Newspapers / Winston-Salem Chronicle (Winston-Salem, N.C.) / May 27, 1993, edition 1 / Page 1
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s Banquet Goler Memorial Church recognizes com munity servants at inaugural event. PAQEA4 Gearing for Gala TV stars make appearance to announce plans for National Black Theatre Festival. THURSDAY, MAY 27/1993 Winston-Salem Chronicle PAGE A7 'Power concedes nothing without a struggle." ? Frederick Douglass VOL XIX, No. 39 City's Race Relations Under Microscope Holdout Juror Calls Black Juror a 'Bigot' A He spared Knight , but > ^ wouldn ' t have Darryl Hunt - By RICHARD L. WILLIAMS Chronicle Managing Editor ? Robert E. Everhart, the lone juror who voted against a death sentence for Rickey Eugene Knight, called a black juror a bigot and told jurors that he would have supported the death penalty against Darryl Hunt. Several jurors revealed those details in separate interviews over the past few days following their deadlocked verdict last week that spared Knight a death sentence. Eleven of the 12 jurors voted for the death sen tence. Because the vote was not unanimous, Knight was sentenced to life imprisonment, making him eligible for parole in 20 years. Jurors said they felt as though they were held hostage by Everhart. "That last day, there was name-calling and-very heated discussions," Susan Gordon Martha Wood Larry Womble jury foreman Susan Gordon said. According to Gordon, one of the three black female jurors ? Savannah Lewis ? questioned whether Everhart's reluctance was because he did not want to sentence to death a white man for killing a black man. "He said no, and he got very angry and called her a bigot," Gordon said. Gordon said she later asked him if there were a situation where he would vote for the death penalty. "Hi* response without hesitation was Darryl Hunt," Gordon said. "I leaned over and said 'Savannah, I think he just answered your question.' " Hunt, who is black, was convicted in the 1984 stabbing death of Debo rah B. Sykes, a white journalist He was convicted in 1985, but the convic Please see page A3 City Undaunted by Loss of Designation A Leaders admit work has to be done in area of race - By DAVID L. DILLARD Chronicle Staff Writer Winston-Salem lost its bid to be named an All-America'City not because of a letter written by Alderman Larry Womble to the National Civic League, but because racial and economic deprivation runs rampant through out the city, some city residents said. Rev. John Mendez of Citizens United for Justice said his group also wrote a letter to the civic league arguing against Alt-America City status because there was too much racial tension and unemployment in the city. "We are not morally prepared to see it," Mendez said. "I don't think PUase st* page A3 ? -^iV- K===^ ? ? - NEWS CHARU>fifagU*,VA ? National black political leader Jesse Jackson was report<*I iA condition recently after surgery on his elbow and Shoulder. The procedure at the University Of Vir ginia Science Center lasted 45 minutes. Jackson was injured in an automobile accident in Los Angeles several weeks ago, but delayed having the operation until this month.' : . Boycott Ends With Agreement ' ? o ? i ;V. ?? - MIAMI ? A national black boycott of the Miami tourist industry ended this month after boy cott leaders reached an agreement with city leaders. The boycott reportedly cost the city $50 million p ing the three yeaki H tas in effect Boycott leader H.T. Smith concluded, "We wanted ie|(feet and we got it" The non-binding 20-point agreement is sup posed to create greater economic opportunities for MiamrbtadgrTheiwycott began in 1990 when city | leaders refused to honor South African freedom fighter Nelson Mandela with a proclamation. Black, White Income Gap NEW YORK ? A study released recently con cludes that die poverty gap between white and black old people is significantly worse than previously thought According to the findings by a Cornell Uni versity professor, 28% of black elderly are consid ered poor, while only 1% of white elderly live in poverty. Blacks are about 50% worse off than previ ous studies suggested The authors are Michael Ren dall and AJden Speare, Jr. Speare is a professor at Brown University. Previously, studies only consid ered income. But, the Rendall-Speare study also cal culated wealth. WHERE TO FIND IT Business ..B8 Classifieds B12 Community News A4 Editorials A12 Entertainment B9 Obituaries B 1 1 Relioion BIO Sports B1 Tms Wn* IhMiack Histokt . On May W, 1965, Vivian Malont graduated from the University ef Alabama. 