tt % US. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice talks exics Vicente Fox during her arrival at the Los Pinos presidential residence . in Mexico City, Mexico, in March. with Mexico’s President Photo/Dario Lopez-Mills MEXICO CITY - The meeting between Fox and Jackson at the presidential residence was a sharp contrast from a few days ago, when Jackson called on the Mexican Edwards challenge you ready to Former Senator John Rdwards recieves the Chanc NCCU Chancellor James H. Ammons president to issue a public apology. President Vicente Fox apol. gized last Monday for saying that Mexicans in the United States do the work that blacks won't, but ellor’s ‘Award from UURHAM, NC - Former Senator John Edwards asked the assembled raduates at North Carolina Central Cniversitys 105th Commencement cetemonies held Saturday, May 7, 2005, whether they were ready to change the world. As keynote speaker, Edwards was enlisting their energy and support to eradicate the disgrace of poverty in this, the richest, most powerful nation in the world. Edwards intends “to shine a Mrume Apoirs Havinc A Personar bright light on the issue” as part of his new role as director for the Cen- ter on Poverty, Work, and Opportu- nity at the University of North Caro- lina - Chapel Hill. In his speech, he made reference to the 36 million poor and the 25 million Americans on the brink of poverty. The total represents a staggering 20 percent of the population. | He acknowledged that the Bible tells us the poor will always be with Still Plans To Run For Maryland’s Senate Seat by Makebra Anderson WASHINGTON (NNPA) — When the NAACP’s Board of Di- _ rectors declined to renew the con- tract of President and CEO Kweisi Mfume last fall, some speculated Kweisi Mfume addressed a wide range of issues during a meetin with reporters Photo: Jed Kirschbaum that it was because of the internal conflicts between Mfume and Board Chairman Julian Bond. However, published reports have now disclosed that there were also concerns over Mfume's personal relationship with one female staff member, possibly more. “I don't think this has anything to do with personality conflicts. What people have been talking about is why Mfume left and in that context they were talking about the problems with Bond, but as it turns out, that might not have been the issue at all. This may have been the issue,” said University of Maryland professor Ron Walters. It was recently disclosed that last summer, a female employee of the NAACP, Michele Speaks, ac- cused Mfume of unfair treatment. The NAACP’s executive commit. tee requested that an outside law- yer review her allegations and as- sess the organization's liability. One month after the lawyer presented the memo to the com- mittee, Mfume resigned. , Mfume states that his resigna- tion had nothing to do with Speaks’ charges. “My contract was up there [at the NAACP] on October 24, It was really time for me to move on and. | do something else,” he said on the National Public Radio program; “News & Notes with Ed Gordon.” He explained, “What that some- thing else was, as I said at my press conference, could have been busi- ness, it could have involved poli- tics, it could involve Writing or it could have involved spendin more time with my youngest son, but it was time for me to move on, . I'm the kind of person that is mo- tivated by challenge and I needed a new challenge.” | According to the Washington Post, which broke the Story, the memo stated, “The impression [was] created that a woman must rovide sexual favors to Mr. Mfume or his associates in order to receive favorable treatment in the workplace.” § many Mexicans stun US. crackdown on il + grants said that Fox was just stat- » ing a fact. During a meeting the “tion. Le Ee eee serving Eastern ‘a eee NPA SC rae RN ee ee ope eK ny by a new egal immi- revious Friday at TexasMexico 'rozen Food Council in the west- ern city of Puerto Vallarta Fox said, “« ? j . there’s no doubt that the Mexican > men and women full of dignity, willpower and a capacity for work ~ are doing the work that not even blacks want to do in the United States.” Fox made the controver- sial comment to a group of Texas businessmen during the meeting. He criticized recent steps the United States has taken that the Bush administration said were aimed at curbing illegal immigra- As Fox; who's paternal grand- father was an Irish-American born in Cincinnati. tried to smooth re- lations with the U.S. Black com- munity that following Wednesday after saying Mexican immigrants take jobs that “not even” blacks want he promised to work with Jackson to improve labor rights for minorities in the United States. Fox and Jackson met for more than an hour but didn’t Participate in a news conference that immedi- us, but “Some people use this as an excuse to do nothing.” He exhorted the crowd, “Don't look away from ‘the poverty surrounding us.” Edwards declared the necessity to raise the minimum wage to seven dollars. The current wage of $5.15 _ per hour was set eight years agg and places every full time, minimum wage worker supporting a: family of three below the poverty line. * * Edwards asked, “Is it right to work two jobs and still have your child go to bed hungry?” He added, “When people do right by America, we should do right by them.” Edwards reminded the crowd that job loss, illness or injury could happen to anyone and often serves as the prelude to a fall from the _ middle class into poverty. Unlike other developed nations around the world, there is no real safety net for. Edwards said that income allows you to “get along” but assets ensure that you “get ahead.” In this regard, he was speaking pointedly to the Af- rican Americans and Latinos in his audience whose average net worth stands at $6,000.and $8,000, respec- tively, while the average for white Americans is pegged at $80,000. To right this injustice, Edwards proposes offering baby bonds with the government providing additional funds matching the savings invested ReaTion Witt In the NPR interview, Mfume told Ed Gordon, “These are all un- proven and unsubstantiated accu- sations. That's the interesting thing about all of this, and why some- one would take that information’ to the Washington Post in the 42, eh ‘Mons a od a o.oo BR? Be Bee le (eaee py Pe ae ae gh) ately tollowed the talks because he’ had to leave for a trip to northern Mexico. Fox has made no public . reference to his comment that pre- vious Friday and continued to is- sue inconsistent statements through his aides. . Jackson, whose Rainbow/ PUSH Coalition is based in Chi- cago, said Fox was scheduled to appear on the civil rights leader’s tadio program Sunday. Fox also was invited to several U.S. labor forums, although it wasn’t clear whether he planned to attend. Luis Ernesto Derbez, Presi- dent Fox’s Foreign Secretary, who appeared at the news conference on Fox's behalf, said the meeting was an Opportunity for Mexico to pur- sue better treatment for Mexican and other Latino migrants in the United States. About 25 million people of Mexican heritage live in the United States. Fox’s spokesman, Rubén Aguilar, said Fox’s comments were in defense of Mexican migrants as they come under attack by new U.S. immigration measures that include a wall along the Mexico- California border, and were not meant to offend anybody. “They've S$ NCCU Grads, “Are by parents over the course of their child’ lifetime until graduation by which time, they could have accumu- lated $20,000 to $40,000 in the. bank. Other measures Edwards sug- gested included strengthening the earned income tax credit and fair wage legislation, eliminating the marriage penalty and tax cuts to the ~ wealthy, and expanding’ Medicait: Nearing the end of his speech, Edwards told his audience of gradu- ates, “You can do something to end poverty in America. It’s you that can ensure that you never have to work hard and send your children to bed hungry.” For his speech Saturday, NCCU Chancellor James H. Ammons pre- - sented Edwards with the Chancellor’ Award. Ammons presented several other awards during the ceremony, includ- ing: an honorary doctorate degree to Dr. Linda Clayton, physician, re- search scientist and author at Harvard University who began her illustrious career with a bachelor’s degree in chemistry from NCCU; an honorary doctorate degree to George Wein, founder of the Newport Jazz Festival who quipped that NCCU’s O’Kelly-Riddick Stadium “would be a nice place to hold a jazz festival”; the Chancellor's Merit Award to Dr. NAACP Srarrer middle of the night and leave it in the very early stages of this cam- paign is very interesting and I can't really react to that. I believe how- ever that it’s clearly an effort to kill the campaign, to discredit me, to See Mfume Page 4 * m+ pl . North Carolina's Minority Com: "SC RU ce AR a vers we ese tions of life not just for themselves by Mexicans are jobs that in the S. society aren't being filled,” and further went on to say that, “I. think that what we have to be very. clear about is that the statement © made by the president .was ‘in .no way narra by racism.” : Previously State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said the U.S. Embassy in Mexico City had raised'the issue with*the Mexi- can government indicating that it: was, “a very insensitive and inap- propriate way to phrase this and we would hope that (the Mexicans) would clarify the remarks.” Only Jobs Blacks Don’t Want...? One Mexican citizen Celedonio Gonzdlez, a 35-year-old carpenter who worked illegally in Dallas for six months in 2001 said the President Fox was just telling the truth, “Mexicans go to the United States because they have to. Blacks want to earn better wages, and the Mexican because he is ille- gal takes what they pay him.” However Lisa Catanzarite, a sociologist at Washington State University, disputed Fox’s asser- tion, saying that there is intense ~ Se a ee _ i - veery, + been able to improve the condi- but also for the communities in - which they settle and, by the same token, the president made the comment in this context to say that ~ a large quantity of the jobs taken besaz 5 TT tAussez ae oe ae: Reverend Jesse Jackson competition for Rebates ape class jobs like construction an employers usually prefer to hire ~ immigrants who don't know their rights. ahaa ea “What Vicente Fox called.a° ° willingness to work ... translates into extreme exploitability,”: she said. as Workable immigration poli-. cies Ak ae In a CNN telephone interview following the Fox’s controversial — statement, Reverend Jesse Jackson said that Fox “should not confuse the need for sound le al immigra- tion policy between the:two.coun- See JACKSON Page 5 : i Walter Brown, first dean of NCCU’s School of Education; honorable mention to Professor Isabel Chicquor for having been selected to receive the Board of Governor’s Award for Teaching Excellence; NCCU Awards for Teaching Excel- lence to Ms. Minnie Forte, Dr. | ,James Guseh, Dr. Veronica Nwosu “and Dr. Esther Okieyi; and Stu-. dent Leadership Awards to Miss NCCU Sharonda Arnold and Stu- dent Government Association resident D’Weston Haywood. The Chancellor's Award to the Par- ents with Three or More Gradu- ates was presented to Mr. and Mrs. Jim and Doris Harper and Mr. and Mrs. Milton and Geraldine Pickett. The atmosphere became decid- edly less reserved when the under- graduates were asked to line up in order to cross the stage and receive acknowledgement of their degrees. There were waves to and from the packed seating in‘the stands andlots. ” of whooping and-holleting, =. Some of the graduares had writ- ten messages in glitter paint on the tops of their mottarboatds like, “I. love you mommy!’ of inside jokes like “Where’s Regina?” Graduates like Shrree Alexander Joved the program but said, | er best part was when: I-walked across’ aterm the stage.” With her bachelor’s in: chemistry, Alexander will be looking © for work as a lab technician. Other graduates like Brandon Winford:and Nicosia Davis will pursue graduate studies, Winford at NcéU and Davis at Central Michigan University. All agree thar. this is the close of a very impor- tant chapter in their lives and the beginning of a new adventure. -30- Cutlines: Edwards a.jpg’ - Former Senator John Edwards re: ceives the Chancellor's Award from NCCU Chancellor James H. Ammons >, sei wt Dr. Janet: Bullock, P year's banquet. Photo: Jim Rouse Pitt County Freedom Fund Banquet: From left to tight are Reverend Michael Dixon, the guest speaker, The nD. President of thie Pitt County NAACP. Calvin | Henderson, Heritage Chairwoman. Evelyn Little and York Memorial Pas- tor, Rev. William Johnson were among the many guests who attended this Honorable Dudley Flood, Hostess, NC Legislative Black Caucus Foundation Sets 20th Annual Conference RALEIGH, NC - The North Caro- lina Legislative Black Caucus Foun- dation announces its 20th Anniver- sary of their Annual Legislative Edu- cation and Scholarship Weekend Conference. The conference will be held June 10-11, 2005. The Legisla- tive Black Caucus Foundation, Inc. is extremely pleased to be in association with the Old North State Medical So- ciety for the 20th Anniversary. The conference theme is ‘The 20th Anni- versary/Reflections: Standing on our History, Building for the Future." A special Black Tie Gala/Concert is planned for the evening of June 10th at the Raleigh Civic & Convention Center. The ward Winning Manhat- tans featuring Gerald Alston and Blue Lovett will be in concert immediately following the Gala. Full conference schedule follows, The conference begins Friday, June 10, 2005, with the Town Hall Forum followed’ by the Chairman's Reception and Black Tie Gala/Con. . - . cert. Highlights include remembering former caucus members and recipients of the Henty E. Frye/Annie Kenned: Ti he tnd Cone: adie’, rahi . Join us on Sar- urday morning for an lifting mies- sare from our tar whe ron Speaker, fo owed b informative worksho on Minority Health Disparities, Educa- tion, Crime and Elections, Also, on Saturday an exciting youth forum will be ned for ages 7-18, The chair of the North Carolina Legislative Black Caucus Foundation, Representative Beverly Earle, ho all North Carolinians 'will come an sup- alles os Carolina Legislative ack Caucus Foundati i Waka tion Scholarship You can visit their websive at http /www.nclegblack org) 919-715.9539, ® OF cal eS Sen RT. eae” (ae ee ee Ae ACR tha eal Rial ii cae gay semmeeety Voice Nowepeper Mey 1-31, 2005 ce See. 4 . . Be ee er ee a eat: Son ae pers a es ge Pe —— = ee fe oF hs Be ‘ * ; t - & ti nits gi. on ccnmepisnaagsnsF8P* - 9 a ea athe aaa tae Ane co wag Se ine in patie toed ~ be eelaiaen oat OR Ne A RL Rent ene agnenmepap atin comme cc when the NY Post Daily News head- lined: HIV- Foster kids _ New York used as Guinea Pigs. These ing allegations ingicared that the Catholic Church had been holding hands with several well known drug conglomerates and the federall funded National Institutes of Heal (NIH) for one of the most horrific Bill Cosb By Earl Ofari Hutchinson In 1992, a star-studded crowd at the Academy of Arts and Sciences Hall of Fame gala awards in- | duction cer- emonies chuckled at the one-lin- its princi- | ielacace . ill Cosby. , | The laughter ~~ stopped | when turned serious and accused the mostly white film and TV writers of “massacring” the black image on ’s skewered indictment studio executives seemed ironic. For a decade they had enshrined him as America’s most treasured TV Dad. They’ made screen. BET Nightly News Cancelled — No By Michael K. Fauntroy NNPA newscast jn lieu of hourly u The 11 . oe ing black Americans news stories on the other ‘ret Wdrks. The loss’ of BE while’Wb of things i to ever BET president and chief operating officer Debra Lee hour ews ewok and everyone getting news off the Internet, our audience t want to wait until 1 p.m. to find out what the news is. “She's wrong. If news at 11 p.m. was not a demand of the community, then thousands of stations all over the coun- try would not invest dollars and man - Ms. Lee fails to understand Nightly News was bland and amateurish. , interview. But