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http://www.thepost.mindspring.com
THE VOICE OF THE BLACK COMMUNITY
THE WEEK OF OCTOBER 30, 1997
VOLUME 23 NO. 7
75 CENTS
ALSO SERVING CABARRUS, CHESTER, ROWAN AND YORK COUNTIES
Sisters with voices
PHOTO/ANDREA SPOOL-WHITE
Thousands of African Americans lined Benjamin Franklin Parkway in Philadelphia Saturday for the Million Woman March. Estimates vary as to the number of peo
ple who actually participated in the rally, but organizers claim the march for unity among women of African descent met its goal of 1 million. Hundreds of buses
transported women from the Carolinas, as did trains and airplanes.
From near and far, women rally for community
By Michael A. Fletcher and
DeNeen L. Brown
THE WASHINGTON POST
PHILADELPHIA - Hoping
to ignite a renewed sense of
unity among women of African
descent, hundreds of thou
sands of black women rallied
here for the Million Woman
March, an assembly that at
once resembled a family gath
ering, an intense and uncen
sored call to duty and a huge
open-air bazaar.
AH along the mile-long march
site, flowing from the steps of
this city's famed Museum of
Art, marchers ignored the raw,
damp weather Saturday to
pose for pictures with families,
hug old friends and pore over
the array of items being
hawked by the scores of ven
dors who Lined the way.
At the same time on the main
stage, singers and poets per
formed and a long line of speak
ers admonished black women
to ignore their differences and
unite as one.
“From this moment, sister, no
longer will you walk by your
sister and not acknowledge her
existence,” said Asia Coney, one
of the two Philadelphia
activists who called for the
march.
The bulk of the marchers
seemed discormected from the
intonations of the eclectic series
of speakers, in part because the
speakers’ platform was barely
visible from many parts of the
assembly. Also, a faulty, low-
tech sound system made it dif
ficult for participants to follow
the day’s events in other parts
of the crowd.
But those problems seemed
secondary to many of the
women who gathered, often
with the hope that they would
be a party to histoiy.
“You can teU this was impor
tant for a lot of women because
they came without knowing a
lot about it,” said Johnnie
See RALLY on page 2A
Rally had shortcomings, but was worth the effort
MELODYE MICERE STEWART
In the
spirit of
Ma’at
Editor’s note; looking outward, there was no doubt in my mind that
Post columnist at least a million African American women gathered
Melodye Micere themselves at the Benjamin Franklin Parkway m
Stewart was a fea- Philadelphia. In terms of numbers, the Million
tured speaker at Woman March was a phenomenal success, made pos-
Saturday’s sible by the Divine. Divine energy pulled thousands,
Million Woman despite the weather, disorganizational confusion and
March. media invisibility.
From the stage This historic event operated on two levels; surface
structure and deep structure, as it is known in African
cosmology. Some things were not right on the surface
of things. Several newspaper articles in Philadelphia
documented various divisions and irregularities. Yet I
had prayerful confidence of the Creator’s working of
circumstances, people and events.
We were not necessarily nice to each other. Was
there comradeship? There was some. Certainly in
See ON on page 3A
Richard Mack touched lives through music and cosmetics
By John Minter
THE CHARLOTTE POST
McCoimells, S.C., businessman Richard Mack,
who died Monday, will be buried Saturday after a
funeral at New Home AME Zion Church in York.
Mack, 65 at his death, founded several businesses,
including Nature’s Development Corp. and Lee
Mack Cosmetics in McCormells.
He was a U.S. Coast Guard veteran who had also
worked in the recording industry at Atlantic
Records and CBS Records. He was a promotions
director who worked with Aretha FrankHn, Roberta
Flack, Donnie Hathaway, The Jackson Five, Isaac
Hayes, Lou Rawls, Earth, Wind & Fire and the
RoUing Stones.
In 1980 he started Nature’s Development, which
manufactures structural wall systems used in home
construction. The company is the core of a 516-acre
development that includes Mack Estates.
