over sees the funding of local programs with community development block grant monies had ruled that a conflict of interest may exist since mr bellamy has a position on the common council which must vote to accept the federal funds and also served as the board chairman for the local organization that received the funds to resolve that conflict an advisory board of three citizens and four mayoral appointments was formed thomas l franczyk who serves as director of technical services for the city department of human resources was chosen chairman of the advisory board the three citizen repre sentatives are rev eugene mcashan pastor of bethel ame church elaine blyden director of physical development for seventy-eight restoration corp and annie l r . moore „- x x y ->■ mayoral apppintees along with mr franczyk include donald o allen senior deputy commis sioner of the department tn iibmun ill-sources james a smith and james r folan human resource planners with the city membership in the new community based organi - zation will be limited to residents or individuals with their principal place of employment in the area bounded by main st kensington aye the erie-lackawanna rail road delavan aye mos elle st genesee st and virginia st seventy-five percent of the membership will be reserved for those individuals who are 55 years of age or older individuals who sign up as members will be asked to attend an organizational meeting on monday jan 27th at which time a nine member board of di rectors will be selected to replace the advisory board individuals inter ested in membership should contact the martin luther king seniors pro ■ gram at 884-6022 '. now there are six a new year's wish beginning on january 1 1986 the african american representation on the buffalo city council will increase from five to six just about half of its total of thirteen never before have we had such ■ political representation in city govern ment it's safe to say that buffalo con sidering its population and demo graphics is in a class alone even more significant is the fact that the present five council representatives hold most of the influential and prestigious positions and committee chairmenships heading the list is george k arthur president of the council followed by david collins president pro-tempore end chairmen of the finance committee jamee pills majority • leader herbert 7 bellamy chairman of the civil service commit tee and clifford bell a member of two important committees the economic development and claims committees now enters archie amos the newly elected councilman of the university district to add even more power to this group but what are some of the things that we should expect from this powerful group of six it is hoped that 1986 brings forth not only a new year but a wiser and more courageous body of african americans on the city council who will finally make african american issues their major reason for being no longer should the issues concerning african americans be placed on the back burner out of fear of offending whites african american issues are the most serious of all groups finally our time has come our votes have delivered us six as the new year enters i pray and hope that our council of six will , 1 address the seriousness of african american health problems in buffalo as a follow-up to the recent report issued by former secretary of health and human services margaret m heckler a report which lists african americans as suffering excessive deaths in six specific areas it would be beneficial if a panel of physicians and other health professionals be commis sioned by our honorable six to investigate african american health problems in this area i by theodore kirkland they should be given a mandate to report back in three months with a list of recommendations that our people can use to prevent such illnesses 2 crime in the african american community is destructive to the growth of our community as well as to the african american family the prevention of murders rapes and assaults must become a priority among our people an ongoing panel of criminal justice practitioners appointed by the honorable six should continuously make preventive recom mendations crime prevention must take precendent over detention 3 devise an economic plan that would enable the african american o.biuiu'lwtytto profit from the many conventions that are held faftiis city of ' buffalo even money from african american conventions never seem to find its way into african american heads 4 seek ways and means to keep business in our community as well as mean of creating more businesses the recent rise in the take over of delicatessens in our community by foreigners and its meaning to the african american community should be • made a majority priority community discussions should be conducted around this issue and solutions found 5 members of the african american middle class should be enticed to purchase homes in buffalo and to take advantage of the pratt pine and spring street developments by residing in the city new businesses could evolve around them providing employment for many of our people this middle class must become conscious of their indebtness to african american people who made them members of the middle class reciprocity 6 take a position against apartheid in south africa and put forth a resolution calling upon this government . to use its power to return south africa to the native africans africa belongs to africans in conclusion if government can advance the condition of african american people then the honorable sue must lead the way observance of newest holiday set the erie county south christian leadership con ference will celebrate the nation's newest holiday to honor america's greatest civil rights leader dr martin luther king jr ron hunter president stated that the theme of the program is living the dream and will be held friday jan 17th at 7 p.m at gethsemane baptist church 55 grape st in the fruit belt section of the city the speaker will be dr berkley b eddins phd a full professor of philoso phy at the university of buffalo his presentation will be titled natural law in the philosophy of martin luther king and its implicaitons