Roxanne
Jones:
Senatorial
Gadfly
by Vicki Koon
She pricks the conscience of the
Senate with pleading and prodding for
legislation that is fair to all the people
of Pennsylvania. She is determined to
tell the truth to both her constituents and
her colleagues in the Senate. She is, as
she says, "a Real politician." She is
Roxanne Jones, the first black woman to
be elected to the Pennsylvania State
Senate. How she got to the Senate is a
classic story of how misfortune can be
conquered and used to one's advantage.
Senator Jones had no
aspirations to go into politics, as a
matter of fact, she wanted to be a ballet
dancer. The early 1960's instead found
her sick, jobless, and alone with two
young daughters to raise. She honestly
didn't know where to turn. Her doctor
told her about welfare and urged her to
apply. She did. And as she says, "It
was a day of my life I'll never forget."
When she says these words it is easy to
see that she really has not forgotten.
"The intake worker treated me as though
I was a murderer. I had been working
since I was 13, had given to charities all
my life, was a good citizen and was
being treated this way. " It was only
through the help of a local politician
that she was able to get the aid that she
was legally entitled to. Pennsylvania
should be thankful, for Roxanne Jones.
Activist
Roxanne Jones became an
activist because she realized that poor
people need a strong grass roots
organization to fight for their interests.
She became an activist in 1966 and by
1968 she was made city wide chair of the
Philadelphia Welfare Rights
Organization. In this position she was
able to increase the membership from
600 to over 3,000.
Senator Jones did many things
as an activist. In 1976 she had the
opportunity to view Nixon's budget
proposal, which she discovered alloted
$2700 fi fi Nl' (14
Roxanne Jones
Capital Times
Vol 21., No.ll
Capital College Team Bowls For
Big Brothers/Big Sisters
Meet the Penn State, Harrisburg Celebrity Bowling Team. From left, Janet Widoff,
student activities coordinator; Mark Widoff, criminal Justice instructor; Ruth Leventhal,
provost and, dean of Penn State, Harrisburg; Cindy Morris, secretary in student
activities; Jean Meitz, student. On Saturday, March 28, this team participated in the
Celebrity Day at Red Crown Lanes In Harrisburg. Each participant was invited to bowl
one game and to secure sponsors for the benefit of Tri-County Big Brothers/Big Sisters.
The annual "Bowl for Kids Sake" is responsible for 80 percent of the yearly operating
budget of the program. This year's campaign was expected to raise $75,000.
when at the same time a welfare family
of four was expected to live on $2400.
Senator Jones says that you only have to
look at the budget to see who the
government cares about.
When the Pennsylvania
legislature was going to lower the
Senior Citizens check from $69.00 to
$21.00 she came to Harrisburg as a
lobbyist. She says she couldn't sleep for
people calling her at night. She had
people from all over the state ready to
testify before the Senate Appropriations
Committee, and the Senate closed the
door on them. That was the one time
that she went to jail. "They told me I
broke the windows out of the building,"
she says. But the five days weren't
uselessly spent, for she organized while
she was in jail.
"The government has done a
real good job of brainwashing people,"
she says. "One of its biggest myths is
that poor people are lazy, shiftless, and
don't want to work." "I'm not buying
any of that stuff. You should hear them
on the floor. Everytime one of them
starts with that malarky I sit them right
down. You know why - I'm real. I've
been there. I lived it and I breathed it,
and I'm a woman that's not afraid of any
man."
Penn State at Harrisburg.
"They don't want people off of
welfare," she says. "It's a lie. They
want to keep them there so they can lie
to you so they can spend the money the
way they want to." When she tried to
set up a program with Temple
University to get welfare mothers a
college education she found "that we're
not shiftless any longer, we're not lazy.
All of a sudden they want us in the
home." "You've heard the term Welfare
Fraud?" she asks. That is due mostly to
not having a system set up, she says.
"If you were poor and got a check in the
mail that you weren't supposed to have,
what would you do," she asks.
"Anytime you have poor people up
against the wall, they are going to come
out fighting."
"I am determined to point these
things out. I'm not hung up on 'OK,
I'm a State Senator' and that's a big deal.
To me, it's not big enough. I've not
been able under the Republican
administration to do all the things I want
to do. I will become impresseii. when I
can create jobs across the
commonwealth. When I can say they
have dealt with my legislation, and that
everybody that wants to work Can
work."
Picture
"It's good to be humble, and it's
good to remember where you came
from," Senator Jones says. More
women should get into politics, she
says, because "women are sensitive."
And being sensitive to the issues and in
touch with her constituents is most
important to her. She chides her
listeners, "All we have to do in life is
put ourselves in somebody else's place
that is less fortunate than we are, and the
world would be a better place."
"Sometimes you have to stand up to be
a man or a woman, and you have to let
people know that you are
sincere." Senator Jones does that well.
..IM.w::.
Ask Mr. Foster.. p. ,8
Talented Student P. 3
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April 8, 1987
Jan Travers
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