Letters to the Editor

Kudos to Operation Help Now

Let me start by thanking Ibrahim Khonteh for his outstanding initiative (“UMass student provides ‘second chance’ for orphans,” Bay State Banner, June 2, 2011). I must also thank his family, the church and colleagues in their pursuit to make this dream a reality.

Taking into account the traumatic event that took place in Sierra Leone, one can only imagine what it means to little boys and girls who lost their parents and their homes and having no one to turn to for help. It’s like having no future. Their hopes are gone, dreams shattered and they are left vulnerable to whatever comes their way.

There is the need to help these folks in Sierra Leone, bring lost smiles back to their faces and positively redirect their future, as they are the future of Sierra Leone.

I am personally grateful for this venture and I look forward to being a part of this mission.

Philip Sammy Conteh
Via e-mail

Hoop dreams?

I am responding to the Bay State Banner’s April 14, 2011 Community Voices article “Hoop dreams, class distinctions.”

The story by Daren Graves focuses on comments that former NBA star Jalen Rose made when he was an 18-year-old student at an inner city public school. Rose said he believed that Duke University only recruited black players he thought were “Uncle Tom’s.” Well, Rose is not alone. My question is: Why are we focusing on this piece of the story when there is a bigger story ?

The bigger story is what Rose, Chris Webber, Juwan Howard, Jimmie King and Ray Jackson had to endure while at the University of Michigan. Being called the N-word and “big black monkeys with bald heads” had to be detrimental to their psyche. Until we deal with real issues of race and class in America, we will continue to run uphill with skates on.

Byron Beaman
Via e-mail

Why Cornel?

Great editorial on Cornel West and his criticism against the president (“Lost in the Ivory Tower,” Bay State Banner, June 2, 2011); oh the sense of entitlement that some academics have ...

Ginnette P.