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CEDITORIAL, WOPINIod PAGE <4 ' N ot Know Whoro Wo Art Going nl Know Whoro Wo'vo Boon... So fittingly we honor our Pioneer lathers - - err.- - ?? C\ ** I** ^2^ I by Bruca Barton LOOKING AT LIFE ~ THROUGH SPIRITUAL EYES Life. A brief interlude, a bubble, a vapor upon the water. And we are no more. What ia behind the Eternal door? Ia judgment awaiting us? Will sheiks and indus trialists and kings and bank ers and money manipulators and sundry evil doers face the same Judge as the kind, gentle ones who have trusted God down through the ages? And will we recognize our loved ones who have gone on before us when we join them on the other side of the Eternal Wall? And when we see them will small talk fill the heavens? Will we say, "How are you?" Or will we simply continue our relationship as on ni Ken per, srruc* oowr our loved ones and took them on that last mysterious journey? It seems to me that more people than usual are dying and going away where those of us who remain have never been. But we - all of us - must go. Did Mr. John L. Carter live simply to die? Or is there more awaiting his unflinch ing, ramrod, no nonsense self? Is he facing God as we write - and you read ?? this questioning piece? 76 years he lived...devel oping character, morals, a life style that encompassed godly goodly virtues. Surely a good life lives on. Somewhere. In the heavens? In the presence of God? For this life to have meaning the next one must continue. John L. Carter. Deadl And some of us shrug and continue on as if his death did not foretell our own. Yet some of us turn our faces to reality's wall and say, with an arched, incredulous brow. I care... but I don't care. Or do we say, I recognize his death but not my own pending date with the Unknown One who will strike me down too? Eternal ques tions. Fateful ones. WALKING ON THE DAEK 9DEOF40 Death. The Dark One, op pressive and life robbing, calls us all out. And 1 walk toward the Dark Stranger fearfully, fitfully. Nights caress me, undefina bie fears come at inopportune timea. And I know the pre sence - Death! I am walking on the dark side of 40. When I was young and foolish, death always struck others. And I barely noticed because I was caught up in my youth, my frivolous self. But death, in time, came to my door too. A sister, Ruth, a maturing, growing 39, dark and handsome, found herself alone. Death, just like that, without warning, struck her down as she began to un derstand herself, and others in her wake in February, 1979. A drunk barreled through a stoplight, oblivious to others, and struck down the lawful one (my sister) as she waited for the light to change. The lawbreaker received nary a scratch. Oh, the injustice of it all. Sometimes anger over whelms me; a sadness grips me, and, for fmbment, I brieve -4n nothing. Why? but healing, growing out of her psychological scars; al most whole, almost healedr And, after a lifetime of pain and abandonment, she was struck down wantonly without justice, without logic, without a sense of propriety. Without warning, riding along in my car, laughing at a joke, just before sleeping, in the midst of a joyful moment, I'll think about her and, just for a little while, I'll believe in nothing. And an ache enve lops me, makes me cranky, unapproachable. And, just for a moment, I'll quit trying, hoping, believing. But yet we live... until we die. And 1 remember her now. February 11, 1979 Death came to reside with me and I await the evil one standing off a bit eyeing me with a baleful stare. 1 stare back but I now blink from time to time. Mary Ruth Barton (Wat kins) never discovered a far land for a queen, never wrote a book to touch others and make them sit up with a start. But she lived and discovered herself. That, too, is a far away land for all of us - inside and deep down where we all live alone and afraid. God, she lived. And she died. And I am dying too. All of us ate... And hope ties itself yonder, yonder, the poet says. And many of us bear the pain of separation and injustice in this life by looking to the next one ...through Spiritual eyes. So, goodbye to Mr. John L. Carter, my sister Ruth, and all our loved ones... we shall meet again. And we cry aloud, "Lord, receive me unto thyself..." 'tE; .-mt i. V. v "BUILDING COMMUNICATIVE BRIDGES IN A TRI-RACIAL SETTING" % Carnlraa 3nfeia* 30?rr Utters To THe Editor Laments the passing of Mr. John L. Carter _ ?1' To the Editor: ' During the past thrpe mon :hs, i can hardly remember a time when I have beard of more deaths from Hobeson County, and particularly from my home community of Union Chapel and Mt. Airy. It seems that every week my mother calls or writes to tell Lonnie and me of someone close to us who has died. All of this has saddened us and really made us aware of how quickly time is passing and how much our friends and families mean to us. This past week 1/ was especially saddened to hear of the death of Mr. John L. ' Carter of the Mt. Aity com munity. Mr. John L., as his students always knew him, was my 7th grade teacher at Upton Chapel School. He was one of the best teachers 1 had throughout my 16 years of public school and college. He cared about his students, about our families, our future, our total well-being. In his classroom, you knew he had the final say; yet. you were ^ allowed at the proper time and in the proper manner to have yours. He encouraged creativity. He demanded re spect. He made it a point to get to know the parents in the community and to try to involve them