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

By: Amy Gardner

_ The News & Observer
A committee studies the state
sterilization. program that
spanned four decades.......

Nial Ramirez was 17 in
1964, pregnant and living
on welfare in Washington
County with five siblings
and her mother. If she
didn't agree to be steril-

ized, North Carolina would

cut off benefits to her fam-
ily, a social worker told
her.

On Friday, it was
Ramirez's turn to tell her
story to a committee ap-
pointed by Gov. Mike
Easley to determine what
should be done for victims
of the state's eugenics pro-
gram, which from 1933 to

1974 forced sterilization on

more than 7,000 North
Carolinians. Ramirez, now
56, wept as she described
a social worker's threats
that she was " feeble-
minded" and that, if her
mother, sisters, and broth-
ers lost their home, the
blame would fall to her.
"She came every day,
every day," Ramirez. said
of the social. worker's vis-
~its. "It's your fault. If
you don't get this opera-

by Johanna Thatch

According to Mayor Eulis
Willis, the history of the town
of Navassa revolves around
the slaves who once worked
and lived on the former Rice
Plantations of Bruswick
County. He explained that
the small town grew out of
two of these Rice Plantations
lands that were developed into

%

tion, your sisters and
brothers are not going to
have anything to eat.
They're not going to have
any place to live. All be-

cause of what you did."

North Carolina's sterili-
zation program was born
from the then-popular the-
ory that mental and physi-
cal disabilities could be
bred out of the species by
preventing, through sterili-
zation, some people from

., bearing children. That

principle, known as eugen-
ics, was the basis of a state
law that allowed steriliza-
tion of the "mentally dis-
eased, feebleminded, or
epileptic." For four dec-
ades, the Eugenics Board
reviewed the cases of
thousands of North
Carolinians, many of them
poor, black and female,
and determined that they
qualified for sterilization.
In the overwhelming

majority of cases, the

board did so without the
individual's consent.
Although such programs
were common across the
country during the 20th
century, only California

and Virginia forced more "

sterilizations than North
Carolina.

He who cannot agree with his enemies is controlled by them.
-- Chinese Proverb

Several state newspa-
pers over the past year
have retold this controver-
sial chapter in North
Carolina's history. Recent
accounts have highlighted
that eugenics, while born
under a halo of science,
was manipulated by public
officials and doctors,
nearly all of them white
men, to coerce women,
many of them poor and
black, to submit to sterili-
zation.

"When white people tell
you you've got to do
something, what are you
going to do?" Ramirez told

the panel. "What can you

do? You've got to do
what them white folks say,
because they're going to
give you that little bit of
money to feed your kids

with. That's the way it is."

In December, Easley is-
sued an apology to victims
and their families. In
January, he formed a com-
mittee to study the pro-
gram, make sure it can
never recur, and determine
what, if anything, can be
done to help those who
survive. As part of their

~� task, committee members

listened raptly Friday to

the stories of Ramirez and

four fertilizer factories after

the Civil War. In a statement

to The Journal, he said, "One
of these fertilizer companies
(named) Navassa Guano
Company gave the town its
name after the railroad com-
pany used the name of one of
its stops, so as to not confuseT
people using train......(who)
only knew that area as "The

"Maryland

visits Greenville, North Carolina....." Shown above is

Attorney, Robert White and Brother Claude Mayo of Baltimore, MD.,
the father of

who is

Sister Lillie Smith (A

i ille recently to be with his daughter who had to send
her husband to be with the Lord, WOOW Joy 1340 AM & The
M'Voice N send their condolescences out to the entire Smith

therr ioe

~Family on God Bless !!!

if

dog White's sister), who

Staff Photo: J. Rouse

Bluff".

He continued, "With an-
other 'Bluff stop further
along the tracks, the people
from the two ~BluffT stops
were getting off in the wrong
place..."

And so it was-the predomi-
nately African American town
situated on the western bank

of Northwest Cape Fear River,

became known as Navassa;
however, it was not incorpo-
rated into a town until 1977.
And up until then it has only
had two mayors, who are
Bobby Brown and Mayor
Willis. Although the town
has a modest population of
1,492 citizens, it is faced with
common issues that larger
surrounding towns and cities
have encountered. Just as any
other North Carolina town,
Navassa needs affordable
housing, employment opportu-
nities, and economic develop-
ment altogether.

In order to listen to woes
and worries of the residents,
Lt.. Governor Beverly Perdue
offered her time, while tour-
ing Southeastern North
Carolina, and dropped in at
Town Hall in Navassa. After
a bried background of the his-
tory and demographics were
given, presentations were
made by Mayor Knox of the
town of Northwest, former
mayor of Navassa, Bobby
Brown, and Dr. Thurman
Everett of the General Baptist
State Convention, ~Each ex-
pressed their concerns about
the future of Navassa and sur-
rounding areas, One of the
main points stressed b
Mayor Willis that he felt
Navassa was being penalized
by state grand decision mak-
ers because it was not receiv-
ing preferential treatment for
grants although its median in-

another woman, Elaine

Riddick, who both were

sterilized against their will.
Riddick was 13 and liv-

ing in Perquimas County,» «

when she was raped and
became pregnant, she told
the committee. Now, 49,
she said she too was told
she was feebleminded and
must have the operation.
She believes doctors
servered her fallopian tubes
shortly after she gave birth

to her son, Tony. She

doesn't know for sure
when the sterilization oc-
curred ---- or what pre-
cisely it entailed ----
because no one explained
it. Riddick found out
more months later, living in
New York, when heavy
bleeding sent her to the
hospital and doctors ex-
plained what she had en-
dured. "My little body
wasn't ready for what they

FREE!

had done to me, " she said
between sobs.

Like Ramirez, Riddick
was never tested for men-
tal disability, she said.
Like Ramirez, she is black.
And like Ramirez, she
grew up poor. -

That profile was all to
common among those cho-
sen for forced sterilization
by the eugenics board, ac-
cording to Johanna
Schoen, an assistant pro-

Cont. next issue

EE

"Celebrating 100th Birthday Celebration......." Shown above is Ms. Martha H. Clark, wno

recently celebrated her 100th birthday on March 03, 2003, at the Phillippi Missionary Baptist
Church in Simpson with Pastor AC Bachelor, along with a host of family and friends for this joyous

occassion.

Ms. Clark has been a lifelong member of the Phillippi MB Church family and is

currently a very active member of the church. "You go Girl...Stay Young !!! "And many more
from Brother Rouse and the M'Voice Newspaper family.

Dr. Jocelyn Elders visits ECU

Navassa

come level is low in compari-
son to the income level of
Bruswick County at large.

The ultimate vision, Mayor
Willis stated is economic inde-
pendence for Navassa. Dr.
Everett, who helps in the ef-
forts of developing housing for
displaced Floyd victims, felt
the same, and added that such
freedom could be achieved
through affordable housing,
which would attract young
people back to their roots, He
said, "You can go to school in
Charlotte and Raleigh, and
you can come back home and
live comfortably."

In closing, Mayor Willis
presented Lt. Governor
Perdue with Navassa: The
Town and Its People, a book
that documents the history of
the town. Perdue expressed
her gratitude, adding that she
was no stranger to poor com-
munities and largely African
American communities, con-
sidering she lived in
Southeaster North Carolina
for 26 years. She advised
concerned citizens to "pick up
the phone," and she would do
all within her power including
contacting Senator Elizabeth
Dole.

In response to her visit,
Mayor Willis told The
Journal, "I think her coming
to Navassa is an indication

that they are at least | know

they are willing to listen to
the ~little peopleT.

He concluded, "My bottom
line goal is for us to be inde-
pendent and not depend on
grants, | want us to be able
to take care of our-
selves,...And it's getting bet-
ter, We're not on the line of

laces like Charlotte or even
ilmington, but we do alright
for the ~country�"�T.

Me who will not accept an old mans advwice
will someday be a beggar. " Chinese Proverb

Staff Photo: J. Rouse

Ledonia Wright Cultural Center

"Black Folks and their Health....."

Shown above is Sister Nell Lewis of the ECU Ledonia .
Wright Cultural Center with former surgeon general Dr.
Jocelyn Elders and the Vice Chancellor of Health Sciences
Division at ECU School of Medicine pose for the M'Voice cam-
eras at the "Act for Health" Fair that was held recently at the
Greenville Hilton. The Health Fair was an education session
and workshop for those unanswered questions those had con-
cerning their health and other important issues concerning the
African American communities. It is time for us as African
Americans start being more aware of our health and how we
treat our bodies. Staff Photo: J. Rouse

int
¢ A, . ~
o . ty Yi 4
5 id ink ts ds
- By Sf ; ok *

Or?

THINGS
Remain calm

After skepticism, ridicule and panic-buy-
ing greeted the governmentTs advice to pre-
pare for likely terrorist chemical attacks by
stockpiling duct tape and plastic sheeting to
Create airtight safe rooms, President Bush
and Homeland Security boss Tom Ridge in-
sisted that such measures were the best the
government could come up with. oWe're
working overtime to protect you,� Bush de-
clared during an appearance at FBI head-
quarters. Ridge subsequently pointed out
that duct tape and plastic sheeting are oa
propriately listed as emergency supplies� to
have in case of a chemical attack but ac-
knowledged that owe do not want individu-
als or families to start sealing their doors or
windows.� A few days later, Ridge, making
his third such announcement in 10 days,
urged Americans, oStash away the duct
tape. Don't use it; stash it away.� Instead, in
case of a chemical attack, the Department
of Homeland Security's advice " for now
" is to run. Its Web site, www. ready. gov,
instructs citizens subjected to a chemical at-
tack: oTake immediate action to get away.�

Just donTt rush to your childTs school.
School administrators in the Washington,
D.C., metro area told parents that in the
event of a biological or chemical attack,
they would be strongly discouraged or actu-
ally prevented from picking up their chil-
dren. The Washington Post reported that of-
ficials in Loudon County, Va., intend to
lock down schools and post signs in Span-
ish and English warning that nobody will be
allowed to enter or exit.

