PLATFORM : Valuable Role Models

Today we find African-American role models in every walk of life--the mechanic who coaches the Little League team, or Reginald F. Lewis, who heads TLC Beatrice International, a billion-dollar food company or actress Marla Gibbs, who supports a community theater group.

And obviously they include Gen. Colin Powell, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Dr. Louis W. Sullivan, secretary of health and human services and any member of the Black Business Assn. of Los Angeles who is providing employment.

The community is diverse and therefore requires diversity of role models. The need for a single person to embody our collective aspirations has now passed. However, should the collective common good of the community be at risk again, as it was in the ‘60s, we will produce another common voice, such as Martin Luther King Jr. or Malcolm X.

The challenge for the future is to have more role models in business. A greater effort by the press should be made to highlight the progress in this endeavor.