4 2th Annual Stellar Awards??? sawa steady parade of electrifyingfusical performances and emo-ionally riveting acceptancespeeches from winners. Moreover,for the first time, the StellarAwards expanded musically to in-clude jazz and hip hop artists inperformance. Add it all up, the??o12th Annual Stellar Awards??? wasperhaps the most memorable inthe history of the show. Viewerscan see all of the excitement whenthe ??o12th Annual Stellar Awards???is broadcast nationwide from Janu-ary 18th through February 23rd.As always, the ??o12th AnnualStellar Awards??? was executive pro-duced by Don Jackson, and dis-tributed by Central City Produc-tions. Among the highlights of thisannual tribute to Dr. MartinLuther King, Jr., and Black His-tory Month, Kirk Franklin sweptall five of the categories in whichhe was nominated, including Songof the Year, Contemporary Albumof the Year, and Producer of theYear. In Franklin??Ts dynamicshow-opener, he was joined on stage bythe husband-and-wife Gospel rapteam of A-] S.W.LF.T. and God??TsProperty (Get On The BusSoundtrack) in a sensational per-formance. He followed this withan emotional award acceptancespeech, in which he thanked Godfor his miraculous survival of acatastrophic fall last November,bringing the entire house ??~tostunned silence and tears. Later,the Gospel dream team of ShirleyCaesar, Yolanda Adams, andDottie Peoples brought the housedown with their high-spiritedmusical tribute to Gospel legendBobby Jones, who received theprestigious James ClevelandAward._ PASE Annuat stellar Awards??? bring a night of historic firsts for thew se and rap artists joining the best of gospel in an evening of non-stop celebrationAllen, Angela Christie, Ben Tan-kard and Tim Bowman took thestage for an unforgettable en-semble performance. Gospel stal-warts CeCe Winans, Doug Will-iams, Rev. Clay Evans & TheAARC Mass Choir, De LeonRichards, James Moore and theMississippi Mass Choir also turnedin great performances as well. Top-ping the evening was an All-StarChoir honoring the congregationswhose churches have been rav-aged by arson fires in recentmonths. In fact, a portion of theproceeds from ticket sales will goto ??oThe Burned Church Fund,???administered by the NationalCouncil of Churches.??o12th Annual Stellar Awards???were hosted by Gospel superstarCeCe Winans, comedian JonathanSlocumb (??oHBO's Def ComedyJam???) and T.C. Carson (??oLivingSingle???). Other stars making guestappearances as presenters on theshow were soap star Debbie Mor-m= TRADE MARTTrade Oil CompanyWholesalers and Retailersof Petroleum ProductsEDWIN CLARK3602 HWY. 264 EASTGREENVILLE, NC 2785844 LocationsBus. 919-752-4366Fax. 919-752-9957Black History MonthJAMES WELDON JOHNSON1871-1938The song ??oLift Every Voice and Sing??? is the national anthem to millions ofBlack Americans. James Weldon Johnson, the composer of this song, was widely known as a manof rare talent and devotion to his people. During his life, he was a teacher, poet, author,government official, and civil rights leader.Johnson was born in Jacksonville, Florida, on June 17, 1871. He was the second of threechildren. His father was a head waiter from Virginia, and his mother was born in the Bahamas.She received an education in New York. She had once taught at the city??Ts largest elementaryschool for Blacks. Johnson??Ts mother was a great influence on his later interests in music andreading. She taught in the segregated Stanton school, which Johnson attended through the eighthgrade. Since there were no high schools for Blacks in Jacksonville, his parents sent him to highschool in Atlanta, Georgia.As a student at Atlanta University, Johnson wrote over 30 poems. In 1894, he received abachelor??Ts degree and was chosen to give the graduation speech. He returned to Jacksonville andbecame principal of the Stanton Elementary school. While teaching, Johnson also studied law andbecame the first Black lawyer in the state of Florida. In 1895, he started the first Black dailynewspaper in the United States, The Daily American.Johnson??Ts writings became popular with Blacks in America. In 1900, he wrote the famousBlack national anthem, ??oLift Every Voice And