Curses, foiled again

A man who robbed a bank in Port Royal,
Va., stuffed the money in his pockets, but as
he fled, $100 bills fell out. When he reached
his getaway car, he found he had locked the
keys inside and tried to break the window
with a log. When he failed, he hurled the log
at a pickup truck parked nearby. The pick-
upTs owner, Emmett Lowe, saw the incident
from inside his store and confronted the
man, not knowing of the robbery. After a
short conversation, Lowe returned to his
store, where bank tellers, who had witnessed
the confrontation, called to tell him that the
man had just robbed them.

According to Caroline County Sheriff's
Capt. Scott Moser, Lowe grabbed a gun
and, along with bystander Larry Aguilar,
chased and tackled the suspect. The suspect
tried to shoot them, but the hammer of his
gun got caught up on his pocket. He finally
gota round off but shot himself in the leg.
He continued struggling, and Lowe shot
him in the same leg. Police arrived and ar-
rested Edward Butler Blaine, 61.

There'll always be an England

British police unveiled a new tactic in the
war against crime: politely asking criminals
to mend.their ways. Inspe¢tor Geoff Miles
sent personal letters to 22 persistent offend-
ers in Wiltshire County, suggesting that the
recipient omake it a priority in any New
Year's resolutions you make from 2003 on-
wards, to cease forthwith your criminal ac-
tivities.� Miles said that sending the letters
1S an experiment that owill not do any
harm,� but he pointed out that heTs being
realistic. oThese are career criminals,� he
added, obut we are career police officers.�

Running out of disguises

Americans who wear CanadaTs red
maple-leaf symbol abroad hoping that it
shields thes from hostility have been
thwarted by Arab reaction to CanadaTs ban
on the Lebanese-based Islamic movement
Hezbollah. Anticipating violence, Raymond
Baaklini, Lebanon's ambassador to Canada,
said that because of the ban, oI am afraid it
will be urgent for a Canadian to wear a
non-Canadian T-shirt in Lebanon and the
Arabic world.�

Chicken Little was right

A 32-year-old woman was critically in-
jured when a man fell to his death in an ap-
parent suicide leap from a 44-story Waikiki,
Hawaii, hotel and landed on the roof of her
van. James Hagar III, who heard something
smash into the woman's van. which was be-
hind him, said that when he saw the manTs
body and the dent on top of the van, he
dropped his moped and headed for shelter
oin case anything else fell from the sky.�

Not just another pretty face

Botox shots commonly used to smooth
facial wrinkles may also fight smelly
armpits by paralyzing sweat glands, accord-
ing to a German study. The studyTs author,
Dr. Marc Heckmann of Ludwig-Maximilian
University in Munich, said that volunteers
rated the armpits of 16 people injected with
botulinum toxin A as lower in smell intensi-
ty than before the shots and more pleasant
in odor quality. The armpits were also no-

~,ticeably- drier after the shots.

Rewriting the rules

The government's $397 billion spending
bill, which Congress approved Feb. 13, in-
cludes among its 3,000 pages a provision
that lets livestock producers label meat as
organic even if the animal has been fed
partially or entirely on conventional rather
than organic grain. The provision takes ef-
fect whenever the Agriculture Department
confirms that available organic feed costs
more than twice as much as conventional
feed. The New York Times reported that
Republicans added the provision on behalf
of theT Fieldale Farms Corp., a poultry pro-
ducer in Baldwin, Ga., which has been try-
ing since last summer to be permitted to

q label its chickens as organic while feeding

' them a mix of conventional and organic
feed. A $4,000 campaign contribution to
Rep. Nathan Deal, R-Ga., apparently did
the trick.

hen deprived and underdeveloped nations feel the

pinch of poverty and discrimination, richer nations

can virtually count on coming under attack, Tanza-

nia President Benjamin Mkapa said this week, set-

ting a scenario wherein regional conflict and inter-
national crime can become the main components in a concentrated
terror Campaign.

Even before the September 11 attacks, there was a recognition
that poverty in one part of the globe creates the scope for regional
conflict and international crime.

oIt is futile, if not foolhardy to think there is no link between
poverty.�

Links to Al Qaeda have been found in several African countries
- and Kenya and Tanzania experienced the direct effects of terror-
ism in 1998-when their citizens died in bombings of U.S. em-
bassies. Kenyans suffered again last year when a tourist hotel was
blown up.

There has been a growing realization that there can be no security
in the world unless globalization is managed with greater social
and economic justice

U.K. Prime Minister Tony Blair has acknowledged how ter-
rorism can come from opent up feelings of injustice and alien-
ation from divisions between the worldTs richer and poorer na-
tions.�

African leaders have devised a plan to change the equation "
pledging themselves to deliver transparent government in return
for more support for AfricaTs development plans from the worldTs
wealthy nations.

During the 1990s, aid to Africa fell by a third. from $17 billion
at the start of the decade to $12 billion. As a result, oAfrica is the
poorest continent and itTs getting poorer�. sayy UK International
Development Minister Clare Short

Since the end of the Cold War, the worldTs ncher nations have
preferred to ignore places such as Somalia and Sudan, where their

: pid MRE .
LEAD STORY.
mreserijtion to te

attempts to quell conflict have failed.

would have been thinkable a decade ago. Britain's military inter-
vention in Sierra Leone in support of the elected government is
one example, and contrasts with Europe's failure to prevent geno-
cide in Rwanda.

have oan absolute duty� to intervene.

- with hope for Congo, Angola and Sudan - the challenges to de-
velopment as a result of war are enormous.

most of the victims are innocent civilians.
year off AfricaTs economic growth.

tries; Tanzania, for instance, has taken in 1.5 million refugees in
the last decade.

protecting their own local interests, have been widely resented,
particularly on farm subsidies.

on which'the lives of our people depend,� says Tanzania's Presi-
dent Mkapa.

clout, standing and power.
istic to consider a greater equality of power,� said Alec Erwin,
South AfricaTs trade minister. pointing to oimmensely rich� energy,

mineral and agricultural resources

that there 1s potential for progress.

,

- 20,2003

* 2

(i

But there is now greater engagement in AfricaTs failures than

Blair has said that if Rwanda happened again, his country would

But although prospects for peace are better now than for decades

Some 20 percent of AfricaTs people are affected by conflict, and
The World Bank estimates that conflict is knocking 2 percent a

Large numbers of refugees place a burden on neighboring coun-

Regional instability also cripples efforts to control the spread of
V3

Lectures on fair trade doled out by industrialized countries, whilst
African states are being conditioned onot to subsidize agriculture
A unified stance and more internal trade could increase AfricaTs

oIf the whole of Africa works together then it is much more real-

Perhaps the biggest challenge Africans now face is to recognize

Sharpton brings diversity, controversy

to Democratic presidential campaign
F

WASHINGTON " The presidential candidacy of Al Sharpton
brings diversity to the growing Democratic field. but the Black ac-
tivistTs record of controversy and legal trouble also poses a political
challenge for the party

Democrats, Republicans and an increasing number of editorial
writers are calling on SharptonTs rivals to take the New York
preacher on, citing his conviction for tax evasion, his eviction
from his office for failing to pay rent and his refusal to apologize
for wrongly accusing a New York prosecutor of raping a 15-year-
old girl

oHis own record really ts just shocking.� said Rep Barney Frank,
D-Mass., who ts supporting fellow Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry
for president oAl Sharpton bragged about not paying taxes. If this
came out about any other candidate for president. that would be the
end of the candidacy.�

Republican Sen. John McCain of Anzona. who assailed Jerry Fal-
well and Pat Robertson for intolerance during the 2000 presidental
campaign, said in a speech Monday that Democrats should do the
same to Sharpton. another oagent of intolerance �

Despite the calls, SharptonTs presidential foes have declined to
criticize him, and many Democrats say they welcome his candida-
cy because he can mobilize black and urban voters

oReverend Sharpton may draw people into the caucuses wno
might not otherwise participate.� said lowa Democratic Party
Chairman Gordon Fischer oHe obviously brings a different per-
spective and talks about issues that the other candidates might not
be raising.�

A frequent candidate in New York who has never held public of-
fice, Sharpton has been an articulate defender of civil nights, out-
spoken in his criticism of police brutality and the Navy's bombing
exercises on the Puerto Rican island of Vieques

His positions have made him a polarizing figure among Blacks
and Whites _ a CNN-Time poll of Democratic voters last month
found six in 10 Blacks say they have a positive view of him, com-
pared to 27 percent of Blacks and Whites overall

SharptonTs critics, including Frank and several editorial writers,
say Democrats are afraid to challenge Sharpton and offend Black
voters. In the 2000 election, Al Gore won the support of 91 percent
of the Black vote

Others argue that Democrats should copy Bill Clinton, who dur-
ing the 1992 campaign enticized rap singer Sister Souljah in what
Was seen as an effort to separate himsel! trom racial poliues and up-
peal to moderate voters

Peter Beinart, writing in both The New Republic Feb. 17 and in
an op-ed in The Wall Street Journal Feb. 24, called Sharpton a
ocharlatan�"� and accused him of oracial political extortion.� Syndi-
cated conservative columnist Mona Charen wrote on Feb. 25 that
Sharpton ohas a despicable history as a racist provocateur.�

Jonetta Rose Barras, in an opinion piece for The Washington Post
Feb. 26, said Blacks deserve more attractive and able representa-
tives on the ballot, such as Rep. Harold Ford Jr. D-Tenn.. and for-
mer Detroit Mayor Dennis Archer

weren't vigorously questioned and subjected to a thorough exami-
nation of their past

said Barras, author of 4 book about former Washington Mayor Mar-
ion Barry. oYou aren't debating me seriously, you arenTt taking me
senously, you just deal with me because you donTt want to alienate
a certain population.�

tration, said although Sharpton brings a new perspective to the race,
iS important for a Democratic candidate to bring people together,
not divide them.

(0 say he shouldn't participate in the process, but clearly if a Demo-
crat wants to get elected president, he or she is going to have to re-
flect views that are more reflective of the center of the spectrum.�

have not asked him about his past; the one exception was a forum in
which he was asked about his support for Tawana Brawley, an up-
state New York teenager who claimed she was raped by county pros-
ecutor Steven Pagones.

tain BrawleyTs story, and Pagones won a $65,000 defamation judg-
ment against Sharpton

SharptonTs income was garnished to cover part of the debt and his
supporters, including lawyer Johnnie Cochran and Essence maga-
zine Publisher Ed Lewis, helped pay the rest

icism as recycled allegations.

said. oIf anything, you will galvanize my support base to come out.�
Sharpton 1s a long-shot for the nomination.

