European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - February 29, 1992, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Saturday february 29, 1992 the stars and stripes b Page 3 Black history month childhood friends come alive in boo author recalls struggle to survive poverty violence by John Millar Wurzburg Bureau Kitzinger Germany a Vivian Gartley Hindrew did no to know who the Rev. Martin Luther King or. Was when the civil rights Leader and his entourage strolled through her impoverished Chicago neighbourhood in the 1960s. A when Martin Luther King was walking Down that suffering is Universal. It transcends race it transcends class it transcends sex Vivian Gartley Hindrew Block i had no idea there was segregation a said Gartley Hindrew a Small girl it the time. A i had no idea there was a War in Vietnam. I had no idea the Community i lived in could be  what she did know however was the harsh reality of life in a neighbourhood riddled with unemployment violence and poverty. She also knew her friends shared the same cruel world and the struggle to survive. Gartley Hindrew is an army family member who lives in kist near Wurzburg. She is now the family member employment assistance program coordinator at Harvey Barracks in Kitzinger. It has been 23 years since she left her Chicago neighbourhood and the friends she grew up with. Although she Hasni to seen them since she never forgot them. And at age 36, she said a a it a time to put a face on them a give them some dignity and the respect they  she gave her old friends new names in a Book of Short stories and poems titled sacred cry Mes a few Home girls path to self awareness. The Book published in january takes a Blunt personal look at the lives of seven of Gartley Hin Drew a childhood chums. The stories focus on How each deals with the harsh situations they Are placed in. Each girls situation is different. The Only common thread is life in poverty. For example in the first chapter a girl named Gartley Hindrew Reny Mae gets the rare gift of a new dress to Wear to school just to have it torn to shreds by an abusive schoolteacher who beats her for acting up in class. Reny Mae is both terrified and heartbroken but does no to Tell her Mother of the incident and secretly repairs the dress. Through Reny Mae Gartley Hindrew explains How being abused by the teacher was not As bad As life would have been without a Mother who would have killed the teacher had she known of the abuse and spent the rest of her Days in jail. Another girl faces molestation from someone she thought was a Friend and a third deals with another friends growing up with a lesbian Mother. Yet another becomes a hesitant partner in her mothers plot to steal a Many a paycheck so she could feed her family a knowing full Well that the Man also had a family to feed. They Are stories that a a done to show up on the Oprah Winfrey show or the Phil Donahue  Gartley Hindrew said. Quot they re real characters who try to transcend their own pain in their own  and although her subjects Are poor Black girls growing up in Chicago she said their stories transcend race class and sex. A i chose girls who i grew up with but this could be across the Board. It could be any human being that walks that path. They definitely transcend race because a Black Middle class person who has never known what its like to be poor cannot relate to being poor. Suffering is Universal. It transcends race it transcends class it transcends  Back in 1960s Chicago a a wino was a wino Quot Gartley Hindrew said about those who actually lived on the streets. A today there Are mothers and children who Are homeless. And we carry signs in protests to a save the world right past  Gartley Hindrew describes herself As a just a child. I have no  and she gives no answers to the problems her friends face in her Book. She Hopes to find some of those answers As she learns and grows but in the meantime said her Book helps in that it recognizes those who arc a a faceless to most of us. She Hopes readers will recognize them too. Sacred cry Mes will be available at european stars and stripes  60s provide basis for edutainment by Peggy Davidson Kaiserslautern Bureau just scr in Justice is not designed to be a comfortable play. Nor is it comfortable to watch. Its authors crafted it to both entertain and shake up the complacent. The first half of the play is loosely based on the activities and the people who created the Black Panther organization of the 1960s. The second half follows the son of one of the main characters into the present and focuses on his efforts to revive Black awareness with Radical techniques in his neighbourhood. Viewers who were alive during the turbulent �?T60s will find their thoughts returning to the eras violence the demonstrations the assassinations which seemed to become an Ordinary part of life. And those viewers will wonder Why those events happened. And audience members who were born after the �?T60s May tend to look at those years through romantic eyes feeling that that was the time to be alive wondering if they missed a the wonder  specs. Donald Sparks and China Franklin both of the army medical Materiel Center Europe at Pir Masens Germany wrote the play which will be presented saturday night in the Pir Masens Frontier club As part of the Community s Black history month program. The $15-a-ticket dinner theater production begins at 6 30 . T he play has a cast of 21, including Sparks and Franklin. Sparks 23, and Franklin 24, said that because they were not alive during those years they opted for writing the play As fiction with Only Loose ties to the reality of Black activists Huey Newton and Bobby sealers organization. The play echoing the themes of discrimination violence and assassination that seemed to Mark the decade a is about cultures a said Sparks. A each person should know about his or her culture know not Only your own but learn about  each scene is underscored by music of the respective eras to emphasize the Points the playwrights hoped to make. The music of Curtis Mayfield James Brown and a1 Green will trigger a Kaleidoscope of memories for Many of the audience. A amps Peggy Davidson members of a Black Panther like organization dressed in paramilitary uniforms confront an angry group of protesters during the opening scene of just serving Justice a which is being performed in the Pir Masens Frontier club. Just senins Justice uses the performers Lack of polish and minimal scenery to its advantage to focus the audience on their message the injustices that Are still in the world today. A i can to live without trying to add something to life a said Franklin. Writing plays is the something he is adding to his life and the lives of the people he works w ith. Just Senin a Justice is the second play Sparks and Franklin have co written. Their first Effort no Way out was produced last december for the Community. By the final showing Sparks said there was a Nice turn out. The two Call their writing and production team struggling artists productions and fully intend to continue writing plays they dub a edutainment Quot partly education partly entertainment. Franklin credits Sparks with the motivation for writing the plays. Quot he a the first person id met who had the Black consciousness a Franklin said. Franklin added that Sparks awareness of his heritage and culture led to his own efforts at writing