I read a newspaper article about how the actor and comedian Bill Cosby spoke at a Compton (Calif.) community meeting Wednesday night. He suggested that people should strive to improve their lives, to work "towards something."
It's been reported in the press, in recent months, that Compton has been wracked by gang violence. The number of homicides (year-to-date) has already exceeded the total for last year.
One thing Cosby thought would be a good example for kids, was to hold a parade to honor the homegrown tennis stars, the William sisters (Venus and Serena).
Perhaps, this attitude of self-improvement and positivity could be applied to other places in dire straits. Palestine comes to mind, because it's been in the U.S. news headlines, of late. President Mahmoud Abbas came to Washington and met, the other day, with President Bush.
After the meeting, Bush urged Abbas deal with "armed gangs", referring to militant groups like Hamas.
(Maybe Bush should've heeded his own advice, when he flew to L.A. the following day. He went to a million dollar RNC fundraiser in Bel Air. He could've added a detour to Compton to talk about gang violence. (Yet another example that he doesn't care about Blacks. :-) ).
Getting back to Palestine... I recently discovered amidst my piles of periodicals, a college student publication, Aswatuna: Our Voices. i picked it up last year at UVa. It was published by the Students for Peace and Justice in Palestine.
One of the main themes was the oppression and victimization of Palestinians by Israelis. Such a message runs the risk of alienating unbiased readers, if it's not moderated or counterbalanced by analyses of problems amongst or by Palestinians, such as violence.
Not all articles in the zine stressed the victimology attitude, but I would've appreciated some lengthy discussion of positive developments in Palestinian society.
Like what? Well, I used to know a woman* who worked at a small NGO in DC that supported a dairy farming project by Palestinians. (This was many years ago, possibly, before the Intifada.)
Maybe it's time that Bill Cosby take his message to Palestine. (I can see it now, a television special titled, "Live in Gaza -- Straight Outta Compton")
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*And as I think back, I remember her inviting me to a party, one time, at her place where I met a State Dept. employee. I think he was at the Iraq desk. I remember expressing concern about the plight of the Kurds. (I'd read an article or pamphlet about their oppression and potential extermination, something I'd picked up at a college campus years before.)
He just chuckled, and said that the Kurds weren't in danger of disappearing and would be around for a long time. (I guess he knew something that Saddam didn't.)
Posted by raacluse at October 21, 2005 4:20 AM