Personal Malcolm X letter up for auction
WASHINGTON (NNPA) - An independent museum is
once again trying to hock the legacy of fallen leader Malcolm
X. This lime it is a letter that the slain leader wrote to his
mentor. Elijah Muhammad.
A Washingtonville, N.Y.-based Web site called "Moments
in Time" is selling the deeply personal letter for $125,000.
In the four-page letter. Malcolm X talks to his most trust
ed and most respected mentor, Elijah
Muhammad, about some marital prob
lems Malcolm was having. The letter
begins with Malcolm apologizing for
"cjijning to Muhammad with a matter so
personal and intimate. Malcolm also
gijres Muhammad credit for making him
.JMo he was. saying that he owed his life
antl entire being to hi?.
J Malcolm goes on to say that most of
the brothers who follow Muhammad are
sliw to get married, not because they are
^gainst women, but because Muhammad
makes them see the place of a man and
the great responsibility a man has for a woman after marrying
her. . ?
In the letter. Malcolm discusses sexual problems he and
msviTrWDeRjrSWWEz) are having, stating at one point that
Shabazz had called the two of them sexually incompatible.
He also mentions that Shabazz had outstanding debts
when tney were married that he knew nothing about.
Gary Zimet, owner of MomentsinTime.com, the Web site
where the letter is displayed and where bids are being taken,
said he purchased it from one of the Muhammad family attor
neys, who saved it from being thrown in the trash.
The proposed sale of the letter comes three months after
several letters, speech outlines, journals and other documents
of Malcolm's were about to be auctioned by Butterfields, an
auction house owned by eBay, one of the nation's most popu
lar online auction sites. It was eventually decided that the
documents would go to the Schomburg Center for Research in
Black Culture.
Joseph Fleming, the Shabazz family attorney, said the
daughters of Malcolm X and Betty Shabazz feel that the let
ter is not authentic.
? ?? I m
Malcolm X
Reno, Nev., settles five suits against
police officers filed by black men
RENO, Nev. - The City Council has voted to settle lawsuits
filed by five black men accusing Reno police of violating their
civil rights, including use of excessive force and illegal search and
seizure.
The five men will share $43,500 under the settlement to which
the council agreed.
The series of lawsuits over the past two years prompted the
Reno Police Department to examine whether it is unfairly treating
minorities.
Assistant Chief Jim Weston said the department is changing
the way it makes arrests for possessing an open container of alco
hol. reviewing use-of-force complaints involving blacks and scru
tinizing misdemeanor arrests.
The five lawsuits began with a Reno man's complaint to the
City Council last year that he had been racially discriminated
against by Reno police. Avon Holmes and his wife were ordered
to lie on the ground at gunpoint by police investigating a report of
shots fired outside a grocery store where they had been shopping.
#lolmes and his wife will receive S7.5(K) from the city.
Among the other men receiving settlements are:
? Richard Bartee. who alleged that police used excessive force
in arresting him in February 2001 after someone reported he was
carrying a machine gun on East Fourth Street. The gun was a plas
tic squirt gun. Bartee was convicted of obstructing and resisting
arrest. He will be paid $7,500.
? Clarence Lalaind, who alleged police refused to investigate
his complaint in December 2000 that a man threatened him with a
knife and dragged him by his injured ankle. He will be paid
$8,500.
Cincinnati is picked to host
Urban League's 2003 convention
Cincinnati, which is now under an economic boycott by
various civil rights organizations over the killing of a 19
year-old black youth by an off-duty police officer, will host
the National Urban League convention in 2003.
Hugh Price, president of the organization, met with Mayor
Charlie Lurken and said he believed the city has started
police, economic and social reforms.
Supporters of the boycott protested
outside the league's Cincinnati office.
"We want to try and inform the com
munity that the Urban League has put
monetary gain above principle,"
Nathaniel Livingston Jr., co-chairman of
the Coalition for a Just Cincinnati, told
reporters.
Most black conventions and several
major entertainers have chosen other
venues rather than break the boycott.
The April 2001 shooting of Timothy
Thomas, who was unarmed, sparked riots that lasted for three
days, which started the boycott.
The league had chosen Cincinnati as its site for the con
vention in February 2001, two months before the shooting.
However, officials raised the possibility of moving it to
another city, saying they would monitor the city's progress
regarding matters of racial injustice.