since Ed Gordon left the anchor desk, no real journalist has filled the seat. Tavis Smiley is a commentator and Jacquie Reed said in a press release, “With 2 tand that the BET there would be a ground breaking reads very well. . Twenty years ago, BET News started with two- minute news briefs that ran in the middle of Video Soul with Donnie Simpson. I had high hopes that in 20 years, the network would be able to muster up some real competition cable news arena. I was really excited ET announced that it is shutting down its nightly tes of p.m. thirty- minute program, was meant to rtunate, is not a big deal in the . The reason why it won't be such a whe SR eee arly produced No watched its unimaginative, poo pro- fic It wasn't appointment television and it was un- cluding North Carolina, Illinois, Maryland, New York, Louisiana, Colorado and Texas have been ex- posed as allowing HIV clinical trials testing on foster children. What is ing on.in New York stands apart Tani deg het poo one ing. Enter the Catholic Church who has been providing housing at a New y's Image Cosby, a black man, the quintessen- tial symbol of all that was good and wholesome in family values con- scious America. More than a decade after Cosby knocked the execs for butchering the black image, the even more tragic irony is that he has done much to iassacre his own image. At last count, thirteen women in court documents have virtually branded Cosby a serial sexual victimizer. They claim that he drugged and/or sexually as- saulted them. In interviews, an angry Cosby screamed foul, and: claimed that the charges are nothing but a shakedown of 4’ rich, and famous celebrity. Though no criminal charges have been filed against him, Cosby will be tied up in endless civil litigation for years to come to untangle the he said, she said mess. the day’s events. could .pot see casts that would Nightly News, scheme is that enlighten those more black women? into these It could have fills the void. _ Dear Editor when Viacom—which owns CBS News bo sic network from Bob Johnson. I had visions that BET producers would join forces with seasoned CBS pro- ducers and create shaking and low- BET Night! public policy at teaches courses j edge of consent or that of their par- ents or guardians; the experiments are neither safe nor are they proven to be ; toxin level found in drugs is known to cause disability and death.; guard- ians refusing to administer the owerful drugs to children, were lef defenseless and without laws of Problem Cosby inadvertently made him- self a sitting duck for the finger pointing, when in a well meaning, ut ill-tempered tirade last May, he lambasted poor black teens and their parents, for being lousy parents, edu- cational slackers, for butchering the English language, and for their al- leged thuggish behavior. He made the same charges against them a couple of months later. The indict- ment was way too broad, too sweep- ing, and it inched dangerously close to reinforcing the same vile racial ste- reotypes that Cosby has spent most of his wietior career fighting against. They were the type of ste- reotypes that he had accused the TV and Lim executives more tharPa de- cade earlier of fanning. Now Cosby was on the bad be- havior hot seat. If America’s number one Dad can ride-high up in the moral saddle and lecture other blacks on their alleged bad behavior, than ught the mu- unique and stimulating news broad- tap into the black audience worldwide. Oops...my bad. No such thing happened. BET’s news m, ent—despite the fact that their business cards say CBS News—let a prime o BET’S newscast was a bad fit, existing in asea of booty brow television. Who believes that black Americans interested in the public policy or serious issues would sit through the’ latest Snoop Dogg soft portunity slip away. soft porn to see the news? How often was the newscast advertised during the day on the network and in other formats? Was the news there to break ground or just satisfy critics who believe a black television network should be than a place to watch black men sexually abuse y News is an example of promise lost. been so significant to such a large underserved segment of television viewers. Now, we are left with nothing I call out to Cathy Hughes and TV One. Help. Come to our collective rescue and bring us the news. We mourn not for BET Nightly News. No big loss. The tragedy will be if no media outlet-black or white. Michael K. Fauntroy is an assistant professor of George Mason University, where he n urban policy, policy evaluation. and running. South Central to “not enoug a fact, 1 know this is not true. High School has 8 students in their culinary arts pro- gram, while we had 11 students who wanted to en- roll for next year. It seems to me that this is an issue of money and not enough interest in the program. Other students at South Central who, have enrolled in this class feel the same way as I do about this situ- ation. Students should not have to go without classes being offered at other high schools in the county {ust because we are a new school. mercial sr resin a South Central is Sing developed re it's t this program is not being 0 ° cause Pirt County ‘Schools doesn't want to spend basic equipment such as baking sheets and knives so our program can be built. My mgent aan is les io inform the public dh needed that are money buying least $50,000 was spent m. kitchen uipment, fice is rofasieg to fond ‘het s now county o not * 2 to start the - The students at South Central should not suffer because Needs It’s Culinary Course lam a student attending South Central High ‘School. As a student, it concerns me that our Culi- nary Arts progam will not be funded next year due oP students" registering for thec use we are a state-of-me art . For r example, Rose the drunk-drivin according to ¢ The com- Sincerely, ice President Greenville, NC Leigh Jeffreys . school who lack basic necessities to get programs up Thank you for your time Quirmita Jemigan, Junior, South Central High School Remember, Responsibility Matters This Memorial Day, as we kick off the begin- ning of summer fun, lets also remember to celebrate oliday responsibly b More than 122 million American adults have been a designated driver or been driven home b We salute them for helping to reduce the number of fatalities by 38 percent since 1982, ¢ U.S, Department of Transportation. Let's all do our part to help drive down Memo. tial Day holiday safety and personal most concern this ference in the fi ber, Responsibil using a designated driver, one. drunk-driving fatalities by making nsibility our first and fore. nd. We can all make a dif. t against drunk driving. Remem- a Nar RA. Jeffreys Distributing Co., LLC ¢ the day that spoke to tired blood and anemia as well as Syphilis. It is widely disclosed that the then Public Health Service was most interested in the disease pathology. A cure would mean the end of a public menace, so one was intro- duced, but 10 years later. The Tuskegee study is alleged to moments after the curtain closed on Syphilis in the early seventies, is it : the research of communi- cable disease had 40 plus years of trial and error to perfect the second strain of the most menacing disease known to the Western man, HIV the virus that causes Aids. It is no less interesting to note ae “i “Ee a ee : " ° , 5 es e: ee 2 : ; ‘cn : age ge a wh Fi : discovered f the i i : petw __ cover-ups on inhumane dry York City dwelling called none other © on as New York's Administra- have ended when it was ! that of ; similar sale between tose the 932 Tukege Spt tan de gcmatsaChldenrces, SOE Serr ACS) dg eee eas le, and Sypilis and HIV clinical wa, in | lis Experiments of Mobile Alabama. icror(10C. = came in and tramona Sade done Wale, tet apology by Presi- cluding free meals, fee medial at . ing to a recent Associated Drugs administered in Aids test- ICC and similar locations. Oe dent William Bill Clinton. In a sur- tention and in many fot each, free Tren of Heche hat, National ing contain toxicity thatareknown inva chilling transition into past PFsing turn of events or hag nn ba cer ner ed rehis institutes of Health has tested Aids \ to cause’a multitude of problems governmental standards regarding tvising this study, Public Heal ia = rer peel, ara . odrags on hundreds of poor Black and $$ TELS rc errr enerteteeeeeieneee renee — » is now called the Center for ind then n were also in- ~ Hispanic foster kids over the past |MaEEE = fected with the disease (NPR: two decades. Testing heh inate | * Tuskegee 40 Years later). Plausibly j sence of the basic protection afforded - “ ten years of Syphilis wildly mutat- ! _ by the federal law of the Food and | ing while introducing itself into an i ; Drug Administration Institutional |) ethnic DNA strand might have hap- | | Review Board (IRB) Standards for |} pened in ways that would only in- : clinical drug trials and often agai al ij 1 Con terest a communicable disease scien- the wishes of court ted foares ; tives, are all children of the US-De- _tist. Moreover, whatever transp 7 care providers Worse older children | partment of Health and Human Ser- between 1932 and 1942- when | who defended themecires against the | vices, — penicilin was made available as a a: continually ingestion of these high! Combined series of similar cure- could have genetically predis- i toxic experimental drugs ee nighly : clinical testing raises a perplexing posed a good many ple to later | — : down and force feed and infants as | meee section ot pear instance when stains oO other y transmitteed ence of i oung as three months retrofitted . ranging from strokes b deforma; clinical testing and the ethicality of ‘h¢ Syphilis study was ut down in diseases. ys | al ab ind: with omach ing tubes. As for tions tal skin disorders, braindam- treatments o6 talnoritics, one need 1972, was HIV perhaps introduced ,; So: who wil ie from the col- a! tical deaths caused by the non-compliant stefusing to age, and bone marrow deaths. Fur- only revisit the horrors of the 1932 oo its place? Not an “thectady bee defend Lites of iene. i DAs uneven hand in rushing administer the powerful drugs to thermore, in yet another story Liam Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment >! question when, in fact, oa. nity oe a poses sar of inno- 7 to approval, and the-government children, they were defenseless and Scheff, ids Built, upon poor unsus ecting Black roe at the Theit flisose hi 5 GEG the farther en av ent and | covering up the real issues behind without laws of protection as New 2004 denotes “treatment of Patients men in the delta of Macon County Viduals; Blacks- albeit Hispanic the Ga f HIV? The sutholoe a ¢ ‘I United States action on Iraq, one York's Administration for Children’s at New York's ICC currently violates Alabama, who were injected with been added to the list- who shate ee eee ip Pathology 0 7 would think ‘that each institution Services (ACS) removed the children - every one of the ethical standards for syphilis, however, no medical cure S4M€ economic resource 0 oe the whom me oonkee y ae. h From : would be careful not to add insult to clinical testing facilities. in what medical experiments set by interna-_ was offered until 1942, penicillin. ¢ssness and poverty. If perhaps the a NIH nF By. BL vale ‘ to their already damaged iconic im- the say was following directions tional courts after World War II. Greater these men were told they pathology of HIV has been per- so ie I to Black Bi-sex ls, 1 ages. : within the scope of their powers. Those such as children enrolled in were being treated for the “bad fected, and it probably has by only at We wr; Fispanic Mat the, i ~~ All that in late 2004 No fewer than seven states in- clinical trials without their knowl- blood disease”, acolloquial term of having arrived on the scene only of Africa, fin ny, Festung at 2 Catholic Church's Incarnation Cen- ter for Children- and incarnation as we all know stands for the embodi- ment of God in the human form of Jesus. Questions & Comments e m a i 1° Opinionsandtalk@yahoo.com Suggested Reading: _wwwaaltheal.org/toxicity/house.htm: he should be held to the same lofty standard. The hint of sexual miscon- duct left him wide open to the accu- sation that he was a hypocrite and a Tae There were warning signs that Cosby might Staelin: ripe fora tumble. In 1997 he made a bomb- shell confession that in the 1970s he had an extra marital affair, and was accused of fathering an illegitimate daughter. There were allegations of shakedowns, under the table hush money payoffs, an extortion trial and conviction of the woman who claimed to be his illicit daughter, and an avalanche of embarrassing kiss and tell tabloid gossip stories on Cosby. He dodged the bullet on that one. In sex scandal driven America, its a virtual rite of passage for the celebrity, rich and famous to be em- broiled in peep show scandals. The . public delights in that kind of titilla- tion. It was to ban in Boston a guy that had shelled out millions to minority student scholarshi funds, tre- black colleges and had wo nches campaign to document progress of African Americans since 1865. New Orleans, LA (BlackNews.com) - June 19th, 2005 marks the 140th year an- niversary of the celebration of Juneteenth - the oldest nationally celebrated commemoration of the ending of slavery in the United States. JUNETEENTH.com reports an increase in first-time celebra- tions, and announces the launch of the 140th Juneteenth Anniver- sary Campaign. To participate, organizations and supporters are encouraged to log on and register their event and organization in the National Juneteenth Registry.’ The 140th Juneteenth Anni- versary Campaign is a 10-year tion in recent lessly for civil rights causes over the years. Cosby also continued to rail against the clown, coon, and buck dance image that blacks propagated of themselves in TV sitcoms. He pushed and prodded the film and TV industry to do more to promote more positive black images on screen. But the glue on Cosby’s still largely intact good guy image loos- ened in January when Andrea Constand was the first in the door to accuse him of druggin and sexu- ally assaulting her. Cosby initially vehemently denied the charge, but swiftly shifted into damage control mode and, as he delicately put it, had a ‘sexual encounter” with her, but said it was consensual: That still fit the jaded (public belief that the rich~ arid famous routinely have their little sexual trysts, and who makes a big deal out of that? Cosby defenders cited the fact that Constand waited years to come forth to make her char as proof that it was a put up job by unnamed conspirators to character assassinate yet another high initiative which will focus on as- sessment, education and acknowledgement of African American progress since 1865 - culminating with the 150th Juneteenth Anniversary. Often cited as the African American Independence Day, Juneteenth has been the subject of city, state and federal legisla- ears, establishing ft as a special day of recognition, and as one of the fastest rowing events in the country. The cel- ebration of Juneteenth Originates from Galveston, Texas, whereas on June 19th, 1865, the word of the Emancipation Proclamation reached the enslaved. Today, Juneteenth is embraced and cel. ebrated by all races and ethnicities in honor, and in com- profile, outspoken black man and thereby sully all blacks as moral de- generates. There’s not a shred of evi- dence to back that up. Moreover, Cosby did not pillory President Bush, “the white man,” or the “white establishment.” . That's the bare prerequisite for blacks to rally around a black under fire, shout racism and spin racial con- spiracy theories. Cosby had attacked other blacks. The horde of conserva- tive commentators stumbled over themselves to hail Cosby as the ulti- mate truth-giver and laud him for having the courage to air dirty racial laundry, => Americas favorite dad got some things right and: some: things terri- bly wrod wee bashwofiblaek: America. And he.may be right that his parade of sexual accusers is out to pouse a star. But