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Outside of the Ring National NewsBlack Panther Party Reunion Rescheduled For April (Special to the NNPA)-The reunion celebrating the 35th anniversary of the founding of the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense, the organization targeted for destruction by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, will take place in Washington, D.C., this spring, organizers announced. "The event will commemorate the historic legacies of the BPP, as well as the many sacrifices and constructive contributions that were made while servicing the people, body and soul," say leaders of the It's About Time Committee, the reunion's organizers. The conference is set for April 18-20 at the University of the District of Columbia. It was cancelled last fall after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. Founded in Oakland, Calif. in 1966, the Black Panther Party (BPP) was a revolutionary nationalist political organization founded to protect Black communities from police brutality and to provide community services. The Panthers were mostly young people in their teens and 20s, clad in black jackets, black berets, rifles and Third World socialist ideas. They hosted breakfast programs for children and held free health clinics in Black communities. Best known for patrolling Black communities, they often clashed with police. The BPP was one of the main targets of the Federal Bureau of Investigation's COINTEL-PRO (counter-intelligence) program, designed to disrupt and dismantle so-called militant and civil rights groups in the 1960s and early '70s. Internal disputes and the FBI's campaign, led by FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover, led to the BPP's demise by the end of the '70s. The event's official website is www.itsabouttimebpp.com/. The committee can be emailed at itsabouttime3@juno.com. ##### Study: Black Women Are Video Game Targets (Special to the NNPA)-Most Black women portrayed in many of the nation's most popular video games are violence victims, a new study says. The study, called "Fair Play?," documented that 86 percent of the African-American women in the games are physically assaulted in some way. Children Now, the Oakland, Calif.-based non-partisan advocacy group, wrote the report. The researchers looked at best-selling games played on Nintendo 64, Sony PlayStation and PlayStation 2, Game Boy Advance and Game Boy Color. Other racial elements of the report include: * Black and Hispanic men were mostly shown as athletes. * The games contained no Latina characters. * Asians were portrayed as fighters or wrestlers. * Nearly all the heroes were White. "The dearth of racial and gender diversity and the predominance of violence in top-selling video games send negative images to children," says Lois Salisbury, Children Now's president. "This holiday season, as parents buy entertainment and gifts for their children, they should not assume that ratings or brand names are a substitute for their own judgment about what is best for their children." ##### EEOC Settles Race Lawsuit Against Ford (Special to the NNPA)-The Ford Motor Co. will pay $300,000 in damages to 23 Black employees in Detroit who were harassed on the job with a hangman's noose and mocking speech, according to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commisssion. Under the settlement, which was negotiated by the EEOC, Ford will provide classes on workplace diversity and on what constitutes racial harassment, as well as take a stronger approach to racial harassment complaints. The lawsuit had charged that a worker at Ford's Allen Park plant harassed co-worker Rosemary Mazon and other Black employees by insulting them, mocking their style of speech and placing a hangman's noose on a forklift. The worker, who was disciplined by Ford, retired. #### Study: Poor No More Likely To Abuse Drugs Than Others (Special to the NNPA)-Poor people are no more likely to abuse drugs than wealthier people, according to a study. They are, however, six times more likely to see drug sales in their neighborhoods. The study, reported in the December issue of The American Journal of Public Health, shows that "conflating drug sales with use, so that poor and minority areas are assumed to be the focus of the problem of drug use, is plainly wrong." The researchers studied drug activity in 41 communities in the nation, totaling about 2,100 neighborhoods. Only three percent of those in affluent areas reported seeing drug sales, while more than 40 percent of residents in poorer communities did. The American Journal of Public Health is the official publication of the American Public Health Association. ##### Concert Aims to Rid Africa of River Blindness by 2010 New York (PANA)-Partners in efforts to rid Africa of Onchocerciasis or river blindness have agreed to extend the program to 19 more countries where about 100 million people are at risk of contracting the disease. The Global Partnership to Eliminate River Blindness have announced a pledge of $39 million to the new program, dubbed African Programme for Onchocerciasis Control. River Blindness is a disease caused by a parasitic worm that develops in the human body and causes serious skin disease and unbearable itching, eventually resulting in blindness. The worm is transmitted by the black fly, which breeds in fast-flowing rivers. People in rural communities where basic infrastructure and services are lacking are at the greatest risk of becoming infected. The beneficiary countries include Angola, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, DR Congo, Congo Republic, Equatorial Guinea, Ethiopia, Gabon, Kenya, Liberia, Malawi, Mozambique, Nigeria, Rwanda, Sudan, Tanzania and Uganda. The partnership, which comprises about 30 African countries, the drug company Merck, donor countries and organizations, including the World Bank, the World Health Organization and the UN Development Program, as well as some non-government organizations, hopes to eradicate the disease by 2010. Contributions to the program are expected to increase over the coming years to $80 million. Merck, which provided the curative drug Mectizan for the treatment of the disease, has pledged to continue to offer it as long as it is needed. The first phase of the Onchocerciasis program began in 1974 and concentrated on 10 countries in West Africa, where it has been eliminated through control of the disease-conveying black fly and drug treatment of patients. The beneficiaries of the first phase of the program to which $560 million was committed include Benin, Burkina Faso, Cote d'Ivoire, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Mali, Niger, Senegal and Togo. The program was able to prevent 600,000 cases of the disease and protect 18 million children from contracting it. The initiative also freed 25 million hectares of arable land for resettlement and cultivation. Having been able to eliminate the disease in its area, the office of the West African program based in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, is to be transformed into the Center for the Surveillance of communicable Diseases in Africa. Other diseases in focus include lymphatic filariasis (elephantiasis), schistosomiasis (bilharziasis) and vitamin A deficiency. ##### Hunger threatens Zambian border district MONGU, Zambia (PANA)-Reports from Zambia's border district of Shangombo say locals who fled their homes during a cross-border raid by Angolan troops pursuing UNITA rebels, now face starvation. Zambian security operatives recently deployed to check any further incursions told Shangombo district administrator Dominic Simuchinga during a tour of Lilondo and Sipuma areas that the situation was critical. The Zambian News Agency (ZANA) quoted the officials as explaining that during the disturbances, the granaries of most villagers (who have since returned to their homes) were either looted or damaged, leaving them helpless. The officials appealed to government to consider sending urgent relief food supplies to Lupuka, Lilondo and Sipuma where more than 6,000 people were affected. In a related development, radio communication equipment and medical gear at a local health center in Sipuma were reported missing after another incursion into the area by suspected Angolan troops. Workers at the health center reportedly fled as insurgents advanced. The loss of the radio communication equipment was lamented a big blow, as it was the only means of communication between the center and