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THE CHARLOTTE POST
am i · " "
VOL. 4 NO. 21
1 '
"Charlotte's Fastest Growing Community Weekly
CHARLOTTE, NORTH CAROLINA-28208-Thursday, Dec. 1, 1977
BLACK NEWSPAPERS
EFFECTIVELY REACH
BY FAR. MORE
BLACK CONSUMERS
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PRETTY BRENDA LEE
^..16-year-old taurus
West Charlotte High Junior
Is "Beauty Of The Week"
oy jeri narvey
Post Staff Writer
Pretty Brenda Lee, a West
Charlotte High School Junior,
is the Post Beauty of the
Week.
This 16 year old Taurus is ar
outdoor girl who enjoys tennis,
jogging and all kinds of sports.
The daughter of Mr. and
Mrs. Shirley Fitch, Brenda
has twin sisters, and a young
er sister. Her father is em
ployed at Celaneses and her
mother works at Park Place
Pharmacy.
Kignt now Brenda is busy
with school work and a part
time job at Wendy's Restau
rant but she has plans to go to
New York to become a profes
sional model. With her 115 lbs.
well distributed over a 5'6"
frame, her chances are pro
bably very good for success.
Asked if she had any idea
how much hard work is in
volved L: becoming and re
maining a top model, she said,
"Yes, I know it won't be all
that easy but I'm willing to
make the effort. It's what I
icaujr waill IU UU. OI1C bclIU
she's talked to some local
models and they've given her
a good idea of what she could
expect.
At West Charlotte Brenda
enjoys history best of all her
courses and says Ms. Leamon
is her favorite teacher. "I
like her because she fusses at
me all the time for being late
to class and stuff like that."
she laugned. She went on to
explain that she knew Ms.
Leamon's "fussing" showed
that she really cared about her
students.
As a typical teenager, Bren
da likes music, "All kinds,"
she said, but especially Mo
ther's Finest, Brick, Trans
Europe Express and the Com
modores. LaBelle is her favo
rite single recording star.
There is no steady boyfriend
in Brenda's life. She said she
enjoys dating but feels she
doesn't want to be tied down to
une person just yet.
Brenda and her family are
members of Mount Carmel
Baptist Church and Rev Leon
Riddick is her pastor.
Conference lo rocus Un
}
Criminal Justice System
By Jeri Harvey
Post Staff Writer
The first statewide confer
ence on Blacks and the North
Carolina Criminal Jus .e Sys
tem will be held in Raleigh
Thursday, December 1 with
United States Representative
John Conyers ( D-Mich. ) as the
keynote speaker at the 1 p.m.
session.
Congressman Conyers is a
member of the House Judicia
ry Committee and chairs its
Sub-committee on Crime. He
successfully introduced the
Community Anti-Crime Assis
tance Act which lead to the
establishment of the Commu
ne Anti-Crime Division of
ί,Έ.Α.Α. Mr. Conyers is a
member of the Congressional
Black Caucus of which he
nhaïre tKe »v* innl I ■ **> t ■
Braintrust.
Eeginal Eaves, Commis
sioner of Public Safety, Atlan
ta, Georgia will speak at the
dinner session.
Eaves, the first black to
head the Police and Fire
Departments in Atlanta, has
succeeded in eliminating mu
ch of the discrimination in the
delivery of police and fire
services. His speech will focus
on what blacks in North Caro
lina can learn from his experi
ence in trying to correct past
injustices.
ι The North Carolina-Virginia
Commission for Racial Jus
tice, in conjunction with the
North Carolina Association of
1 · '
black Lawyers, North Caro
lina chapter of National Asso
ciation of Blacks in Criminal
Justice and the Criminal Jus
tice Departments of Fayette
ville State and Shaw Universi
ty are sponsors of the confer
ence.
