THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, May 27, 1995 TAG: 9505270406
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B5 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY DENISE WATSON, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Long : 102 lines
Not many people can advocate ``ganging up'' on black folks and get a standing ovation, but sociologist Andrew Billingsley did so yesterday.
Billingsley was the morning speaker for the Afr'am Fest conference, ``Affirming the African-American Family,'' at the Norfolk Waterside Marriott Hotel Friday.
Billingsley urged successful blacks to confront those who live with violence and poverty.
``There are more of us who are not in jail than are in jail,'' Billingsley challenged. ``There are more of us who are not poor than are poor. There are more of us that are adults than are children.''
``We need to gang up on them, reach back. . . . Let's have another set of victories, like we've had in the past.''
The conference, which concludes today, is the beginning of the 12th annual Afr'am Festival, the area's largest celebration of African-American culture and heritage. More than 120,000 people are expected to visit downtown Norfolk this weekend for a collection of music - reggae, jazz, gospel - as well as art and food.
The conference analyzes the roots of problems plaguing many African-Americans - poverty, unemployment, violence - and ways to solve them.
Billingsley, chairman of the Department of Family Studies at the University of Maryland, made the answers seem simple. Blacks need to look to their ancestral heritage.
Many African Americans have wandered from the ``tremendous legacy of Africa,'' Billingsley said, ``abandoning the values that have inspired blacks in America for the past 300 years.''
``That deep sense of spirituality. . . blood ties, that blood is thicker than water. Family being an extended family, including a whole family and kindred. Children belonged to the whole community, the whole village, the whole lineage.''
In addition to finding traditional values, African Americans should build their economic and political bases, Billingsley said. He urged African Americans to support black-owned businesses.
``African-Americans make more money annually than Canada's gross national product,'' Billingsley said. ``If we just held on to those millions of dollars and invested it, we'd be a lot better off.''
Billingsley's speech was followed by workshops that offered a variety of information, from advice on how to apply for a mortgage to sexual assertiveness training.
A small group of women in one session learned what it takes to adopt a child. According to a 1994 report, African-American children made up 61 percent of the 624 children in Virginia who were waiting to be adopted.
Helen Shropshire, regional coordinator for the Virginia One Church One Child program - which encourages churches to find congregation members to adopt - said there are many myths surrounding adoption. People falsely believe that adoption is expensive and that adopted children are troublemakers.
``I heard one man refer to this family and then he said, `Well, he was adopted, you know.' That made my blood boil,'' said Shropshire, who has an adopted son.
``How many biological families can you name that have problems?''
A crowd of about 40 sat in another ballroom to learn the mysteries of good communication between the sexes.
Professor Nanette Johnson of Norfolk State University prefaced her session by warning that much of what she would say is based on studies ``and I know that there are exceptions to every rule.'
``But ladies, we should realize that most men are very non-verbal and we don't like that,'' Johnson said, as the few male heads nodded and women gave each other knowing looks.
``I heard a young woman say, `I call him and he won't call me back. I page him, he won't return my calls. I went by his house and her car was there. If he doesn't want me, why doesn't he just tell me? ' ''
``I told her, `He has told you.' ''
Lunch at the conference was akin to a church revival as a group of gospel veterans, New Horizon, performed, and Black Entertainment Television talk-show host Bev Smith gave a rousing speech.
``I don't want to accept what I've been told about African-American families,'' Smith said. ``We have allowed the media to define what the black family is, and we accept it: African-American families are inadequate or dysfunctional. When the fact is we're graduating from high school, going to college. We have mothers and fathers and kids doing well, and kids who aren't.
``Hello, somebody! Do you all here what I'm saying?,'' Smith said, to an eruption of ``YESSSES.''
Smith urged African Americans to celebrate their own achievements and build family and community ``by looking out for one another.''
``We need to stop criticizing women-headed households. What if I'm a young black man and I hear this about my mother?'' Smith asked.
``I've already been told that because my daddy isn't in the home, I don't have a chance. I go home and see my mother working two or three jobs and I don't have any respect for her. That's where problems start.'' ILLUSTRATION: Photo by MOTOYA NAKAMURA, Staff
Andrew Billingsley of the University of Maryland speaks on
African-American heritage for Afr'am Fest '95 on Friday at Waterside
Marriot. Billingsley heads the Department of Famiy Studies, and is
the author of five books.
KEYWORDS: AFRICAN-AMERICAN FAMILY by CNB