Senanga district hospital, especially in times of emergencies. ##### Zimbabwe Challenges Zambia's Cement Industry LUSAKA, Zambia (PANA) -Chilanga Cement Plc, a Zambian company whose shareholding is dominated by the giant French cement maker Lafarge, may close down in the new year unless the government can halt the inflow of cheap Portland cement from neighboring Zimbabwe. Alain le Meuir, Lafarge managing director for East, Southern Africa and the Indian Ocean, was quoted from Paris recently in the Zambian media as saying that unless government leveled the playing field by keeping out cheap cement imports from Zimbabwe, then the cement plant at Chilanga, on the outskirts of Lusaka, would have to close. Le Meuir said that Chilanga Cement had recorded a 15 percent to 20 percent loss in the last half of the year because of the inflow of huge shipments of cement from Zimbabwe, which are currently being bought at only $20 US a ton. In Zambia, a ton of Portland Cement is selling at $110, which is internationally considered to be a fair price. Le Meuir explained that although the Zimbabwe cement is officially pegged at $120 a ton, no one was buying it at that level as that price was based on the official exchange rate of 55 Zimbabwe dollars to a U.S.dollar. Most importers of Zimbabwean cement used the black market exchange rate which is at 300 Zimbabwe dollars per greenback and this brings down the price not only for cement, which goes down to $20 US a ton, but everything else that is now imported into Zambia in bulk. "We do not want special protection. All we want is that normal rules of the game should be respected. The Zambian government has to do something. As long as the Zimbabwe issue of unfair competition is not solved, it is obvious Chilanga works will be the first asset that will be close down," Le Meuir told the Times of Zambia. Lafarge owns 84 percent of the shares in Chilanga Cement which has two cement works-one on the outskirts of Lusaka and the other on the outskirts of Ndola in the mineral rich Copperbelt region. Le Mueir noted that the Ndola plant was strategically placed since it was on the doorsteps of the Democratic Republic of Congo, as well as its importance to the mining industry that has taken a rise from the doldrums. Chilanga Cement at the moment produces 300,000 tons of cement a year with 200,000 tons of this amount coming from the Ndola plant. Lafarge initially bought 51 percent shareholding in Chilanga Cement last April from the Commonwealth Development Corporation. It raised its shareholding to 84 percent in June when a mandatory offer was made to it. The remaining 16 percent shareholding is owned by Zambians who publicly bought the shares. Apart from Zambia, Lafarge also owns cement works in South Africa, Zimbabwe, Tanzania, Malawi, Kenya and Uganda, making it the world's biggest producer of Portland cement in Africa. ##### Ghana's Private Sector Urged to Join HIV/AIDS Fight ACCRA, Ghana (PANA)-Ghana has contracted $25 million US to augment the 15 percent national health budget to be allocated to the fight against HIV/AIDS, the country's Vice President Aliu Mahama has announced. Mahame urged the private sector to also commit financial and materials resources in addition to engaging in promotional activities to prevent and manage the disease, especially at workplaces. Manufacturers should also consider labeling their products with HIV/AIDS messages to create awareness on the disease, he said at a seminar in Accra for representatives of the government, labor and employers to discuss the framework and guidelines for their collaboration. Mahama stressed the need for the government and private sector to work closely to confront the socio-economic impact of HIV/AIDS. "As a nation struggling to take itself out of poverty, it is important to acknowledge the enormity of the responsibilities ahead of us regarding the HIV/AIDS pandemic," he said. "In the particular case of workplace HIV/AIDS, it is crucial for the private sector to closely work with the government to bring the epidemic under control," the vice president said. According to the International Labor Organization (ILO), HIV/AIDS was eroding decades of development gains, undermining economies and threatening the security and stabilization of societies in affected countries. ILO estimates that at least 23 million workers were living with HIV, a majority of them ages between 15 and 49 years. The UN labor agency says the epidemic was a major threat to world of work because it affects the most productive segment of the labor force and reduces earnings by imposing huge costs on enterprises through declining productivity, absenteeism, medical costs, death and loss of skills. A recent study in Ghana indicated that businesses were reporting significant numbers of deaths resulting from HIV/AIDS. About 95 percent of AIDS cases were in the active productive group of 18 to 49 years, the study said. The executive director of the Ghana AIDS Commission, Bridget Katrisku, said though the disease had not reached a crisis level in Ghana, the situation could explode in the near future. She said that though companies and organizations such as the Ghana Employers' Association had developed anti-HIV/AIDS programs, it was important for them to work under the tripartite approach for their efforts to be focused and streamlined in line with government policy. ##### Johnson & Johnson Employees File Lawsuit By Ayana Jones Special to the NNPA Johnson and Johnson-the world's most comprehensive manufacturer of health care products-has been hit with a lawsuit by two of its employees in federal district court in Newark, N.J.. The complaint alleges that the company has practiced racial discrimination in employment against its minority employees. The case was filed on behalf of the two Johnson and Johnson employees-Nilda Guiterrez and Linda Morgan-and more than 1000 salaried Black and Hispanic employees. Several lawyers on the case, including Johnnie Cochran Jr., Cyrus Mehri and Bruce Ludwig of a Philadelphia-based law firm, are seeking class action status. The case has been billed as a groundbreaking effort to tackle a growing problem within corporate America-discrimination against African-American and Hispanic-American salaried employees in the areas of compensation and promotions. The complaint alleges a widespread, structural practice of racial discrimination at Johnson and Johnson involving entry-level salary bias, promotion decisions, compensation disparities; and failure to adequately monitor discriminatory practices. It also alleges that there is no required job posting system the company, which results in promotional decisions being made by white managers who overlook qualified minorities. According to the complaint, on Nov. 15, the discrimination begins when minority employees are hired and given lower starting salaries than white employees with equal or lesser qualifications. The lawsuit also appoints blame to the company's 15-member board-which has one Black executive and no Hispanics-because it does not require senior management to report on equal opportunity matters such as pay equity, stock option equity and glass ceiling data. In an official statement on its Web site, Johnson & Johnson says that it is taking the complaints seriously. "We are particularly disappointed with the filing of a lawsuit on these grounds in view of the company's commitment to and strenuous efforts on behalf of an open and merit-based work environment," the company says. "We take these charges seriously and intend to investigate them fully. We have programs, polices and practices that have brought us recognition as an employer of choice. We intend to vigorously pursue our goal of an employee population that fully reflects the diversity of our society." Johnson & Johnson spokesperson Marc Monseau declined to comment further to the Tribune. "We're in the middle of litigation, so we're sticking to our statement," Monseau offered. Headquartered in New Brunswick, N.J., Johnson & Johnson employs approximately 100,000 employees. Johnson & Johnson has more than 195 operating companies in 51 countries around the world. The corporation is the world's most comprehensive manufacturer of health care products and provider of related services for the consumer, pharmaceutical and professional markets. Ludwig of Philadelphia-based Sheller, Ludwig and Badey, P.C., says that the lawyers spent almost a year interviewing employees of Johnson & Johnson, who told similar stories about not being able to