|weditoria l, Wand opm i page <4 W "We cannot know where we are going if we do not know where we have been." CHRISTMAS IN CENTRAL PRISON I remember the saddest Christmas I ever experienced Christmas 1965! I had just arrived in Central -Prison at the beginning of a 7-10 year prison sentence for drunkenly breaking into a residence. I arrived in Central Prison, as 1 recall it, on December 21, 1965 and I stayed there until August 1968.1 had previously spent 7 months in solitary confinement in Hillsborough County Jail awaiting trial. Those were dark days, sad days. And I'll never forget that first Christmas in Central Prison. Christmas carols were being piped out to our sad collection. Hardly anyone ??" stalled. And tads Gnus did ttot Inake an appearance in that dark and dank hole. It was incongruous, ironic, to hear the cheerful sounds of Christmas in such a sad place, h make Christmas even sad der. Carols seemed, somehow out of place there. So, I remember all the prisoners on the advent of this Christmas season. If you know someone in prison...go see them! That's die best Christmas present they could ever receive. Home cooking is especially appreciated. But your visit will mean more than anything else. I hope to be going tg Central Prison in a few days, if the prison officials approve. 1 have a friend there that I care a great deal about. There are many men there that I think are redeemable, salvag able worth visiting and shar mgs with "Ins (lirisimas. A visit would make Christ mas meaningful to the pri soners there. I know! My mother, grandmother and sis ters came to see me Christ mas 1965. I still walk about rejoicing and appreciating that visit that Christmas. 1 don't remember what they brought me but.I remember the visit, the kind words of encouragement, the smiles the gentle touch. GO SEE SOMEONE IN PRISON THIS CHRISTMAS! THEY WILL NEVER FORGET THE CHRISTMAS MOMENT. You just might encourage one of them to take heart in Christ in Christmas. You just never know what a kind word.a good and upright gesture will ac complish. Merry Christmas to ?11 of you in sad places this joyful season. ten year anniversary taking shape ' Our ten year anniversary is taking place. Tickets are being printed. Committees being formed. Ads being sold. Stories being written. It's going to be a red letter day for us and we hope you will share the happy moment with us. Our banquet is scheduled for January 22, 1983 at Pembroke Senior High School beginning at 7 p.m. Tickets ?re S8 for a single. $15 for a couple. We, most likely, will mtve'lBtereSting speakers, recollections, rememberingr, fen years of fulfillment and happiness. Serving as tri- chairmen are Carnell Lockiear. Sam Kerns and Jimmy Goins. Three good men. More details will be announced in the coming days. We'll share them with you as they unfold. And, of course, our anni versary issue will be publish ed Jan. 20, 1982, commemo rating ten years of continuous service or, as I see it, a decade of service. The job don't pay much but it is quite fulfilling. The Carolina Indian Voice attempts to fill a needs, that's the barometer of success and satisfaction. Find a need and try to fill it. Happiness must follow in its wake. It's a law of the universe. And I'm busy finishing up ?he book. Bruce Barton's Best of...As I See It. See ad elsewhere in this issue. I hope you will want to buy a book. We need the money. Honest. AL..I'M COMING TO ANSWER YOU. HONEST. My buddy Al Kahn. WAGR's great pontificator, has had another week's repri eve. I was the subject of one of his spirited editorials a few days ago and I meant to answer him last week. Alas. I've been terribly busy and haven't gotten there yet but. AI. ol' buddy, don't dispair. I'm coming. Honest. I believe your question was, as well as I recall it, what does double voting have to do with the county school system's iMtest district plan? Well... Red Springs Teacher Killed 1 v- * ? ? A Red Springs* school teacher. Mrs. Mary Lottery Dark was UBad Thursday mm stag in ao antomooue accident aaar here A pass, ?agar la bar car was critically According to,the state Highway Patrol, Mia. Davis' being basked oat of a drive way two adee northeast of fkhsbroke on Rarai Road ft pftftftftQ?ftf * ia the Davk oar, waa taken to Soathaaaten Oaaaral Hoapi ta! ia luaabarton whew ha araala the iataoahre care aak Thursday, Dec. 10. : *1 ^ ,V ' ' ' v Sr ? , .f Alae la the car wan Mia. Dark' year oM daughter and bar flee year old son. They wan ia tike back seat itirk car attack waa drieaa by loeafla Haaey Breaks of Koala 2. P*00?* M?l>? INDIAN VOKK P.O. Res 1675 Pi ?>? ihi, NC 31373 U S. PS. #978380 1 Published each Thursday Established 1973 > i ^SECOND CLASS POSTAGE PAID AT PEMBROKE.NC I 28372 i r Subscription Rates: i.l la State 1 Year ' $9.36' '2 Years . 