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April, 2, 2000 - April, 27, 2000Many Children Continue to live in PovertyDonTt Forget To Vote Tuesday, May 2nd!What You See Is What You Get, What You Read Is What Know And Save.April 2, 2000 - April 27, 2000Continueto lave in PovertyBY: CASH MICHAEITHE WILIMINGTONJOURNALDespite dramatic drops in thenumber of families from thewelfare and public assistance rollssince 1996, the number of chil-dren in poverty continues to growacross the country, and here inNorth Carolina, according to thelatest report from a noted childadvocacy group.The ChildrenTs Defense Fund. anonprofit Washington, DC basedorganization, reports in its oTheState of AmericaTs Children:Yearbook 2000°, that oSeventy-four percent of poor childrentoday live in working familieswho cannot make enough toescape poverty.?One in five children in America.or 13.5 million, are poor, accord-ing to CDFTs research, based onUS Censos and US Dept. ofHealth and Human Services fig-uresThirty-two percent of those chil-dren belong to Black familiesmaking less than $13,003 annu-ally. What may be surprising tosome people, however. is_ that62% are white (which includesHispanics).In North Carolina, according tothe latest US Censos figures, therewere 1,919,774 children in 1998--25.4% of the total statepopulation.Based on 1989 income (the mostrecent figures used for the 1990US Censos since calculationsfrom the 2000 Censos won't beready until 2002), of NC'sSenior Citizen's Gathering.272,923 children under 18 whoare poor (17.2% of total childrenTspopulation). 35.9% are Black.9.3% are white, and 24.2% areHispanicThe country with the highestpercentage of poor children isHyde with 40.8%. Over 264,079children received food stamps infiscal year 1998. In FY 1999,815,665 children received free,reduced-price or full procedschool lunches through the childnutrition program. Over 261,223were enrolled in the school creak-fast program, and 43.299 were fedthrough the summer food pro-gram.In terms of incidence of low birthweight babies. 13.6% for Blackmothers. compared to 7.1% forwhites, and 6.1 for hispanicmothers. For infant mortality,Blacks again led whites----15.7 to6.9% tor 1997, the latest year forfigures.The teen birth rate overall in N¢has gone down to 61.3% in 1997,the lowest since 1990, from a high70.5 in 199]In education, NC clearly has whatcould be called a crisis. accordingto US Dept. of Education figuresfor 1998, 72% of the state's fourthvraders are reading below profici-eny level. The pupil/teacher ratiois 16-1, according to 61.996figures. and high school comple-tion from 1995-97 was 87.1%.When it comes to child abuse.NC is prominent as well. accord-ing tothe US Dept. of Health andHuman Services. Between 1990and 1997, the number of childabuse victims jumped 34% fromNeglect24.880 to 33. 347accounts for the highest type ofabuse---87.1%. Sexual abuse is4.1%, while physincal abuse is4.5%.If there is one area of good news,itTs firearm deaths of children andteens 19 and under from 1995-97,During that three-year period, thestateTs total number dropped from150 to 92. The most prevalent arehomicides, which went from 77 to1995, to 45 in 1997.In America, nearly 12 childrendie each day from gunfire, accord-ing to figures compiled by theChildrenTs Defense Fund.Children under the age of 15 are12 times more likely to die bygunfire than children in 25 otherindustrialized countries.The CDF report recommends thatstates like NC ensure education,training and work at a decentwage for poor families withchildren. that more money beinvested in early childhood inter-vention programs like Smart Start,that children be taught how toreslove their differences withoutviolence, and that states not returnhundreds of millions of unspentpublic assistance funding to thefederal government, but be al-lowed to spend it to enhancetraining and opportunities for thepoor.oDo what you can right now tomentor and support a child andadvocate for all chiildren.? CDFExecutive Director Marian WrightEdleman wrote in the report. * Donot wait for everyone to comealong.?oThey never will.?Senior Citizen's Gathering shown at Snow Hill's Senior citizen gathering on the campaign trail brotherJim Rouse along with very popular Snowpopular in the Black Communityhouse of RepresentativesHall resident Jerry Green. As well as another citizen who isBrother Brit all encourage you to get out and vote for Jim Rouse NCPhoto by Abdoul RouseMartin County Democratic Women, Brother Rouse who was campaigning in Martin County is Shownposing for the "M" Voice camera along with the Collard Green King Mort Hurts as well as Sandra McCleary and long time Martin County resident Miss Manson. The fellowship was strong and very friendly.Photo by Abdoul RouseEdgecombe County Democratsa i * iy m5 * iy é : he) f * ;a4) r at 2 VaMay 2nd, you have the opportunity to vote for the canidate of your choice. Voting has the power to createchange and make things happen. Edgecombe County Commissioner Florence Arnold Armstrong is shownwith Edgecombe County Sheriff Knight and newly appointed House of Representative John Hall. Allencourage you to get out and vote.Photo by Abdou! RouseEasley Leads in the Polls 53%By Stephen JohnsonEditorCandidates endorsed by theDurham Committee on the A ffairsof Black People have beenjudged to be capable of improvingthe lives of Black citi-zens. However several people ar-gue intimidation from the PoliticalCommittee played a part in thisyear's-endorsements, primarily itsopen vote policy.oThe process just wasnTt quitecorrect? city council] member andPolitical Committee voter JackieWagstaff said. oBecause it was anopen ballot people had to be seenthey couldn't vote with theirhearts. And it's a shame in apolitical process that you have tovote that way.oits sort of like being under aslumlord rule. The slumlord hasClebration 2000 may be heldCELEBRATION 2000 TO BEHELD IN GREENVILLE MAY26 & 27Greenville, N. C.. April 12, 2000Eastern Carolinians for Unity andSpiritual Renewal. a group com-prised of many of the principalsinvolved with the highly success-fid Franklin Graham Crusade inGreenville in 1998, will conduct afollow-up = spiritual = rally " inWilliams Arena. MingesColiseum May 26 and 27. 2000.Nationally recognized speakerArlee Griffin of the Berean BatistChurch in New York City will bethe featured speaker on Fridaynight May 26th. Griftin. who haseastern North Carolina ties. nowministers to one of the largestall the power and the tenants feelpowerless? Wagstaff said fearwas particle evident in the com-mitteeTs gubernatorial endorse-ment , in which it endorsed LtGovernor Dennis Wicker overAttorney General Mike Easley.Some voters lobbied for a secretballot but failed to get enoughsupport.Because Easley leads Wicker inthe polls and has appointed blacksto high powered positions andtackled issues pertinent to blacks,Wagstaff said he would have beenthe more favorable choice if voteswere done by a secret bal-lot.According to a new WTVDpoll released Tuesday. April18.2000 conducted by SurveyUSA showed Democrat MikeEastley maintain a significant leadin the gubernatorial primary.Easley 53% Wicker 24% otherCongregations in the USA with achuch membership of around6.000 members. Griffin, a gradu-ate of the University of NorthCarolina-Chapel Hill also holds aPHD degree from BostonUniversity and is currently serv-ing on the Board of Directors atShaw Universtiy in Raleigh. N.COn Saturday night. May 27, thespeaker will be local evangelistReverand Tom Holtsclaw. thepastor of Jarvis United MethodistChurch in Greenville. ReverandHoltsclaw was one of the tacilita-tors of the Franklin GrahamCrusade in Greenville and is nowcalled on by the Graham orgaini-zation to speak to Communitiesacross the USA on behalf of thecrusade.Shown posing for the "M" Voice camera candidatewith Jim rouse. Both on hand11% undecided 11%In recent news Attorney GeneralMike Easley announced thatMedicaid recipients are now eligi-ble for the Lifeline/Link-Up dis-count telephone programs. theLifeline program allows personsin need to receive telephoneservice at a discounted rate whilethe Link-Up program provides adiscount for their initial hook-upof phone service. Citizens whohave questions regarding eligibil-ity for the Life/link-Up programsshould contact their local phonecompany, the North CarolinaUtilities Commission at (919)733-2435 or? the AttorneyGeneral's Consumer ProtectionSection at (919) 716- 6000Some information in this articletaken from the Triangle Tribune.in GreenvilleThe event will also feature aMass Choir Comprised of singersand musicians from areachurches. There is no admissioncharge for any Celebration 2000events.Organizers feel the timing for aFranklin Graham Crusade follow-up is right considering the prob-lems the area has sufféred inreeent months with the floodingfollowing Hurricane Floyd andrecent problems in local govern-ments that have caused a divsionand created philisophical differ-ences There is a_ sense thatbringing the eastern NorthCarolina community together inthe name of Jesus Christ onceagain will create healing andcomfort along with spiritual re-newalote for Shacklefort"""_"_for County Commissioner Brother Shacklefort alongat Snow Hill Senior Citizen's gathering.Photo by Abdoul Rouse

* VRE deca. Anges Polos Dope-" ment must be answerable to the pub-__ lie it serves. To some, this might beoe wo eee ly frond pro-cuetben span ay onaryseives me correctly, Rep.*MaxineWaters made several attempts to getsomeone to listen to her charges of:racism and uneven policing withinThe Taxman at Your Service=By SHELDON RICHMANdown our necks.that-and mean it!favor: donTt do me any favors.?revolution.Ata a time when federal revenues are the highest percentage ofgross domestic product since the peak of World War Il"over 20_ percent"we are asked to feel sorry for the IRS. According to the taxagency, recent legislation has turned it into a shell of its former self.It is unable to collect what is odue.? The number of audits andproperty seizures has slipped. Agents are even afraid that if theycollect revenue as they used to, they might lose their jobs. Oh horror!Before we shed tears for the much-abused IRS, we need to keepsome things in mind. The income tax and IRS are vile institutionsthat have no place in a society that aspires to be free. We have themfor one reason alone: they bring in revenues like no other source of| taxation, and revenue is the lifeblood of the leviathan state.Whether or not the IRS is telling the truth about its incapacity tocollect taxes, we can be sure that all champions of activistgovernment-Democrat and Republican alike-will rally to its rescue.President Clinton has promised to beef up the agency's budget andstaff, and we've heard no opposition from the GOP. Quite thecontrary. As the New York Times reported, oRepublicans in Con-gress who have criticized the I.R.S. said they were open to the ideathat more money might be needed.? Clinton has called for a9 percentincrease in its budget. It doesnTt take a clairvoyant to predict that theagency will get what it wants. That's 633 more auditors breathingIRS Commissioner Charles 0. RossottiTs response to his agency'salleged troubles deserves scrutiny. He