move up in the company. "They haven't lived up to their own credo," Ludwig says of Johnson & Johnson. The company's credo calls for fair and adequate compensation and equal opportunity for employment development and advancement for those qualified. "This case comes down to reforming Johnson & Johnson promotion and compensation practices so that they are fair for all Johnson & Johnson employees-regardless of race," Ludwig said. Ludwig stated that they are currently waiting for a reply from Johnson and Johnson about the lawsuit. "We're prepared that this will be litigated hard," he added. The two employees filing the case are Nilda Gutierrez, a Hispanic woman who is a recruiting consultant for Johnson & Johnson, and Linda Morgan, a Black woman who is currently a manager at Ethicon, a company subsidiary in Somerville, N.J. Morgan worked for the company for more than 20 years, rising from a co-operative student to a manager at Ethicon. According to the lawsuit, Morgan alleges that she has been denied promotions on the basis of race and has been repeatedly denied the opportunity to apply for promotions because of the common practice of filling supervisory jobs without posting the positions. Guiterrez has worked four more than four years at Johnson and Johnson as a recruiting consultant. She alleges that she was significantly underpaid compared with comparable White employees. The lawsuit notes that Guiterrez, who has a bachelor's degree, is paid $41,400 and the salary has increased only $1400 over a four-year period. In comparison, the lawsuit says that a White recruiter, who has no college degree, had his salary increase by almost $20,000 over a four-year period. Sandra Mosso, a former employee of Johnson & Johnson is a member of the class. Mosso, who came to Johnson and Johnson with more than 18 of experience in employee relations at McGraw-Hill Inc., RCA and General Electric, was hired for entry-level slot. Mosso was hired as a recruiting consultant and eventually became the director of strategic staffing. She attempted to move higher up in the company by applying for the vice-president of human resources slot but says she was passed over by someone who had little experience within the human resources department. She also maintains that minorities at the company are hindered by the lack of job postings for various positions. "We're always behind the eight ball. We just want equal access and we're not getting that," Mosso said. In addition to the lawsuit, employees and community supporters kicked off a campaign called "A Journey for Justice: J&J Will Change." The campaign was launched at the St. James A.M.E. Church in Newark, led by Rev. William D. Watley. "As this lawsuit moves forward, we will be pursing and creating fundamental changes in the hiring, compensation, and promotion practices of J&J on behalf of the more than 1,000 class members. We vow that by the end of this Journey for Justice J&J will change for the better," Cyrus Mehri, founding partner at Mehri and Skalet, PLLC, stated in a release. Mehri helped file similar racial discrimination cases against Texaco and Coca-Cola. Both cases resulted in settlements of more than $175 million. Cochran of Cochran, Cherry, Givens and Smith P.C., stated that they are serving notice to "all corporate officials that it's time to get past their own state of denial and begin ensuring fairness and equality for all employees. "The time for lip service has passed, and as this complaint shows, even corporations seen as good citizens need to pay closer attention to what is going on in their own backyards," Cochran said in a release. ##### Africa In Economic Growth Slowdown, Says World Bank NAIROBI, Kenya (PANA)-The World Bank says economic growth in Africa slowed significantly after 1998, with average per capita Gross Domestic Product (GDP) falling by almost one per cent in 1998/1999. The Bank, in its the latest "African Development Indicators, 2001", also shows how official aid to sub-Saharan Africa has been falling, from $32 US per head in 1990 to less than $19 to date. This is despite hard evidence of its effective development results in countries with sound social and economic policies. Social indicators show mixed progress, however, with a welcome rise in literacy and school enrolments for girls on one hand, but declining immunization for children and a widening HIV/AIDS epidemic across the region, on the other. The report also hastens to add that while growth for the region remained depressed, 14 African countries are doing well, having grown on an average of 4 percent a year during the 1990s, with rising annual incomes of 2 percent to 3 percent and even higher. Ten other countries have growth rates of more than 3 percent a year, while few countries, notably Mozambique and Uganda, have grown at 7 percent a year or higher. The report also shows how civil strife in the region had reversed growth prospects for war torn countries, as illustrated by Sierra Leone, which has had a negative growth rate of -4.6 percent, while its life expectancy dropped to just 37 years-the lowest in the region. The World Bank also says two important sources of finance-foreign direct investments (FDI) and official aid-are also declining and tend to favor countries with lucrative mining and oil industries, "or countries with sound social and economic policies." "Of the annual 2.52 billion dollars in FDI that flowed into sub-Saharan Africa during the last decade, just three countries-Lesotho, Angola and Nigeria-accounted for 1.67 billion dollars of the total", says the report. "Five others, Republic of Congo, Côte d'Ivoire, Equatorial Guinea, Namibia and Sudan accounted for another 576 million dollars, leaving the remaining 40 countries to compete for just 275 million dollars in annual FDI flows," it adds. Official aid also followed a similar trend, the report discloses, with the 1999 aid levels standing at $10.8 billion, as compared to $17.9 billion in 1992, when development assistance to Africa reached its highest ever levels. On the social scene, the report reveals that poverty and ill health was still on in the region, with some 300 million Africans surviving on barely 65 cents US a day. The average GNP per capita for the region is $492, but in 24 countries, it is under $350, with the lowest incomes found in Ethiopia at $100, Democratic Republic of Congo ($110), Burundi ($120) and Sierra Leone ($130). The continent also has very high population growth rates, although fertility has started to decline, more so in countries with higher incomes and better access to contraception. The health situation in the continent is precarious, the report notes, with child mortality rates remaining extremely high with 151 of every 1,000 children dying before the age of five. In the education sector, however, more progress was made with literacy rates improving for both men and women, as the percentage of literate women declined from 66 percent in 1985 to 49 percent in 1999. ##### South Africa's New Museum Recalls Apartheid Era NEW YORK (GIN)-Nestled across from the ostentatious Gold Reef City amusement park and casino sits Johannesburg's new Apartheid Museum, a steel and concrete structure that seems worlds away from its glittering neighbor. Calling on South Africans to confront their old demons and wrestle with decades of racial intolerance resulting from apartheid, the museum collection seeks to transport visitors seven years back when segregation was rigorously enforced and bold signs on benches, streets and trains exposed whole generations to blatant racism. The museum's opening in late 2001 marked what well may be the biggest cultural landmark of post-Apartheid South Africa, and a reminder to the South African community-and people around the world-not to forget its turbulent past. Its $10 million construction price-tag was paid, in part, by the nearby casino, which was threatened by the gaming board with losing its license if the owners did not give back to the community. Visitors pay $3 and receive a card arbitrarily classifying them as "white" or "non-white," before entering separate revolving doors and being restricted to a predestined path through the museum. Inside, a metal prison-like grid continues to separate the "blacks" and the "whites," splitting up relatives, couples and friends until they are reunited in the main exhibits room. The purpose of the entrance, according to Museum Director Christopher Till, was "to cut to the chase, and show what apartheid did, which was to classify and