in the children's school work. Mr. John L. had several childrenin school at Union Chapel and even they became role models for other stu dents. We admired them because he encouraged them to set high standards. Mr. John L. was a success in many ways-as a father and .A ' - i husband, as a teacher, as registrar at PS U, as m active member of Mt. Airy Baptist Church end the Burnt Swamp Baptist Association and in numerous other activities in which he was involved throu ghout his lifetime- but most of all. he was a success because he worked, achieved and won honors and recognition in a quiet and uassuming way. He. never demanded or sought recognition. He never quit because he couldn't have his way. He never complained about his problems so that others would feel sorry for him. He was modest to the Vnd. Mr. John L. was an Indian father, community leader, Christian, teacher, orator, 'businessman. He was kind and gentle. He was the kind of man that made America great; that made Mt. Airy and Union Chapel communities great. He was the kind of man the Indian communities shou ld pay honor and tribute. He was the kind of man that Indian teachers and leaders should tell their students about and use as a role model. To the family, friends and other relatives of Mr. John L. I extend my sympathy as you mourn his loss. You are fortunate, however, that you were part of the world that {his humble, but outstanding man created and left for us all. I am proud to have known him. I owe part of any successes I have achieved tqhis positive influence. May we all aspire to be a little like Mr. John L. Ruth Locklear Revels Cie?mabe?u,HC , -Cont'd, frotnpag#.! ? 1-1: f ' s. v The Dream is Taking Shape... Over 40 families participated in the community, garden project last year on alimited 8 acre site. Each of the families grew enough food for five months on their co- operatively gardened plots. Vegetables grown varied from peas, beans, and corn to tomatoes, cucumbers, and collards. Ninety percent of these families would not have had a garden of any kind if it had not been for the Pembroke Nutrition Program. About three- quarters of the participants required major technical assistance in just learning good gardening techniques once again. Co-ordinating the gardens and the fanners market is Lawrence Locklear who is a native of the Prospect community near Pembroke and who holds a two-year associate degree in Agriculture from N.C. State University. When asked what he expects for the new year Locklear replied, "We expect to plant 20 acres of gardens this spring which will serve more than 100 families. In addition we are hoping to expand the Farmers Market to two days a week. Now that people know we will be back at our old location, we expect better sales at the market." When asked about the new year. Nutritionist Alice Jacobs Cummings responded, "It all just seems so overwhelming. We plan to get the cannery going first, and be sure we know what we are doing there before we try anything else. But 1 hope by the fall we will be working more with the kinds of foods that our people eat, and know how a they prepare them, This kind of information will be very helpful in pur cooking clubbs. Surprisingly enough, several men have asked to help can food and supervise our cooking clubs that we ? are, in the process of organizing." Alice is a graduate of PSU in Home Economics, and comes to the Nutrition Program from a county sheltered work shop where she taught food service skills to clients preparing to work in test food restaurants. The Nutrition Program will be in full swing this summer with tke cannery operating nearly around the clock, and the gardens being tended by twice the number of families as last year. There has been a suggestion that churches in the area may bring in vegetable surplus to can for their own "food closets" for the winter, which would make the cannery an important element of ministry for a far greater number of families. Rev. John Robinson, Director of the Pembroke Ministry, expresses the feel ings of people from the community and from the Ministry Committee, "It is still a little hardjto believe. Even as we talk the men are hooking up the boiler. The further we get along in the program the more we realize we can do for the community. Barium Springs Home for Children sen), us some equipment which saved us enough on die cannery equipment to expand the number of pressure vessels. They also sent us some commercial ovens which will make it possible for us to bake bread here too. "This program is rapidly becoming a symbol of what meaningful self help can mean to a community ia need, a symbol of hope. Even people with very little are offering help and what little resources they have to the program succeed. We already have one volunteer who checks in every f^w days to see when she can start helping out in the cannery." MEANDERINGS OF A HAPPY MAN:.. by Garry "Gab" Barton Natot The views expressed la this rfTWCuhs Mm Voles, or LCD A. Ever since 1 con remember, it has bothered me somewhat, that Lumbee River has had its name changed to Lumber River, seemingly to accomodate the fair (no pun intended) whites in Lumberton (Lumber-town). I can sym pathize a little with the Lumbertonians for the name change; afterali, who wants to be named after a tree and thereby forever be subjected to jokes about being knots on a log. Despite die fact I sympathize a little bit with my white neighbors in Lumberton I still feel it would be no more than poetic justice, in my eyes at least, for the white controlled county