for social action eddins has specialized in studies of natural law and moral philosophy and has published articles on the black american ex perience and afro ameri can philosophy some of his most recent presenta tions were at emory university at the ghandi king society in wash ington d c and at conferences in atlanta dr eddins is the only black full professor of philosophy in any major american research uni versity and feels that many of the gains made by blacks in the wake of king's efforts have been lost he has visited south africa and plans to continue his studies of king's philosophy by examining the civil rights leader's papers held at the martin luther king jr center for non-violence change inc in atlanta the evening program will also include musical offerings by the choir of trinity episcopal church of lancaster and com ments by its pastor rev john whiteford who participated in the civil rights marches in selma ala during the 60s with dr king religious concerns will be addressed by rev samuel palmer local issues struggles and a report to the community will be offered by leaders of civil rights groups ' including daniel acker president of the naacp warren gallo way president of push claudia simms of build james bel ton and dr eugene grabiner for labor and dr judity jones co-chairperson for the black leadership forum comments will also be offered by edward rut kowski county executive dr martin lather king jr p.0.w.e.r answer to jamaica's problems farrakhan tells jamaicans by abdul wali muhammad religious leaders must take the responsibility for the social and economic problems of the jamaican people and inspire them to produce for themselves so that they can rise as a free nation and a free jwjnlr minister louis farrakhan declared at jamaica's national arena in kingston on december bth marcus garvey is turning over in his grave he said because jamaica is not being controlled by black jamacians this is your country rise up and take your country back minister farrakhan pleaded in an impassioned tone an explosion of applause echoed throughout the lush jamaican mountain side as almost three . thousand •■-. j-a —.. _- ' jamacians from various classes and professions welcomed the leader of the chicago-based nation of islam to jamaica for the international unveiling of p.o.w.e.r people organized and working for economic rebirth minister farrakhan's economic program of black self-help invited to jamaica by rev ernie gordon rector of st mary's anglican church kingston the controversial black leader louis farrakhan called on the jamaican people to resolve their religious differences by recognizing the oneness of god and to harness their p.o.w.e.r ombudsmen improving life for the elderly by governor mario m cuomo one of the most important issues new yorkers must address involves the treatment of our elderly our older citizens are a rich resource for our state they possess a wealth of experience and knowledge unmatched by any other segment of our society for some of our elderly aging can be an isolating and lonely experience still others feels a loss of dignity when the ability to perform certain functions is hampered more than 100,000 elderly or disabled people in our state reside in some kind of long-term care facility these individuals often feel they have little control over the circumstances in which they must live one of the most successful programs in new york focusing on the needs of the elderly involves a group of trained volunteers — ombudsmen — committed to improving the quality of long-term care for our nursing home-bound senikor citizens new york state's ombudsmen for the elderly talk to residents of nursing homes hear their complaints and work out problems with the facility's staff these volunteers assist in protecting the rights of the elderly watch for signs of neglect and lessen a patient's sense of loneliness by letting them know someone cares no individual young or old likes to feel that he or she has lost the ability to be self-sufficient our ombudsmen devote themselves to personalized care dealing with patients on a one-to-one basis tackling individual problems bringing a little more sunshine into each life they touch our ombudsmen for the elderly are an inspiration to all new yorkers their selfless commitment of time and energy to the aging is what new york is all about while there is still much more to be done to improve the quality of life for the elderly our ombudsmen are making a difference every day they are giving something in return to our elderly citizens who have given so much to all of us in the family of new york services held for mrs emma hill funeral services for the ' late mrs emma m hill were held sat december 14th at 9:30 a.m from lincoln memorial united methodist church 641 masten aye mrs hill went to god on december 10 1985 in the erie county medical cen ter after a short illness she was the beloved daughter of the late frank and lottie thompkins moore she was united in holy matrimony to irving t hill on july 17 1949 and was a devoted mother to mrs hill mrs emma hill bell asks for public involvement in downtown stadium ' council member at large clifford bell filed a common council resolu tion asking that various governmental agencies examine the possibility of employing qualified public assistance recipients to work on the downtown stadium project , mr bell pointed out that there are a number of current programs which provide incentives for em ployers to hire persons who are receiving public assistance programs that provide for the screening training and counselling of home relief recipients are aslo available not only would the > contractors and public assistance recipients bene fit from this kind of program if it were used in the stadium construction but so would the tax payers said mr bell the participants would be able to learn new job skills and develop busi ness contacts that would help them find permanent future employment and terminate their depen dence on social services mr bell asked council president george k ar thur to appoint a special committee to determine whether utilizing such programs for the stadium would be feasible clifford bell see page 3 see page 7