warned that continued laxenforcement will oundermine our entire system of voluntary taxcompliance. ? One of the mysteries of life is the federal government'sinsistence that the income tax is voluntary. Considering that itthreatens to punish employers who donTt withhold employeesT taxesand citizens who fail to file tax returns or pay any money oowed,?one is at pains: to locate precisely the voluntariness in the system. Ifthe system is voluntary, an involuntary system would be one inwhich the government withheld /00 percent of everyoneTs incomeand sent each person a monthly allowance.RossottiTs statement is reminiscent of a remark by Rep. CharlesRangel, the top-ranking Democrat on the House Ways and MeansCommittees: oWhat makes the voluntary system work is the fear ofsanctions and penalties.? People in Washington actually talk likeLet's put the obvious on the record: no tax system is voluntary, ©oTaxes,? as Judge Learned Hand said some time ago, oare forcedTextractions, not voluntary contributions.? A voluntary tax is like asquare circle. It is not to be found in the natural world.Anyone who believes in voluntary taxation probably also be-lieves that what the IRS provides is ocustomer service.? That'sanother term the tax enforcers like to use. We are being lulled intothinking the IRS exists for our benefit. It wants to help us. Help usdo what? Comply with the tyrannical demands it enforces on behalf- Of its sponsor, the money-grubbing members of the U.S. Congress?As the comedian Shelley Berman said in an old routine, oDo me aRossotti recently told a congressional committee: oCustomersatisfaction is not achieved by failing to collect taxes that areproperly due.? Speak for yourself, Mr. Commissioner.The intrepid Americans who opposed the income tax early in thecentury were prophetic. The tax has become the inquisitorial mon-ster they predicted. Moreover, it has permitted the government to actas though it has a valid claim to /00 percent of our income; whateverwe get to keep is by kind permission, and we should be darnedgrateful. Any mention of a tax cut is met with questions aboutwhether it is really needed or whether the government can afford it.The default position for the money is in the governmentTs coffers.The rights of those who produced the wealth donTt matter.We've come along way since that minuscule tea tax incited a(Sheldon Richman is senior fellow at The Future of FreedomFoundation in Fairfax, Va. (www.fff.org), author of the foundationbook Your Money or Your Life: Why We Must Abolish the IncomeTax, and editor of: Ideas on Liberty magazine.)The definition ofin the ever evolving, gender neutralworld where everything from work toschool to sex is equal or obi? in termsof access or opportunity. The demandthat men show their oreal? side comesfrom the redefinition of the socialsuite omen, Phase whoare or trying to abrmen do-"have convincedoemotion is a good thing,? aiethe discussion about a perceived emo-tional sensitivity on the ever increas-ing roles of women being taken onin: Thos toequalie the plying fed, tomsocial interface between men and_ women, between women and women,a oreal? man has |taken many turns ©men, whose health behaviors weremasked by being stoic, it saved manyof their lives. Why? Because gettingointouch with themselves? also meantgoing to the doctor when they hurt,and playing past stereotypic fears tosave themselves for their families.There is a whole psychologicalprocess that plays out with this newosensitiveT man thing. And it playsdifferently between men and women.Aman in touch with his sensi-tive side could be a very otouchy?and between men and men, shifted a| ms SENBack in the '60s and °70s, blacksaa tnd Won Sebieged to drive tsthe area patrolled by 77th street policeOfficers. If a black man had a decentcar and dressed fairlyTwell, he wasconsidered fair § game for those offic-ers, it has been opinion. The problemwas so widespread that many blackpeople who lived in that vicinity oftenrefused to leave their homes afterdark.In words of one syllable, they werescared to death. When they sought tocomplain, they were either told theywere overreacting or that it was justtheir imagination. It would be virtu-ally impossible to count the numbersOf people who came to the Sentinelwith their complaints because therewas no other place for them go.Black citizens have complainedtime and again that when they went tofile acomplaint against an officer, thecomplaint was either not taken or theprocess was made so difficult that thecitizen went home discouraged.Let me be clear about the issuc.URBANAnyone evenpassingly conver-sant about the urban scene knows thatpublic education in the nationTs innercities is a failure. Numerous reformefforts have made little impact on thecore problems, and students of colorespecially, continue to suffer institu-tional inequities.Arecentreport by the Public PolicyInstitute of California addresses theresources"student achievementquestion"it is entitled oEqual Re-sources, Equal Outcomes? The Dis-tribution of School Resources andStudent Achievement in California.?Since the early 1970s, ballot ini-tiatives and court rulings have soughtto equalize funding across California'sschools. Yet, 30 years later, fundinginequities continue. Moreover, al-though ofunding per pupil? providesa measure of school resources withina district, it provides little insight intohow individual schools spend theirrevenues.Statewide surveys (conducted in1998 and 1999) found that Califor-nians consider schools and educationby far the most pressing problemsfacing the state. The Equal Resourcesreport undertook to answer severalcritical questions about California'sK-12 schools:1) How do school resources"measured in terms of class size, cur-riculum, and teachersT education, cre-dentials and experience"vary amongschools? 2) Do schools serving rela-tively disadvantaged populations tendto reccive fewer resources? 3) Doexisting inequalities in school re-sources contribute to unequal studentoutcomes?Average class size differs littleacross schools. However, teacherpreparation and. high school curricu-lum vary considerably. Certain teacherthem? in public was also a departurefrom what a man wasnTt supposed todo. I was 38 when my father first toldme that he loved me. Not because hedidnTt, but because that was some-thing men just odidnTt do.? It wasmore like waiting for your loved onesto say it first, then the man said, oYoutoo.? My children canTtremember theday where I didnTt tell them that I.loved them because I've told themevery day since they were babies, So,in theory, the sensitivity piece has itsSO }Taking it as far aa cooking waa areal barrier for me, My position usedto be, if I had to cook, why do I needawife (I know, Ican bea real chauvin-ys That was until my wife took oneof her 10 day business trips about'$ bodyears ago, and my four kids wantedtakeout every night, at $20 to $40 a(Uineusn is cochined GibhYou should have heard me on thephone, oBaby, how long do I leave thefish in the batter .., how high shouldthe fire be,? a real !eg mor overyears. It gave me a new perspeam oma it ow,from " for decades andoie ) Icom raomnenant eerie iene|: money brokers. They aoe all akingfor stronger civilian oversight of the.LAPD. the reaka, took central Hed Caches t -satis Wis ben Go aot afeu ani saat enn eo tees.clean up some of the problems.Assuming for the sake of argu-ment, that the charges leveled againstthe department are at least in part true,we must also assume that the prob-.lems did not begin nor end with Perez.It might even be safe to consider thatmany of the charges leveled againstLAPD had more than a modicum oftruth to them.This brings us to the very criticalquestion, which is the basis for thiscolumn. Where were the loud voicesof the political powers when BillParker, Ed Davis, Daryl Gates, et. al,were sitting at the helm?At the risk of being racist, I must,in all good conscience, ask the ques-tion. Were they allowed free reignbecause they were the same hue as thepeople who supported them? Was thecitizenry of the Valley, the West Sideand the moneyed communities soafraid of being invaded by blacks that .they closed their eyes to the injusticesthat were heaped upon black peoplein the same of justice?PERePEcnivecharacteristics differ markedly amongK-6 schools, with and without ashort-age of teacher skills. There is muchvariation across schools in the nuin-ber: of teachers with low-levels ofpreparation. Lack of full certificationis especially striking. Among schoolswith little or no skills shortage, allteachers have full certification; amongschools with significant skills short-age, nearly 20 percent of teacherslack full certification. Among middleschools and high schools, variationsin teacher preparation are similar.Like teacher preparation, highschool curriculum varies consider-ably in terms of the percentage andnumber of advanced course offerings,i.e., the University of California oa-f?courses and Advanced Placementcourses (AP).Analysis of teacher preparation andcurriculum offerings in urban, ruraland suburban schools revealed thaturban schools, by most measures, havea higher percentage of teachers withlow preparation levels, hardly a rev-elation. For example, 26 percent ofthe teachers in urban elementaryschools have only a bachelorTs degreeor less compared to 12 percent of theteachers in suburban schools and 11percent in rural schools. Similar dis-parities exist in middle and high.schools.Schools serving orelatively disad-vantaged? populations of studentsreceive fewer resources. This studydivided elementary schools into fivesocioeconomic status (SES) groups,based on the proportion of studentsparticipating in free or reduced-pricelunch programs. The statewide ineq-uities in school resources among dis-advantaged students afe similarly rep-licated within districts: In other words,within a given district, schools withparticularly disadvantaged studentsdonTt know how much learning tocook made me a real man, but I doknow not cooking made me orealbroke,? so my departure from thatphilosophical position had an eco-nomic motivation but I now pridemyself in being areal man in, at least,two areas. But I became a real manwhen I overcame a third area, or bar-. Tier, That barrier was having my healthchecked on a regular basis, Includingmy prostate. Turning 40 a few yearsback, | realized some things madeyou a man, others didn't,The third area continues to be abarrier formany men. Men are sup-posed to feel pain and just bearthrough it, That's why black men'sso Ms tancy is shorter than any-"s. Prostate cancer is kill- .ing * medically) black men at ahigher rate than anything else (ex-pect homicide), AccordingT tooEliminating Racial and Ethnic Dis-parities in Health, the number ofdeaths from cancer perexperi- . 