divide people." The Racial Classification Board set up by the pro-apartheid government had determined what type of jobs, housing and schooling South Africans could receive. Planned housing establishments displaced many black Africans. And classifications based on nonsensical standards sometimes shifted with a wave of the hand. A 1985 newspaper article showcased in the exhibit illustrates the absurdity of the system: "702 Coloured people turned white, 19 whites became Coloured, one Indian became white, three Chinese became white, 15 Indians became Coloured ..." Old passports containing these classifications during elite white rule line the walls, while once-typical street signs, such as "All Non-Europeans and Tradesman's Boys with bicycles, please use Small Street entrance," hang from the ceiling. Solitary confinement cells are recreated with video recordings of activist inmates, giving visitors first-hand accounts of the isolation felt by those who raised their voices against the Afrikaaner government. In essence, viewers are challenged to revisit a period of degradation and shame that began with British colonial rule in 1948 and was perpetuated by the white ruling elite-who constituted a mere 10 percent of the population-until 1991. The curators believe it is difficult for white South Africans not only to face the mistakes of their forefathers, but also to come to terms with themselves, most of whom lived through 43 tumultuous years of civil strife and witnessed first-hand the insensitivity, indifference and hatred bred by racial segregation. "It's very important to understand that past," Till said. "On the white side so many people deny that stuff, almost deny that it ever existed. We want to give a sense of what really took place in a country that is still finding its soul." Denial is not an uncommon psychological response after government activities deemed racist and inhumane are dismantled. With the fall of Nazi Germany, top officials and some German citizens refused to admit that the Holocaust ever happened. The museum curators reflected on the similarities between South Africa's era of apartheid and the Holocaust. South African builders consulted with Sara Bloomfield, the director of the Holocaust Museum located in Washington D.C. Like the Holocaust Museum, inanimate objects stand in as powerful representations of the lives sacrificed. In one section of the Holocaust Museum, mounds of shoes spill across the floor, evoking the practice in concentration camps of forcing Jews to take off their shoes before they were led to the showers, and expecting them to pick up any pair, smaller or larger than their own, when they got out. This caused many people to develop painful infections and, in some cases, led to amputations. On some days, they never came back. And the remaining thousands pairs of shoes were left behind to tell their story. The Apartheid Museum, likewise, has nooses hanging limply from the ceiling, representing the political prisoners hung on the Pretoria gallows, and listing the names of all 121 victims who dared to challenge the regime. The curators use a variety of media, ranging from artifacts and photographs to film and video, to recall momentous events like the 1960 Sharpeville Massacre, when police officers opened fire on 70 people and injured 190 others protesting talks in the Pan-Africanist Congress. All the while, the exhibit recounts the speeches by white politicians and the propaganda used to retain their power. "The white man is the master in South Africa," a 1950 signboard from the General House of Assembly reads. "And the white man, from the very nature of his origins, from the very nature of his birth and from the very nature of his guardianship, will remain master of South Africa to the end." This is followed by photos of the Soweto Uprising 1976, when blacks protested the use of Afrikaans in black schools. Finally comes the events culminating in Nelson Mandela's release after 27 years of imprisonment in 1990, the 1994 all-race election, and his long-awaited rise to the presidency. Before exiting, visitors have a chance to reconcile their own personal experiences by sharing them on video, some of which will be incorporated into the exhibit-helping to put to rest the ghosts that still haunt the country today. ##### Sexual exploitation of children in Kenya is real NAIROBI, Kenya (PANA)-They come in droves, arriving in Nairobi as early as 6.30 p.m. and strategically position themselves along major city thoroughfares, ready for business. They are all dressed to kill, and though barely 12 years old, they know their act and their customers very well. Others, like Jane, who will celebrate her ninth birthday in January, comes to town very early in the morning in the company of a woman she simply refers to as "Auntie" and whose business is begging in the central business district. She sits a few meters from her Auntie, chatting endlessly with other girls. When an opportune time comes, it only takes a nod from Auntie who had a hurried conversation with a man minutes earlier, and the young girl and the man go off to an undisclosed destination. A good number of them are also housed in Nairobi's upmarket housing estates by their "employers," mostly the rich Kenyans and foreigners alike, where they serve their clienteles for a fee. Down at the coastal tourist resort city of Mombasa, the situation is no different, as beach boys and girls are slowly turning themselves into sex slaves, transforming the once beautiful tourist destination and a family get away resort center, into a commercial sex center. Welcome to the world of child sexual exploitation in Kenya, a topic which government officials in the country concede is yet to be adequately addressed. Officials of the Children's Department describe it as the use of children for sexual purposes in exchange for cash or in kind or favors between a customer or agent who benefit or profit from the trade in children. "The use of a child for sexual purposes or child prostitution is real and attaining alarming proportions in Kenya, but many people shun away from this topic and wish it away," Adelaide Ngaru, a senior children's officer in the ministry of home affairs told PANA. Ngaru conceded that the cases of child exploitation in Kenya were rampant, explaining that they were not limited to only sexual intercourse but could also be viewed against backdrops of child labor, child marriages and female genital mutilation, or FMG. Ngaru also singles out the child sexual exploitation menace at the Kenyan coast where well run cartels operate. She says the cartel, which operates with expert precision, has a string of clients both local and foreign who top their holiday with what is referred to as sex tourism. The well-organized group consisting of pimps of both sexes also participate in child pornography and vigorously market it abroad. A good number of tourists, mostly from central Europe, have time and again fallen for the ploy and always book the next flight to Kenya. Ngaru says the root causes of this evil in Kenya are illiteracy, abject poverty, HIV/AIDS and retrogressive cultural practices such as FMG and gender discrimination. Another, but subtle reason is that some men wrongly believe that young girls can cleanse them from their sexually transmitted infections, including HIV/AIDS, with the argument that "the younger the better, and if they are virgins, a big plus," Ngaru says. She singles out HIV/AIDS as being a major setback, explaining that orphans who are left behind after the death of their parents due to the scourge have to fend for themselves. "The oldest could probably be 10 years old and has to fend for the toddlers. Some end up as house help, and if mistreated, eventually turn to the streets to sell their bodies for a fee", she said. The official, however, says that all is not lost, as the authorities have set up several guidelines and solutions to eliminate the problem following the passing of the Children's Bill by the country's parliament early last week. Even prior to the passing of the bill, Ngaru says, many young girls had been rescued from their sex exploiting masters courtesy of rehabilitation centers run by the African Network for Prevention and Protection Against Child Abuse and Neglect or ANPPCAN, and the End Child Prostitution In Kenya (ECPIK) lobby group. ECPIK Chairman Lee Muthoga says they have made good progress in rehabilitating young girls but accuses the police of not supporting his organization when it comes to preventing