news


THE MICHIGAN CHRONICLE


August 18-24, 2010 Page A-3 Beyond Woodward From page A-1 Of course, there’s a lot to


celebrate in the “new era” of the American automobile with General Motors and Chrysler showing signs of turnaround, and Ford continuing to build on its success. But that doesn’t negate the importance of preserving the history asso- ciated with American automo- biles of the past.


While cars like the new “It’s really special when you go


to a car show and you see people look at the show cards


attached to our cars and say,


‘Are you all brothers?’” — Rogers Worthy


Dream Cruise “I saw my first one in Scottsdale,


Arizona at a car show,” he said. “I liked the look it had with all of the chrome and being unique as a two-door station wagon. The car was only made in 1955, 1956 and 1957. I got a ’56 model for the year I was born.”


The Worthys’ love for American cars


dates back decades to the days the three brothers and their other three brothers and sister, Frank, Morris, Porter and Breveley, spent working at their father’s garage, Ed’s Texaco Service, located on the city’s west side.


Their dad, Albert “Ed”


Worthy, who loved Chev- rolets, worked for Ford’s Highland Park Ford Plant. He opened the service sta- tion with wife Ada in 1960 before they moved to De- troit in 1953 from Roberta, Georgia.


“When we were old


enough, we all worked at my dad’s shop, even my sister,” said Rogers, who works as a pipe fitter at Chrysler’s Jefferson North Assembly Plant. “We’d work our way up from changing the tires and oil to major engine and transmission work.” Herman, a retired Detroit fireman, added, “Everybody had to work at the gas station in one capacity or another.”


selves under the car at 11 or 12 o’clock at night trying to prepare for a late night race,” recalls Herman.


Rogers said they would do a lot of the


heavy modification work on their drag racing cars at their dad’s garage. “My dad encouraged it because he saw as it a way to help keep us out of trouble,” he said.


“Everybody knows the Worthy broth- ers for their cars,” said Tom Worthy.


From page A-1


we drag raced with when we were young- er,” said Rogers.


Tom said, “We have people come up to


us and say we remembered you guys had the nice cars back them and you inspired us to have cars now.”


Rogers, Tom and Herman also attend


a number of national auto shows like the shows Barrett-Jackson and SEMA, the annual aftermarket show held every year in Las Vegas.


Attending the car


shows have helped the brothers main- tain a special bond, said Rogers.


“I run into a lot


ROGERS (LEFT), TOM and Herman Worthy said attending the car shows helps keep them closer.


In addition to the Woodward Dream The days Rogers, Herman and Tom


spent at Dad’s garage tooling with cars grew into a passion for street racing. “Porter was the one that really turned us on to it,” said Tom, who also works as a pipe fitter for Chrysler’s Dodge Truck Plant. “He always had nice cars.”


“As teenagers and young adults we


would spend a lot of time getting ready to go drag racing and we would find our-


Mosque Republicans are using the


New York mosque fight like an Easter gift to show that Demo- crats and President Obama’s administration are too soft on national security issues. Even though the evidence to sug- gest that could be unfounded, an emotional issue such as Ground Zero — considering the families of those whose lives were lost there — have the potential to turn the tide against Democrats in the elec- tions.


But beyond the mosque


question lies the challenge for moderate Muslims to counter the extremists and those who want to hijack Islam for their own gain.


The war within Islam is a


battle between moderates and the fanatics, and the mod- erates should not allow the fanatics to drown out their voices.


President Obama reached


out to the Muslim world in a historic speech in Cairo last year which was vilified by his opponents.


“We meet at a time of ten-


sion between the United States and Muslims around the world — tension rooted in historical forces that go beyond any cur- rent policy debate,” the Presi- dent said.


“The relationship between


Islam and the West includes centuries of co-existence and cooperation, but also conflict and religious wars. More re- cently, tension has been fed by colonialism that denied rights and opportunities to many Muslims, and a Cold War in which Muslim-majority coun- tries were too often treated as proxies without regard to their own aspirations.


“Moreover, the sweeping


change brought by modernity and globalization led many Muslims to view the West as hostile to the traditions of


Islam.” Obama continued, “Vio-


lent extremists have exploited these tensions in a small but potent minority of Muslims. The attacks of Sept. 11, 2001 and the continued efforts of these extremists to engage in violence against civilians has led some in my country to view Islam as inevitably hos- tile not only to America and Western countries, but also to human rights. This has bred more fear and mistrust.”


Obama went on to say he


was seeking a new beginning between the United States and the Muslim world, one “based upon mutual interest and mutual respect, and one based upon the truth that America and Islam are not exclusive and need not be in competi- tion. Instead, they overlap and share common principles — principles of justice and prog- ress, tolerance and the dignity of all human beings.”


