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REGIONAL
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 3, 1996
Maya Angelou’s poetry moves into a musical arena
By Paul Nowell
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
WINSTON-SALEM - The
stirring poem Maya Angelou
delivered at Bill Clinton’s
inauguration nearly four years
ago has been set to music and
will be performed here for the
first time this weekend.
Angelou will step up to the
microphone as she did on that
Figure
it out
S.C. program
introduces
kids to math
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
CHARLESTON, S.C. -
Algebra plus civil rights multi
plied by a little time and
patients equals success for
black students - that’s the
message of The Algebra
Project Inc.
About 20 community leaders
and educators met Saturday to
figure out how the project
could get off the ground in
South Carolina.
Bob Moses, who started the
program, says math skills are
becoming crucial to economic
security and equality.
However, minorities and
whites from low-income fami
lies sometimes miss out on
more challenging math cours
es necessary in a high-tech
world.
“I didn’t see where algebra
had anything to do with civil
rights,” said Dave Dennis, a
former lawyer from Jackson,
Miss., who has been working
with Moses on spreading the
project in the South.
But Moses convinced him by
pointing out that while litera
cy was a big issue in the past
becausi it was connected with
the right to vote, technology is
creatiii more challenges now.
Part the problem is not
what ! b; ing taught, but how
it is being taught, Dennis said.
“We were brought up to
memorize,” Dennis said, but
the focus should shift to more
analytical skills.
Those who avoid or fail alge
bra cannot go to more
advanced courses, college or
higher-paying jobs. “Algebra is
not a difficult course, but it’s a
gatekeeper course,” Dennis
said.
“I think it helps kids to learn
in a different way,” said John
Gee, a student shown in a pro
ject videotape.
chilly Inauguration Day in
1993 and this time will nar
rate the musical composition
based on her poem, “On The
Pulse of Morning.”
Despite her impressive
resume as a poet, dancer,
actress, playwright, civil
rights activist and educator,
Angelou says she’ll be nervous
when the curtain goes up
Saturday night at Wake Forest
University.
“I always get butterflies,” she
said this week in an interview
at Wake Forest, where she is
the Reynolds Professor of
American Studies.
“Since Dawn (A Tone Poem
for Narrator, Chorus and
Orchestra based on Maya
Angelou’s ‘On the Pulse of
Morning)” will be premiered
by the Winston-Salem
Piedmont Triad Symphony at
Wait Chapel on the Wake
Forest campus.
TTie 8 p.m. performance is
part of Wake Forest’s “Year of
the Arts” celebration, which
also will feature appearances
by soprano Beverly Sills and
the Alvin Ailey Repertory
Ensemble.
Angelou, who once said poets
were not valued in this coun
try, was surprised when a lot
of people told her that they
Angelou
watched her
deliver her
poem on the
steps of the
U.S. Capitol.
“I’m happy
to say a num
ber of poets’
voices are
now being
heard,” she
said as she
sipped her
Act of faith in Concord
Liberty Primitive Baptist Church pastor Harry Love III, examining damage to the sanctuary in August, hopes the community
will help support fund raising activities to repair the building
Church starts fund raising drive
By Herbert L. White
THE CHARLOTTE POST
A Concord church is trying to
raise the roof - literally - for its
place of worship.
Liberty Primitive Baptist
Church is starting a fund rais
ing campaign to rebuild its
sanctuary, damaged Aug. 8
when the roof collapsed on the
structure. Donations to repair
the church totaling $6,000
have come from Concord and
surrounding communities, but
more is needed, said pastor
Harry Love III.
“We may be small in number,
but we are committed to
rebuilding our church at its
present location,” he said.
Worship services have been
held at temporary locations
since the roofs collapse at the
church, located at 656 Central
Ave. in the Shankletown com
munity. Liberty Primitive’s 200
members have been supportive
of efforts to raise money for
repairs through several activi
ties, and Love is confident
their work will be rewarded.
“I would be hard-pressed to
find a group of people more
dedicated than these,” he said.
“However, this is not an easy
situation to overcome and we
can use as much assistance
from the public as possible.”
Tb contribute, mail checks or
money orders to Liberty
Restoration Fund, 6522
Heatherbrook Avenue,
Charlotte, N.C. 28213-6039.
Gaston grooming to
help people with
HIV at fund raiser
By Herbert L. White
THE CHARLOTTE POST
Good grooming can help people
suffering from HIV and AIDS.
'The Gaston Cosmetology
Association will sponsor the
fourth annual Grooming For
Life Cut-A-Thon Oct. 12 from 10
a.m.-4 p.m. at Gaston Mall.
The cut-a-thon is a fund raiser
for the Patrick Fund, a program
of the AIDS Council of Gaston
County, which provides emer
gency assistance to HIV-infected
men, women and children who
need medical care, clothing,
rent, food and other essentials.
Chents from the Gaston County
Health Dept., Gaston Hospice
and House of Mercy have
received $15,000 from the
Patrick Fund.