Sing,??? which gave praise to Black hope, strength,and religious faith. In 1902, he wrote the song ??oUnder the Bamboo Tree,??? which sold more than400,000 copies. He and his brother John, a talented composer, wrote over 200 songs for Broadwaymusicals, including ??oThe Sleeping Beauty??? and ??oHumpty Dumpty.???Johnson was a U.S. ambassador to the countries of Venezuela in 1906, Nicaragua 1909, andthe Azores in 1912. That same year, he wrote his only novel, The Autobiography of an ExColoured Man. In 1916, Johnson joined the NAACP as National Field Secretary and worked therefor almost 15 years. In 1920, he traveled to Haiti to investigate the charge that U.S. troops wereabusing Haitian Black citizens. Upon learning the truth of the charges, he presented the shockingfacts to the U.S. Congress.Johnson spent two years in Washington, D.C., trying to pass a law to stop lynchings in theUnited States. Although he failed to get the law passed, he did show the American public theterror that Blacks were living under. Johnson??Ts work with the NAACP helped it to become thestrongest civil rights organization in the United States. He later retired from the NAACP andtaught at Fisk University, in Tennessee. He spoke at colleges and universities and began writingagain. In 1933, Johnson published his popular autobiography, Along This Way.On June 26, 1938, a car that Johnson was riding in was struck by a train during a heavyrainstorm in Wiscasset, Maine. His Harlem, New York funeral was attended by more than 2,000moumers. He was buried in Brooklyn, New York, wearing his lounging robe and holding a copyof his favorite book of poems, God's Trombones.During his life, James Weldon Johnson received many honors, including honorary doctoratedegrees, and the NAACP Spingam Medal for Outstanding Achievement. Johnson always believedthat the future held great opportunities for Black Americans. Across the nation, several schools are- Procter&:Gamblenamed in his honor.Greenville,N.C. Plantgan (??oThe City???), actresses JeniferLewis (??oThe Preacher's Wife???),Yvette Freeman (??oER???), Ella Joyce(??oSet It OfP"), and the young screensensation Rae??T Ven Kelley (??oA TimeTo Kill???), who sang with thechildren??Ts choir.Revlon proudly sponsored a galaPost Awards reception at theOpryland Hotel, attended by scoresof nominees, winners, and guests.The Stellar Awards regular adver-tising sponsors include: Ford, CocaCola, Dark and Lovely, Chevrolet,New Line Cinema, andMcDonalds. American Airlines isthe official airline of the StellarAwards.Founded in 1970 by Ion Jack-son, Chicago-based Central CityProductions is a distributor of origi-nal programming to television, aswell as a producer of local educa-tional programs. Other TV spe-cials and education projects pre-sented by Central City include??oCelebrate the Soul of AmericanMusic, ??oMBR: The Minority Busi-ness Report,??? ??oRoad to Success,?????oFamily Night,??? ??oKnow Your Heri-tage,??? and the NAACP ??oAct-SoAwards.??? .Dancy back fromMediterranean SeaJanuary 7, 1997 (FHTNC)??"Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class Der-rick L. Dancy, a 1990 graduate ofNorth Pitt High School ofGreenville, N.C:., recently re-turned from a six-month deploy-ment to the Mediterranean Seaaboard the dock landing ship USSGunston Hall.Dancy, along with more than700 Sailors and Marines aboardthe ship, traveled more than 23,000miles before returning to his homeport of Norfolk, Va., as part of theUSS Saipan Amphibious ReadyGroup (ARG). The ARG also in-cluded the amphibious assault shipUSS Saipan, the amphibioustransport dock ship USS Austin,and the 24th Marine Expedition-ary Unit.Dancy participated in one ofNATO??Ts largest exercises in south-ern Europe. Approximately 7,000allied sailors and marines fromBelgium, Canada, France, Ger-many, Italy, Portugal, Spain, Tur-key, the Netherlands and theUnited Kingdom participated in acombined air, land and sea exer-cise that may be required to sup-port amphibious operations in theregion.The high-spirited musical, Black Journey will be performed Saturday,February 8 at 2:00 p.m. as part of ECU??Ts Family Fare Series. Using musicfrom the fifteenth