[This text is machine generated and may contain errors.]

Vol. 18 Issue 1

can town

was settled in 1865 and incorpo-

athered inside St.
Luke Church of Christ to celebrate

* 120 years of history and to hear the
Keynote speaker, Rev. Dr. Joseph

" one of the original
founders of the Southern Christian

rated in 1885,

Lowery

overty w

By Paul Simao, Reuters

A TA - Poverty, unemploy-
ment and other socioeconomic fac-
tors are helping to fuel a growing
HIV problem among black women,
a us study released on Thursday

suggests.

Black men and women account

of the estimated
40,000 new HIV infections that are

diagnosed in the United States each
year. The new HIV infection rate

for a majority

By Jennifer Cunningham

Rev. Jesse Jackson, Sr.

NEW YORK - During the latter part
of january when Rev, Jesse L. Jack-
son, along with a host of promi-
nent politicians, business Sacaces

and community activists, kicked off

the 8th Annual Rainbow/PUSH
Wall Street Conference in Midtown
Manhattan in an effort to fight for
racial economic reform.

oWhen Jackie Robinson came
to play baseball in 1947 the issue
was playing,? said Jackson, who has
said that African Americans must

Pitt

By Susie Clemons

already a 14 year veteran English pro-
fessor, at the nationTs oldest histori-

cally Black Colleges, Cheyney State

chartered by blacks that

Leadership Conference " as a

birthday gift.
After singing the national Ne-
gro anthem, oLift Every Voice and

three years

a people who deserve praise. Just

ge yon all were cov-
4 ,
ered in water. The way you've come

up and out has set a beautiful ex-

rtance of B

during the civil rights era or the im-
History Month.

¢ also spoke on the state of the
nation. He said it was time to redi-

|\Complimenta

Please Take (
| (Retail Value: 50 Ce

Vol. 18. Issue #1 Feb. 17 - 28, ;

erates 120th Anniversar

years, she knows whar the foresee-
able future holds, such as a medical

and dental center that will create 15

come this jay alone. We h
whit ones to help al
some bad black ones and b.

VESLZ

ST tAusais @
SD YNIIONVS B

ON
NOd dnow

new jobs, an African-American ones. But this is a historica, _, ,
ample to America. I res this rect and understand that the United " museum and a new recreation park tunity to feflect on the milestones
town's perserverance. As black States needs to seek out the evilsin for the community. that have shaped our community.

le, we learn how to live thro its own country. oWe didnTt do this all alone,? Please pay attention, because this
fardships and use what we got. This America is serious. Not seri-

Photo lim Rouse

Rev. Joseph Lowery shown here with PrincevilleTs Mayor, Priscilla Everette-Oates
"""$""$"$"$"$"" aaa Bereta Eeveerette-Oate:

Sing,? and introductions of the
town's elected officials, Lowery took

the pulpit.

oCongrats on the courage and
preservation on rising from a wa-

ve to a mountain of hope,?
wery, 83, oYou all represent

tery
said
°

is an example of how to turn adver-
sity into opportunity.

o! Laierns native of Alabama,
served as president of the Southern
Christian Leadership Conference
until retiring in 1997. He also led the
rough five states in fa-

he said his wife had been to the town
" formerly known as Freedom Hill
" after the 1999 flood. ~

oHistory is important,? Lowery
said. oIf ake don't know where
you've come from, you don't know
where you're going, and if you donTt
know where you've come 65 , you
wont know when you're being led
back. History builds a foundation.
No other set/of people have come
so far since slavery.

Lowery's message didnTt just fo-

cus on his experiences of injustices

ous like a headachs, but serious like
a heart attack,? he said. oPeople
think we are erazy; we are out of
our cotton-pickinT minds. We're
sending smart bums on dumb mis-
sions. Our own people are dying
searching for weapons of mass de-
struction, when (those weapons) are
here, too. Forty-four million le
in this country are without health
insurance, and more are trying to
live off of minimum wage. Those
are weapons of mass destruction
right here in our own country.?
Friday's celebration of the town
is a reminder to the community of
where the town is going, said
Milton Bullock, a Princeville native
and former member of The Plat-
ters " one of the top vocal groups
of the 1950s. Though Mayor
Priscilla Everette-Oates could not
say where she sees the town in five

By Terri Nelson

Bullock said. oWe black ones didnTt

Ju

¢ Who Pushed

RICHMOND, VA - Robert R.
Merhige Jr., a federal judge whose
tulings forcing schools to d te
made him so unpopular that for a time
he required 24-hour protection, has

is history alive.?

Deseeeption ies at

died. He was 86,

Merhige died Friday at Virginia
Exonncercalth University Medical
Center after undergoing open heart
surgery days carlier, his son, Mark R.
Merhige, said Saturday.

Named to the fi bench in
1967 by President Lyndon Johnson,
Robert R. Merhige Jr. ordered doz-
ens of Virginia's school systems to de-
segregate.

fter a 1972 decision to consoli-
date public school systems in Rich-
racial aed neighboring counties for
the sake of integration, his dog was
shot to death, and a guest cottage on
his property was destroyed by arson.

Last year, Merhige told the Rich-

See Desegregation Page 2

times that of white women.

sex for

uninfected black women.

sue is developmenr.?
Bonita

management roles,? said Parker.

¢ time,

minority-owned enterprises.

OF the
four goals of
the civil
rights move-
ment, which
included end-
ing legal sla-
very, ending
legal segrega-
tion, and se-

curing the right to vote, the fourth-

HIV among U.S.

among black women is about 18 HIV in

The study published by the Cen-
ters for Disease Control and Preven-

tion found that black women infected
with the AIDS virus are more likely
to be coop ores and willing to trade

rugs or money than

The study was based on a small
of black women in North

rou
Carolina who were diagnosed witk

leading fight

gain access to capital. oNow the is-

arker, national diree-
tor of the Rainbow/PUSH Coali-
tion agreed. oWe can sing, we can
dance, we can wear the baggy pants,
but now we need to step up to more

they argue, is now.
With the development of major ur-

ban areas across America, Jackson
said that contracts and loans should
be extended to blacks to develop

teaching financial litesmey and elimi-
nating predatory lending-is the most
important.

oAs we come together this year,
seeking participation in America's
economic engine, we must be ever
more vigilant in protecting the
rights we have gained, even the

unty

right to vote,? said Jackson, oAr the

same time,

her duties as professor, would develop
(LIPS) Literacy is PeoplesT Survival and
its companion project (RIBS) Read-
Survival literacy reading

ing is Black
programs. Each is monumental in

that they exemplified the expanse of

PerkinsTs desire to provide access to
literacy to those in need of its life long
benefits, as well as to promote literacy
as the foundation of sustainable com.
munities, especially Black communi-
tres.

And those acts of giving back to
the community also evolved into suc-
cessful fund-raisers during the carly
90's. Imagine these faeataiees as

moments in time with Perkins

ects

holding center stage, in a fluff in ha

enna Pare, a ee dress and
fectious speech in bringing to life the |
outrageously funny tales of the late |
Jackie oMoms? Mabley. Out of this |
period arose yet another medium

" which she could teach her ©
English students lessons in effective

[Pictured from left to right is Ro
Effie Thompson, and Denise

| pre-celebration party

antiqGes, awe ins

Dr.

College located 25 miles south of
Philadelphia, PA, realized that olit-
cracy required a diet of reading?.

Elizabeth City State, Howard.
Cheyney, and Temple Universities
auctuved aud gave tee to the coat of
ra | colees which Perkins was des-
ti to wear. Therefore, is it any
wonder that Perkins, in addition to

speaking. history captured on paper and film as Gloria Naylor's successful novel so
Add to Perkins growing list of lit- well as m arts detailing the rise entitled, was first elegantly housed in
erary achievernents, that o Director/ of Blacks in America and the the A. Foster Student Alurhni Center
Playwright of the successful West handspun legacy of Africa that Perkins on the campus Cheyney University,
Chester Community Players, whose holds dearest to heart. Each piece during Perkins tenure as professor.
repertoire included storytelli song painstakingly selected during her ex- hee includes a Repub-
and dance in celebration of Women's tensive sends would later tasthe " lican Textbook for Colored Voters, an
history. oMama Day's Parlor? museum col- early NAACP newsletter, slavery items
However, it is her collection of lection that include a $1500.00 receipt from

Black Memorabilia, rare objets dT arts,

It found thar 71

those uninfected.

More than a third of the HIV-
poone women admitted trading sex
0 or other gifts, said
the Atlanta-based

r money, dru
researchers wit

we have made to include econdmic
parity and equity in the boardroom,
in the managersT offices and in the
owners boxes,? he added.

The conference, titled oBeyond
Diversity, eas! and Parity: A New
Covenant,? hosted several hundred
peogtss most of whom were minor-

usinesspeople with pledges to
work with Jackson's organization to
address the wealth disparity between
blacks and their white counterparts,

Jackson said that African-
Americans and other minorities
have been
economi-
cally disen-
franchised,
crippling
their path-
way [0 suc-
cess

oThe
wealth gap
leads to an opportunity gap, said
Jackson. oExcellence and effort can-

not compete with inheritance and
access.?

Halting the economic misuse
of the Black community

This economic stagnation, said
Jackson, has occurred through

unscrupuopus nortgage lending, au-
tomotive finance mark-ups for mi-

norities, and pension defrauding.

The oMama Day's Parlor?, after

2003 and the first half of
2004 and a larger group of
uninfected women who were re-
cruited at HIV testing sites in 2004.
percent of those
who were infected did not have a
job, compared with 38 percent of

on Lessons

sa Ward, Mary Cates - President, Vickie Joyner;
Tyson, Minnie Andrews, Mary Raynard, kneeling,
Janice Leonard-Peace, Shirley Williams, and Ruby Perkins duri

for the fist annual Valentines Day Schol
Id at the Hilton Hotel the following evening.

piring headlines of Mama Day, the Black matriarch in

SEE PITT COUNTY - PAGE 10

Carolina.
Only

women had done so.

public assistance.

black women-study

CDC, North Carolina Depattment
of Health and University of North

15 percent of uninfected

There was also a higher ten-
dency for the infected women to be
on welfare or some other form of

oIt suggests that itTs a lot more

difficult for women who are

poo
to even think of HIV as a health

r equality on Wall Street

He called for an end to these preda-
tory lending practices, or charging
high interest rates arid fees that are
not beneficial to the borrower.

Predatory lending companies
are five times more likely to be in
Black communities than white, and
African-Americans are 4.1 times
more likely to be victimized by
predatory lending.

In a breakfast discussion be-
tween Jackson and Elliot Spitzer, the
New York attorney gener , Spitzer,
who is a candiaate for governor in
2006, said that the fight for racial
economic parity is an uphill battle.
oCapital flows influence decisions,?
said Spitzer. oEveryone fights to
maintain the status quo. They have
an overwhelming constituency,? he

added,

But Spitzer, who has experience
in mutual fund fraud, to track
down predatory lendi companies

and said that his.office would pros-
ecute those involve in such schemes.
In addition to halting the economic
misuse in the Black community Jack-
sOn wants to see more commercial
ventures between Black businesses
and mainstream companies.
oAllowing minority-owned

businesses to compete in the mar-

ketplace will increase dividends for
all,? said Jackson.

Learned

-

+
;

an appreciation
ip Gala that was
_Photo: Jim Rouse

r

| From left to right

| Langley, Sr. briefly

Priority when there are so many
other issues that they are dealing

with,? said Dr. Lisa Fitzpatrick,
director of the CDC's minority
HIV/AIDS research initiative and
one of the study's authors.

Fitzpatrick noted that black
women in North Carolina had an
HIV infection rate-14 times higher
than white women. oI think this
mirrors a lot of the epidemic in the
rest of the country. This is not
unique to North Carolina.?

Only heterosexually active

Philadelphia Mayor John Street

spoke about, his Success in using

epinprity contractors to build two

new stadiums in the City of Broth-
etly Love. Street said he used 19
minority contractors to construct
the 4 aii $1.2 billion arenas.

oI represent a city with a tre-
mendous amount of minority and
poor people,? said Street.?"We need
to level the economic playing field.?

Manhattan Borough President
C. Virginia Fields said that she has
established an advisory board that
will ensure woman and minority-
owned businesses are utilized if the
Jets get the official go-ahead to build

a new stadium in the ci

black women between the
18 and 40 livingin

with the highest

excluded.

Researchers also found worry-
ing similarities in sexual behavior

among the two groups of women,
inclod lity high rates of sexually
transmitted discases. The majority
of both groups, however, felt that

they were unlikely or very unlikely
to contract HIV.

Minority and woman owned
businesses must participate mean-
ingfully in the redevelopment of
Maaietiant West Side,? said Fields,
who is widely considered to be a
canididate in New York CityTs up-
coming mayoral race.

The conference was not free of
controversy. A small group of pro-
testers with the organization Black
United Fund of New

York held a protest outside the
Hilton New York Hotel during
Spitzer's talk. They allege that he
actively worked to dismantle the
Northeastern Urban League and

osensationalized the investigation?
of fraud at Hale House,



Reginald Edwards, Dude Langley, Jimm
pose for the camera. These construction
in a major restoration of the Blount-Harvey building in uptown Greenville

y Langley, Jr. and Jimmy
specialists are taking part

of
arts of tendeibe

DS death rates
were included in the study, Those

who admitted injecting drugs were

ABWAGIT YANAOLC S|

w,

by Wilbert A. Tatum

Ray Charles is gone. Ossie

Davis is gone. If there were such

mgs as comfort singers and

comfort actors, Ray and Ossie
been two of those. No
matter what they sang, no matter
what role they acted in, it was a
comfort to see and hear them. We
knew that after the show was over,
we would be returned to our own
ial place where we coul
ance, and cry. In other

we have had a kind of fix that
made us feel good without intoxi-
g us with anything more than
of comfort.

These men were good for us.
ood for our egos, they
r us as Black people.
good for us as role
models, and they were good men.
ed and practiced
their crafts in such a way as to

would have

d sing,
words,

dani

catin
a fix

were good fo
They were

They develop



Susie Clemons

About a week ago or so
WOOW's William Clar and side

kick E-Jack really had that morn-
ing show going. They really had
stirred up and talking.

other national
ideal residenti

changing

by man
tions wi taken by
iddle- to
ites.

ary on the city

Martin Luther

The Bonfire of

by Ray Hanania

teous

don't have
their own

ayTs Americans are culti-
rinciples based on oNew
Atrocity becomes justi-
fied with the clever use of labels.
The killer is acceptable as
the victim is

vatin
Spea

Ef

r

long as
someone designated
as unacceptable, or todayTs oterror-
ist.?

oHorrors of war are unavoid-
able,? Americans scream as
dance around the flames of
As long as victims are othe other

peo

oterrorist?

