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WHAT’S INSIDE

VOLUME 73 – Number 28★

Start-up Business Conference (A-7)

Current and aspiring Afri-

can-American entrepreneurs can learn how to start a busi- ness at the 2010 Black Busi- ness Conference, Wednesday, March 31, at Greater Grace Temple. Mayor Dave Bing will deliver the opening remarks.

Stapleton announces run for state rep (B-4)

Entrepreneur and long-time

public administrator Maureen Stapleton has announced her intentions to run for a 4th Dis- trict state representative seat. She previously ran for the seat in 2006.

Prevent Blindness America offers free wellness information (B-4)

Prevent Blindness America,

the nation’s leading non-profit eye health and safety group, offers the healthy Eyes Vison Wellness Program, designed to help companies provide the tools employees need to protect their eye health.

Three new exhibits at Detroit Historical Museum (B-5)

The Detroit Historical

Museum has opened three new exhibits, which feature the latest in its popular “Fabulous 5” series. Exhibits include “Fabulous 5: Detroit’s Beloved Sports Coaches,” “Detroit’s Artists Showcase,” featuring John Gelsavage, and “New to the Collection,” featuring recent acquisitions.

Renaissance comes up short (C-1)

Detroit Renaissance’s girls’

basketball team fell to the East Lansing Trojans 65-54 in the MSHAA Girls’ Class A state finals. Renaissance (23-3) was going for its first state title since moving to Class A two years ago.

Michigan Chronicle Show Business Hall of Fame: ‘The Cosby Show’ (D-1)

A look back at the land-

mark 1984-1992 how that crossed all ethnic, age and cultural barriers. Content took precedence over everything, including race. The show also depicted intact Black families and may have helped revive the sitcom genre.

Bankole Thompson

By Bankole Thompson

CHRONICLE SENIOR EDITOR

I

n the words of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., “The moral ark of the universe is long but it bends toward justice.” That is exactly what the

historic health care legislation proved on Sunday before the eyes of millions of disenfranchised tax- payers who have been waiting on the government for five decades to finally deliver what was a histori- cal and moral obligation.

COMMENTARY

For too long this much needed change was locked in the belly of

the beast, v i c t imi z ed by partisan politics and s h a c k l e d by the ultra egos of poli- ticians who are so self- centered that they cannot look beyond themselves to see the

suffering that their constituents are going through.

On Sunday we saw a coura-

geous move to finally include the least of these in our communities, those who because of their finan- cial and social standing don’t have access to better health care.

We witnessed the gradual but

powerful change that the election of President Barack Obama prom- ised, and some who have long been skeptical about government’s de- livery to its people because of the ever-present double-talk of politi- cians can now agree that America indeed is changing for the better.

The welfare of the nation is now

being taken care of because those who have lost their jobs due to the economic tsunami brought about by Wall Street and as a result in- stantly lost their health insurance can breath a sigh of relief.

And those disadvantaged com-

munities that have historically lagged behind every other upgrade because of an unequal playing field amassed with the stench of racism that they have had to battle, can gradually begin to free themselves from the statistics of health disparities.

The insurance practice that

places a premium on how much money you have instead of how sick you are and need treatment will soon end and these commu- nities will have access to health care. With this legislation more money will be pumped into com- munity health centers to meet the crucial needs of the uninsured and low-income earners.

The nation elected a commu-

nity organizer as president, and Obama understands the depth of the health care crisis that is rav- aging communities across the nation and that to solve it requires

March 24-30, 2010 479 Ledyard • Detroit MI 48201 313.963.5522 $1.00

HEALTH REFORM:

HEALTH REFORM:

A Righteous and Moral Obligation to History

President Obama

a from-the-bottom-up approach. To wake up the next day after the

legislation passed and realize that your insurance company can no longer cancel your policy or deny you coverage for a preexisting condition is a major step forward.

Small businesses that have always

been the driver of the economy can now claim a tax credit of up to 35 per- cent of the cost of providing health insurance for their employees. Chil- dren can now be covered under their parents’ plan up to age 26 and senior citizens under Medicare will get a

❝

$250 rebate beginning this year. President Barack Obama did what

President Bill Clinton, Lyndon John- son and Harry Truman failed to do in more than half a century.

