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THE 'M' VOICE

EASTERN NORTH CAROLINA'S MINORITY VOICE - SINCE 1987

Five Human Service Organizat
United Way of Pitt County Venture Grants

The United Way of Pitt County
will not only benefit and support
its 33 local member-agencies in
Pitt County, the organization will
also be helping five additional
agencies in 1994. These five agen-
cies will be receiving oventure
grants? this year to assist them in

serving the needs of their clients.
The venture grant funds are one-
time start-up money totalling
$33,810.

oThis money will go to agencies
that are addressing emerging and
diverse needs and that have im-
mediate and significant impact in

Pitt County and to try to help more

this community, said Bernita
Demery, Venture Grant Commit-
tee Chair.

Mrs. Demery said that the
money is given to enhance the
organizationTs long-term plan to
be acommunity problem-solver in

Kenyetta Sharpe

crowned

oMiss Martin Luther King, Jr.?

In a beauty pageant sponsored
by the Men of Juday as a tribute to
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., held
on Saturday, January 15, Miss
Kenyatta Sharpe, daughter of Mr.
and Mrs. David Langley of
Greenville, was crowned Queen.
Miss Sharpe, who was crowned
Queen on the eve ofher thirteenth
birthday is a seventh grader at
Wellcome Middle School. She was
crowned Queen by Keshia Rodgers
of Williamston, Miss Martin
Luther King, Jr., 1993.

First place runner-up was Miss
Renee Bell of Williamston. Renee,
daughter of Mrs. Alfreda Bell, is a
sixteen year old sophomore at
Williamston High School.

Second place runner-up was
Miss Tenesha Davette of
Greenville, daughter of Mrs.
Brenda Coggins. She is a sixteen
year old sophomore at J.H. Rose
High School.

Third place runner-up was Miss
April Michelle Sutton, daughter of
Mr. and Mrs. Jimmy Sutton of
Greenville. She is aseventeen year
oldsenior atJ.H. Rose High School.

Fourth place runner-up was
Miss Kerketia Quinerly of Ayden,
daughter of Mrs. Janice Quinerly
and Mr.Clarence Dixon. Kerketia
is a seventeen year old senior at
J.H. Rose High School.

Other contestants were:

Miss Artisha Harris, sixteen
year old daughter of Mr. and Mrs.
Nathaniel Powell of Greenville, is
ajunior at North Pitt High School.

Miss Quameerah Rogers, eleven
year old daughter of Mr. and Mrs.
Michael Rogers of Greenville, is a
fourth grader at Elmhurst School.

Miss Victoria Rhinehart, fifteen
year old daughter of Mrs. Uverna
Jordan of Greenville, is a fresh-
man of North Pitt High School.

These beautiful young ladies are
all winners as was displayed on
January 15, before all present, and
we encourage them and other
young women and men to pursue
the God given talents that have
been instilled in each of them.

Essay: Finding A Space For Myself

In A Question

By Kathe Sandler
I am a Black American woman
from an interracial background.

In most, of the world, someone _

who looks like me, with sandy
blonde hair, green eyes " a person
who looks White " would not be
considered Black. And yet because
I am an American, raised in a
society with a legacy of slavery,
apartheid and the oone-drop?
theory of Blackness, I was raised asa
Black person and identify myself as Black.

Color consciousness has left a
lingering imprint on Black Ameri-
can life. During the early days of
slavery, a caste system emerged in
our community which valued light
skin color, straight hair texture,
and oEuropean? features as a
physical ideal. oMulatto? children
of White masters were limited op-
portunities. Ingrainedin the multi-
hued and ethnically varied Afri-
can-American population, these
White racist values continue to
affect us today, despite the impact
of the oBlack is Beautiful? move-
ment of the 1960s and 70s and
todayTs resurgence of Afrocentrism.

Ihave spent the last eight years
exploring this lingering internal-
ized racism for my documentary,
A Question of Color (airing on
ve

PBS), but, in many ways, I ha
fg a this film all of

Of Color

of

hoto of newly freed slaves is featured in A Question
color, Kathe Sandler's documentary about color

=

consciousness in the African American community

people I talked to and worked with.
People shared hidden, painful
stories with me about tensions
between best friends, family mem-
bers, lovers, spouses and commu-
nity leaders. The young women
whose boyfriend wouldnTt bring her
home to meet his mother because
she was otoo dark,? and the first
Black mayor of a Southern city
who had to overcome not only
White segregation but color and
class discrimination in the Black
community as well. There was
Wiley, a light-skinned young man
who admitted to preferring light

skinned women withlong hair and

ayin, a young dark-
| who wanted

working-class woman whose tough
girl image was designed to keep other
Black people from. messing with her.

