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http://www.thepost.mindspring.com
THE VOICE OF THE BLACK COMMUNiTY
THE WEEK OF JUNE 5, 1997
VOLUME 22 NO. 37
75 CENTS
ALSO SERViNG CABARRUS, CHESTER, ROWAN AND YORK COUNTiES
‘Climate of tragedy’
Betty Shabazz
Fire latest
setback for
Shabazzes
By Dale Russakoff
and Michael Fletcher
THE WASHINGTON POST
YONKERS, N.Y, - The lanky,
12-year-old grandson of
Malcolm X, dressed in middle
school garb - an oversized
sweat shirt, jeans, sweat socks
and sandals - walked into
Westchester County Family
Court Monday in handcuffs, a
suspect in a gruesome arson
that has left his grandmother
near death.
The judge
asked him to
identify him
self, but
instead of
answering
like an adult,
with his full
name, the
suspect
responded
only,
“Malcolm,”
while cracking what looked like
a half-smile. The proceeding
vividly demonstrated how the
the latest violent chapter in the
family of Malcolm X has
reached through three genera
tions - entangling not only
Betty Shabazz, 63, and her six
daughters in tragedy, but also
the grandson and namesake of
the slain black leader. Malcolm
Shabazz is the son of Qubilah
Shabazz, who was charged two
years ago in a bizarre plot to kill
Nation of Islam leader Louis
Farrakhan.
Malcolm Shabazz was charac
terized by his defense attorney,
Percy Sutton, not as a violent
juvenile delinquent - as
Yonkers authorities charged —
but as “a child who needs care.”
Sutton and other family friends
portrayed him in interviews as
a troubled youngster who want
ed to be with his friends in
Tfexas instead of here with his
grandmother.
He may have set a fire in
anger, some of them said, but
not with the intent of hurting
Betty Shabazz, whom he loves.
He is being held in a local juve
nile facility. “I see a child cover
ing up his head, wishing it had
n’t happened, wanting to make
it all go away,” Sutton said,
describing Malcolm Shabazz’s
reaction to his alleged act.
“He’s a 12-year-old boy. What
did he mean to do? When I first
saw him, he just wanted to
hide.”
But in San Antonio, where
AP PHOTO/KATHY WILLENS
A handcuffed Malcolm Shabazz, 12, is led from Yonkers family court in New York,Tuesday after
he appeared in connection with the burning of his grandmother, Betty Shabazz, Malcolm X's
widow. Betty Shabazz remained in extremely critical condition at New York's Jacobi Medical
Center.
Malcolm had lived with his
mother for four of the last five
months, police reports depict
ed a tempestuous home envi
ronment, the Associated Press
reported. The reports indicat
ed that Qubilah Shabazz was
frequently drunk and at times
unable to care for Malcolm.
According to the reports, she
told authorities that her son
had attacked her and she
wanted to turn him over to
child welfare authorities.
Family Court Judge Howard
Spitz postponed an initial
hearing on the juvenile delin
quency charge against
Malcolm Shabazz pending the
arrival of his mother from
Tfexas. Sutton said he plans to
ask that the hearing be post
poned indefinitely until
Malcolm undergoes psychi
atric examination.
“In my view, he’s not respon
sible,” Sutton said.
Meanwhile, Betty Shabazz
was fighting for her life in the
bum unit of Jacobi Medical
Center in the Bronx, where
doctors said she was on a ven
tilator and receiving fluids.
Bmce Greenstein, head of the
bum unit, called her injuries
“catastrophic,” adding that she
“is in a life-threatening situa
tion and win be for a long peri
od of time.”