Fae ee, %

they
hate.

ple.
Even the meahing of the word

is redefined in the
oNew Speak.? It is no longer about

Now that they are gone, are
there others for us to believe in?
That is a difficulr question which
is going to be very difficult to an-
swer in the short term. How do
you replace a Ray Charles? How
do you replace Ossie Davis?

The other night we watched

the Grammy A and could not
walk away withour being thor-

oughly disappointed. The singers
in the main could not Sing, the
actors could not act, and whatever
one decides to attribute or what
accomplishments had been made
by most of them, it was out of our

simply do not understand. Perha
that is true. But, Lord knows I do
understand pretty. I do understand
lovely. I do sndeweaia comfort-
able. I do understand thrilling,
heartbreaking, and loving. Most of
these feelings were not bi tout
in me by the singers of these
strange songs, written to a strange
music, thee accessed to.deliver a
message that most people who
were listening at the Grammys
failed to understand.

Fewer people watched the
Grammy Awards this year than any
other. Although we tried to under-
stand why music was being writ-
ten and played in such a way, it

This topic was a ringer be-
cause in the majority of instances
this question is only ever asked
hence aimed at SistaTs: ohow can
you be happy with a piece a man??

Actuahe what the question
begets are some Black men okay
offering themselves for piecemeal
encounters versus wholesome and
loving relationships? That's how |
choose to view it. Cleary, there's
more that meets the eye with this
one.

But let's look at this thing from
the male point of doing. Who's
the victim of use in these in-
stances, the BrothaT or the Sista?T
It's not the Sista for she is the pro-

nitor: one who sets the schaard
or something. She sets the stan-
dard because she out numbers you
in many cases by as many as 5 and
6 to 1 of you- more or less- de-
pending upon the city,

SistaTs have for a long time

fied by the 2004 oStatus of Black
Atlanta.?

The report, issued annually
the past 11 years by Clark Atlanta
UniversityTs Southern Center for
Studies in Public Policy, is
watched over by center director
Bob Holmes, a 30-year member
of the Georgia General Assembly.
He has shepherded the status of
Black Atlanta report since its
launching in 1993.

Asked to compare the 2004
report with the 10 others he has
done, Holmes noted that things
haven't changed much econom,-
cally for the cityTs poor and lower
class population.

oProgress has been made by
abour 30 percent of the popula-
tion, but as many or more than
that experienced a decline in the
quality of life,? he told the Atlanta

humanity, morality or righteous
rinciples of justice. It is a mob-

America is @ nation that is in like hate-vision.
transformation. Once the pillar of «
AmericaTs greatness, the righ
values of justice are slowly bei
consumed by a national rage base
on lies, racism and hate.

Many Americans would rather
embrace the lie so the
to come to terms wit
iness or hate. Ugliness becomes
relative. It is acceptable when you
can make the person you hate seem

We see evidence of this in
America every day as we divide
the world not in terms of right and
wrong, but ous? versus othem.?

An American soldier kills a
wounded Iraqi in cold-blood,
clearly the tip of an iceberg of
atrocities unreported by the me-
dia. Rather than disgust, many
Americans want to punish the
ore who made this atrocity
public.

In stark contrast, there is no
limit to their moral Outrage against
Islamic terrorists who have com-
mitted similar acts of butchery by
beheading hostages. There are no
limits to the atrocities and injus-
tice that can be wiped clean in the
new American equation of oys?
versus othem.?

brighter in this hate than justice,
eae morality and prin-
ciples that define human dignity.
Atrocity is judged by the races
and politics of the victims ind the

was unfathomable.

Something is happening

have
seen their music used, abused and
stolen by those who cannot
act have secretly decided?
sibility that the new Black
ers have attempted to
verses and lyrics that whites do not
understand and can
the face of it,

sing or
Is it a pos-
song writ-
Create miusic,

not perform? On
itTs ludicrous. But, do I
hear my song anywhere? Do I hear
my tune being sung? ,

The new record stars have no
names. Their bands have no name.
It is difficult to record their mu-

there are those»who in-

Than

been in control of how they
choose to conduct themselves
morally; you on the other hand
been or are pimped much of
the time. True?

Scandalous to say the least, but
how could you let us treat you like
that, like the hoof of a pigs feet? I
ask, where's your self respect and
sense of decency?

Those Sista in defense of their
actions during such inquisitions of
iece a man will have
others advis-
hand, others

sic. Yet,

ece a Man Better

have

loving a
some SistaTs smilin
ing you to talk to
more than ready to defend the
part-time worker in their piece
meal employ with a vivid assault
of correcting words.

For the past several decades,
being ever mind-
ng remnants sla-

in particular and
ful of the challen
very has heaped upon our fami-
some if not all BrothaTs
have come to enjoy their status as

ta Still The Black Mecca?

LANTA (NNPA) - Atlanta, of-
ten cited by Black Enterprise and
ublications as the
al and business cli-
mate for African Americans and
other people of color, is
ever so slowly.

In fact, by the year 2009, the
city now called the oBlack Mecca?
of those same publica-
find itself over
4 growing minority of m
upper-class Wh

Phat comment
that birthed Rev.
King Jr., the first Black mayor of
a major southeastern city and sev-
eral bastions of Black business
success such as H.J. Russell, Ciri-
zens Trust Bank and Atlanta Life
Insurance, has moved beyond a
Mere visionary stage. It is quanti-

lies, that

Voice in an interview,

One of the k
how Atlanta is slo
mographically is in affordable
ing. A federal housin
called HOPE VI (}
Opportunities for People
where) is a well-intentione
by the Departement of Housing
and Urban Development to redis.
tribute inner city dwellers out of
public housing projects and other
so-called oreservation communi-
ties? into better neighborhoods
with single family houses and more
amenities like better
stores, shops and medic
vices. But Holmes says the con-
cept has yet to flourish the way its
creators envisioned.

oWe have yet to see that hap-
pen.? What we have seen, he notes
in the report, is the increase in

the American

victimizer. When the victim is one
of ous,? Americans
When the victim is o
the atrocity is justifi

The sickness becomes the
norm, especially when the media
surrenders to the mob and em-
rather than challenges the

indicators of
changing de-

initia-
Ousing
Every-

d effort

housi
tive

grocery
al ser- said
gests that the White-Black pula-
tion could reach parity within the
next three to five years and allow a
strong White candidate to be elected

mayor,

are outraged.
ne of othem,?

braces
lies.

The American news media are
in voluntary bondage and, worse,
in widespread denial. The absence
of ethics becomes promiscuous.
Professional journalism is re
by entertainmént news that is
based on viciousness a
Emotional fantasies
facts.

From there, it is a mere half.
step to a future when the mob will
demand even more in Roman-like
glee.

At some
even pretend.

fed to the lions

laced

nd cruelty
replace hard

oint, they won't
he oguilty* will be
of our hatred

ustice will be replaced by
ic entertainment. The new
judges will stand behind the mi-
crophones fanning the bonfires of
American moralit
the viciousness. G

a

y. cheering on
leefully dancing

understand or would Pay to see.

Perhaps it all has to do with age "
the passing of time. Certainly the

ple who seem most fascinated
Ok are children, but these chil-

dren come from a generation of

children that never really learned
to read, never really learned to
sing. Might that not have some-
thing to do with it? Is ir possible
that they wouldn't recognize a song
if they heard one or a poem if they
were choked by it? Or, is it that
there are those of us who have not

_ yet caught on to the new rhythms,

the new beats, the new anthems,
the new music?

Sit in a corner and meditate
about what is lost and will never
return while conjuring up some-
thing new that never will be.

os iy people would c
little S.O.B., bur heTs
following the law,?? he said. oThat

iece meals- can even be caught
fe inT about it. Imagine.

ll this because BrothaTs have

really beea duped by SistaTs into
chink

things. SistaTs know that you
juggle phone numbers and make
as many house calls as is pos-
sible and so on. Trust me, we
know...

ing that they are running

I think perhaps that congratu-

lations are in order for the Sista
who came up with this pi -party
idea in the Rest

Pics of man. uch like Heidi

lace- of lovinT a

leiss, she either locked up, al-

ready served time or still in the
business of educating women on
the beauty, form ay

piece meal men.

function of

For example, whenTs the last

time you know of a Sista being

locked up cause she whi ped her

man into actin 4 eortod at there
t

would be no doubt as to who the roaming fees. opinionsandtalk @yahoo.com

condominiums and loft housing ; : The report cites the ratio of
which he said is being gobbled up
by Whites moving from other ar-

eas of the country and suburban
Adanta into the inner city.

oNot many Blacks are buying

into this,? he said. oWhile we are
moving outside the city into the sub-
divisions and housing developments,
Whites are coming into the city and
occupying 95 percent of the con-
dos and loft apartments.?

He predicted that if the trend

continues, the demographics of the
city will " significantly and
with it the po

well

itical landscape as

Speaking of politics, Holmes
census data from 2000 sug-

oThat's not to say that a Black

morality

around the bonfires of a corrupt
morality. Spewing hate-talk and
fomenting greater racism as New
Speak. Listeners will scream men-
tal chants of oDeath! Death!
Death!?

The evidence is there every

day. The icons of the new media
allow people to foment hate. On
one recent show, Palestinians are
described as ofilthy animals? en-
couraged by the talk show host
who declares to the coliseum that

it is acceptable to dehumanize
those whom we hate.

But you can never satiate the

hunger of the mob bonfire. Just
calling someone a ofilthy animal?
will not be enough. If you can de-
humanize a human being, you can
then obliterate that human life.
And then sit with your family and
bounce a child on your knee and
even speak of greatness and a great
world free of fear and violence.

othem.

The first casualty becomes the

obliteration of the line between
right and wrong. Morality is re-
defined based on the racial and

sist they have come up with some-
thing new and different, and quite

sensational. It is not a thing that |

religious Origins of the dehuman-
sat

hatred.

coming a coliseum of uniformed
minds. The New Speak is spread-
ing. We wave our American fla
with an emotion that is wei hed
both by love and hate until hate
becomes equal and even surpasses
what is right.

American morality is a cremato-
tium of hatred where the slaugh-
tered vanish in smoke.

from the skies, we can pretend it

destroys the idol of the calf fash-
ioned from the charred remains
of a Set ae morality.

Thinking in terms of Ossie and
Ray, It is hard to believe that they
conjured up anything. It was so
casy to hear them and to repeat
what were saying. It was so
casy to watch them as they made
us joyful, as they made us sad,
using words that we knew, rhythms
that we could duplicate from son
that were for any age or any people
or any time.

Personally, I am saddened by
this loss of my tune, of my song,
of my poem. I am saddened be-
ane will not ey aaa There
can be no recovery unless the son
is sting the way it used to be. And
by people who could sing.

On way to the next level
of maichtas voice with an old

* song, and playing on the radio,

please donTt forget to include those
who have sung the songs before
and who wadthip them now. Un-

ing in Vietnam. Merhige denied their
request.

He retired in 1998 and joined
the law firm of Hunton & Williams
in Ric

oHe was a giant in the law,? said
former Gov. Gerald L. Baliles, whose
office at Hunton & Williams was next

to the judge's.



Wilbert A. Tatum is Publisher

Emeritus for the Amsterdam News
New York City

Besides his son Mark, Judge
MethigeTs survivors include his wi
Shirley G. Ana, and his son Rob-
ert R. Methige IIL.

Mark Merhige, a real estate de-
veloper in Richmond, said his father
was a teacher to the end.

oHe taught me to live with a cer-
tain code and a certain grace,? he said.
oHe showed me yesterday that one
can leave this world with that same

attended High Point College in North kind of .
ee ee

boss is. Additionally guyTs who
trying to control the actions of
whom on any given day? Where
you at? Hollar-

On an classic note, who bet-
ter than any Sista knows that be-
cause you're stretched so thin on
your diet of women that it may
take four of you to equal a whole
(since bitTs, pieces aad portions is
all some of you value yourselves

-as)?

There again who but a Sista
could treat everyone of her Boo's
like he was the only Boo? After
all you come in several orders: Mr.
Just There, you know who you
arc...hanging on by a thread,
which is how you like it.

Mr. DaT Pimp, his Boo takes
care of him. Mr. Supportive
Companion, good for trips light
bill gas bill, maybe even rent or
the mortgage- does great disappear-
ing acts and heTs too hot for com-
mitment and racks up a lot of

interests as well as those of the city's
poor and working class. The da
of the incumbent mayor hand-pick-
ing successors is over. That died with
Maynard (Jackson) in 2003.?

One of the reportsT most dis-

turbing finding is the declining rate
of marriage in the Black commu-
nity. According to their findings, na-
tionally the number of Black mar-
tied couples plummeted from 68
percent in 1970 to 46.1 percent in
2000. In Atlanta, the decline was
equally as sharp from 58.5 percent
to 33.7 percent. Black married
couples with kids comprise only
12.4 percent of total Black house-
holds in Atlanta compared to 30.5
percent for Whites. Holmes said
their report cites the low supply of

marriageable Black men? as one

cause for the downward trend.

victim.
It's in the nature of racism and

America is a nation fast be-

The glow of the bonfire of

And when the smoke is gone

Ray

anania is an award-win-

ning nationally syndicated colum-
nist based in Chicago. His col-

Once you have destroyed all of umns are archived - ar
www.hanania.com. This column

was originally published by Arab

American Media Services. Permis-

sion to republish has been granted
by Ray H.

anania.

Mr. Daddy Man, no children
of his own but shucks out the dol-
lars for all the other baby daddyTs
who are MIA or missing in action.

And lastly, thereTs Mr. Love to
Make a Baby, very disposable you
are - but is it you or the check she
wants?

That a lot of punch, how-
ever, let me be the first to say, |
love my Black BrothaTs, no other
man on earth compares to all the
wonderful things you represent.
But are you ras okay allowing
us the option of tossing you

aside like an empty milk Carton?
What about all the women, you

ask? We'll figure it out, we al-
ways have.

So I ask the question again,
is a piece of raha bees than the
whole? My BrothaTs you decide.
To my SistaTs go easy. I remain

Yours in the struggle,
Susie Clemons

ee to Black women as 597
men for 1,000 osistahs,?

When Black male poo Pcs
is thrown in, the figures shrink to

279 eligibles for every 1,000 Black
women.

oThe impact is devastating,?
said Holmes. oIt's increased teen
childbearing, mie school dropout
rates, more children in foster care,
increases in welfare rolls, more kids

in poverty and greater incarceration
rates.?