D-Ga
maybe he can get people to get out and get registered, but in the fi-

nal analysis, I think minority voters are like all other voters and they
Want a winner.�

Dennis Archer Rep. Harold Ford Jr. Johnnie Cochran

In an interview, Barras said it was an insult when Black candidates

oTo me, thatTs also racism, itTs just a different kind of racism.�

Leon Panetta, White House chief of staff in the Clinton adminis-

oHe represents one extreme of the party,� Panetta said. oThat's not

Sharpton said voters he encounters want to talk about issues and

A grand jury concluded in 1988 that there was no evidence to sus-

Sharpton said all politicians have baggage and dismissed the crit-
oIts a lot of overplayed hysteria that will probably backfire,� he
And other Democrats said the talk was unnecessary because

oI donTt see him on the Democratic ticket,� said Rep. John Lewis,
oI think he will appeal to a segment of the electorate. and

~AIDS, hunger claim one life every minute

Special to the Tri-State Defender

SOUTH AFRICA - Southern AfricaTs ougly sisters� - HIV/Aids
and hunger - now claim a victim every minute, according to the
United Nations ChildrenTs Fund

Unicef said in a statement this weck that the deadly combination
of HIV/Aids and hunger continued to devastate lives across south-
erm Africa, with the number of people in need of humanitarian as-
sistance rising to 15 million across Zambia, Malawi, Zimbabwe.
Mozambique, Swaziland and Lesotho

The HIV pandemic is now claiming a life every minute in the
Southern African Development Community (SADC) region.

Unicef said recent figures from southern Africa showed that one
in six Aids-related deaths in the world in 2001 occurred in southern
Africa, and four million children have been orphaned in the SADC
region alone.

oLife-saving humanitarian interventions, including large-
scale food aid, health, nutrition and agricultural outputs in the
region have helped to avert mass starvation since July 2002,
but danger has not been eliminated, and the region remains in
the grips of an insidious disaster requiring an exceptional re-
sponse from the international community,� said UnicefTs Lon-
don office.

Its statement was issued ahead of United Nations secretary-gen-
eral Kofi AnnanTs address in New York to G8 ministers on the link
between food security, HIV/Aids and governance.

Unicef said that to compound the current crisis, a wave of sec-
ondary casualties was appearing as young adults died from Aids,
leaving behind orphans and the elderly who are at high risk of
hunger and illness.

Unicef executive director in the United Kingdom, David Bull,
who visited the SADC region in 2002, said: oAids stabs at the very
heart of families, and cripples agricultural production.

oAn HIV-affected family can see its income drop by up to 80 percent
and its food intake by up to 30 percent. As people become absolute-
ly desperate for food, they are more likely to turn to measures like
Prostitution, which of course has an immediate impact on HIV
rates.�

von
they desperately need. We are approaching everything through

the lens of HIV/Aids
Said Bull.

He said children were the most affected by this deadly combina-
oUnicef is working to make sure these children get the support

and its impact on women and children,�

Latrell SprewellTs ex wants $2 mil a year

father, New York Knicks basketball star
more in child support, so sheTs taking him to court.

edged that he is 14-year-old AquillaTs father, and has been paying
$2,000 a month in child support.

court to grant her 17 percent of Sprewell'Ts adjusted gross income,
which would increase her child support from $24,000 a year to
about $2 million a year.

his contract with the Knicks.

parents,

it should be enough now.

NEWS YORK - Mitralene Marrow Maclin wants her daughter's
Latrell Sprewell, to pay

Maclin, 31, said in court papers that Sprewell, 32, has acknowl-

But Maclin is saying that now she needs more. She is asking the

Sprewell will make about $40 million over the last three years of

About $2 million every year is~a lot of money for child support.
Some argue that a child should live the same lifestyle as their

Others argue that if $2,000 a month has been enough for 14 years,

sy ¢ 42 v1
AFRICA DIGEST |

NIGERIA :
Opposition official assassinated
a

A senior Nigerian opposition politician
was shot dead this week in what could be
the most serious political killing in the
build-up to the country's elections in April,
police and party officials said.

Harry Marshall, a leading member of the
All Nigeria PeopleTs Party (ANPP) and a

~weighty opponent of President Olusegun

Obasanjo, was killed in the capital Abuja.

oTt is true he was killed in the early hours
of this morning,� Ibrahim Modibo, the
ANPP'Ts spokesperson explained.

A police spokesperson confirmed the
killing, which appeared to be the latest in a
growing list of political assassinations
adding to public apprehension ahead of
Nigeria's critical polls.

National police chief Tafa Balogun or-
dered an immediate investigation.

Shocked ANPP leaders gathered for an
emergency meeting in Abuja to discuss the
loss of their stalwart politician. The ANPP
is NigeriaTs second largest party and most
serious opponent of ObasanjoTs ruling Peo-
pleTs Democratic Party (PDP).

Marshall, from Rivers state in the oil-pro-
ducing Niger Delta, was a founding member
of the PDP. But he quit the ruling party last
year and was working to deny Obasanjo and
the PDP victory in the coming polls.

Nigeria is due to hold a series of national
and regional elections in April. The most
important is a presidential poll on April 19
in which Obasanjo ts seeking re-election

ZIMBABWE
State seizes 16 more farms

Zimbabwe farm lobby group Justice for
Agriculture (Jag) said the government had
seized another 16 commercial farms in the
past week.

This contradicted claims by President
Thabo Mbeki that Zimbabwe's controver-
sial land-redistnibution program had ended

Jag said the latest evictions brought the
total this year to 97.

Zimbabwe's Commercial FarmersT
Union (CFU), the main body representing
the few remaining white farmers, has also
dismissed claims by Mbeki that they are
negotiating successfully with the govern-
ment for the return of some of their farms

Mbeki told the Malaysian New Straits
Times last month that South Africa had per
suaded the Zimbabwe government to start
returning farms to evicted white farmers
who had nowhere else to go

On the basis of this and other alleged
concessions by Mugabe. Mbeki and his
Nigerian counterpart Olusegun Obasanjo
are lobbying to end Zimbabwe's suspension
from the Commonwealth

But CFU president Colin Cloete said the
government had evicted farmers with crops
still in the ground

Even ruling party officials are now com 4
plaining about land reform. Zanu-PF MP
Victor Chitongo upbraided agnculture min
ister Joseph Made for allowing most ¢eized
farms to lie idle.

SENEGAL
Senegal abandons mutilation

Siraboye Diallo begged her parents to al-
low her to be ocircumcised� At nine, they
thought she was too young. But she was
determined to join other village girls in a
centuries-old coming-of-age ritual celebrat
ed with feasting, drumming, dancing and
gifts.

Years later, the reality of the ordeal - re-
ferred to by some as ositting on the knife�
changed her mind completely

Now, Diallo is among a growing number
of people across Senegal. including reli-
gious leaders, tribal chiefs and even some
ocircumcisers�, who are helping to per-
suade hundreds of villages to stop the ritual
cutting of their girls.

oI donTt want any other girl to go
through what I did,� Diallo tells a group
of women, some suckling babies. sitting
in the shade of a giant baobab tree in
Nangar, a clutch of thatch-roofed huts
deep in the hills on SenegalTs southeast-
ern border.

The village pledges against female geni-
tal mutilation began five years ago, on the
other side of the country, in a place called
Malicounda. After taking an aid group's
class in human rights, health and hygiene.
women there decided the practice was
dangerous and convinced the community
to issue a public declaration formally
abandoning it.

Since then 708 villages - just over 10
percent of those practicing female genital
cutting in Senegal - have issued similar de-
clarations, with about 400 more pledging to
do so this year.

ETHIOPIA
Ethiopia bank to help farmers

Approximatey 500,000 farmers in
drought-affected areas of the South
Ethiopia Regional State are to benefit
from 69-million birr (almost R65-mil-
lion) in loans from the government-
owned Commercial Bank of Ethiopia
(CBE), local media reported this week.

The credit would be used to buy 40,000
tons of fertilizers and 5,000 tons of seed.
the Amharic language daily Addis Zemen
stated.

Twenty-seven million birr ($15 million)
was being provided immediately to help
during the dry osmall-rains� season (Febru-
ary to mid-May).

The rest would be given at the onset of
the main rainy season (June to September)
according to Lakew Teshome, CBE vice-
president of operations.

Farmers who would benefit had already
been identified from the worst affected
eos of the region, according to Simaychu

adesse, crop uction and conservation
team leader with the regional Agriculture
and Natural Resources Bureau.

March 13 - 20, 2003

Pitt elects state's first

By Ginger Livingston
The Daily Reflector

Javior Castillo

Pitt County Republicans elected
the state GOP's first Hispanic
county chairman Tuesday night.
Javier Castillo. who fled
Nicaragua more than 23 years
azo with his pregnant wife, was
elected to a two-year chairman-
ship during the party's annual
convention. Castillo served as
the party treasurer for eight
years and on tts executive
committee

PID E MARY eth oe rE A mhde fun Shes ped i LIP
ooy AS 7 7
v

"For the next two years, we
want to work as a team to get
the Republican Party to grow.
We see it as the party of
opportunity for individuals who
want to grow, " said Castillo,
who turns 53 later this month.
Castillo came to the United
States in 1979 after the zovern-
ment of Anastasio Somoza was
over- thrown by the Sandinista
National Liberation Party.
Castillo, who then worked for
the Central Bank of Nicaragua,
had close relatives who worked
for both the Somoza and
Sandinista governments
Castillo became a t'S citizen
in 1986, joining the Republican
Party that year. He became
active in party politics during
the 1988 presidential campaign
"Lam very honored the Republi-
can Party in Pift County has
given me this opportunity,� he
said. "I became a Republican in

1988. and | was a dissenting
voice at that time. because that
was when (television ¢\ angel-
ist) Pat Robertson was running

See a ch baie: Weeha ie aia aia

for president. | was for Bush.�
There are no definitive numbers
on how many Hispanics are
registered voters in North
Carolina.

