European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - April 15, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse                                By Jenny Vogt Cox news service w Hen Deborah Kamau s son came Home from preschool a few years ago the 3-year-old sent his Mother reeling with an unlikely a revelation a a x. It a Quot i wont to be White Quot Little Nijah proclaimed. A v. A i said what a Quot Kamau recalls of her son . Quot i mean we were a real Black  Kamau in t sure what prompted her songs statement but it might have been a Little White girl s refusal to play with him. Whatever it was she quickly set to work to change his mind and has worked since then to instill. Black Pride in Nijah now 7, and his sister Nipassa 5, both of whom she teaches in her Riviera Beach fla., Home. Without  whom they Are Black children cannot Hope to succeed Kamau and Many other parents agree. Its the difference Between helping children a Black and White a a see racial diversity As a cause for Pride and Celebration As opposed to using diversity As an excuse to imply that some people Are More or less important than others. I x a a a. A Quot i told him where every race was from and that those of us with dark skin Are africans and god made us this Way and we re perfect As we Are so there a nothing to. Change nothing bad about being our color a Kamau recalled a a x. I a i a a a a. V a a. ,. Such Are the challenges of being an american Black Parent in a race conscious society. Rather than a a a complaining about the preponderance of books with White faces and White experiences or television shows that depict stereotypical Black characters a Subtle discrimination that can undermine a child s sense of Worth a Black parents Are rising to the occasion in v  a x a a  x i. Kamau for instance has written a 1.6 Page african. Activity Book that is being distributed by the harambee. A educational foundation a non profit group dedicated to encouraging and promoting Black history and Black. Culture. The Workbook which includes swahili numbers and a word search activity about african heroes is. Among Many books and instructional materials written for and by Black americans. A a a a a Quot a. A. Kamau makes sure her children have Access not Only a to Black books but also to Black toys and that they get ample Opportunity to play with children whose parents a a a Are similarly inclined. At stake if these efforts Aren t made she and other Black parents say is not  ability of their children to succeed but the ability of everyone to. Get along in peace. A xxx a. Quot we need to have those Black images out there not Only for Black children but for White children because everyone needs to have a positive image of everyone. Else a Kamau said. Quot we re  world together and if we want to keep the world off the path to self destruction we better get along . A topic of particular concern to Many Black parents is history books that stress Black problems More than Black accomplishments. Xxx a a. A. A Quot it s important that As Black parents we give our children a knowledge of their history which is a Beautiful history they can be proud  said Steve White a West. A Palm Beach fla., Parent of two and president of the. A harambee foundation. Quot i Don t want it to sound like we As a people Are Down and. Out. That s not the Case at All. Our a people came through slavery and so this is not a Challenge we cannot meet to prepare our children 1. _. Readers action Jin suggestion for the Philadelphia Uso am writing you to inquire about the Uso based at the Philadelphia air terminal. A a. Back in june 1988,1 departed from that terminal and received very Good treatment there the people were very courteous and helpful. The Only drawback was that they closed Down from 10 . Until 8 . Every Day. It f was told however that i could stay at the red Baron a place in the terminal run by the salvation army. It. Turned out to be a very Nice place and it was open 24 hours a Day a later that year,.my wife got orders to join me and was to depart through Philadelphia As Well when she arrived she was told that her flight to Naples Italy had been delayed eight hours not including the scheduled Layover of six hours. She now had a 14-hour Layover to Deal with along with our 4-Monfh-old son. A a a. She went through the same Steps i had and found the Rod Baron. The people there were very kind and helped my Wile they even watched my son while she caught a Quick Nap i would like to thank them very much for their help. A Quot xxx in september of 1989,1 had to go Back Home on a a emergency leave and again the red Baron gave me a quiet place to rest my feet while i awaited the Early a morning flight to my Home state,-.georgia, while there i was told the red Baron would be closing its doors on. Oct 1 of that year a a. Quot i asked if the Uso would be extending its operating a hours for service members in need of. The services that a. A were being provided by the red Baron. The answer was no. A a a a x i x a i have talked to Many people who benefited from the. Red Baron in the past. Since the red Baron  have had a rough time of it when unexpected. Delays forced them to spend the night in the terminal. Its closing was a real loss to All service members and their dependents. A. A. I also cannot understand Why the Philadelphia Uso a has not extended its hours to fill the Gap especially since the terminal is one