---Can We All Get Along? Remembering the L.A. Riots---
The 10th anniversary of the Los Angeles riots --April 29—is remembered today as a time to reflect on injustice and outrage and recognize challenge and change. By many accounts, people across the U.S. are still raising the question posed by Rodney King some 10 years ago -- "Can we all get along?” TheL.A. riots raged in 1992 after a largely non-diverse jury acquitted four white police officers of the 1991 beating of Rodney King, a Black motorist. The 1992 riots resulted in thousands of injuries, many deaths and the damaging of hundreds of buildings -- thus creating a deep divide in the multicultural community, the larger, South Central community and the naton. Today, although there is more hope and reconciliation, the divide seems to still exist, given that life present day life in South Central Los Angeles is not radically different than it was 10 years ago, except for the noticeable rise in Latinos. Although there have been some successful efforts to deal with the area’s tough economic issues and the cross-cultural communications of the widely diverse people and businesses that reside there, South Central remains to be challenged by poverty and a lack of the great numbers of opportunities needed to see massive change in the community. Unemployment is at 25 percent, more than three times the statewide average and the number of jobs has dropped 45 percent since 1992. Also, now ten years later, changes in leadership of the police force remain an issue. In addition, some catalysts for positive change such as Police Chief Bernard Parks, who made sure officers were keenly investigated for complaints made by the public and took the lead to diversify the Los Angeles Police Department, has been widely criticized by the Mayor and Police Commission. Recently, the city’s Mayor and Police Commission waged a campaign to oust Parks, sparking heavy protest by the City’s diverse community. Can we all get along? Where do we go from here? If you have thoughts, forward them to editors@unityfirst.com.

---Let us pray: African American Bishop Wilton Gregory to lead efforts to resolve Catholic crises---In face of mounting claims of sexually abusive priests, the Catholic Church will look to a gathering of bishops in the U.S. to seek policy to address this crisis. During an upcoming June meeting of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, to be held, in Dallas, Texas, Bishop Wilton Gregory, the first African American to hold his post as President of the 190 member group, will lead efforts to address this Catholic crisis. Gregory will help form the policies to be applied to clergy guilty of sex abuse. His experience includes dealing with the issue with strong resolve in the diocese he serves. Cardinal Bernard Law of Boston's Cathedral of the Holy Cross, who is at the forefront of the scandal, considers himself a ‘wounded healer’ while many people call for his resignation. It was the Archdiocese of Boston who failed to adequately address issues involving Priest John Geoghan who has remained in his role despite allegation that he was a pedophile. Geoghan is said to have abused over 130 children and is currently serving time for his offenses. In another case, the archdiocese also had long-term knowledge of Rev. Paul Shanley, who has been linked to the North American Man-Boy Love Association and has been charged with rape . After the recent meeting of U.S. cardinals with Pope John Paul II and other church officials at the Vatican to discuss the problem of sexual abuse by priests, 56 percent of Americans polled -- including 57 percent of U.S. Catholics -- believe the Pope has left the situation ambiguous by not making it clear if the Church should remove priests who sexually abuse children or young people, according to a Newsweek Poll.

---Did you know? ---
Did you know that there are over 200 million Catholics of African descent throughout the world? (Source: The National Black Catholic Congress). The National Black Catholic Congress IX will sponsor its ninth Congress, August 29-September 1, 2002 in Chicago, Illinois at the Hyatt Regency Chicago Hotel. The theme for Congress IX is "Black Catholic Leadership in the 21st Century: Solidarity Action."

---National Women's Alliance to hold Women of Color Organizing Conference---On May 9-12, 2002 at the University of Illinois at Chicago, the National Women’s Alliance will hold its Women of Color Organizing Conference. The group hopes to leverage the power of women of color and to develop and strengthen organizing skills, build coalitions, and create a progressive agenda for social, economic, and political change. The National Women's Alliance is a proactive, grassroots women of color organization devoted to addressing the intersections of race, class, gender, ethnicity, and sexual orientation through community organizing, training and advocacy. Through resources, training, education, and advocacy, the National Women's Alliance strives to help create an end to all forms of oppression andpromote social justice. A partial list of issues to be covered at the conference include: Violence Against Women, Prison Industrial Complex, Health Care, Community Development, Environment, Racism, Sexism, Classism, Education, Homophobia, Welfare Reform, Religion/Spirituality, Immigration Rights, Capitalism, Women of Color in the Academy, Community Organizing, Poverty, and ReproductiveRights.