100,000 for non ou (53.7) is isand a half tines that of Hispanics the(15.3). The American Cancer Soci-be gpm atid entedtrain some of the officers who are nowsitting in positions of power and someof the attitudes of that old guard are.still prevalentin the offers they helpedto train.Older black retired police officershave told stories about how Parkersent recruiters to the South becausethe ogood old boys? know how tohandle black people. Some of thoseSoutherners were hired and becamemembers of LAPD. Through the years,there have been myriad problems* within the department.The late Judge Earl C. Broady Sr.,the father of famed criminal attorneyEarl C. Broady Jr., left LAPD afterbeing passed over for promotion. Aless qualified man got the job. Why?You know the answer.LAPD has a spotted history. It isinteresting to note that the first blackcaptain in that department was notpromoted until the later 1960s, Thatwas Homer Broome, who went on toare likely to have less educated andless experienced teachers and, at thehigh school level, to offer fewer APcourses.California students lag substan-tially behind national norms on theStanford 9 reading and math tests. Inatypical grade, only about 40-45 per-centof the stateTs students scored at orabove the national median. The un-usually large proportion of limitedEnglish-proficient (LEP) students inCalifornia accounts for at least-two-thirds of the gaps in math and readingperformance.One of the studyTs most importantquestions was whether and how schoolcharacteristics related to studentachievement, which varies widelyacross schools, even when LEP stu-dents are excluded from the sample.Among school resources, the level ofteacher experience and the percent-age of teachers without a full creden-tial are the variables most stronglyrelated to student outcomes. How-ever, the most important factor relat-ing to student outcomes is SES.Given the evidence in this study ofunequal resource allocations withindistricts, it seems unlikely that thedevolution of authority to school dis-tricts will equalize resources amongschools and, in fact, it could work inthe opposite direction. The report sug-gests that the state may want to re-quire, or at least encourage districts toreduce within district resource ineq-uities, especially those related toteach-ers, in return for greater local controlover teaching methods and curricu-lum.Addressing the considerable varia-tion in the proportion of college pre-paratory and AP courses in Califor-nia, the report suggests: First, smallerschools and districts offer fewer APcourses. Such schools should use a(6,100) died in that same year"less than a year of being diagnosed,which means most of them nevereven knew they had it until it wastoo late.Much of this can be attributed tothe notion that oreal men? donTt go tothe doctor. So some real men, I guess,end up dead from their ignorance whenthis is purely not the case for men inother races. With early detection, thepost treatment survival rate is S years,in many cases, longer.Some of the atereotypic justifi-Cations that men don't go to thedoctor is obey «set won't be realmen anym operatedon. The fear of esate dy le dysfunctionis the biggest barrier to men refus-ing to be checked. oThey won't bethe same, sexually, after prostatetreatments.? Yet, none who advancethat position has an answer to thequestion, oHow much sex do youget when you're dead??Rest assured that when you're deadit won't be the same song It will beand th drug th matesa seas iianne wees:paella cea homes \ i ai1 cae: ee iIf we look closely at the problem,: we will quickly realize that itis not aproblem with Perez, but rather a prob-lem with the old guard. While most ofthat cadre has long since been retired, _- we must remember they helped to; oOnof police for two cities as well asthe |city manager for two cities. Ron!Nelson, a lieutenant when he retired, :_ was named chief for the University ofSan Francisco. The list goes on andon. Parks is another example of prob-lems within LAPD. He was held back_ fora number of years after he reached' the rank of commander. Ron Banks isnow the chief of Inglewood. The ac-complishments of the black officersare toonumerous tocount. They were,however, disregarded by the powersat the top.Allof these things went on in otheradministrations and there was.no out-cry from so-called concerned citizens.Once again, we ask why? .If the detractors are so hell-bent on.changing the system, why did the»system flourish for at least a half-.century with noreal attemptat change? |This brings us to the crux ofmatter. Perhaps Bernie Parks has madesome tactical errors, but in the main,?he is attempting to clean upTa messthat was in existence when he wasWhy are the hounds snapping atthe heels now? Where were thesesame hounds or their counterparts,when black people in Los Angeleswere begging for help?Inequitable Resources and Student Achievementcombination of course-sharing withother schools, odistance learning?through the Internet or other innova-tive solutions. The most cost-effec-tive solution might be to encouragepromising students to take commu-nity college courses; second, varia-tions in teacher education partly ac-count for variations in AP offerings.This means that inequalities in teacherpreparation must be addressed beforesimply requiring that all schools offer |identical sets of AP courses; third,weaknesses in curriculum in middleschools and even elementary schoolsmay limit studentsT ability to under-take AP courses in high school. Thus,reforms to rernedy the situation mustobviously begin much earlier thanT |high school.The 1999 Public Schools Account-ability Act rewards schools that meetor make adequate progress toward .meeting state standards. It also threat-ens schools at the bottom end of thesate rankings with tough sanctionsshould fail to adequately i improve.(This obviously has serious implica-tions for inner-city schools.) Thus anunintended side effect of the account-ability reforms could be to dissuadeprincipals and teachers from working "in schools serving disadvantaged stu-dents. To reduce this risk, rewards andpunishments should be. based in parton performance relative to otherschools serving similar student popu-lations. Measures of performanceshouldalsobe basedonimprovements_in student performance rather than sim-ply on level of achievementrelativetoother schools. Additional resourcesmust be directed to schools in disad- _vantaged areas, while phasing in sanc-tions gradually, so that schools withthe greatest problems and most inequi-ties have a reasonable opportunity to- improve.Be vwEen THe Lincs NBER AAReal Men Cry, Real Men Cook, Real Men"Get Their Prostates Checked :more than I think I need sex, or is mylife worth more than my ego? Thingsthat make you gohmmm. «now, whatis areal man? ItTs time we help somemen make that decision. Being a realman is knowing what comes first,health for life or ignorance for death.On April 8, the Real Men CookFoundation will be hosting its FourthAnnual Luncheon Forum on ProstateCancer at the Los Angeles Apresetprostate cancer screenings, For infor-mation, call (310) 822-1982, It's notJust a forum for men, I've been tothegetting mn and gveneergor ete rtsentoebing peleaSa -raave ofnt hn ee mapass ut ocrying? and? and get to the point,ws del eoReainenwatolvulives's oAre you mari enough toYou'llareal man. Real menrte iio*4 oe eeeee ee eet ree Oe ee ee ea 4 ee

oStreetP ratine| OPENEvans Street Printing has opened at 408 Evans Street to provide copy and offset press printing services toboth large and small customers. According to Danny Syancil one of the owners, Evans Street Printing isequipped with both digital black and white and digital color copiers as well as offset presses and a host ofancillary equipment. This allows the company to process large volume corporate jobs as well as providingsmall office and home office business with cost-saving advantages , Orin Sharper, the other owner, said.The shop which offers free estimates, is open Monday through Friday from 8:30 am to 5:30 pm Call757-3665 Photo by Steve JohnsonImprove the qualityof life in Pitt Countyee 1. | ae- More Jobs for Pitt County- Better Education- Safer CommunitiesVote for Kenneth Ross on May 2nd!Paid for by the Committee to Elect Kenneth Ross, Wanda Pierce, TreasurerNG BRANDYbtn S SuRT JUDGE"I believe in fairness, courtesy, and respect for all citizens.What you say counts in my courtroom." " Judge Galen BraddylectVote for Judge Galen Braddy on Tuesday, May 2,for District Court Judge (District 3A).Appointed by Governor Jim Hunt in January 2000Endorsed by NC Assc. of Women Attomeys - Member of NC Assc. of District Court JudgesPaid for by Braddy For Judge, Larry Garrett, TreasurersaskithieamniimiomiaimiaUrican Credi{CALL JEFFEREY COXFORYOUR CAR LOANSTRAVEL EXPENSESBILL CONSOLIDATIONEVEN PAYDAY LOANS !PH# 355-7100LOCATED 3005 5. MEMORIAL DRGREENVILLE, NC 27835es beetill ed ae elAe TRE RUM! PEERS! vA SO Rea et [CEE RM Re ORT RE nD BRT, eo TPO ena cet RERalph Campbell Jr.,State AuditorInaugurated as North CarolinaState Auditor on January 9, 1993,Ralph Campbell, Jr. betame thefirst African-Ameri¢an in theState's history to win a statewide,elected executive office and sit onthe prestigious Council of State ofNorth Carolina.An independently elected offi-.cial, the State Auditor is chargedwith the duty of examining theoperations of state agencies andwhether they have establishedadequate financial, performanceand administrative procedures andpractices, systems of accountingand other necessary elements oflegislative and management con-trol. The North Carolina StateAuditor has the Statutory respon-sibility for examining and pub-lishing findings andrecommendations on every Statedepartment and agency, each ofthe 16 campuses of the Universityof North Carolina system, each ofthe 58 Community Colleges, anda perforn| stration ofapublic schootion,heRalph Campbell has long| recognized the need for moreparticipation by minorities in gov-ernment. A Raleigh native andgraduate of JAW. Lig on HighSchool, Campbell received hisdegree in business administrationfrom Sairit Augustine's College in1968. He also attended the gradu-ate program in business at NorthCarolina Central University. Heran for the Raleigh City Councilin 1985, winning the District Cseat. During his Council tenure,he became involved with a longlist of civic, fraternal, religious.and human service organizationsat the state and local level. Hisunyielding commitment to hisdistrict and the African-Americancommunity, as well as his dedica-tion to all Raleigh citizens, re-gardless of race, color or creed,earned him the respect of manyacross the city. In 1989, followinghis election to a third term on theCity Council, he was elected byhis fellow council members toserve as Mayor Pro Tem, steppingin to assist the Mayor whenneeded, as well as continuing toserve as a leader for the Councilon key issues for all the citizensof Raleigh. As State Auditor, hehas expanded his involvement toI systems. In addi-: a toll free "| telephone Hotline established by " i__ the NC General Assembly which| allows citizens and employees to _ histireport potential fraud, waste and_ abuse within state government. " wiRevenue as a(1977-1986), the NC State HeaBenefits Office as Plan Auditor1992).Campbell has been tates from Saint Augustine'sCollege and Shaw University forhis service to his community. Hispersonal sotication oe :service and the integrity of public.office have earned him certifica-tion as a fraud examiner by theAssociation of Certified FraudExaminers, the In Awardpresented by the Auditor Generalof US Department of He Health andHuman Services, and . theSecretary of Health and HumanServices Award for DistinguishedService."I try to find the best solutionsfor all of our citizens and to helpmake our state government and itsinstitutions and the bestthey can be, osays Campbell. "Iam proud of this state and itscitizens and the (Progress we aremaking together."==" SAAD RENTALS ~~ |1-, 2-, and 3- bedroom housing unitsREAL ESTATE907 Dickinson Ave., Greenville, NC, (252) 757-3191 Ppciesn |aPaid for by the Committee to Elect Ralph Campbell, Treasurer, J. Mills HollowayTel; (919) 838-1314 Fax; (919) 838-1316, wwwauditorcampbell.comrane reerALGR TRE T CeThe following Gaaudien | have lent theirendorsement to Ralph Campbell:eae eswieof Insurance meAdministrative Officer " :many times through ease suchas the 1984 Omega Man of the. Year Award from Omega Psi Phi alyFraternity and honorary doctor-~em.:oe ae