cases of child sexual exploitation. "Very often when we report cases of child abuse to the police, we are met with their standard answer: 'That is a domestic matter'," Muthoga, a leading Nairobi lawyer, complains. The lobby group also complains of the lack of financial support, trained man-power and inadequate data, as information on what effective intervention can be taken are lacking. ##### Tanzania Disputes UN Report of Links to DR Congo Conflict DAR ES SALAAM, Tanzania (PANA)-Authorities in Dar es Salaam have taken issue with a United Nations report linking Tanzania to the civil war in DR Congo. The report alleges that Tanzania is used as a conduit for wealth plundered out of the war-torn country and that some of Congo's Mayi Mayi rebel groups are based in, or have established a vaguely structured presence in Tanzania. Specifically named is the port of Dar es Salaam, where several shipments of natural resources such as diamond and timber from Congo are mentioned to have been smuggled through. According to the report, at least two shipments of timber originating from Congo were transported through the port. A panel of experts made the claims after visiting the country in September and holding meetings with senior government officials, the Central Bank and port authorities, but Tanzania regrets it was never made privy to the findings. "It is our expectation that the panel would make available to us the so-called credible evidence," deputy minister for Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Abdulkadir Shareef has said. Speaking before the UN Security Council during a December debate on the report, Shareef shrugged off the claims saying Tanzania has always maintained a neutral stand on the conflict in DR Congo. Describing the allegations as a "sweeping statement without a tinge of evidence, explanation or detail," Shareef also de-linked the country from claims that it harbored or allowed rebels to use its territory in order to launch attacks against the DR Congo. Shareef said the government was also disappointed with the panel after it accused Tanzanian authorities of failing to cooperate when it visited the country to conduct investigations. DR Congo has been ravaged by a brutal civil war since 1998 when rebels backed by Uganda and Rwanda sought to overthrow the late President Laurent Kabila. At the height of the conflict Angola, Zimbabwe and Namibia fought alongside government troops. ##### NNPA Op-Ed Spotlight NNPA Op-Ed Weekly Uneasy Victory for Mumia By Earl Ofari Hutchinson The reaction to the courageous ruling by U.S. District Judge William Yohn vacating the death sentence for Mumia Abu-Jamal and ordering the state to conduct a new sentencing hearing or sentence him to life imprisonment was swift and predictable. The decision was savagely denounced by the widow of Philadelphia police officer Daniel Faulkner, whom Jamal was convicted of slaying, the Philadelphia Fraternal Order of Police, and Philadelphia's district attorney. From the moment Jamal was convicted of Faulkner's murder in 1982 they have waged a relentless battle to see that he is executed. Within hours of Yohn's ruling, Philadelphia's DA angrily declared that she would appeal his ruling. But many of Jamal's supporters also savagely denounced Yohn's decision. They called it a meaningless sop or, worse, a flat out victory for the police and prosecution since Yohn refused to overturn his first degree murder conviction, and order a new trial. Was Yohn's ruling a victory or defeat for Jamal or the police? The truth about his ruling and the ongoing importance of the Jamal case lay somewhere in between. Since the day Jamal was convicted of the murder of Faulkner, and dumped on death row, his credentials as a former Black Panther Party leader, writer, and radio commentator virtually assured that many blacks and radicals would transform him into a radical icon, and attract what at times has resembled a cult-like following. When Leonard Weinglass of the Chicago Seven trial fame be came Jamal's lead counsel in the 1990s, then Pennsylvania Governor Tom Ridge signed his death warrant in 1995, and Jamal published his best-selling book, Live From Death Row, he became the instant darling of liberals, Hollywood celebrities and international diplomats. The case had all the requisite villains. There was the inflammatory, vengeful judge, the majority white jury that convicted him, public hysteria over the murder of a police officer, and a pulsating campaign by local politicians, much of the press and the Fraternal Order of Police to get rid of a man they regard as an unreconstructed black radical and an unrepentant cop killer. The Jamal case, however, was never a neat example of good versus evil. Though he and his supporters vehemently insist that the trial was riddled with perjured testimony, suppressed and tainted evidence, and blatant jury bias, there was a small mountain of evidence and eyewitness testimony that pointed the finger at Jamal as the likely triggerman. This ambivalence over his guilt was more than enough to cause some, who squirm at the death penalty, to hedge their bets and not scream "Free Mumia," but instead demand only a "new" or "fair' trial for him. But others saw in the Jamal case a glimmer of hope in loosening public rapture over the death penalty. In the two decades that Jamal has languished on Pennsylvania's death row, anti-death penalty proponents watched in anger and frustration as a fearful public scared stiff of crime and violence, and egged on by a sensationalist press that played up a string of grotesque, high-profile murders, and pandering public officials gave noisy approval for more and faster executions. They've gotten their wish. The number of death row inmates in American stands at nearly 4,000. According to the Sentencing Project, African-Americans make up nearly half of those awaiting execution. In Pennsylvania, more than 60 percent of those sitting on death row are African-Americans, yet they make up less than 10 percent of the state's population. The trial judge in the Jamal case, Albert Szabo, for instance, had a much-deserved reputation of being a hard-ass judge who ladled out a colossal number of death sentences. The majority of those he sentenced to death were African-American. While Jamal has been a durable symbol of the rampant racial disparities in the death penalty, there is also the danger that focusing solely on the death-row plight of one individual takes the spotlight off the dozens of other death row inmates who have been victimized by incompetent attorneys, prosecutors that play fast and loose with the rules to win convictions, and compliant judges, who as Szabo, tried mightily to tip the jury against Jamal. And then there are the growing numbers of death row inmates who have been proven innocent and released. Also, if Jamal ultimately succeeds in winning a new trial, or uncovers conclusive evidence of his actual innocence, will this deflate the drive to scrap the death penalty? To his credit, Jamal has recognized the potential danger in obsessively fixating on his case and turning him into a cult figure. In his writings, tapes, and his book, he has repeatedly urged his supporters to fight just as hard to free other prisoners unfairly convicted of crimes. Now that Jamal has won at least a tepid victory, the question is whether they will heed his words? Earl Ofari Hutchinson is an author and columnist. Visit his news and opinion website: www.thehutchinsonreport.com He is the author of The Crisis in Black and Black (Middle Passage Press). ##### Blackonomics Kwanzaa-Celebration or Practice? By James Clingman Once again we have reached the point in the year when we celebrate Kwanzaa. Each of the seven social and spiritual principles (Nguzo Saba) of Kwanzaa will be held in veneration and we will see many African Americans setting aside certain times in their homes to stress Unity, Self-Determination, Collective Work and Responsibility, Cooperative Economics, Purpose, Creativity, and Faith. Since 1966, when the first celebration of Kwanzaa was held by Dr. Maulana Karenga, Black people in this country have steadily increased the focus of not only the United States, but have also caused other countries to focus on it as well - economically speaking, of course. Unity. Now there is a word we hear in our communities all of the time. Unfortunately, it is just a word, and while a lot of brothers and sisters are down with the word, they are not down with the practice of the word; they are not willing to