----Louisiana’s Juneteenth holiday bill makes progress---
Louisiana may become the next state to recognize Juneteenth as a state holiday. Rev. Ronald V. Myers, Sr., M.D., Chairman of the National Juneteenth Holiday Campaign, was in Baton Rouge this week to rally support to make Juneteenth a holiday in all fifty states. This campaign is not advocating for Juneteenth to become a paid state or federal holiday, but as a National Holiday Observance, similar to Flag Day. State Representative Sharon Weston Broome (D-LA) has agreed to support legislation to make Juneteenth a state holiday in Louisiana. "I organized my first Juneteenth celebration in Baton Rouge in 1991," states Sadie Roberts-Joseph, Director of the Louisiana Juneteenth Holiday Campaign. "It is exciting to see Juneteenth grow in popularity and support as America's 2nd Independence Day celebration." Juneteenth legislation has previously passed in the Louisiana State Legislature through resolution in the senate and a bill in the house. Senate Resolution #16, sponsored by State Senator Cleo Fields, passed in 2000 and House Bill 2076, introduced by State Representative Leonard Lucas, passed in the House of Representatives in 2001, both commemorating Juneteenth in Louisiana. "Hopefully, Louisiana will become the 8th state to recognize Juneteenth as a state holiday, following Texas, Oklahoma, Florida, and Delaware. Alaska, Idaho and most recently, Iowa," states Dr. Myers. "Efforts are continuing to establish Juneteenth as a National Holiday in America," continues Dr. Myers. "The congress of the United States passed a historic resolution, in 1997, recognizing Juneteenth Independence Day in America." Juneteenth, or the "19th of June", recognizes June 19, 1865, in Galveston, TX, when Union General Gordon Granger announced freedom for all slaves in the Southwest. This was the last major vestige of slavery in the United States following the end of the Civil War. This occurred more than two and a half years after the Emancipation Proclamation was signed and enforced by President Abraham Lincoln. Upon the reading of General Order #3 by General Granger, on the "19th of June", 1865, the former slaves celebrated jubilantly, establishing America's 2nd Independence Day Celebration and the oldest African-American holiday observance. For information on the Louisiana Juneteenth Holiday Campaign contact Sadie Roberts-Joseph at 225-343-4411 or 225-355-8086, e-mail: srobertsjoseph@hotmail.com.

---Save the date: June 13-19---
The 3rd Annual WASHINGTON JUNETEENTH 2002 National Holiday Observance, June 13-19, 2002, at the Lincoln Memorial, National Mall and U.S. Capitol, will include a historic 1st Annual National Juneteenth Black Holocaust Memorial Service at the Lincoln Memorial, on Saturday, June 15th, beginning at 1:00pm. The theme of the memorial service, known as the "MAAFA" (Kiswahili term for "Disaster" or "Terrible Occurrence"), is "A Time to Heal & A Time to Pray." "America needs healing from the legacy of slavery," states Rev., Dr. Myers, also Chairman of the National Juneteenth Observance Foundation (NJOF) and the National Juneteenth Christian Leadership Council (NJCLC). "The MAAFA service will coincide with our 3rd Annual National Day of Reconciliation and Healing from the Legacy of Slavery. It will be a time of repentance and reflection, as we pray for God to heal America from the legacy of slavery."

---Hiring report on schools with predominantly Hispanic students---Schools serving majority Hispanic student populations struggle more to fill all teaching positions than schools with majority African-American or majority Caucasian populations, according to a new report from Quality Education Data, Inc., (QED(R)), a leading education market research and database firm and subsidiary of Scholastic Inc. According to the report, 18.1% of the majority Hispanic schools surveyed reported unfilled teaching positions at the end of the 2000-01 school year, approximately twice the percentage of majority African-American schools (9.3 %), and nearly three times the percentage of majority Caucasian schools (6.5%). The newest report in QED's School Market Trend series, Teacher Attrition and Hiring 2001-2002, was conducted to identify patterns of movement among the country's more than 1.7 million K-8 teachers, and to gauge trends in hiring and attrition in the face of projected teacher shortages over the coming years. The percentage of new teachers was significantly greater in schools with predominantly African-American students (12.5%) and schools with predominantly Hispanic students (10.9%) than in schools with predominantly Caucasian students (7.7%).

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