At every turn I was confronting
my own existential pain around
color. This became particularly
evident during the segment con-
cerning two teenage boys"Keith
and Keyonn. Keithislightskinned,
Keyonn is darker. While these best
friends acknowledged that each
was treated differently in the Black
community, they had never dis-
cussed the reason for this differ-
ence. Ironically, Keith and

KeyonnTs experiences were analo-
gous to the ways in which my 818-

oter (and associate producer) Eve

and were treated, something that
own family was not immune
issue of color and prefer-

4 *

people in Pitt County.

The agencies selected range from
those helping at-risk children to
adults who are unemployed.

The largest grant of $8,610 was
awarded to Florence Crittenton
Services (formerly Eastern North
Carolina Maternity Home). Ven-
ture grant funds will serve as a
match of other grant money and
permit the home to operationalize
a kitchen to serve the nutritional
needs of their clients. These funds
are contingent upon the success-
ful merger of ENCMH and Flo-
rence Crittenton Services.

Foundation for the Future, an
after-school enrichment program
administered through the
Greenville Police Department re-
ceived $8,310. This program tar-
gets youth from low-income com-
munities for character-building,
monitoring, and participatory ac-
tivities. The funds will support the
oDiscipline Equals Growth? com-
ponent of the program that in-
volves students in martial arts,
drama, dance, and visual arts.

A $7,000 venture grant was
awarded to Opportunities Indus-

trialization Center/O.1.C.Thispro- _

Beatrice Maye Column

To the Editor:

oWould America have been
America without her Negro
people?? said Dr.W.E.B. DuBois.

Dr. Carter G. Woodson, the

founder of Negro History Week in
1926, later becoming African-
~American (Black) History Month
in 1976, had as its purpose to help
people reflect upon and celebrate
the outstanding tradition of edu-
cational, cultural, and spiritual
excellence among blacks; for
Blacks have contributed to the
very building of this country with
true blood, sweat and tears. Each
teacherTs lesson plans, regardless
of grade level, could and should
reflect, it,

This is the 69th observance of
this remarkable celebration which
has for its theme - 1994 -oEmpow-
ering African-American Organi-
zations: Past, Present and Fu-
ture.?

1-Has the observance become a
symbol or a burden?

2 - Do setting aside one month
in the year invite people to forget
about Black accomplishments,
achievements and recognitions the
rest of the year?

3- Does the observance appease
white guilt or is it a means to
exploit Blacks?

4 - Does knowledge not lessen
prejudice and racial barriers?

5 - Do books and curricula up-
grade so schools can teach Afri-
can-American history the entire
year rather than one month?

6 - Is education complete with-
out Black culture? Africa and Af-
rican-Americans are an indispens-
able part of American culture.

7 - Does any instructor bar his
students from wanting to be aware
of African-Americans?

8- Do history books equally dis-
cuss BlacksT contributions to in-

FEBRUARY 17-23, 1994

gram provides counseling, moti-
vational, and support services for
unemployed and underemployed
people. The funds would provide
support for job development and
motivational training. The orga-
nization currently serves 31 cli-
ents.

Communities in Schools/C.1.S.
received a $5,000 venture grant
from the United Way. This pro-
gram works with 63 at-risk stu-
dents at D.H. Conley through the
Pitt County Education Founda-
tion in an effort to keep them in
school. The funds will allow a spe-
cial parental component to be ini-
tiated.

For the $4,890 venture grant,
the Pitt County Coalition on Ado-
lescent Pregnancy will develop a
pilot program in the Ayden school
district called T.E.A.M. (Teens
Empowering And Making a differ-
ence). This program will involve a
minimum of 30 at-risk students
from grades six through eight to
be able to utilize teen fathers and
mothers as young adult resources.

Each of these venture grant re-
cipients was required to experi-

ions Receive

committee. Ten applications to-

from the United WayTs Venture
Grant committee that required an
application and presentation to the

taling $107,837 in requests for
venture grant funding were re-
ceived by the committee.

