Navy admiral to become Senate chaplain
WASHINGTON (AP) - The Navy's top minister "will
become the new Senate chaplain, the first black and first mil
itary chaplain to hold that job. Senate Majority Leader Bill
Frist has announced.
Rear Adm. Barry C. Black, the Navy's chief of chaplains.
is expected to be approved by the
Senate as the new chaplain before the
end of the month. The Baltimore
native replaces Lloyd Ogitvie, who
announced his retirement earlier this
year after serving since 1995.
"I look forward to this great
opportunity and challenge, and I am
grateful to the senators already
because they certainly have made me
feel at home," Black said.
Black would become the 62nd
Senate chaplain. He also would
become the first Seventh-day Adven
Black
list to serve as either House or Senate
chaplain. There have been two Catholics and 119 Protestants
among the chaplains of the two legislative bodies.
The chaplain opens the Senate with prayer each day and is
available as a spiritual counselor to senators and their fami
lies.
"Admiral Black has provided spiritual guidance to thou
sands of servicemen and women during his 25 years of serv
ice." Frist said. "We're honored he has offered to bring his
moral leadership and counsel to the United States Senate."
Black, who was the Navy's first black chief of chaplains,
may be best known to the general public for delivering
prayers at the Pentagon's Sept. 11 memorial services and for
officiating at John Kennedy Jr.'s burial at sea aboard the USS
Briscoe in 1999.
Black. 53. will retire from the Navy before joining the
Senate staff. He has been chief of chaplains since 2000.
The Senate chaplain is paid $125,700, according to the
Congressional Research service.
Black is originally from Baltimore, and has a wife, Bren
da, and three sons. He holds three master's degrees, a doctor
ate in ministry from East Baptist Seminary in Lancaster, Pa.,
and a doctorate in philosophy from the United States Interna
tional University in San Diego.
He was first commissioned as a Navy chaplain in 1976.
Man says he was a slave in the 1960s
(Special to the NNPA) - Lawyers seeking reparations for
African-Americans have identified a 104-year-old rural
Louisiana man who claims he and his children were slaves up
until the 1960s.
The lawyers believe this discovery could be critical first
hand evidence of slavery in America, but U.S. District Judge
Charles Norgle in Chicago has denied their request to take'
depositions from the man.
Edward Fagan. a lawyer for the slave descendants, asked
Norgle to decide on the deposition quickly, so that an appeal
could be filed to a higher court if necessary.
The man. who is uneducated and worked primarily in cot
ton fields, alleges he moved from Mississippi to Louisiana
with his master in the 1930s. Questions remain on how the
man could have been enslaved a century after the abolition of
slavery.
Diane Sammons. a New Jersey lawyer, said the family was
afraid to escape for fear of rape and other physical abuse.
Lawyers said the family endured rape, kidnapping, torture
and other abuses by their masters and they feared retribution
if they went public with their story. They also said this is not
uncommon for certain areas of the South.
According to court papers, African-Americans were held
in servitude on plantations in the 1920s and '30s. Reports
indicate that as late as 1954. the U.S. Justice Department
prosecuted two Alabama brothers for forcing blacks to work
as slaves.
Relaunched Oprah book club is
good news for publishing industry
CHICAGO (AP) - Oprah Winfrey resurrected her book
club last week by recommending her viewers read John Stein
beck's "East of Eden" - a move that could put the novel oil
best-seller lists more than 50 years after its publication.
Winfrey discontinued her hook
club last year, saying she did not
have enough time to keep up with
monthly selections. But she decided
to relaunch it with a focus on the
classics.
She said "'East of Eden" might be
the best novel she had ever read. -
"It's the perfect book for the
summer. I guarantee it," said Win
frey. who read the book last summer.
"It's a saga.
Steinbeck is more famous for
Winfrey
i in. \jiapcs v?i main. uui ??iiuicy 4,
said she thinks this novel, published
in 1952, might be even better. Steinbeck died in i968. xl1"
The revived book cluh is good, news for the publishing
induslry*-In the past. Winfrey's selection has guaranteed hun
dreds of thousands in sales.
The TV talk show host is expected to make three to five
classic selections a year.
Winfrey started the book club in 1996. with Jacquelyn
Mitchard's "The Deep End of the Ocean" as her first pick.
The book was released with a printing of 1 (K).OOO. but within
a week of Winfrey's announcement 64(I.(KK) copies were in
print and the book moved up to No. I on the fiction best-sell
er lists of The WaH Street Journal and The New York Times.
Other television shows, including "Today" and "Good
Morning America." have launched their own clubs since Win
frey discontinued hers, but none has had the impact of Win
frey's.
The Chronicle (USPS 067-910) was established by Ernest
H. Pitt and Ndubisi Egemonye in 1974 and is published
every Thursday by Winston-Salem Chronicle Publishing Co.
