THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, January 17, 1996 TAG: 9601170543
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY PHILIP WALZER, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Medium: 94 lines
Martin Luther King's much-quoted ``I Have a Dream'' speech shouldn't obscure his pleas for ``economic justice,'' columnist Julianne Malveaux told more than 450 people at Old Dominion University Tuesday.
``We can talk about color of skin and content of character, but ultimately we have to think about economic justice, and that was the better part of Dr. King's dream,'' Malveaux said.
``What we remember most about Dr. King was this dream thing,'' she said. ``But he did not die dreaming. He died attempting to raise the wages of garbage workers in Memphis, Tenn. So he wasn't chilling.''
Malveaux said people should also remember King's statement upon accepting the Nobel Peace Prize: ``I have the audacity to believe people everywhere can have three meals a day for their bodies, education and culture for their minds and peace and freedom for their spirits.''
She criticized cuts in education and library funding and proposals for welfare reform. Though more blacks are attending college, she said, ``Many of them are not graduating. They have this thing now, a six-year senior. That's partially a function of education budgets shrinking'' and courses being offered less frequently.
She said the neighborhood library in her native San Francisco used to be open from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily. Now it's only open from 1 to 5 Tuesdays and Thursdays. ``Working mothers used to send their kids there to stay out of trouble, but if it's open from 1 to 5, there's not a lot of staying out of trouble that's going to happen.''
ODU's 12th annual commemoration of King's birthday began with a campus march from Webb Center to Hampton Boulevard and then back to Webb, where Malveaux spoke. About 125 students, professors and administrators participated in the march, singing, ``Lift Every Voice and Sing'' and ``We Shall Overcome.''
Malveaux's shoot-from-the-hip comments, including her reservations about the song ``We Shall Overcome,'' drew laughter from the audience during her 30-minute talk.
Though the song is indelibly linked to the civil rights movement, she doesn't like to sing it because the lyrics say ``We shall overcome someday.''
``I want to say today, not someday,'' she said. ``That's like when an acquaintance says, `Let's have lunch someday.' If you don't pull out the date book now, someday will be no day.''
At the ceremony, ODU President James V. Koch presented the university's Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Award to Elwood L. ``Coach'' Williams, the executive director of the Southside Boys and Girls Club. Williams has been credited with helping steer Norfolk teenagers away from crime and toward academics.
``Dr. King's life was about commitment,'' Williams said, ``and I have that same commitment to work hard to continue to improve the lives of the youth of America today. Without youth, we have no future.''
A MALVEAUX PRIMER ILLUSTRATION: Photo
BILL TIERNAN/The Virginian-Pilot
Columnist Julianne Malveaux, speaking at ODU Tuesday, said Martin
Luther King ``died attempting to raise the wages of garbage workers
in Memphis, Tenn. So he wasn't chilling.''
Graphic
A MALVEAUX PRIMER
Columnist Julianne Malveaux never minces words. In an interview
before her speech, she offered her thoughts on a handful of people
and issues in the news:
On Hillary Rodham Clinton: ``I just think 95 percent of it is
partisan. Five percent of it is their (the Clintons') naivete. One
wonders after Jimmy Carter why anyone would come to the White House
with any naivete.''
On President Clinton: ``I have mixed feelings about Bill Clinton.
He's a good man with a good heart. He needs to be liked by everyone,
but that's caused him to be not firm enough. I think he conceded too
much by accepting a tax cut that's primarily a tax cut for the
wealthy.''
On Bob Dole: ``I don't think anyone can touch Dole (in the
Republican Party), but that makes Clinton acceptable to a lot of
people. Dole is stale for a lot of Republicans.''
On the federal budget stalemate: ``The worst thing about this
budget is the number of people placed in financial jeopardy. They're
playing political football with other people's lives. No. 2 is,
guess what? They (members of Congress) get paid. If you're willing
to furlough employees, forgo your paycheck, too.''
On affirmative action: ``I firmly believe affirmative action is
extremely important. If you look at any data, it's harder for
African Americans to find jobs, especially at the elite level. I
expect to hear a lot of conversations about it. It's going to come
up in the presidential campaign. The California Civil Wrongs
Initiative, as I call it, will probably make the ballot.''
by CNB