As possible solutions, the re-
Port suggests everything from ma-
jor education efforts to encourage
marriage over cohabitation or
oshacking? to outlawing no-fault di-
voree OF even sanctioning same sex
tee (a crime in Georgia).

oThe Status of Black Atlanta

2004? is available for $15 and can

be obtained by calling the Southern

Center at (404) 880-8085.

pane re sdministracion is
pushing creditors to forgive 95 per-
cent ($195 billion) of Tags debe."
They argue that it was acquired un-
der a dictatorial regime and the
people of Iraq should not have to
pay for this illegitimate debt, With-
out doubr, the Iraqi people deserve
a reprieve fromT debt. But Africa's

pre icament is more severe than
faqs many times over. In Africa

.today, millions have been killed, and

are routinelywounded, raped, and
displaced from their homes and
means of livelihood by war. This
breakdown of Africa's social fabric
exacerbates an already desperate
situation characterized b grinding
poveryy famine, dismal health care
acilities, and rising illiteracy and
unemployment rates. It is tragic
that while Africa is the worldTs poor-
est region, the continent carries two-
thirds of developing countriesT debt
burden"an estimated U.S. $300
billion. Imagine what $195 billion
in debr relict could do for Africa.
Illegitimate and Odious Debt
It is widely agreed that the bulk
of Africa's crippling debt is illegiti-
mate and often falls within the legal
definition of oodious.? Africa was
literally snared into debt by credi-
tors in the wake of rising oil prices
and falling interest rates in the
1970s. Banks and other lending in-
stitutions made loans to developin
countries in order to ostop the slide
of interest rates and thus save their
businesses. Adding to this, the great
bulk of Africa's ake was incurred

Simmons No

By Earl Ofari Hutchinson
The buzz is that hip hop mogul
Russell Simmons should take over
the top spot
in the
NAACP. An
NAACP na-
tional search
team is cur-
rently inter-
viewing can-
didates to
succeed our-
oin
Ri AAC
resident
weisi

Mfume, Some veteran NAACP

,

. watchers and critics publicly tout

Simmons because they think he can
appeal to the younger generation.
At first glance, that seems
plausible. The standard knock
against the nationTs oldest civil
rights organization is that it's too
old, aid and hopelessly out of
touch with young blacks. But it will
take much more than SimmonsT
dynamism and purported youth
savvy to revive the flagging fortunes
of the NAACP. The problem is not
an aging membership, but the
NAACPTs disconnect from activ-
ism, failure to address the prob-
lems of the black poor, its em-

in the context of Cold War politics.
Africa was a hot battle ground for
the former USSR and the West prin-
cipally the United States. Both East
and West furiously fought for the
continent's political loyalty and dis-
bursed billions of dollars in loans to
any country that supported them,
regardless of how brutal their lead-
ers were or how bad their govern-
ments. Corrupt leaders and povern-
ments took this opportunity to bor-
row billions.

These lenders had little regard
for the borrowing countriesT ability
to repay or to what use these bor-
rowed funds were being put. Such
irresponsible lending resulted in cor-
rupt African leaders and govern-
ments grabbing as much money as
possible to line their pockets, invest
in useless prestige projects, buy
more arms, and fortify their brutal
security apparatuses, which they
then used to crush dissent and cre-
ate conditions for violent conflicts
that today ravage the continent.

For example, the criminal apart-
heid regime in South Africa contin-
ued to receive significant loans that it
used to oppress and kill South Africa's
black majority. So did the notoriously
corrupt and brutal Mobutu regime in
the ir oe (now the Democratic

ublic of Congo). Forcing the poor
ms debes

peoples of these countries to pay
8) to oppress, kill, and leave them

with such bloody legacies is simply
unjust. Present day Africans should
not be forced to pay for the political

chess game of Cold War era regimés:

brace of showy, symbolic fights,
and its repeated bashing by
NAACP Chairman Julian Bond of
President Bush, and its blatant
push of any and all Democrats.

The NAACP canTt drum up
new members, old or young, be-
cause it has been missing in ac-
tion in recent years on many of
the crisis issues that tear
black communities. A near
textbook example of this is
the Confederate flag fight.
The organization wasted
valuable time, energy and
resources fighting with
South Carolina officials
over whether the flag
should be removed from
the State House. Bur the flag re-
moval would not have saved one
black farm, improved failing public
schools, increased funds for histori-
cally black colleges, created more
jobs or reduced poverty for South
CarolinaTs blacks. The NAACPTs
penchant for showpiece battles that
attract much press attention, but do
nothing to solve the far thornier

roblems of the black poor did not
Biers with Mfume.

The collapse of the civil rights
movement in the late 1960s
marked the turning point for the
organization. It became the politi-

programs

In disbursing new loans, the
International Monetary Fund (IMF)
and World Bank im crippling
conditionalities called Structura
Adjustment Programs (SAPs) on
debtors. These required countries
seeking loans to:

Balance their budgets, which
forced them to cut spending and
subsidies on basic public services
such as health and education,
thereby making hom less affordable
to ordi e.

Gartdown the size of govern-
ment by laying off thousands of
workers.

Privatize state owned indus-
tries, which cut tax revenue and of-
ten resulted in increased prices for
essential goods and services.

Devalue their currencies,
thereby increasing the value and
burden of the external debt held in
foreign currency.

Open the country to foredpn
investment, thereby subjecting lo-
cal industries to compete with huge
foreign multinational corporations.

Pransons cash crop or mineral
export industries in order to earn

foreign currency to pay back the

debt, which added no value to local
production and made them vulner-
able to dropping world market
prices.

Both the IMF and the World
Bank claim that SAPs will ensure
that countries grow out of their debt.
After decades of adjustment, there

swer to NAACP

cal springboard for the newly emer-

ent black middle class. It fought
it to get more upwardly mobile
blacks into corporate manage-
ment, in elite universities, in front
of and behind TV cameras, elect
more black Democrats to state and
national offices, secure more busi-
ness loans, and, of course, rally

against the Confederate flag:
These battles, however, did
not have the slightest bearing on
the plight of the black poor. hey
have grown more numerous, more
desperate, are trapped in ri ae
pater or re-segregated neighbor
oods, shuttle their children off to
abominably failing public schools,
are plagued by crime, drugs and
gangs, and are stuffed into bulg-
ing jail cells. Meanwhile, the
wealth and income gap between
the black haves and have-nots has
widened even farther.

NAACP leaders have found

What The NAACP Should

By Lana Hampton
WASHING ON, DC - With a
changing of the guard occurring
at the NAACP, the nationTs oldest
civil rights organization has an
Opportunity for growth and
change.

It would be in the NAACPTs
best interest to put itself on a
more centrist course than the
one it has been on for the past
40 years. After all, the
protection of people's civil rights
is not a left or Hghe lectin
ideology. It is simply a
responsibility.

The loss of supportT the
NAACP is experiencing is
undoubtedly due to its lurch to the
left and the feelings of many that
it no longer represents all blacks,
let alone all people.

Few would argue with the
original goals of the NAACP. It
was, and, in many ways, still is an
admirable institution, But it has
not changed with the times. Ie
seems to be caught in a time warp
dating back to the 1960s. The
issues of relevance 40 years ago
are not necessarily the same issues
that are important now.

Racism was undeniably the
biggest obstacle to minorities back
then, bur
communities are overrun with
crime, suffering from inadequate
schools and are plagued by an
epidemic of single-parent homes
(the leading cause of poverty).

I do not hear enough from the
modem NAACP on th

What the NAACP needs to do is
empower poor blacks instead of

constantly citing a ny Rg
| raised over the Internet.

list of obstacles they claim hol

blacks back. Ks
Continuing to perpetuate t

victim status of blacks will only

now many black |

to behave like victims " and
victims rarely succeed on their
own. Igorder to achieve this, the
NAACP must be blatantly honest
about the ills occurring within
some black communities. The left,
however has made pointing out
bad choices a taboo subject,
There are some who rely too
heavily on the government to
sustain them. The NAACP should
work on empowering these so they
can become self-cufficiens It's the

| old give a man a fish or teach him

The Needy and

by George E. Curry

Judg-
ing by the
world-
wide re-
action to
the tsu-
nami
arnucey.
one might
get the
impres-
sion thar
generos-
Bt Gacy
abounds. Schoolchildren have do-
nated their allowances to victims
of the disaster.

Glovernments and major
corporations have pledged mil-
lions of dollars. The Ametican

| Red Cross and other charities have

ese issues. | provided food, money and cloth-

| ing. Churches around the world

have taken up special collections.
Millions of dollars have been

But don't be misled. Accord-

| ing to a report by Oxfam Interna-
| tional in England, the worldTs rich-

ensure that poor blacks continue | est countries donate an average of

to fish situation.

There are many bright,
capable people in our inner cities
who just need positive and
constructive eedecchin. This
includes criticism along the lines
of what Bill Caiby hit said
Cosby's critiaue is not mean-
spirited, as some contend, but
merely an attempt to nudge people
in the right direction.

It would also be beneficial for
the NAACP to avoid su porting

causes which are radical or just

$80 per person to eradicate pov-
erty, the equivalent of a weekly
cup of coffee. Even more disturb
ing, the wealthier these countries
have become, the less they have
given in aid.

The disturbing findings are
found in a recent report titled,
oPaying the Price: Why rich coun-
tries must invest now in the war
on poverty.? It observes: oRich
countries today give half as much,
as a proportion of their income,
as they did in the 1960s. In 1960-
65, rich countries spent on aver-
age 0.48 percent of their com-
bined national incomes on aid. By
1980-85 they were spending just
0.34 percent. By 2003, the aver-
age had dropped as low as 0.24
percent.?

Wealthy nations realize that
it's in their best interest, as well
as that of the affected countries,
to help eliminate global poverty.
In 2000, the leaders and heads of
state of 189 countries signed a
Millennium Declaration that es-
tablished a series of goals to re-
duce poverty by 2015.

The key targets were to: 1)
Halve the proportion of people liv-

Because

whatever

happens to Ameri:

happens to Black America first....

is not one case that proves this
point.
Shared responsibility
Creditor nations and institutions
claim that Africa is responsible for
the continent's debt crisis. How-

ever, evidence shows that credi-
tors: :

Made loans without regard to
the use to which the loans were to
be put

Had no loan evaluation pro-

themselves trapped in the middle
by the twisting political trends
and shifting upward fortunes of
the black middle-class, and down-
ward of the black poor. A tilt by
them toward a hard-edged activ-
ist agenda carries the fearful risk
of alienating the corporate donors
and the Democratic politicians
that the NAACP leaders
carefully cultivate. Burt
an activist tile also
would draw even more
fire from the growing le-
gion of pro-GOP lean-

ing blacks that think the
NAACP has squan-
dered any political juice
it had with its relentless

name calling attacks on Bush.

The irony is that polls show
that many of the youn rsons
that SimmonsT NAACP ies
expect him to appeal to have ci-
ther expressed their disgust with
Democrats, are hopelessly alien-
ated from both spolitical arties,
or openly say they like 12 pro-
business, self-help, family values

itch of the GOP. Thar has not
bee lost on the GOP strategists.
They are wooing, courting and
dumping millions into ah and
education programs at black
churches through Bush's faith

Do Now

plain ridiculous. One example is
its lawsuit against gun
manufacturers. As Project 21
member and civil rights activist
Reverend Jesse Lee Peterson said,
oThe NAACP has filed a class-
action lawsuit against gun
manufacturers, in ire blaming
them for black on black crime,
but statistics show guns don't kill
black people, other blacks do.?
Perhaps the most crucial!
change the NAACP needs to

make is to actually become non-

the Greedy

ing on less than $1 a day as well
as the proportion suffering from
hunger by 2015, 2) Ensure that
all children complete primary
school by 2025, 3) Eliminate gen-
der disparity in primary and sec-
ondary education by 2005 and in
all levels of Education by 2015; 4)
Reduce the mortality rate of chil
dren under 5 by two-thirds by
2015; 5) Reduce by three-quar-
ters, the ratio of women dying in
childbirth by 2015; 6) Halt and
begin to reverse the incidence of
HIV/AIDS and other major dis-
eases by 2015; 7) Halve by 2015
the proportion of people without
access to safe drinkin water and
basic sanitation and 8 Develop a
non-discriminatory and rules-
based trading system, provide
more generous aid and deal com-
rehensively with the debt prob-
fem
oA vital aim of these goals is
that the poorest countries will
have the finance needed to achieve
them,? the report notes. oTo do
this, rich countries have promised
to provide a very small fraction
of their wealth " just 0.7 percent
of theirnational income - and to



cesses

Made no demands concerning
military spending

Made loans to illegitimate
leaders and governments whose
downfall was a foregone conclusion

According to international law,
people should not be forced to pay
debts that did not benefit them and
that were contracted and used to

Suppress, jail and kill them. Apart
from the fact that much of Africa's

Hip Hop Mogul Russell Simmons

based initiative program to appeal
to young blacks.

Mfume recognized the folly
of continuing to escalate the
stealth war with Bush. Before his
departure, he asked for and gor
a meeting with him. Some crit-
ics accused Mfume of cozying up
to Bush, but that missed the
point. The meeting had nothing
to do with pandering, kowtow-
ing, or endorsing any part of
Bush's agenda. Before, during
and after MfumeTs meeting, he
and NAACP officials remained

miles apart from the Bush ad-

debt is both illegitimate and odi-
ous, evidence shows that many Af-
rican countries have paid their
debts many times over. For ex-
ample, according to Jubilee USA,
Nigeria borrowed $5 billion, has
so aid more than $16 billion
and still owes $32 billion on that
same debt! This absurd scenario is
representative of all indebted Afri-
can countries. Which is why we ask,
who owes whom?

* Note: All figures are in U.S.
dollars.

ministration on school vouch-
ers, Social Security, universal
health care, affirmative action,
the controversial judicial ap-
ae the Iraq war and he

ush administration's continu-
ing infringement on civil liber-
ties protections. The meeting
was simply a smart and practi-
cal move that\recognized that
like it or not, Bush, not Demo-
cratic presidential candidate
John Kerry, won the election.
He will be in the White House
for four years, and there are is-
sues such as greater funding for
HIV/AIDS programs, public
education and health care that
both sides might be able to find
common ground on.

Simmons, or whomever the
NAACP search committee eventu-
all $ to run the organization,
will Bae the tough task of trying to
figure out some way to brid e the
gaping class and political divide
among African Americans, craft
credible programs to tackle black
poverty, and find a working accom-
modation with the Bush adminis-
tration. A youth movement is not
the answer to those problems.

Earl Ofari Hutchinson is an
author and political analyst. He
is the author of The Crisis in

Black and Black (Middle Passage

Press)

partisan. They claim to be, but
they're not. One would think the
IRS investigation of the grou
would be enough of a wake-up call
to the civil rights organization, but
it appears their leadership is in
dene about past comments and
actions.

Anyone reading NAACP
chairman Julian Bond's July 11,
2004 speech, which prompted the
IRS investigation, can see the

artisan politics emanating from
fis address. It has often been said
that the NAACP has become the
left wing of the Democratic Party.
More difficulties will arise if the

improve the way in which they
give aid, to make it work best for

overty reduction, and to end the
ice of debt which means that
low-income countries must ay
out $100 million every day to thei
creditors.

