Now’s your chance to view a positive

Published 12:00 am Thursday, July 25, 2002

It’s too bad negativity makes such interesting barber shop talk. People have plenty of opinions about the problems of the world and they offer very few solutions.

As the saying goes, “Those who don’t, talk.”

This week, you probably won’t walk into a barber shop and hear anybody talking about the Dallas County Children’s Policy Council. For that matter, you’d be hard-pressed to find many people in Selma who know anything about the organization.

Email newsletter signup

On the other hand, you’re sure to find plenty of people who would rather spew coffee across the table discussing the political turmoil that will leave Selma only when all the people leave.

That’s a shame because people like Tina Price care about solutions more than they care about the problems.

Price, who never hides her concern about the children of Selma and Dallas County, will host a “needs assessment” program for the youth of Dallas County on Friday. Her event begins with registration at 8:30 a.m. and concludes at 2 p.m.

Without knowing anything about Price’s presentation, and without knowing who plans to attend and who will skip the event, you’d have to be a Selma outsider to know that very few people likely will attend the Policy Council’s meeting at Shiloh Baptist Church. For that matter, it’s a pretty safe bet that few will bother to understand what the Policy Council strives to do for the children of Dallas County.

Here’s the worst part: Those same people who could spend a few hours learning about the needs of the children in this community will spend much of that time clamoring on about the ills of Selma. They’ll talk about what’s wrong with education and how parents don’t care what their children do anymore. They’ll talk about violence on the streets and the lack of police officers in town.

Meanwhile, people like Tina Price will be perched over podiums addressing those needs and finding out a way to make the lives of our children better.

Maybe some in Selma should bother to attend.