do what it takes to have unity. Beginning on December 26th we will hear the Kwanzaa call for "Unity." Will this be the year that we finally achieve the unity we celebrate? Self-determination. What a concept. Our forefathers and mothers, despite their meager resources and violent constraints, practiced this principle. That's how they build their own towns, started and supported their own businesses, paid for their children's education, and built their own economy. And then came "dis-integration." I don't know about you, but where I live some of us still allow our fate to be determined by other folks. Collective work and responsibility. What a principle that is! Said another way, "Working together to take care of our responsibilities," makes it even plainer for me. There are many things we can do together to make our individual lives better and we should certainly be doing more of those things. Why aren't we? Many of the problems we face on a daily basis are the result of our not working together - collectively - to take care of our own responsibilities. If we would simply apply this principle of the Nguzo Saba, we would be well ahead of the game. Cooperative economics. That's what this column has been about for nearly ten years now. Yes, I have written thousands of words on the subject, but even more importantly, I have also practiced what I have been preaching. Hardly a day goes by that I don't spend a dollar at a Black owned business, advocate for a Black businesses, promote a Black business, help a Black business, encourage Black on Black spending, and actually live the fourth principle of Kwanzaa. Isn't it amazing that all of our economic and intellectual resources we celebrate Ujamaa much more than we practice it? Purpose. Have you ever wondered what your purpose is on this earth? Have you wondered also about our purpose as a people, brought or maybe even sent to this foreign land from a land that has everything a person could ever need, enslaved and subjected to the worst treatment of a people in the history of the world, and surviving to become the most educated and affluent group of Black people in the world? Why did it happen? What are we suppose to do with what we learned? How are we to channel the tremendous strength of a people who would not be denied, who could not be wiped out, who multiplied, as the children of Israel multiplied, in spite such horrific treatment? What is our purpose? Is it to celebrate Nia, or is it to find our purpose and actualize it? Creativity. We celebrate the genius of our people by doing what Brother Amos Wilson referred to in his book. He said we spend a lot of time bragging about the pyramids our ancestors built, but we refuse to build some pyramids of our own to honor the work of our forebears. Our creativity in 2002 should be couched in making this place a little better for our having been here. We must create something lasting, something sustainable, for which we can be not just remembered but revered. That's the creativity Brother Karenga had in mind when he developed Kwanzaa. Faith. The final but the most important principle. Without faith in God, faith in ourselves, and faith in one another, we will not achieve the other principles, which is at the root of our problem in this country. We have been lulled into a slumber of complacency, thinking we have it made as individuals, and have devolved into a collective state of distrust for our brothers and sisters. Our faith must convince us, once and for all, that we are all we have when it's all said and done. Our faith must push us toward God and away from "The Man." Our faith must keep us grounded when things get tough and allow us to rely on one another for the uplift of us all. But we must always remember: Faith without works is dead. What are those works? The other six principles of Kwanzaa. As we participate in our Kwanzaa celebrations this year, let's commit to the PRACTICE of Kwanzaa - all seven principles of Kwanzaa - all year long and for the rest of our lives. Kwanzaa is more than a mere celebration; it is a way of life. Anything less is just hype. Happy Kwanzaa, brothers and sisters - all year long. ##### Millions for Reparations March: Historical Background By Dr. Conrad W. Worrill The issue of reparations for African people throughout the world has become a widely discussed topic that is manifesting itself in a variety of action plans and strategies. One of those action plans is the "Millions For Reparations Mass Demonstration, March, and Protest Rally" demanding reparations from the United States government in Washington, D.C. on Aug. 17, 2002. In my travels around the country, the issue of reparations appears to have penetrated the spirit and interest of African people in America in all walks of life. For those of us who have been organizing and advocating reparations since the 1960's for African people in America, specifically, and for African people throughout the world, the question becomes what does this current phase of the Reparations Movement mean for the just cause of the redemption and salvation of African people? When we talk about reparations, we are talking about the damages, compensation, and redress of those wrongs, so that the countries and people that suffered will enjoy full freedom to continue their own development on more equal terms. When we discuss reparations for African people in the United States we are talking about "slave labor, humanity, culture, legacies, names, language that were taken outside of the law and natural process by forceful demand of white captive slaveowners." In this regard, the current phase of the Reparations Movement for African people in America is connected to the leadership of Sister Callie House who founded "The National Ex-Slave Mutual Relief Bounty and Pension Association" in the 1870's. According to the research of Mary Berry, Sister House organized a Black mass movement demanding reparations during the period of the 1870's to 1915. Berry reveals that, "working through meetings, literature, and traveling agents, the organization successfully developed membership across the South as well as...Oklahoma, Kansas, Indiana, Ohio, and New York." Further, Berry's research reveals the association's 25 cents annual membership fee and the 10 cents monthly dues, along with $2.50 charged local affiliates for a charter, augmented by an occasional extraordinary levy of five cents to defray special expenses, provided the funds for this mass-based movement's work. The objective was to organize a demand throughout the Black nation which would force the United States to provide the needed and well deserved pensions they sought for the aging persons formerly held in slavery, their surviving spouses, care-givers and heirs." The recently published book, Eight Women Leaders of the Reparations Movement U. S. A., by Linda Allen Eustace and Dr. Imari Obadele, further explains: "The movement's successful organizing, coupled with the ubiquitous white supremacist values of whites generally and especially United States officials, which disposed them in those days, as today, to attempt to defeat any significant self help efforts among Black people resulted in a ten year postal investigation." Eustace and Obadele point out that, "after finding no evidence of federal violations, U. S. officials indicted Ms. House and a number of other members, at Nashville for fraud, for using the mail to distribute one of the Association's carefully drawn leaflets. She was found guilty and sentenced to a year and a day in the federal prison at Jefferson City." Although this phase of the Reparations Movement was not successful, the spirit and organizing work carried on through the Garvey Movement and again resurfaced through the leadership of the Honorable Elijah Muhammad and Malcolm X in the 1960's, making the reparations demand through Muhammad Speaks. The Republic of New Africa made a reparations demand in 1968, demanding payment of $400 billion in slavery damages. The National Coalition of Blacks for Reparations in America (N`COBRA) was organized in 1987 following in the tradition of Sister Callie House. Since 1988, N`COBRA has developed a number of strategies designed to gain reparations for African people in America and also help advance international efforts to win reparations. Since 1989, Congressman John Conyers has introduced legislation calling for the U. S. government to hold a study of reparations. This legislation is currently receiving wide support, primarily, due to the work of