Prior to January 2002, Hispanic
voters could only list their eth-
nicity as oother� on voter regis-
tration forms.

Since January 2002, a His-
panic category has been pro-
vided on voter registration
forms. Election figures show
there are 4,746 registered
Latino voters in the state and 26
Latino voters in Pitt County.
The 2000 U.S. census recorded
379,000 people of Hispanic or
Latino origins in the state, with
more than 4,200 living in Pitt
County.

"I'm absolutely positive it's in
the tens of thousands, because
we sent out mailers in that
magnitude to (Hispanic) Demo-
crats,� said Ricardo Velasquez.
-president of the Hispanic Dem-
ocrats of North Carolina. an
auniliary organization to. the
Democratic Party.

Ipen 9am 5pm
Mon - Fri

SAAD RENTALS�

Throughout North Carolina,
four county Republican parties
are headed by blacks. Two His-
panic males serve in the
General Assembly, State Sen.
Tom Apodaca of Hendersonville
and Rep. Danny McComas of

~Wilmington. Dan Ramirez is a

Republican county commis-
sioner in Mecklenburg County.
There has been at least one
Hispanic to serve aS a county
chairman for the Democratic
Party, but none hold the posi-
tion, Democratic Party spokes-
man Marc Siegel said. Four
Hispanics currently hold posi-
tions with the Democrat's State
Executive Committee.

oIt's no secret that Republi-
cans have been trying to reach
out to Hispanics, but we have to
be very careful about being
fooled by ~mariachiT politics
They trot someone out with a
Hispanic last name, but all the
while they are opposing affir-
mative action and nominating
an ultra-conservative, Miguel
Lstrada, tor the appellate court,

which in my opinion heTs as
conservative as Clarence Tho-
mas,� Velasquez said.

Castillo said he is no token
figurehead for the Republicans.
o| have earned my wings. I'm
not allowing my name and face
to be used as a decoy because I
speak what | say,� he said.
Castillo said he remembers
attending a Pitt County Repub-
lican Party meeting where a
group tried to select a state con-
vention representative who
would pledge a vote to Robert-
son. Castillo said he remembers
the situation reminding him of
politics in his country and rising
to voice his displeasure at the
unwillingness to have open dis-
cussion. Shortly afterward, he
Was invited to participate in
Republican Party events.

While attracting Hispanics to
the Republican Party is a goal
of Castillo, increasing overall
voter participation is a greater
priority,

oWhen I see Costa Rica, where
90 percent of the population

gets out and votes and has a big
celebration, and then in
Columbia, with all that goes on
there, they still vote. Then,
people here still don't vote,�
Castillo said. "We see places
where democracy costs people
their blood, and people here,
where you don't even have to
show ID, still won't vote.�

In addition to Castillo, other
officers elected Tuesday include
first vice chairman Curt
Hendrix, second vice chairman
Cameron Evans, third vice
chairman Leon Bonner, secre-
tary Kim Hendrix and treasurer
Charles Farley.

"| am very honored to be
nominated and elected, and I'll
do my best for the betterment of
the Republican Party, not only
in Pitt County, but on the
regional and state level,�
Castillo said.

*Note: Listen to WOOW Joy
1340 AM Radio Saturday
Mornings to hear Mr Javier
Castillo.

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RACIAL
*PREFERENCES
(What's the ~rightT
number of blacks?)
Adapted from: Talking Points
Recently the White
House filed a brief urging the

Supreme Court to overturn
the University of Michigan's

admissions policies, which
gives preference to racial
minorities. Two white stu-

dents hhve sued Michigan,
claiming they were rejected
in favor of less qualified
blacks. Michigan has no
"quota system", but simply
gives the benefit of the doubt

to promising blacks and
Latinos whose lower test
scores reflect their under-

pene backgrounds.
also offer
bonus osiate r athletic abil-

ity, offbeat talaés: and a
family connection to alumni.
In a perfect world, college
admissions would be decided
purely on achievement. But
don't students with socioeco-
nomic disadvantages deserve

a little help, just like rich kids
who loafed through high
school?

Michigan doesn't
merely offer a little help to
blacks but the university's
preference system is so bold
in its oreverse discrimina-
tion" that skin colr far out-
weighs academic merit. On
the university's 150-point ad-
missions scale, being black or
Hispanic gets 20 points. A
perfect SAT score (an aston-
ishing academic achievement)
nets you a measly 12 points.
This rigged system covers up
an unpleasant reality: On
average, blacks and
Hispanics still lag behind
whites in school performance.
Don't blame poverty, because

xpreccions, ond Revions

blacks from families with
incomes of more than $70,000
a year actually score lower on
the SAT than whites parents
earn less than $10,000.

The real problems lie
within the black community
itself. Two out of three black
children are born out of
wedlock, and black families
generally place less impor-
tance on education than more
successful ethnic groups, such
as Chinese imigrants. Racial
preferences only remove the
incentive for black achieve-
menmt.

Preferences have cre-
ated a whole new set of
problems. Every institution
now feels it must have the
'right� percentage of blacks in
the U.S. population? Should
Asians be held to their exact
percentage in the overall
population (3.6 percent)? And
what about Jews? They
represent less than 2 percent
of the students. Obviously,
itTs time to stop counting
people this way, which only
pits groups against each other
and elevates race (sheer skin
color) to an importance it
should not have.

Fitiuation oC. New Conration

~

Faith May
WHERE ARE MY
GOD-GIVEN
RIGHTS?

Have you ever had a phrase,
just stick in your mind and no
matter how try to ignore it,
you just keep thinking about
it?

Well lately the phrase "M
God-Given Rights� just crack
right up there in my head. In
my opinion, these should be a
few...

#1 The right to live in your
country and feel as though you
really belong.

#2 The right to be the best
you can be as long as you are
qualified, without any obsta-
cles or oppositions in your way
involving prejudice, right?

#3 The right to expect that
your children can go to school
and be motivated, educated and
praised by their teacher's.

Right?

#4 The right to be loved and
cherished and not abused by
your husband, right?

#5 The right to know where
you come from and the right to
be able to complete your fam-
ily tree, right?

That's just to name a few. If
these God-Given rights don't
seem to be a oGiven� what do?
Well, the best I can do is rely
on a few God-Given Rights
that | know I do have.

#1 A right to believe that God
loves me in spite of...

#2.A right to know that He
will always love me.

#3. The right to know that |
am somebody in fact, | am
"royalty" because I am a child
of the King...

#4. Nothing can hurt me be-
cause He is with me always.

With these four God-Given
rights I can tackle the rest.
How about You???

Resources: The Holy Bible and
My Lord and Saviour Jesus
Christ.

S.P.1.C.E. program

Hospital Foundation.

Khe Pitt County Council
on. A.

The Pitt County Council on Aging S.P.I.C.E. program in association with Therapeutic Life Center is
offering a free memory course for seniors ages 60 and over. The course will be held at Sheppard
Memorial Library Room A and will meet every Friday from 10:00am to 11:00am _ beginning March
21st and ending April 11th. Seating limited to 20 participants.

Please contact Pitt County Council on Aging at 752-1717 to register or for more information about the

The S.P.LC.E. for Life Program and this course are made possible through a grant from the Pitt County

Sheppard Memorial Library neither endorses nor stupports this program.

Newspaper Ine,

P.O. Box 8361
Greenville, NC 27834

Phone:(252) 757-0365
Fax: (252) 757-1793

. Joy 1340AM
WOOW Radio Station
Greenville, NC 27834

Joy 1320 AM
WTOW Radio Station
Washington, NC 27889

The Minority Voice
Newspaper assumes no
responsibility for the
return of unsolicited
manuscripts or photo-
graphs. Photographs and
manuscripts become the
property of The

'M' Voice News

Mr, Jim Rouse,Publisher
405 Evans Street

The Minority Voice

Address Your complaints to:

Greenville, NC 27834 |

the business.

Phillips, Sr.

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1501 West 14th Street * Greenville, N
Phone (252) 752-2536 or 752-5177 © Fax# (252) 754-2820

As owner of Phillips Brothers Mortuary, | find it
appropriate to express my sincere appreciation and
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March 13 - 20, 2003

America at the cross-
roads: War is not the
answer

The Final Call

[Editor's note: The following text
is excerpted from Minister Louis
FarrakhanTs SavioursT Day message
delivered Feb. 23, 2003 at the
University of Illinois-Chicago
Pavilion

In the Name of Allah, The

Beneficent, The Merciful.

Minister Louis Farrakhan speaks at
SavioursT Day 2003

This is indeed a very dangerous
time. We have entered into a period
of darkness that President Bush's
leadership is going to lead America
to her fall. | have on the stage with
me scriptural scientists, and there is
no way to clock President Bush and
the actions of the |S Government
unless you can compare what he is
saying and what heTs doing to what
is prophesied in both the Bible and
Holy QurTan

These books. Bible and QurTan, are
books that contain a plan of Allah
(God) for the salvation of His peo-
ple, warnings for the rulers of the
world and warning for the govern-
ment of the United States of
America You cannot read the Bible
or the Quran and not ask yourself,
oWhere 1s the greatest nation that
ever existed in the history of the
world tn the Bible or QurTan?� If
you don't know where to place
America in the Bible and in the
Quran, then sou do not know how
to guide the people in such an hour
The United States of America ts at
the crossroads And we. too, are at
the crossroads The Muslim world
1S at the crossroads What ts a
crossroad? It 1s a crucial point, es-
pecially where a decision must be
made America ts in the valley of
decision and Vou are also tn that
same valley You cannot follow your
leaders blindly revardless to their

being in positions of power that you
have elected them to, or that they,
in revolution, came to power Power
today 1s in the Hands of God If you
allow yourself, with patriotic zeal,
to follow that which is in error,
then, as the Bible says. oIf the blind
lead the blind, both tall in the
ditch o The ditch represents hell. |
hasten to tell you that the President
of the United States is spirituatfy
blind
The arrogance of power and wealth
and the lofty position that Allah
(God) has allowed America to at-
tain, the power that God has al-
lowed America to amass. the
influence that God has allowed
America to wheel, all of these are
like heady wines. If you drink of
the wine of power, the wine of
wealth. the wine of influence. you
could become drunk and not be able
to assess properly your thinking.
your actions, your policies of your
programs. The masses of the people
will see you drunk, but,you cant
see yourseif.
The masses of the people are trying
to say something to the president
But the president 1s even more em-
boldened after millions and millions
of people have protested against the
war. He said (their protests) would
not sway him. President Bush came
into office with a determined idea
to remove Saddam Hussein from
power. Sadly, he does not see that.
though Iraq looks easy to America.
Iraq is only a trigger. The real
thing will happen after Iraq
America will start rolling down the
hill to total destruction. The
America that you think you know "
now, vou will never know her again
as a world power. Mark my humble
words to you.

