t
e
Washington, D.C. fire station
to be named for first black chief
WASHINGTON (AP) - D C. tire officials and communi- 1
ty leaders are celebrating the naming ot
a fire station in honor of the city's first
African American fire chief; - '
Burton Johjison was fire chief from
1473 to 1978. He first joined the depart- .
ment in 1943 and was originally
assigned Jto Engine Company 4. At the
time, it was ail all-black station in a seg
regated department.
Engine 4 is now located on
Sherman Avenue in northwest
Washington and it will be named in his
i ortdr i mi Saturday. Fire Chief Dennis
Johnson
Rubin Johnson s relatives and community leaders are expected
to attend the noon ceremony.
Mementos of Jackson buried
at storied Detroit cemetery
DETROIT (AP) - Woodlawn Cemetery is the final resting
place Tor civil rights pioneer Rosa Parks and many of the Motor
City's musical elite, including members of the Four Tops and
living legend Diana Ross also has y site reserved.
Michael Jackson is among them - in spirit, at least.
Hundreds of stuffed animals - some wearing a single white
glove - and other memorabilia left outside the Motown
Historical Museum in memory of the man whose career started
at Motown Records were buried Friday in two vaults at the
cemetery. Police led two hearses filled with the items and seven
cars with funeral flags flying in a procession from the museum
to the ceremony. >
The cemetery had two donated plots, and private companies
provided the free, vaults, and a granite headstone engraved with
a tribute to Jackson. About 40 people attended the cere/nony.
Mason said the hundreds of people offering flowers, letters,
cards, photos and other items to a temporary memorial outside
the- Motown niuseum wanted to share "pieces of our love for
Michael."
The 50-year-old Jackson died June 25 in California. He
signed to Motown Records in the late 1960s with his brothers
as the Jackson 5,
Billie Holiday statue
rededicated in Baltimore
| 1) . VJLTJLN lO Rt .LAP! - ^Baltimore statue of Billie Holiday I
now bears images evoking the anti-racism message of a song
recorded b\ the jazz icon in the 1030s.
I ... . ... .u . i_?
Holiday
JUM ilN U1C NLUipiAJI 1I11C11UCU.
Two panels at the statue's base - one
of a lynched man and another of a new
born baby - were part of the design, but
weren't included when the piece was
erected in 1985 in a West Baltimore
neighborhood.
At a rededication ceremony last
Frjday on the 50th anniversary of
Holiday's death. Baltimore Mayor
Sheila Dixon said people should view
the statue and the panels as a depiction
ot raw history.
Holiday, who lived in Baltimore as a child, recorded
"Strange Fruit." a jazz ballad condemning lynqhingsof blacks.
It was considered one of the first anti-racism songs infttnerican
popular music.
Boston offers loan to black paper
BOSTON (AP) - Boston Mayor Tom Menino says the city
is willing to offer a $200, 000 loan to prevent the city's finan
cially struggling African-American weekly newspaper from
shutting down permanently.
The 44-year-old Bay State Banner suspended publication
and taid off 12 employees this month, blaming a steep drop in
advertising.
Menino tells The Boston Globe that the loan will come from
the Boston Local Development Corp., a private nonprofit
administered by the Boston Redevelopment Authority that pro
vides cash to struggling small businesses.
The free paper has often been critical of Menino, but the
mayor says the loan in not an attempt to curry favor, but to help
a business that's important to the minority community. The
Banner's executive editor had no comment on the loan.
Obama chooses Berrien for EEOC
WASHINGTON (AP) President Barack Obama is choos
ing an NAAtr Legal Defense and
Educational Fund lawyer to chair the
Equal Employment Opportunity
Commission.
The White House announced
Obama's decision to nominate
Jacqueline Berrien last Thursday. *
She has been the fund's associate
director-counsel since September 2004.
The Harvard Law School graduate
also has worked for the Eord
Foundation's Peace and Social Justice
Program, the Lawyers' Committee for
Civil Rights and the American Civil
Berrien
Liberties Union.
In a statement, Obama notes Berrien's "passion and leader
ship" and says he's confident she will make sure the EEOC
lives up to its mission of eliminating discrimination in the
workplace.
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, N.C. 27101. Periodicals
postage paid at Winston-Salem, N.C. Annual subscription price
is $30.72.
POSTMASTER: Send address changes to:
The Chronicle, P.O. Box 1636
Winston-Salem, NC 27102-1636
Many older whites stayed
home for election in 2008
BY HOPE YEN " -
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
WASHINGTON- For all
the attention generated by
Barack Obama's candidacy,
the share of eligible voters
who actually cast ballots in
November declined for the
first time in a do/en years. The
reason: Older whiter with lit
tle interest in backing either
Barack Obama or John
McCain stayed home.
Census figures released
Monday show about 63.6 per
cent of the nation's eligible
voters, or 131.1 million peo
ple, voted last November.
Although that represented
an increase of 5 million voters
_ virtually all of them minori
ties - the turnout relative to
the population of eligible vot
ers was a decrease from 63.8
percent in 2004.
Ohio and Pennsylvania
were among those showing
declines in white voters, help
ing Obama carry those battle
ground states.
"While the significance of
minority votes for Obama is
clearly key, it can put be over
looked that reduced white
support for a Republican can
didate allowed minorities to
tip the balance in many slow
growing "purple' states," said
William H. Frey, a demogra
pher for Brookings Institution,
referring to key battleground
states . that . don't notably tilt
Democrat or Republican.
"The question I would ask
is if a continuing stagnating
economy could change that,"
he said.
According to census data.