"If Cincinnati is on the comeback trail with regard to race
relations, then Inglewood. California, is on the comeback trail
with regard to police/community relations." Livingston said,
referring to the videotaped assault of an African-American
youth by a white police officer.
Price
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INDEX |]
OPINION A6
SPORTS B1
RELIGION B6
CLASSIFIEDS BIO
HEALTH C3
ENTERTAINMENT C7
CALENDAR C9
, (AP Photo/Joe Songer/ The Birmingham News 2002).
Diamond and Christopher Harris smile during a news conference announcing the birth of sextuplets at a hospital in Birm
ingham, Ala., last week. Diamond Harris gave birth to the six within three minutes by Caesarean section.
Bundles of joy
Alabama woman
gives birth to
sextuplets: four
boys and two girls
BY MARK N1ESSE
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - Sex
tuplets bom three months prema
ture are growing stronger each
day and all six are breathing on
their own, a doctor said.
The babies - four boys and
two girls - were in serious condi
tion in intensive care but have
been taken off ventilator support
without many complications. Dr.
Namasivayam Antbalavanan said
last week. The babies were bom
after 261/2 weeks; a full-term
pregnancy is typically about 40
weeks. Diamond Harris, a 27
year-old nurse, gave birth to all six
children within three minutes of
each other on Sunday. They
weighed between 1 pound. 3
ounces and I pound, 12 ounces.
They were delivered by Cae
sarean section after about three
hours of labor at the University of
Alabama at Birmingham hospital.
Doctors still don't know how
many of the children are identical
twins and how many areTVatemal
twins. The babies can't yet be
held, but doctors have encouraged
the parents to stroke or gently
touch them.
Harris said she had been
undergoing fertility treatment,
though there have been twins in
both her family and that of her
husband. Christopher. The couple
also has a 7-year-old boy,
Dewayne.
"All he wants to know is how
many Pampers he has to change,"
said Christopher Harris, 28, a
third-grade teacher.
Sextuplets are rare. When a
Kansas woman gave birth to sex
tuplets in April, doctors in Wichi
ta said only 96 sets of sextuplets
have been born worldwide since
recording began in the early
1900s.
All the Harris babies have
names beginning with the letter K,
after their great-grandmother,
Kassie Harris. Their names are
Kiera Christine, Kaylynne
Antoinett. Kaleb Reddrick, Kobe
Byshari, Kieran Anthony and
Kyle Jacob.
"I feel good. A little bit sore,
but good," Diamond Harris said.
"We weren't expecting a bundle."
Microsoft donates $670,000 to NAACP
SPECIAL TO THE CHRONICLE s
HOUSTON - The National !
Association for the Advance- ;
ment of Colored People
(NAACP) announced the receipt ]
of a $670,000 grant in cash and
software from Microsoft Corp.
to support the organization's
Technology Enhancement and
Capacity Building Initiative.
The announcement was
made at the NAACP's 93rd
annual convention. The initiative
will assist the NAACP in
upgrading its information tech
nolnow
?? w ? ~ e> j
capability
in its
s e v e n
regional
offices,
1,700
branch
offices,
the Wash
i n gt o n ,
D . C . ,
bureau
and family technology centers.
Kweisi Mfurtie. NAACP
president and CEO. said, "We
applaud Microsoft's commit
ment to partner with the NAACP
by providing both technology
and resources. Our constructive
relationship with Bill Gates and
the people of the larger
Microsoft family has allowed the
NAACP the ability to do more in
helping to reduce the gap in
technology so evident in poor
communities across America.
Even more is required as we go
forward. We believe that
Microsoft not only understands
that, but is also prepared to join
us as an active partner in the
work ahead."
Bruce Brooks, Microsoft's
director of community affairs,
said. "Microsoft is excited to be
able to help the NAACP deliver
greater digital opportunities to
communities nationwide and to
reach its organizational goals.
The NAACP's unwavering mis
iion to improve the lives of peo
ple of color is a goal that
Microsoft not only salutes but
ilso supports."
The Technology Capacity
Building Initiative is the
NAACP's largest technology
access program to date. As part
of the initiative, tlje NAACPwill
expand its family technology
centers program and community
outreach objectives. The centers
provide a variety of services
such as vocational skills devel
opment, educational literacy and
college preparatory training
through technology in under
served communities.
Mfume
Homes 1 year and
older need to be
checked for termites
"A flea circus is a
good acl but it takes
termites to bring a
home down."
Caii
Triad Pest Control
1535 S. Martin Luther King Drive
Winston-Salem. NC
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