century to present, this lively presentation tells the storyof the remarkable voyage of a people from the villages of Africa to modernday America. Advance Ticket Prices: $8 public, $7 ECU faculty/staff, $5ECU students/youth. All tickets at the door will be $8. For tickets andfurther information please call the Central Ticket Office, MendenhallStudent Center at 919-328-4788, 1-800-ECU-ARTS or Deaf/Speech ImpairedAccess 919-328-4736.Continued on Page 9.Black History MonthMarcus MosiahGarvey1887-1940It takes courage for a person to go against the odds and the thinking of the masses of people. MarcusGarvey was such a person. He wanted to change the way his people were being treated. He also felt thatBlacks should take a greater command of their destiny.Marcus Mosiah Garvey was born on August 17, 1887, in St. Ann??Ts Bay, Jamaica, the youngest ofeleven children. His mother and father were of pure African heritage. At an early age, Marcus learned totake pride in his race. He attended elementary school in St. Ann??Ts Bay.Marcus was a very bright student and could speak very well. He was an excellent reader who tried toread every book he could find. He would often read the dictionary to increase his word knowledge andreading skills. But, at age 14, Marcus had to quit school and go to work to help support his family.Garvey became a printer??Ts helper in Kingston, Jamaica. In this newspaper job, he learned many skillsthat would be useful to him later. In 1910, he went to Central and South America in search of better jobs.In each city he visited, it disgusted him to see the prejudice aimed against his people.In 1912, he went to London, England and studied at Birkbeck College. There he met Africanstudents for the first time. Because of his new friends, he became interested in African independence. Hethen began to write for the Africa Times and Orient Review. Upon reading Booker T. Washington??Ts book,Up From Slarvery, he was deeply moved by Washington??Ts teachings of Black self-improvement.In 1914, Garvey retumed to Jamaica, convinced that Blacks must find ways to help themselves. So,he and a small group of friends founded the Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA). TheUNIA promoted racial unity through education, racial pride, business development, and trade withAfrica.In 1916, wanting to start a trade school, Garvey came to the United States seeking the support ofBooker T. Washington. Yet, Washington died before Garvey??Ts arrival. Within two months, Garvey hadrecruited nearly 2,000 members in the UNIA organization. He traveled throughout the United Statespreaching racial pride and independence.Within five years, more than one million Blacks had joined the UNIA. The UNIA had chapters inevery major city, the West Indies, Central America, and South America. In 1918, to further spread histeachings, Garvey began to publish the Negro World, which became a leading weekly newspaper.In 1919, Garvey started the Black Star Ship Line, consisting of three steamships. His NegroFactories Corporation provided loans and help to Blacks seeking to start their own businesses. He soldstock to Blacks at $5.00 a share to finance the ship line, restaurants, a chain of grocery stores, and apublishing house.In 1922, however, the UNIA fell upon hard times, and Garvey was falsely arrested and convicted formail fraud. After many appeals in the courts and receiving support from many friends, Garvey beganserving his jail sentence in 1925. In 1927, his five year prison sentence was suspended, and PresidentCoolidge ordered Garvey to return to Jamaica.In 1940, Marcus Garvey died in London at the age of 52. He was survived by his second wife andtwo sons. We can remember Garvey best for his great ability to organize the masses of Blacks. He wouldoften state, ??oUp you mighty race, you can accomplish what you will.???Office: (919) 758-0311 Pager (919) 754-4012 Office 919:321.0736 Pager 919-551-1128 | Office: (919) 758-0311 Pager (919) 754-4012Office 9197580311 Home 919.752.9955==All-American Bail Bonding Company | ALL AMERICAN BAIL BONDING COMPANY ALLAMEDICAN BAL BONDING COMPANYSaying Ot han Service Offering 24 Hour Service