For rich country donors, mak-
ing this finance available is not
simply an act of charity: it is both
a moral obligation and a matter
of justice...?

Those are noble goals, but
like many noble goals, the rheto-
ric exceeds reality.

o...Progress has been
unforgivably slow,? the report ob-
serves. oOnly one goal " halving
the income poverty " has any
chance of being met, but even this
is due to progress in just a hand-
ful of countries. The first target "
enrolling all girls in primary and
secondary school by 2005 " is cer-
tain to be missed. The poorest

ople will pay the price for this
ailure. If the world fails to act to
meet even these minimal goals,
and current trends are allowed to
continue: 45 million more chil-
dren will die between now and
2005, 247 million more people in
the sub-Saharan Africa will be liv-
ing on less than $1 a day in 2015,
97 million more children will still
be out of school in 2015 and 53

group continues to endorse a
political party.

At this time, however, the
NAACP has an opportunity to
make a fresh start. It began as an
admirable organization, and it can
once again return to those laudable
roots. Sax continuing to conduct
affairs in the manner that the
have for the past four decades will
only lead the NAACP to self.
destruction. Lana Hampton is a
member of the African-American
leadership network Project 21.
Comments may be sent to
Project21@ nationalcenter, org.

million more people in the world
will lack proper sanitation facili-
Cies.

Although the UN established
the goal of allocating 0.7 percent
of national income for poverty re-
duction in 1970, only five Bike
22 major donors " none from the
seven most powerful nations " are
meeting the goal.

Donating just 0.14 percent,
the United States is the least gen-
crous donor in terms of aid as a
Proportion of its wealth. At the
current rate, the U.S. will nor
reach the 0.7 percent goal until
2040.

Before we dislocate our elbow
while patting ourselves on the back
for the way we've reacted to the
tsunami crisis, letTs rise to the
challenge of reducing world pov-
my! when the international spot-
light is not on a graphic disaster.

George E. Curry is editor-in-
chief of the NNPA News Service
and BlackPressUSA.com. His
most recent book is?"? TWe Beir of
Emerge Magazine,? an anthology
Published by Ballantine Books
CurryTs weekly radio commentary
is syndicated by Capitol Radio
News Service (301/588-1993). He
can be reached through his Web

site, Beorgecurry.com.

By Martin Crutisinger

ASHINGTON " The first
week of February saw President
Bush's $2.5 trillion budget is shap-
ing up as his most austere, trying
to restrain spending across a wide

from popu-
lar farm subsidies to poor people's

swath of government

health programs.
Vice. President Dick

wealthy.

The ite oh submission to

onday will set, off
months of intense 3 Chala Law-

Congress on

makers
from |Ppe
both par- fijjesc
ties can
be ex-
pected to

vVigor-
rae B fight to protect their favor-

ite programs.

oThis is the tightest budget
that has been submitted since we

got here,? Cheney told oFox News

unday.?

oIt is a fair, reasonable, re-

sponsible, serious piece of effort.
It's not something we have done

with a meat ax, nor are we sud-
denly turning our backs on the
most needy people in our society.?

The president, who cam-
paigned for re-election ona pledge
to cut the deficit in half by 2009,
is targeting 150 government pro-
grams for cither outright elimi-
nation or sharp cutbiecks.

Bush will propose spending
$2.5 trillion in the budget year
that begins Oct. 1. For the cur-

rent year, he is estimating the
budget deficit will reach a record

$427 billion. That compares with
last year's $412 billion deficit and
is the third straight year the Bush
administration will have set, in
dollar terms, a deficit high.

The five-year projections in
the budget will show the deficit
declining to about $230 billion in
2009, when a new president takes
office.

Those projections do not take
into account some big-ticket
items: the military costs incurred
in Iraq afid Afghanistan, the price
of Sa bees Bush's first term tax
cuts permanent, or the transition
costs for his No. 1 domestic pri-
ority, overhauling Social Security.

Sen. Kent Conrad, the top
Democrat on the Senate Budget

Committee, said Bush's budget
otalks about the next five years of

reducing deficits, but what that

hides is what happens after that
five-year window. The cost of ev-

erything he advocates explodes.?
sen. John McCain, R-Ariz..

Cheney
on Sunday defended the plan

against Democratic criticism that
Bush had to seck steep cuts in
scores of federal programs be-
cause he is unwilling to roll back
first-term tax cuts that opponents

contend primarily benefited the

praised the administration's will-
ingness to tackle the deficit. oITm
glad the president is Sania over

hope

we in Congress will have the cour-

age to support it,? he told ABCTs
Th

with a very austere budget.

is Week.?

director, told The Associated Press
that when the budget is released,
the administration will provide
some estimates of the cost in in-
creased government borrowing for

the president's proposal to allow
younger workers to set up private

savings accounts.

But he said the administration
cannot provide total cost figures
for the Social Security overhaul
because all the elements of the
plan have yet to be decided upon.

would
not con-
firm es-
} timates
the over-

haul

could cost $4.5 trillion in addi-
tional government borrowing over
20 years.

Bush's budget will restrain the
growth in discretionary programs
to less than 2.3 percent. But be-
cause defense and homeland se-
curity are set for increases above
that amount, the rest of govern-
ment programs will see outright
cuts or tiny gains far below the
rate of inflation.

One of the biggest battles is
certain to occur in the area of pay-
ments and other assistance to
farmers, which the administration
wants to trim by $587 million in
2006 and by $5.7 billion over the
next decade.

Those payments go to farm-
crs growing a wide range of crops
from cotton, rice and corn to soy-
beans and wheat.

The United States and other
rich countries have come under
criticism for these agriculture sub-
sidies from poor countries. In the
current round of global trade talks,
these nations are pressing for the
subsidiesT elimination.

Other programs set for cuts,
the AP has learned, include the
Army Corps of Engineers, whose
dam and other waterway projects
are extremely popular in Congress;
the Energy Department; and a
number of healt aoe under

the Health and Human Services
Department.

About one-third of the

pro-

grams being targeted for elimina
tion are in the Education Depart-
ment, including federal grant pro-

cas as vocational education,

orting drug-free schools and
Pec Start, a $225 million literacy
program.

The administration also will
seck to restrain growth in man-
datory spending, rimarily by
edicaid, the
joint program with states that pays
the cost of poor peopleTs health

trimming costs in

care.

On Tue Fur Swe

By Bert Wilkerson
NEW YORK CITY/AM NEWS -
For the last five years or so, China
has been quietly raising its pro-
file in the Caribbean, s owly un-
dermining the influence of Taiwan
and winning friends and influenc-
ing peo 4 while American
policymakers looked more to-
wards Eastern Europe and the tur-
bulent Middle East. But it has left
little doubt in recent months that it
is slowly taking off the veil from its
prior strategy of stealth diplomacy,
muscling its way through the Car-
ibbean and Latin American via a
combination of dollar diplomacy
and strategic investments.

Chinese Vice President Zeng
Qinghong and several of his min-
isters aut a swing through the
region, visiting Jamaica, Trinidad
and Venezuela, among others,
doling out cash for investment

prokects and letting the world
now China is ready to be recog-

nized as an.cmerging superpower.

In Venezuela, the Chinese del-
ation of ministers, ruling party
officials and businessmen po er a

Open Wednesday
12:00 p.m.

Sunday 1:00

Sco

grams for local schools in such ar-
sup-

through Saturday
- 6:00 p.m.
to 2:00 p.m.

Cornerstone Christian Bookstore

1095 Allen Road, Greenville, NC
Bus: (252) 752-3846 Fax: (252) 752-4405

Spending on the military, the
biggest part of discretionary

spending, is on target to rise b

-8 percent in 2006 to $419.3
billion, according to documents
obtained by the AP. This figure
does not include the $80 billion
the administration has said it soon

will seek to pay for the costs of
continued military operations in
Iraq and Afghanistan.

Even the increase for the mili-

deal for oil purchases to satisfy its
rapidly growing industrial complex.
In Trinidad, the region's largest and
most prosperous economy, Beijing
approved a $25M soft loan allow-
ing Trinidad businessmen to buy
Chinese products and machinery.
As an indication of how
China is waving paper around as
a diplomatic baigaining chip, a
further $1.1M deal was Baened fr
rojects to be approved by the
A rinidad government. The inter-
est rate on both concession loans
would be 2 percent, officials said.
The Chinese also agreed to
buy additional amounts Be aeakol;
from Trinidad as its Stops up road
and other construction Projects in
time for the 2008 Summer Olym-
pics. The island has in the last
three years sold more than 20.5
million kilos of asphalt to China.
The aaproual of the loans
seemed to confirm speculation
among academics and diplomats
that China is ona spending spree.

In its forays into the Carib-
bean, China has had some spec-

tacular successes in its fight over



RES OF DoMEsTIc Pr

tary will be below what the Penta-
gon had hoped to receive with sev-

eral major weapons rograms, in-
cluding Bush's missile defense sys-

tem and the B-2 stealth bomber,

scheduled for cuts from current
levels.

Many budget experts believe
Bush's plan spilt cscs come close to
achieving his goal of cutting the
deficit in half because Congress
will refuse to go along with the

breakaway province Taiwan.
Beijing has been able to get
Dominica, in the last 18 months,
and Grenada, in late January, to
dump Taiwan in favor of China,
forcing the Taiwanese to accuse
China of diplomatically bribing its
way through the Caribbean and
Central America. Since 1997, St.
Lucia and the Bahamas also asked
Taiwanese missions to pack it in
and go home in exchange for mas-
sive project financing from China
for everything from cricket stadi-
ums to conference centers.

In Guyana, Chinese engineers

are building a $5SM international
conference center next door to the

Caribbean Community Secretariat
as Taiwan fades in the region. Bar-
bados, Suriname and all other

resident is edtosubmitasepa- Young Offenders program, funding

HARSHLY TO BUSH BUDGET ("o": baleenieqien (Satie ero

Congress for $80 million. Had the ea Ls tke and A cis tag

- Conference neglects ident spent most of his time talk- $80 million been included, it is pos- budget, a blueprint must

of ayors, ind count executives thee by Seal Ee abou kines Social Security sible thar Congress could have re- proved by Congress, does poral

joined a near deafening chorus of Black Caucus for ending disparities ancl winning the war in Iraq. Today, duced that expenditure as the budget more br for new homeowners,

Democrats and a growing number of that exist between African Americans he offers a b that mentions nei- was reshaped. Jackson's comments on those wishing to further their educa-

Republicans in criticizing the pro- and White Americans in every aspect ther. It's a budget that rewards the Social Security speak to the concern tion at community coll veterans

osed 2006 budget proffe y of life." The CBC presented those sug- greedy and cuts the needy.? Scoffing that the president has not yet identi- and matters dealing with homeland
President Bush. gestions to President Bush on Jan. 26 at Bush's Judeo-Christian values, Jack- fied, the funding mechanisms that security.

The $2.57 trillion budget callsfor at a White House i son, a minister, quoted Matthew 6:21, would cover his proposed changes in Del Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-
increases in military spending and Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. (D-Ill) was saying: oFor sh re your treasure is Social Security. Ee D met said that despite bees
overseas priorities while cutting do- harsh in his criticism. oPresident there will be your heart also.? Jack- Among the programs or entities pons in some aspects of the Bush
mestic p a Bush's 2006 $2.57 rrillio budget is son said that Bush olikes to use Chris- whose fun ng would be cut or elimi- udget she try te for a provi-

oOn Arse review of President perpetuating a hoax, pulling abaitand tian lan but his budget does not nated are: the Perkins student loan sion that would add $6 million in ad-
Bush's budget proposal, I find it éx- switch,T while ing h itical reflect Christian values.? program, vocational training, housing _ ditional federal funds in her cityTs

FEES inting,? said Rep. Mel _ religion,? Jackson said. oJust week, To meet the projected cost of the assistance to low-income Americans, Medicaid reimbursement. She also f y
Wart (D-N.C), chairman of the CBC. _ in his State of the Union address, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the the Responsible Reintegregration for

Continues on Page 12 :

cuts, and Bush and the Republi-
can-controlled Congress do not
Support tax increases.

oThere is really no way out of
the bind we are in now without
some kind of increase in taxes,?
said Robert Reischauer, the presi-
dent of the Urban Institute and a

former head of the Congressional
Budget Office.

Martin Crutisinger wites for the
Associated Press

Its Profile In Caribbean

coun-tries with diplomatic links to
China have benefited from Chi-
nese Investment and project fi-
nancing worth in excess of $170M.

In early February, Caribbean
trade ministers and businessmen
were scheduled to fly to Jamaica
for the first China-Caribbean fo-
rum, a five-day trade fair exhibir-
ing products from all countries. At
least one prime minister, Baldwin
Spencer SPAnHEGS was scheduled
to attend, an indication of how
seriously China is being viewed in
the region,

oIt is going to be spectacular,?
said Robert Stephens, local chair-
man of the planning committee.
A total of 400 Caribbean compa-

nies and 200 from Jamaica were
to attend,

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Author Blast Greedy, Selfish
Actors, Athletes in New Book
NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. -
For many celebrities who boast
about their $50,000 bracelets and
multimillion-dollar' homes, their
15 minutes of fame is quickly tick-
ing away. For Mark Forsyth, the
only disappointing aspect to their
eventual decline is that the Ameri-
can public has to witness their
antics for even one more second.
He makes hisopinion abundantly
clear in his new book, Is Your Fif
teen Minutes Up? which is now
available through AuthorHouse.

A satirical, politically incor-
rect take on pop culture in gen-

BH

oand female camp allotte
filled on a first-come basi:

tion about this or other 4-H

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Fi
r
"64 )
applic
eS

itt Coanty 4-H Office at 902-1712

synching idiots are.?

These morons continue to
make millions and remind us how
the music industry itself would col-
lapse if they weren't around to
grace us with their massive tal-
ents,? Forsyth writes. oMovie
stars who tell us how to vote, over-
paid, under-producing cry baby
athletes, dimwitted hotel bimbos,
politicians, supermodels and re-

ality show (stars) are so out of

touch with mainstream America,?

In an often funny and caustic
style, Forsyth says what many
Americans are thinking as they
watch celebrities complain about

all of the current celebrities to the
curb, he declares,oI believe itTs
time for us to send the pretty
people a message,? Forsyth writes,
oThere is a difference between
being famous and being signifi-
cant.?

Forsyth has served in the
Navy, worked as a golf profes-
sional and spent most of his life
in sales and¢management. He is
also a firefighter with the North
Charleston Fire Department.
Forsyth lives with his wife, who
is a one-year cancer survivor, and
the couple has two boys, Aaron
and Adam. AuthorHouse is the

Daily Southerner
TARBORO, NC - Tarboro and
Edgecombe County elected officials
applaud as artist Richard Wilson un-
veils his portrait of George Henry
White during a ceremony Saturday
at the county courthouse. Photos/
Calvin Adkins

Edgecombe County gave a
hearty owelcome back home? Satur-
day to one of its otrailblazers? who
fought against racial injustices as a

While a resident of Tarboro,
White was elected to two terms (1896
-1901) in the U.S. House of Repre-
sentauves. He sponsored a bill that
would make lynching a federal crime,
which did not pass. White was the
last black to serve in Congress until
1928.