The committee that made these
venture grant recommendations
for the United Way of Pitt County
was comprised of local volunteers.
The chair of the committee was
Bernita Demery of the City of
Greenville. Other members were:
Cherie Evans, The Daily Reflec-
tor, Mike Barrett, Proter & Gamble
Paper Products Co., Inc., John
Bulow, County of Pitt, and Milton
Carney, City of Greenville.

The United Way of Pitt County
has been awarding venture grants
yearly since 1992 when a total of
$70,000 was awarded to seven lo-
cal programs. In 1993 funds total-
ing $83,532 were awarded to ten
human-service programs.

The United Way of Pitt County
is a non-profit organization that
supports 33 member agencies dedi-
cated to serving the human health
care needs of people of all ages and
walks of life.

ence an in-depth review process

ventions, writing or heroic women
(as well as other disciplines) in the
same breath with non-minorities?
It is unfortunate that Dr. Mar-
tin Luther King, Jr., the second
American to be honored with a
national holiday, is not given an
equal placein our hearts and minds
as the first American, George
Washington. Rarely do we hear
about Dr. King on or around his
birthday, January 15 or the third
Monday annually in January.
Prejudice is essentially an out-
growth of ignorance. The effect of
prejudice is devastating.
Benjamin Banneker, the math-
ematical genius said, oThe color of
the skin is in no way connected
with strength of the mind or intel-
lectual powers.?
LetTs give African-American His-
tory Month its rightful place.
Beatrice Maye

The BeTs For 1994

1 - Be understanding to your
enemies. |

2 - Be loyal to your friends.

3 - Be strong enough to face the
world each day.

4 - Be weak enough to know that
you cannot do everything alone.

5 - Be generous to those who
need your help.

6 - Be wise enough to know that
you do not know everything.

7 - Be foolish enough to believe
in miracles.

8 - Be willing to share your joys.

9 - Be willing to share the joys of
others.

10 - Be a leader when you see a
path others have missed.

11 - Be a follower when you are
shrouded by the mists of uncer-
tainty.

12 - Be the last to criticize a
colleague who fails.

13 - Be sure where your next
step will fall, so that you will not
stumble.

14 - Be loving to those who love
you.

15 - Be loving to those who do not
love you and they may change.

16 - Above all be YOURSELF.

From: Dr. C.C. Craig

Are You Practicing Good Char-
acter?

Then you should:

Be a good friend.

Desire to do the right thing and
ao it.

Every deed should be a good
deed.

Be responsible, kind, fair, pa-

tient, honest, control self, love, care
and share.
Work hard toward your goal.
Show school spirit.

Smile.
DonTt talk about school, your
teachers, your classmates.

Spend time with an older person.
Finish your homework and do
your best.
Cheer up a sick friend.
Compliment your teachers, par-
ents and classmates.

Crime, Violence,
Misbehavior ...

We will never solve our crime
and drug problems simply by hav-
ing more police, more prisons, more
judges and more juries. We will
solve our problems only when all
parents are held responsible for
their children. This statement has
been repeated so many times. It is
time for us to hear it now.

Parents who attend parent/
teacher conferences, provide a
quiet place to study, read with
their children, participate in school
activities, screen TV programs,
limiting its viewing; in fact, par-
ents who are involved with their
children do better in school and in
life. Think of the impact this could
have on promoting education and
reducing crime.

Teenagers, how much enjoy-
ment/satisfaction is there our of
sex, wallowing around in the back
seat of acar with a boy who zips up
his pants and goes home? Are you
respecting yourselves, are they not
irresponsible males having fun at
your expense? How much assis-
tance do you get from these boys
when you are pregnant or even
supporting them after birth? Do
they stick with you, marry you or
do they jump on another girl, re-
leasing their passion? Grow up,
girls. Senseless sex is sickening.
Teenagers should be concentrat-
ing on their books/studies instead
of concentrating on sex. IfyoudonTt
start it, you'll have noting to worry
about,

Mothers, grandmothers, if you
let these teenagers be solely re-
sponsible for theirchildren/babies,
you would help instead of encour-
aging. Oh, yes, these are challeng-
ing, self-examination statements.

Note: Excerpts from Ann
Landers