2A
NEWS/ The Charlotte Post
October 17,1996
Life as a
black
woman
NATIONAL NEWSPAPER
PUBLISHER ASSOCIATION
North State backs candidacy of Gov. Jim Hunt
>1
WASHINGTON - In the late
1960s, Grace Halsell, a white
woman, took medication to
darken her skin to work as a
black woman in Mississippi.
In her recently-published
memoirs, “In Their Shoes,”
Halsell says racial discrimina
tion remains
By Herbert L. White
THE CHARLOTTE POST
North Carolina’s largest
black law enforcement associ
ation has endorsed Gov. Jim
Hunt’s re-election bid.
The Old North State Law
Enforcement Officers
Association, which represents
African American officers
across N.C., threw its support
behind Hunt last week. It also
pledged to adopt Support Our
Students, an after-school
crime prevention program for
at-risk youth.
“Gov. Hunt has shown his
devotion to keeping violent t
criminals off our streets and
his support for all law enforce
ment officers,” said Angela
Rivers, president of North
State. “His efforts are improv
ing the quality of life for our
state by supporting education
for our youth to deter future
criminal
activity and
drug usage.”
Hunt has
made crime
deterrence a
central part
of his cam
paign, which
includes
Hunt more preven
tion programs like SOS. The
program brought 2,300 volun
teers together with 6,000 at-
risk youth in 52 counties.
North State officers will pro
vide volunteers and financial
support for the program.
Rivers said.
“We believe it is an out
standing effort to deter at-risk'-’
youngsters from future crime
involvement and drug usage
she said.
i.'/i
History that’s not in textbooks
Halsell
an American
dilemma.
In her best
selling book,
“Soul Sister,”
Halsell wrote
about her
experiences
as a southern
white woman
who lived as
a black
MELODYE MICERE STEWART
In the
spirit of
Ma’at
woman in
Mississippi. In her memoirs,
Halsell relates her experi
ences in the 1960s in the per
spective of current times.
“When I went to Mississippi to
seek work in the 1960s as a
black woman, the best job I
could get, back then, was
working for $5 a day as a
maid,” she said.
On one occasion, Halsell was
arrested for attending an all-
white church.
“If I darkened my skin
today,” Halsell writes, “I
wouldn’t be arrested for enter-
iiig an all uhiLc cliurch on
Sunday. But almost throe
decades later, we remain two
nations, black and white,
divided and unequal. And our
churches remain the most seg
regated institutions in
Americas.”
On returning to Mississippi
today, Halsell said, “Socially,
the same barriers are still pre
sent. African Americans have
made significant individual
gains, but class discrimination
based on race is as deep as
ever.”
According to Malcolm, “Of all
our studies, history is best qual
ified to reward our research.”
Indeed, all of our historical lead
ers have advocated the study of
one’s history as a prerequisite
for liberation, understanding
that self-knowledge is a critical
cornerstone for self-empower
ment. The next several editions
of “Ma’at” will provide a brief
introduction to some of the his
tory omitted from American his
tory books. Enslaved
Africans in America resisted the
“peculiar institution” of slavery
by “any means necessary.”
Historian Lerone Bennett
records numerous slave revolts,
individual acts of rebellion and
group insurrections; the first
serious conspiracy was recorded
in 1663. The passionate desire
for liberation was often accom
panied by a religious calling in
the minds and hearts of some of
the most fearless and coura
geous African Americans in his
tory.
Just as David Walker deftly
utilized the Bible in his “Appeal
to the Colored Citizens of the
World,” Gabriel Prosser was fas
cinated by the Old Testament.
Prosser’s plan was to liberate
the state of Virginia; he recruit
ed thousands of enslaved
Africans to rise up in rebellion.
(Bennett records the estimates
ranging from 2,000 to 50,000).
Armed with swords, pikes and
guns, the would-be liberators
were betrayed by two slaves;
Prosser and 34 of his men were
arrested, convicted and execut
ed.
Cut from the same cloth,
Denmark Vesey psychologically
worked on the enslaved popula
tion in Charleston, S.C. for 5
years before organizing his ill-
fated revolt. Vesey recruited an
estimated 9,000 enslaved
Africans from Charleston and
the surrounding counties.
Vesey’s chief lieutenant, Peter
Poyas, identified the weakness
which would defeat them,
telling a recruiting agent, “don’t
mention it to those waiting men
who receive presents of old
coats, etc., from their masters,
or they’ll betray us...”
Prosser and Vesey plotted and
were beltaved; Nat Turnor plot
ted and executed. Bennett pro
vides the following description:
”A mystic with blood on his
mind, a preacher with
vengeance on his lips, a dream
er, a visionary, a revolutionary,
Nat Turner was a fantastic mix
ture of gentleness, ruthlessness
and piety.” After numerous
dreams and visions to “arise and
prepare myself and slay my ene
mies with their own weapons,”
Turner and six disciples started
at the home of Turner’s master,
picking up recruits along the
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a Mamb«r of theu
way. In three days of terror, 70
enslaved Africans brought
death to 60 whites in
Southampton, Virginia.
Following the hanging deaths of
Turner and 13 associates, a
massacre of blacks by whites
followed. Many believe that
Turner’s insurrection was a
landmark in the history of slav-
eiy, indirectly instrumental in
hastening its abolishment.
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Nominate Your Choice For
Ckrbtte
The Year
Wachovia Bank and Queens College are pleased to provide
the opportunity to recognize Charlotte's outstanding women
in business with the 1996 Businesswoman of the Year Award.
Here is your opportunity to nominate a deserving woman from the for-
profit sector for this prestigious honor. The recipient of the award wUl be
selected based on her outstanding contributions to the business, civic and
cultural communities of the Charlotte region.
Nominees must be from Mecklenburg, Iredell, Union, Lincoln, Lancaster,
Cabarrus, or York Counties.
The award will be presented, and other outstanding nominees recognized,
at the Charlotte Businesswoman of the Year Luncheon, to be held at
Queens College in January 1997.
NOMINATION FORM
1996 Charlotte Businesswoman of the Year Award
Nominations must be submitted by November 18. Mail to Sasha Trosdt, Queens College .
j Community Affairs, 1900 Selwyn Avenue, Charlotte, NC 28274; or fax to (704) 337-2503. j
I would like to nominate:
I
I
Company
City
Zip Code
Home Phone
Nominated by
Office Phone
Home Phone
Queens College
\i7ACHQVIA