In an era of the echo-cham-


ber, justice and equality can easily be lost, and what is con- stitutionally guaranteed can be denied because too often demagogues are feeding our frustrated minds with insan- ity.


Extremism of any kind


from any religion should be condemned in the strongest terms. We cannot allow those who want to exploit the power of religion to have free reign. Freedom of religion should not even be a debate in 2010. Our freedom quickly ends if we allow demagogues to begin to severely alter the limits of that freedom.


The United States remains


one of the most cherished and admired democracies in the world, unlike some places in the Middle East, Africa and others where freedom of reli- gion is at the beck and call of the powerful.


THIS WEEK on “Center Stage With Bankole Thompson” — Rev. Jesse Jackson talks about the Aug. 28 march in Detroit for jobs to commemorate the anniversary of the historic March on Washington, led by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. The show will air on Saturday, Aug. 21, 1 p.m., on WADL TV38, Comcast Channel 4. —Monica Morgan photo


Denying the building of a


mosque in New York means allowing extremists to win the ideological battle. That is the reaction they want, that the United States hates Islam and believe that Islam is a violent religion.


A church in Florida has


planned to burn several Korans (the Islamic holy book) on Sept. 11, an appar- ent exploitive measure to pro- mote itself as Christian fun- damentalists. But the danger is that this kind of behavior, by Pastor Terry Jones of the Dove World Outreach Center, indirectly empowers the ex- tremists to justify their evil acts. Other Christian leaders should condemn this kind of act as a dangerous precedent that threatens religious free- dom and tolerance.


But soon, Pastor Jones will


be the face of the new religious right, walking around with some kind of a concocted pro- phetic unction to endorse can- didates running on an extreme religious right platform. The Joneses of the world should not be allowed to hijack Jesus Christ in this kind of ego exer-


Cruise, Rogers, Tom and Herman Worthy will also be participating in the Back to the Bricks cruise event being held in Flint Aug. 17-21. Together, the brothers participate in at least 20 local cars shows a year and a number of national shows.


The Worthy brothers also put on an


annual show at their mom’s house on the city’s west side where their sister now lives, about six blocks from the family owned gas station that they closed in 1999, a few years after their father passed.


“We get a lot of people to stop by that


of people and they ask, ‘You still keep in touch with your brothers?” and I say, ‘I talk to my brothers all the time’,” said Rogers. “It’s really special when you go to a show and you see people look at the show cards at- tached to our cars and say, ‘Are you all brothers?’”


“The camarade- rie with my brothers,


it’s a wonderful situation to be in and to be able to say we are all here and enjoy- ing this thing together,” said Herman.


“We love our cars, and to be able to be


blood brothers and do this is beautiful as opposed to me just doing it with other guys,” said Tom. “When we grew up our love for cars kept us out of the gangs and away from drugs. Now it helps to keep us together.”


Marcus Amick is a national automo-


tive lifestyle writer and consultant. He can be contacted at Mamick@Wheelside. com.


From page A-1


cise and blatant disregard for religious tolerance.


In the Middle Ages the


Roman Catholic Church went through all kinds of reforma- tions that gave birth to differ- ent denominations, and even- tually the church reformed from within. In the wake of the abuse of children by priests in the Roman Catholic Church, the challenge on the church was to reform itself, because angry people speaking out.


Moderates within Islam


draw a distinction between fa- natics and the real tenets of Islam. The issue is how mod- erates present Islam with a different identity, unlike the one that the extremists have created. People of goodwill cannot relent. Rather, they should intensify their efforts to change the image that is being created by fundamental- ists which could easily be mis- construed as representative of Islam.


The Obama speech in Cairo


empowered the moderates even though it came at a po- litical cost.


E-mail bthompson@mi- chronic le.com


2011 Ford Edge, 2011Chevro- let Volt and the new Chrysler 300, scheduled to debut next year, will likely contribute significantly to the respective bottom lines of the American carmakers, it’s unlikely they’ll retain the cultural value that a lot of the automobiles of the past have had in America.


Not that we actually would


expect them to. We’re now in an era where a lot of the new vehicles being manufac- tured are more focused on an “appeal for the minute” due in large part to ever-changing consumer demands, a bigger focus on technology, and the need to produce more fuel ef- ficient vehicles.


Sure, staples like the Ford


Mustang, Jeep Wrangler and Chevrolet Corvette will contin- ue to maintain a cultural fan base in years to come among young and old alike. Still, the history of the American auto- mobile will lie in those vehi- cles of the past that represent the deep history of the auto- mobile in America.