For White's accomplishments,
the Edgecombe County Board of
Commussioners and Tarboro Town
Council declared Jan. 29 as George

Henry White Day. Thar day was sig-

delphia in 1918.

In conjunction with George
Henry White Day, Wilson, a
South West Edpicombe High School

uate, was commissioned to do

¢ portrait of White. Wilson is a
member of the elite Portrait Society
of America.
White Washington

oBrewhaliny was one of the
many adjectives used to describe the
painting. Combining highlights,
middle tones and shadows
black and white picture resemble a

phot h. White's neatly cur hair,
Fareed oe top of his head, to

define his smooth face. His i
articulated a person of high rocta

oThis day is long overdue,? said
Superior Court Judge Toby Fitch.
oWhen a man is a great man then he
shouldnt have to wait 104 years be-
fore he is given his props. ItTs an
honor to have a man of hi integ-
rity to hang in this cee

oI hope they is picture

romptly, at I'm motteT about

hanging i in the back, (of the court-
house).

White Washington, a his-

tory t at Kinston High School,

said she was the great-great-great

niece of White. When her family was
told about the event they encouraged
her to artend.

oMy mother told me I had to
go,? she said. oI'm humbled to be
related to a man so brave when brav-



Bladen County in 1852, died in Phila-

Local Broadcaster /Publisher

|
|

Receives Best Business Award

low pay or treat the world like a world leader in publishing and United States congressman more than nificant because White gave a fare- ery was not of blacks dur-
eral, his book looks at the reality doormat. Js Your Fifteen Minutes print-on-demand setvices, 2 century ago. well speech to Congress on Jan. 29, ing that time. This is a great day for
ofpavinp celebrities and athletes Up spares no love for the pop Sounded in 1997. AuthorHouse The unveiling of a 24 inches x 190]. choosing not to seek a third our family. The painting is outstand-
millions when there are true he- princesses and millionaire athletes has helped more than 20,000 39 inches pastel painting of George term jin TSE ing.?
roes who rarely receive gratitude. who litter magazines and televi- cople worldwide become pub- Henry White drawn by Geeeavtte He left the state and came back The painting and the proclama-
He rails about ohow sbtally outof sion screens. irs time to glorif lished authors. For more informa- arust Richard Wilson drew a stand- only to visit. White, who was born in tions naming George Henry White
control these non-talent lip- those who deserve praise and kick tion, visit www.authorhouse. com. ing ovation. Day was the brainchild of Phoenix

Society for African-American Re-
search Inc. The group pushed for
White's recognition since the birth
of their organization. They also
fought to rename Tarboro Post Of.

fice to be renamed in his honor,

which was passed in Congress last
year

Rudolph Knight, acting presi-
dent of the society, was\one of the
front-runners in the projects. Knight
did not attend the event due to an
out-of-town death in his family.

Jim Wrenn, vice president of
Phoenix Society, said this day would |
not have been possible without Knight
and the late Helen Quigless Jr. |
Quigless, who was the organization's
first president, died last year.
This was a big day for Tarboro

and Edgecombe County,? Wrenn

said. oGeorge Henry White came

home today in more ways than one.
Be : His return home will open a period
Pictured |-r: Barbara G. Brown, Chairwoman, Social Action Committee, Greenville of history that has been wiped off the
(NC) Alumnae Chapter Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., Jim Rouse, Owner map by white supremacy.
WOOW Radio and the M Voice Newspaper and Mavis G. Williams, President,| oTe is a wondered painting. We
Greenville (NC) Alumnae Chapter, Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. | couldn't have asked anything better.? 1

The Greenville (NC) Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Incorpo-|
rated presented its Best Business of the Quarter Award to Mr. Jim Rouse, Owner of
WOOW Radio and the M Voice Newspaper. Mr. Rouse is cited for his commit-|
| ment and outstanding service to the Greenville Community. He provides vigor-|
ous support, and he uses passionate gifts of time and resources to improve the lives!
fons utilizing the media of mass communication. |

County. George Henry White gives
us al hope ae lives today.?
Edgecombe's black political lead-
ers were special guests at the event.
County Commissioner Viola Harris
read a proclamation proclaiming Jan.
rge dev White Day. She
said White paved the way for blacks
in the political arena.
oBecause of George Henry White
as a black lady from tI can
stand here and say that I'm a mem-

ber of the Edgecombe aoren Board

of Commissioners,? she sai

Other black political leaders who




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Clerk of Court Carol Allen White,
Tarboro Council members Roland
Clark and David Smoot, County
Board of Education Chairwoman
Evelyn Wilson, Board of Edgecombe
member Florence Armstrong and
County Manager Lorenzo Carmon.

Tarboro native Dr. Michael
Armstrong, of South Caroolina
a brief history lesson on White's life.
Armstrong who is the son of Florence
Armstrong, said White was a trail-
blazer on a solo expedition.

oWe are here today to celebrate
the vision, work and spirit of George
Henry White, for the black recon-
struction South had no room for his
contributions to humanity,? he said.
oHis life was dedicated to the cam-
paign against racial discrimination.
When in Congress, he was anythin
but a silent member. He was hear
and in the African American com-
munity, heralded. Politically he was
ingenious and genuine, He always
stood for civil liberties of blacks and
the poor,

oWhite was one of the most im-
pee African-American political
caders during the last of the
nineteenth century, and has been one
of the least remembered. T; he is
coming back home, to rise, like the
Phoenix.?
mio ers Clark Jenkins, f5-
Edgeco, said: o1 know this is a
and the people of the African. Ameri-
can community. ItTs also a special day
tor all citizens of the community.

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$ fitting the
US Pose Office will be natasd nie

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Page 6 The Minority Voice Newspaper February 17 - 28, 2005

Community Voices
camper Expressions @ Reviews

city sophisticate

In the course that followed, ir
was then that Carrie said to Essie
Mae, oI'm your mother, you know.?
Seemingly, it appeared that

Making sure students are safe enough to connect the student with
while in the care of an institution jenna) a in case of an emer-
h

oLet's Review?
A account of
love and
mutual
When Marilyn
Jack Bass published their
Strom (an unauthorized biography)
several
y ears
ago, they
revealed

the long-
standing

of a
daughter
Strom Thurmond had fathered by
his 15 black household servant. He
was 23. They went through the
details"even mentioning the names
of the daughter and her mother, Last
year, at age 79, the secret daughter
came on television and publicly
announced: oMy name is Essie Mac
Washington-Williams. Strom
Thurmond was my father.? She had
held this secret for almost 60 years;
or rather she had denied it for 60
Sexe Actually it was no secret

-ause black folk in South Carolina
had known for years as so had
StromTs brothers and sisters. Even
the president of South Carolina
State College at Orangeburg where
Essie Mae attended, knew " as
Strom made frequent visits to Essie
Mae shasaphout hex college days and
always generated large amounts of
cash money in an envelope when he
left. Driving up on campus in his
chauffer-driven limousine, he went
straight to the president's office
where the two of them talked briefly
abour politics and his support for
the state-supported all-black college
at that time. Eventually he would ask
to see Essic Mae whom he
identified as oan old family friend?.
The president knew better than to
inquire. That was hush-hush when
it came to a powerful man like
Strom Thurmond, so it was
necessary to comply with orders and
olook the other way?.

I was so eager to read the
innermost secrets of her life's story
(which could only be told by Essie
Mae herself since both Carrie and
Strom were both deceased) I rushed
to Barnes and Noble to Ret my copy
of Dear Senator as soon as it reached
the bookstands" only to discover
they had sold out tin the fiirst day or
two. Immediately | placed my name
on the reserved list in order to obtain
the book when the next shipment
arrived. When the call came from
Barnes & Nobles to pick up my book,
| rushed down to the stage to retrieve
it lest it would Ret Into some other
hands by mistake. I read the book in
its enurety before putting it down. Ir
was the most emotional, poi snant, and
compelling true story | bet coe read
and I heard that several people ar the
book signing for her at Quail Ridge
Books in Raleigh where she appeared
In person for the signing February 3rd,
actually sobbed and cned

Phere were many memorable

events which seem to stand out in this
book more than others; for instance,
when Carric (her mother) firse

introduced Essie Mae to her tather
in his law office in Edgefield, $.C. (ar
age 16) Strom remarked, oOh what a
lovely daughter you have. She has my

sister GertrudeTs cheekbones.

Another moment was when Essie told
him her mother, ( arnic, had died. (Ar
that time Strom and Carrie had lost
contact to which he attributed to oher
interest in another man? and he at

mpson and
k OlT

A TRIAD: Strom, Carrie, and Essie Mae

Crouch only after it had ceased to
be available with her mother, Carrie
Budler.

NO PICTURES OF ESSIE...

There were several Pages of

hotographs in the book; one of Essic
Mae at 17; her cousin Calvin; her
childhood home in Coatsville,

Pennsylvania; her half-brother Willic
Clark, who was 7 years younger than
she and was Carrie's son by a
husband; Strom at 20; her husband
Julius 3

Williams
with his
Alpha Phi
Alpha
fraternit

at Sour
Carolina
State;
Strom and
Jean
Crouch's
wedding;
Essie Mae
ands her
three
children;
Strom with
his second wife.
Nancy (who was 25
cars younger than
him) and their 4
children; and a picture of
Essie Mae and her daughter
visiting StromTs sister Gertrude at :
her home in Edgefield, S.C. | began

to wonder why there was no picture...

of Carrie, her mother. But | assumed
out of honor and respect for her
deceased mother, it was omitted.
However, in the book she described
her mother the first time she saw her.
Her words were:

oOne lovely, crisp fall day, a very
beautiful woman came to Visit us
(in Coatesville, Pa. where she had
lived with the woman she had always
A was her real mother). She
was the most amazing woman | had
ever seen. She was about five feet
eight inches tall and moved and
dressed like a fashion model, She
wore a Fie cotton dress with a
string of pearls, but the way she
carried herself in them was regal"
and she looked as elegant as any of
the rich swells in the high-society
films, as naturally aristocratic as
Katherine Hepburn, living proof
that a black woman could ott her

own against any Hollywood ideals.
She was dark-skinned and had thick,
lustrous wavy hair and coal-black bic
eyes that would light u any fark
F Pike a big-

night. She carried

ersel

to commemorate the

Come in and let us assist you.

Affordable Rates.
Layaway available.

sacred memory of
your loved ones. May

Strom continued to see Carrie down
throughout the years. When she had
aored to Chester, PA. after leavin

left Rock Hill, S.C. where she had
been living with her husband,
Philadelphia seemed to be the ideal
place for Strom to visit her. She
seldom worked but always had
money. She even had an account at
John Wanamaker's in Philadelphia
and Strom had promised her that
he would always look out for their

daughter.

Essie
married in her
junior year in
college to an
aspiring
lawyer, Strom,
through his
power in the
egislature,
made it
posite for a
aw school to
be established ar
South Carolina
State so thar her
husband
could obtain
a law degree
there. Strom
also funded

her son's medical
schooling and he

became a doctor. Essie
Mae had no choice but to

respect the man whom she called
a dear Senator, so much so that she
kept a secret legacy throughout his
lifetime. But now she exclaims, oI'm
free at last!?

Note: This book not only tells
of a lasting love that transcended
race that was divided and bound by
the tradition of culture and customs
of the Old South but it also focus
on South Caroilina History and its
journey through the Civil War,
Reconstruction, the Jim Crow Era,
and World Wars I and II. -
Book Review prepared by Suejette

CODA: Today, the whole
Thurmond family has publicly
accepted Essie Mae into their family
Her name has been added to his list
of children inscribed on the senator's
monument at the Capitol in
Columbia, S.C. She is now 4
candidate for membership in the
United Daughters of the
Confederacy and the National
Society Daughters of the American
Revolution of which she is entitled
othrough her father's lineage?.

be there was so

of higher learning is a critical yet gency. The device can | peter a
daunting responsibility. erson within 12 feet of his or her
At Ec , the number of stu- locaniaee This small piece of tech-

dents on campus during the week
varies from about 50 in early
morning classes to more than
5,500 at mid-day. Many students
live on campus, or in pee
houses and apartments and wal

to class. Many others drive into
Greenville for the day. But in all
cases, the families of these stu-
dents expect them to be safe and
secure while they are here, and it
is our responsibility to provide as
safe a learning environment as pos-
sible.

We remember the tragic mur-
ders last year of two oa at
one of our sister institutions.
Through the years, we have had a
number of serious offenses against
students, both on campus and in
the downtown area.

While we in the university
community cannofbe totally in-
sulated from the increasing vio-
lence in society all around us.
we can make a difference in the
way we provide a safe home
away from home for our stu-
dents.

Under the guidance of UNC
President Molly Corbett Broad, a
task force has offered recommen.
dations for improving safety across
the 16-campus uNiversity system.
Ds. Garrie Moore, ECU's vice chan-
cellor for student life, represented
the university on that task force. His
subcommittee focused on the safety
of the overall campus environment.

The task force came up with
several excellent recommendations,
including:
® More thorough background
checks on students applying for ad-
Mission;
® Training campus staff to identify
and respond to applicants who may
be a threat to the safety of the cam-
pus if admitted;

@ Maintain a campus safety com-
Mittee;

Assess campus safety threats, inven-
tory current safety practices and re-
sources; and

® Train faculty to be aware of stu-
dent behavior that might indicate
otential danger.

¢ task force agreed that provid-
ing a safe and secure university com-
fem: baer an ongoing partner-
ship that involves the campus, sur-
rounding communities, public
schools and other colleges. cu is
committed to doing its part to en-
sure that each Soh Fe can attend
class and live on campus without
being afraid of violence.

Since early last year, ECU also
has put in place a number of safety
measures, including video moni-
toring for all residence halls. in-
creased police patrols and re-
stricted access to residence halls.

One of the many ways we are
addressing this safety issue is by
testing a new device designed to
increase personal safety. About
the size fa silver dollar, this new
Personal Alert Device is small
enough for a student to carry ona
key chats Of wear as a necklace.

Yet, this device is powerful

nology is more effective than a cell
phone, because cefl phones cannot
identify a caller's location as accu-
rately.

Some of our ECU staff mem-
bers are testing this technology to
identify and minimize potential
problems with its use, such as false
alarms and human errors. If this
device proves successful, it could
potentially expand to other UNC
campuses, as well as across the
country,

Burt along with use of such
measures, the entire ECU fam-
ily should be mindful of the need
for attention to personal safety.
For ECU to grow and attract the
highest caliber students, faculty
and administrators, our safety
record becomes part of who we
are.