5ht was tkssekaoTs first NacknadtaL. A*;/ "I Am a Judge yy :y, "She's Now a Judge at 27 Bladen County District Judge Ola Lewis models robe after swearing-in ceremony. FAYETTEVILLE ? Ola Lewis always achieved early. She graduated from high school in Fayetteville at 16, and received three pro motions in less than three months at her first job after college. Now, Lewis, at the age of 27, is the youngest sitting district - judge in North Carolina. "Work hard, and be fair," Gov. Jim Hunt told Lewis two weeks ago when he summoned her to his Raleigh office and appointed her to the $63,864 a-year post. Lewis took the judicial oath Mon day at the Bladen County Courthouse in Elizabethtown, where she became be the 13th District's only female judge and the only black judge. "Ola is dedicated to her profession. She's dependable. She's a champion of justice," said Jerry Dove, a Brunswick County state trooper who worked often with Lewis in her former job as an assis tant district attorney^'She Jis an honest and fair person." Lewis envisions herself with an opportunity for greater impact on drunken drivers and abusers of women and children. "By my verdicts, by my actions or even through a speech I may make at a high school, if I can make a difference in one person's life, then I can say, 'Job well done." Ola Mose-El Lewis grew up the fifth and youngest child of Doris and Mose Lewis in Spring Lake, a Fayet teville suburb. Her father was a career soldier in the 82nd Airborne at Fort Bragg and now is an assistant Brunswick County Schools superintendent; her mother is the principal at South Harriett Elementary. An effervescent woman, slender, with glasses trimmed in lavender, Lewis formed her strong opinions and confi dence through prayer and family, expect ing as much of herself as they did of her. She graduated from high sc^gpl young, and after one miserable, homesick semes ter at UNC-Chapel Hill, she transferred home, to study accounting at Fayetteville State University, "It was the greatest thing I ever did," she said. "One thing black colleges offer black students is that they tell you how it is, how to get along in this society, how to progress in this society." While working at NationsBank in Fayetteville after college, she decided to get a master's degree. Her father and her uncle, Jason Parker, a Hickory assistant district attorney, suggested law school. "I didn't realize the power law has," Lewis said. "Law changes history. Someone said separate but equal is not equal, and that's why I can be where I am today." During law school, Lewis worked as a clerk in House Speaker Dan Blue's Raleigh law firm. When she told him she wanted to be an assistant district attorney, hp sent her off with blessings, and recom mendations. In Eastern North Carolina's 13th District ? Bladen, Brunswick and Columbus counties ? Lewis for two years prosecuted drunken drivers, thieves, men who battered women, moth ers who abused their children. She was Please see page All Fatal Illness Halts Man's Goal of Better Life By DAVID L. DILLARD Chronicle Staff Writer Sergio Munoz grew up in a very poor community in Alto Paso, Mexico. Throughout his life he watched his family struggle to make ends meet. His father, who has very little education, farms and does construction work to support the family. Usually, he makes S3 or 54 a week. Sometimes he brings home $6. if it's been a good week. His mother is charged with raising his 18-year-old sis ter and 12-year-old brother. As economic hardships became unbearable, Munoz, 20. left his homeland for the United States to make a better liv ing for his family. Working different jobs daily in Boone ? mostly gardening and farming ? he would send between $100 to $200 every month back home to his family. But Munoz's contribution to his family ended about a month ago when he fell ill and moved to Winston-Salem. As he l?ty dying on a hospital bed at Baptist Hospital, so was his dream of pulling his family out of hard times. Munoz died last Wednesday of esophageal varices, which causes exten sive bleeding to the esophagus. As a 4 year old, he contracted a severe liver dis ease in Mexico and had been on medication since age 14. His father, Ramiro Munoz, sold some of his animals to get enough money to come from Mexico to be with his eldest son during his suffering. "He had hope until the last minute that a miracle would happen," said Beth Hyatt, a nurse at Baptist Hospi tal's intensive-care unit. "He (Ramiro) is a very strong man. He held up extremely Please see page All ? TO SUBSCRIBE CALL 919-722-8624
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