The country has to make a decision,

the importance of which may bring
death or continued life. Moses told
his people, "/ call Heaven and
Earth to record this day against
you, that I have set before you life
and death, blessing and cursing:

therefore choose life, that both
thou and thy seed may live." The
decision that our government makes
today is so weighty that if the dect-
sion to go to war Is a decision in
error, not only does death come to
the persons that makg the wrong
decisions, but that person sentences
their offspring to the consequences
of their decisions. Every one of us
has a decision to make. This book,
QurTan, says that every deed has a
consequence and no human being

will escape judgement in the Day of

Judgement.
l told vou, based on an experience
that | had (in 1985), that | was

shown the mind of (then President
Ronald) Reagan, but that extended
to Bush. Reagan came into office
with a determined idea to kill
(Libyan President) Muammar
Gadhafi and destroy that regime.
He failed, and every president since
Reagan has had some altercation
with the Muslim world. President
Bush says heTs not against Islam; S
heTs against the "radicals in Islam�.
It is true that there are radicals that

PLGA CARER PLT CO

"Savi

wy Se
~s

Minister Louis Farral
ors Day Address *

have hijacked Islam. But | want to
say to Mr. Bush, you are a radical
that has hijacked Christianity. I
want to say to (Ariel) Sharon,
(Benyamin) Netanyahu and that
crowd, you are a group that claims
to be Jews but you have hijacked
Judaism. It is time now for the
righteous Jews to stand up; the
righteous Christians to stand up;
the righteous Muslims to stand up
against those who have hijacked
our religion.

In the QurTan, we are told that you
will see every nation kneeling
down. Every nation will be called
to its record. And Allah (God) says,
"This day you are requited for
what you did. This is our record
that speaks against you with truth.
Surely we wrote down what you
did." \f every nation will be called
to its record, what is the record of
America? If every deed has its con-
sequence and everything that
America has done has been written
down, what does that book look
like? But, not only does every na-
tion have to fall down before its re-
cord, the Holy QurTan says, "And
we have made every manTs actions
to cling to his neck. And we shall
bring forth to him, on the day of
resurrection, a book which he will
find wide open." \t says, "Thine
own soul is sufficient as a reck-
oner against you this day."
Everything that we have done that
is other than right ts recorded. Not
only have the angels recorded it,
but also your own mind has re-
corded your own evil.

Presidents of the United States and
Members of Congress have been ly-
ing for years and years to manipu-
late the ignorance of the masses to
use your flesh and blood, suppos-
edly for a noble principle, but in re-
ality it was to advance imperialistic,
colonial ideas. Cuba was a posses-
sion of the Spanish along with
Puerto Rico, the Philippines and
Hawaii, but America did not want
Spain in the Western Hemisphere

How did they manage that war?
They sent a ship off the coast of
Havana called the Maine. It was a
huge and power ship. Somehow,
the ship blew up. How convenient
was that? The warmongers in
Congress whipped it up and inno-
cent American lives were lost be-
cause we were fighting for Cuban
independence against the Spanish
Suddenly, America had Puerto
Rico, Cuba, the Philippines, Hawai
and the Spanish were kicked out
How did (the U.S. Government) get
Nevada, New Mexico, Arizona and
California? They started sending
so-called Americans into Texas,
which was not a part of the Union;
she was independent; she was sov-
ereign. Texans have that kind of
spirit even today. Texas got into a
little problem where American lives
were lost, and here comes the war-
mongers in Congress and the
Mexican-American war broke out
American soldiers went into
Mexico all the way to Mexico City
Finally, they signed a treaty with
Mexico and new borders for Texas
were set. After it was over, America
had Texas, Nevada, Arizona, New
Mexico and California.

How did America get into World
War I? It was another ship. This
ship was called the Lucitania. It
was a British luxury ship that was
carrying 127 or more rich
Americans. According to history, it
was dangerous going navigating the
channel near Ireland"the U-boats
were there. I read recently that
some of (the people in Congress)
knew that the U-boats were going
to attack the ship and over 1,000
lives were lost. The point is, while
you cry over the 3,000 lives at the
World Trade Center, the wise
policy-makers manipulate your grief
and use you to further policies that
you think are in your interest, but
they are in the interests of the
wealthy and the powerful people of
America.

We had to get involved in Vietnam,

and it was another ship that got
America involved"the USS
Maddox. Pres. Johnson lied to
Congress, saying the Vietnamese
had attacked this U.S. ship. After
that lie was told, Congress passed
the Tonkin Gulf resolution and over
500,000 American Gls, 30 percent
of whom were Black, were in
Vietnam.
To those of you who feel that
America does not need a message
and a Messenger and a Warner,
Allah (God) says in the QurTan, "/
have sent a messenger to every na-
tion.� Is America a nation? Is it not
the greatest nation in the history of
the world? Then, who will deliver
the warning to the United States of
America? DonTt you think America
should be warned of her inordinate,
degenerate, immoral behavior?

at is the pattern of Allah (God)?
He doesn't come to the college
graduate. He doesn't come to the
powerful rulers of the day. He
comes to the abject, the poor, the
oppressed, and the enslaved. He
raises one from among them and

tee op hn Be

from heaven, and will forgive their



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He sends him to the Pharaohs of
the world and the oppressed.
Somebody has to be anointed of
Allah (God) to say to America,
"your time has come�. You cannot
lacate America or Bush or the
eaders of this world with soft,
sweet talk. Somebody has to speak
straight words.
In the 32nd surah of the Holy
Qur'an, called "The Adoration�,
Allah (God) says, "Do the people
say he has invented it, he has
made it up? it is not so. It is the
truth from your Lord that you may
warn the people to whom no
Warner before you has come that
they may receive guidance and
walk aright." Prophet Muhammad
was not the first Warner to Mecca
Abraham and Ishmael were in
Mecca and raised the foundation of
the Kabba in Mecca. Hud and Salih
came to the people of Ad and
Thamud there in that peninsula.
But America has had no Warner
from Allah (God) that would warn
her of her day of reckoning that
was divinely backed. Elijah
Muhammad was such a man.
For the 40 years that he was among
us, he never failed to warn America
of her fall. He showed us America
in the Torah, in the Gospel and in
the QurTan. Read the Book of
Revelation: "Babylon the great is
fallen, is fallen, and is become the
habitation of devils, and the hole
of every foul spirit, and a cage of
every unclean and hateful bird."
Pick up the SIst chapter of
Jeremiah and read what Allah
(God) did for ancient Babylon. He
turned the neighboring nations
against her and destroyed her
power. In the Book of Revelation,
that last Babylon is called a omys-
tery Babylon�. That mystery
Babylon, the Hon. Elijah
Muhammad said, is the United
States of America.
Now she is fallen. Her stock mar-
ket, her dollar is falling against the
yen and the Euro and you have

seen nothing yet. Her prestige in
the world under Bush is going
down. The nations are afraid of her
but they donTt like her. She is try-
ing to buy China, North Korea,
Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Turkey.
She's gone to the little African na-
tions in the UN, tempting them
with little promises of wealth. I say
to the governments of the world
that you are a fool if you believe
that America will fulfill her prom-
ise to you. She promises you only
to deceive.
| have a notebook in front of me of
notes that I took from a meeting
with the Honorable Elijah
Muhammad back in 1967. I want to
read to you what a man said back
then. He said America is a pre-
served area, that no foreign nation
will destroy America lest they get
credit. Just as Allah (God) raised
Pharaoh up that He (God) could
prove to the world that He was God
and beside him there was no God,
Allah (God) allowed America to be-
come the most powerful nation on
the earth so that He could deal with
her. He won't let China do it. He
won't let Russia do it. There are no
silly terrorists who can destroy
America. This area has been carved
out for the Lord of the Worlds to
prove that He is Allah (God).
The Hon. Elijah Muhammad said
America is number one on God's
list. The Hon. Elijah Muhammad
said the Bible talks about four
beasts and one was taken and de-
stroyed outright. Its body was given
to the burning flame. He said the
more you fight against Elijah, the
more Allah (God) makes perfect the
work of Elijah. What does he
mean? It is to say that every word
that the Hon. Elijah Muhammad
spoke, you are going to run into it.
re Hien Elijah Mahammad taught
us from the book of Revelation,
"Count the number of the beast,
for it is the number of a man, six
hundred, three score and six." He
taught us that that verse has deep

scientific meaning having to do
with the creation of this world and
its end. After 6,000 years of rule of
the wicked, Allah (God) is going to
come and interfere with their rule.
The last six, the Hon. Elijah
Muhammad said, represents 60
years of Grace, not to exceed 70
years, to give America time to re-
pent and the Black man time to re-
form. If you count 60 from 1934
and add 10 more, it brings us to
2004. This QurTan says,
"Whenever Allah (God) sends a
Warner, He (God) seizes the nation
with distress and affliction that
they might humble themselves to
the call for repentance.�

The Bible says, "If my people,
which are called by my name,
shall humble themselves, and pray,
and seek my face, and turn from
their wicked ways; then will I hear

ROL ELE OO EERE EERO REE REE ERE EEE REESE peer er ne gn ae eee EUs TUT
wee kkeaeke eee eee aera ahaa ckeeeeeesn ene eee

wAuwuewkwewkake ake ak aaa ae aaa aarearankararkanurarnranuaunes

Healthy starts here. You have lots of choices. Every time
you go to the grocery store, fix a meal or go out to eat. Take

each opportunity to opt for a balanced diet rich in fruits,
vegetables and grains, and leave foods high
in fat and salt behind. Feeling good
starts with eating nght. So take the
first step and choose smaller
portions of healthy foods
Take the second step and
get active, too. ItS as casy

as a ten minute walk
three times a day

sin, and will heal their land.� How
many of us have turned? How many
of us have humbled ourselves? How
many of us would be worthy for

Allah (God) to forgive us and heal
this land in which we live?