. farewell.HOW TO REALLY RESTIN PEACEThe death of a family member is one of the most difficult timesthat anyone can experience. Asmourners face their grief andcome to grips with their ownimmortality, they must also han-dle the business of a_ finalYet, according toseveral AARP research studies,some unscrupulous businesses inthe "death industry" take advan-tage of consumers at this vulner-able moment.Death is such an unfortunateway to end a life. But there's atleast one benefit: Dead mendon't plan funerals. A funeral isoften the third most expensivepurchase a person makes in hisor her lifetime - right behind ahome and a car and certainly themost unpleasant.To avoid getting swindled.follow these seven tips:We Have the Resources forEvery Angle of your BusinessIf you had the financial resources to help you with all sides of your business, you couldsave valuable time and money. Fortunately, ECB has the SOLUTION!It's our ECB BEST BUSINESS SOLUTIONS. . . A comprehensive package of servicesand products at competitive rates and discounts.ECB BEST BUSINESS SOLUTIONSFINANCIAL SERVICES+ Checking* Lines of Credit* Commercial Loans+ SBA Loans+ Equipment Leasing« Cash Management Services* Business Savings, CDs and MoneyMarket Accounts+ Discount Brokerage Services* Merchant Card Services+ VISA Business Credit Card+ Business Property and Casualty Insurance+ Group Life and Health Insurance,DISCOUNTED BUSINESS SERVICES* Overnight Delivery+ Car Rental Discounts* Computer Backup+ Long Distance Phone Service,* McBee Office Products+ Penny Wise Office Products+ Employee Benefits and Payroll/PEO+ Computer Equipment1. Shop around, oThe averagefuneral costs from $5,000.00. to$10,000.00 How much shouldit really cost? If you do yourhomework, you should be able"to find a complete funeral with ametal casket for as low as$2,000. When you visit theshowroom, bring along a friend,someone who is not grieving andwon't be suckered by a high-pressure sales pitch.2 Demand a price list. Funeralhomes are required by federallaw to provide written price listsfor products and general servicessuch as consultations, music andcare of the body. But beprepared: Lower-priced itemsare often missing from thelist. You'll ask about a $500.00casket and they'll say they don'tcarry it??.3 Don't feel guilty. Their jobis to sell, and if you are crying,they can get you buying, usuallywith lines like, "This is the lastthing you can do for your father4. Know your caskets. Will ahigh-priced casket preserve yourloved one's body? Not hardly.Some supposedly air tight cas-kets may actually speed up thedeterioration process by building »up gases that decompose thebody (grave) liners and vaultswon't protect the body either. It'sthe body's acids and chemicalsthat destroy a casket and higher-priced bronze and copper modelsare no more protected thanstainless steel. Pine caskets areWhile driving in Eastern North Carolina tune intoWOOW 1340 a.m. WOW 1320 a.m. and pick upa copy of the "M" Voice Newspaper.BUSINESS OWNER BENEFITS+ Bonus Travel Savings* Telephone Shopping Service+ Auto Buying Services and Maintenance Discounts* Business Asset Magazine* Concierge ServiceCALL CENTERExcellence in Community Banking1001 Red Banks Road + 355-82002400 Stantonsburg Road +» 752-6609www.ecbbancorp.comTOLL-FREE SERVICEalso a cheaper alternative, butthey're rarely on display.5. Buy on line. Funeral homesare rarely thrilled when you buyelsewhere and may levy a serv-ice charge, although the practiceis prohibited by the FederalTrade Commission. A 1999report by the New York CityDepartment of Consumer Affairsfound that Some funeral homesmark up caskets by as much as300 per cent.6. Keep it simple. You don'tneed a fancy funeral to honor aloved one. limit visitation to oneday instead of two, dress thedeceased in a favorite outfitinstead of costly burial clothing.Direct burial or cremation tsanother option (taking the bodydirectly to the crematory orcemetery with no preparation orservice). Cremation costs aboutone third less than a graveopening. Hosting memorial serv-ices at your home or church canalso lead to savings. Andalthough some funeral homesrequire embalming if there willbe a viewing, embalming is notnecessary if the body is immedi-ately buried or cremated.Eliminating embalming can Save$500.00 to $900.00.7. Plan ahead. If you want asimple funeral, say so now. Yourfamily will feel less pressure tobuy you a designer casket whenyou're gone. Many funeralhomes and cemeteries offer pre-pay plans they're supposed tosave your kids from financingyour funeral, but you rarelycontrol the money, and essentialservices are often left off the contract. A better alternative isto set up a trust fund or investthe money on your own. Thisway, you and your family controlthe money. .Funeral directors are well awarethat people don't shop around.Most choose a funeral home thathas served their family before, orwas recommended by theirchurch, or is located close towhere the live.R. 1. P. Off - now that death hasbecome big business. who canyou trust? Only 8 percent knowthat funeral homes are requiredto provide customers with afuneral price list.Click on E (Undertaker) Youcan do just about anything on theWEB these days - includingplanning a funeral, buying cas-ket, and even arranging for aperpetual memorial.From Modern Maturity Magazine,March - April 2000 by Beth Baker andKaren Reyes, p70-79.QUOTE ON DEATH|. Beas kind as kind as you cantoday; tomorrow you may not behere.2. Perpetual worry will get youto one place ahead of time- thecemetery.3. The one thing certain aboutlife is that we must leave it.4. A person can survive almost. . nepublic service and educationaleverything except death.5. Make this your motto: Don'tdie until you're dead. ~6. People who are afraid ofdeath are usually afraid of life.7. A single rose for the living isbetter than a costly wreath at thegrave.8. nothing seems to make thecost of living as reasonable aspricing funerals.9. Nothing improves a man'sappearance as much as_ thephotograph the newspapers usewith his obituary.10. The person who is nevercriticized is not breathing.JABBERWOCK 2000PARTICIPANTSGreenville (NC) AlumnaeChapter, Delta Sigma ThetaSorority, Inc sponsors its 14thScholarship Pageant Saturday,April 22, 6 o'clock (PM) at theJ. H. Rose High SchoolPerforming Arts Center.The theme is "Jabberwock in theNew Millennium: Bringing thePast, Present and Future".Seventeen high school juniorsand seniors are competing forthe title "Miss Jabberwock".The young ladies have partici- |pated in cultural enrichment,development activities whileraising scholarship funds fortheir college education.The chapter president is Mrs.Cynthia Doctor and the pageantcoordinator -is Ms. Annette- Goldring.COMMUNITY NEWSReverend Montrose Streeter willbecome the Director ofResidence life at Barton College,Wilson, North Carolina, June1.2000 Minister Jay Hagansreviewed the: Sunday Schoollesson at Sycamore Hill BaptistChurch, Sunday, April 16, in thegeneral assembly.Ben Smith, MeteorologistWNCT Channel 9, talked with:senior citizens at the Pitt CountyCouncil on Aging, Tuesday,April 11.Mr. and Mrs. Raymond Williamsvisit with relatives and friends inNew York City, over the Easterweekend.Mrs. Beatrice Maye, retired li-brarian, shared with 4th and Sthgrade students, Wednesday andThursday, April 13th and 14th atthe Sadie Saulter School in theobservance of National LibraryWeek from the 2000 theme:"Read, Learn, Contact in YourLibrary".ran ilPeCity Wide Spring Clean Up, . -April Ist kicked off a week long city wide clean up effort, some of the participants included Mayor Pr-TemMildred A. Council, Council Member at large Chuck Autry, city Council Member Rose Glover. The Kickoff was at Thomas Foreman park along with Weed and Seed volunteers. Local city youth envoled with andother volunteers were also on hand.File Photo=Yet-(oMn cel tl ame ali-scelagunderstand Cole l mm aeidel ace4Member FDICOut of Sight, Out of Mind?Sewer spillsYUK! TheyTre messy, bad for the environment, and can result in stifffinancial penalties from state regulators. Greenville Utilities doeseverything it can to prevent sewer spills, But we canTt do it alone. You playan important role in helping us maintain an efficient public sanitarysewer system.What causes sewer spills? ItTs simple. They're caused by improperdisposal of items into the sewer system. We ask you to be aware ofthe following guidelines: .@ Please avoid pouring fats, oils or grease from cooking down thedrain. Instead, coilect them in a container and dispose in thetrash.@ Please donTt use your toilets as a wastebasket. Place a waste-basket in the bathroom to dispose of items such as disposablediapers and personal hygiene products,® Unless you have a garbage disposal, please donTt use your drainto dispose of food scraps. Place food scraps in waste containersor garbage bags for disposal.We appreciate your cooperation in following those few simpleguidelines, Together, we can protect our sewer system and ourenvironment. For more information, please contact us at 551-1551.NGreenvilleu Utilitiesrayyclams Riek pee TE reat ae hate i Pare ctv eniePeseta Sena ap uate a Whi doa yes eh yal ay