Not even rides like the $1.6


million or so Bugatti Veyron, Bentley GT Coupe (one of my personal favorite luxury cars), or even the new Mercedes- Benz SLS AMG, as sexy as it is, will conjure up the kind


YMCA


for all in all our communities,” said Hill.


The YMCA Detroit Service


Learning Academy, started in 1997, served 1,100 K through 8th grade students in north- west Detroit until spinning off from the Y in 2004. Regu- larly sited among the Top 10 charter schools in Michigan, exceeding city and state aver- ages, the YMCA is now turning its focus to serving the Bright- moor community and eventu- ally expanding to several el- ementary, middle school and ultimately one day feeding a YMCA high school.


“It is our expectation that


all our Y students attend and graduate from college,” said Hill. “Spirit – we expect our children to believe in them- selves and what they can ac- complish. Mind – we expect high academic achievement and a support system to ensure our children succeed in the classroom. Body – a healthy body is crucial to feed- ing the mind and growing the spirit. That is what a YMCA education will be all about.”


Those words regarding


high achievement are what Principal Hill cites when talk- ing about recruitment of her teaching staff from kindergar- ten through physical educa- tion.


She explained, “We are an


educational team – not just during the school day, but after school as well. Our focus is on the student as an individu- al. How do they excel? Where do they need help? Where can they show leadership and re- sponsibility?”


This past Saturday, the


schoolchildren and the Bright- moor community were joined by hundreds of area volun- teers to erect a brand new playground, outdoor class- room, teaching garden and a beautification project paid for through YMCA donations, a grant from Forester’s Insur- ance and led by a team from KaBoom!, a not-for profit dedi- cated to building safe play- grounds across the country.


Over the summer, the


YMCA completely rehabilitat- ed a former parochial school funded through private dona- tions, according to Detroit native Harold Curry, treasurer of the YDLA School Board and


of deep emotions in America years from now that cars like the ’67 Pontiac GTO, ’70 Plym- outh Barracuda or ’64 Ford Mustang still will.


There’s just something


about classic American au- tomobiles that even have a unique appeal in a city as glitzy as Hollywood, where high-end luxury cars and exot- ics tend to rule.


It’s a unique appeal found


in the stories of people like Joseph Wilson, a screenwrit- er from Cleveland who when given the opportunity to de- velop his first TV episode as a writer for “NCIS: Los Angeles,” scripted in a ‘70 Chevelle, one of his dream cars.


It’s the story of the former


Detroit Shock’s Deanna “Tweety” Nolan and an old GMC Yukon she has had in her car collection because of the Flint native’s memories of driving the SUV back and forth to the University of Georgia before turning pro. Or the ex- citement a guy in his twenties I met earlier this summer at a gas station in Fort Lauderdale showing off an “old school” Chevrolet Impala he’d just bought.


It’s the spirit that drives


dozens to Burbank, California, every Friday evening to hang out at the legendary Bob’s Big Boy, often with stars like Tim Allen and Jay Leno, to share a passion for classic American automobiles.


The Woodward Dream


Cruise highlights the need to capture the history of the American automobile on so many levels so that future gen- erations will know the impor- tance they’ve had in shaping the cultural fabric of America.


From page A-1


district president of Michigan Commerce Bank.


“This school is a reinvest-


ment in the Brightmoor com- munity, but also an enormous investment in the future of our children,” said Curry.


As a charter school, the


YDLA is authorized by Central Michigan University and over- seen by an independent board of volunteer Detroit leaders.


Among the features of the


school are a fully-equipped media room, special services to students requiring addi- tional support, after-school YMCA programming and access to the YMCA Metro Youth YMCA (MYY) programs. In their third decade of ser- vice in Detroit, MYY programs provide support to youth out- side of the classroom through mentorship, job programs and ultimately college preparation courses designed to ensure students a path to a four-year college degree and 21st cen- tury careers.


The current school will


serve kindergarten through 5th grade initially with plans for expansion to 6th through 8th grades in the fall of 2011. Initial enrollment is targeted at 300 and classes are filling rapidly as the new school year approaches.


“Certain classes are filling


faster than others, but if we can make room for a student, we will do our very best to ac- commodate every single child possible,” said Hill.


She also noted that hiring


of teaching staff went “exceed- ingly well” and that the YDLA was selected to receive four “Teach For America” teachers as part of the federal govern- ment’s effort to “eliminate edu- cational inequity in America.” The highly prized teachers are selected from thousands of ap- plications across the country.


arm for our teaching program,” said Hill.


“This is a huge boost in the “It is rare to even re-


ceive one ‘Teach For America’ instructor, but to receive four will certainly get this school off to a right start.”


To learn more about the


YMCA Detroit Leadership Academy or to inquire about enrollment information, par- ents can call (313) 223-2803 or visit www.ydla.org.


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28