YOUR

North Carolina Heart Disease & Stroke Prevention Task Force
Copyright ©2005 NC Heart Dawa G Sixcke Prevention Task Fore

tte:

By the Nortb Carolina Rar Association Board of Governors

a= Sybscribe to the Minority Voice Newspaper





nace CWS RELeCaSe

2 LIBERTY & USTICL

A Resolution Condcmning Racism und tucouraciug Efforts to
Enhance Racial Harmony, Cuderstunding, luclusiveness and DiversitY

WHEREAS. a decent understanding of the histor of this nation compels acknes logement of the som er fact thet for
many vears Affnican Amencan citizens were cnpplec by ihe manacies of segreyanon anc the. hain ¢* disemminanon

WHEREAS. the recent public statenienaofal S Senator and hcensed avarmey in suppocst af ysepreget nist Dresitential
campaign remund ali of us of the shameful past of our mistor. and the inadious porate ne « Of ercism in is MANS forms
expressions, and contexts. overt amd subtic

WHEREAS. racism and disemmunation if) any font tie so tanaltly wren abd repay. and so coomary to Consmtinrotia
onnciples of equal jusnce, that a constrictive and flim response thereto ts teceircc

~A HEREAS the Nori Caroling Bar Associaton reaffirms the pnnciple hate ssre Amencor i: ' ep riinesiely
entitled to the benefit oteveryngpht - cil political socisl and legal -sromute dto then an ctor the Corsten rot the bo oted
States free Som disemrmimanon

WHEREAS. the Nomh Carolina Bar Assaciation asserts thetites the province of the esalr: fesscon attee) ag he dah

Ot every lawyer, to preserve, piotect and defend asiiphttulthe claunot ali citiveso toe iwaly te oun thee mastitutecr

ae

WHEIRI4S. the North Carolina Ba: Aswociatien te) eves thacichata dum msec gor xn teonmescand uanceand
2

tO acl in Ways tiat promote racial hemony und nclusisoness. a hits wich os spaced taal o.) lauevers td all eaders

NOUS tHE REPORS, be it resol ed

The North Corcitma Bar Assoc:rater, condemns and repuciates rk icp roam for

The North Carolina Ba: Associanen ene ertgesal. tomember. Uirourhit sorte *cormmittecs the hahion
cf a mean:mneful and constructive dialogue Of suc, Ol taccasharmeny dict, ant one: +

The North Carolina Bar Associaton cy vurayes all iis members theouga th. sections mitnatte sts devise
creative and effective means forenbancing racra. harmony, understandin., inc. 29) eoe sand dicrem for cone deraton

by the Board ot Gesernon, and
the North Carolina Bar Assocation urves alllawvery lcaders sndcititess's ur ok andes m\"Ininas
PAN ip.cs Of equality and jusnce and "9 smive for racial Marmicny therehy helpiny te wah] se oe tetional premise cf

rqua, justice tor ati 3 reality

Adopted this 20" day of February, 2003

Why the black community is not completely successful

The reason why the black community is not compre successful lies within
the community itself. Yes, it is true that we as black people are the cause for
our unsuccessful community. We say that it is the white man that holds us
down to a degree that is true. We let the white man hold us down by not
coming together in unity, by not su ing those who gain success, and by
holding each other back. Instead of supporting each other, we fight each
other. We become jealous of those who succeed. We sabotage each other's
success as well as cause them to become destroyed. We cause the dreams of
other le to die by discouraging them | know everyone has heard of the
analogy a the crabs in the bucket. Each crab drags another crab down so
t that they can get Sat (not nore eae if oy, cat work together the will
all get eaten, which they do), which they never do. That describes some black

Brian Goings sorte is the fullest. Not every black person is like this but those who are give

that reputation to the black conununity as a whole. A lot of black people get

doors open from them from everywhere, and when er get recognized for it,

people go against them to try to bring them down. But, like Mya Angelou said, oStill I rise,� they rise. They
don't let them stop them. Some do, but the majority of them don't. However, if the haters, as we young
people say, encourage them and congratulate them, they would be just as blessed as they are because you
reap what you sow. Some people say give bad karma expect bad a to come back to you, and thatTs
exactly what happens. The black community needs to stop with the gossiping and tearing down and start
i ey ear and start getting and start building up our community. If our local government won't help
ild up "Ghetto" then the people with skills need to stop sitting around and help build it up again
them selves. It's nothing wrong with just helping people without expecting to get paid all the time. It's
better to give than to receive I've often been told and I have personal experience to say that this statement
is true. It makes you feel good to know that you can be a help to someone. The black conununity needs to
help kick out drugs in our community because we can't expect the law officials to do it all. We need to find
the drugs cre gs rid of them clean the community out till its pure. A divided community can not stand.
They say blood is thicker than water. WelL we all share the African blood so we must stick together and
help each other. It's our time as a people to rise up in our status. It's our turn to be the dominant people.
So lets make it happen by coming together. One way is by parents teaching their kids how to uplift each
other instead of dragging them down with words and making a competition out of everything. Another way
is to make sure that you as a black person know what is going on around you. Get an education, and those
of us who ate still in school press to learn more. Once you get knowledge about something, you can bring
it to the table and help plan the success of black people. Who knows the black conununity more than we
do? If our ancestors like George Washington Carver, Benjamin Bannaker, and Harriet Tubman a.k.a
"Moses" could do it, we can do it too. If you need help, help is our there. You can not find anything if you
do not took for it first. To the black community in Greenville and surround areas, Lets GET WORK!

March 13 - 20, 2003

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March 13 - 20, 2003 : -

African American Community Targeted For Health |

4
:

_ Keynote Speaker: Dr. Joycelyn Elders

ee ee ee

- Former U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Joycelyn Elders was the keynote speaker for a free event at the Greenville Convention Center. Re istration

scheduled to speak at 9:30. The ACT (African-American Community Targeted) for Health Summit includes area professionals leading health reload ~workshops and disses
about medical problems that challenge many African-Americans. The event was conceived by local black leaders who wanted to bring attention to health statistics that continue
to spike in a negative direction. Our health statistics for African-Americans are not getting any better," said Nell Lewis, director of the Ledonia Wright Cultural Center at East
Carolina University. "The incidence of these diseases~is higher, and we have the diseases worse and more African-Americans die." | . os
Event workshop titles included: oWinning with Diabetes: The Tip of the Iceberg,� oEating Well, Spending Less: Low Cost-good Nutrition,� oSpeaking of Sex: The things you
may not know,� and Depression: Helping those you know who have it.� Eight workshops will be presented at two separate times beginning at 10:30 a.m. Free blood sree
sure and diabetes screenings also will be available and door prizes will be provided. Ms. Lewis said it was an honor to have Dr. Joycelyn Elders as the keynote eee

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: March 13 - 20, 2

Los Ange-
les Unified School Board Member,
for District One, Genethia Hudley-
Hayes will be appearing at the Ur-
ban Issues Breckfast Forum this
week (Feb. 28) to discuss the chal-
lenges of getting the board and the

_ district to address the disparities in.
achievement among African Ameri-
can students summed up in a piece
of public policy authored by Hayes
called the African American Learn-
ers Initiative.

Over the past few weeks, the
Initiative"controversial from the
outset for targeting a segment of the
district's 700,000 plus students"
has been a source of public discus-
sion (and harsh commentary), not
necessarily for the benefit of policy

implementation; but as campaign

fodder, if not a source of confusion
that requires clarification and fur-
ther discourse. 7
Much of the confusion has been
centered in the perception that after

Hayés got passed one of the most

controversial motions in recent

Part 1

If you
are black
__ and live in
the United States, you have un-
doubtedly heard some rumblings or
read a story about reparations for
people of African descent.

Much to many folksT surprise,
the discussions that are resonating
across the country are more that
just rumblings. They are substan-
tive discussions taking place at town
hall meetings, on talk shows, at
universities, and even in the halls
of Congress.

For the past 20 years, Dr. David
Horne, tenured professor in the Pan
African Studies department at Cali-
fornia State University Northridge
and co-chair of the Reparations Plat-
form Coalition, has be«n one of the
leading advocates and published
authorities on reparations. In honor
of Black History month, I sat down
to discuss the subject of reparations
in its most rudimentary form.

vsview: People define repara-
tions in many different ways. How
would you define it? Is it simply an
apology, a resolution, an acknowl-
edgment of guilt, a paycheck?

Dr. Horne: The denotative defi-

A group
of concerned
black activ-
ists and edu-
cators are inviting all interested
persons to join in a black education
retreat to address the deplorable
state of black education. The re-
treat, oNational State of Black Edu-
cation: Breaking the Ignorance
Chains,� will be at Fort Valley State
University (Georgia) May 16-18.
The purpose is not only to assess
current conditions, but to develop
plans and strategies for quality, eq-
uitable education for African
American children.

Many people concerned with
educating African American chil-
dren continue to meet at confer-
ences and conventions, discussing
what can be called an on-going cri-
sis, but not much has changed in the
past 50 years since Brown v. Board
of Education.

In fact, the state of education for
many African American children
can be seen as acrime. The achieve-
ment gap is daily paraded before us
in the media, while research of Af-
rican American scholars and edu-
cators has been ignored. Hundreds
of thousands of black youth move
. from high schools to prisons in the
continual cycle of dysfunction that
prepares them for neither college,
work nor life.

In the 1960s, many fought for
black studies to challenge
eurocentric curricula to recognize
the knowledge base of African
Americans. Yet, four decades later
most of our children attend schools
that are still, in reality, segregated
and unequal with the curricula still
eurocentric, despite the rhetoric of
multicultural education and diver-
sity. ,

- Race, class, gender and cultur-
ally biased standardized tests are

VERONICATS VIEW |

The Rudiments and Resonance of Reparations

BETWEEN THE. Linas:

Afric

board history, in a district that al-
ways seems to have a reason why

they canTt help black children".

one that many suggest cost Hayes
her board presidency, that the ini-

tiative was later compromised be- _

cause it was made to include, as
some incorrectly ee Latino
children.

