Jamaicans proud of Powell's political ascent 1
File Photo
President Clinton and Gen. Colin Powell make a joint appearance in 1998 to discuss a then-just released
report on the nation.
BY MATTHEW I. ROSENBERG
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
TOP HILL, Jamaica - At the
tin-roofed boyhood home of
Colin Powell's father, they swell
with pride over "our big man up
north." 0
Though born in the Bronx,
George Bush's pick for secretary
of state draws from the strong
values of his family's humble,
hardworking West Indian roots,
his relatives in Jamaica say.
"We're proud people, maybe
not rich but we've got dignity,
and dignified people they know
how to behave," said Powell's
cousin, Muriel Meggie.
When they don't behave, she
said, a little army-style discipline
never hurt a future general: "A
child has got to know his place,
when to play and when to work."
Meggie, 65, stood in the red
dirt yard of the home of Luther
Powell, Colin's father, looking
over the sloping hills of the
southern Jamaican farming com
munity.
Luther Powell left Top Hill in
the early 1920s. Around the same
time, Powell's mot-her, Ariel, left
her small western Jamaica town.
The two met and married in New
York City, where Powell was born
in 1937.
He is one of countless chil
dren of Caribbean migrants who
left their sun-drenched home
lands for North America and
Europe, looking fot; a better life.
In his book "My American
Dream," Powell wrote: "I look at
my aunts and uncles, their chil
dren and their children's children,
and I see three generations of
constructive, productive, self
reliant members of society."
Slavery in the British
Caribbean colonies ended a gen
eration earlier than in North
America, and after emancipation
"West Indians were left more or
less on their own," he wrote. They
had schools, good jobs and "they
did not have their individual dig
nity beat down for 300 years, the
fate of so many black American
slaves and their ancestors."
Coming from countries where
blacks are the majority has given
Caribbean immigrants greater
self-confidence about getting
ahead through hard work, said
Selwyn Ryan, a political science
professor at-the University of the
West Indies in Trinidad.
"We grew up feeling that there
were no insurmountable barri
ers," Ryan said. "Even though
there were constraints in
Caribbean society, there was
always the perception that one
could do well, given they had an
education and were persistent."
Many of the adults in Powell's
family hadn't lived in Jamaica for
decades but the island culture
pulsed through his youth and has
stayed with him.
As a child, Christmas dinner
was curried goat, a Caribbean
specialty, he wrote in his book.
Afterward came dancing to
calypso and Appleton rum. "In
my family, to serve anything else
was considered an affront."
When he was chairman of the
joint chiefs of staff, calypso tunes
drifted from his Pentagon office.
His aides "did not get the pidgin
lyrics and missed most of the
innuendo," he wrote. "But then,
you do not hear much calypso
See Powell on AS I
Gang member gets damages
NNPA WIRE
WASHINGTON Former
gang member Javier Ovando,
23, now wheelchair-bound, will
receive $15 million from the city
of Los Angejes as a result of a
police shooting and framing
which led to the loss of his legs
and jail for three years for a
crime he did not commit.
The settlement represents the
largest police misconduct award
in the city's history.
He is the first man to be
freed in the Rampart police
scandal, the worst in Los Ange
les history. Investigators found a
massive, organized network of
police corruption wherein black
and Latino youths served as
cannon fodder for police illegal
activity.
The City Council voted
unanimously in the case as an
emotional Ovando said that he
would use the monies to help
bring his mother and sisters to
the United States for a better
life and education. He is a
native of Honduras.
"I believe this is a fair and
acceptable resolution to a terri
ble miscarriage of justice," said
Mayor Richard Riordan.
Yet, Los Angeles, which pays
out millions of dollars in police
brutality settlements each year,
is one of the nation's leading
cities of incidents of excessive
force by police. It was the center
of disturbances across the
nation after the police assault
on African-American motorist
Rodney King.
Gov. Hunt writes book detailing
strategies to improve N.C. schools
w
SPECIAL TO THE CHRONICLE
RALEIGH - Gov. Jim Hunt on
Dec. 21 unveiled a book he has
written which outlines the steps
North Carolina must take to make
its public schools the best in the
nation by the end of this decade, a
goal that Hunt last year challenged
the state to meet.
Hunt met with students, teach
ers and parents at Raleigh's Ligon
Middle School to preview "First In
America: An Education Governor
Challenges North Carolina." The
90-page book reviews Hunt's First
In America initiative goals and
lays out his proposals for improv
ing public education in the state.