if he’s wrong, he'll ave more than an image problem. Earl Ofari Hutchinson is a col- umnist for BlackNews.com, and can be reached at 323-296-6331 or hutchinsonreport@aol.com memoration of African American culture and achievement. JUNETEENTH.COM de- veloped and maintains the Na- tional Juneteenth Re istry - the largest database of Juncteenth celebrations, organizations and Supporters in existence. JUNETEENTH.com was launched in 1996 as a Web por- tal to communicate and support the efforts of Juneteenth organi- zations and to raise awareness and self-esteem in the “African American community. Bennett Coll | Women in fis for Crisis by Wilbert A. Tacum ‘ One of the two historically Black women’s colleges in the United States is in crisis. It is Bennett College for Women, located in Greensboro, North Carolina, It has been for several years on the brink of closing use enough money not be raised to die ings that had to be done in order for it to survive. the famed Three years ago, the educator Dr, pee B. Cole agreed to come out of retirement in order to structure a plan and to save the ; said that she could only serve for five years. Nesting the end of her to commitment college, some ‘ te have to close its doors. That would be a tragedy for Black America and ~ its higher education goals for its children. Many graduates of historically Black colleges in the United States ve begun a campaign to raise money for Bennett on a short-term is, so that the college can survive during these times when its lon term Bnancial plan is being Fy into eae € urge those who know the ay the work it has done and ital perrdpe ay contribution to co . ege. The Bennett College for Women 900 East Washington Street, ] Greensboro, North Carolina 27401. The _ Minority Voice ig Pune y Mino Voice. Inc. Palerton u os ee ra Home " 405 Evans St. P.O. Box 8361 Greenville, NC 27835 Phone: (252) 757-0365 Fax: ( ri 57-1793 EMAIL: mwvoicenewspaper@ aol.com The Mi Voice is Owned & Operated by Jim Rouse Communications, also dba WOOW Radio Greenville NC, Wm. Clark: Gen, Mgr. and ‘he | by Rev. Jesse L. Jackson, Sr The cascading scandals of House Majority Leader Rep. Tom “the Ham- ee mer” DeLay are Starting to Fget the full @COUIt press ‘treatment. reporters and bloggers. Rebuked three ‘times by a bipartisan House Ethics Committee that he then proceeded to gut, DeLay is fair game. But too much of the coverage ses on who paid for lavish jun- ts to golf courses in Scotland, or quirky votes where DeLay, rabid right-wing moralist, protected. the casino interests represented by “Ca- sino Jack” Abramoff, his personal friend and junket buddy. But the problem with congres- sional corruption isn‘t that legislators a trip or two to vacation spots. Or even that they talk one way and vote another. The real problem with congressional corruption is that its victims tend to be the most vulner- able, ‘those who can’t afford to hire a ian lobbyist or contribute to a Tom DeLay political committee or defense fund. . Consider the young women working in sweat shop conditions in the U.S. Commonwealth of the © uman Cost o The islands, a of the USS. but ex- “empt from U.S. labor standards, built an economy on exploitation. Its ” t helped garment manu- caiers imports of thousands of - - impoverished foreign aie - m young women — from Asia. = ean housed in barracks-like buildings, often surrounded by barbed wire. They were indentured to employers, having borrowed money to get to the CNMI. They were to labor 12 hours a day at sub-minimum wages, often under conditions perilous to their health. y young women arrived at CNMI with the promise of a job only to find that the promise a lie. They - were coerced into the islands’ thriv- ing sex trade. Others were simply abandoned in the slums of Saipan, in debt, ashamed and unable to re- turn to their home countries. All this took place on islands that were part of America, and flew the American flag. The conditions were investigated, documented, litigated. There is no doubt that tens of thou- sands of young women were brutally exploited so that the owners of the islands’ garment industries — often absentee Chinese owners secking to avoid Chinese quotas — could profit. : Rep. George Miller led the effort to curb these human rights violations. He pushed hard for immigration and labor reforms, including raising the minimum wage in the islands. His bills often eae Senate and then were killed in the House, where the system of exploitation was defended by one Tom Delay, who hailed the CNMI economy as a paragon of free enter- rise. is Whether DeLay believed that tripe we don't know. What we do know is that his travel buddy, “Ca- sino Jack” Abramoff poc some $8-10 million lobbying to fend off labor law and immigration reforms that might protect those young women, but bit the profits pock- eted by the CNMI ent indus- try owners. Abramoff raised tens of thousands for Bush and DeLay and other Republicans. He paid for DeLay and other legislators to jun- ket to the CNMI, to play golf and to herald the blessings oft the islands’ free enterprise system. And DeLay led the effort in the congress to block any reforms. Abramoff pocketed millions. DeLay got tens of thousands for his various political action committees. And the poor, young, anonymous women, strangers in a strange land, paid the price. And so will et seniors, every day, when they buy prescrip- tion drugs. One of the rebukes DeLay earned form the Ethics Com- “mittee concerned his attempt to bribe Rep. Nick Smith to vote for the | Prescription drug bill. DeLay locked emocrats out of the conference committee that produced the bill. He trampled House precedents by kee ing the vote open for hours while he dragooned en Republicans to vote for it. At the same time, the ad- ministration purposefully suppressed the real price of the legislation from its own party's legislators. That legis- lation amazingly prohibits Medicare from using its borrowing power to Northern Marianas Islands (CNMI). Pickin only woul COOPER’ COMMENTARY When President George W. Bush referred to Iran, Iraq, and North Korea as the “Axis of Evil,” international pun- dits construed the phrase as provocative. Tho unleashed the “bulldogs” (American soldiers) to devour mq innocent Iraqi women, chil- j dren, and soldi to deal with the axis. Moreover, North Korea has announced that it has a nuclear weapons program. The Vietnam, has “bitten off more than he can chew.” Count- less terrorists from countries like Syria are easing into Iraq to get a piece of the action. - ki a fight with North Korea is ill-advised. Not China (near Super Power status) join the BUSH SHOULD TALK DIRECTLY TO NORTH KOREA Bush Korean » he hag yet rest of the unjust war in a nuclear their coun cept North ral Address, he North Koreans in vigorously challengi perialists on the battlefield, but the North Koreans would fight harder than they did during the stalemated ar in the early 1950s. Thanks to techno- logical advancements and decades of pursuing a nuclear weapons program, Americans could suffer a humiliat- ing defeat, as was the case in Vietnam. According to a recent piece by Murray Hiebert in The Wall Street Journal, “Byo the Soviet Union and its Eas assistance in developi least as early as 1963.” in Iraq _ asked Moscow for a nuclear-power plant in 1967. has served_as a breeding : ina arid’ OW Se : ground for terrorists willi to sacrifice their lives for the freedom of the Iraqi people. Bush, like Lyndon Johnson in » ad Se. \tuNa and | North Korea in 1956 and tacks. It also learn erican im- ngyang began pestering tern European allies for a nuclear-research program at e¢ North Korean tea er even Moscow sought to des later, No: at- bombing President John following: “We should never m Non aes believed ‘| weapons program would deter mili ed lessons from Americans mb during the Korean War. Bush should ac. reas offer of bilateral talks and not cower by insisting on multilateral negotiations. F. Kennedy was right in 1961 when, during his Inaugu- elucidated the negotiate out of fear; but let us never fear to negotiate.” get a better price for drugs. That turned the bill from a t to se- niors to a multi-billion subsidy to the drug companies. Not surprisingly, those same -drug companies contrib- A is Fi j ye «| prruption uted lavishly to DeLay’s political BS eee tIse ippens committees, as well as to the President's campaign fund and Re- publican coffers generally. They in- vested millions in contributions and lobbying and got billions in return. America’s seniors, ing with the soaring cost of drugs, will get hit with the tab So when you hear about DeLay hing Snide oe ore eee picked up directly or indirectly by a _ bbyist, check your wallet. Directly — or indi io ing to cost you - or others without the resources to hire a DeLay round of golf. The Man Sho e for Sisters is All Too Real — And It’s Killing Our Communities By David Person, All these years, sisters have been right. There really is a man shortage. I knew some- thing was up, just judging by the shortage of brothers in the pews at church. But \ I thought it had more to do with our pref- erences for sleeping in or watching the game. Based on the 2000 Census, though, we brothers really are out- numbered by black women, inside and outside of church. And it has nothing to do with games. | Overall, the census indicates that there are more than 18.1 million black females in the U.S., compared to nearly 16.5 million black males. Specifically among those who are 18 and over, the sisters outnumber us about 12.7 million to 10.9 million. Some brothers undoubtedly will assume this is their chance to add more names and numbers to their Palm Pilots for late-night booty calls. Truth is, all of us — the players in- cluded — should probably he a bit more somber and cautious about the population imbalance between black men and black women. Experts are suggesting that the reasons why the sisters outnymber us aren't anything to cheer about. According to an article written by Jonathan Tilove and published fecently in many of the Newhouse Papers, violence, crime and disease are some of the key factors stripping black communities of men. Worse still, the article concluded that the shortage of black men is hitting ma- jor cities with high concentrations of black folk particularly hard. In Philadelphia, for example, black men are outnumbered by black women by 37 percent. That means that for every 100,000 black men in the City of Brotherly Love, there are 137,000 black women. In New York, for every 100,000 black men, there are 136,000 black women. In Chicago, my hometown, for every 100,000 brothers, there are 132,000 sisters. In Chocolate City - ~ Washington, D.C. for those of you uninitiated to the funk — for every 100,000 brothers, there are 129,000. ~~ Yes, brothers, that means there are a whole lot of black women with- out dates. But before salivating, let’s remember that also means there are probably a lot of black boys without men in their lives to show them how real men behave. That's a lot of black girls without daddies to teach them what real love is and how a woman is supposed to be treated by her man. Looking at it like that, merely entering new names and numbers in those BlackBerrys for future hook- Brothers, I'm not suggesting that we enjoy dating, Mm just saying we also must do something more: We must see what these numbers tell us about and make some decisi what we Gan do to bring a bit more balance to Tilove's article quotes 2002 Cen- sus figures which indicate that while black women outnumber black men by 26 percent, white women only outnumber white men by 8 percent. If we were looking at those Kinds of Ste td be one of the ip ones telling the players to just play on. But were looki at i cris that ints to serious problems. If we're not Ecing shot and killed, we're beis up. If we're not being up, we're dyi stress or HIVE DS or diabetes or heart disease or prostate cancer. I agree with the experts who ar- ¢ that it is inherently more stress- being black in the U.S. than it is to be white. But brothers, there are ways to offset the pressures. 9. Slow down on the super-sized: meals with all that red meat and fat and excess sugar. Exercise several times a week. Ee enough sleep. Lay, off the smokes, and cut back on the brews and shots. Take time to just go and chill. Cue up some jazz, funk, classical ot gospel music in the mp3 player, and take long walks in the evenings or early mornings. Or pop some Miles, Victor harper orl, Scott in the CD player an a leisurely drive. ’s try to live healthy, functional lives. Avoid violence and people who are prone Ta it. Step away from shady 1 eee __ For the sake of our communi- ties, our women, our childten and our futures, we've got to defy these Statistics. We and thriving. David Person writes for BlackAmericaWeb.com _ White Privilege, The Original Race Card By Jimi Izreal . : hites come to people of color with a laundry list of pre- sumptions and conjecture they have gathered from years of watching BET, ‘Good Times’ re- runs and the evening news. But I can’t be mad. I don't feel op- pressed by them, but I think sometimes white people can-be So ignorant as to be harmful to ' everyone they encounter, and that is the thing I am most afraid of: the things they do simply be- cause they don't know better. Dealing with people with that level of ignorance tells you a lot about them, because post- integration, there is no reason to be ignorant about people of dif- ferent races anymore, unless b Choice. We learn about eac other from our necessity of in- teraction and black people have to know every nuance of white- ness just to survive, but whites can live their lives oblivious to people of color. They can de- mand absolution by pleading ig norance to everything, whic makes whiteness the original race card. At the core of white privi- lege is the ability to live a life unfettered by consciousness of any kind, beyond an inherent sense of entitlement. It’s a free- dom whites take for granted that people of color will never know. art of the “unbearable whiteness of being” is that white ne are the A 2 people privi- eged enough to be viewed as in- dividuals. Sometimes, I get in conversations about sex, race or politics and I’m amused when the white people involved insist that J use qualifying remarks — like “some” whites do this, “some” whites do that. I always try to get into conversations with people smart enough to know that whenever we talk about race, gender or politics, we have to start generally and evolve to more specific arguments. Funny though, when whites discuss mi- norities, any vague generality will do. I used to add some quali- fication — just to be polite — but lately I find that I’m just as inclined to use broad generalities about white folks. Let ’em squirm. Because that uncomfort- able feeling they feel whenever they hear me say something like “whites always do this” or “whites always do that” is about as close as they will get to the everyday discomfort of being black. Like having to field dumb questions about being black — it doesn’t get any worse than that. In the name of “diversity,” black questions have become all too fashionable to ask — espe- cially in the workplace. Person- ally, I can’t be anyone’s Negro tour guide of all things dark and mysterious. The problem about answering questions about your blackness is that once you start, you will never stop. People will ask you one question and then go to the back of the line to ask you another, And the questions will get progressively dumber. And so & will you, them. For me, it isn’t im ortant for you to understand t e cul- tural significance of why we are different, whites and blacks. It is sitting there answering only important that you*know that we are different, and that you respect that difference by resisting the need to dissect me. The other piece of this is that, honestly, there is very little about white folks I want to know that I don’t know already. Not be- cause I’m clairvoyant, but be- cause my survival depends on navigating race politics, and has from a very young age. Besides, I've