FRIDAY, MARCH 1, 1985
THE BENNETT BANNER
PAGE THREE
Shelter people describe their lives
by Mardell Griffin
A small group of men stood
in the rain in the dark outside
the door. Occasionally, a foot
slapped against the wet con
crete in a vain effort to keep
warm.
The door partially opened,
allowing a rectangle of light
to fall on weather-worn faces.
All heads turned toward the
door.
“Three more,” said Ann
Davies, a church volunteer,
from inside the building.
The three men nearest the
door slipped inside and stood,
dripping water onto the car
pet in the warm room.
“Any weapons or alcohol?”
asked Joan Crew as Davies
searched the men.
“Are these allowed?” asked
Davies as she pulled a razor
out of a pocket.
“No,” said Crew, “someone
could be hurt with that. Put
it in an envelope with his
name on it and he can get it
back on his way out in the
morning.”
Eventually the two women
processed the rest of the men
standing outside the door.
The same procedure is fol
lowed each night for an aver
age of 80 street people who
stay at the Urban Ministry’s
night shelter at 305 Asheboro
St
Crew and Dave Harris are
the only paid staff members
of the night shelter. They ro
tate every third night, man
ning the door, directing vol
unteers and keeping the
peace.
“We have up to 115 people
in here on cold nights,” said
Harris. “Thirty-five percent
are mental cases and 50 to 60
percent are alcoholics. Some
people overlap into both
groups. We couldn’t function
without volunteers.”
The three large rooms open
to shelter residents filled
with people. They milled
around, watched television,
smoked, played cards and
talked. They emptied trays
of sandwiches and cups of
coffee. Some of them lay on
floor mats that lined the walls
of the largest room of the
former grocery store. They
slept amid the noise, smoke
and smell.
The shelter residents range
in age from late teens to the
60’s. Their backgrounds vary
from orphanages to stable
middle-class homes. Their
level of education is from
elementary school to college
graduate school.
“The shelter covers a big
ger cross section of the com
munity than I expected,” said
Clarence Rains, 31, a court-
appointed volunteer. “My
eighth-grade science teacher
is living here.”
But records compiled and
analyzed by Urban Ministry
staff showed some similari
ties in shelter residents. Mar
ilyn Cirulis, associate direc
tor of housing for Urban
Ministry, said, “In Greens
boro the average street per
son is black, male, 18 to 34
years old with less than one
year of employment and less
than a high school education.
He is the middle child of liv
ing parents that are divorced
or separated.
“He is in good physical
health, abuses alcohol, has no
source of income and has been
arrested one or more times
for minor violations of the
law, usually alcohol-related.”
On Feb. 12, the 86 people
seemed far from the norm.
They included men and wom
en, black and white, drunk
and sober.
One well-dressed young
man sat at the card table.
“He’s scared to death,”
said a staff member. “He’s
from an affluent family. His
mother dropped him off here
tonight because of discipline
problems at home.”
Walter Wooten Jr., 60, a
1948 graduate of A&T with a
master’s degree in agricultur
al science has been staying at
the shelter since late January.
“I was a county agricul
tural agent for 16 years,”
said Wooten. “I worked in
Philadelphia in pharmaceuti
cals, testing drugs on animals
before use on humans. I
taught science at Lincoln Jr.
High in ’66 and ’67. I worked
at A&T as supervisor in
housekeeping. I left A&T in
Singer delights audience
by Yolanda Lloyd
Picture the stage in the
Little Theatre with the lights
shining dimly on the piano
player, who is setting the
mood with music from the
late ’30s.
A striking figure appears
at the right side of the cur
tain. “Who’s that lady, James
Ray?” someone asks.
She’s dressed in a pink silk,
short-sleeved blouse and black
silk skirt with matching
pumps.
Everyone knew who the
real Zoe Walker was by the
time the show had ended. In
the beginning, they may have
only known her name; then,
they learned about her talent.
From her first son",
“Won’t You Come Home?”, to
the final number. Walker cap
tured the audience with her
charm and charisma. Her
performance included rag
time songs, rhythm-and-blues
and contemporary tunes, all
of which enthralled the
crowd.