N`COBRA. Since the late 1980's, the December 12th Movement, the Uhuru Movement, IHRAAM, The Lost and Found Nation of Islam, the Republic of New Africa, and the National Black United Front have been some examples of organizations that continue to work around the demand for reparations. The Tulsa Race Riot Commission, under the leadership of Rep. Donn Ross, attorney Deadria Farmer-Paellmann's research on insurance companies that held slave policies in the 1850's added to the reparations discussion over the last two years. Finally, Alderman Dorothy Tillman's City Council Resolution that received wide publicity, aided in the current interest African people in America now have in reparations, along with the publication of Randall Robinson's book, The Debt. What this current mass phase of the Reparations Movement means is that African people have not lost the memory of the historical atrocities inflicted on us, and that we will never forget what has happened to us. The demand for reparations must be intensified through serious organization. One way to intensify our reparations demand is to participate in the Millions For Reparations Mass Demonstration, March, and Protest Rally! Dr. Worrill is the national chairman of the National Black United Front, located at 12817 S. Ashland Ave., Flr. 1; Calumet Park, Ill. 60827; (708) 389-9929, Fax (708) 389-9819; E-Mail: nbufchi@allways.net; Web page: nbufront.org ##### Make Education Bill a Ladder Up By Emory Curtis Republicans and Democrats in Congress just passed a historic education bill that can go far toward bringing our school children up into the pack in terms of public school academic performance. Like other legislation with potential for doing good for us on a large scale, it can work if we, and our national organizations (such as the NAACP and Urban League), work to make it work. It won't achieve its potential if our organizations sit on the sidelines and nay-say to detract from the credit president Bush will get the credit for the good that comes out of this legislation. It's needed. From school academic performance statistics that I have been following for years, on the average, African American school children are about two grades behind the pack when they are in the sixth grade. That seems to hold true in schools from the ghettos to the suburbs. That is one of the basic reasons why for every one of our children entering academic high school, only one will be in an academic high school at the end of the 12th grade. As a result, when they enter into the work-a-day world of this knowledge-based economy, most are behind the eight ball. This marks the federal government's first real effort in 36 years (1965 Elementary and Secondary Education Act) to really focus on closing the academic achievement gap that exists between poor and minority students and their student peers. Looking at it from a selfish African American point of view, it is a chance to remove that low-performance millstone from our children's necks. Some of the key elements of the legislation Senator Kennedy (D-Mass.) credits with laying "a solid foundation for a stronger, better and fairer American in the future," are 1) States would conducting yearly tests in reading and math in grades 3-8 in the 20005-2006 school years. Some states already do that testing but this legislation brings them all into the fold. To many of us, including many parents and grandparents, it makes no sense for a student to pass the third grade and can't read. 2) States are forced to establish a minimum level of proficiency and set annual goals for schools to meet; they must raise student achievement and make steady progress to meet that overall level of proficiency in 12 years. To most of us, it makes sense for students to reach a certain level of academic performance to pass the third grade, sixth grade and eighth grade, as a minimum. 3) Schools that don't meet the state set goals for two years in a row would have to let children transfer to better public schools at state expense; if they fail for three years in a row, they would have to provide outside tutoring at state expense. A school that fails for five years in a row would have to reorganize or convert to a charter school or lose its federal subsidies. After all, continued subsidy of failure doesn't make sense, it condones failure. 4) Parents would receive annual report cards on the schools that shows them how various subgroups are performing and allows them to compare their school's performance and personnel with other schools. Those mandated performance reports can be the tool that parents and community groups can use to monitor and pressure local schools to improve. With an informed public (parents and community groups) the mandated reports can be a real tool that can be used to make individual schools and school districts perform better than just enough to get by. However, with an uninformed public, the reports can be just that-reports gathering dust in a file or on a shelf. To make sure that this legislation produces what it should for us, the NAACP or Urban League or both should form a task force to study the legislation and its regulations with the view of developing materials that the organizations can use in a massive national community outreach effort. Such an effort should be coordinated with local organizations and churches to assure that all of us have a real understanding of what schools can and cannot do and what should be done when they don't do what they should be doing to help our youngsters. Make no mistake about it. This education bill is no panacea. It is not a ladder up itself, but it can be. Naturally, there are many who say that the goals can't be reached because the federal government deliberately under funded the effort. That may be true. After all, shortage of money is a fact of public life. The police say it, the libraries say it, the health care system says it, etc. Yet, it shouldn't stop any of them from doing the best they can with the resources available. That's what has to happen with this new education bill. Make it work the best it can under its regulations and funding. When holes show up in regulations and funding, it can then garner the public and political support to make changes. Like many others, I'm disappointed with it in that special school tuition vouchers were not one of the alternatives for parents who see their children being educationally stunted by a failing public school. Nevertheless, the need for vouchers will show up later. If the Supreme Court rules in vouchers favor this spring, in many locations school tuition vouchers will become an escape mechanism parents can use to rescue their children from failing schools. Mr. Curtis can be reached at: (916)961-1859 (voice); (916)967-1866 (Fax); e-mail, eccurtis@hotmail.com. or by writing to 8931 Bluff Lane, Fair Oaks, CA 95628. His see past columns are available at http://home.earthlink.net/~eccurtis ##### NNPA Op-Ed UncutBook Review Writer Bridget Davis Reaches Her Stride By Dorothy L. Ferebee (Retsis, by Bridget Davis, Murdock Publishing Co., 155 pgs., $10.95) This second work of fiction by Bridget Davis deserves much praise and many accolades. It's a pleasure and a privilege to witness the growth and development of an author, especially one who holds down full-time jobs as wife, mother and nurse. Davis has crafted a spiritual-supernatural-psychological-thriller. I seldom have the opportunity to read a book that draws readers into the storyline so completely that I can't put it down. Her first novel, Momma's Purl, was a bit taxing because of its frequent changes of voice. But that's okay because Davis has found her voice as a writer in Retsis. I read Retsis on the commute to work and finished it off before cooking dinner. It was like I couldn't function until I read the last word. It all begins with Rachel Legna chasing a ball into the street, unaware of an oncoming car. As she is about to step out into the street, she hears a small voice calling her name. "Rachel. Rachel. Rachel. My name floated like the wind. And just as I turned to see who was calling my name, a car came out of nowhere traveling about 90 miles an hour after coming around the corner. If I hadn't stopped to turn around to see who was calling my name, I might have gotten hit by that speeding car and perhaps joined momma in heaven." The little girl says her name is Sister and when Rachel turns her back, Sister disappears. Seven-year old Rachel lives with her grandmother GiGi in a small Manhattan apartment. GiGi