Moreover, an even more ridicu-
lous assertion was made that Hayes
didnTt come to the community and
get othe community's� permission
to collaborate with othe Latinos� at
the perceived expense of African
American children. Thus, a big,
opublic� ballyhoo (that has since

been clarified and squashed) that

was followed by community meet-
ings, commentaries by colleagues I
respect rebuttals by the board mem-
ber (whom I respect AND support),
more commentaries and subse-
quently a declaration of what has
actually transpired.

But there is still need fora greater
understanding of what is going on
here"the need to understand how

nition of reparations is arepair, and

arestoration back to where you were -

before an event an activity occurred.
Generally reparations is applied to
warfare. The victor would impose
the cost of the effort to win on the
loser.

Reparations is also now used "
particularly after the end of WWII,
the Nuremberg Trials and the for-
mation of the United Nations with
the human rights declaration and
the identification of certain activi-
ties being crimes against humanity
" to identify and to restore victims
of some horrendous activity tosome
points of dignity, maybe in grant-
ing monetary compensation or it
could be in terms of actual land.

Reparations for African Ameri-
cans and Africans who have been
victimized by the slave trade, colo-
nialism and neo-colonialism by hav-
ing their land, lives and labor ex-
ploited, is both a regional, national
and global movement for having
what was theirs taken away. Slaves
participated in a fundamental way
in building this country. Their la-
bor and their blood are part and
parcel of what has made America
great. So what we are talking about
here is there should be justice for

increasingly being used to justify
the myth of low intellectual abili-
ties of African American and other
students of color. Pathological con-
structs of low cognitive capabili-
ties, oinadequate� linguistic styles
and dysfunctional family structures
are used to explain the ounder-
achievement� of African American
students. Hence, disproportionate
numbers of black children are la-
beled and relegated to dead-end and
demoralizing special education
classes. The labeling has shifted
from being oculturally deprived� to
oat risk.�

To add insult to injury, public
schools are now being placed on the
auction block of privatization where
our children, once again, become
commercial fodder for corporate
profit seekers. The vast majority of
African Americans remain in edu-
cational institutions that are not only
mis-educating, but seriously under-
educating them. The conference
convenors ask"what can we do
about this?

It is time for all those deeply
concerned with this critical state of
affairs to coalesce around new ideas
and programs to actualize serious
solutions to the problems. The ques-
tion is"how can we intervene in
the current black educational cri-
sis? What can we do? If we do not
take responsibility for our children,
who will?

Those calling the retreat want to
consider how the crisis of educat-

_ ing the black child can be addressed

on a national level. In this effort,
they're calling upon educators from
pre-school to graduate school, as
well as participants from indepen-
dent black educational institutions
and the black home-schooling
movement, parents and grass-roots
community adyoeates, behavioral
and social scientists and all other

government and political- systems
work, and how policy gets imple-

-mented"many times by collabora-
tion, not compromise as some�

choose to assert.

The African American Deemer
Initiative is one of the first initia-
tives that I've seen that seeks to
acknowledge and address the learn-
ing deficiencies of black children
in the public school, as ~unique and
culturally deficient. It is a contro-
versial policy that the District, quite
frankly, is still trying to figure out
how to implement. ThatTs often the
case with controversial policy.

If you remember (those who can

_remember) in the case of Brown v.°
The Board of Education of Topeka,

Kansas, where the U.S. Supreme
Court ordered schools desegregated
owith deliberate speed� took, in
some instances, 22 years to occur.
Forces bussing in some communi-

~ties took almost 10 years to occur.

Trying to address the needs of
underserved students, while trying
to pay attention to a growing, un-

By A. ASADULLAH SAMAD

der-resourced school district is a
peek balancing. One that requires
some key coalitions to facilitate.

_ Inthis instance, the Los Angeles
Unified School District is 65 per-
cent Latino students, who also have
learning deficiencies"complicated
by language deficiencies"some-
thing the Latino board member, Jose
Huizar, recognized quite quickly
once the African American Learn-
ers Initiative was passed.

Huizar then asked Hayes to co- |

author a second achievement gap
initiative to address the needs of the
largest segment of underserved stu-
dents that would include both Afri-
can American and Latino children.
Now those of you who understand
the history of civil rights and social
policy advocacy in this country and
in this state know that wherever
African Americans have been, and
whatever door they have gone
through, Latinos have soon fol-
lowed. So this wasnTt unexpected.
However, it was a very strategic
move on the part of Hayes to insure

By VERONICA HENDRIX

that activity. People who were ex-
ploited and not properly compen-
sated should be.

Secondly, there should be, and
there must be an apology which
acknowledges the wrong what was
done. America has to say, owe did
it, yes we grew rich while making
you poor.� But in order for an apol-
ogy to be meaningful there must be
an atonement. You have to show
that you mean it, and there has to be
a tangible demonstration that you
mean it. Lastly, there must be some
kind of compensation.

vsview: If reparations are a res-
toration of back to where we were
as people of African descent, where
will it restore us to because our
origins in this country are of sla-
very, our ancestors were kidnaped
and brought unwilling to this coun-
try, and we are not talking about
repatriation of African Americans
when we speak of reparations?

Dr. Horne: What we are talking
about is regaining the respect and
dignity that we did have as a people,
and must have now. When it all
comes down to it, every problem
that black people have as a people,
our barriers of being discriminated
against, Our going to jail in higher

sectors of the African American
community who are seriously con-
cerned and committed to redressing
the state of black education. All
interested persons are being urged
to convene at Fort Valley State
University to grapple with this criti-
cal issue.

This will be a working retreat,
with roundtable sessions. It will not
be a conference dominated by
speeches and on-action. The pur-
pose is to learn from past anti-racist
battles so as to begin to build an
education movement where black

portions than anyone else, our go-
ing to the electric chair, police pro-
filing, our shooting each other, the
problem when you put it all to-
gether Comes down to one simple
core. That core is called disrespect.

vsview: But this country has a
fundamental problem with respect-
ing African Americans and itTs a
problem we face each day and a
philosophy that is imbedded in this
American culture.

Dr. Horne: This is true. This
country teaches that you cannot
politically, economically, and in-

tellectually respect people that

were owned like animals. That phi-
losophy came directly out of sla-
very. ItTs interesting, many Asian
and Latino immigrants come to this
country and open business in our
communities. Many of them can
barely speak English. In their learn-
ing of English and American cul-
ture, they learn that black people,
the very people who come in to

spend their money in their busi-

ness, are the people they can disre-
spect.

vsview: This country has made
some attempts to make amends for
the some of the abuses African
American have suffered with the

pride and intellectual development
are at the center of childrenTs edu-
cation. Focus areas will include:

¢ Where are we since Brown vs.
Board of Education? What are some
of the lessons we have learned?

¢ Education models that have
worked and continue to do so.

* Major education initiatives that
have failed and why. .

* On-going initiatives for qual-
ity education that are making a sig-
nificant difference.

* How to nurture, support and
implement sustainable efforts.

an American Learners Initiative: Controversial
Policy Requires Collaboration

that the African American Learners

Initiative wasnTt derailed or re-
placed by another initiative that did
not give priority to African Ameri-
can children.

in effect, instead of having one
initiative that focuses on African
American children, because of the
coalition approach used on the sec-
ond initiative, there is now two (or
one and a half, depending on how
you look at it) initiatives that focus
on closing the achievement gap

among African American children .
and other children. Now, was this .

the spin in the community? No.

What was spinned in the. com-
munity was that one initiative re-
placed the other and that oa deal
with the Latinos� had been cut be-
hind the communityTs back, which
couldnTt have been farther from the
truth.

The truth of the matter was that
there was an unreasonable expecta-
tion that elected officials have to
run every proposal or counter-pro-
posal by the community, which is
in effect osome individuals� who
speak for segments in the commu-

passage of civil rights laws, affir-
mative action policies, which have
suffered a backlash, but these mea-
sures have not been effective at all.
Why?

Dr. Horne: All of the things the
government has said they have done
have been piece meal. And they are

all about social programs and try--

ing to show that they are interested
in making changes, but they have
never ever really tried to provide
the foundation for respect. So until
they do that, America will never
provide fundamentally what Afri-
can Americans need to be self sus-
taining. ITm not talking about wel-
fare. And remember welfare was

never set up for black people. Most

of the people on welfare from the
day it was set up are white and still
are. Affirmative action has helped
more white people than it has us.
The various civil right bills passed
in 1964, 1965, and 1974 have been
good, but those are not attempts to
achieve reparations. Reparations
simply cannot be achieved piece
meal.

vsview: One of the problems
with these kinds of piece meal
policies is that you canTt legislative
fairness, but you can legislative

¢ Ways of effectively teaching
mathematics and science to young
people.

* Building a structure in which
African Americans can begin to
network to support each other na-
tionally.

Those who are currently in-
volved in a pro-active educational
initiative that is making a differ-
ence for our children (and adults)
and would like to share what you
are doing with participants at the
retreat should send a brief summary
description of the initiative. It

nity. That's not the way on

works. Moreover, to interject oet
nic politics� at a time when coa
tion politics keeps blacks in th
loop undermines our ability to ge
what we truly need for our interest
Sometimes, you have to� give td
get.�

~That doesnTt mean you have toT
ocompromise to get,� but you do
have to ocollaborate to get.� In the

~ meetings ITve been in, once Hayes

put the issues and circumstances
forward, nobody had aproblem with
what was done. Now we have to
focus of the challenges of getting
the African American Learners Ini-
tiative implemented, which is where
the focus should have been in the
first place.

Controversy, like the black com-
munity, is never without its chal-
lenges. ITm real interested in what
Ms. Hayes ~will have to say about
moving forward.

(Anthony Asadullah Samad is a
national columnist and author of
Souls For Sale: The Diary of an Ex-
Colored Man
(www. Kabilipress.com)

some form of restitution.