The brassy lady enjoyed
herself. Once, when she put
on a pink hat made in the
early ’40s, white gloves and
a white, feathered shawl, she
said, “You like that part,
don’t you?” The audience
laughed and wanted more.
Walker’s show had inti
macy. She sang as if the
theater contained only her
and someone else instead of
a crowd of eager fans. Her
performing seemed spontan
eous, and yet she practiced
hard.
“It depends on the song,”
says Walker. “I figure it out
when I rehearse — what it
means to me—and I try to in
terpret that to the audience.”
One of the most successful
moments in the show came
when Walker relived her first
audition. She revealed a
sparkling black dress with
spaghetti straps that she
wore under her costume. Of
course, the first audition was
nervous and clumsy. This re
membrance allowed the audi
ence to see the humorous as
well as the serious side of her
character.
Walker, 29, has been per
forming for more than 14
years. Her interest in “show
biz” began in Nashville, Tenn.
when she attended Miss Wan
da’s Tap School. After work
ing in Children’s Theater and
community plays, she studied
drama and dance at the Uni
versity of Tennessee. She
went to New York and
worked her way into various
productions.
“I always wanted to do
things that showed women in
a strong, positive light,” said
Walker, who has been in
spired by Aretha Franklin,
Cicely Tyson and Stevie
Wonder.
Her show drew raves from
the audience.
“The performance was
magnificent. I especially en
joyed her mannerisms, the
way she came over to the
crowd,” said junior Tina
Morrison.
“Excellent, excellent, excel
lent,” observed Dr. Phyllis
Forte Ethridge, dean of wom
en. “Very professionally done
from beginning to end.”
Black National Anthem redone by famous entertainers
MILWAUKEE —A group
of America’s most gifted and
respected entertainers have
“lifted their voices” in a stir
ring, emotional musical trib
ute to the heritage and tradi
tions of black America.
Singers Deniece Williams,
A1 Green, Melba Moore, Ro
berta Flack and Patti Austin
are featured on a new record
ing of a song often referred
to as the “Black National
Anthem.” Narration is by
accomplished actors Ossie
Davis and Ruby Dee.
The song — “Lift Every
Voice and Sing” — was writ
ten by noted black poet and
civil rights leader James Wel
don Johnson and was orig
inally set to music by his
brother. Jay Johnson, actor-
musician.
The anthem is often sung
at public gatherings although
the last known recording of
the song reportedly was made
at least 25 years ago.
This latest rendition of the
anthem, with arrangements
by Leon Pendarvis, is being
distributed to selected radio
stations across the United
States by Lite beer from Mil
ler for airing during Black
History Month.
The concept for the special
recording was developed by
Mingo - Jones Advertising,
New York, for the Miller
Brewing Company.
“The anthem is about faith,
hope and, above all, the pride
and dignity of a people,” said
Barry Barrett, Lite brand
manager.
“Like the spirituals which
are so much a part of Amer
ica’s diverse culture, the
message of the anthem is
universal,” he added.
The lyrics to the beautiful,
yet powerful song are:
Lift every voice and sing
Till earth and heaven ring,
Ring with the harmonies of
liberty;
Let our rejoicing rise
High as the listening skies
Let it resound loud as the rolling
sea.
Sing a song full of the faith that
the dark past has taught us.
Sing a song full of the hope that
the present has brought us.
Facing the rising sun of our new
day begun
Let us march on till victory is won.
These lyrics have been in
corporated into a full-color
poster developed by Miller
Lite to accompany the release
of the recording.
Posters are available for
$2. from Ebony.
1983. I had alcohol problems
on all my jobs. I’ve been
The Crawford Center.
“I still drink but haven’t
been what I’d call high in
eight months. I don’t think
alcohol will be a problem on
a job now.”
Wooten plans to prepare
income tax statements for lo
cal residents, then move to
his parents’ farm in Bladen
County.
“The shelter is a wonderful
place for people who need it.
People don’t appreciate it.
They don’t want rules and
regulations,” Wooten said.
“Some people here are slow.
I wish I wasn’t here under
the circumstances but I have
learned a lot.