We all must work together to
build a strong, healthy university
community that reflects the best
we have to offer. In return, we
will build our own legacy as an
outstanding institution,

Open dialoetie can go a long

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Telephone (252) 756-0044

Dr. Steve Ballard, Chancellor

way in helping us identify the
sources of some of this unnec-
essary violence. With construc-
tive discussion and a commit-
ment CO serve our community,
ECU will become a great place
to learn, to work and to live
because oTomorrow starts
here.




























age 46 had recently married Jean
Crouch, his first wife (some 20 years
younger). When Essie Mac revealed
to him that her mother had died (at
i age 38), her words were that, ohis

normal ebullience was knocked

completely out of him. He sar stunned

BE 501) i i |
Bee: Bethel, NC 27812 4



+ NC 5 Hemby | w

arboro, y = . a

for a long time and said. oWhat did (252 823 couland Neck, NC I ountain, NC | st

; you say, Essie Mae? Did | hear you?? ) -5129 (252) 826-4406 (252) 749-3256 in
To which she repeated, oMy mother

is dead. She died in October of kidney = Fa

: failure.? She said Strom bleated like Floral Creations U
a wounded animal. He didn't cry, but

tears filled his eyes. oFor the first Scotland Neck, NC m

time, Essie said, o had seen the great (252) 826-5094

T orator was speechless.? His claim was

that he knew she had a man in her
life before he took up with Jean.?
Essie Mae consoled herself by
thinking that he sough: refuge in Jean

po
ju

f

fe

Bee

Mrs. Beatrice Ma
Carmen Maye of Cheitoree;

North Carolina, daughter of John
W. Maye, 3rd. and Jeanette W. Maye
and granddaughter of Mrs. Beatrice
Carr Maye and Ms. Emma Wilson,

has completed her college studies at
East Carolina University in 3 1/2

Carmen Maye

years, graduating on December 11,
2004 with Dean's List honors. She
obtained a Bachelor of Science in
Business Administration specializing



centration in Management Infor-
mation Systems. She is currently
working as a full-time secreta
for East CarolinaTs Head Poodiall
Coach, Skip Holtz. Although an
extreme blessing to be employed
upon graduation, she is ultimately
looking forward to beginningT a
career with Wachovia on June 13,
2005 where she will serve as a Fi-
nancial Center Manager. This will
consist of one full year of trainin
in Charlotte, North Carolina and
will follow with relocation to
Wilmington, North Carolina.
Carmen is currently 21 years of
age, and her passion jis to be the
best role model as possible to her
younger sisters, Johnelle, a fresh-
man at Carolina and Kristen, a
freshman at Independence High
School in Charlotte. She states
that, oFor none of my accolades
do I give myself the credit because
it unequivocally would not have
been possible without God.?
Carmen looks forward to her fu-
ture endeavors and says that in
addition to her family, her church,
Koinonia Christian Center is the
part of her college experience that
she will miss the most. She would
like to extend her appreciation to
all of the people in the commu-
nity that she has encountered that
have positively impacted her life.
Fathers

Fathers must make their pres-
ence known in the home. But what
about the African American women
who are heading households with-
out a man present in the home?
There are approximately 44% of
African American households that
are headed by females"cither
through out-of-wed lock births,
death, or divorce. The 2000 U.S.

African American children live in
single-parent households, more than
90% of them headed by females.
Nearly 40% of those households are
at or below the poverty level.

The African American Male

and the Church

Many African American males
won't even consider the salvation
message that Jesus is the only way

to God, because todayTs church does
not address their needs. The Afri-
can American male needs money,
job opportunities, business re-
sources, and relevant skills training.
The church collects money, but does
little to create opportunities through
which he can make more money.
People often criticize men because
of activities they engage in outside
the church. If a lottery man, gam-
bling man, or dope dealer toss out
an economic life line while the
church stays on the shore, closed
behind stained glass windows, re-
peating a sanctimonious agenda, it
cannot expect to reach and save Af-
rican American men. When our
churches provide self-esteem lead-
ership development, economic rel-
evance, and other positive initia-
tives, African American men will
come.
Alarming Statistics

Over the course of a lifetime,
28% of African American men will
enter a state or federal prison.

A big part of the problem is re-
cidivism-the frustrating phenom-
enon of prisoners who are freed to
live in society but go back to their
old ways, and once again end up in
prison.

We believe that many African
American men and fathers who are
serving time in the nationTs correc-
tional institution want to become
productive participants in society
upon release. However, well over
half of them fail to make a success.
ful transition back into society after
release.

From: Teaching Our Mean: Reach-

in Decision Science with a con. Census Data indicates that 62% of ing Our Fathers by Mathew Arnold

What is the most Christlike at-
titude on earth? Think before you
answer. Many would answer love.
That is the most Christlike attitude
on earth? Think before you answer.
Many would answer love. That is
understandable, for He indeed love
to the utmost. Others might say
patience. Again, not a bad choice.
Grace would be a possibility. No
man of woman ever aodeed fe cx-
hibited the grace that He demon-
strated right up to the moment He

breathed His last .

As important as those traits
may be, however, they are not the
ones Jesus Himself referred to when
He described Himself for the only
ume in Scripture:

oCome to Me, all who are
weary and heavy-laden, and | will
give you rest. Take My yoke upon
you, and learn from Me, for I am
gentle and humble in heart; and you
shall find rest for your souls. For

My yoke is easy, and My load is
light? (Matthew | 1:28-30).

Did you catch the key words?
oI am gentle and humble in heart,?
which might best be summed up in
one word"unselfish. According to
JesusT testimony, that. is the

(NAPSA)-Better a late fee than
never, but no late fee at all is better
still Unfortunately, traveling and
busy schedules often lead to unpaid
bills and credit woes. A recent study
showed that one in five travelers were
hit with late fees for unpaid bills
while they were away from home;
another 20 percent said their con-
sumer credit rating was negatively
impacted because of late payment.

The survey conducted by Wells
Fargo & Company of 2,200 random
U.S. adults also found

@ 22 percent had a delayed pay
ment because they were too busy

@\ quarter overlooked an im-
portant statement amidst all the
ojunk? mail in the mailbox

@ Nearly a third of all people
simply forgot to make a household
payment

Him endured the

Christlike attitude we can demon-
strate. Because He was so humble-
so unselfish-the last person He
thought of was Himeelfh

f seems that today's world is
filled with self-promotion, defend-
ing our own rights, taking care of
ourselves first, winning by intimi-
dation, pushing for first place, and
a dozen other self-serving agendas.
That one attitude does more to
squelch our joy than any other. So
busy defending and protecting and
manipulating, we set ourselves up
for a grim, intense existence-and 1s
not totally modern problem.
Greece said, oBe wise, know your-
self.?

Rome said, oBe strong, discipline
yourself.?

Religion says, oBe good, conform
ere al

opicureanism says, oBe sensuous.
satisfy yourself.?

Psychology says, oBe confident, as-
sert yourself.
Materialism says,
sine yourself,
ride says, oBe superior, promote
yourself.?

Christ says, oBe unselfish, humble
yourself.?

Happily, this last line is the se-
cret of a happy life, fixing our cyes
on Jesus, the author saul bersaces
of faith, who for the joy set before
cross, despising
the shame, and has sat down at the
right hand of the throne of God?
(Hebrews 12:2).

Look at that! He saw those of us
who benefit from his sacrifice as othe
joy set before Him..? He did not
come to us grudgingly or nursing a
bitter spirit. He came free of all chat.
While it was certainly not a pleasur-
able experience, He accepted His
coming among us and His dying for
us willingly and unselfishly.

oTherefore also G highly ex-
alted Him, and bestowed on Him

the name-which is above every

oBe POssessive,

Protecting Your Credit With Online Bil] Pay

@ In addition, 13 percent had
their services or candies with a
biller negatively impacted because
of a late payment.

Managing your finances online
is an eudliaen Way tO get greater
control over your expenditures, ¢s-
pecially when you're away from
adhe oUsing online bill pay can
turn a three-hour chore into a 15-
minute task as simple as checking
off a to-doT list,? say experts at Wells
Fargo.

Interestingly, experts also re-
port that the average American
panel tory spends two to four hours
every month paying bills, Switching
to an online bill payment service can
decrease the time you spend on bills
by 60 percent. In fact, it's now esti-
mated that by the year 2008, more
than 68 million households wil] pay

WITH FAITH MAY _|

name, that at the name of Jesus ev-
ery knee should bow, of those who
are in heaven, and on earth, and
under the earth, and that every
tongue should confess that Jesus
Christ is Lord, to the glory of God
the Father? (Philippians 2:9-11),

No one else deara that title.
Only one is Lord. All knees will
ultimately bow before Him.

My emphasis here is on the at-
titude that releases joy and
launches it from our lips, the se-
cret of a happy life on carth-an
attitude of unselfishness. My en-
couragement to you is that you not
put if off until it is a little more
convenient. Many will tell you
that you will be taken advantage
of if you begin to live for others
or if you don't defend your rights
and oget even.? I offer the Oppo-
site counsel: God will honor your
decision to demonstrate an attitude
of humility. You will find that
feelings of hate will be replaced
with a relieving flood of peace and
happiness. As Solomon has writ
ten, oWhen a manTs ways are pleas
ing to the Lord, He makes even
his enemies to be at peace with
him? Proverbs 16:7),

Actually, it all begins with your
knowing Jesus Christ in a personal
weal allowing Him to take the
blows of life for you.

When we acknowledge that
Jesus Christ is Lord and begin to
release our cares, our disappoint

-ments, and our heartaches to Him.

we not only keep our equilibrium,
we keep our sense of humor Joys
EE when we have Someone to
bear our burdens.

By Charles R. Swindoll

Resource: Positive Thinking/2004
You can bank on this: Experts
estimate that by the year 2008, more
than 68 million households will be
banking online,

You can bank on this: Experts ¢s
timate that by the year 2008, more
than 68 million households wil! be
banking online

most of*their monthly bills online
For more information about

bankin online,

www.wellsfargo.com

go to

Music Department Welcomes

Quartet

Marsdalis
DURHAM N.C. - North Caro-
lina Central University Depart-
ment of Music is proud to an-
nounce The Branford Marsalis
Quartet will serve as artists-in-
residence from January to De-
cember, 2005 at the university.

oWe are honored to have per-
formers of this caliber on our
faculty,? said Chancellor James
H. Ammons. oWith their inter-
national acclaim and talent, they
will provide immeasurable expe-
rience and opportunities for our
students.? The arts are alive
and well ar NCCU.?

The newest faculty members
are Branford Marsalis, tenor
saxophone; Jeff oTain? Watts,
drums; Eric Revis, bass; and
Joey Calderazzo, piano. The art-
ists will spend 24 full days teach-
ing private lessons and master
classes to NCCU music students
during the spring and fall semes-
ters in 2005.

oThe guys (the quartet) and
| are looking forward to work-
ing with the students,? said
Marsalis.
have called

start teaching than they have in
the last five years.?

oIn addition to the education
component, which is very impor-
tant, we will focus on what it takes
to be performer,? added Marsalis.

The 43-year-old Grammy
award-winningT Marsalis has con-
tinued to exercise and expand
his skills as a performer and
composer. He has his own label,
Marsalis Music, and serves as a
producer for both his own
Projects and those of the jazz
worldTs most promising new art-
Ists.

The New Orleans native was
born into one of the cityTs most
distinguished musical families,
which includes patriarch/pianist/
educator Ellis Marsalis and three
of his five brothers, trumpeter
Wynton, trombonist Delfeayo, and
drummer Jason Marsalis.

Known for his innovative
spirit and broad musical scope,
Marsalis is equally at home on
the stages of the worldTs reat-
est jazz clubs and classical halls.

His recording career as a
leader encompasses 14 jazz al-
bums and two classical albums
under his own name, plus two

Buckshot LeFonque Pop re-

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leases. His final recording for
Columbia Records, Contempo-
rary Jazz, garnered the
saxophonistTs third Grammy
Award, and captured what
Howard Reich aE the Chicago
Tribune described as oa new
level of emotional intensity and
instrumental brilliance.?
Marsalis is also dedicated to
changing the future of jazz in the
classroom. As both visiting
scholar and part-time faculty
member, he has shared his
knowledge at such universities
as Michigan State, San Fran-
cisco State and Stanford. Beyond
these traditional avenues,
Marsalis is bringing jazz to a
wider audience and providing
Opportunities for college-aged
Musicians Co interact =i estab-
lished players before live audi-
ences chroask oMarsalis Jams,?
an educational initiative of his
new label that held its first ses-
sions at Smith College and the
University of New Hampshire.
Calderazzo, a pianist with
the Branford Marsalis Quartet,
has produced five previous al-
bums under his own name. His
energy, technique and rapid fire
imagination have marked him as
one of the most exciting jazz pia-
nists to emerge in the past two
decades. Calderazzo has docu-
mented his commanding mas-

tery of group interplay on five.

albums that matched his ideas
and passions with those of such
imposing artists as Marsalis,

Real Estate

. © oo? Cs

¢, NC (252) 757 -3191

The Branford

Jerry Bergonzi, Jack DeJohnette,
Dave Holland, John Patitucci
and Jeff oTain? Watts.

In the jazz worlds, Watts has
played with asonge Benson,

Courtney Pine, Mc oy, Stanley
Jordan and Kevin Eubanks.
Moviegoers heard him on the
soundtracks of oWhen Harry
Met Sally,? oDo The Right
Thing,? and Spike LeeTs oMoT
Better Blues.? reas it was
his move to Los Angeles for a
stint with Branford Marsalis To-
night Show Band with Jay Leno
that really put Jeff in front of the
jazz audience.

Eric Revis, a Grammy award-
winning musician, started bie pro-
fessional career laying with Betty
Carter, and has been a member of

Branford MarsalisT

grew
up in Fresno, Calif., where he lis-
tened to Parliament, Kiss, and

Earth, Wind and Fire.

He studied jazz with Ellis
Marsalis at the University of
New Orleans, where he layed
with Nicholas Payton and Brian
Blade in the local clubs. He has
had a diverse career performing
jazz, funk, rock, and hip-ho
that has taken him from nal
jazz rooms to Carnegie Hall and
around the world. Revis has de-
veloped a rich musical palette
from which to draw.

For more information, call
the Department of Music at (919)
530-6319 or (919) 530-7214.