66 percent of whites voted last
November, down 1 percentage
point from 2004. Blacks
increased their turnout by 5
KRT Photo
The Obamas celebrate victory last November.
percentage points to 65 per
cent, nearly matching whites.
Hispanics improved turnout
by 3 percentage points, and
Asians by 3-5 percentage
points, each reaching a turnout
of nearly 50 percent. In ail.
minorities made up nearly- 1 in
4 voters in 2008. the most
diverse electorate ever.
By age, voters l8-to-24
were the only group to show a
statistically significant
increase in turnout, with 49
percent casting ballots, com
pared with 47 percent in 2004.
Blacks had the highest
turnout rate among this age
group - 55 percent, or an S
percentage point jump from
2004. In contrast, turnout for
whites 18-24 was basically
Hat at 49 percent. Asians and
Hispanics in that age group
increased to 41 percent and 39
percent, respectively.
Among whites 45 and
older, turnout fell 1 .5 percent
age point to just under 72 per
cent.
Asked to identify their rea
sons for not voting. 46 percent
of all whites said they didn't
'like the candidates, weren't
interested or had better things
to do. up, from 4 J percent in
2(X>4. Hispanics had similar
numbers for both years.
Not surprisingly, blacks
showed a sharp increase in
interest.
Among the blacks who
failed to vote last fall most
cited problems such as illness,
being out of town or trans
portation issues. Just 16 per
cent of nonvoting blacks cited
See N oting on A7
AARP's first black leader looks ahead
BY PHAROfi "MARTIN
NNPA NATIONAL
CORRESPONDENT
WASHINGTON - Since
taking over in April as CEO
of AARP. the nation's top
advocacy group for people
over 50, A. Barry Rand has
been asked the same question
by reporters, as well as oth
ers.
They want to know if a
quintessential "grey suit"
who has been long-known as
a corporate America change
agent can successfully transi
tion into somebody who can
lead a non-prpfit group with
nearly 40 million members.
"Quite frankly. 1 didn't
understand the question when
it was first asked." Rand mar
veled during an interview in
his office at the AARP
national headquarters in
northwest Washington, D.C.
"I never thought what profes
sional path you took would
determine in your heart what
you felt society should be. 1
am a child of the sixties, and
in the Sixties you had to be
about social change."
Unlike his predecessor.
Bill Novelli, who served in
non-profit leadership posi
tions. Rand has a private sec
tor past. Before making his
tory as the first Black CEO of
AARP, the nation's largest
membership organization,
and before becoming one of
the first African-Americans
to lead any Fortune 500 com
pany - Avis ? this son of the
Civil Rights era, worked for
Xerox for 30 years. There, he
rose through the corporate
ranks and spearheaded
Xerox's corporate diversity
initiatives.
In fact. Rand's profes
sional career began at 24 as
Xerox's only Black sales rep
resentative in Washington,
D C., and nationally one of its
top salesmen.
' "When I initially grew up
in Washington. D.C., it was a
segregated city. So, up until
the fifth grade, my color
determined where I lived and
where I went to school," he
says about the upbringing
that shaped the principles that
guide his life and ultimately
led him to this new position.
"We were all about communi
ty building. My grandfather
was a Methodist minister. My
parents were all about two
AARP Photo
A. Barry Rand
things - achievement and
social change. That is what
you were supposed to do.
And the theory was that you
had a better opportunity to
drive social change if you
were also achieving, because
people would listen to you.
So I was always involved in
issues of that time."
Those issues included
civil rights, rights for the
aging, women's rights and
rights for the poor. They are
issues that were intrinsic to
the diversity programs Rand
set up at Xerox and are issues
for which he now advocates
at AARP.
"It doesn't matter what
you called it; we were open
ing doors to the American
dream." reflects Rand, who
also serves as volunteer
chairman of the Howard
University Board of Trustees.
"What you were doing pro
fessionally was only half of
your brain. The other half of
your brain is to what do I do
to change America, and your
heart was 1(X) percent what
do I do to change America."
The tall, mild-mannered
cfeo smiles reflectively, sit
ting in his spacious office
above Washington's populous
downtown area. He has a
direct view to the U.S.
Capitol, where AARP fiercely ,
lobbies.
Headquartered in D.C..
AARP is powerful not only
because of the sheer number
of members that it has, but
also because - at 5 1 years old
- it represents a demographic
that is one of the most active
and sought after voting blocs
in politics.
If AARP achieves its mis
sion. then it will have helped
achieve the American dream
for millions of Americans,
Rand says.
"We happen to be in a
business that if we get put out
of business then America
would be a better place," he
smiles. "Our real challenge is
demographics. If you flash
forward. 40 percent of the
population will be people of
color. And so, we have to
make sure that we are rele
vant and supportive. We must
continue to make sure that we
listen and represent the new
demographics."
This is a precarious
moment for Rand, AARP and
its agenda. Financial security
and health care - two issues
that have always been central
to AARP's existence - are
now priorities for the
President of the United
States,
"Affordability and
access," says Rand as he
describes what he believes
any viable health care bill
must have if it is to be passed
through Congress. "Without
those, you cannot have the
American dream."
With the new health care
Set- Rand on A7
Forsyth county
Bail Bonding
Selester Stewart, Jr.
'Serving you when others want
Office : (336) 727-0606
Pager: (866) 304-0973
\ Cell: (336) 399-2889 }
'E-mail: selesterb@aol.com'
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JULY 23
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-JULY 24
MATT MARSHAK
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Friday at Downtown Jan"
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JULY 25
BIG RON HUNTER
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