“Most of these people feel
inferior but try to act supe
rior. Two-thirds have been in
jail, and half of those are go
ing back. They have no re
spect for authority or them
selves.”
John Reeves, 36, has been
coming to the shelter for four
months.
“I went to high school, then
to Ohio State. I didn’t finish
college. I was married to a
Bennett College graduate. I’m
divorced now,” Reeves said.
“I’m looking for a job. It’s
like a merry-go-round, look
for work, then back to the
shelter. I need a break to stop
the merry-go-round.”
“There’s one sure way off
the merry-go-round,” he said
with his head down and voice
lowered, “suicide.”
Donald Bryan Fairbanks,
25, has a different outlook.
He has been participating in
an adult education program
at the shelter since last
September.
“I should be ready to take
the GED exam in March,”
said Fairbanks. “I would like
to go on to two years of jun
ior college and two years of
regular college to study elec
tronics and computers. My
favorite subject is poetry. I
write some, too.”
The following is one of his
poems;
STREET PEOPLE
We who walks all day
And sometimes at night.
Live very different from the
home body type.
We stay inside shelters, some
sleep on the street.
Some find spots that’s warm and
neat.
But we are known as people with
names
Like creeps, unknown freaks, and
alien cheaps.
The kind others don’t want
to meet.
Why, we’re just the same with
modem names
That just lost jobs and other good
things.
So don’t put us out, don’t put us
down.
We just need a warm place
to rest and a shelter to
Lay our head
Down
Haunting queries
by Karen Exum
In February, every student
who used the stairs between
the cafeteria and the post
office passed one of the
questions.
“What is your worth as a
student, a woman and black?”
and “WTiat does sisterhood
mean to you?” were the
queries on the bulletin boards,
and they attracted some stim
ulating answers.
“Achieving the best I pos
sibly can as a black woman
and a student is what I see
as worthiness. Then using
this achievement to help up
lift other people — especially
my people,” responded junior
Karen Fisher.
At first, answers were slow
to accumulate because stu
dents didn’t realize that they
could write on the boards, but
then the paper got covered
fast.
The questions came from
Zeta Phi Beta Sorority Inc.
after the SGA asked organi
zations to take a bulletin
board for Black History
Month. According to senior
Linda Rivers, SGA vice pres
ident, the sorority hoped to
encourage a stronger bond on
campus through these ques
tions, which ran Feb. 1-15.
Two other questions •—
“What is finer womanhood?”
and “What is the perfect
Belle?”—ran for the rest of
the month.
The sorority’s goal was to
interest students in looking
beyond membership in orga
nizations and looking toward
becoming a member of the
Bennett family.
These questions furnished
a good idea of what students
feel about themselves and
their peers.
One student saw a question
in a religious light.
Junior Evelyn Fulmore
wrote: “As a black, a woman
and a student, I place a lot
of worth/value on all three.
In order to be the best I can
be, I put a lot of time and ef
fort into everything I do. In
order to get the respect of
others, I know I must respect
myself.
“I know that whatever I
feel my worth is, my worth
as a human being in the eyes
of God is what really counts.”
Peru—from pg. 2
Norma Cordero Martraza, a 12-
year-old schoolgirl taken from her
home at midnight last year, is
among those last seen at the
barracks.
You can help in the work to end
human rights abuses in Peru by
joining Amnesty International’s
worldwide campaign. Please write
a courteous letter to President
Belaunde,
• Expressing your concern about
the increasing number of “dis
appearances” and extrajudicial
executions in Peru, and
• Urging the government to adopt
measures for halting these prac
tices, and
• Calling for full inquiries into
cases of “disappearances.”
Letters may be sent to; Pres
ident Fernando Belaunde Terry/
Presidente de la Republica del
Peru/Palacio de Gobierno/752 Av.
Canaval Moreya/Pescaderia/Lima,
Peru. Salutation is Dear President
Belaunde.
You can increase the effect of
your letter by sending a copy to:
His Excellency Luis Marchand/
Ambassador of the Republic of
Peru/1700 Massachusetts Avenue
NW/Washington, D. C. 20036.
Letters should be sent no later
than March 31.
Emilie Trautmann
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