Blacks push positive side of empowerment movement

Clark County teen-age blacks who have been working to give themselves a more positive image are frustrated by the national news media's continued negative focus, said a West Las Vegas community leader.

The media attention to the hostility between police and participants in the New York Million Youth March compared to the limited coverage of the peaceful movement in Atlanta is an example of the stereotyping that frustrate black teens, said Vanessa Williams, director for the West Las Vegas Pride Community Development Center.

Both events were held Labor Day weekend.

Williams, 24, who was a speaker at the youth movement in Atlanta, said the difference between the two events shows the diversity in the community and how the media often focuses on the negative.

"Grab your gun and shoot the police. How many times did they need to play that?" said Williams, who pointed out that there were many other speakers at the New York event who didn't focus on hostility.

Williams accompanied about 25 black teens from the Las Vegas Valley who attended the Million Youth Movement in Atlanta in hopes of doing something positive for their community.

A group of Las Vegas teens recently discussed their Atlanta experience at the center located at 1201 W. Miller Ave.

The Million Youth Movement in Atlanta focused on love and unity, said 16-year-old Katherine Griffin who attends Palo Verde High School.

"They were teaching love, not hate and people came with a positive mind," she said.

There were almost 4,000 teens from around the country who attended the workshops that promoted the empowerment of black youth.

With a theme, "Preparing Youth for the New Millennium," the purpose of the movement was to inspire a God-centered youth movement regardless of religious affiliation and to initiate a 10-year global plan to improve conditions in black communities.

The Million Youth Movement follows the the Million Man March in Washington, D.C., in 1995 and The Million Woman March in Philadelphia in 1997.

The list of speakers at the event included Martin Luther King III, national president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, and Kweisi Mfume, president and CEO of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.

Aside from the frustrations following the media focus on the New York march, the progressive teens say they've brought back an agenda and an energy that will have a rippling effect on teens throughout the valley.

Andrea Nelson, a 17-year-old who attends Cheyenne High School, said the conference in Atlanta also sent a positive message to adults that black youngsters can do something productive.

"Everyone thinks that when young people get together that something goes wrong," Griffin added in agreement. "We proved them different."

Spiritual, political, social and economic areas as well as education were the major issues addressed during the Atlanta event.

The 10-year plan for the political agenda addressed in Atlanta involves getting teens to register 10,000 people -- 1,000 per year -- in their communities to vote.

The Las Vegas teens have already been conducting a door-to-door voter registration drive that began in July.

"The majority of black people in America are not even registered," said 17 -year-old Vyshika Willis, a student at Cimarron High School.

Williams added that local politicians are not spending any time, money or energy in the black community. "By voting we are a people," she said.

Getting more black students to pass the high school proficiency exam is another effort influenced by the Atlanta' conference.

"Sixty-nine percent of Las Vegas students who didn't pass the proficiency exam were African American," Williams said, adding that tutoring for proficiency exams will be added to the academic workshops already offered by the community center.

The spirituality and social agendas focused on unity within the community despite differences in skin color, religion, educational background or status.

"It's about helping others. What they don't know, what they don't have, teach them," Willis said.

Exploitation of black teens by designer clothing and athletic shoe companies were discussed as part of the economic agenda.

Williams said it's important that people realize that the Million Youth Movement was not about black power, but black empowerment that will lead them to the level of equality in America.

"We are empowering our community to get more leverage," she said.

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