Dr. Horne: Exactly. But restitu-
tion that is only in terms of money or
compensation or a social service pro-
gram is not enough because it does not
deal with the fundamental issue, which
is no respect for being black in ~this
country. Being black is not a positive
value. WedonTtteachthatinourschools
even though they talk about Frederick ;
Douglas, George Washington Carver |

and historic African American figures, ¢
These are individuals and their ac- "

complished are discussed, but there is
no discussign about the positiveness of
being black. So we grow up not feeling
worth while. ThatTs why we chase
white women, that is why we are

always trying to get on stage andstiow q

them that.we are as good as they are. |

None of the legislation has dealt with t

that.

Reparations for African Americans
is equivalent to justice, based on hon- |
oring our ancestors and honoring what °
they went through. ItTs justice for
them, itTs an apology, itTs atonement,
compensation, all equal in the restora-
tion of respect. ThatTs reparations.

(If you have comments about
Veronica's View, email them to
vsview@ yahoo.com)

URBAN PErsPECTIVE an 22
National Retreat on the State of Black Education"

should state who you are (name of
group), location, contact informa-
tion, how long the initiative has
been in place concreate indicators
of impact of success rate, to what
you attribute to your success and its
potential for replication.

Retreat planners areT in the process
of organizing the logistics and at this
time are unable to other assistance with
travel, butcomplimentary housing will

be provided at the university.
Correspondence e-mail

sobe2003@tbwi.comm or call (718)

270-6287. T

By LANEA AUSTIN

Sentinel Staff Writer

COMPTON"The 2nd Dis-
trict Court of Appeals in
Compton heard arguments
Tuesday from Mayor Eric
PerrodinTs attorney on his ap-
peal to permanently overturn a
judgeTs ruling from last Febru-
ary that reversed the
challengerTs glection victory
over incumbent Omar Bradley.

In June 2001 Perrodin was
elected mayor after a run-off
that brought him 280 more votes
than Bradley.

But Bradley convinced Su-
perior Court Judge Judith C.
Chirlin that he would have had
over 300 additional votes had
his name been first on the bal-
lot, instead of second.

Judge Chirlin agreed and re-

A City ON TRIAL

Mayor Eric Perrodin Asks Appeals Court to
Hear On-Going Compton Election Fraud Case

versed the outcome of the elec-
tion.

She based her decision prima-
rily on the oprimacy effect,� in
which experts theorize that a small
number of voters will simply se-
lect the candidate whose name is
first on the ballot.

While the panel may not rule
on PerrodinTs appeal for three
months, they were somewhat
skeptical of the theory, used in a
1990 election in Ohio.

Especially when Grimes ad-
mitted the theory expert did not
interview Compton voters.

PerrodinTs attorney Frederic D.
Woocher told the justices that othe
primacy effect cannot be justified
as the reason to overturn the will
of the people. That should never
be sufficient.

He said Chirlin did not omerely
invalidate the election, but re-
versed it...a truly remarkable and
unprecedented decision that
caused serious damage to the
democratic process,� Woocher
said.

BradleyTs attorney, Milton
Grimes, said the former mayor
was cheated and that Chirlin made
her decision on evidence.

oJudge Chirlin found 144 illes

gal ballots, evidence of nonresi-
dents voting, [and] a dead person
voting,TT Grimes said.

oThe primacy effect isn't voo-
doo, and Judge Chirlin wasn't
tricked. The theory is scientifi-
cally accepted,� he said.

As Bradley prepared to re-en-
ter office, Perrodin promptly ap-
pealed and a three-judge panel

stayed ChirlinTs judgment and
reinstated Perrodin pending the
result of his challenge.

Chirlin also reimbursed Bra-
dley $678,672 in legal fees, but
said the appellate court should
review any payment.

Last February, the state Su-
preme Court turned down an
appeal by Bradley.

But the 2nd District panel in
Los Angeles also will hear ar-
guments from former Compton
City Councilwoman Leslie Irv-
ing, who defeated Melanie
Andrews in June 2001" a turn-
out that was also invalidated by
Chirlin.

Chirlin also barred Irving
from holding a state office, rul-
ing that she intentionally regis.
tered non-citizens to vote,

March 13 - 20, 2003

Cornel West at Mendenhall Student Center

"

oe Ae at eae Bit. ie i AO :
, = Oe!

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be Mee, : (a ee dee ae

. 8 oh, *
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. ae
ote ot 9 . r a xe �"� Sg
to

commemorate. the sacred
oomemeory of your. lowed
i\ Maybe there was so much

at the time...but,, mow, we carn
help you select a fitting way to
mark the grawve. siete eitT Tar aa

Come tm ark fet ssn assist syoes- |
Affordable Mates. ~~ \;
Layauay Pian available. |:

. ne .

ae Bethel, wc ' am otts
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heincanttheeerme ie trea

Cornel West Speaker -
Sponsor Ledonia Wright
Cultural Center
Cornel West is a Princeton pro-T
fessor and author whose books

include "Race Matters,"
oBreaking Bread� and
oProphetic Reflect-ions and
Prophetic Thought in
Postmodern Times,.�Professor
West is A prolific writer and
frequently cited scholar. oRace
Matters� is widely read and
evokes much discussion on the
topic of race in the 21st century.

He came to Greenville at the
invitation of Ms. Neil Lewis of
ECU's Ledonia Wright Cultural
Center.

In addition to self-examination,
West said, the complex history
of the United States, its great-
ness and its failures, also must
be considered.

"It is impossible to talk about
race matters " America's raw-
est nerve " it's impossible to

talk about that without talking
of the legacy of a multi-faceted
democracy and the vicious leg-
acy of white supremacy,� he
said. .

All people in the United States,
he said, are influenced by white
supremacy in some way.

"When I look at myself, I see
white supremacy, too. There is
no way, as a 49-year-old black
man today, the white supremacy
stereotype does not affect me,"
he said. "Not one of us is free of
white supremacy; it's the quality
of our struggle against it." West
called upon the next generation
to cast off the mass-media repre-
sentation of themselves and start
engaging in compassionate,
compelling discussion.

"The question for the younger
generation is how to cultivate
Socratic sensibilities with show-

ing love and (empathy). TV cul- ~:

ture is one big orgiastic
expectation. It's all foreplay. The

pe?

younger generation is more and
more shaped by this, and non-

~marketable values like love and .

hope and compassion are being
pushed to the margins," he said.

IMPORTANT EVENTS
_at The Ledonia Wright
Cultural Center
2003
ACT (African American.
Community Targeted) for

Health -

March 1, 2003
African American Firsts
Dinner and Recognition

(Special Guest .
Carl Brashear: Men of Honor)
February 1, 2003

2002 .
Herman Boone (Remember
The Titans) nee at ECU's

African American Firsts Event
February 9, 2002

procedures

is seeking an individual to fill a
administration, general purchasing
the procurement department,
soliciting bid proposals, rev
services and materials. and
consistent with Federal requirements.

* Ability to negotiate
Ability to procure complex or diversified supplies, services, construction, o7
research and development

* Ability to communicate verbally and in writing
* Experience in applying contract cost estimating and analysis techniques ~

The salary for this position is mn
_ deadline for submission

EMPLOYMENT

PROCUREMENT OFFICER

Procurement Officer: The Housing Authority of the City of Greerviile, North Carolina
position as Procurement Officer for supervising the
- contracting, wurehousingyinventory Inanagement or
' preparing and reviewing complca bid specifications,
1ewing bid replies and proposals, awards purchase orders ior
administers contracts for materi

The successful candidate must huve thorough knowledge of HUD
requirements, such as Federal Acquisition Re
of FederaJ Regulations § 35.36, Hl
policies, Excluded Parties Listing System (Debarment
also exercise tact and courtesy in frequent contact with vendors, have
organizational skills, excellent verbal and written communication skills, and knowledge
of State and local laws and regulations related to contractin
is available upon request.

The evaluation factors for the position are as follows:

Knowledge and experience involving the application of procurement statutes.
policics, and regulations
Knowledge of construction technology and construction contract administration.
= Knowledge of specialized procurement functions

and knowledge of contract post-award activitics
* Ability to identify and analyze procurement issues und their impact upon local

als, supplies and/or services

gulations, NC State Statutes, Title 24 Code
oD Handbook 7460.8 Rey.-1,

~Suspensions), etc. He/She must

g. 4 complete Job Description

, contact pre-award activities

egotiable and commensurate to the qualifications. Tne
1s the close. of business on March 31, 2003. Applicants should
send their resume and salary history to: Attn: Phyllis Barrett, Acting Executive Director,

procuremen:
internal procurement

strong

a

4

are all around you.

North Carolina Heart Disease & Stroke Prevention Task Force

Copyright ©2003 NC Heart Disease & Stroke Prevention Task Force

Housing Authority of the City of Greenville,

Just put one foot in front of the other.
Its as easy as taking a short walk. Choosing
the stairs over the elevator. Parking a little
farther away. There are many small changes
you can make in your life that can have a
big impact on your health. Studies show
moderate physical activity for just 30
minutes a day reduces the risk of heart
disease and stroke. So what are you

waiting for? Opportunities to get active

P.O. Box 1426, Greenville, NC 27835-1426.

(

THE MINORITY VOICE NEWSPAPER SALUTES MR. GASTON MONK
The Hilton Hotel was filled with excitement and appreciation for a black man who has given so much
to his family and the Black Community. The Mayor of Greenville along with family and friends gave
him his flowers while he still lives. photo by Jim Rouse

(Cs Convenience Mart

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March 13 - 20, 2003

~ 4H County Champion Ast Club

AND THE WINNERS ARE ............ picturd from left to right is, volunteer leader, Mildred
Council, Valencia Speight, Logan Council (Pitt County 4H president), Pierre Westmoreland, center
Catherine Wills and Dale Panero (Pitt County 4H Agent) not pictured was Kimberly Nevelle

Winners of County Blue Ribbons Awards & 4-H Certificates of Achievement - Pierre Westmoreland
Shandell Jones Ryan Savage Jaron Jones Shakena Spellman Johnathan Fields Latina Nevelle Garrett
Jones Megan Fields Melanie Fields Melinda Fields Naimi Savage For membership call 757-1037

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