Sutton said Malcolm
Shabazz was bom into “a cli
mate of tragedy.” He said
Malcolm does not really know
his father, whom his mother
met in Paris, and has lived
with his grandmother, aunts
and other family members, as
well as his mother. Friends
described Qubilah Shabazz as
intelligent, but somewhat lost,
moving from job to job and
from apartment to apartment,
often in impoverished neigh
borhoods, while other sisters
achieved success - one as a
playwright, one a professional
See YOUNG on page 3A
West Charlotte principal has
support of black parents
By John Minter
THE CHARLOTTE POST
Hundreds of black parents and
community leaders have come
out in support of West Charlotte
High School principal Kenneth
Simmons, who has been criti
cized by white teachers at the
school.
Some 44 white teachers, a third
of the faculty, has requested
transfers from the school and
many fear Simmons’ job is in
jeopardy. Simmons is ending his
first full year as principal. He
took over the job in March 1996,
moving up from Cochrane
Middle School. He has also been
principal at Bain Elementary
School.
Less than 10 percent of the
teachers at West Charlotte are
AfHcan American, which was all
black prior to desegregation in
the early ‘70s.
Supt. Eric Smith said
Wednesday he will have a recom
mendation on West Charlotte
ready for the school board at
Tliesday’s meeting.
“I intend to have a comprehen
sive recommendation, an overall
recommendation that will help
See SIMMONS on page 3A
City stuck
for answer
on districts
By John Minter
THE CHARLOTTE POST
Majeed
Charlotte’s redistricting tangle is getting messier.
A party-line split among council members has
caused an impasse in redistricting the council's
seven districts for the fall elections. If the matter
ends up in court, the city may have to spend as
much as a million dollars in a court battle and
let a federal judge redraw the districts.
“They want to alter something to assure a par
tisan victory,” said District 4 representative
Nasif Majeed of the Republican-backed plan.
“They know I am a strong candidate. What they
are attempting to do is shift the district and pack
District 2. That way they can accomplish their
goal. That would have the affect of decreasing minority represen
tation.”
“It is a partisan thing,” Majeed said. “There is an extreme group
in the Republican Party which has attached itself to issues that
divide our community...they always deal with divisiveness.”
A city council redistricting committee held an emergency meet
ing Wednesday trying to find a compromise solution between the
Republican- and Democratic-backed plans.
Historically, redrawing council districts has meant making few
changes as annexed citizens are added to the voting pool.
Democrats support such a plan, which would keep the majority
black districts - districts 2 and 3 on the westside and District 4 in
the northeast. District 4 includes Hidden Valley, Hampshire Hills
See REDISTRICTING on page 6A
Alston named
N.C. NAACP
president
Woodard promoted to
first vice president
By John Minter
THE CHARLOTTE POST
PHOTO/DIANNE V. CURTAIN
West Charlotte High School parent Harriet Porter-Jinwright (center)
talks with principal Kenneth Simmons and social studies teacher
Jade Harris Wednesday on campus.
The N.C. NAACP has hired a
new executive director as the
state conference moved to com
plete the changeover from the
administration of Kelly M.
Alexander Jr. of Charlotte.
The state’s executive board
last weekend formally installed
Skip Alston of Greensboro as
president and hired Keith
Sutton of
Rocky
Mount to fill
the vacant
executive
director’s
slot. Alston,
who was
first vice
president,
had been
interim
president
during Alexander’s suspension.
Valerie Woodard of Charlotte
moved up a notch into the first
vice president’s slot last week.
Sutton declined comment this
week, saying he was awaiting
formal notification and signing
of contracts for the position.
Sutton, 27, works with the
Rocky Mount Chamber of
Commerce. A UNC Chapel Hill
graduate, he reportedly has
grant writing and supervisory
experience.
Sutton, who will move to
Greensboro, will be paid
$35,000 a year, plus $7,000 for
expenses.
Former executive director
Mary Peeler of Charlotte
resigned last June, shortly
after Alexander was suspended
by the national board pending
an audit of state conference
finances.
The national board last
month suspended Alexander’s
membership for 10 years and
turned the matter over to its
general counsel for recovery of
See NAACP on page 3A
Woodard
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© 1997 The Charlotte Post
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