Rice stops motorcade to tour
Brazilian town of Salvador
SALVADOR, Brazil (AP) - U.S. Secretary of State
Condoleezza Rice stopped her typically fast-moving motorcade
on Fnday to stroll the streets of Salvador, a Brazilian town known
historically for its slave trade.
it was a rare move tor Kice. who is
busy trying to re-ignite Middle East peace
talks and disarm the North Koreans. On
Sunday, one day after she was to return
from Latin America. Rice planned to trav
el to Moscow to persuade the Russians to
back U .S . missile radars in Europe .
Instead of blowing through Brazil after
meeting with political officials, as would
normally be the case. Rice insisted on tak
ing a side trip to the country's Bahia
region, where slaves were once brought
from West Africa.
Rice
uuring ner visit, kicc signea an agreement witn Brazil to pro
mute education on racial equality.
In Salvador's historic Pelourinho town square, she visited a
church built by staves in the 18th century. She clapped along to a
song by church members that told of a day when blacks have * no
opponents'" and women have equal rights.
Later, after touring a museum of Afro-Brazilian culture. Rice
told reporters that she had been struck by the parallels with the
slave struggle in the United States. Like in America, slaves relied
on their church for hope, she said.
'Great Debater' Wells remembered
HOUSTON (AP) - Henrietta Bell Wells, the only woman on
the 1930 Wiley College team that took part in the nation's first
interracial collegiate debate, was remembered Sunday as a deeply
spiritual person whose presence moved others to be quiet and lis
ten. Wells died Feb. 27 in Baytown. She was 95
Wells was the last surviving member of the team portrayed in
last yeaTs movie, "The Great Debaters." The movie, starring
Denzel Washington, focused on Melvin Tolson's success leading
an underdog debate team at a small, southern, historically black
college in the mid-1930s. Founded in 1873. Wiley is in east
Texas, about 40 miles from Shreveport. La.
About 100 friends, spanning nearly a century in age, gathered
for the service at St. James Episcopal Church, where Wells was an
active member for 40 years. Her husband, Wallace, died in 1987.
They had no children.
In an interview with the Houston Chronicle last year. Wells
said the boys "didn't seem to mind" her status as the lone girl and
freshman on the squad. She also noted that because Tolson had
?the team so Well prepared for competition, its members were
never intimidated. Wells debated for only a year but was a mem
ber of the team that broke the color barrier in 1 930 at a competi
lion in Chicago.
Congresswoman seeks
justice review of torture case
CHARLESTON. W.Va. ( AP) - A, Houston congresswoman
has asked the U.S. Department of Justice to review the torture of
a black woman hy seven white people to determine whether fed
eral hate crimes should be pursued.
Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, a senior member of the House
Judiciary Committee, also said two defendants who were sen
tenced last Thursday on state charges
should not have the option of parole.
"I have asked the Justice Department to
review the circumstances and determine
whether there is a viable case under feder-'
al law," Lee told The Associated Press in a
telephone interview Friday from her
Washington, D.C., office.
The U.S. Attorney's Office for the
Southern District of West Virginia had
announced in September that it would not
pursue civil rights violations in the case.
Lee noted that Logan County prosecu
tors have gotten one conviction on a state hate cnmes charge.
Authorities say 21 -year-old Megan Williams of Charleston
was held captive for several days last summer at Frankie
Brewster's trailer in Big Creek. In addition to beatings and
assaults, authorities said Williams was forced to eat animal feces
and was stabbed. She was rescued by sheriff's deputies on .Sept.
8 after they received an anonymous tip.
Karen Burton, 46, was the only defendant charged with a state
hate crime. She was sentenced last Thursday in Logan County
Circuit Court to 10 years for violating Williams' civil right?. She
also received separate two-to-10-year sentences for assault
charges.
State has first black female chief justice
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) - Justice Peggy Quince, who
attended segregated schools in her native Virginia, will be the first
black woman to lead the Florida Supreme Court or any branch of
state government.
Quince, 60, also will be the second African-American and
third woman to serve as chief justice when she begins her two
year term July 1. Her six colleagues Friday unanimously elected
Quince to succeed Chief Justice R. Fred Lewis, who will remain
on the court.
The chief justice also oversees the entire state court system.