On Friday, December 2, the
National Minority Advisory
Council (NMAC) to the Law
Enforcement Assistance Ad
ministration (LEAA) of the
U.S. Justice Department will
conduct a public hearing to
consider testimony about the
North Carolina Criminal Jus
tice process and its impact on
minorities. This hearing is a
part of a national effort by the
NMAC to develop goals and
standards on criminal justice
to guide LEAA in future inter
action with minority groups.
The hearing will begin at 10
a.m. and last all day.
The conference and hear
ing are being called in re
sponse to the many com
plaints that Blacks have re
gistered against the seeming
inequities that exist within the
North Carolina Criminal Jus
tice process., e.g. courte, po
lice, corrections and related
ί* rfonrtioe
For years Blacks have voic
ed concern about the extreme
ly high percentage of Blacks
incarcerated in the prison sys
tem and the extremely low
percentage of Black judges in
this state Blacks have contin
ually complained about ram
pant discrimination in the re
cruiting, hiring and promotion
of Blacks as employees in law
enforcement, and courts and
other ciminal justice agen
cies. A casual look at the
criminal justice process would
suggest that Blacks are not
qualified as workers in the
system and that blacks are
only desirable as criminal
defendants and-or prisoners
Attorney James Ferguson,
who will participate in the
conference as a resource per
son and workshop consultant,
said he feels the significance
of the conference is that
blacks are beginning to look at
how their lives are affected by
the criminal justice system
Be KIND to your FRIENDS.
If it WEREN'T for THEM
you'd be a total STRANGER
t or Wilmington 10
Local Black Ministers Τ ο
* é, .i
Ι- '
Lead March On State Capitol
NAACP Urges
Industry To
Use Blacks
WASHINGTON - The chair
man of the NAACP Committee
on Energy said that the nation
must seek the means for ex
panding and continuing econo
mic growth in order to provide
jobs for all its citizens. This
need was particularly urgent
in the current energy crisis.
So he called on the major oil
companies to "seek out and
utilize the training and ta
lents" of blacks in the indus
try.
Speaking at the NAACP na
tional Energy Conference in
Washington, James Stewart
Sr., a member of the Associa
tion's National Board of Di
rectors, said that basic to the
energy crisis is the need to
close the supply-demand gap.
Blacks, he said, "should sup
port α national strategy to
increase domestic production
and oil and gas reserves over
the short term. This approach
would provide time for the
development of alternate re
sources. %
He explained that the NAK
CP was acting its "historic,
role as the agitator" in calling
the conference. The NAACP,
he said, was concerned about
the burden that rising energy
costs place on low and middle
income minorities. It was ge
nerally felt, he said, that most
proposals for meeting the en
ergy crisis so far lacked "the
imagination and-or the basic
elements to distribute fairly
needed energy to the poor and
proverty level citizens."
ESC Notifying 96,000
Of New U1 Tax Rates
The Employment Security
Commission has been notify
ing some 96,000 employers in
North Carolina of their new
1978 unemployment insurance
tax rates. '
The rates are being mailed
from the agehcy's central of
fice in Raleigh, according to
local ESC manager Claudie
Lewis, Jr. He says the new tax
schedule provides a minimum
of .1 percent of taxable pay
rolls up to a maximum of 5.7
percent.
Explaining that employers
support the unemployment in
surance program through
payroll taxes, Lewis says the
1977 General Assembly amen
ded the State's unemployment
insurance law to provide a
more equitable schedule for
employers who have few wor
kers unemployed.
For some, the new schedule
means lower taxes, but for
others, specifically those who
have overdrawn unemploy
ment insurance accounts, the
tax can go up to the 5.7 percent
maximum.
The current taxable payroll
is the first $4,200 earned by
each covered worker
But this amount increases to
t6,000 per worker January 1, a
provision required by federal
statues to restore funds de
pleted during the 1975 reces
sion
North Carolina's unemploy
ment insurance fund dropped
from $575 million to just over
$200 million during the reces
sion
The average UI tax paid by
Tarheel employers is about
two percent.