Suejette Jones,WHAT IS TRUTH" To this end was I born, and forthis cause came | unto the world,that t should bear witness unto thetruth............ " Pilate saith untoHim, "What is truth?" (John18:37,38). So far as the recordindicates, Jesus made no directreply to Pilate's " question.However the night before, whenJesus was praying in the upperroom, He said to His HeavenlyFather on. behalf of his disciples,"Sanctify them through thy truth:thy Word is truth.? (John 17:17).The word here referred to isundoubtedly the Old Testamentservers as a guiding star in oursearch for truth where the ApostlePeter mentions a subject which hesays, "God hath spoken by themouth of all his holy prophetssince the world began."When Jesus stood before Pilate,accused of being a king, andtherefore a traitor to the RomanEmpire, He said "My kingdom isnot of this world, then would myservants fight, that | should not bedelivered to the Jews." (John18:36). Pilate did not have theability to understand what Jesussaid nor have many of His |followers since then thoroughlyunderstood its real meaning.Hoping that Jesus would clarifythe point, Pilate asked, "Art Thoua king then?" In other words,Pilate wanted to know whetherthis statement by Jesus that Hiskingdom was not of this worldconfirmed or denied the chargehis enemies had entered againstHim. Jesus replied again, "Thousayest that | am a king..." HadPilate known it, Jesus had alreadyand rejoice therein.be set up in the earth by human_ efforts but by divine authority andpower, It will in no way associateitself with the governments of thisworld, much less dependent upontheir military might for support,nor. vote of the people nor byhuman efforts of the millions ofHis admirers. This is a definiteand fundamental truth which is setforth clearly in the Word of God.Here, then, is the answer toPilate's question as to what is truthpertaining to the kingdom ofChrist. It is the reassuring fact thatintervenes in the affairs of menand sets up a kingdom of right-eousness which will operate with-out human authority and humanassistance.Suejette A. Jones is currentlyenrolled in a religiousprogram at Pitt CommunityCollegeHave you seen the Site everyoneis talking about ?tmcune WWW.greenville.net*& Pree classifieds*C urrént Local Events* Weekly Yard Sale posting*® Local City & government Information -* Complete Searchable Business Directory )* Did you know your business is here |®l.et us link you upelect Democrat Jim Rouseto N.C. Rouse of RepresentativesADVERTISEMENT FOR BIDS°Pursuant to General Statutes of North Carolina, Section 143-129, as amended, sealedproposals will be received by the City of Greenville, North Carolina, in the Public Works |Department Conference Room, 1500 Beatty Street, Greenville, North Carolina, until 10:00AM, on Tuesday. April 25, 2000 and immediately thereafter opened and read for the 1999/00 |Street Resurfacing Project. fa a ee oe,The Street Resurfacing will consist of placing approximately 5,597 tons of bituminous +concrete, Type 1-2, and making necessary adjustments to valve and manholes. Street milling fwill consist of milling one (1) street one inch (1") to six inch (611) for a total of 6,925square yards. Dirt street improvements will consist of placing approximately 400 tons ofbituminous concrete Type 1-2, and fine grading approximately 3,734 square yards of crushedaggregate base.Proposals must be enclosed in a sealed envelope addressed to the Purchasing Agent, City ofGreenville, Post Office Box 7207, Greenville, North Carolina, 27835-7207, and the outsideof the envelope must be marked 11 proposal for 1999/2000 Street Resurfacing Project". Thename, address, and North Carolina license number of the Bidder. and the date and time ofBid opening shall be clearly indicated on the outside of the envelope. One (1) unboundcopy of the Proposal form is furnished in the Specifications which must be executed andsubmitted.Each Proposal must be accompanied by cash, cashiérs check, or a certified check, drawn ona bank or trust company insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Company or a Bid Bondas prescribed by North Carolina G.S. 143129, payable to the City of Greenville, in an amountat least equal to five percent (5%) of the total amount of the Bid, as a guarantee that a Contractwill be entered into and that a satisfactory Performance Bond will be executed. Contractorsare notified that legislative acts relating to licensing of contractors will be observed inreceiving Bids and awarding Contracts.Plans and Specifications describing the work may be obtained from the Public WorksDepartment at 1500 Beatty Street or by written request addressed to P. 0. Box 7207,Greenville, North Carolina 27835-7207.The City of Greenville reserves the right to reject any or all Bids, to waive any informalities,and to award Contract or Contracts which appear to be in its best interest. The right isreserved to hold any or all Proposals for a period of forty-five (45) days from the openingthereof.Minority and Women Owned Firms are encouraged to submit proposals.THIS 14TH DAY OF APRIL, 2000CITY OF GREENVILLEANGELENE PEOPLE, PURCHASING MANAGERsss | eh ec i a ak Ne ge AD i ae ea kl etre es ee eaeT T+The kingdom of Christ will notstudies

*, SenatbaaPaid for by candidateRepresentativeMarian McLawhorn"She's Working for All of Us"A strong voice in Raleigh* for eae disaster recoveryas for dha air. aedivatet* for fess valuesNC HOUSERe-elect Marian McLawhornto the NC House of Representatives.Please cast your vote on Tuesday, May 2nd.Paid for by the Committee to Re-elect Marian McLawhor, Don Branch, TreasurerRIENDS FOR ANN CAMPAIGANN HUGGINS for County 'C CommissionerA Plan for a Better Pitt® Increase value of education by promoting better pay and better resources.Because of Hurricane Floyd devastation, | would like to address the damages that weredone to environment.and other countywide health organizations.ie | would ab vores cost| would like to help improve the quality of life for our Senior Citizens.| would like to increase resources and incentives for our county employees.@ | would like to address health issues inT6ur county by working with Pitt Memorial Hospital* | would like to improve the county infrastructure through building and rebuilding roads,facilities, and countywide v,ater/sewer system for a better Pitt County.ugh crime prevention and intervention.b usage of our tax dollars. | will also exam-ions. If one is offanidescent, visiting the manyhistorie and cultural sites in Harlemis unavoidable. There is one attrac-tion in New York City that has avery hidden history and is known -throughout the world as the Statueof Liberty..A current debate cross-ing the country argues the originaldesign. of New YorkTs grand lady.There has been much speculation.and trepidation regarding this is-sue, but as in any investigation, youlook for clues that will later estab- ilish your hypothesis into a fact. Anattempt will be made here to bringclarity and present sources for yourown investigation.Typical of the debate floatingaround the country on this issue is ane-mail I received from a friend thatdid not identify the author, whichwould immediately raise questions inthe mind of any serious researcher,but in this particularly case, borderedmore on reality than fiction.oDuring my visit to France, | sawthe original Statue of Liberty. TheStatue of Liberty was originally aBlack woman, but as memory serves,it was because the model was Black.In a book called The Journey of TheSonghai People, according to Dr. JimHaskins, a member of the NationalEducation Advisory Committec of theLiberty-Ellis Island Committee, pro-fessor of English at the University ofFlorida, and prolific Black author,points out what stimulated the origi-nal idea for the 151 foot statue in theharbor. He says that the idea for thecreation of the statue initially was thepart that Black soldiers played in the.ending of Black Afrikan Bondage inthe United States. It was created in themind of the French historian, Edouardde Laboulaye, chairman of the FrenchAntislavery Society, who togetherwith sculptor Frederic AugusteBartholdi, proposed to the French gov-ernment that the people of Francepresent to the people of the UnitedStates, through the American Aboli-tionist Society, the gift of a Statue ofLiberty in recognition of the fact thatBlack soldiers won the Civil War inthe United States. It was widely knownthen that it was Black soldiers who ,played the pivotal role in winning thewar, and this gift would be a tribute totheir prowess. Suzanne Nakasian, di-rector of the Statue of Liberty, EllisIsland FoundationsT National EthnicCampaign, said that Black AmericaTsdirect connection to Lady Liberty isTunknown to the majority of Ameri-cans, BLACK or WHITE.oWhen the statue was presentedto the U.S. Minister, by France, it issaid that the Minister stated that thedominant view of the broken shack-les would be offensive to a U.S.South, because the statue was a re-minder of Blacks winning their free-dom. It was a reminder to a beatenSouth, of whom caused their de-feat, of their despised former cap-tives.?Intny book FIRST WORD BlackSchalars: Thinkers Warriors, Dr.Feffrics, political scientist,Sion with Ed Koch, mayorof New York City at the time, givesa more detailed description of thefacts on the background of thestatue.oThen I go on to say, When wedid meet Koch, and he asked thequestion, the first thing I raised withEd Koch was the question of theStatue of Liberty.T In the tape I say,well sso! Shy i, 0 Byore scored stiractions onegeneratly see: sok sar~~ : ee René | erway de_ Laboulaye, because he understood.that slavery was destroyed, and that_ Afrikan peoples had a great deal to 'do with destroying it. A quarter of aliberty in million of us fought in the Civil "War. He realized we could raise aAmerica.T That's how I introducemyself to Ed Koch.oMost people do not know thestatue in the name of liberty inAmerica.=e wtSO aeAS Zoeot . Se tien-throughgold | Won irfng total e--and he accepted it. He doesnTtinformation to the contrary. ibyou .raise these issues, you become anti:anti-immigrants, anti-Italian, anti-Poles, anti-Jews, anti-Hungarians._ We're not anti, we're trying to dealwith the truth. aeoWhen the statue was standing| -in the harbor, with the beacon ofLADY LIBERTYStatue of Liberty has not a damnthing to do with immigrants. Thestatue was standing in the harbor, in1886, before the waves and wavesof immigrants from Europe"East,Central and Southern Europe"be-gan to come and stream into NewYork, in the 1890s and the 1909s;the waves of Italians, Jews, Poles,Russians and Grecks, etc. ;oThe Statue of Liberty comesafter the struggle of black folk inthe Civil War. It was conceived bya Frenchman called Edouard-RenéLefebvre de Laboulaye, a politicalscientist. A theoretician who wroteathree volume history of the United_ States. He was the head of theFrench Anti-Slave Society. It wasat his home, in 1865, that the idea ofthe Statue of Liberty was givenbirth. Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi,the sculptor was there, a friend ofoWhen the first models werebuilt, they were an Afrikan womanholding the broken chains of en-slavement in her hand and at herfeet. Of course, this model couldn'tbe accepted by racist America.Eventually, the Statue of Libertywas modeled in a white context.The basis for the idea, and the basisfor the structures that became theStatue of Liberty, come out of theAfrikan experience.oBartoldi, the sculptor, went toEgypt twice. First as a 19 year old,then when he was given the com-mission by Edouard-René Lefebvrede Laboulaye to.develop a Statue ofLiberty. He went to Egypt again.He was inspired by the monumentalbuilding of Afrikans of the Nile.ThatTs why he conceived of thislarge structure. The Statue of Lib-erty was an Afrikan center, but thisoA HRDCommissioner of AgricultureGraham Boyd is anative of BeaufortCounty anda life-long resident ofNorth Carolina.He has been con-nected with agri-culture all his lifethrough produc-tion agriculturalleadership roles.light, immigrants coming: in -co-opted it, took it, and made it'a spiri-_tual symbol for themselves. The.real spirit of it comes out of ourancestors who fought like no otherpeople against the slave system andproduced this enormous victory- against enslavement. That historyhas to be known. It has to be told. If -intend to tell it with the last breathm?"