Obama has boldly opened the

doors for meaningful health care to some 32 million people who will now be treated with respect and re- ceive the full measure of the right to life — just like every member of Congress and those with deep pockets do — when they get sick. Tragically, the GOP opposition from the beginning of the health care

The repulsive and cancerous notion of the Tea Party movement will not resonate in the Hispanic, African

American, Native American, Arab American, Asian and other communities of color. Because these communities have had to bear the brunt of medical apartheid – the cruel, telling and disturbing health disparities – that have long been the textbook case for medical scholars, the Centers for Disease Control and other study groups.

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Pastor Glenn Plummer, a household name

Chicago-based Detroit native remains close to her roots (D-8)

Although she now lives in

Chicago, Amy Reeber hasn’t forgotten her Detroit roots. She makes and sells T-shirts declaring the wearer is a “Proud Detroit Native.”

in the faith community, next Monday will announce his run for Congress in the 13th District, currently represented by Congress- woman Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick. But first Plummer sat down with Michigan Chronicle senior editor Bankole Thompson for an exclu- sive interview focused on the issues he plans to tackle head-on if elected. In the marathon interview Plummer denies that he is a member of the Republican Party. Though he keynoted the Republican National Convention in 2004 in New York, Plummer said he is a card-carrying member of the Democratic Party laying out the principles that make him a Democrat. Among other issues, Plummer said he is concerned about division along racial lines in Southeast Michigan. Excerpts from that interview follow.

MICHIGAN CHRONICLE: Why did you

decide now to run for Congress? GLENN PLUMMER: Actually it’s been about

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Glenn Plummer – Andre Smith photo

a little more than a year process. It really began for me more formally at the end of 2008 and it was not until 2009 that I really seriously con- sider forming an exploratory committee. But in 2008, as you recall, this city was really just be- ginning to go into unreal dire spin politically. So I really believe that I have some real answers. I think we have some fresh ideas. I personally have loved this city for a long time.

debate was not about cost even as they tried to hide behind figures.

A Republican lawmaker had re-

minded us from the genesis of the debate that if the GOP can successful- ly kill any health reform that comes from the president, it will be Obama’s Waterloo. They can now in fact cripple his presidency and accomplish what right-wing talk show host Rush Lim- baugh echoed after the inauguration — that he wants Obama to fail.

So the fact that the GOP was dumb

enough to expose its hidden hand early on before the health care debate started showed that the questions around the cost of the legislation were mere political semantics and gamesmanship.

Let’s be realistic. If the GOP really

cared about costs of a watershed health reform like the one now in place and its impact on the burgeon- ing federal deficit, they would not have taken this nation to war on false pretenses that ended up costing tax- payers billions of dollars.

When President George W. Bush

and his cabal were taking the country to war and Secretary of State General Colin Powell was beating the drum before the United Nations, there were no Tea Party protesters on the lawn of the capitol to stop the Bush presi- dency.

There was no opposition among

Republicans to stop the aggression and later what would be revealed was a highly orchestrated and sophisticat- ed move to forcefully politicize the in- telligence community to endorse the Republican administration’s move to war in Iraq.

Michigan Republican Attorney

General Mike Cox is joining 12 other attorneys general around the coun- try to challenge the constitutionality of this new legislation and exclude

See HEALTH REFORMpage A-4

Plummer: Congresswoman Kilpatrick will not run for reelection

Part One of a Two Part Series

MC: You are running for a congressional

seat, not for city council. How can the problems of Detroit that emerge from city hall be equated with congressional representation?

GP: Well, 2008 wasn’t just a shift in city

council. We had a new president so there was a shift nationally. So the issue for me was not De- troit only. First of all let me back off and let you know that I really see Detroit larger than the city itself. I see Detroit as really the greater Detroit area. I was born in Brooklyn, New York. Then I’ve lived in a number of different places. De- troit is probably the only major city in America that is polarized as it is in three areas: the area of east and west, we have a suburb/city men- tality where the lines are clearly and we have a Black/ White metality. Of all cities in America that have 100,000 population and more, Livo- nia is the most White city in America. Warren is number three. My point is we have racial polar- ization. My issue is Detroit is bigger than that and we have to somehow find a way above the divide and see our city as a regional area.

MC: Then wouldn’t it better if you ran for city

council instead of congress? GP: City council of what? MC: The Detroit City Council. GP: No. Why? MC: Because you are talking about regional-

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