Everybody loves a parade and the only thing
better than watching one is being in it and
marching to the soiled uf the big baruis while
the crowds cheer from the sidewalks The
Fancy Pants Brigade, featuring an odd
assortment of elowns, trampe and animals of
indeterminant species, got the chance to strut
their stuff in Charlotte's annua! Thanksgiving
Day parade and loved every minute of it
Photo by Jim Black.
Ms. Mary Tyson Wonders
ilf Cherry's Neighborhood
On Verge Of Being Destroyed?
By Jacquie Levister
Post Staff Writer
Remember the old neigh
borhood of Brooklyn and First
Ward? Kemember the activity
and comradery those commu
nities possessed? Most impur
tantly. remember the demise
of those neighborhoods0
"We are simply afraid that
another black neighborhood is
on the verge of being destroy
ed, lamented Mrs Tyson, a
member of the Cherry Neigh
borhood Association. "When
you look at other neighbor
hoods that have been com
pletely wiped out, with little
regard to the effect on these
people displaced in the name
of progress, you feel that you
might fight to maintain that
which contains your roots,"
Ms. Tyson adamantly continu
ed
Mary Tyson was born and
reared in the Cherry neigh
borhood on Waco Street. She
returned to her old neighbor
hood in 1972, after having lived
in Portsmouth, New Hamp
shire. for its proximity to her
mother and because of her
affinity for the area.
The issue of immediate con
:ern to Ms. Tyson and the
neighborhood organization is
a parcel of land petitioned, by
an absentee owner, to the city
council for rezoning to "facili
Late business usage." To resi
ients of the area the petition is
■>ne of a long line of potential
threats to the community of
the neighborhood
"We have been made a lot of
vociferous promises about im
provements that are to be
iec CHERUY <>n Page 13
r mends, Colleagues Will Honor
Dr. El ο Henderson Here Sunday
By Jeri Harvey
Poet Staff Writer
Dr. Elo Leon Henderson will
be honored by his friends and
colleagues with an Apprecia
tion Dinner Sunday, Dec. 4, in
the Johnson C. Smith Student
Union.
Effective Dec. 31, Dr. Hen
derson will retire as Associate
Executive for the Synod of the
Piedmont and Executive
Presbyter of Catawba, Inter
Preebytery Program Agency,
a position he has held since
1973 when the Synod of the
Catawba and of the Chesa
peake merged Prior to that
time he had been Executive of
the Synod of Catawba since
1955.
As an Associate Synod Exe
cutive of the Synod of the
Piedmont he was responsible
for the development of bud
gets as well as developing
programs and serving as con
sultant to judicatories and
agencies within the Synod, as
related to strategy, program
and resources,
Born in Shelton. S.C. in 1909,
Dr Henderson was one of 14
children. His father. Rev Eli
jah T. Henderson, was an
AME Zion minister and his
mother. Esse Elizabeth Parr
Henderson was Baptist.
Forced to leave school at an
early age due to economic
problems common to that era.
Dr. Henderson returned to
school at the age of twenty and
was assigned to the fifth gra
de. Ten years later he grad
uated from Johnson C Smith
University with the Β S. de
gree and three years later
received a B.D from that
same institution.
His first pastorates were
Bensalem and Lloyd Presby
terian Churches and he be
came an organizing minister
of the Grier Heights Presbyte
rian Church, where he served
for 12 years
Dr Henderson's many civic
accomplishments include or
ganizing the Charlotte Fronti
er's Association to help secure
jobs for blacks as bus drivers
and organizing the Charlotte
Opportunities Industrializa
tion Center. Inc.
He was chiefly responsible
for organizing the group a 20
ministers who met with Gov
Hunt recently, requesting par
don for the Wilmington 10. an
effort which he ruefully term
ed "fruitless'' since the gov
ernor has yet to act in respon
se to that and other pleat
made on behalf of the convict
ed men.
In 1967 he was named Citi
zen of the Year by the Omega
Psi Phi Fraternity, in 1970 was,
named Most Outstanding Citi
zen by the l,as Amigas.