? in my body. ThatTs what we do.?Incidéntally, the chains are stillm at the feet of the statue, though the. ethnic character.was changed fromAfrikan to European. Most of ushave been trained in traditionalconceals such facts, so here are some~ sources one can check to verify theauthenticity of the previous men-. tioned statements:1. You may go and see the origi-~ nal model of the Statue of Liberty,with the broken chains at her feetand in her left hand. Go to theMuseum of the City of New York,. Fifth Avenue and 103rd Street, orcall (212) 534-1672 and dial ext.208 and speak to Peter Simmons.He can send you some documenta-tion.2. Check with the New YorkTimes Magazine, part II, May 18,1986.3. The dark original face of theStatue of Liberty can be seen in theNew York Post, June 17, 1986, alsothe Post stated the reason for thebroken chains at her feet.4. Finally, you may check withthe French Mission or the FrenchEmbassy at the UN or in Washing-ton, D.C., and ask for some originalFrench material on the Statue ofLiberty, including the Bartholdioriginal model. (202) 944-6060 or6400.(Dr. Kwaku Person-Lynn is onthe faculty at California State Uni-versity, Dominguez Hills, and au-thor of FIRST WORD Black Schol-ars Thinkers Warriors. E-mail:DrKwaku@ hotmail.com)"North Carolinians deserveand expect the diverse, efficient,and economically rewarding ag-ricultural industry in the nation;an abundant and nutritious foodsupply; and a safe environmentin which to live and work. Thisis my vision for North Carolingfuture betterCaroliniansderstandingawarenessKey Focus AreasIncreased emphasis on researchand development to make theDevelopment of agricultural un- |through education and improvedfor = Northand _ leadershipand I Have the passion andexperience to make it reality."Paid for by thecandidate, Graham BoydImproved global distribution aadmarketing of agricultural products |Execute. the legal mandates ofNorth Carolina Dept, ofAgriculture and ConsumerServices .| American history, which generally ,

The story of the Moors in Burope is one of the.* greatest revivalist stories in world history. Europewould not be as advanced today if not for the Africans,who came out of the Nile Valley region into Europe,and came to be known as the Moors. Their sojourn intoTEurope began in 711 A.D., when an African generalnamed Tarik ibn Ziyad, of which Djabal Tarik (TarikTsmountain), or Gibraltar is named after, crossed theIberian Peninsula from Africa into Spain.Europe was in the crux of the Dark Ages, sufferingfrom a massive intellectual, scientific, social and cul-tural decline for almost 1000 years. This primarilyoccurred when the Anglos and the Saxons defeated theRoman Empire and ta whatever gains Europeenjoyed from Roman ingénuity. .When Moorish Africahs, who were Muslim, en-tered Spain, they brought Europe up to a level ofcivilization it had never experienced. Jose V. Pimenta-Bey, in his article oMoorish Spain: Academic Sourceand Foundation for the Rise and Success of WesternEuropean Universities in the Middle Ages? states, _oFor behind EuropeTs Scientific Enlightenment,T wefind many African Muslims. In fact, we find that thevery foundation and structure of WesternT Scienceand Academe is built upon the erudition of thesepeople known as Moors. (See Golden Age of theMoors edited by Ivan Van Sertima).The influence of the Moors spread throughout Spain,Portugal, France, Italy and England. Twelve of EuropeTsgreatest known universities were established duringthe Moorish occupation to translate and study Moorishtexts. The universities of Rome, Oxford, Cambridge,Lisbon and Salamanca are among this group.The totality of what the Moors contributed toEuropeTs revival are too numerous to list here, but anattempt will be made in order to visualize the scope andbreadth of how they brought Europe back to life.Starting with basic survival, the Moors showed theEuropeans how to increase the fertility of their soil tosustain larger growth and harvest. They introducedsuch items as: rice, cotton, oranges, bananas, coconuts,maize, medical herbs and introduced food preserva-tion and storage in order to survive the harsh winters.Get out and Vote GetCordova were oair conditioned in summer byniously arand warmed in winter by hot air conveyed through- pipes bedded in the walls.? (See oThe Moor: Light ofEuropeTs Dark Age? by Wayne Chandler in GoldenAge of the Moor) Bathrooms were supplied with hot -and cold running water. wegen tooIn fact, the Moors established hundreds of bath-houses in Spain. Cleanliness was almost as importantas eating to them, but also for health reasons. oEurope-ans offered no scigntific- reason for infection.T Let usagain remember that the Catholic masses did not viewbathing and personal hygiene as vitally important togood health and the prevention of disease.? (Pimienta-Bey) . .Europeans use to drink out of gold and silver gob-lets. The Moors introduced crystal glasses and plates.They also introduced a technique that we use today,where to place plates, glasses and silverware on tablesfor meals. . :Science was primitive and undeveloped in Europe.They were still debating if the world was flat, until theMoors showed them that the world was round. TheMoors brought chemistry. The Moors brought medicalscience to Europe. oFor seven centuries the medicalschools of Europe owed everything they knew toMoorish research. Vivisection as well as dissection ofdead bodies was practiced in their anatomical schools,and women as well as men were trained to performsome of the most delicate surgical operations.? (Chan-dler) ° .Chandler continues, oCordova had 417 mosquesand 300 public baths. The number of houses of thegreat and noble were 63,000 and 200,077 of the com-mon people. There were upwards of 80,000 shops.Water from the mountains was distributed throughevery corner and quarter of he city by means of leadenpipes into basins of different shapes, made of thepurest gold, the finest silver, or plated brass as wellinto vast lakes, curious tanks, amazing reservoirs andfountains of Grecian marble,? This was accomplishedno where else in Europe. _ -ahe.coand Vote Getoo.a e) a } fe BThe Moors introduced the use of wattr wheels, aque- 8%Se ee eee iad Sedov: he Nai inEurope garden over beds of flowers, chosen for their perfume, Soutien im ihe ceaucne a TOMEand VoteD.D, GARRETT AGENCY~ CONSULTANTRealtor @ Accounting @NotaryOFF ICE (252) 757-1962(252) 757-0018HOME (252) 757-1162 GREENVILLE, NC 27834FAXCALLTODAY ! IRS &ELECTRONIC FILINGSINCE 1946606 ALBERMARLE AVE.CALLNC TODAY !ograph y, comments nments on the music.in Spain because Africans had con-quered Spain a long time a go. In_ the Andalusian area you havea lot6f African influence in the music,architecture and in the whole cul-ture and a lot of blood in the people.So you had a black African thing upin the feeling of the music in the bagpipes and trumpets and drums.? (SeeMiles: The Autobiography)As an aside, WilliamShakespeare wrote an ode to hisMoorish mistress, Lucy Morgan.ofClerkenwell. (See oAfrican Women- in Early Europe? by Edward Scobiein African Presence in Early Eu-rope) - .The Moors advanced medicineto its highest form. oMoorish phy-sicians used drugs, surgery, andcauterization; medicine was a highlytechnical profession complete withextensive training and a code of ©conduct. European healing practicesat the time still largely relied uponcharms and amulets; socially andpolitically powerful clergy frowned "upon ahd repressed medicine,thereby leaving the field in the handsof quacks and barbers.? (See Mus-lim Spain by Anwar Chejne) oTheMoors were the first to trace thecurvilinear path of rays of lightthrough air,T this discovery in about1100 is a prerequisite to the designof corrective eyeglasses.? (Chan--dler) For centuries the mastery ofMoorish medical works was re-quired for obtaining medical de-grees at EuropeTs most prestigiousuniversities. They also brought qua-dratic equations, geometry andtrigonometry to Europe. Their ar-chitecture and interior decorationof houses and palaces was of thehighest standard in the world.When the Moors were defeatedin 1492 A.D., the Christian Europe-ans, who resented the threat of theMoors advanted civilization, plun-dered most of the progress theMoors had established. For instance,when-the Moors were driven out of .Europe, they left 70 libraries inSpain, alone. The European Chris-tians destroyed everyone, the sameas they destroyed the great library,with thousands of volumes, in Al-,exandria, Kemet (Egypt). But evenin defeat, it was the Moors whosparked European exploration in theworld by bringing them the com-pass, astrolabe, rudders and sails ofthe large ships.Europe and the world are su-premely indebted to the contribu-tions the Moors have made. Unfor-tunately, this is not reflected in thehistory books or classrooms, ex- |cept for the most part by instructorsand scholars of African descent andthrough their literature. It is a his-tory that cannot be denied.(Kwaku Person-Lynn is on thefaculty at California State Univer-sity, Dominguez Hills, and authorof FIRST WORD"Black Scholars,Thinkers, Warriors. E-mail:DrKwaku@ hotmail.com)NotiPoll WorkPITT COUNTY BOARD OF ELECTIONSSCHEDULED FOR MAY 2, 2000.$6.25 TO $7.00THROUGH FRIDAY.ticeers NeededQUALIFIED REGISTERED VOTERS TO WORK AT THEPRECINCTS ON ELECTION DAYS. THE NEXT ELECTION ISELECTION VOTING HOURS ARE FROM 6:30 AM TO 7:30 PMJUDGES AND SOME ASSISTANTS MUST ARRIVE EARLIERTO SET UP THE PRECINCT FOR VOTERS AND STAY TOCOMPLETE ELECTION ACCOUNTING PROCEDURES WHENTHE POLLS CLOSE. THE HOURLY RATE RANGES FROMTO APPLY, VISIT THE PITT COUNTY BOARD OF ELECTIONSOFFICE, 201 EAST SECOND STREET, GREENVILLE N.C.OFFICE HOURS ARE. FROM 8:00 AM TO 5:00 PM MONDAYFOR. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION CALL BETTY NURSE AT 830-4121Midst Acetance Corporation of N.C. NC)Automobile Loan ServicesPersonal Loan ServicesIS SEEKINGMID/EAST EXPRESS, LLCCheck Loan ServicesMid Eas Insurance Series, LLCAutomobile Property and Casualty Insurance ServicesTHE PREMIER FINANCIAL SERVICES GROUP' LOCALLY OWNED AND OPERATED3015 South Memorial DriveGreenville, NC 27834PH: 252-756-9768 ©Ruby J. Nethercutt, PresidentShane Grimsley, ManagerJerri Jones Ross, Insurance Manager* Graduato of East Carolina University =* President of NC Driving School, Inc.Driving Schools Association of Americas =?* Vice President othe Proessionl Driving Schools of* Chairman of Winterville Precinct Democrats* Veber the Winter Town Board 19971 Present* Member Reedy Branch Orginal Free Wil Bapst Church* Distinguished Service Award by Winterville Jaycees 1963* Former Member of the Winterville Volunteer Fire Department* Former District Governor of Greenville/Goldsboro Ruritans 1983*Former President of the Pitt County Young Democrats 1983* Former Chairman Arthur Precinct Democrats*Former President of the Winterville Chamber of Commerce 1996-1999- Asa public servant, businessman, and educator | will strive to find methods tohold down costs for the taxpayer and improve the quality of life of our citizens.Paid for by the committee to elect Tony Moore.* ot oweee4 tite ew eee Et aepagina wetPaca $9.00/HR Y $.325/MiILECe :Trabajando por |un futuro mejoray egw gpEe eePeete 4 er ei iret ee otsal$.325/mile, and work close tsecond job or are retired, itTs perfect! Mostximately feeiaeta ee Lin ,field jobs iast HOT"e)ged ie.Day OneeTre