broken bread wit my white friends — had them at my din- ner table to share a meal. And that’s the only real measure of prendship: If you're white and have not be friend’s home for dinner and they have not been to yours, something is wrong. Anyone who has not been to your home to share a meal is not your friend, Whites know just enough about black folks to give the “brutha handshake” but not enough to invite you to dinner, This is the problem with being black in America; to be black is to involuntaril the sin and nary a virtue of every dark face: the planet. That’ your life every wale ing second, whether you like it or not, while whites y the role of race in the of black people, It must be nice to have that privilege, , that corruption is go- as a lobbyist - a lot more than a | rematurely due to » ° must begin surviving © en to your best black — Page 4 The Minority Voice From Page6 dry up donations and to put ques- tions in the mind of potential vot- ers here in Maryland and that’s un- fortunate.” | | Mfume, who is-unmarried, served as president and CEO of the NAACP for nine years. He ac- knowledges that he dated one fe- male employee of the NAACP He says he adopted that woman’s ay son. oe “I did date someone there for about three months back in 1997, although nothing came of that. It was a very short series of lunches and din- nets. | fell in love with her son who was fatherless, very withdrawn, four years of age and just the kind of child that for me, as a member of Bi Boke Six the a 28 » it was the right thing to do,” he said on the broken’ This is not the first time an fre for having penal Chane = fire for having perso ionshi with female o employees. Former Ex- ecutive Director, Ben Chavis, who was replaced by Mfume, left the or- fanization tarnished and several mil- io n dollars in debt after the NAACP | made a secret $350,000 settlement with a female staffer. Chavis; who was married, was sued by the woman and that led to the out-of-court settlement. “Iam a little bit surprised that AFRICA OFFERS DIFFERENT PICTURE By Steve Brennan, Reuters Can a glitzy soap opera change how one nation perceives another? It’s true that much of the world once had an image of Texas — indeed the entire U.S. — that it gleaned through the miscreant antics of ].R. Ewing in “Dallas.” | a Board Chairman, Africa One Now a group of international television professionals is ho ing that their upcoming Africa Channel’s soaps and other TV shows in the US. will dramatically change our thinking about that troubled continent, not with a “Dallas”-like portrayal but rather with a real vision Africa of today, the network's founders say. “We are looking to provide a showcase for Africa that people are not used to getting in the U.S.,” says James Makawa, CEO and co- founder of the Africa Channel. A native of Zimbabwe, Makawa wor- ries that Africa is too often: pre- sénted to the rest of the world as a bfighted land 6f starvation, war and disease. . But he stresses that the chan- nel will not be full of dull educa- tional fare. Rather, it will carry the best of African television, from movies to soaps, travel shows, dra- mas, talk shows and news. “But all the programming will be coming to you through an African perspec- tive, and thetroerdoe is, how foes it translate to American audiences? Well the fact is that the majority of the people who are producing these shows in Africa now are tele. vision professionals who trained in Western Europe or in the United States. This is top-class program- ming.” . Wakawa and his ers Jacob Arback and Richard Hammer hope that by bringing over the best of con- temporary African p ning — most of it prod: in South Akica — they will change viewers’ percep- tion of Africa as a whole. They don’t deny that there are some horrendous problems there; "they just want to get the point across that it’s not all misery and devastation, as most newscasts and programming would suggest. The Africa Channel will address issues across the whole continent and present the beauty and rich culture of Africa, without i noring the uglier realities there, fi say. For instance, says Hammer, a television marketing veteran, “We have the soap opera ‘Generations’ that is set in a redominantly black, upper-middle-class group of people who work in the advertis- ing industry. This is a society that is representative of post-apartheid life in South Africa. But that’s just a fraction of the more than 1,200 hours of pro- gramming that the partners fave acquired over the past three years of preparation for the channel’s launch this summer. Makawa, a former NBC News correspondent based in the U.S., returned to South Africa a number of years age to co-found the African Barter Co in partnership with Grey Advertis: ing Worldwide. He launched hun- dreds of hours of rogramming across Africa through the company and went on to co-found the Afri- can Broadcast Network. Arback is a former vp at DirecTV Interna- tional, and Hammer is a former the organization did nor lay down some rules of etiquette after the Ben Chavis affair,” says Walters, the political science professor. “From my understanding, once something like that happens, it is the board's responsibility to del- egate a set of rules or procedures that establishes the way the office ought to be managed. They didn’t . do that apparently. The person coming in should know what the boards expectations are in terms of dating personnel. Some of this re- ally is on the NAACP.” 7 Attempts to reach Board Chairman, Julian Bond were un- _ successful. Mfume says he is confident that this will not hurt his run for executive with Sony International - Television. Their combined contacts smoothed the way for them to pick up the upcoming channel’s pro- gramming library from such enti- ties as the South African Broadcast- SAN ANTONIO (Reuters) - The lat est shots in nthe Battle of the Alamo are being aimed at an unlikely target — the children’s cable TV network Nick- elodeon. Keepers of the Texas indepen- dence shrine in downtown San Anto- nio are ou by a Nickelodeon short that said the 1836 battle there was fought so “white farmers could keep their slaves.” “I think it’s a shame that anybody would take that approach,” said David Stewart, director of the Alamo. “I think its an insult to the Mexicans, the the U.S. Senate. “People here in ‘Maryland will make decisions ‘based on facts and what they be- lieve and you can look someone in . the eye and tell when they're lying to you and when they're telling the truth and it will be interesting to see what happens as we go through this campaign,” he said. Walters isn’t convinced the matter will go away. “If these charges are credible, I think it’s going to damage his campaign because we're in an en- vironment where the whole. ques- tion of morality is linked to poli- tics and I wouldn't for example, put _ it past Republicans to comment on this from that standpoint to try to damage whoever the Democratic OF CONTINENT ing Corp. and international real- ity producer Endemol. One of the programs that will air in the U.S. is Endemol’s “Big Brother Africa.” It features contestants from 12 Af- rican countries. Does he believe that American Tejanos, who fought for freedom and liberty in the Alamo as part of the de- fenders. It kind of slaps them in the face to claim that was the reason the battle took place.” The 50-second-long piece, part of a running series of Nickelodeon shorts called “My Back Yard,” says the dis- pute over slavery between white set- ters and the Mexican government “led up” to the battle. Despite being warned by te- spected historian R. Bruce Winders that the description was simplistic and inaccurate, the network ran the piece. = nominee is going to be. . } is going to have to put this to rest in order to satisfy the public. Hé’s gong to have to do more than just say it didn’t’ happen. He's ong to have to prove it to some- 4 Appin, you talk about credibil- ity of the document/charges. He's gong to have to dismiss these charges in some credible way.” Mfuine says there are limita- tions on how he can react. “Tcan’t stop people from mak-— ing unproven allegations, but I can state the facts. The fact is, I reall believe in and have all my life worked for the hiring and promo- tion of qualified women as a goal organizations and business should take serious and my record reflects that. I believe that too many women in this society are pre- judged everyday by the assumption that they only got where they were because of their body and not their brain. And that kind of thinking is an insult to all women, but as a man, I can tell you that it’s despi- cable,” he told Gordon. He added, “As I’ve said all along, that’s not the kind of ship I run and most people that know me, know that's not the case. If | was doing all this after 10 years at the NAACP, 10 years in Congress and seven years in the city coun- cil, it’s interesting that this would only come about now as an accu- sation while I’m running for the United States Senate in Maryland.” viewers-will relate to programming like that? “American audiences see only the African tragedy, but they. have never been exposed to the Positive. aspects of Africa, its mu- sic, its culture. We are saying how about flipping the switc and showing Africa alive and well? The partners say they are close to signing agreements with carriers to make space for their programs and are aiming for a debut in July. Andrew Young, former ambas- sador to the United Nations and former mayor‘of Atlanta, is chair- man of the channel’s board. Reuters/Hollywood Reporter “We recognize that there were sev- eral key issues in the Battle of the Alamo and one of them was slavery, said Mark Lyons, a senior producer for Nick News at Lucky Duck Produc- tions in New York, which contracts for the Viacom Inc.-owned network. ; Texas declared independence in 1836 when Mexicos leader, Gen. An- tonio Lopez de Santa Anna, revoked the existing constitution that allowed white settlement of the nation’s north- ermnmost province. “The slavery issue was a factor but not the main one,” Winders wrote Nickelodeon prior to the piece airing “The revolt in Texas started as an ef- fort to restore the Federal Republic under the (Mexican) constitution of 1824, but quickly evolved into a sepa- ratist movement.” About 200 Texan fighters held off thousands of Mexico troops for 13 days until Santa Anna finally crushed therh on March 6, 1836. However, the siege gave other Texas units a chance to move east and gather for an ulti- mately pivotal battle near Houston in April 1836 that secured Texas indepen- dence. . Now the Alamo is Texas’ top tour- ist attraction and one of the most rec- ognizable U.S. landmarks. The piece ran for about two weeks on Nickelodeon and is not expected to be aired again, Lyons said. 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College Foundation of North Carolina provides all the information you need at no cost! www.CFNC.org 866-866-CFNC (toll-free) College # Foundation of North Caroling Helping You Plan, Apply, and Pay for College Se Habla Espafiol A service of the State of North Caroling © College Foundation, Ine. 2003 Congressional hearin By James Wright WASHINGTON, DC - The Con- gtessional Black Caucus held a May 10 hearing on the 1921 race riots that took place in Tulsa, Okla. The pur- Pose of the hearing was to determine what happened and what legal rem- les are available to the survivors. With Rep. Bennie Thompso.n (D- Miss.) presiding, witnesses included legal experts and some of the survi- vors. Chicago Alderwoman Dorothy. Tillman set the tone for the hearin by saying, “What happened in Tulsa was not a riot, but a massacre.” CBC Chairman Melvin Wart (D-N.C.) said: “By allowing the sur- ‘vivors to tell their Stories, we can know what really happened. It is then that the Congressional Black Caucus can explore legal and-congressional action.” On May 31, 1921, White law enforcement officers and their citi- zen-deputies ramp, through the Greenwood, the Black section of Tulsa, leaving at least 300 Blacks dead, $8 million in damages and assed the White community in Frslea It was no secret that the Black community's prosperity. bothered many Whites, and racial tensions were high before the massacre. 8,000 without homes. The massacre The riots were downplayed or was in response to a rumor that a__ forgotten by the state of Oklahoma Black man, Dick Rowland, had at- and the federal government for years. tempted to rape a White woman in Evert Tulsa’s textbooks omitted any an elevator, The African-American community rallied to defend Rowland, who had been placed in jail, from a lynch mob. The Tulsa police department, the state militia and the National Guard were called in to put down the massacre; but by many accounts, they were culpable as well for the destruction the Black community suffered. Greenwood was known throughout the country as the “Black ‘Wall Street.” The section had two newspapers, movie theaters, restau- rants, hotels, schools, libraries and other amenities that matched or sur- mention of the massacre. But the matter came up in the 1990s as the survivors were getting older and scholars began to explore Oklahoma history. Black state legis- lators in Oklahoma demanded hear- ings and action from the state’s lead- ers, and they responded. Otis Clark, 103, told an atten- tive audience of his experiences on the day that massacre , and of the events that immediately followed. “I was 18 years old when it happened, and I remember it like it was yester- day,” Clark said. “My grandparents owned a lot of property and we were JACKSON From Page 1 tries, which is important, and the border disputes between the two countries, with a spurious com- parison.” As the controversy continued to grow, Jackson said he has worked “for the citizenship rights’ of immigrants and Mexican _ Americans” and wants steps taken to avoid making the United States “hostile toward immigration “The comparison is diversion- ary from the issue of a workable immigration policy between the U.S. and Mexico, ” Jackson said. He said Fox's comment’ about g probes 1921 Tulsa doing well. Archie Street separated Blacks and Whites in Tulsa. Green- wood Street was near Archie. For the Black community, Greenwood was Our main business street. We had ev- erything the Whites had, and more,” he recalled. “On that! day, I saw my house was burned down and so was the rest of the neighborhood. There was smoke everywhere.” Clark said. er the massacre, Clark said Tulsa officials would not let African Americans bury their dead and “took our people to places where we could not find them.” He said, in some cases, it was three to four years after the incident that funerals took place. Clark said that neither he nor his family was ever compensated by the city of Tulsa or the state of Oklahoma for their losses. “Those officials took advantage of colored folks, and that was not right,” he said. Olivia Hooker, who was six years i ii i i eS May 1-31, 2005 — The Minority Voice Newspaper Page 5 ; ¢ | a | Massacre old at the time of the riots, said her father lost his prosperous department store to looters and larcenists. She said it took her father most of his life to pay back creditors owed for the ° stolen goods. “When the store was destroyed, daddy did not worry be- cause he said that we had insurance,” Hooker said. “Well, chat was right, but the insurance turned da dy down. We almost had to file bank- ruptcy, but somehow we made it through.” Hooker said that she has not received a dime from her family’s lost property. Former University of District of Columbia Trustees Board Chairman Charles Ogletree, as well as Washing- ton, D.C, attorneys Michele-Ro! erts and Dennis Sweet, are leading the legal effort to get reparations for the surviving victims. Their request for reparations has been denied at the U.S. District Court and U.S. Court of Appeals levels. Their next venue is the U.S, Su- preme Court. “What we want is justice,” Ogletree said. “We will not be satis- fied until we get it for the survivors, even if it takes another 84 years. « House Judiciary Committee. “This was really