of the military a main Points of departure from the East coast. A a my Only suggestion is that if there Are not enough funds to operate the Uso full time a this seems to be the same problem faced by the red Baron a then Why done to the two. Organizations Pool their resources and provide a full time facility at this terminal with less Cost. More funds and a larger Volunteer Force Between therm the organizations could make it a reality if they would. Work together. A v 1 i would like to know if they will consider this suggestion or reject it outright again thanks to All the volunteers at both the a Philadelphia Uso and. The red Baron. \ staff sgt. Jarrett s. Warner v Naples Italy to col. Leon r. Ferraez director National communications the salvation army National Headquarters replies we Are grateful for your interest about the Uso and the red Baron a place run by the salvation army in Philadelphia. A a a. If i m not mistaken More than Likely you Are referring to the red shield club rather than the red Baron and that particular service has not been in operation for several years. Though the salvation army has not participated ,. As a Uso sponsor for a number of years for Many reasons we continue to serve military personnel. During the persian Gulf situation we had Many programs throughout the country including a nationwide Effort called Quot operation we cafe Quot whereby we provided counselling for children and adults. We also provided Materia assistance to the families of military personnel in the persian Gulf  As rent mortgage payments food Medicine travel utilities and whatever else was needed. In addition salvation army canteens were on the Border of saudi Arabia and Kuwait serving All English speaking military personnel and trying to minister to the needs of the service personnel during the time of both operations desert shield and desert storm. Our work with Quot operation we care Quot shall continue As Well As work directly related to military personnel and their families. A a a. A a. A. Even though we done to actually have facilities dedicated just for service personnel you can be assured that the salvation army will continue to meet the needs of service personnel around the world and we Are grateful for this Opportunity to serve. A a a May god bless you and give you Success in All that you do. It a a. A a minute emergency flight delays of course in the event of extended delays it is the responsibility of the chartered. Airline Carrier to provide lodgings for manifested passengers a a a a v the Uso continues to submit funding proposals to. Various corporations and foundations to extend our a operational hours around the clock. Recently  a proposal was submitted to the Philadelphia Airport s airline carriers association. Unfortunately this proposal a a was tabled  a from october 1989 through december 1989, the Uso was in fact open on a 24-hour basis due to the closing of the Charleston s.c., Mac operations following Hurricane Hugo the Drain on our resources arid facilities was overwhelming. V . Presently out Uso is open 24 hours from Friday. Morning to saturday afternoon due to a rescheduled Early morning Mac flight a a a. In addition to our Airport operations the  a Uso at the Philadelphia naval base seven Days a week. Quot a. V -.  -. A a our. Uso is negotiating with authorities at Dover fab del., for a satellite operation in their passenger air v terminal. We have continual requests to provide Uso operations at Mcguire fab n.j., and the coast guard training Center in Cape May a athe Uso of Philadelphia inc., is a non profit civilian organization under Section 801 c 3 of the internal Revenue code. The Uso receives no Federal funding. It is supported through the United Way and. Voluntary. Contributions. Financial reports Are annually audited by an Independent accounting firm and Are registered with the commission on charitable organizations. A Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. A a a realistically social service agencies cannot be All things to All people. Organizations like our Uso must a. Direct their resources where they will be most effective. A the Uso will continue to Appeal to various funding a sources to develop a 24-hour Airport Center operation. I thank you for your inquiry and expressed concerns. Jay i. Hill executive director Uso of Philadelphia inc., replies thank you for your letter concerning the operational hours of the Uso at the Philadelphia International Airport. With the closing of the red shield lounge in. September 1989, the local chapter of the salvation army discontinued its services for military personnel and families. A a. A a the Uso Center has always adjusted its operational hours in compliance with the military Airlift come s flight schedule. Due to limited financial and manpower a a resources it is not always practical to respond to last to write us readers action line is the readers Quot court of last resort striving to answer some of the questions about life overseas in a military environment or questions about policies and guidelines when other avenues for answers Are not readily available. If you have a question and Don t know where to turn for the answer write to readers action line co the stars a and stripes Apo 09211-4211. All letters must be signed and preference Wilt be Given to those seeking information of general interest to our readers. A a a Page 16 monday april 15, 1991