Haircuts are $7, haircut and
blow dry is $10. Manicures are
$10 and acrylic nails are $25. At
2 p.m., an auction of arts, crafts
and other items, including
sports collectibles will be held
and raffle winners will be chosen
at 4 p.m. for a 25-inch color tele
vision and an expenses-paid trip
to Las Vegas.
The Patrick Fund is named
after a Gaston County resident
who died of AIDS at age 23. At
his death, Patrick’s family
requested cash memorials to
establish a living tribute to him,
and in 1990, the fund was start
ed by the AIDS Council. All
donations are used to help peo
ple living with HIV and AIDS.
For more information, call
Glenda Carpenter or Patsy
Smith-Waiters at 824-3702.
2 LC students had excellent summer
By Carol Meeks
FOR THE CHARLOTTE POST
SALISBURY — Two Livingstone College stu
dents spent their summer immersed in acade
mics.
Sequita Morris, a biology major from Dallas,
Texas, spent the summer at the Medical
Education Development program at UNC-
Chapel Hill. Sharon Corpening, a Salisbury
native, went to Australia as a recipient of the
International Research Training Program
Grant.
Morris made the decision to participate after
considering other possibilities for study,
including the Rockefeller University SURF
program and Baylor/Rice University’s Pre-
Honors Summer Enrichment program.
Morris, one of several students selected from
East Coast colleges, said the UNC program
was the best choice and required the most
work.
“I have always set standards of excellence for
myself and the standards of the MED program
showed me that I was capable of more than I
ever conceived,” she said. “I worked harder
than I have ever worked, and that’s saying a
lot.”
The MED curriculum consisted of courses in
biochemistry, gross anatomy, histology, physi
ology and microbiology. The grueling pace of
the program required 12-14 hours of study per
day during the week and 18 hours or more on
weekends. Students faced teats on three or
four subjects every Monday.
Morris was fascinated to cut cadavers and
correctly identify major arteries, veins and
nerves and the organs they supply.
Corpening was the only student representing
Livingstone. Her fellowship covered educa
tional costs in Australia, including tuition and
fees, insurance, meals and lodging and trans
portation. The grant offers undergraduate stu
dents in biomedical and behavioral sciences a
chance to study at the University of
Wollongong.
Corpening, a single mother of two adult chil
dren, said: “This was one of the best experi
ences I have ever had in my life. I had been
told a lot of negative things about Australia
before I went, but I found the people to be very
friendly. I really did learn a lot in my studies
and in my living experiences.”
morning coffee in her comfort
able office, which contains
some of the awards she has
won, including two Grammys.
Dan Locklair, the universi
ty's composer-in-residence who
wrote the arrangement, pro
posed the idea of putting
Angelou’s poem to music to his
longtime colleague.
“She gave me nothing but
warm support,” he said.
Districts
declared
illegal
Nine don’t
pass court test
in S. Carolina
By Robert Tanner
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
COLUMBIA, S.C. - Nine of
South Carolina's legislative dis
tricts have been ruled unconsti
tutional because race was the
major factor in drawing them,
but federal judges said they can
be used for November’s elec
tions.
Similar rulings in other states
and the U.S. Supreme Court in
recent years are changing what
had been long-held views about
the way the federal Voting
Rights Act should be implement
ed.
Challengers applauded
Monday’s ruling as a message to
“stop playing the politics of
race.” While lawmakers who lost
say it won't have a big effect,
defenders of the status quo say it
will turn back the clock to a
Legislature run by white males.
Six state House districts and
three state Senate districts out
of 170 were declared imconstitu-
tional. The House districts were
redrawn in time for the 1994
elections but the Senate districts
were not approved until last
year.
“They were created with race
as the predominant factor,” the
judges wrote in a brief order.
Because ordering new elec
tions would create so much
havoc for the public and candi
dates, the judges said the dis
tricts cC'Uld remain imtil new
lines are drawn for the 1998
election.
“We should endeavor to avoid
disruption of the election process
by making unreasonable
demands,” the judges ruled.
If legislators fail to come up
with a plan that wins U.S.
Justice Department by April 1,
the judges said they will redraw
the maps.
The case was heard by U.S.
District Judges Joseph
Anderson and Matthew Perry
and by Judge Robert Chapman
of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of
Appeals.
The judges agreed unanimous
ly that the six House districts
were unconstitutional, but Perry
dissented in declaring the three
Senate districts unlawful.
Those who challenged the dis
tricts argued that an overem
phasis on race politically polar
ized the state by race, rather
than giving minorities a way to
elect candidates of their choice,
as the 1965 Voting Rights Act
envisioned.
“This sends a strong message
to the Legislature to stop play
ing the politics of race,” said
attorney Dick Harpootlian, a
white Democrat who argued
that House districts were drawn
with race as the overriding
emphasis.
Steve Bates, executive director
of the state chapter of the
American Civil Liberties Union,
predicted the ruling would
return the state to the days
when the Legislature had no
black lawmakers.