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Cliarlotte Bosit
VOLUME 19, No. 20
THURSDAY DECEMBER 30,1993
50 CENTS
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Community
Neighborhood
notes. 3A
Kwanzaa celebration at the Afro-
American Cultural Center and
people making news are fea
tured.
Arts &
Entertainment
Taking to the
stage. 1B
John Amos, who's most recog
nized for his roles in the televi
sion series "Good Times" and
miniseries "Roots," comes to
the stage in "Halley's Comet."
Lifestyles
Sister Act. 7A
Beatrice White and Lillie Mont
gomery, sisters who have just
celebrated their 94th and 90th
birthdays, have lived according
to one motto: "Just live right." It
must be working: They're still
quite active in their community
and don't anticipate slowing
down anytime soon.
Religion
Watch night
tradition. 9A
Watch night, a tradition in black
churches for years, is a special
time. While ushering in a new
year, worshippers take time out
to give thanks for the year that's
ending. •
Sports
New Year's
rematch. 7
S.C. State and
Southern pre
pare to meet
each other
again in the Her
itage Bowl in At
lanta.
INDEX
Opinion/Editorials 4A-5A
Lifestyles 7A
Around Charlotte 8A
Religion 9A
Church News 12A
Arts & Entertainment IB
What’s Up 5B
Sports 7B
Classified 12B
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©The Charlotte Post
Publishing Company
NEWSHIEER or THE TEUt
The Rev. James Barnett
Champion
of Stop The
Killing
Crusade
By Cassandra W}mn
THE CHARLOTTE POST
Like him or not, Rev. James
Barnett has become tlie voice
of any attempt to curli crime
in Charlotte's black commu
nities.
He is heard more than any
other lamenting the fact that ‘
about 80 percent of the mur-
der victims are black. By:
Wednesday, the murder count
was a record 122 for tlie year
But his criticism ol black-
on-black crime as well as
black leadership has not giv
en some folks any reason to
use terms of endeamicnt
about him, especially among
black leadership.
Consistently on the scene
with his drug patrols in
crime-ridden neinlibor-.
hoods, anti-crime candle
light vigils, fliers, letters-to-
the-editor, press conferences,
appeals to Charlotte City
Council and Mecklenburg
County Commlssionei s, Har
nett won't go away.
Always out front
He is no Johimy-come late
ly to activism. Howe>^''r. for
all the protests Barnett
launched or participated in,
he has not garnered what he
feels he has earned - respect
among black leadership. Yet
in many ways, he is where he
wants to be - in the streets.
"My longing has always
been to be out there helping
people the street," said the
48-year-old Barnett. "I am an
activist out there steadily."
For about 25 years, he has
been a lone warrior of sorts
in battle.
Before organizing the Cru
sade, Barnett had made six
visits to Nicaragua with a
purpose of seeing how the
See BARNETT On Page 2A
The Rev. James Barnett has been an outspoken advocate for reduchog violent crime among
African Americans, although his confrontational style Isn't endearing to some criUcs.
1993:
Year of
change
NATIONAL NEWSPAPER
PUBLISHERS ASSOCIATION
People of African descent
made plenty of news in 1993.
The following list reflects
the top 10 news stories, and
issues that appeared in AfiT-
can American-oriented
newspapers during the peri
od between Oct. 23 and Nov.
23.
The Issues most frequently
reported appearing recently
m black newspapers' news
stories, features, and com
mentaries were:
• Big city election results:
Nov. 2 was marked by signif
icant wins and loses among
black candidates. Black
mayors no longer control
leading cities such as New
York, Philadelphia, Chicago
and Los Angeles.
• New Jersey gubernatorial
election controversy involv
ing pay-off of black mini
sters to discourage African
American voter turnout.
• The signing of NAFTA -
North American Free Trade
Agreement - and its poten
tial economic impact on Af
rican Americans. The win
for President Clinton and
NAFTA supporters came de
spite the majority of Con
gressional Black Caucus
members voted against this
legislation.
• UiP an., and black-on-
olack ci Jne dominated pages
of newspapers across the na
tion. President Clinton gives
a speech at the Tennessee
church where Martin Luther
King Jr. last spoke. Clinton
addresses problem of black-
on-black crime and gave
views on what can be done to
solve this problem.
• Clifton Wharton's resig
nation from the number
three position at the U.S.
State Department. The Afri
can American left his diplo
matic post due to pressure be
ing applied at top levels of
the State Department. Whar
ton's departure labeled by
blacks as his being the ad
ministration's "scapegoat."
See EVENTS On Page 2A
Black doctors launch
plan to improve
health by year 2000
By William Reed
NATIONAL NEWSPAPER
PUBLISHERS ASSOCIATION
As the nation and African
Americans wait for the Clin
ton health plan to take
shape, black physicians are
initiating their own.
The National Medical As
sociation (NMA) has a pro
gram that Is being Imple
mented now to make sure
blacks are healthier by the
year 2000. In 1985, the U.S.
Department of Health and
Human Services (DHHS) re
ported 60,000 minority
Americans die annually
from diseases which can be
prevented or cured. Now, the
NMA, in conjunction with
DHHS, the Environmental
Protection Agency and the
National Institutes of
Health, have designed a com
munity health coalition pro
ject in 15 cities across the
country to educate African
Americans on the risk fac
tors which cause sickness
and premature death.
"The community health co
alition project is designed to
educate African Americans
on the risk factors which
cause sickness and prema
ture death so that the neces
sary precautions can be tak
en to extend and Improve the
quality of life in the African
American community by the
year 2000," said Dr. Richard
Butcher, Immediate past
president of the NMA.
He also reports that in re
gards to health equity,
America's blacks and whites
are far from equal. Blacks
have the highest cancer rate
of any U.S. group. African
Americans die an average of
five years earlier than
whites. Blacks suffer from
hypertension 33 percent
more than whites. And,
blacks and Hispanlcs repre
sent 22 percent of all people
with diabetes. Blacks die
from strokes almost three
times as often as whites.
The NMA reports that most
of the reasons for these
health problems among
blacks is because of behav
ior, such as tobacco con
sumption, obesity and im
proper diet. NMA doctors
contend that the prescrip
tion for better health for
blacks is to teach preven
tion.
See HEALTH On Page 6A
A CAROLINA CONNECTION
PHOTO/CALVIN FERGUSON
Teshlka Pharr, Livingstone College President Bernard Franklin and Mellsa McCray (left to
right) have benefitted from the United Negro College Fund's impact on the Salisbury school.
Livingstone College ’Has a lot to offer’
But McCray was one of seven children and
her parents were not able to send a daughter
without a scholarship to college.
Thanks to' some loving in-laws and a Unit
ed Negro College Fund-supported college, Liv
ingstone College in Salisbury, McCray, 28, Is
well on her way to getting her wish.
"Livingstone College has a lot to offer,"
said McCray, the mother of two children. "By
being small. It helps those who feel they can’t
By John Minter
POST CORRESPONDENT
Mellsa McCray thought she would spend her
life working in the textile mills around Salis-
buiy.
While her brothers and sisters made the
honor roll in high school, she struggled for
C's. Deep down inside she wanted to teach, to
help children like herself who seemed to take
a little longer to catch on.
See LIVINGSTONE On Page 6A