Quince did not immediately' respond to an interview request
made through the high court's public information office. But she
issued a statement thanking her colleagues and saying she looks
forward to serving the people in her new capacity.
Quince is only the third black of either gender to serve on the
high court. She was jointly appointed on Dec. 8, 1998 by outgo
ing Gov. Lawton Chiles and incoming Gov. Jeb Bush. Chiles died
in office just four days later with less than a month left in his term .
She graduated from Howard University in 1970 and earned a
law degree from the Catholic University of America in 1975.
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t
Photo hv Kimberly P Mitchell/Detroit Free Press/MCl
Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick is back in the national headlines over recent comments.
Detriot mayor criticized for
exhuming buried racial slur
BY COREY WILLIAMS
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
DETROIT - Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick
stood before hundreds of people last summer and
triumphantly proclaimed: "Die, N-word, and we
don't want to see you 'round here no more."
But although Kilpatrick and other black leaders
symbolically buried the racial slur in a mock funer
al last July, he uttered it in his State of the City
address last week, which was carried live on local
television and radio stations.
Facing possible perjury charges from testimony
Cox
If
during a whistle-blowers' trial and criticism over sexu
ally explicit text messages he sent to his former top
aide, a defiant Kilpatrick lashed out at the media and
opponents. He said he and his family have been sub
jected to racial slurs, as well as threats over the past
month.
"In the past 30 days, I've been called a nigger more
than anytime in my entire life," said Kilpatrick. 37. "In
the past three days, I've received more death threats
than I have in my entire administration."
Kilpatrick's use of the slur drew a sharp response
See Kilpatrick cm A15
Paterson prepares for unexpected role as governor
BY VALERIE BAUMAN
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
ALBANY, New York -
Former lieutenant governor
David Paterson, who is legal
ly blind, was sworn in
Monday as New York state's
55th governor.
Just a week after the world
learned of Gov. Eliot Spitzer's
involvement in a prostitution
ring, Paterson will fifecome the
state's first black governor
and America's first legally
blind
chief
execu
tive to
serve
more
than a
few
days.
It's
n o t
exactly
take two
o f
Paterson
^pitzer s promised Day
One," but for many New
Yorkers it will be a welcome
fresh start after a week of hav
ing details of Spitzer's sordid
activities seep gradually into
the open.
Spitzer in his 2006 cam
paign had promised New York
that everything would change
from his first day in office. -
That ended last week when he
announced he would resign
after he was accused of spend
ing tens of thousands of dol
lars on prostitutes - including
a tryst with a 22-year-old call
girl in Washington the night
before Valentine's Day.
On Sunday, Paterson was
catching up on budget details
and preparing - and memoriz
ing -* his inauguration speech.
Paterson officially took
over before a joint session of
the Legislature in the
Assembly chamber. He spent
much of last week meeting
with Democrat and
Republican leaders in prepa
ration for his unexpected tran
sition.
The new governor was
Spitzer's lieutenant for just 14
months. Paterson has been a
Democratic state senator since
1985, representing parts of
Harlem and Manhattan's
Upper West Side.
He graduated from
Columbia University and
Hofstra School of Law.
His father, Basil, a former
state senator representing
Harlem and later New York's
first black secretary of state,
%
was part of a political fraterni
* ty that included fellow
Democrats U.S. Rep. Charles
Rangel, former New York
City Mayor David Dinkins -
the city's first black mayor -
and former Manhattan
Borough President Percy
Sutton.
"It's very daunting"
Paterson said Friday. ^1 defi
nitely feel anxiety ... but in
O
the end. we have a job to do.
And we're here to do that
job."
Federal prosecutors must
still decide whether to pursue
charges against Spitzer.
'A Symphony of Tniist\
PERFORMED BY . ?
The Winston-Salem Symphony
ROBERT MOODY, Music Director
A Symphony of Praise
Gospel Extravaganza wj ^ M k
Join the Winston-Salem Symphony, a special community
gospel chorus, and local vocalists for a celebration of gospel
music, from traditional spirituals to contemporary lifts.
SATURDAY, MARCH 29, 2008, 7:30 p.m. /
Reynolds Auditorium X ' !
Plugged- In Pops Series f /
I
Tickets from $15 to $50
For more information, call 336-464-0145
or visit www.wssymphony.org.
RJReynolds council
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JcSurjvu. ? I - muLLen