PLE? iG eR







cepted



elle

the 1950s and 1960s challenged
racism in America and made the

society for all. are a few of
its many heroes,
Rosa Parks

On December 1, 1955, in

Montgomery, Alabama, Rosa
Parks, an Affi ican seam-

stress, left work and boarded a

crowded, the bus driver ordered
Parks to give up her seat to a white
passenger. Montgomery's buses

were segregated, with the seats in
the front reserved for owhites
only,? Blacks had to sit at the back
of the bus. Burt if the bus was
crowded and all the owhites only?
seats were filled, black people were
expected to give up their seats"a
black person sitting while a white
person stood would never be tol-
erated in the racist South. Rosa
had had enough of such humilia-
tion, and refused to give up her
seat. oI felt I had a right to stay
where I was,? she said. oI wanted
this particular driver to know that
we were being treated unfairly as
individuals and as a people.? The

ts movement of

bus for home. As the bus became |

to bring about change was through
the legal system. Between 1938

and 1961, he presented more than
30 civil rights cases before the Su-
preme Court. He won 29 of them.

Read about Plessy v Feguson,

the Supreme Court's oseparate but

equal? doctrine that was over-
turned by Brown y. Board of Edu-
cation of Topeka.

His most important case was
Brown v. Board of Education of
Topeka (1954), which ended seg-
regation in public schools. By law,
black and white students had to



not sink to the level of the racists

ne and kept the boycott going dience, the non-violent resistance
or

more against un- and hate mongers they fought attend separate public schools. As
than a year. just laws: against: oLet us not seek to sat- long as schools were oseparate but
Finally, the oNon-vio- isfy our thirst for freedom by equal sles equal educa-
Supreme lence is a drinking from the cup of bitter- tion for all races"segregation was
Court inter- powerful and ness and hatred,? he urged. oWe considered fair. In reality, segre-
vened and just weapon must forever conduct our struggle gated schools were shamefully un-
declared seg- | which cuts on the high = of dignity and equal: white schools were far more
regation on without discipline.? KingTs philosophy of privileged than black schools,
buses

un-
constitu-
tional. Rosa
Parks and
the boycort-
ers defeated

the

wounding
and ennobles
the man who
wields ir.?
Civil rights

activists orga-

otough-mindedness and tender-
heartedness? was not only highly
effective, but it gave hie civil
rights movement an inspiring
moral authority and grace.

Thurgood Marshall

which were largely poor and over-
crowded. Marshall challenged the
doctrine, pointing our that osepa-
rate but equal? was just a myth
disguising racism. He argued that
if all sides were indeed equal,

racist nized demon- Thurgood Marshall wasacou- then why was it necessary to sepa-
system, and strations, fageous civil rights lawyer during rate them? The Supreme Court
she became known as othe mother marches, boycotts, strikes, and

a period when racial segregation

| agreed, oe | that oseparate edu-
was the law of the land. At a time

of the civil rights movement.? cational facilities are inherently

voter-registration drives, and re-

realized that one of the best ways

bus driver had her arrested.
Martin Luther King, Jr., heard

about ParksTs brave defiance and

launched a boycott of Montgom-

ery buses. The 17,000 black resi-
dents of Montgomery pulled co-

The wandering workers were
omasterless men,? not attached to the
land, or beholden to landlords. Their
a often terrified whites, who

black man. One

cared any
white man fess in all communi-

Jim Crow by Richard Wormser/St. Martin's Griffin Publobers

Martin Luther King, Jr.

It wasn't just that Martin
Luther King became the leader of
the civil rights movement that
made him so extraordinary"it was
the way in which he led the move-
ment. King advocated civil disobe-

Memoirs of Convict Lease Camps

bare ground, without blankets and
mattresses and often without clothes.
Beatings never ceased. On one plan-
tation farm, a man was given ten
lashes for oslow hocing,? five for osorry
planting.? Those who tried to escape

ties, there are Negroes of whom none and were captured were whipped until

knows the coming, going or real

names. The Negroes are restive, the
whites apprehensive and both are

growing more and more suspicious.
Such a status is already half hostile

even before an overt act is commit-
ted.?

Whites minimized their fear by
maximizing their control. Police ar-

rested unemployed men without
Eh

cause, charging them as vagrants or

falsely accusing them of crimes.
Judges passed down extremely harsh
sentences. Blacks received far more
scyere sentences than whites for the
same crime, In some states, whites
received two years for stealing a cow,
blacks five. Whites were sentenced

to five years for burglary, blacks
twelve to forty.

Leasing Black Convict Labor
Most blacks were sent to con-
vict lease camps, which were orga-
nized ona deadly combination of rac-
ism and profit. Owners of mines,
plantations, railroads, and other in-
dustries would contract with the state
to lease the labor of men sentenced
to jail. The prisoners would then be
sent to work camps where they would

the blood ran. One guard chillingly
commented, oKill a Nigger ... get an-
other.?

CORNERSTONE LOAN CENTER INC

fused"to obey laws that they knew
were wrong and unjust. These
peaceful forms of protest were of-
ten met with vicious threats, ar-
rests, beatings, and worse. King
emphasized how important it was
that the civil rights movement did

circus animal, fed the worst food,
denied medical treatment, men died
from malaria, scurvy, frostbite, sun-
stroke, dysentery, snakebite, shackle
poisoning, and murder by violent and
sadistic guards. At a time when more

thean a hundred men a year were
lynched, thousands died in convict
camps. Convict leasing, one former
government official said, was a death
sentencee. George Washington
Cable, a Southern writer, investigated
several camps and found that though
many men had sentences longer than

fen years, no one survived a camps
and found that though many men had
sentences longer than ten years, no
one survived a camp more than ten
years. Death rates in some camps
were as high as 45% percent, seldom
below, In the North, the death rate
was about | nt.

One ricgees déacibat his con-
dition: oWe leave the cells at 3 o'clock
AM and return at 8 PM, going the
distance of three miles through rain
and snow. We go to cell wet, go to
bed wet and arise wet the following
morning and every guard knocking
beating yelling and every day Some
one hes were carried to our last rest-
ing place, the grave. Day after day
we looked death in the face and was
afraid to speak.?

Inspection reports often de-
scribed the horror of the camps. The
Mississippi Board of Health re-

rted, oMost of them have their
acks cut in great wales, scars and

when a large portion of American
society refused to extend equality
to black people, Marshall astutely

unequal.? Marshall went on to be-
come the first African-American
Supreme Court Justice in Ameri-

can history.
The Little Rock Nine

The Little Rock Nine, as they

later came to be called, were the
first black teenagers to attend all-
white Central High School in Little
Rock, Arkansas, in 1957. These
remarkable young African-Ameri-
can students challenged segrega-
tion in the dee South and won.

Although Brown vy, Board of

Education outlawed segregation in
schools, many racist school sys-
tems defied the law by intimidat-
ing and threatening black stu-
dents"Central High School was
a notorious example. But the Little
Rock Nine were determined to at-
tend the school and receive the
same education offered to white
students, no matter what. legen
grew ugly and frightening right
away. On the first day of school,
the governor of Arkansas ordered
the stateTs National Guard to block
the black students from entering
the school. Imagine what it must
have been like to be a student con-
fronted by armed soldiers! Presi-
dent Eisenhower had to send in
federal troops to protect the stu-
dents.

But that was only the begin-
ning of their ordeal. Every morn-
ing on their way to school angry
crowds of whites taunted and in-
sulted the Little Rock Nine"they
even received death threats. One
of the students, fifteen-year-old
Elizabeth Eckford, said oI tried to
see a friendly face somewhere in
the mob. . . . I looked into the
face of an old woman, and it
seemed a kind face, but when I
looked at her again, she spat at
me.? As scared as they were, the
students wouldn't give up, and sev-
eral went on to graduate from
Central High. Nine black teenag-

ers challenged a racist system and
defeated it.

i
; Ritchie Jones and Chevaugan

| WINTERVILLE"From comical to
musical to utterly emotional, Pitt
Community College students put
their artistic skills on display for a
crowded auditorium as part of the
| oPoetic JustUs: Vol. II? poetry com-
| petition on Feb, 9.
Nearly 100 students and em-
loyees gathered in PCCTs Fulford
Building and were treated to an im-
ressive array of poeti :
EG all, 12 students
event with the top
ctary awards provided by the PCC
Foundation.
oPoetic JustUs:Vol. II,? which
Hi the third such program to be held

at PCC, is oa venue of positive ex-
pression for students,? according to

Continues fom Page 1

R abley at the
ri fad Hotel - Greenville

a slave sale in Georgia- circa 1857,
lettered accomplishments of distin-

uished Black Americans such as
Mahalia Jackson and Paul Roberson,
also a 1958 edition of Ebony maga-
*zine featuring the nationTs first Black
millionaire Willian, Leidesdorff- as
well as several first edition Sambo
childrenTs books, porcelain mammy

MEMOIRS from P¢.8

blisters, some of the skin peeling off
asa result of th severe beatings, They

ing there dying, so poor and
emaciated that their bones almost
came through their skin. We actually
saw live vermin crawling over their
faces.?

Children were not exempt.
Twelve-year-old Cy Williams was sen-
tenced to twenty years on a convict
lease gang for taking a horse he was
too small to ride. Eight-year-old Will
Evans received two years for stealing
change off a store counter. And Mary
Gay was sentenced to thirty days for
taking a hat. She was six years old.

By the turn of the century, an
csumated twenty thousand to thirty
thousand African Americans, one
quarter of whom were children, were
condemned to hard labor in convict
lease camps. Convict leasing had be-
come slaveryTs replacement. To sup-
ply the demand for convict labor, sher-
its arrested blacks for misdemean-
ors and vagrancy.For some men in
the convict camps, a quick death was
better than a slow one They attempted

to escape, knowing they would prob-

ably be killed. Bur they also knew that ?

it they escaped the dogs and the
guards, they could count on help
trom the black community. Many
black farmers hid fed, and dothed
escaped convicts, breaking and bury-
ing their chains. To help a black man
to freedom was a victory over their
oppressors, .

Source: The Rise & Fall of Jim Crow

| Gid Holloman
Chimney Sweep

rize money. The top five
t: are Jason Parson,

ones

PCC Instructor Don King. King said
the competition was meant for PCC
students who wanted to showcase
their aptitude for writing and per-
forming. He began organizing the
event is Oc and scheduled i as

art of the college's Black History
Month celebration.

With WNCT-TV9's Phillip
Williams and Kontji Anthony emcee-
ing the program, ur PCC employ-
prs ina Garcia, Jeff Robinson,
Kimberly Williamson and Greg
Baldwin"judged the event. The
judges evaluated competitors in four
areas: composition, creativity, stage
presence, and message clarity. A
category, audience connection, served
as a potential tiebreaker.

lege transfer student with an interest
in Communications, won this year's
competition after finishing third in
both of the previous two events.
Jones, who hails from New York,
kept the audience in stitches with his
poem, oImperfect,? in which he shed
a humorous light on the uncomfort-
able and often difficult aspects of end-
ing a troubled relationship.

oThat's just dealing with life,?
ones explained. oYou see people
through I see friends go through
it"love, relationships, and trying to

ence with the sub m,
Jones just smiled ts and said,
oI've got a little insight on ir.?
Finishing behind Jones was Ja-
son Parson with oPrime Necessity,?
a powerful poem in which he ex-
plained how much his mother means
co him. Calling her a ocool, cool
breeze in 100 degree heat? at one
point, Parson received a standing

ovation from many in the audience
at the conclusion of his performance.

Rounding out the top five were
Konja Willian, Nathaniel Lynch and
Cheva Jones. But, as King stated,
everyones partial ete po-
ctry competition was a winner.

a fravent Carlae Carses, who
has published a boo: ON poetry en-
tiled oWord Songs,? did not com-

¢ in the poetry competition but
Licked off the program with her
poem, oBreathe In.? Carter said it
was a poem about truly appreciating
time spent with loved ones.

dolls and no doubt other items of his-
torical significance -

Since moving back home a few
years ago to Pitt County where she
now resides in Winterville, Perkins,
when not teaching at Edgecombe
Community College, has ex-
ploring the possibility of havi

Mama Day's Parlor Exhibie?

scum?, as it was while on exhibit j
Parmele, NC, a few years ago.

A visit to her home is to enjoy
southern hospitality at its best. Simi-
larly, Pitt County, just as Cheyney
University and the surrounding Penn-
sylvania area could benefit from a mu-
scum of epic cultural learning.

There is no doubt that younger
generations are much in need of see-
ing their reflections, cultural experi-
ences and realities manifested through
the cyes of Black history in America
and Africa, defined and organized into
a educational monument by those
who look like them, who love them,
and support of their forward progres
sion.

This degree of icarning, sharing
and cultivating could only give rise to
a swell of ownership of a peoplesT col-
lective struggle aad the new challenge
to move towards the opportunity of

a new day in unison.
Perkins; when asked for last

words of wisdom, offered the follow-
ing:

bad.

2) I'm thankful for the expe-
rienced in my life in all of is ae.
For in it, its struggles served as the
ground from which I would propel
myself and from which I could in-
spire others.

3) I'm thankful for my mom, for she
en me perseverance, endurance,
and resilience. She taught me how
to embrace the good and how to
a the assault of the bad objec-
tively,

4) lam thankful for learning the dif-
ference between losing and loss, alone
and lonely. There's an ocean of value,
wealth and difference between the
two.

5) 1 am thankful for learning to handle
all forms of rejection- the lack of
which leads to unnecessary emotional
drain and physical trauma.

On that note, Perkins advises
that she is forever open to the spirit.
Please feel free to send your com-
ments and or inquires, in support of
the oe ne Our Heritage

Museum?, to Dr. Ruby L. Perkins
at: RLPER@AOL.COM

1307 W. 14th St
Greenville, NC 27834

~heraton Capital Center Hotel
Downtown Rais iste

Outh Ss

y:
Among the bi mectings that are be-
* s ing held in
Washington
to signal the
opening of
the new Con-
gress is one
planned for
mid-January
by Black con-
Servatives.
The meeting
will be led by
Conservative

Ron Walters

D.C., media perso
Williams, who was at
retiring Sen. Som Thurmond, where
Trent Lott made his comments in
parent support of ThurmondTs 1948
ationist presidential campaign.

Black Republicans, to their
credit, voiced strong opposition to the
remarks and to Lott's continued role
as party leader in the U.S. Senate. This
included Black Conservatives such as
Williams, among the first to express
his upset with the statements made
by Lott. Black moderate Republicans
such as Ken Blackwell, Ohio secre-
tary of the state, also expressed the
sentiment that Lott should be re-
moved as the leader of the Senate.
But does this mean that the Conser-
vative agenda will prevail at this meet-
ing or that one posed by the Black
moderates will?

The irony in this is chat Williams
has been a protégé of Strom
Thurmond since his days as a college
student, and has sought to participate
in his public rehabilitation. Williams
accompanied Thurmond to a men-
tor/protégé event sponsored by the
Washington, D.C., Urban League
several years ago and generally apolo-
gized for ThurmondTs conservative
Position on issues. How does one
square the role of an apologist for a
racist with being sensitive to com-
ments uttered by racists? After all,
when it was discovered several years
ago that Trent Lott had ties to the rac-
ist organization, the Conservative
Citizens Council, we watched to see
if this would so embarrass Black Re-

ublicans that they would repudiate
Pe Narry a word was uttered in
opposition. In fact, I could find no
critical statements that Black Repub-
licans had made ar all.