is a prayer warrior and goes into her closet where she prays to keep up her insurance policy with God. Rachel's mother died in childbirth, but her grandmother has kept this a secret from the child. She doesn't want Rachel to feel responsible for her mother's death. She also doesn't tell Rachel that she had a twin who died at birth. Time passes and Rachel is preparing for her 16th birthday party. She has a best friend named Retsis. Retsis also is an only child being reared by an over-protective father. Rachel feels something familiar about her friend and asks her if she is Sister. "Many times I asked her if she was the one who I had met briefly eight years ago. She looked at me as if I were crazy; however she never gave me a straight answer. Although she doesn't look like the small girl Sister, she has that same calm character, something different about her that I couldn't put my finger on...." The night before her big party, Rachel finds GiGi slumped over in her prayer closet and her world changes. She is alone, except for Retsis and Pastor Neil, her appointed guardian. Retsis and Rachel become inseparable and their friend Michael rounds out the trio. They attend Yale University-Retsis and Michael on scholarships, and Rachel on the inheritance of $1 million from an insurance policy her grandmother kept secret from her. Retsis and Michael become Rachel's protectors and even save her from a disastrous love affair with a man named Natasto. She changes her biochemistry major to theology to study with Retsis and Michael. They plan for a class trip to the Vatican in Rome. The trip is cancelled and the story really takes off from there. Davis has outdone herself with this tale. I don't want to give away anymore of the story than I already have because I want you to buy this book. I hope this book inspires her to higher heights as an author. Dorothy L. Ferebee can be reached at bookdiva@blackplanet.com ##### Advice Ask Gwendolyn Baines I Hate to be With Family and Friends on New Year's Eve! Dear Gwendolyn: I am tired of being in the presence of family and friends every New Year's Eve. Last year my siblings said we should bond and be loving. Well, I don't know what they call "bond." One thing for sure they are loving during holidays, but keep nothing but turmoil going all other days of the year. I will soon turn 40, and I have decided that I will live my life doing whatever it is I want to do, and not what others want of me. Most families are close and I want to be loved as part of the family, as well as with friends, but I am truly tired. My family never gives me anything. They only call when they want something. My friends are not true friends and I'm not too dense to know that. Gwendolyn, what can you tell me so that I can have a happy New Year's celebration? Each year as the clock strikes twelve, I find myself having nothing to be cheerful about. I know it is because I am with rotten family and false friends. Joan Dear Joan: The advice I am going to give you will not only cause you to experience a happy New Year's celebration, but will be advice to help you have a happy life. Go ahead and make plans for whatever it is you desire to do for your bringing in of the New Year. Do not allow your friends and family members to cause you to have a change of mind. Let me tell you this: You have far surpassed the years for living your life for others. For the New Year and for the remainder of your life, adopt these principles: Be careful of how you loan money, be watchful of how you change your life for others, and more importantly, rid yourself of false friends. From wherever you are when the clock strikes twelve, you should expel a burst of joy giving thanks. As the old year goes out, stop and give thought to all the tragedy you escaped and to all the people whose lives were ended in the current year. To be miserable and sad on New Year's Eve is not good. Make a happy life for yourself and do it now because, think about it, somewhere in time there will be a changing over into a New Year---without you. Got a problem? Don't solve it alone. Write to Gwendolyn Baines at P. O. Box 78246, Nashville, Tenn. 37207 or e-mail her at: gwenbaines@hotmail.com. ##### Horoscopes JANUARY 3 - 9 ARIES You need to be with someone this week who does not place too many demands on you, and who is creative, intelligent, a good conversationalist, and highly spiritual. Perhaps you should be out looking for that person this week with eyes wide open! Soul Affirmation: My mood is enhanced by the company I keep. Lucky Numbers: 1, 8, 11 TAURUS Work calls and you're not completely happy with current divisions of labor. Do more than your part as a member of the team and you'll be glad that you did. Your reward will come from someone who also did more than their part. Soul Affirmation: Generosity of spirit brings generosity to me. Lucky Numbers: 3, 26, 45 GEMINI Business looks good this week as you discover a new way of increasing exposure to your product. Even if the product is you. Let hope and optimism lead me into new beginnings and fresh starts. All vibes are good. Go! Soul Affirmation: When I feel good about myself, the world feels good to me. Lucky Numbers: 1, 39, 51 CANCER Everybody should be in a good mood this week, and you'll want to join friends or family in sharing food and feelings. You may be asked to change your opinion about something you believe in. Make the change. It will enhance your spiritual growth. Soul Affirmation: Clinging to the old will inhibit my growth this week. Lucky Numbers: 18, 23, 40 LEO If you seem spaced out this week don't worry about it. Fill your mind with a vision of love for the entire planet. Use your gifts to assist others in seeing the world as you do, in glorious color. Check the details on paperwork that you have to do, dreamer. Soul Affirmation: Emptiness inside creates the space that I can fill with love. Lucky Numbers: 12, 17, 38 VIRGO Early mornings vibrations could cause you to slow down. That's good, because slowing down is just what you need. Remember to think of the positive. Reject the negative and you'll have a wonderful week. Soul Affirmation: The slowness of my week gives me time to refresh my energy. Lucky Numbers: 11, 43, 54 LIBRA Rev up your engines. This is a fine week for making progress with projects that you've got in the works. Your energy is high and your mind is clear. Use every advantage this week to finish up your works. Soul Affirmation: High energy and clear mind gives me the winning edge. Lucky Numbers: 7, 26, 39 SCORPIO A spirit of rivalry may have you envious this week. Forget about competition. Celebrate your uniqueness and know that no one really ever competes with you in the matter most essential -your good feelings about yourself. Soul Affirmation: My love for myself is the most important love for me to win. Lucky Numbers: 2, 16, 45 SAGITTARIUS Confusion exists over some question, and every time you think you've got the answer, circumstances will change and new information will come to your attention. Don't worry, things are going to clear up and work out. Take it easy. Soul Affirmation: Worry will only create more worry. I stop all worry. Lucky Numbers: 7, 23, 37 CAPRICORN Communications flow smoothly this week and your intuition is high. A wild idea for money making could come to you, but you should let it walk on by. Stick to your current plan and use your imagination for ways to streamline your work. Soul Affirmation: Slow and steady is an enjoyable way to go. Lucky Numbers: 28, 34, 41 AQUARIUS Creative mental energy makes this a banner week for you. An ambition that you thought you had left behind years ago suddenly resurfaces, and you'll see similarities between what you are doing now and what you dreamed of back then. Enjoy! Soul Affirmation: I enjoy living in my dream. Lucky Numbers: 31, 44, 54 PISCES Give your busy brain a rest and work your body this week. It's a great week for physical activity that can loosen up muscles and relieve tensions. You'll receive some practical advice from a distant relative. Soul Affirmation: I let my mind go slack and tighten up my body Lucky Numbers: 12, 23, 34 ##### Publishers and Editors: Please check back daily for the latest in NNPA News and Photos. Copyright 2001. All Rights Reserved. Reproduction or use of any part of the contents within this site without prior permission of the NNPA News Service is prohibited. The NNPA and BlackPressUSA.com do not pay content contributors. 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