Four years ago, in 1973. Dr.
Henderson led a tour of 63
persons to Fast Africa. Des
cribing it as 'one of the
highlights'" of his life he said,
"When I was a very young boy
my grandfather, who wai
brought to this country in
slave chains, used to take me
on his lap and tell me about his
home. I was too young to
remember much of it but I can
clearly remember him telling
me that someday he would
take me back home ' Of cour
se he never did it, but when 1
was able to go to Africa I
thought about him and wished
he could know that, at last I
had returned to the land of m<
ancestors "
On the tour, the group visit
ed Tanzanier. Ethiopia, Kgy
pt. and returned through Swit
zerland
Now that retirement is ap
proaching. Dr Henderson
Dr Elo Henderson
Plans to retire
plans to "just get away from
everything for a while." He'd
like to do some hunting, fish
ing. golfing, maybe a little
gardening, all the things he's
been unable to do during his
many years of service to the
Presbyterian Church
There are plans, too, for a
book on his experiences work
ing with the church
He also said he looks for
ward to spending more time
with Mrs Henderson, the for
mer Doris Stephens of Gaff
ney. S C They have one dau
ghter. Sula
Rally Set
For Sunday
December 9
By Jeri Harvey
Post Staff Writer
At least six local ministers,
led by Rev. James Ε Barnett.
plan to lead a march on the
state capitol in Raleigh on
behalf of the Wilmington 10
The march, which will be
preceded by a rally on the
Johnson C. Smith University
(JCSL'i campus Sunday, Dec
9, will leave the University of
North "Carolina · Charlotte
( UNC-C ι campus at 10 a m on
Dec 10 and proceed to Ra
leigh, stopping in many of the
larger cities on the way. hope
fully to gain support from
local minsiters and citizens
along the way
It is expected the group will
arrive in Raleigh on the even
ing of December 17 and a rally
is (jidiuit-u nitre un irtc lonow
ing day. On iMonday, Dec 19
the leaders hope to meet with
Governor Hunt to discuss the
famed case of the 10 persons
convicted ol crimes perpe
trated during racial linrest in
Wilmington during the early
70s and to ask for their pardon
This meeting has not yet been
confirmed.
Speaking for the group, who
call themselves the Concerned
Ministers, Kev Barnett said.
"What we're trying to do is
keep the pressure on the
governor He needs to know
that we voted him in and next
time we can vote him out. He
is first of all a politician, he
doesn't see people, he sees
votes and when he feels enou
gh pressure he'll act in re
sponse to it."
Barnett said the claim has
been made that most of the
interest and concern shown
for the Wilmington 10 has
come from outside North Ca
rolina, including foreign coun
tries and it is the hope of those
involved in this effort that the
people of North Carolina can
be aroused to make their
feelings known and demand
the immediate pardon and
release of the prisonsers. all
except one of whom are still
incarcerated
A petition drive will begin in
local churches on Sunday and
the petition will be presented
to the governor on Dec 19
Citizens are also being urged
to write to the governor in
support of the "10."
The list of participants in
Lhe rally on December 9 inclu
des County Commissioner Bob
Walton and Dr Helen Othoif,
sister of Ben Chavis. one of the
Wilmington-10
The ministers who plan to
b«'gin the march with Rev
Barnett include Rev James
Palmer, University Park Bap
tist Church, Rev John Kppe,
St Marks Umteo Methodist
Church, Hev George Battle,
Gethsemane ΑΜΕ Ζιοη Chur
ch; Rev. Preston Pender
grass, Antioch Baptist Chur
ch, and Rev Raymond Wors
ley, Grier Heights Presbyteri
an Church
Manny Clark and some of
the WG1V disc jockeys are
also expected to join the mar
ch along with members of the
North Carolina Alliance for
Racial Justice and students
from JCSU and UNCC. The
marchers will assemble on the
UNC C student parking lot at 9
a m to begin the journey they
hope will end in a victory for
their cause