I suspect that this new meeting
comes because they are emberraned

Ken Blackwell has ea thar the

Republican ooutreach? strate y to

Blacks had been going well, and that

cover progress on what some Black
Republics. consider their initiative
to recruit Blacks into the Republican
Party, progress that has at least cluded
me thus far. This meeting then,
amounts to more strategic position-
ing by Black Conservatives, since
Black moderates, like other moder-
ates, seem to have little difference in
their agenda from the Con-
servatives inside the Republican Party.

Black Republicans cannot be
meeting to put forth an agenda any
different from that which party leader
Tom DeLay has authored, because
they have functioned as front men for
the Conservative revolution since the
emergence of Ronald Reagan and
Newt Gingrich. Where is the differ-
ence between Black Republicans and
White Republican Party leaders on

anything? Blacks had a number of dis-

agreements with the Clinton admin-
istration. The only crack in the Re-
publican dike was

Colin Powell vo

vasion of Iraq in the early 1990s and
when he voiced support for affirma-
tive action. Otherwise, Black Repub-
licans have been in lock step with their
handlers on issues such as vouchers,
faith-based initiatives, reduction in
taxes, belittling civil rights, the war
against Iraq and whatever else DeLay
serves up.

Just as this moment, created by
the racial thuggery of Trent Lott, is an
Opportunity to iia a more pro-
gressive governing agenda on civil
rights issues for the majority of Blacks
and even Black Republicans who are
not Conservative, it is also an oppor-
tunity for Black Republican sbrkes:

ond the stock-

and-trade vilification of mainstream
Black leaders and to accept some real
responsibility of their own, given the
strategic power position they now
occupy. acquisition of the con-
trol ob the entire governmental epee.
ratus by the Republican Party also
places Black Republicans in an his-
toric position of accountability to the
Black community. How will they ex-
ercise this accountability?

This should be a moment for the
Ken Blackwells, Colin Powells and
other moderates to ascend to the lead-
ership of Black Republicans, but they
have been sandwiched between the
power of White Conservatives and
their Black representatives whose
voice was the voice of Blacks in the
party. Moderate Black Republicans
are in a position to exercise leader-
ship on issues such as health insur-
ance coverage; Title I funding; sup-
port for Black colleges, affirmative
action and economic development of
depressed Black communities; and on
moderate approaches to foreign
policy.

The public actions of these Black
Republicans in the policy arena will
provide the opportunity for history to
judge not only the outcome of this
meeting they are planning, but their
actions on subsequent issues vital to
the well being of the Black commu-
nity with the proximity to power they
now Possess.

Ron Walters is Distinguished
Leadership Scholar, director fie Af-
rican American Leadership Institute
and professor of government and poli-
tics at the University of Maryland. His
latest book, with Robert Smith, is
Africa American Leadership. o

Greenville Housing Authority

Beginning February Ist, the Greenville
Housing Authority will open the Section 8

Waiting List and be

tions for the Hous

Program. Ap
Tuesday an

in accepting applica-
he Choice Voucher
lications will be taken every
Thursday in the month of

February from 9am until 3pm (ending

February 24th) at

the

Eppes Recreational Center located at
304 Nash Street.

You must be 18 years or older to apply.

the Lott affair has put a damper on it. T
So, the meeting is an attempt to re-

RECOGNITION BANQ

Onoring the

The Pictorial below consolj-
dates photos from the 22ND AN-
NUAL DR. MARTIN LUTHER
KING, JR. SENIOR RECOGNI- event has been utilized to endow a
TION BANQUET that pays tribute scholarship fund to honor Dr. An-

to Dr. King and honors senior mi- drew Best, tireless work as a civil

nority medical students graduating
from the Brody School of Medicine.
For the past several years, this

- -srstsseenneees eee

Fi
:
3

R.

rights leader, humanitarinin and role
model in the communuty. Dr. Best
practiced medicine in Greater
Greenville for 50 years. Dr. Best
played a key role in the establisment

of the Brody School of Medicine

during his tenure as a member of
the University of North Carolina
Board of Governors and the East
Carolina University Board of Trust-
ees

This year the MLK Recognition

Event was held at the Greenville
Hilton on January 22nd and the
goal was to raise $25,000 for the
Scholarship Fund. Seated in the
very top row are this year's gradu-
ating medical students.

e





private schools received vouchers

the programs first year.
ion.

the presidentTs
that as Mayor
pleased with President

Y put in an

edn i yt

irst, let me say

Aayor of Washington, D.C.,
was very

Bush's 206 badge as it applies to

ns for the District of

propriatio
Coane bia? Williams said in state-

country that receive direct funding.?
ment issued on Feb. 8 at a press con- Historically, presidentsT budgets
ference. oThe president's budget re- have been odead on arrival? when
flects the teamwork it takes reach Capitol Hill because Congress
to address the priorities of out resi- has its own ideas about what AmericaTs _
dents, and I want to personally thank ing priorities should be. oMr.
him for his support of the District.? Bush's proposal recommends severe
But, Williams added, oAs many of cuts in education, food and nutrition
you know, I do wear otwo hats. programs, and literacy initiatives for
The National League of Cities, _ youth and young adults, Watt said the

ate jobs, further economic develop-
ment and enables our citizens to im-
prove their quality of life.? He added:
Substantial cuts to this program, as
a result of the Administration's bud-
roposal that will consolidate 18
ment programs into two, will

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vacation-and
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Guests staying in the omiddle of the
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oWhether ordering a computer, a car
oracup of coffee, want things cus-
tomized to fit their individual needs,? said
Walt Disney World President Al Weiss, To
learn more, talk with your travel agent, cal
407/W-DISNEY or

oenters

- fact that grants to states for election
a es pe nae fe

severely curb comunity defelopment -_ ; ,

in the hundreds of counties across the

bosses when corporations are slash- Growth is also driven by tising " in the furnitu before open-
tOSSiI on life expectancy, giving workers a chet ing their built-to-order furniture-mak-
into a dicey labor market. One-third at second careers as entrepreneurs, "-ing company in 2001, They were 53
of AARP-members work, and many says Jim Hoopes, a business history and 54, respectively.
need to work beyond the traditi professor at Babson College. Ameri. _ They could tap industry contacts
retirement age of 65. oItTs one of our cans born in 1950 are expec sd to live for deals on sewing mathines, fabric
illars of retirement income,? to age 68 " 20 years " than and other goods to launch Seat Co.
op busir ichtenstein says. those born in 1900. And ose are Those deals slashed start- p costs to
vs 5.6 millio Near Atlanta, Jim Minick, 51, just averages. With good health care, less than $50,000. Most of that was
' are Now se started an elder-care business in 2003 many workers can pursue entrepre- spent n the Web site handling
ap from 1990, because he feared another layoff. His neurship well past traditional retire- all. orders, oThat's our showroom,
cted to rise Home Care Georgia in Smyrna helps ment age. Simmons says. ieee
} Seek n people with daily tasks at home, such Martin, now 58, plans to work Seat Co, has eight employees and
ricans get olde tech- _ as getting dressed. It became profit- many more years as she builds Cook- sells furniture ranging from $265 plass-
ogy drives d able in 2004. Minick expects mote, ics On Call in Saugatuck, Mich., into. top end tables to $1,500 sofas in bur-
The trend c than $140,000 in revenue this year, a bigger enterptise. She sells 47 lkinds | jundy red leather. Simons predicts
tional wisdom that entrepreneurs are In 25 years of human-tesource of Ghocolate-thunk cookies through tpore than $1 million in revenue this
nostly young. They're just as likely and sales jobs, Minick was laid off her Web site for $16 to $17 adozen. year as he and Bane show furniture
to be folks lik Fiahiny Marin, who three times. oYou don't want to find With one employee and plans to add can still be made profitably in the
launched a Michigan cookie com- yourself 55 or 60 with no one want- more this yeat, Martin craves a-work- USA. Pe Se ee
pany in 2002 when she was nearly ing to hire you,? he says. oThat's a place more like the ones froth early . Beating the odds oe
Se ee ee concern with any 50-year-old,? == in her marketing career. -at° Like many e repreneurs, Seat
_ Business isshot: She expects * Shifting values. Older workers | McDonald's and other companies. oTT Co.'s founders are trying to beat busi-
$500,000 in revenue this ye nearly want more flexible schedules to. want to create jobs ... where people _ ess failure rates, an, especially Ky
iple last year's. oITm thri time with aging parents or on | can't wait to come to work,? she says. gambit for older workers who. may
, a 30-ye I corporate bies while easing into retirement. - * Innovative technology. Many ,. woe o
der © Americar Near Phoenix, Bill Gluth, 54, start-ups by older entrepreneurs are one- oy
eneurshipTs bright started a small-business consulting " person ventures in home offices with aT |.
aployment fell di firm in 2001 after leaving a- market. dizzying array of technology that didnt ~)
st decade, edgi ing job at a graphics company. He exist or was.too pricey 20 years ago,
y. That weak rm expects to take more annual vacation: ktop computers and power-
me because entreprene as much as two months. He's also ful software tethered: to the Internet
ee bu | looking forward to favorite pastimes let home-based businesses-compete
her goods and by creating such as playing drums. oI have that _ with bigger firms. oTechnology is ab-
j nd. innovations, ibility,? he say: __ solutely key in all this,? says écono-
a : Sure, entrepreneur That's ty ical of en 50 mist Lynn Karoly, co-author of the |
gees. They often. ls, tank Rand found. About 41% work Gluth, for example, outfitted his
ech know-how or marketing part time vs. 26% of workers that ape home office with new furniture, a fax
They may underestimate health care sie: tr by others. | machine and a computer armed with
and other start-up costs. And they risk Gluth started Develop Your Vi- publishing software and high-speed
gambling retirement savings on aven- sion after the sale of his employer Internet access. Total cost: less than :
ture thar may go belly-up. dropped him at a csuiesdade, He $5,000. | a
oPeople tend to romanticize self- could have stayed with the new own- Martin's Web site, which attracts |
- employment. They think everyone will _ ?,?rs of sought work at another com- cookie customers from around the
wind up like Steve Jobs,? the Apple pany. But Gluth chose self-employ- world, cost $3,000 to build. Without
Computer co-founder, says Jules ment because he didn't want to owork the Web, shed spend more time on
Lichtenstein, a senior policy adviser for new ple and start the ball all the road selling to a much smaller
at AARP. the seniorsT a Ocacy group. over again.? market, pinching growth, she says.
Despite the risks, more older se \ging Americans, The number * Business savvy. Many corporate.
k $+ Coming to of Americans age 50 and up will soar workers, entering their 50s, leverage
spreneurshipTs rescue, chasing self- by 31 million by 2020, to 118 mil- management skills and retirement
oyment because of: = lion, the Census Bureau predicts. benefits to invest in start-ups.
* Corporate layoffs. Boomers Much of that represents the aging ef In Memphis, Steve Simons and ' |
want the security of being their ownT the huge baby boom generation. partner Russall Bane racked up years
CBC/ of which Williams is president, con- CBC would work with other mem:
wi dcbetya | aired bulla toned, apres conference yi the - bers of Congress to have a budget that
id theb rovides funds to bui JInited States | ce of Mayors reflects the concerns of all Americans.
a Coast Ga algun the and the National Association of Coun- Rep. John Conyers (D-Mich.),
west campus of St, Eli is Hos- _ ties (NACo) on Feb. 8. The three or, the CBC member with the most se-
pital. The rest of the campus is toT be ganizationsT written statement ex- niority in Congress, said the Bush
used for homeland security purposes, Plained their urgent need oto denounce budget would make thé economy
te cy iperd Cadet Bocepac ee
fex imposed D.C. vo clopment rant oAfter four years of offering tax
program had an increase of nearly program, which is che signature pro- cuts for his richest friends and turn-
2 million. The program has not gram used by cities and counties to ing our surplus into deficits, the presi-
served its she said, noting create jobs, increase economic devel- dent has continued his trend of slash-
thatT only 75 low-income students opment opportunities and expand ing impoitant government programs,?
the lowest-performing schools homeownership.? he aid. 5
had received. vouchers. More than Maryland's Montgomery County Conyers cited examples of charg-
1,300 students were awarded vouch- Executive Douglas'M. Duncan, ing ailing veterans for prescription
ers, and according to Norton anda 5 ing for NACo, said, oFederal medications and making deep cuts or
! ished report, more than ding for community development climinating programs such as the
200 ts currently enrolled in _ helps rovide affordable house, cre- Community Oriented Policing Pro-

gram and entities that fight violence
against women. Conyers, a former
civil rights lawyer, noted that the Jus-
tice nts Civil Rights Diyi-
sion will be cut and bemoaned the

pad - health policy be was stunned by the





| Overall, 33% of start-ups fail af-
ter
ness A on, because owners
ufiderestimate tober, they'll need or
expenses encounter
Martin knew little about account-

ing; :
she Started her cookie company. She

teamed to focus on what she knew

te " Lar ac-
countants, lawyers and a Web site
cloper for the rest.
ig can't do éverythin your-
self" she says with a sigh. oTo be suc-

Health insurance costs are an-
other unexpected burden for older
dren inick got health cov-

Then, shopping for his own

four years, says the Small Busi- si
nel bese

cessful, you have to be willing to say,
Tdeathion' = ee

employer for 18

J

fates: as much as $700 2 month.
Rather than spending that much,
wasnt an option for Gluth,

without insurance
for about three months, a onerve-rack-
ing? experience, after from
his former employer expired. Since
then, Gluth has married, He and his
wife, Michelle; who also is self-em-
ployed, pay a combined $275
monthly for policies with high $5,000
erage, Gluth encountered loads of too-
good-to-be-true offers for older work-

ers. oy
Despite the pitfalls, like other
_ older entrepreneurs, cookie-maker
Martin couldnt imagine any othe if
ve iesing ee
sbe sayT: Inasiine henvi cook;
back I had when I was 18.?
© Copyright 2005 USA TO-
DAY, a division of Gannett Co. Inc.

get

one of them.

Tobacco can be as addictive as heroin, .
That's why almost half of all teens who try it
hooked.

rere wtere wa f
peers ine Say they wish they heel
nmvar tarted They aloo thould beast
almost a quarter million people in North
Carolina under 18 will die prematurely from
tobacco-related

llnesses~and they could be

you

isa teen you care about, show them
care. ,

with your teen's doctor, can
the tobacco habit and hel

aut bet geet ne smelng i hard to
quit, : is easy. Old North Stare
Mecca Socies's

member

United for Teen Heakh:

Our Kids Tobacco Free

) project of

OLD Noatn STate MEDICAL Socisry

Fealth @ Wellness