Inc., 617 N. Liberty Street. Winston-Salem, NC 27101. Peri
odicals postage paid at Winston-Salem, N.C. Annual sub
scription price is $30.72.
POSTMASTER: Send address changes to:
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Winston-Salem, NC 27102-1636
KRT Photo by Gninl Blankenship
Clarence Thomas congratulates a University of Georgia School of Law graduate in May.
Thomas part of Michigan dissenters
BY DARLENg SEJPERVILLE
nil ASSOCIATED PRESS
WASHINGTON
Supreme Court Justice
Clarence Thomas, the only
black member of the court and
an opponent of affirmative
action programs, disagreed
with the court's decision
Monday to uphold a Universi
ty of Michigan law school
program that seeks to boost
minority enrollment.
He agreed with the court's
finding that a similar under
graduate program is unconsti
tutional.
"Because I wish to see all
students succeed whatever
their color. I share, in some
respect, the sympathies of
those who sponsor the type of
discrimination advanced by
the University of Michigan
Law School," Thomas said,
dissenting, in part, from the 5
4 decision upholding the law
school's program.
"The Constitution does
not, however, tolerate institu
tional devotion to the status
quo in admissions policies
when such devotion ripens
into racial discrimination," he
said.
In its majority opinion, the
high court said the Constitu
tion "does not prohibit the law
school's narrowly tailored use
of race in admissions deci
sions to further a compelling
interest in obtaining the edu
cational benefits that flow
from a diverse student body."
But Thomas disagreed and
accused the law school of
maintaining "an exclusionary
admissions system that it
knows produces racially dis
proportionate results."
"Racial discrimination is
not a permissible solution to
the self-inflicted wounds of
this elitist admissions policy,"
he said.
Thomas agreed with the
court's 6-3 conclusion that a
similar undergraduate pro
gram at the University of
Michigan is unconstitutional.
He said a state's use of racial
discrimination in higher edu
cation admissions is categori
cally prohibited by the Equal
Protection Clause of the Con
stitution.
Jewish lobby trying to woo blacks
BY ASKIA MUHAMMAD
THF. FINAL CALL ? .
WASHINGTON (NNPA) -
Reports are true that the Ameri
can Israel Public Affairs Com
mittee (AIPAC) is making spe
cial overtures toward influential
black leaders, including the Con
gressional Black Caucus (CBC).
The meetings are no cause for
alarm, participants insist.
As part of its annual Wash
ington convention activities,
AIPAC "honored" CBC chair
Elijah Cummings (D-Md.) and
the rest of the caucus at a special
dinner in March, attended by
roughly 1.000 AIPAC donors
from around the country," JTA
Global News Service of the Jew
ish People reported.
Then, on April 24 in New
York, hip-hop music producer
Russell Simmons attended a
luncheon with AIPAC Executive
Director Howard Kohr and other
Jewish leaders.
The various meetings grew
out of black concerns about the
Jewish community's roles in the
2002 primary election defeats of
Reps. Cynthia McKinney (D
Ga.) and Earl Hilliard (D-Ala.),
both of whom were vocal critics
of U.S. policies favoring Israel
before they were defeated by
candidates who received strong
financial backing from AIPAC
members living outside of the
contested districts.
"They invited me to come
speak. I spoke." Cummings told
TTie Final Call at th& Capitol. "I
don't think we got an
award....We didn't get an award.
Some (CBC) members appeared
at their dinner."
"First of all, this actually
started way back. We wenp con
cerned about the Jewish commu
nity's roles in the McKinney race
and in the Hilliard race." Cum
mings said. "Back then, we want
ed to make sure that we at least
began a dialogue to explain - at
least to our Jewish members of
Congress - what our concerns
were all about.
"As a result of that, many of
them said. 'Well, you all ought to
really start talking to AIPAC.' We
then engaged in a dialogue with
AIPAC. There's been quite a few
dialogues with AIPAC and Jew
ish members of the Congress.
'To be frank with you, it's
more of a pre-emptive sort of sit
uation. We tried to make sure that
we don't have that happening
again. Dialogue is helping that."
he said.
Simmons also, in fact, attend
ed a New York meeting where
there were discussions with lead
ore nf
A I PAG
and other
major
Jewish
organiza
t i o n s
about
how to
improve
black
Jewish
relations.
Muhammad
according to Minister Benjamin
Muhammad, spokesman for the
Hip Hop Summit Action Net
work. "I think that Russell's
meetings are part of his overall
outreach to all ethnic groups to
promote better ethnic under
standing, ethnic tolerance. The
issue is tolerance," Muhammad
said.
"We're very concerned that
after 9/11, it appeared the Ameri
can society was moving in the
direction of intolerance - racial
profiling of various groups based
on race, based on religion, based
on ethnicity.