15.60 ? OUT OF STATE 1 Year $12.00 2 Years 16.00* Jubm F. Scott of Pembroke caught these Black fish at the Riverside County Club Lake recently. One of them weigh ed la it 10 panda, one weighed 10 ponds and a smaller ooe weighed hi at six pounds. [Bruce Barton photo] UHtrsTo lb* Editor An Open Letter Guilty or Innocent? An Open Letter. i With the oncoming of Christmas shopping, U with the daily pressure of life itself, ate at times forget aboqt, others, who ere locked sway behind the walls of prison. True many are there for all the right reasons. Because they broke the law, and should pay for the crime. However, some are there because of misjustice of the law. Case and Point: The story which was carried by The Carolina Indian Voice, dated Dec. 2nd of this year. Title "He Is Not Guilty." This story of John D. Locklear is a sad one indeed, h is not for this writer to say if this man is innocent or guilty of the crime in question. But I can say, this could very easily have happened to any one of us. However. 1 do feel that John D. Locklear could easily be innocent of the charges brought against him. Perhaps he is guilty of past associati on, of being friends to the wrong people. One should not have to serve time, or pay the price because he or she was friends of wrong people. It seems in this country, money can buy anything. Look again at the case of John D. Locklear. "Lack of money, poor defense." It is so easy for us all to rally around or support with our money, political people, beauty contests, etc., and including supporting our churches each Sunday. Al though I am far the church and for the donations we place into the offering plate lk.cause the "Great Spirit" smiles on this. But 1 feel within that the "Great Spirit" also cries as well because his churches feel that or don't have time to set aside a little of the money received to set up a general defense fund to help people such as John D. Locklear. I pray that one day soon that our churches will come together and set up a defense fund to be used in helping our people within our community. It is all so easy for our churches to send money to Latin America or Africa for missionary work, but for some reason its so hard to use our money to help our own at home. Let us start now and help this man having his day in court. Someone please form u committee. Let's get this together. I too am not a rich person, but if we all pull together, we can help people like John D. Locklear get a fair trial. Since money is the only way it can be done to prove a man or woman's innocence in this country. Set up the committee. My money will be among the first. Help John D. Locklear have his day in court-the right way. Ted Slverhand Garrias An Editorial Expression of The Carolina Indian Voice IF SCHMALLEGER SAYS AN'' 1 WIJ4, REPLY "GNU'S MILK*^ This writer thought that AJ Kahn, WAGR'i delightful editorialist, was the last of the great Pontificators. We had net reckoned with Frank Schmafleger, Ph.D., Crimineiogist, Lumberton. Yep. That's how he signed his letter to the Robesenian Monday. I was sarprised. He actually is Chairman of the Sociology Department at Pembroke State Uni versity. And what was SchmaDeger's letter about? Yon guessed It. Indian business. It seems that there is a study floating about pertaining to the Justice (sic) that j Indians receive [or don't retetve] hi the Robeson County courts. The study Is be big looked at by the N.C. Commission of Indian Affairs. In fact, the hidUn Commission Intends to conduct public hearings soon in Robeson County in light of Mine of the findings unearthed by the study. They might come with subpoenas power. The report was written by Dariene Jacobs who undertook toe project as part of her master's project at the University of Oklahoma. Ms. Jacobs Is a Lumbee Indian from Robeson County. The report concludes with nine major findings. ?In Superior Court, Indians had a 54 percent higher conviction rate compared to their per capita population. ?Indians were indicted at a 25 percent higher rate in Superior Court compared to their representative population. ?Indians were indicted in District Court at an eight percent rate higher than their representative population. In District Court, Indians had a 53 percent conviction rate higher than their representative population. ?Indians received more active sen tences in District Court at a rate of 21 percent, while whites had a four percent rate higher than their representative population. * ?In Superior Court, the active prison terms tor Indians ran about $2 percent higher than their representative popu lation, compared to a 13 percent rate for whites. ?Case dismissals in District Court for Indians were only seven percent com pared to about 34 percent to whites. Caan dismissals in Superior Court for Indians were about 11 percent, compared to 30 * * b , - percem tot wnnes. ?Indians were arrested by the Robeson County Sheriff's Department at an 11 percent rate higher than their popula tion. ?Indians were arrested at a younger age compared to whites. L^jw!?