a bad thing,” he sea of unrelenting hostility: We will soon take action on this.” . Elijah Cummings (D-Md.) ~~~ or “We need to make sure. - that this never happens again.” These hearin ep rate front in the Tulsa survivors’ ef- forts to claim reparations, The Su- reme Court is expected to’ issue a Hecision soon on whether the stat- ute of limitations has expired, a two lower courts have ruled. eS “blacks” seemed to be about a ste- reotype. “Most poor Americans are not black, they're white,” he added. Not only did Jackson called for an apology, Rev. Al Sharpton, former presidential candidate called the remark “disturbing” and that it had the impact of being in- citing and divisive.” Jackson who said he has never met Fox, made plans to telephone the Mexican said he “regretted” his statement and any hurt it may have caused and in a statement issued by the Foreign Relations Department, “expressed the great respect he and his administration has for the Af- rican-American community:in the United States,” and after conver- sations with Jackson had agreed to set up a visit to Mexico by Rever- . ends Jackson, Sharpton and a president. group of American black leaders. Presidential apology follows Jackson said Fox’s comment refusal “at best, insensitive,” but that the Initially, Fox had refused to apologize for the comment he made saying his remark had been misinterpreted. But later, after con- versing with Rev. Jesse Jackson and _ the Rey. Al Sharpton, the president Mexican president had expressed regret for any offense he had caused. “He now realizes the harm- ful effects of it,” Jackson said. “He seeks to correct it by acting and by reaching out.” As Mexico's President, Fox has - | Funeral Home: (252) 752-9530 championed the rights of minori- ties and the disabled and he led a successful campaign to amend the constitution to make discrimina- tion a crime. - — : (506 West New fer fioad, Kinston, NC 28504 252-527-2182 800-056-3222 a However George Grayson, a Mexican expert with the College of William & Mary in Virginia, said the dispute will hurt Fox’s cam- paign to liberalize immigration aws, adding that it shows “once again how tone deaf Mexico’s president is with respect to the United States.” __ Remarks offend Mexicans of African Descent Ana Marfa Salazar, a former White House and Pentagon official who now works as a news analyst and radio host in Mexico City, said the comment was “indefensible.” “It's very offensive in Spanish, and it’s offensive in a countr where there is a relatively small population of Mexicans of African descent,” Salazar said. “But it’s ex- tremely offensive in a country like the United States that has a much larger black population. It was a dumb, stupid comment, and I’m sure right now he regrets making ‘African members it.” “At a moment where Mexico is rightly making claims that there is discrimination against the Mexi- cans in the United States, these comments sure don’t help your case,” she added.. oO While Mexico has a few, iso- lated black communities, the population is dominated by de- scendants of Mexico’s Spanish colonizers and its native Indians. According to Steve Sailer who writes for the American Conserva- tive, ‘most Americans, and even many Mexicans, don't realize that a significant fraction of the Mexi- can population once looked mark- edly African. At least 200,000 black slaves were imported into ‘Mexico from Africa. By 1810, Mexicans considered at least part- numbered around a half million, or more than 10 percent of the population.’ Spain abolished slavery in 1829. Not all Africans enslaved on North American plantations went North to escape slavery, many went southward into Mexico. Sailer noted in his article: Where Did Mexico’s Black Go, that ‘Emiliano Zapata was perhaps the noblest figure in 20th century Mexican politics, a peasant revo- lutionary still beloved as a martyred man of the people. Al- though Marlon Brando played him in the 1952 movie “Viva Zapata!” . the best-known photograph of the illiterate idealist shows him with clearly African hair. His village had long been home to many descen- dents of freed slaves.’ CHK DIRECTORY * t Siemeo, con of Jo'nas, lowest how me? He Kenneth Jereer | saith unto hie, Yeo, Lord tow knowens Eber that [lowe thee, He sult onto him. JRCH Keed my shonge Joba 2p is Looking fora CD that fits your terms? Serving the financial needs of our community for more than 100 years. To learn more, call or stop by your local branch today. Look no further, At First Citizens Bank, you'll find competitive CD rates with minimum deposit requirements we think will surprise you. Because after all, isn’t it time you found a CD on your teens? Fanst cms tan 70 APY* * Arent Pescerringe Yield (APY) occunme an of Oro pM. Mbslmwn balance bo obtain the firstcitizens.com 4-888-FC DIRECT Merntes fee Aaa, Yo mceve the APY fred, von ut have oF epee» Mit Chimes cheng APTS Wh Saco Apanatty may be bepored bor warty Iriay foe Witivdromen ge changed at Arey Gee without notice, Certain rettetiore rary munple. Ney WiIthdrmmal, Urrwted gene oer ret twokwond (De sccented Comments that would gener- ally be considered openly racist in the United States generate little at- tention here. ee _ Meanwhile, Foreign Relations Secretary Luis Ernesto Derbez who denied Fox’s statement were racist. Interviewed after a meeting in Guadalajara, Derbez said Fox made the remark in the context of Mexi- can migrants’ contributions to the - U.S. economy. A Mexican official defended Fox later in the day, say- ing his description was not meant as an insult. Mexico's man Rubén said Jackson was also noted that‘Mexico's President meant no racist intent, and sugges the “wo meet ‘° chces joics strate- ies between blacks and immigrant eroUps in the United States, Aguilar added. ee. “The president didn’t make a declaration in the racist sense; of course there are those who interpret spear spokes- it in that way,” Foreign’ Relations Secretary Luis Derbez told a reporter in the Mexican state of Jalisco. According to Derbez, Fox was making the point that “Mexican mi-_ grants are making great contribu- tions in the United States-and that their role is a positive role.” “They've Been able to improve the conditions of life not just for themselves but also for the commiu- nities in which they settle and, by the same token, the president made the comment in this context to say that a large quantity of the jobs taken : by Mexicans are jobs that in the U:S.. society aren't being filled.” “I think that what we have to be very clear about is that the state- ment made by the president was in no way motivated by racism.” ‘Most poor Americans are ees white’ But the damage was already done Meanwhile, the ruling ‘com- mittee for the Party of the Demo- cratic Revolution (PRD) said the “unfortunate declaration” was “rac- ist and ignorant.” | The statement released said Fox’s remark “showed a superficial and prejudiced view of the labor situation in the United States,” While racial epithets related to Indian heritage are taboo in Mexico, friends and strangers alike can be heard addressing each other by nicknames based on physical appearance, to include skin color. AP reporter Morgan Lee, The Herald Mexico reporter Jonathan Roeder and EL UNIVERSAL reporter José Carrefio along with excerpts from Steve Sailer'’s; Where Did Mexico’s Blacks Go? (www. iSteve. com) who is a columnist for VDARE.com, and film critic who writes for the American Conservative Magazine and other news wire reportage contribute to this story. HK The cure for boredom is curios- - ity. There is no cure for curi Dorothy Parker : ATTENTION BUS », ADVERT ~~ ~ Rep. John Conyers (D-Mich.), a leader in the reparations movement, said he would work with the CBC. and others in Congress for a hearing - on the 1921 Tulsa Riots in thecom- stitutional subcommittee. of the open up a sepa- vs Page 6 The Minority Voice Newspaper May I - 31, 2005 \ LOOKING BACK! Memories and more : Eppes alt * (Photos by Jim Rouse) Look for these and other great Bacardi Silver products at your favorite groce and convenience store! J eR ee * The Minority Voice Newspaper Page 7 Hy n — Ss] i] ond bs o] = \ § A Rape Survivor Takes Back her Life Lori. Robinson, ~ work. More t : Rees OE UR by Harel Trice Edney: ——_—*- Robinson turned to her spiritu wh tdideiee the . _ “I got angry. I'm still angry and 7 pressions & Rey __NNPA Washington Correspondent tach Forking oR ie very be: . “For alors th Se oe definindly have to try td balance that ‘beds 00, ee INGTON (NNPA) ~ Lori dori know how Ican feel better but i€8,just in our culcure that idea that anger-our Pie chiang om pencty eee tg Tahinca wa rlooteGatcaee ltdiew Gedeaner nee Body eee ae ate cae of every. working with healing and tecoyery pelof ale ws prima dcnes, nee ight acrow thesteetGom Gradually with eounaciog her Body rane dar dey alent J pty want reaper peat Bur as rvalls hawe teplaced her apartment building in Northeast healing deepened and the sadness be- fessional help, just not havin I'm outraged now that this type of Main Street, they're no longer just a an enough time, not having enough thing happens, that it happened to an efficient way to shop. The mall money,” Robinson explains. “As dif- my lov d one, But, I agree with Lori has become the public Square—the ficult as it is, it has been completely and that’s why I love and respect Lori place where you go to see and mix fulfilling to feel that in this unique so much, because she took this trag- with other people. In many commu- situation, as a rape survivor who isa _edy and turned it into a positive, Americans spend mote time in malls than iytere but home and in- mere locations for consumption, the malls have become the signature structures of the age. The first fully enclosed, shopping mall opened its doors almost 50 years ago. Americans, at the time, shopped by strolling the streets of their down- towns or cruising the strip plazas of their sptawling suburbs, But a fa- mous architect had a great idea. In- stead of having stores facing out, wh not turn them inward, toward eac other—and place them under one roof,-so shoppers wouldn't have to brave the elements? His vision was put to the test when the Southdale Center, located in a well-to-do Min- neapolis suburb, held its grand open- ing on October 8,1956. With 72 _ Shops and restaurants, Southdale was modest by today’s standards, But the world had never seen anything like it. People came in and looked, and their mouths opened. The impact was phenomenal Soon, America was dotted with malls, many sprouting on the outskirts of towns and cities, where land was cheap and taxes low. nities, malls are where the kids per- form with the school orchestra, where seniors go for their morning strolls, and where teei We oUt. and go on dates. Some megamalls have ice-skating rinks. Others have roller coasters, Some have commu- nity health centers. The Oaks Mall in Fairfax, Virginia, houses a public library. . All malls are not articularly thriving. The huge aa newer re- gional mails are flourishing, but many smaller, older mails——most of them in urban areas are not. One recent study found that 7 percent of these older malls-most of them in urban areas——were abandoned, while another 12 percent wete strug- gling for survival. In many areas ral have come to reflect the eco- nomic and racial divisions of the larger society. “There's two kinds of mall,” comedian Chris Rock has said, “the one where the white people sho and the one where the white people used to shop.” Over the past tw years, even many regional malls have seen customer traffic start to erode. What is the problem? Thanks to technology, the contemporary middle-class American has many new ways to spend his or her money and time: cell phones. Internet shopping, hundreds of cable channels, video ames. That all adds up to about $300 collars a month that will never be spent inside a mall. And some surveys suggest that Americans may be growing weary of some of the fea- tures that drew us to malls in the first place. We got-exactly what we want, and we discover we don’t want it af- ter all. Condensed from “Shoppers Para- dise” |Health Bulletin + Younc Sickie Ceut Patients Finp Cure From Bone Marrow (NAPSA)-Bone marrow transplants are now being offered at the Aflac Can- ~ cer Center and Blood Disorders Ser- vice of Children’s Healthcare of Adanta in an effort to cure more children with sickle cell disease. That's promising news for the more than 80,000 Americans who _ suffer from sickle cell disease, the most common, life-threatening inherited blood disorder in the U.S with saemmier 95 percent of all cases af- ecting African Americans. “Relanea has the largest sickle cell program in the nation, and we treat more than 1,000 children with the disease,” said Dr. Peter Lane, Director of the center’s Hematology Pr ; “Our center has performed 18 sling. matched marrow transplants, more than any other facility in the nation, - Fortunately, all have been successful,” “fam The process works by giving che- motherapy to eliminate the bone mar- row that produces the sickle cells and replacing it with healthy bone marrow from a sibling. Because the procedure is associated with some risk of poten- tially life-threatening complications, it is usually Senda only for children with severe disease. : Many complications in such pa- tients can be prevented by treatment with the drug hydroxyurea or with blood transfusions, but only trans- plants offer hope for cure. Unfortu- nately, transplants are not an option for those with complications, because they don't have a matched-sibling do- nor. That's why research at the Aflac Cancer Center is exploring new a proaches to transplants that may na the procedure available to more chil- dren in the future. For children, a crucial element of coping with sickle cell disease and re- covering from bone marrow transplant is the family. The cancer center recently received $3 million from the Colum- bus, Ga., based insurance giant Aflac to create an endowment for a family support team. The team of ex provides medical care along, with te =) New treatments being done at a cen- ter in Atlanta promise a cure for young sickle cell patients. physical, emotional, mental, and spiri- tual support to the patients and their ilies. Currently, 8,000 members of the Aflac sales force donate about $200,000 a month to the center. The center treats more than 250 new can- Cer patients each year and follows more than 1,000 sickle cell patients. To date, Aflac has pledged over $20 million to the center. The Aflac Cancer and Blood Disorders Service f2- cility was established in 1995 as a part of the company’s core philanthropic effort. or more information, visit www.choa.org/cancer or call (404) 250-KIDS. Cafhanne lies Lori Robinson speaks about her experiences and her book to a crowd of 250 in the Miller-Morgan Auditorium at NCCU (Photo Joseph Coleman, The Campus Echo) ™~ Washington, D.C., near the Catho- lic University of America. She walked towards the build- ing near mid-night, thinking of the dishes in the sink and a work out video. A little startled when she saw. two men, she reminded herself there is no need to fear just because they were Black. She dismissed the thought of them until suddenly she heard a threatening voice behind her and turned to face the barrel of a gun. “You better not look at me,” said the gunman. She was weak with fear as th ordered her to open the door of her apartment. She struggled with the key until the door finally opened. After answering their questions about whether she lived alone, whether anyone else had a key, and whether she was supposed to call anyone when she got home, they led her to her bedroom, still asking ques- tions and demanding that she speaks softly. “Then I was ordered to lie face- down on my full-size bed. They tied my feet to the bottom corners of the bed, and my right arm to the upper right corner,” she wrote in Emerge magazine. “When one asked me for something else to use to tie my left hand, I told him where my belts were. Then they wrapped thick duct tape around my head, covering my eyes and mouth. “Are they doing this so they can shoot me? Maybe they just want to make sure they have plenty of get- away time.’ My thoughts raced. What was about to happen hadn't oc- curred to me. Then, with a knife from my kitchen, one of them spliced up the back of the right leg of my Black stretch pants. Then it became clear. I’m about to be raped.” They both raped her. After that, they stole all of her electronic equip- ment from her one-bedroom apart- ment. An hour later, they were gone, never seen again by her, never ar- rested for the crime. That horrific evening 10 years ago is still vivid in the memory of Lori Robinson. “T really do feel like I’m a walk- ing miracle. I'm so deeply healed, | feel very detached from that inci- dent,” Robinson says in an interview, She quickly clarifies, “That's not to say that I don't ever think about it If I were to meditate about it, it would make me sad.” - An associate editor at Emerge magazine at the time of her assault Owner , NC 27835 252-758-0065 Cater ing Available Several nice (26 Fax To by, Rent or Sell Real Estate, 1D. Gaet Agony Cail us if you need someone to collect Realtor ¢ Notary Public « gan to recede. Sadness is the same emotion that she has tried to help eliminate from the lives of other Black women who are victims of sexual assault. Robinson, now a freelance journal- ist, has,used her writings to help with her own healing and the healing of others. Her life has taken a new turn since she wrote the Emerge story in 1997, two years after her assault. Now, her book, “I Will Survive, The African-American Guide to Healing from Sexual Assault,” pub- lished three years ago, has led to nearly 100 book-signings and speak- ing engagements in 20 states. a € positive side is that it’s been very fulfilling for me to feel that I am helping people. And just based on things that people have said to me af- ter my talks, that this is really helpful to have a survivor to be able to share this kind of information,” she says. “A lot of what I talk about is the intersec- tion of racism and sexism.” By this, she means racist, gen- der-based stereotypes associated with African-Americans. , The 357-page book covers how African-American women and men suffer from sexual stereotypes datin as far back as slavery, such as Bla women being loose and ovetsexed Black men. The book also offers safety tips for rape prevention, other stories of healing after sexual assaults, and rea- sons that Black women are believed to be sexually assaulted more often than Whites, but are not as likely to report it. One in six women is sexually as- saulted during their lifetimes, ac- cording to a 2004 survey of the Na- tional Violence Against Women. The U. S. Department of Jus- tice estimates that only 37 percent of all rapes are reported. Black women make up onl journalist. I dont know if I've taken Myself too seriously, but it feels very ( Says. As the 10th anniversary of the rape approaches on May 19, obinson. is beginning to think it’s time for her to take a new approach to her life. Her post-rape life fas been fulfilling and physically draining. “It’s changing now. I’m speak- ing less,” she says. “It’s kind of been emotionally overwhelming. The hardest part for me, I think, was gen- erally when I speak, people want to tell me their stories ... I think that use they see a healing in me, they want to be able to talk with me and share with me...] have taken in too much of other people's stuff, I guess. That's been the hardest part.” She speaks two to three times a week and as any frequent traveler can testify, even 5-star hotels are no sub- stitute for your bed back home. And it can be even more taxing when someone is home waiting, as is the case with Robinson. She is happy to return to her husband, Ollie Johnson, who was her boyfriend at the time of the as- sault. “Right after I was raped, I don't know what I thought they would possibly do, but just the idea that these people knew what I looked like and I didnt know what they looked like and I couldn't see them, well that just petrified me,” she recalls. “In the ears after the rape, I was scared a dot. I would park my car, look around'me a lot and sprint to the door.” Ollie Johnson helped anchor Robinson then and now. “I-remember I couldn’t wait ‘til the weekend would come so I could o and just spend the weekend with im. I remember I just couldn't wait to get in the door for just the com- fort of him hugging me,” she says. ‘Johnson is an Africana Studies professor at Wayne State University in Detroit. healthy, healing experience for her- self and our people. Even in her pain, she helped with his healing. “I think, in part, I got the strength from her and how she handled the whole situation,” he re- calls. “She was unbelievable in terms of her refusal to let this defeat her or even sidetrack her, so I definitely got a lot of inspiration from her from the very beginning.” | Her former Emerge olleagues are equally impressed. 4 think in order to do what she’s done, one has to have a tremendous fighting spirit,” says Marcia Davis, a former senior editor at Emerge and now an assignment editor at the Washington Post. “Anyone, who reads her story has to find inspira tion in her example,” she says. “This is a chosen path. She has said, ‘I want to share my story.’ Not to say, ‘Look at this horrible thing that happened to me.’ But, ‘I want to share my story because in it, there might be some light.” . Meanwhile, Robinson, now 36, is still finding her way to complete healing. She says she still feels chal- lenged” and not as free and healed in her intimacy as she would like to be. Looking ahead, she is thinking of writing another book unrelated to the rape. “I- don't want it to be the primary or the single subject matter ” that I focus on anymore,” she says. She has a strong interest in people of African decent in Latin America. But she is pleased with the con- tribution that her book will continue to make to the healing of others. “When I started the book there were'no books that I knew of that I could find that were about Black women and rape,” she says. Now, her book — as well as her life - will con- tinue to inspire Black women with what she considers the most crucial advice besides getting professional help: “Repeating over and over again that it’s not your fault and believing that healing is possible. “ 409 A South Evans St, Greenville, NC 27858. Phone 252-439-0700 | ‘Fax 252-758-1717 | tearthlink.net — Tarboro, . (252) 823-5129 earegegeewm needa ete Bedhead Se RTE Neer iee ri menbey. Sime oe THE GOOD GRANDPA at are the traits of a good grandpa? Three character traits should prevail. Grandfathers, take look up note. SOBER. It is the word from which we get nephalism, “abstinence from intoxicants.” This is important, not alone for health but for counsel and example to those who are * younger. ~“Venerated for character, worthy of -fespect.” Do your grandchildren to you? TEMPERATE. | |. This word comes from the Greek verb translated “to be of a sound mind.” This refers to being self. _ controlled or right-minded. It is EVERENT. That is, one who governs well his Passions -and affections. No “flying off of the handle.” . The good grandpa should be marked by godliness. He should be ee in these three areas of his ife. In the faith. A Godly grandfa- ther will be grounded in the whole. body of revealed truth, so as to be an unerring teacher of the young. In love. A sacrificial givin of one’s self for the welfare off another, This is love directed first to God and then to others. . In patience. It is a willingness to await God's time, knowing that His purposes will be fulfilled. . hat. appropriate advice whether for “older men” in the ) . — church or grandpas at home! Does this not apply to grandmothers, too? Recently senior citizens in a re- tirement living class at the Pitt County Council on Aging which took place April 26th were asked what advice would you give young- sters Concerning crime/violence in Greenviille/Pitt County communi- ties? The answers were as follows: * Dr. Damaso Fernandez - Be respectful. : * Rosie Little - Respect your curfew. _ * David Red ford - Live as you believe. * Bertha Gaye - Be considerate © of your elders. * Willie Mac Dudley - Don’t talk back to your teachers, * Pat Fernandez - Put your brain in motion before you act or speak. | * Pallie Barrow - Go to school. Get as much education as you can. * Alfred Burke - Obey parents. Have a smile. * Beatrice Maye - Ignorance is A Farrnrut Few By Faith May The Book of Numbers continues the history of the Israelites where the Book of Exodus left off. Just completion of the Tabernacle (Exodus 40:17) and the command of God to number the people (Numbers 1:1-2). During that time, the instructions in the Book bf Leviticus were given. The first ensus of all men 20 years old and older records that 603,550 men were qualified to serve in the army of Israel (1:1-46). And it came to pass on the twenti- In fact, we provide it to them, 24/7; And, because of our consistent performance, we've earned a solid reputation for téliability, In the business world and in the community. So you know you can depend on us to keep your business | running like it should, Powerfully, EDIFICATION OF A one month had passed between the eth day of the second month, in the second tear, that the cloud was taken up from off the Tabernacle of the testimony (10:11), and the Israelites followed the cloud as it moved toward Kadesh Barnea, about 160 miles to the north. It was not long, however, before the people complained and then - rebelled against God (see 10:1 1- 45). 14:45) After the Israelites arrived at Kadesh Barnea, 12 spies were sent out to investigate the land. When they returned 40 days later, Caleb stilled the people before Moses, and said, Let us go up at once, and Possess it; for we are well able to Overcome it. Ten of the spies strongly protested, saying: We be not able to go up against the people; for they are stronger than we. However, Joshua and Caleb pleaded: The Lord is with us: fear them not. But the people agreed with the ten disbelieving spies. Consequently , God pronounced His eee of death upon that generation. Thus, they wasted 38 years wandering in the wilderness until all the people from that first * generation who were 20 years of age or older at the first census had died. Around here, businesses have plenty of power, “ihe rr, Touchstone Energy’ tives of North Carolina —/ (GENERATION WITH FAITH MAY Later, the Lord commanded Moses and Eleazar, Aaron’s son and successor, to take a second census of the new generation of men 20 years of age and older, whose parents had left Egypt. This second numbering took place almost 40 years after the first census, in the 10th month of the 40th year. Only Joshua and Caleb, the two men of faith from the first genera- tion of Israelites, lived to enter the promised land. The new genera- tion of Israelites, lived to enter the _ promised land. The new genera- tion was estimated to be more that ‘two million people. They gathered on the Plains of Moab, north of the Dead Sea and east of the Jordan River, across from Jericho, ready to take the land their parents, in unbelief, had rejected. One of the greatest illustrations of. New Testament doctrine is found in this book. These things were our examples, the intent we should not lust after evil, as they also lusted...... Now, all, these things ‘happened to them for examples: and they are written for our admonition. Resource: Bible Pathway 2004 ——— Se é |. Life” (Penguin, expensive. * Sandy Nelson - Live by the Golden Rule. * Willie Henderson - Eat nutritiously. * Eniska Brown -Stay away from tobacco, drugs and alcohol. Did you know that - * African American (Black) men have the lowest life expect: ancy and the highest rate o cancer, hypertension (high blood Pressure) and heart disease of any group of people in the country * Eating right could help them | live well into their golden years * Eating meat requires more energy to digest than it generates * That table salt increases blood pressure, hardens arteries and causes such ailments as kidney stones and gallstones * Excessive sugar has a toxic effect, poisoning effect on the body * Margarine and other cooking oils that produce trans-fatty acids, chemicals that lead to atherosclerosis and heart disease * White flour (which contains bleach) * Tap water (which contains lead) * Fast food (which contains preservatives) * Caffeine (which is addictive and destroys cells) ° Second. handed smoke because it is just as dangerous as smokin ° For healthy living in today’s world boils down to practices preached to us a kids. Live a life of moderation; educate your- selves on what we are putting into our body. Combine a sensible diet with moderate exercise and regular doctor visits. * Stay away from red meat * That tobacco use causes approximately 180,000 cancer deaths annually * Secondhand smoke causes approximately 3,000 cases of lung cancer in the U.S. each year * If you are 50 or older, you need to be tested for colon cancer. Colon cancer is one you can avoid, simply by getting tested. ° Replace junk food wit nutritious alternatives * Men are beginning to place increased importance on hats * Coronary heart disease is America’s Number 1 killer and it hits the black community especially hard * Marriage and family are where you find true happiness (Kanye West) * Change is growth for institu- tions and individuals May 1 - 31, 2005 ‘The Minority Voice Newspaper | Page 9 What Is on Your Mind? By Richard Cox, . GospelCity.com . _ “Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on thee: ecause he trusteth in thee.” Isaiah 26:3 (KJV) We are ving in a time where our minds need to be renewed and fo- cused on the work of God. Our sus- tained trust and commitment to God should be fixed on pleasing Him, in our lives. If our minds are filled with Godly thoughts then the devil has no choice but to leave. That is why it is - important to daily renew our minds about the concerns of God. Philippians 2:5 (KJV) declares, “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus.” Our minds need to _ be renewed from thoughts of doubt, worry and fear — replaced with in- ner peace. God's peace is expressed in Philippians 4:7 (KJV) where it “. - - Surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your thoughts in Christ Jesus.” A mother testifying in church one Sunday morning said, “if the devil has your mind; he has access to your whole body.” That means if the devil has control of your thoughts, then he could easily instruct your body to respond to any of his instruc- tions. As Christians, we want to maintain Jesus Christ as the pilot of our minds to lead and guide us by the Holy Ghost into all truth. Thoughts Become Manifest Do You Trust God? Whose Plan — Yours or the Lord’s? As Christians, we are familiar with the sowing and reaping concept used in Bible parables. We can = that concept to understand how dif- ferent types of fruit and weeds evolve and develop in the garden of our lives. Initially, the process starts out * with seeds of thoughts sown in our minds that eventually take root. Seeds of thoughts received from our surroundings, absorbed by our senses. These positive or negative seeds attempt to bombard our minds daily. The result of the planted seed of thought eventually leads to a form of action taking place. That particu- lar action later affects your character and behavior in a positive or nega- tive manner. As time passes, your be. havior will affect your course of des- tiny in fruitful or negative way. It is good to be reminded how the sowing and reaping process of our thoughts can yield good or bad con- sequences. Those consequences result IN a positive or negative impact on your milies and friends. We are the ' Christians that represent Jesus Christ Fon earth. Unbelievers are looking at our examples with Jesus in our lives. Since God is invisible to us we need - cook it. An artist to let the world see the affects of His. WORD can be visible in our life. If — we seek to sow spiritual thoughts daily, this will help us to fulfill our: purpose and destiny on earth. © I pray that this article will help you raise your awareness about your daily thoughts. Remember a thought always precedes the manifestation of the results. For example you get the idea for a meal to prepare before you frst has an idea or inspiration before startin to paint. A builder has a design before build- ing a house. You can look at your thoughts as blueprints; it creates an image of the form that eventually manifests into a physical form. What thoughts dominate your mind? 7 ._ Flere are some practical ways to ~ keep our minds on spiritual things: @Daily devotions with Bible read- ing, prayer and meditation _ - Engaging in spiritual fellowship with your brothers/sisters in the Christ @ Exchanging inspirational email messages, cards an testimonies — @ Participate in church ministries and activities : @ Attend Bible study . @ Read inspirational books and magazines ; @ Listen to inspirational audio books and music @ Watch inspirational programs and movies @ Attend inspirational plays, con- certs and conventions ‘@ Witness and share your testimony about the goodness:of God to others On the Pulse The key to maintaining my spiritual thoughts is renewing my mind to think Biblically and spiri- tually, rather than in a worldly way. Romans 12:2 (KJV) says, “...that ye may prove that good, and ac- ceptable, and perfect will of God.” God’s power and anointing is manifested in our lives as a result of our spiritual thoughts and faith in Him. Colossians 3:16 (KJV) says, “let the word of Christ dwell in you richly...” Keep your mind filled with a stream of spiritual - thoughts throughout the day. We should let Jesus rules our thoughts. Colossians 3:15 (KJV) says: “and let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are [were] called in one body, and be ye thankful.” a I pray you will let the words and thoughts of Jesus Christ dwell tichly within your mind then God's peace will rule or preside in you. . ° We'd love to hear your feed- back on this article. E-mail us at: (NAPSA)-Before finding the tight job, it may help to find yourself. ats the advice in a new book that says asking yourself “who am I?” can help you find a career that’s a good match for your personality, skills and values. 