"Our position is, that's
wrong. And so, as part of Rus
sell's campaign to promote eth
nic and racial tolerance, he's
meeting with Jewish leaders, he's
meeting with Muslim leaders,
he's meeting with Christian lead
ers. and he's meeting with per
sons of all walks and persuasions
to raise the question that there
should be more tolerance in
America, and not intolerance."
AIPAC officials organized
the events in order to "strengthen
relations between our communi
ty and members of the Congres
sional Black Caucus," according
to the JTA report. In addition,
they wanted to honor Cummings
"and the members of the CBC for
their long-standing support of
Israel and to reaffirm to our own ?
community that most members
of the caucus support a strong
and secure Israel."
CBC members are decidedly
not pro-AIPAC, however, not in
comparison with the rest of the
House.
An April letter backed by
AIPAC to President George W.
Bush about the U.S. Middle East
"Road Map" was signed by 313
House members, but by fewer
than half - 18 of 39 - CBC mem
bers. Still, since the last election
cycle, Jewish community leaders
have held numerous meetings
with their black counterparts and
AIPAC has held meetings with
29 members of the CBC, accord
ing to JTA.
Maynard
Jackson
remembered
THE Al l ANTA fyULY WORLD
ATLANTA (NNPA) - Peo
ple around the nation paid trib
ute Monday to former Atlanta
Mayor Maynard H. Jackson -
Atlanta's first African-American
mayor - who died of heart fail
ure after collapsing at Ronald
Reagan National Airport in
Washington. D C. He was 65.
Jackson was resuscitated at
the airport but suffered a heart
attack in the ambulance and
died at about 9 a.m. at Virginia
Medical Center in Arlington,
Va.
Jackson was a lion of a man,
said cur
r e n I
Atlanta
Mayor
Shirley
Franklin.
"He
lived his
life with
courage,
compas
sion and
dedica
Jackson
tion to
public service," she said. "His
groundbreaking election as
mayor in 1973 ushered in a new
generation of leaders."
Jackson was a great man as
well as leader, said W. Bruce
Gow, Jackson Securities LLC
chief operating officer. "We
respected and loved him. and we
will miss him."
Jackson founded the invest
ment banking and brokerage
services company after complet
ing his third term as Atlanta
mayor in 1994.
At age 36, Maynard Hol
brook Jackson Jr. became the
youngest and first African
American mayor of Atlanta
when he was elected to his first
of three four-year terms 30 years
ago.
It was a new day at City
Hall. Jackson brought his com
mitment to inclusion with him
as mayor. No longer would the
white business community have
total control over the city's
finances and, most important,
over the city's contracts worth
millions of dollars.
INDEX
OPINION. JL6
SPORTS B1
RELIGION. B5
CLASSIFIEDS. B9
HEALTH. C3
ENTERTAINMENT..,.C7
CALENDAR. C9
Homes 1 year and
older need to be
checked for termites
"A flea circus is a
good act but it takes
""%]fj[ termites to bring a
' home down."
I Call
?Triad Pest Control
1535 S. Martin l.uther King Drive
Winston-Salem. NC
J 788-3020
"Deborah Alexander-Gioellc
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Nicole Aileen Blackshear
Patchus Dee Booth
Pamela Carol Bowton
Deborah J. Capers
Connie Elizabeth Caudle
Barri Humphrey Chasteen
john J. Coan
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Brenda Kay Heady Dean
Stephanie Dean Williams
Barbara Jean Dendy
Rhonda Dioum
Kimberly Todd Felton
Tamica Yovonda Fletcher
Angela Aigncr Fogg
Kathy Kiser Ford
jane Shaw Gty
Katharine Hamilton
Marilyn Arline Hayes
Laura Herrin
Doulton Hill, Jr.
Betsy Clayton Hoglander
Julia Craven Howard
Stephanie Hudson Lawrence
DominickJ. Inglese
Heather B. Johnson
Judy Arnold Joyce
Cynthia Jones Kelly
Nichole B. Leonard
Robert Calvin March
Sylvia Ann McLean
Debbie McMillan
Pamela J. McPheters
Terry Lee Murphy
Linda Biles Osborne
Karen Sinniss Osmon
Mary Annette Perkins
Magdelena Przykuta
Brandy Dawn Pirtlc
Lori J. Rccsc
Rencc Pullcs-Soto
Marjoric L Ramsey
Bridget Lunsford Ray
Maria Ray
Connie Darlene Rogers
Khristin E. Schachtschneider
Connie Russ Sizemore
Shanita A. Smallwood
Beverly Crews Sprinkle
Swynette Stone
Cameron Leigh Thornton
|oy Truluck
Sandra Van Buskirk
lulianc Langc Wagner
Laura Elizabeth Warren
Renee Atkins Watson
Susan Stanley White