Position available for a ial: | Sponsible person to perform| field work in the reading,| replacement, and repair of| water, gas and electric. meters_| througliout| Utilities service area.experiencetions is preferred, | North Carolina drivers| cense isGreenvillepriorin meter opera-A validli-required.| Applications acceptedthrough April 28, 2000.Salary Range$19,219 - $28,413.aPIPE LAYERPosition available for personto perform skilled work in theinstallation, maintenance, andrepair of gas pipelines andmains. Requirements includeprior experience in gas pipe-line construction work and avalid North Carolina commer-cial driver's licenseApplications accepted throughMay 5, 2000.Salary Range$20,800 - $31,013.WIS Pipe Crew Leader I| Position available for respon- | \sible person to supervise andparticipate in the installation | "and maintenance of water andandcandidatesewer mains services.Qualifiedhavemustprior experience inutility pipeline constructionand maintenance, includingresponsible supervisory andequipment operating experi-ence. Position also requirespossession of a Commercialdriver's license and the avail-ability by.Applications accepted throughMay 5, 2000.for standSalary Range$27,414 - $40,602.MECHANIC IIPosition available for personto perform body repair andfabrication work on motorvehicles = andequipmentDuties also include prepara-tion and painting of utilityvehicles and equipment.Considerable experience inautomotive and equipment re-pair and fabrication and pos-Part Time CustodianPosition available for person towork approximately 30 hoursper week performing " custo-dial work in occupied andwithsome outside grounds mainte-unoccupied buildingsnance duties at the WastewaterTreatment Plant. Job taskswill involve cleaning tilefloors, including waxing andbuffing, vacuuming carpets,dusting,emptying trash con-tainers and other general cus-todial duties as necessary. Avalid North Carolina driverslicense is required Benefits areavailable after| completing a six month proba-| | tion period. Applications ac-cepted through May 5, 2000.successfullySalary $7.00/hour.of a valid NorthCarolina commercial driver'ssessionlicense are required.Applications accepted throughMay 5, 2000.Salary Rang.$32,906 - $48,901.Employment _ isupon passing a physical ex-amination including a drugcontingentscreening urinalysis. To en-sure consideration, a com-pleted Greenville UtilitiesTapplication must te received inthe Human Resources OfficeContact: the Human ResourcesOffice, PO Box 1847,Greenville, NC 27855 (200Martin Luther King, Jr.Drive)or call = (252)551-1523.http://www.guc.com"An Equal " OpportunityEmployer" "Minorities AreEncouraged To Apply"Minnie AndersonRepublican TruthBuilding Bridges TowardsMinorities3.C. Watts is the only Black GOPmember of Congress at this time.He has predicted that the countrywill see more African-Americansfollowing in his footsteps. He hasnow been in the House ofRepresentatives for six years, andis the first Black HouseRepublican Conference chairman.Things could change inNovember. There are African-Americans running in Georgia,Colorado, California, Florida,South Carolina, Minnesota andNorth Carolina on the Republicanticket. In some cases, BlackDemocrats will be challengingBlack Republicans.Historically, there have been 105Black Americans elected to theCongress in its 211 years. Ofthese, 101 were Representativesand four were Senators.The first Black member ofCongress was Republican HiramRhodes Revels, of Mississippi,who served in the Senate begin-ning in 1870. The first African-American member of the Houseof Representatives was also aRepublican, Joseph H. Rainey, ofSouth Carolina. Rainey served inthe 41st Congress, as did Revels.Massachusetts RepublicanEdward Brooks was the firstBlack elected to the U.S. Senateafter the 12th Amendment to theConstitution was adopted, provid-ing for direct election of Senatorsrather than by State legislatures.According to Ben Anderson of |the CNS staff, today's Black GOPcandidates in the deep South areworking to unseat incumbents ina variety of districts.South-central Los Angeles hasgiven rise to three BlackRepublicans. including CarlMcGill, who is challengingRepresentative Maxine Waters.One young Black Republicanstate that he became a Republicanbecause he was sick of theAfrican-American voting blockbeing used by the Democrats, andthen seeing education not im-prove, and the elderly having tochoose between rent, mortgage,utilities or medication with theirlimited income. African-Americans have choices andshould explore more than thechoice that has caused us to bedependent on a system that hasfailed lots of fellow African-Americans over and over again.What has appealed to more andmore Black Americans is theRepublican message concerningcharter schools, school vouchers,welfare reform and family values.ae we eee ew2-Sided18? x 24?Aluminum Signwith Metal Posta ee eee ee ee eeAluminum SignsTHE CAROLINA GROUPSTHEGTATLOLAAR| With the purchase ofyour Aluminum Signyou will receive3 FREECustom DesignedT-Shirtsropin teSize; SM-XLLimit, 6 Tee'sWe canprovide more thansigns and custom t-shirts:* Banners ** Magnets ** Hats ** Stickers ** Lettering ** License Plates *Please call for pricingThe Cerolina Group715 Albemarle Ave.Greenville, NC 27834(252) 830-1929 ph| (282) 787-3964 fk_teeshirts@greenvillenc.comi)* q ri a 'Lt ahaute yk heal faseat felis vag aia eo fed Lee Re Me beer et pe eM remapBy James Clingman(NNPA) " In my book,Economic Empowerment orEconomic Enslavement " We Have aChoice there is a discussionregarding omanufactured oil prices?and some of the other games beingrun on us much of the time. It drawsthe readerTs attention to how easy it isfor those in control of various facets ofour economy to increase their profitsand to make their lives even morecomfortable " anytime they want.We see it now with the risingfuel costs. People in cold climatesmust choose between warming theirhomes and putting food on the table.Over-the-road truckers are facedwith sky-rocketing diesel fuel costs.Automobile owners cringe each timethey pull up to the pump. Where itused to be a fill-up, itTs now maybea half tank or so.What we are facing with theserising costs is another example ofpeople working together to improvetheir financial position. They areworking cooperatively to strengthentheir collective economic position.Whether they need the extra billionsor not is irrelevant; they are incontrol of their resources and theydetermine what others will pay forthose resources.A few little countries in thess Middle East got to~ they could control much of the world .by simply working in concert. A| few little countries, several of which .- the United States has sent men andwomen to fight and die for, get :together and decide how much oilthey are bi ing to produce and, thereby,change the landscape of many largercountries of the world. Well thatTswhat collective economics is all about.This glaring example of_ cooperative economics is somethingeach of us can witness personally atleast once each week when we pullup to the pump. We should learnfrom it. A few small countriesworking together have brought bigbad truckers to their knees, causedthem to drive to our nationTs capital inprotest, and set up orolling road blocks?along our expressways. A few smallpotentates are making the rest of ussant and rave about the price ofgasoline, shake and shiver in our ownhomes, and cut back on other essentials.This example of collective andcooperative economics, while it isnot one that benefits us, does benefitthose who participate in it, and Blackpeople should use their example todevelop our own cooperative economicstructure. We should assess ourresources, both intellectual andfinancial, and establish programsand procedures that will benefit ourpeople. ItTs a matter of controllingwhat we have and doling it out atour discretion, not at the request ofsomeone else.You can see it with OPECstates. They do not seem to carethat some of our people died fortheir countries, that some of themcame back home with illnesses thatwill eventually kill them, or that ourpeople saved their precious oil byputting out those oil-well fires.That does not matter when it comesto the money. They understandthat what they have is power andthey can exercise that power anytimethey wish to do so. An analogy canbe drawn between what OPEC isdoing and what Black people couldbe doing in this country. If weOnly through knowledgemay one gain success !sil ciansi bec esl lydecided to pursue our true economic.freedom, we could bring a few folksto their knees. as well, We couldtransform what is now an insignificantgroup of consumers into a powerfulband of producers, distributors, andretailers. We could wreak havoc onthe corporations that take ourdollars for granted. We could causean economic tidal wave rather thanthe small ripples we currently see asa result our half-hearted boycotts,demands for apologies, organizationalpayoffs, token employees, and all ofthe other shallow tactics we deployand accept. .We could be the OPEC of thiscountry if we would use our half-trillion dollars to build our ownbusinesses and to determine the pricesof our products rather than havingalways to submit to the price-gouging of other businesses. If wetook control of our resources andworked cooperatively and collectively;in support of one another, withdrawing .our dollars from those who hold us -in disdain, we could control oureconomic destiny.If we would deny our dollars,not for one day, but for one year ormore, to those businesses that exploitour people on a daily basis and retumvirtually nothing, we could be incontrol. Have you ever wonderedwhat happened to National Gas OutDay? The trouble with that campaignwas that is lasted for just one day.Now on May 20, 2000, we are goingto have National Black Out Day. I willsupport it, but will it do any good ifwe simply return to our normalTbuying habits the very next day?Take a lesson from the littlecountries about whom we sometimes .joke and make fun. They aredemonstrating the purest form ofcollective and cooperative economics.They are making us pay dearlybecause they are in control of theirresources. Black people should dothe same. °OulOOTWEAR CLINICCarolina East Mall* 252-756-0044 "We clean Timberland |Shoes and Boots 'Shoe Repair & Clothing Alterationec eel/SEwfi]WE'LL GLADLY GIVE YOUONE GOOD REASONTO PARENT A .CHILD...CORE OVER ae VLAD Mitra RA EEWE'VE GOT HUNDREDS!CALL TODAY FOR MOREINFORMATIONCHILDREN'S HOME