This week, friends and co-workers recalled Mack
as a giving human being who epitomized the phrase
“my brother’s keeper.”
Charlotte Post General Manager Bob Johnson
said he had known Mack since 1994.
“I found him to be a very warm human being, a
veiy giving human being,” Johnson said. “He was
also a benefit to any community he was in because
See RICHARD MACK on page 7A
PHOTO/PAUL WILLIAMS I
Candace Butler, Fannie Butler, David Butler Jr. and April Butler
helped dedicate David Butler High School Sunday. The elder
Butler, a popular teacher died earlier this year in a house fire.
Schools, bonds, city council top ballot
By John Minter
THE CHARLOTTE POST
A final push of candidates is
crisscrossing the community as
election day approaches, with a
dead heat racpected in the District
2 school board race.
Vilma Leake and incumbent
Sam Reid are splitting endorse
ments in the district. Leake has
been endorsed by the Black
Political Caucus and The Post,
while Reid has gotten endorse
ments from several school board
members and the Young
Democrats.
The race is so confusing, the
Yoimg Democrats listed Leake in
• The Post’s list of
endorsements for
election day can be
found on page 4A.
error when it released its endorse
ments last week.
Also on the ballot Tuesday are
remaining school board district
races, Charlotte City Council
races and $500 milUon in bonds,
$415 million for pubhc schools.
Mecklenburg elections supervi
sor Bill Culp said the bonds will
likely pass, though there is some
opposition. One opponent,
Mecklenburg commissioner Joel
Racism
benefits
whites:
Franklin
By John Minter
THE CHARLOTTE POST
Historian John Hope
Franklin told a race reconcilia
tion conference this week to not
let whites absolve themselves
of blame for past discrimina
tion.
“Don’t let anyone tell you in
1997 that they aren’t responsi
ble for what happened 100
years ago,” Franklin said at a
luncheon Tuesday. “People who
go to first rate high schools in
1997 and have in that same
town third-, fourth- and fifth-
rate high schools, they are
enjoying the benefits of that
which has come down to them
over the years. They are the
beneficiaries of what happened
100 years ago.
“Those who benefit from bet
ter job opportunities, paved
streets where others, have
unpaved streets, garbage pick
up, police protection...they are
the beneficiaries of discrimin/i-
tion and amenities not neces-'
sarily extended to all.”
Franklin, chair of President
Clinton’s Initiative on Race
commission, was the keynote
speaker the Conference on
Racial Reconciliation, which
drew nearly 500 people to the
Adam’s Mark in uptown
Charlotte.
The conference was spon
sored by Gov. Jim Hunt and the
task force he formed in the
wake of black church burnings
which swept across N.C. and
the South over the last five
years.
U.S. Attorney General Janet
Reno spoke at a dinner Monday
night, promising continued fed
eral action to end hate crimes
and bring the races together.
Franklin, a Harvard gradu
ate who has received the
Presidential Medal of Freedom
and been inducted into the
N.C. Order of the Long Leaf
Pine, is a retired Duke
University professor.
In his speech, Franklin
recalled stories from history
and his personal life about the
effects of racial discrimination.
Franklin noted that in 1640,
when three indentured ser
vants were punished for run
ning away, the two white men
See RACE on page 6A
Mack owned a
cosmetics
company.
Carter, is pushing a pay-as-you-go
sales tax proposal and has
engaged in debates with feUow
conservative commissioner Bill
James.
“There is generally a positive
feeling in the community about
education,” Culp said. “Even with
a few bumps in the road, educa
tion is a priority.”
The school bonds should help
pull bonds for Central Piedmont
Community College and a new
county jail through, Culp said.
Interest in a strong black vote
for the bonds led officials to open
a second headquarters on the
westside. The first headquarters
See VOTE on page 3A
Inside
Editorials 4A-5A
Strictly Busine^ 6A
Religion 10A ;, i 4
Health 13A -' J j,
Style 16A
Sports 1B
A&E 6B U?
Regional News 12B
Classified 14B'
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