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Zinn mentored and sup- ported Spelman students who worked it Jeffrey, Cox of Greenville has been appointed state presi- dent of the Youth Department , for the N.C. Ju- | tisdiction of God Chnst Inc. The jurisdic- | tion consists of more than 125 churches across the state under the leadership of —_Bisho Leroy Woolard. The state youth convention wfll be held June 21-23 and will be attended by more than 1;000 youths. Cox is the vice president of American Credit Co. at 3005 S. ‘Memorial Drrive, where serves as teramch manager. the Church Of | - ~ of Como, N.C in the civil rights movement in Atlanta and across the South. This story is well documented in “Undaunted by the oe Noe 1 Diahann Carroll, a pioneer in’ theater, will be honored with a Doctor of Fine Arts. In 1968, Ms. Carroll was the first Af. rican American actress to star in her own TV series, “Julia” for NBC. In’ 1984, she was the first African Ameri- can actress to star in the-award-win- Miss Brandy Davis of Greenville, N.C. has been named Princeville Montessori School's Teacher of the Year. She is a fifth grade teacher and a nominee for Edgecombe County Teacher of the Year. Miss Davis is the daughter of Alice Highsmith of Greenville, N.C. and Eddie Davis Preacher Gets 17 Years for Embezzling By: Errin Haines, Assocjated Press ROME, Ga. — A small-town preacher was sentenced fo 17 1/ 2 years in prison Thursday for sentenced to 17 1/2 years in prison Thursday for stealing - nearly $9 milion.from some 1,600 black churches. stéaling nearly $9 million from some 1,600 black churches b promising big returns on smalil- investments. Abraham Kennard was also ordered to pay nearfy $8 million in restitution and almost $600,000 in back taxes. Kennard, 46, was found guilty by a federal jury in Febru- ary on 116 counts, including fraud and evasion. Prosecutors said he ran a pyramid scheme that took advantage of the tight network of black preachers to which he belonged. He could have gotten 33 years behind bars. “These people lost every- ‘thing they had. Some even lost their church. The court cannot ignore that,” U.S. District Judge arold L. Murphy said. Prosecutors said Kennard claimed his company was devel- oping Christian resorts around the country. He told preachers that for a fee of a few thousand dollars, their churches could be “members” of his company. In return, he promised that in time the churches would get a grant or a forgivable loan of up to $500,000. A Rl mate nine CORNERSTON| Als i/,¥ | ‘Palit WVLI¥ yo] : : { i j ning, nighttime dramatic Series, “Dy. nasty. ; _ - “Dr. Virginia Davis Floyd, €°73, will receive the National Community Service Award. Dr. Floyd is the Visit- ing Scholar in Liane owledge tS College and is highly re- vat ed for her research and commu- nity leadership in the area of traditional Abia Anica Cuil a” ersize” Theit Memberships Churches “ ' McDonald’s + Church = “McChurch.” a Nina S. Griffin and Rachael D. Richardson, Founders of Lost Sheep Consulting, Las Vegas, NV (BlackNews.com) - There's a two woman army in Las Vegas who be- lieve piping fries and the Bible have a lot in common. These ladies are teaching local clergy how to-supet- Nina S. Griffin and Rachael D. Richardson; Foulnders of Lost | sheep Consulting size their dying membership. They call themselves Lost Sheep Con- | sulting. Las Vegas, where the women reside, has Been the “GOLIATH” in national growth for 18 years in a row. 41 million visitors traveled to the “entertainment capitol of the world” in 2004 and jessy . 6000 people a month are relocat- ing to the Vegas area. However, church membership is at an all time low in the city that never sleeps, despite continuous resi- dence growth. . Interestingly enough, the ex- act same thing is happening all over _| the country. Nationally, over 90% ones Marian Wright a, 60, will be keynote speaker for Baccalau- reate, Saturday, May 14 at 10 a.m. in Sisters Chapel at Spelman. Ms. Edelman, Founder of- the Children’s - Defense Fund, is well known for her work on behalf of children across the of all churches in America have just 160 active members. ' _ In response to this, Lost Sheep Consulting is conductin groundbreaking “McChurch seminars. Founders Nina S. Grif- fin and Rachael D. Richardson are showing God’s CEOs how to cre- ate the one-of-a-kind spiritual ex- perience similar to that of which ~ McDonald’s customers have been enjoying for the last 50 years. For- tune 500 companies didn't become - successful until they started talk- ing to customers who had left their companies and/or were on the "verge of defection. These brave ladies are vision- ary in empowering clergy with proven 21st century win-back and _ fetention techniques. There is a “DAVID” in the desert with a sling-shot of a mes- sage; “SAVE THE LOST AT ALL | COST”, For more details, interested should - Visit www.sheepfinders.com or contact Nina Griffen a heepfinders@ as = as , valedictori fro el in 1960, and Virginia Davis Floyd at 2005 Commencement and was the isla woman ops -bar in Mississippi. _ Founded in 1881, Spelman Col- lege is the only historically Black col- lege in’ the nation to be included on the U.S. News and World rt's list of top 100 “Best Liberal Arts Colleges - Bachelor's,” 2004 edition. This pri- ily Col William “The Judge” Council by W. Council Green Cove Spring, FLA - The 25 Grandchild of Mr. & Mrs. Arthur & Rosa Council receives a full schol- arship to play football at West Vir- ginia State University. The 25th grandchild of Mr. & Mrs. Arthur & Rosa Council of Staton House Road, Greenville, NC. He graduates from Clay High School on Friday, May 20,2005, in Green Cove Springs just outside acksonville, Fla. vate college for Black women boasts lin outstanding alumnae such as Children’s Defense Fund founder Marian Wright Edelman; former For- - eign Service Director General, Ruth Davis; authors Tina McElroy Ansa and Pearl Cleage; and actress LaTanya Richardson Jackson, __ Billy "The Judge" Council turned 18 in March; bend Pe and weights 254 pounds and has main- tained nearly 3.0 GPA has received a full scholarship to play Defensive Lineman for West Virginia State University in the Fall 2005. Billy grew up in the Wash- ington, DC area until his junior year. He is the son of Bill & Sherri Coun- cil. Bill Council graduated from Bethel Union High School in' 1961 where he reighn as a 4-H champion for 4 years and a track star. [ Billy's father taught Business courses at The University of the Dis- trict of Columbia for 8 years, in the Washington DC., and he now has plans to major in Business himself at West Virginia State University where he is thrilled to play football. _ Billy began his sports career in elementary school playing basket- ball and in junior high school, he played baseball where he was known as the "the slugger". Now in football, he is called "The Judge" because he plays with such attitude. . The Council family, rela- tives, and friends near and far con- gratulate the youngest and last grand- child of Mr. & Mrs. Arthur & Rosa Council on Billy's achievements and continued success in his academic and sports career. Deadlie _. Diabetes killed, or helped to kill, my Great-Aunt Euphemia, my Uncle Donald, my Aunt Mildred and Bernell, my mother-in-law, Be- cause the disease often destroys blood circulation, a few of them were forced to undergo horrifying ampu- ' tations before the end. _ Two of my uncles and a brother- in-law have the disease now. My fam- ily, sadly, is not unusual in this re- In reality, diabetes is an epi- ~ demic. The disease - a failure of the than AIDS. body to produce or process the in. sulin needed to digest Sugar and starch - killed 1,891 city residents in 2003, according to the Health De- partment. That's a one-year jump of 11%, making the disease more deadly than AIDS in the five bor- ougks for the first time. About 450,000 New Yorkers have the dis- ease. Diabetes is so prevalent in black and Latino communities that it has crept into the cultural fabric. It is how common to hear older women Latin-Arab summit By Carmen J. Gentile RIO DE JANEIRO — Brazil will host a meeting of Latin Anicrica and Arab leaders, including new Iraqi Presi- dent Jalal Talabani, in an effort to pro- mote greater economic integration be- tween the two regions and talk diplo- matic goals. __ But there are indications that the United States .and Israel are con- cerned the summit could become a platform to attack U.S. and Israeli poli- cies in the Middle East. A summit declaration, to be released Wednesday, could strain rela-- tions between South America and the United States if it is seen to tacitly back groups such as Lebanon's H guerrillas, which Washington classifies as terrorist organizations. ——. A draft copy of the declaration published in the Brazilian press raised expectations the meeting would triti- cize U.S. and Israeli use of force and back the rights of peoples to resist oc- " cupation. “The positions and worries of Israel regarding the summit have been expressed directly to the government of Brazil and other Sou American governments,” the Israeli Embassy in Brazil said in a statement. ° “We have made our concerns known to the Brazilian povernment about the importance of not doin anything to undermine the world’s shared goal of peace in the Middle East,” said a U.S. government official, who asked not tobe named. Twenty-two leaders and offi- cials from Arab states and at least 10 of their counterparts from Latin America will meet during the last two days of the summit, which begins to- day and runs through Wednesday in Brasilia and which was the brainchild ~ of Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and Algerian President lah | schools. Abdelaziz Bouteflika. The leftist Bra- zilian leader first publicly proposed the idea of the two-region get-together during his five-nation tour of the Middle East in December 2003. “Tt is time to change the com- mercial geography of the world,” said . Mr. da Silva during his stop in Leba- “non. “If we are alone, then none of us can compete with rich nations.” Since assuming office in Janu- aty 2003, the Brazilian president has traveled all over the world seeking to 4 ‘ ion Neu D talk about the disease almost casu- ally in church or at the corner store. "My sugar is acting up,” they say, as if it were no more trouble than a toothache or a bout of insomnia. Here's the infuriating part: 90% - of these cases are probably prevent- able. The leading cause of diabetes is a lack of exercise combined with over-consumption of sugars and starches; over time, the body's abil- ity to process the megadoses of _ starchy foods collapses. | The link between diabetes and the obesity caused by poor diets and nonexercise is so strong that some doctors have coined a new word for the disease: diabesity. Anybody can worries U.S., Israel & bolster Brazil’s trade ties with develop- ‘ing nations, most notably India and ina, with ar re ae a strate- ¢ partnership of developing super- ower dubbed the G-3. ° Just like Mr. da Silva’ visit to the Middle East in 2003, the upcom- ing summit is likely to raise eyebrows in the Bush administration. Not only will Washington take interest in see- ing who is dealing with whom, but how successful those talks are in brokering lasting deals, particularly at Is Education The New Civil Rights Battleground? by Elvis Oxley (NAPSA)-Over the years, the issue of equal access to education has been the focal point of many civil rights confrontations. This should come as no sur- prise. Access to quality education, regardless of a student’s race, will always be a critical element of any attempt to build a society where the opportunity of individuals to pros- per is based on the “content of their character” rather than the “color of their skin.” Through legislation, such as the No Child Left Behind Act, bold ef. forts are being made to move this new civil rights agenda forward by pressing for a number of educational reforms that reflect the interests of the African-American and Latino communities-such as increasing pa- rental choice, demanding account- ability from administrators and us- ing market measures to evaluate the performance of teachers and ne In their article “Closing The Racial Gap In Education,” Abigail and Stephan Thernstrom argue that too many inner-city school districts shortchange young people with union Contracts that protect incompetent teachers and smother innovation. These districts, they contend, are ignoring the threat to our nation’s future and social cohesion posed by the inability of many poor oung minorities to compete success lly in school and in the workplace. For example, at age 17, the typi- cal black or Hispanic student is scor- ing well less than at least 80 percent of his or her white classmates, The Thernstroms also make the point that the schools they admire most, in cities such as Chicago and Philadelphia, are chatter schools that probably would not exist if not for the Bush administration's leadership. Thanks to its efforts, parents can now select from schools such as these and others, when trying to give their child the best education possible, ity Sd help stave off the disease b walking i more, binging less and talking with a doctor about creating - and stick- ing to-a healthy diet. Anna Lewis, an attorney and West Side activist, has taken to shouting from the rooftops abou what it takes to avoid diabetes. Lewis is one of the 5% of diabetics who inherited the disease and has been dealing with it her whole life. This week she spoke at a com- munity health forum convened by the mid-Manhatran chapter of the NAACP. The event was ignored by news outlets, 4s are many life-or- death issues. I could have talked about it all a time when the United States is try- ing to restart stalled talks on the cre- ation of a free-trade bloc for the West- ern Hemisphere. The proposed Free Trade Area