Dr. George Hawkins| it goes aGod Is Calling ForCommitmentGreetings: °Beloved we are living in a timein which God is calling HISpeople to dedication and commit-ment of excellence to Him withinthe Body of Christ: The wordcommit means: to do, perform, orperpetrate; to place in trust orcharge; entrust; to pledge to aposition on an issue.Every believer of the Body ofting unto Him? What are we| entrusting into His care?| We commit and make commit-| ments to a lot of things, mést of| which profit very little or nothing~ | at all. We commit to everything= except the right thing.Jesus was a man dedicated andcommitted to doing the will of theFather come what may.We should not fall short of doingthe same thing. True dedicationsimply makes a decision based onyour commitment to God, not onfeelings or emotions. A time willcome in your life when you willface commitment. How you han-dle it now may determine whetheryou succeed or fail and evenwhether you live or die. if you arenot willing to face commitment,in spite of emergencies and oppo-sition, you should not pursue yourministry any longer in this condi-tion but you should take the timeto get before the Lord and studyGeils Yierghecradwiipe, Sebawhole lot fore Wehave a comrhitment to uphold. Wecommit our way unto the Lord.| We commit our works unto the| Lord. There are " thatwe can commit unto: ! Lord. The| question is what are we commit-mitted.Dedication and commitment to |the Lord, and not man, is what it | ?is all about. Only what you do forChrist will last. Man does not:have a heaven or hell to put youin. It is time for you to come intoexcellence concerning personalministry and the particular minis-.try where God as has establishedyou as a whole, for it is a ministry "of the Lord Jesus Christ. God hasentrusted us with the souls ofman, We have a commitment toHim to possess the land. Everyplace our feet shall tread upon isours. God is not going to settle foranything less than excellence.Matthew 5:48 says "Be yetherefore perfect, even as yourFather which is in heaven isperfect."There is a hymn that says "Acharge to keep I have. A God toglorify; a never dying. soul tosave; and fit it for the sky."Find your place in your localministry and then go before the "Lord with it to find out how hewants you to go about fulfillingthat call. It is time for the Body ofChrist to come to excellence. It istime to pursue God concerningpriorities, .Fax: (252) 758- 2801-IRO. Box 116-[Phone: (252) 752-0850{Email-rroyal3861@aol.comVote to electdy B. Roy.Democratic Candidate forPitt County Commissioner, District AMay 2, 2000Greenville, NC 27835-1116Paid for by The Committee to Elect Randy B. RoyalEthiopian tobe exact. Little is mentionedin this part ofOf the world that India was once part of the Ethio-pian Empire. This is further verified in the Ethio-pian sacred text, The Kebra Negast, which regardedWest India as a part of the Ethiopian Empire. Manywriters, depending on the time period, fefer to theEthiopians as the ancient Cushites, while their landwas referred to in the Bible as the oLand of Cush.?The Indus Valley civilization, which reached itsheight from 2500 B.C to 1500B.C, is the birthplaceof Indian civilization and is commonly referred toas Harappan civilization. This was a civilizationestablished by those Africans who migrated fromthe Nile Valley region. Harappa was the urbancenter which dominated the upper Indus regionmuch like the Mohenjo-Daro did in the lower IndusValley. This was the area where two world religionsspring forth to reach large parts of the globe. It isestimated that approximately 150 million people ofAfrican descent live in India today.Siddhartha Gautama, also known as Sakia Muni,the 9th Avatar of India, lived around 600 B.C. Heultimately became the Buddha. He reached the high-est state of the Buddhist religion, oEnlightenment?under the Bodhi Tree. His life parallels that ofChrist. The Virgin Maya (Mary) is said to havegiven birth to him through Immaculate Conception. «oWhen her child, Buddha was born, he stood up-right and proclaimed, I will put to an end thesufferings and sorrows of the world.T As thesewords uttered a light surrounded the infant Mes-siah.? (See Sixteen Crucified Saviors by KerseyGraves)oKtesias, for example, the first European to writea comprehensive general account of India, known toposterity as the Indika of Ktesias, mentions largeconcentrations of Blacks in the regions of the east-ern Himalayas and the Upper Ganges, where mostaccounts place the birthplace of Gautama.? (oA fri-cans in Early Asian Civilizations: A HistoricalOverview? by Runoko Rashidi in African Presencein Early Asia)Godrey Higgins, in Anacalypsis Vol. 1, offersoThe religion of Buddha, of India, is well known tohave been very ancient. In the most ancient templesscattered throughout Asia, where his worship is yetcontinued, he is found black as jet, with the flat face,thick lips and curly hair of the Negro.?According to an anonymous Buddhist Chinesestudent, preferring not to be identified, there wasalso another Buddha who hailed out of Afrika.oThere is one in particular that we were not awareof, it is Ra Heru Buto-Sut-Nahsi. The HetepDtiammaT is related to the teachings of Ra HeruButo-Sut-Nahsi, commonly called the Buddha. Ra-Mohenjo-Daro and Haknown as The Four Noble Truths and the TtEightfold Path. Its fundamental beliefs are related | ,to the ancient spiritual and holistic philosophies of |Nubian ancestors of ancient Ethiopia,oAccording to the late historian Cheikh Anta Diop,Ra Heru Buto-Sut- Nahsi was a black African priest _from Ta Merry (Kemet), who during the invasion and | |persecution by Cambyses, migrated to Asia and came Ttto India possibly around $22 - 512 B.C.? aeLord Krishna was the 8th Avatar of the Hindupantheon and is said to have lived about 1200 B.C.He is usually depicted as blue, purple or any other |. |color than black. As is Buddha, KrishnaTs life par- .allels that of Christ. He was the son of the Virgin .Devaki, also born by Immaculate Conception. Jolin. |;G. Jackson, in his book Christianity Before Christ, ©gives us the following. oThe birth of Krishna oc-curred while his foster father, Nanda, wasinthecity |; "to pay his tax to the King. Likewise, Jesus was born | ~~.while his foster father, Joseph, was in the city to paytax to the governor.oKing Kansa sought the life of the Hindu Christ.by ordering the slaughter of all male children bornon the same night as was Krishna. This is paralleledby the story of the slaughter of the innocents, or-dered by King Herod, as related in the Gospelaccording to Matthew: 11-16.oA heavenly voice warned Nanda to flee acrossthe Jumna River with the infant Krishna, in order toescape from King Kansa. In this instance, we recallthat Joseph was warned in a dream to flee into Egyptwith the Virgin Mary and the Christ-child to escapefrom King Herod.oKrishna performed numerous miracles inMathura. While in Egypt, Jesus performed similarmiracles in Matarea. :This same story started with Isis, who had-avirgin birth with Horus (Heru), 4000 years beforeMary and Jesus, in Kemet (Egypt).What is implied here, other than the Africanancestry of Buddha and Krishna, is that all of usneed to look very closely at the texts related tovarious deities in the world and ultimately put thison top of the table, discuss it and see what we comeup with. .(Dr. Kwaku Person-Lynn is on the faculty atCalifornia State University, Dominguez Hills, andauthor of FIRST WORD Black Scholars Thinkers |Warriors. E-mail: DrKwaku @hotmail.com)Daro and Harrapan civilizations. tis said |the Buddha felt so strongly regarding theremovalof ||suffering and oppression, he taught that any reli- |)gion which failed to have the recognition of suffer- |)ing and oppression as its core was no religion at all.MY |ay Everyone Have AHappy And Safe EasterMiay God Bless You.e PITT COUNTY~~ ABT" AETH COOPER(DEMOCRAT)PITT COUNTYREGISTER OF DEEDS.MAY 2, 2000EDUCATOR AND RADIO PERSONALITY* CHAMPION OF SENIOR CITIZENS' ISSUES (VOLUNTEER FOR ELDERLY_ PROGRAM AT SYCAMORE HILL BAPTIST CHURCH)¢ WALK FOR THE HUNGRY ORGANIZERAN RELATIONS COUNCIL¢ ORGANIZED FLOOD VICTIMS' ADVOCACY COUNCIL TO FIGHT FOR FLOODVICTIMS (ESPECIALLY THE ELDERLY)OBJECTIVES TO MAKE SERVICES MORE ACCESSIBLE TO THE DISABLED TO UPGRADE THE COMPUTER SYSTEM TO COMPUTERIZE MORE INFORMATION FOR RESEARCHERS, AND THE GENERAL PUBLIC: TO FACILITATE GENEALOGICAL SEARCHEST TO ENCOURAGE A PROFESSIONAL DEMEANOR FROM STAFFPROMOTING EFFICIENT, ACCESSIBLE SERVICES IN ACUSTOMER-FRIENDLY, SERVICE-ORIENTED SETTING(Paid for by the Committee to Elect Keith W. Cooper).TOB- REALD-P, GARRETT"SINCE 1946"Call Us If You Need. Someone To Collect Your Rent AndUY, RENT OR SELL:ESTATE CALLYour Property!, ManageSeveral Nice Building Lots. We Handle Conv., HUD,VA & FMA, Financing.606 ALBEMARLE757-1692 OR 757-1162FAX 757-0018www.uhseast.comtodayTs health line 252.816.5401. Sone people have allergies when their immune systems over-reactto food, medicine or something else in the environment. An allergicreaction may trigger hay fever, asthma, rashes and reactions to food.The most common causes of allergies are pollen, mold, house dust,4 animal hair, insect stings and food.Learning the cause of an allergy can help you avoid or manage thesymptoms. Fish, eggs, milk and nuts are the most common foods thattrigger allergic reactions. Food allergies may cause rash or hives, swellingof the lips, tongue, face and throat, shortness of breath or headache.These reactions are usually mild, but may become serious. Most peoplewith food allergies react to one or just a few foods. If you have foodallergies, look tor substitutes such as rice flour bread instead of wheatbread, or soy milk for cowTs milk.Occasionally, people have sudden and severe allergic reactions thatcan be life threatening. These reactions may occur after insect stings,eating certain foods or taking drugs-such as penicillin. In these tarecases, the allergic reaction may cause difficulty with breathing, adropin blood pressure and swelling of the body. If you or someone you knowPitt County Memorial HospitalBertie Memorial HospitalChowan HospitalHeritage HospitalRoanoke-Chowan Hospitalhas a severe allergic reaction, seek emergency medical help immediat

Mike Easley puts our families first.Easley: Lottery money for local schools first.Some say lottery money should be used to subsidize a college scholarship program. Mike Easley wants to invest inour local public schools first - where we need it most. Mike Easley will use proceeds from a new state educationlottery to reduce class size. starting in the early grades, so students will get the individualized attention they need.Pre-kindergarten for at-risk children.Mike Easley will use another portion of lottery proceeds to start a pre-kindergarten program for at-risk 4 year-oldsso all of our children can start school ready to learn.Prescription drug assistance for seniors.Mike Easley will tight for a statewide program that cuts the cost of prescription drugs for low-income seniors. ® e @,°eOpportunity for Women and Minorities.Mike Easley appointed the first African-American Director of the State Bureau of Investigation and has women andpeople of color working in top positions throughout his current office. As Governor, heTll make sure state govern-ment includes diversity at all levels.A Fighter for us.Mike Easley has always been on our side. As District Attorney, he won national praise for bringing down interna-tional drug kingpins. As Attorney General, he prosecuted fraudulent telemarketers and cracked down on predatorymoney lenders who were robbing seniors and working families of their homes. And Mike Easley has helped lead thefight against hate crimes in North Carolina.www.mnikeeasley.org Paid for by the Mike Easley Committee.