"As people read this book. I
hope they will understand the five
goals the five parts of the plan
that can make us First in Ameri
ca." Hunt^ wrote in the introduc
tion to the book. "More than that.
I hope they will get ideas about
what they can do personally to
meet this challenge - and be moti
vated to do so.'
Hunt and the state's Education
Cabinet believe North Carolina's
public-school system can become
the best in the county by 2010 by
focusing on five goals: 1) having
every child start school healthy
and ready to learn; 2) hiring and
retaining quality teachers and
administrators; 3) maintaining
safe, orderly,
and caring
schools; 4)
demanding
high student
performance,
and 5) build
ing strong
family, com
munity and
business sup
port.
In his
Gov. Hunt
book, which will be distributed
free of charge in January, Hunt
traces the history of education
progress in North Carolina, partic
ularly the strides made in the
1990s. He details how he became
an enthusiastic champion of pub
lic education, and the lessons he
learned about education as a pub
lic official and during his mentor
ing experiences with public-school
students. The book also features
Hunt's memories of his own
school years and the special influ
ences on him, including his teach
ers and his mother, herself a
schoolteacher.
Under Hunt's leadership, edu
cation experts and political leaders
have lauded North Carolina across
the nation for public school
achievement. The state has shown
dramatic progress in student per
formance, higher standards and
accountability measures, improv
ing teaching, galvanizing business
and community support, and its
comprehensive approach to better
early childhood education.
The book is being published by
the First in America Foundation
and is being paid for by support
from various corporations in the
state. Distribution plans will be
announced in January. A foreword
from U.S. Secretary of Education
Richard Riley is included, calling
the book an excellent blueprint for
the state and urging all North Car
olinians and all Americans to read
it.
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The Chronicle (USPS 067-910) was established by
Ernest H. Pitt, and Ndubisi Egemeye in 1974 and is
published every Thursday by Winston-Salem Chron
icle Publishing Co., Inc., 617 N. Liberty St., Winston
Salem, NC 27101. Periodicals Postage paid at Win
ston-Salem, N.C. Annual subscription price is
$30.72.
POSTMASTER: Send address changeBo:
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INDEX ""
OPINION A4
SPORTS B1
RELIGION __B5
CLASSIFIEDS B8
HEALTH C3
ENTERTAINMENT C7'
CALENDAR ~ ~~ {9
Quotable!:
"Some white people are so accustomed
to operating at a competitive advantage
that when the playing field is level, they
feel handicapped."
- Nathan McCall, author
\
Habitat
from page A1
Membership Corp. is putting in
temporary power service and is
providing licensed electricians to
install wiring.
Envirolink of Spring Hope is
providing workers to rush in
plumbing.
Sprint planned to send agroup
of workers to help with the build.
Several other businesses were
planning to participate.
Homeowners of the new
Habitat homes and their families
are diligently working on the pro
ject, Webb said. Homeowners
must work 500 "sweat equity"
hours, including 250 hours before
they move into their homes.
Habitat for Humanity home
owners have 20 years to pay back
their zero-interest mortgages.
The 12 new Habitat homes are
"the best Christmas (presents)
they could have asked for," Webb
said. "They are so blessed. Every
one of them will tell you they are
blessed."
Webb said it made her Christ
mas when she went along with
homeowners to Lowe's when they
excitedly picked out their own
vinyl siding, carpeting and light
fixtures.
Webb said she hopes home
owners will be moving in the new
homes on Jan. 15.
It will be a nice cul-de-sac with
six houses on each side, she said.
After the blitz build is com
pleted in Princeville, Habitat
plans to build 60 more homes in
2001 in areas of North Carolina
that were damaged by Hurricane
Floyd.
Dedicated to eliminating
poverty housing, Habitat for
Humanity International is an ecu
menical Christian ministry found
l? ?
ed by Millard Fuller and his wife,
Linda. HFH1 and its affiliates in
more than 2,000 communities in
76 nations have built and sold
more than 100,000 homes to part
ner families at no profit with zero
interest mortgages.
If you would like to partici
pate in the blitz build in
Princeville, call Webb at 1-252
903-0944.
"We have housing available at
the National Guard Armory, with
a full kitchen," she said. Also,
heated tents are available on the
build site.
"We are providing lunch every
day," she said. N
The Chronicle's e-mail
address is:
wschron@netunlimited.net
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