"war On Crime In The Name Of Jesus"

"It's not just my crusade, it's the people's crusade," declares Martha Jean "The Queen'' Steinberg. She's talking about her "War on Crime in the Name of Jesus" and how she has been able to get over 1 00,000 signatures supporting it. 

Martha Jean, the popular WJLB radio personality, says everyone is talking about the crime issue, but nobody seems to be doing anything about it. "So after we made the decisión to declare War on Crime in the Name of Jesus, my dedicated community workers wasted no time getting the petitions circulated. 

"It took just a little over four weeks to pass our goal of 100,000 signatures," she says. "And this convinced us that the people are fed up with all this crime and want something done about it besides talk. We wanted the assurance that the community was ready to stand up and be counted." 

Crime in Detroit has been steadily rising for more than six years, when heroin trafficking invaded this community. And it is a well-known fact that a large percentage of the crime is committed by youths, some as young as 1 1 or 12 years old; we are now faced with an increasing number of youth gangs joining the lucrative crime racket. This poses an even greater threat, not only to the general community but to the school system as well. 

When Martha Jean "The Queen'' first spoke of her group's crusade against crime, many people, particularly the so-called "leaders," didn't believe it would get off the ground. 

After collecting supporting signatures in the five-figure range, however, we learned that the Queen's crusade had attracted a groundswell of support from the community. But some behind-the-scenes controversy over the issue is reportedly going on in some leadership circles, including the Christian clergy. 

"It's not so much a religious fight," says Martha Jean. "It's everybody's battle, regardless of religious beliefs. But we knew that many people would rally behind the name of Jesus, and we told them if they joined the War Against Crime in the Name of Jesus, the Lamb's blood would be on their foreheads [a biblical promise of blessing] 

"They understood that language and trusted it," she says, explaining why so many people signed the petitions so willingly. "Everything we have attempted in the name of Jesus has been successful." 

Many have rejected the phrase ". . . in the name of Jesus," arguing that blacks have been on their knees far too long and would use it as an excuse or a crutch. 

"We teach people that God helps those who help themselves," the Queen responds. "We don't encourage any kind of crutch. We want the people themselves to mobilize behind the War Against Crime in the Name of Jesus, to be countable, to do their part with the Lord's help. Then, when we've done all we can do, Jesus will deal with it." 

Acclaimed as one of the city's most popular disc jockeys, Martha )ean is heard on WJLB radio in many supermarkets and corner grocery stores throughout the central city, five days a week, from 1 0 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Her program is primarily issue-oriented, consisting of calis from community people who want her advice or help. The Queen often spends a good bit of time scolding parents for not looking after their children and not taking an interest in their performances in school. She also gives a tongue-lashing to "negligent" politicians, whom she flatly says "aren 't doing their jobs." 

Martha lean is an ordained Christian minister who preaches the gospel of responsibility, which she says must begin in the home. "Parents should set examples for their children," she declares. 

Her message last Thursday on her show was typical of those she often elaborates: "We've got to get to the minds of these adults. We've got to give the young people who are trying to make it something to look forward to. We've got to become involved in our homes, involved in the schools. 

"The Education system in our country's going to fail unless we get back to the basics. The children can't read, write, spell, or count." 

While Martha Jean is highly critical of the school system, she says she can't put all the blame on the schools, the principals, the teachers, or the children. 

"I blame the parents," she says, and asks them: "How many times do you sit in a classroom? How many of you feed your children hot food? You should cut that television off and tell your children to study their homework." 

Martha Jean also gets calls from people who criticize something she said, but she disarms her critics in short order, and not very many seek a confrontation with her. 

The announcement of the Queen's large number of signatures supporting her crusade has reportedly stirred up a hornet's nest among some organizational and church leaders. While they were still discussing the crime issue and what to do about it-as they have for several years-Martha Jean grabbed the ball and was off and running with it. 

Although these leaders have not publicly denounced her, according to our reports, they have not joined her War on Crime in the Name of Jesus, either. 

The Christian ministers were conspicuous by their absence from Martha Jean's caravan to Lansing on May 10. A meeting was arranged there by State Rep. George Cushingberry to obtain legislative support for her group's crime proposals. Only one minister was present -Rev. Nance from the Russell Street Baptist Church. 

Two clergymen, who asked not to be named, said they believe some church pastors fear that Martha Jean's leadership may minimize their own and view her as a threat, despite the fact that she is a non-denominational minister and could be an asset to them. 

"i'm never disappointed with human nature," says Martha Jean. "Sometimes people strike at me through jealousy, but God is not going to let them touch me. We welcome everyone to our crusade." 

Shortly after the Lansing meeting, Cushingberry and 21 co-sponsors introduced a House bilí for a rehabilitative State Youth Camp (proposed by Martha Jean's group) to accommodate juvenile offenders over 12 years of age and under 18.

"But we've got to do something about negligent parents," Martha Jean insists, vowing to ask for legislation to make parents responsible for their children's crimes if they don't start paying proper attention to their offspring.

 Controversy is nothing new to The Queen. She is a dynamic and powerful woman who is able to draw people to her in the face of any opposition, and therefore has probably been a controversial figure most of her adult life.

Martha Jean hails from Memphis, where she was a disc jockey at radio station WDIA. She recalls that it was Dr. Haley Bell and Mrs. Cox, who were driving through Nashville with a group in 1963, who brought her here. “They heard me on the air and asked me to come to WCHB in Detroit, and I accepted.”

Several years later, she left WCHB amid a controversy and went to WJLB. 

Martha Jean’s “Buzz the Fuzz '' program, with former Police Commissioner John Nicholas, received nationwide prace. But in Detroit, the community was divided between praise and loud criticism. 

The Queen was a key figure in the WJLB strike in 1972. She laughs as she reminds this writer, who was also involved in that strike, of my response when they asked me to join the circle they had formed to pray.  My reply was that the Bible said when Jesus went to the Mount to pray, he told one of the disciples to watch while he prayed. “So if he could not watch and pray at the same time,” I asked, “how do you expect to?”

Martha Jean also recalls that the idea for the War On Crime crusade came after a group she had joined held a “Save Our Children” rally at a local church following the December 1963 murder of little Gerald Craft and Keith Arnold. The group disintegrated after this writer asked the minister of the church what he was taking a collection for, and pointed out that the group didn’t require money for publicity. 

“We have not asked for any money, and the people have rallied behind us,” Martha Jean says. 

Her community workers, formerly called “Blue Collar Workers, are also involved in “Operation Jailhouse,” which they began about five years ago. They still visit Wayne County Jail inmates regularly. 

They were also involved in the new jail drive and in the demand that Wayne County Morgue Medical Examiner Dr. Werner Spitz be prohibited from selling body parts of the dead without the consent of the next of kin. 

Having raised three girls all alone after divorcing her husband, she says she can understand the pressure. But she warns parents that a bill to allow the government to take over wayward children has been introduced in Washington, and if that happens to ADC parents, they will get no more checks. 

“They’re saying the welfare roles are overloaded,” says Martha Jean the Queen, “So you’d better shape up.”

Nadine Brown is the City Editor of the’ SUN