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MW ^“'"'"" in,^ UNC-CH SERIBlT'ncr **CHILL MUIS LIBR fl RY S c ^ P ^™ E NT P O BOX 8890 ^ & CHAPEL HILL wr NC c.7599-000! Or a dimes VOLUME 99 - NUMBER 13 DURHAM, NORTH CAROLINA - SATURDAY, APRIL4, 2020 TELEPHONE:919-682-2913 PRICE 50 CENTS Darius Swann, who fought for school integration, dies at 95 By Tom Foreman Jr. The Rev. Darius L. Swann, whose challenge to the notion of segregated public schools helped spark the use of busing to inte grate schools across the country, has died at his Virginia home. He was 95. The Rev. David Ensign, inter im pastor at Burke Presbyterian Church, where Swann’s family attended church, confirmed in an email that Swann died on March 8. In this Aug. 12,2009, file photo, President Barack Obama presents a 2009 Presi dential Medal of Freedom to the Rev. Joseph E. Lowery n the East Room of the the White House in Washington. Lowery held back tears. Lowery, a veteran civil rights leader who helped the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. found the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and fought against racial discrimination, died Friday, March 27, 2020, a family statement said. He was 98. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File) Civil rights leader, MLK aide Joseph Lowery dies at 98 By The Associated Press ATLANTA (AP) _ The Rev. Joseph E. Lowery, a veteran civil rights leader who helped the Rev. Mar tin Luther King Jr. found the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and fought against racial discrimination, died March 27, a family statement said. He was 98. A charismatic and fiery preacher, Lowery led the SCLC for two decades restoring the organization’s financial stability and pres suring businesses not to trade with South Africa’s apartheid-era regime _ be fore retiring in 1997. Lowery, considered the dean of civil rights veter ans, lived to celebrate a November 2008 milestone that few of his movement colleagues 8 60002 71800 Swann’s wife, Vera, told The Washington Post that her hus band died of pneumonia. On Sept. 2, 1964, Swann wrote a letter to the Charlotte- Mecklenburg school board, asking that his son James be allowed to attend Seversville School, two blocks from his home, rather than the all-black Biddleville School, which was more than twice as far away. He was allowed to argue his case at a subsequent meeting of the thought they would ever witness _ the election of an African American presi dent. At an emotional victory celebration for President- elect Barack Obama in At lanta, Lowery said, “Amer ica tonight is in the process of being born again.” An early and enthusiastic supporter of Obama over then-Democratic opponent Hillary Clinton, Lowery also gave the benediction at Obama’s inauguration. “We thank you for the empowering ofthy servant, our 44th president, to in spire our nation to believe that, yes, we can work to gether to achieve a more perfect union,” he said. In 2009, Obama award ed Lowery the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the na tion’s highest suggested that the Swanns enroll James in Biddleville, then re quest a transfer. The Swanns said no thanks. “We figured that the system was really protecting segrega tion,” Swann told The Associat ed Press in an interview in 2000. “What they wanted to do was decide things on a case-by-case basis, when what they needed to do was change the whole system; there was a systemic problem.” civilian honor. In a statement March 28, Obama said Lowery “changed the face of Amer ica.” “He carried the baton longer and surer than al most anybody. It falls to the rest of us now to pick it up and never stop moving for ward until we finish what he started _ that journey to justice,” he said. Obama said he and his wife, Michelle, were grate ful for Lowery’s “personal and spiritual support he of fered us from the early days of our campaign ... and for the friendship and counsel he provided ever since.” In another high-profile moment, Lowery drew a standing ovation at the 2006 funeral of King’s widow, Coretta Scott King, when he criticized the war in Iraq, saying, “For war, billions more, but no more for the poor.” The comment also drew head shakes from then-President George Bush and his father, (Continued On Page2) Enlisting the support of lo cal activist Reginald Hawkins and civil rights attorney Julius Chambers, Swann sued the school system in January 1965. While they pursued their legal fight, the Swanns enrolled James and his younger sister, Edith, in a private Lutheran school. Af ter one year there, the Swanns moved their children to Easto ver, a public school in the afflu ent, predominantly white Myers Park neighborhood. Chambers continued the law- suit even after the Swanns moved to New York, where Swann and his wife worked at Columbia University, and later to Hawaii before moving to India, where he researched Asian theater. “Sure he got tired of it,” Chambers said of the lawsuit. “He had difficulty understanding all the opposition and how mean people could be, but he never to my knowledge ever thought about bailing out.” In 1971, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld court-ordered bus ing in the Charlotte-Mecklen burg school district, clearing the way for the use of busing as a means of desegregation. Swann learned of the decision while he was in a mountain village in In dia and read about it in an Eng lish-language newspaper. At the time, Swann said he had no regrets about the long legal battle he endured on be half of his children and children across the country. “I felt that schools were a means of our becoming one soci ety,” Swann explained. “Perhaps I was overly optimistic, but I still think it’s a significant factor. . We have to have an integrated society in order to be one, and if we don’t have an integrated so ciety, we will continue to be two people, separate, unequal.’ Will Smith says he’s humbled by rapper’s tribute music video Rep. MaryAnn Black Funeral held for N. C. Rep. MaryAnn Black (AP) - A private funeral was held March 27 for North Carolina state Rep. MaryAnn Black, who died at a2e.76. Black, a Democrat who joined the state House in early 2017, died March 25 at her Durham home, Fisher Memo rial Funeral Parlor owner Chris Fisher said. The funeral home handled the service at a local cemetery. LOS ANGELES (AP) _ Will Smith says he was "humbled and honored” after rapper Joyner Lucas released a tribute song hon oring his career work. Lucas released the music video for his track "Will” on Monday. In the video, the rapper paid homage to Smith through a reenact ment of the actor’s big gest projects including the "The Fresh Prince of Bel- Air,” "Bad Boys,” "Men in Black” and "Pursuit of Happyness.” Smith on Wednesday shared a clip of "Will” with his nearly 44 million followers on Instagram. He personally thanked Lucas in a separate video on so cial media, calling the rap per’s song "creative." Smith also said he hopes to meet Lucas one day. In a post, Lucas said he needed to "take a cold shower and wake up. I’m dreaming right now.” "Will” is a single from Lucas’ debut studio album "ADHD,” which releases on Friday. Black’s son, Jonathan, said March 27 that his mother died from natural causes stemming from a long-term ill ness. Black announced in November she wouldn’t be seek ing reelection to her Durham County seat this year. Black was a social worker for more than 30 years, pro viding psychotherapy services to children and families. She most recently worked as an associate vice president for Duke University Health System. Black was on the Durham County commission from 1990 to 2002, serving the last six years as chairwoman. “She proudly served her local community long before joining the General Assembly, and was committed to im proving the lives of all North Carolinians - from raising wages to advocating for environmental justice (and) to addressing the opioid epidemic,” state Democratic Party Chair Wayne Goodwin said in a news release. Durham County Democratic activists will now choose someone to fill her seat through 2020. A likely replace ment is Durham City Council member Vernetta Alston, who is the only candidate seeking the seat that Black wasn’t running for this November. The district is heavily Democratic. In addition to her son, Black’s survivors include a grandson and her mother, according to an obituary on the Fisher Memorial website. Register to Vote
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