of the Americas co-led by the United States and Brazil was supposed to be implemented by the beginning of 2005. But concerns regarding re- stricted access to U.S. markets and subsidies expressed by several Latin American leaders, Mr. da Silva in- cluded, have stymied the talks. The . America is best served when leg- islators and educators are willing to address race-related issues such as the gap in academic achievement. The enormous data supporting this di- vide, such as those presented in the Thernstroms’ paper, should dee ly concern all Americans-and stimulate serious debate over educational re- form. Elvis Oxley is the Executive Di- tector of The Ripon Society, Founded on the values of Abraham Lincoln and Teddy Roosevelt, Ripon promotes innovation, equality of opportunity, personal responsibility and smaller government. To learn more about Ripon or to download a copy of “Closing The Racial Gap In Education,” visit www.riponsoc.org. . i} night,” says Lewis. "We don't do the kind of outreach we do for other kinds of diseases." The reason diabetes gets a frac-. tion of the attention devoted to dis- cases like AIDS, she says, is simple: "Rich people aren't the-ones getting Type II diabetes, for the most part.” __ The disease is, indeed, concen- trated among poor people. But we are all paying the cost. In one recent year, according to state figures, there were 330,000 hospitalizations for. diabetes, at an average cost of May i - 31,2005 The Minority Voice Newspaper Page 11 - tion (www.diabetes.org) estimates that one in 10 health dollars goesto the disease nationally, a staggering $132 billion a year. eae _ Everyone with an audience - politicians, preachers, teachers, jour- nalists - should be urging the public to recognize the dimensions of the diabetes problem and the disastrous end of the road that awaits those who don't exercise or cut back on sugar and starch in their diets. We owe it to our neighbors, friends and fam- ily. $16,669 - a total of more than $5 billion. FTAA would include ev nation in the hemisphere except Cuba. A U.S. State Department offi- cial said the administration welcomed the idea of “positive dialogue” between the two nations and said that the State Department supported the idea of leaders from the Palestinian territories and Iraq attending the meeting, Pales- tinian Authority By Abbas is scheduled to attenid the sum- mit. The South American leaders and representatives scheduled to attend the summit are from Argentina, Bra- zil, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, French Guiana, Paraguay, Peru, Venezuela. Ecuador's new president, resident Mahmoud - Uruguay and- Alfredo Palacio, won't attend owing to ongoing tension at home after last months dismissal of former President. Lucio Gutierrez. Suriname President Ronald Venetiaan is ly stay- ing home to campaign odor later this month. | Sy! The Arab leaders scheduled to attend are from Algeria, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, — Comoros, Djibouti, t, Yemen, » Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, meso Mauritania, Oman, the Pal- estinian territories, Qatar, Syria, Sudan, Somalia and Tunisia. * This article is based in part on wire service reports. Can’t Account for $100M Spent in Iraq By: Matt Kelley, Associated Press WASHINGTON — USS. civilian authorities in Iraq cannot roperly account for nearly $100 million that was supposed to have been spent on reconstruction projects in south-cen- tral Iraq, government investigators said Wednesday. There are indications of fraud in the use of the $96.6 million, ac- cording to a report by the Special In- spector General for Iraq Reconstruc- tion. A separate investigation of pos- sible wrongdoing continues. More than $7 million of the to- tal is unaccounted for, the report said. An additional $89.4 million in ~ payments do not have the required Supporting documents. The report accused civilian con- tract managers of “simply washing accounts” to try to make the books balance. Staffing shortages and the uick turnover of those responsible or the cash contributed to the prob- lems, the report said. Col. Thomas Stefanko, the of- ficial now in charge of the rogram, wrote the investigators that he agreed with their conclusions. Stefanko said his office had corrected or was in the Process of fixing or investigating the problems identified in the report. A congressional critic of U.S. reconstruction spending in Iraq said Wednesday the findings showed “disorganized, sloppy management.” “The U.S. risks fostering a cul- ture of corruption in Iraq,” said Sen. ATTENTION BUSINESSES, ADVERTIS] RS AND WRITERS!!! Russ Feingold, D-Wis. The money at issue is from pro- ceeds from Iraqi oil sales and seizures from the former government of Saddam Hussein. Distribution of the money was handled first by the Coa- lition Provisional Authority, the U.S.-run occupation government in Iraq from 2003 to June 28, 2004. After that, the money was over- seen by the Joint Area Support — Group-Central, which is managed from the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad, the Iraqi capital. oe Managers gave the cash to “di- vision-level agents” responsible for distributing the money for recon-- struction programs in a certain area. Those agents - the report did not specify their nationalities - were sup- posed to keep detailed, signed te- ceipts and other documentation for the money they spent but usually did not, the report said. Part of the problem was a last- minute push to spend millions on reconstruction projects before the interim Iraqi government took ove, the report said. One agent got $6.75 million in cash a week before the handover, with the expectation that the money would be spent before the Iraqis took power, the report said. Several of these agents “were under the impression that.it was more important to quickly distrib- ute the money to the region than to obtain all necessary documentation,” the report said. “Securing the required docu- mentation should not have been overlooked by those officials specifi- cally charged with safeguarding Iraqi nds,” investigators said. Controls over the cash were so lax that two of the agents hired to distribute the money were allowed to leave Iraq before ‘they had ac- counted for ai of it, the report said. Between them, those two had been - given more than $1.4 million in cash which remains unaccounted for, the report said, ~A different agent failed to pro- vide Proper documentation for more than $12.4 million in spending but had his accounts cleared by his su- pervisors, the report said. Yet another agent kept distrib-' uting money fot three weeks after his authority to handle the funds was re- voked, the report said. That agent, told that $1,878,870 was missing from his account, delivered precisely that amount to his supervisors three days later, the report said. That suggests, the report said, that the agent had a reserve of cash and only turned in enough to make his account balance. Page 12 The Minority Voice Newspaper May 1 -51, 2005 Malcolm X And Music by Norman Otis Richmomd Meoineil Malik El-Shabazz non February 21, 1965, because of his attempt to internationalize the . __ Malcolm was born 80 years on May 19, 1925. While it is unli 7 US. — W. Bush acknowledge these facts, people from Cape Town to Nova Scotia and Brazil to Brixton definitely will. Afri- can Americans in New York City have made a pilgrimage to Malcolm's gravesite every year since February 21, 1966. e. 0 y Contrary to popular belief, it was Malcolm, not Martin Luther King, who first opposed the war in Vietsam. Malcolm, was the first Af- rican American leader of national prominence in the 1960s to con- demn the war. He was joined by or- ganizations like the Revolutionary Action Movement and the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Com- mittee. This was in the tradition of David Walker, Henry Highland Gar- net, Martin R. Delaney, Bishop Henry McNeil Turner, W.E.B. Du Bois, Marcus Garvey, Ella Baker and Paul Robeson. Malcolm continued to link the struggles: of African people worldwide. King came out against the Vietnam War after his famous April 4, 1967 speech at Riv- erside Church in New York City. Malcolm spoke against this war from the get-go. Musicians did their part to keep Malcolm's name alive, on before Spike Lee's 1992 bio-pic, “X,” hip- hop, house, and R'n'B artists created music for Malcolm, high-life and great Black music (so-called jazz) artists first wrote and sang about Malcolm. The dance of Malcolm's time was the "lindy-hop" and he was a master of it. The Autobiography of Malcolm X, which Malcolm wrote with the assistance of Alex Haley, gives a vivid description of his love of danc. ing. Years later, on a visit to the West sna tasty Malcolm of seeing Ghanaians dancing the rok He wrote: "The Ghanaians performed the high-life as if possessed. One pretty African girl sang ‘Blue Moon like Sarah Vaughan. Sometimes the band sounded like Charlie Parker," Malcolm's impact on Ghana was so great that one folk singer created a song in his honor called "Malcolm Man." Malcolm Man, Malcolm Man You speak your tale of woe The red in your face like our Blood on the land You speak your tale of woe Malcolm Man, Malcolm Man Will one day unite our people And make us all so real Malcolm Man, Malcolm Man. After Malcolm's death, many jazz artists recorded music in his memory. Among them, Leon Thomas recorded the song, "Malcolm's Gone" on his Spirit nown and Unknown album; saxophonist-poet-p! ywrigh nt Archie She ip recorded the:poem, “Malcolm, Malcolm Semper Malcolm" on his Fire Music album. ‘drew paral- lels between Malcolm's spoken words and John Coltrane's misic. Said Shepp: "I equate Coltrane's music very strongly with Malcolm's language, because they were just about contem- raries, to tell you the truth. And I Pelieve essentially what Malcolm said is what John played. If Trane had been a speaker, he might have spoken some- what like Malcolm. If Malcolm had been a saxophone player, he might have playeds som like Trane. hortly before Malcolm's death, he visited Toronto and appeared on CBC television with Pierre Breton. During the visit, Malcolm spent time with award-winning author Austin Clarke talking about politics and mu- sic. Time was too short to organize a community meeting, but a few lucky people gathered at Clarke's.home on Asquith Street. Clarke had interviewed Malcolm previously, in 1963 in Harlem, when he was working for the CBC. Clarke recalled they "talked shop,” but also discussed the lighter things in life, like the fact that both their wives were named Betty. It is not surprising that Malcolm made his way to Canada. His mother and father, Earl Little, met and: mar- ried in Montréal at a Universal N Improvement Association (UNTA) convention. Both were followers of Marcus Garvey. His mother, Louise Langdon Norton, was born in Grenada but immigrated first to Halifax, Nova Scotia and later to Montreal in 1917. - Jan Carew's book, Ghosts in Our Blood: With Malcolm X in Africa, E x 4 England, and the Caribbean, docu. mee hs spect of dae le othe bee Africanist. I suggest that Carew’s vol. ume be read to commemorate the 40th . iversary of Malcolm's assassination, While on a visit to Nigeria Malcolm was given the name Omowale, which means in the Yoruba language, “the son who has come home”. It was this period of his life that "he visited Nigeria, Ghana, Liberia, Senegal, Morocco, Algeria, Egypt, Ethiopia, Kenya, Guinea and Tanza- nia. It was during that period that he met with Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, Julius K Nyerere, and Nnamoi Azikiwe, ure, Jomo Kenyatta, Dr. Milton Obote and oth-. ers. During this visit he also met Ras Makonnen, a legendary Pan-Africanist from Guyana oh Mya Wright's daughter Julie Wright, Angelou, Shirley Graham Du Bois, the wife of W.E.B. Du Bois, and the Chinese Am- bassador Huang Ha. ~ Malcolm was the chief or i _ of the Nation of Islam and the funda of the groups newspaper Muhammad Speaks. He split with the nation and its leader Elijah Muhammad in 1963, - At the time of his death he headed two organizations. The secular group the Organization of Afro-American Unity (OAAU) was his political arm. He also organized the religious group, Muslim Mosque Inc (MMI), which practiced Sunni Islam. Today Islam is the sec- ond largest religion in the United States and Canada. Many credit Malcolm with helping spread Sunni Islam as well as revolutionary African American Nationalism and Pan- Africanism among African people in the Western Hemisphere. Like Augusto Cesar Sandino of Nicaragua or Sun Yat-Tsen of China, Malcolm was embraced by all sectors of the African American Nationalist «|. _and Pan Africanist movements. All : Nationalists and Pan-Africanists | claimed to follow his example. Revo- lutionary Nationalist groups like the Black Panther Party, and the League | of Revolutionary Black Workers docu- Malcolm was still their man, The cul- tural Nationalists who maintained that © the Cultural Revolution must precede the political one also embraced He ‘was.a controversial figure. Actor Ossie Davis eulogized him as our “Black Shining Prince” while the director, of the U:S. information agency Carl. T. Rowan referred to him as “an ex-convict, ex-dope ped- dler who became a racial fanatic.” He was loved by the oppressed and hated by the oppressors. Malcolm spoke about the MMI and the OAAU in these terms: “Its aim is to create an atmosphere and facilities in which people who are interested in Islam can get a better understanding of Is- lam. The'aim of the OAAU is to use whatever means necessary to bring about a society in which the twenty- two million Afto-Americans are rec- ognized and respected as human be- Malcélm was ior. nearly as well ktiown as he is today, Each year his stature grew. By 1992 Malcolm was the subjecs of a major motion pic- ture, “X" by Spike Lee. Lee’s film was as Controversial as Malcolm's life. Lee was attacked from the left, right and . center for his portrayal of Malcolm. And he marketed the hell out of the movie, His campaign began with the marketing of “X” caps. He gave the first cap to basketball icon Michael Jordan. And as they say, “the rest is his- tory.” Many who up hold the Black . radical bo r : tion fought Lee over the film: They accused him of “pimping and sampling” Malcolm. Lee ‘re- sponded with a book, By Any Means Necessary: The Trials and Tribulations of the Making of Malcolm X .... (While Ten Million Motherfuckers are Fucking With You!). _ The Autobiography of Malcolm X by Alex Haley and other books by Ay the time of his death and about Malcolm continue to sell worldwide. Some of his books have recently been published in Cuba. Malcolm was one of the few African American Nationalist leaders that wel- comed Cuban leader Fidel Castro to Harlem in 1960. Many Nationalists didn't want to be identified with com- munism, But African people in the West could easily identified with the slogan, “When Africa called Cuba Answered.” Kwame Ture (Stokely Carmichael) was fond of reminding us that the only place in the United States that Fidel felt safe was in Harlem. Toronto-based journalist and ra- dio producer Norman (Otis) Rich- mond can be heard on Diasporic Music, Thursdays, 8-10 p.m., Satur- day Morning Live, Saturdays, 10 a.m.- I p.m. and From a Different Perspec- tive, Sundays, 6-6:30 p. m. on CKIN. FM 88.1 and on he Internet at www.ckln.fm. He can be’ reached by e-mail at norman@ckin.fm. . om emerged in the late 1960's, after | Malcolm's death. Even after the BPP and the League embraced Marxism, | FIVE STAR eoeeo ——s= Your 5 Star Desler DAVE DAVIS Neal Dr. & Groene Bivd. “hates Se PostOffice | - FARK 262.756.6914 Greenville, NC 27835 www.ecauto.com, ¥ LINCOLN East Carolina Auto & Truck Center | _ Buy - Sell - Trade - Locater Service 1456 D. Worthington Road, Green _ Phone: (252) 321-1236 ~~ NO CREDIT BADCREDIT BUILD YOUR Vill@ (comer ot Worthinglon & County Home Rd.) _ Phone: (252) 321-1236 * Fax: (252) 321-1267 OR YOUNEEDTO ae Detowion Moore Tradin Alexander ‘Welcome Home Sm C.M. 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