seat of government in Lumberton (Lumber-town) to be called 'Lumbeeton' (Lumbee-town). True, it would be justice (sometimes interpreted as 'just-us'), but, alas, it would not be a fair representation of the way things really are. The Robeson County population is almost equally divided among the three races-about 30,000 Indians, about 30,000 Blacks and about 30,000 Whites. And if there is, or ever was, a 'Lumbee-town' it would have to be die budding Town of Pembroke, the ' economic and social capitol of the Robeson County Indian Community. Think about this: Legislation was passed in 1953 whereby Robeson County Indians were recognized as Lumbee Indians, so named after the Lumbee River that snakes its way through the heart of the Lumbee Indian Country. Changing the name does not change this fact. I choose to be affiliated with, and enrolled as a Lumbee Indian^ solely because I ascribe to the personal contention that without unity and consistency nothing (including the Lum bee Indian Nation) is perpetual. However, I was born in 1951. What was I the two years bom 1951 until 1953? Surely I did not float around these two years in a sociological void as a nobody. No wayl 1 am somebody. 1 was a Native American at birth. And I will be a Native American when I die. And 1 say this without reservation (pun intended if you can find anv). So, like the song says and the river does: "I keep going with the flow." Age has not doubt mellowed me. And the hard knocks of life have thickened my dark skin and desensitized me some what. Things that once were important to me oftentimes no longer hold that dubious distinction. In other words, I no longer care about the name of a muddy river. My Indian pride and heritage are not muddied or marred in the least by a mere name change. What is important is that each individual know who he is and from whence he came. If the rest of the world don't, let the rest of the world worry about it. Perhaps, in retrospect, the name of the river should never have been changed from the days when it was called "Drowning Creek." Could you imagine us being known as the "Drowning Indians?" Don't laugh prematurely; considering the fact there is a gradual decline in the upholding of our tra ditional ways and culture, "Drowning Indians" might be a more appropriate **g Afterall. if we don't hold our heads high above the water, and open our eyes to the need for unity, we as a people might possibly drown. We (and I include myself in this group) have a tendency to gag at gnats and swallow camels whole; then we moan and groan and wonder why we can't - get over the hump. If you can find no rhyme or reason to this column, don't worry about it; there probably is none. It's simply the mean derings of a happy man forced by circumstances beyond his control to live in a sad world. An Editorial Expression Pembroke State University ought to develop a model school for teaching Pembroke State Univemity to known generally as a school for teachers. The sfhnsto in Bobeaon County are peapiad mostly by teachers whs received their education at PSU. Bat freto to sn ottttot problem inherent ' St BSD that to we#??ad..slsst hat IHttoi talked aboat. Mpst faculty members at Pembroke State do not treat tfaeb own children to the schools in the Pembroke area and spedffcaHy within the Kobeoon Connty Schools Administrative Unit, h to a case of mated racism, doable standards mid sociological nonaenae. The facnlty soys, by their actions, "We wffl prepare teachers for yoer schools bnt we wll not treat oar awa cfaldren to the toocMng metbsds wo have taaght yon." Most faculty members Hve hi Lumber ton whore a special school tax to extolsd Cram the ctibene...p*eenmably to bay a bettor achooi system. There are Ave separate achooi systems in Bohsson County; there were six until Maxton recently merged with the Boboaan Couifty Administrative School Unit. Two systems-Bed Springs and Lamberton charge their citizens a special school tax. Interestingly enough, moot PSU faculty members [predomi nately white, of coarse] gravitate to these two areas when they decide where they wish to Bvo while teocUng at PSU. Whea a faculty member arrives at PSU he [or she] is faced with the prabtom wbeie wtl I Hve? And the answer to that where wll my children attend school? Approximately 80 percent of the Pem broke State faculty and administration answera, '"Lamberton...or Bod Springs." A university to supposed to make the Immediate ares arouad It a bettor place to live. Hie nugority of die Indian population, especially to die Pembroke area, would aay that PSU has tolled miserably to this area of concern. By their actions, the PSU faculty states emphatically that the Pembroke schools an not good enough for their ewn In one sense of the word, they (HSU faculty] have produced teachers that they are net satisfied with. What Is the answer to this problem? Why not establish a model teachtog center there and teach their own children and other children from the Pembroke area? Then they could say by their actions, "We are not afraid to teach our own children." If PSU faculty taught their own children thek instruction of other citizens' children would Improve drama tically. Since PSU concentrates on teachtog elementary education a model school of K-7 would be Ideal. Until the PSU faculty truly becomes part of the system msny of no wll continue to treat them with scorn snd How can the people trust our children to teachers who do not subject thek own children to thek tostruction? The university has all the tools at hand to improve the quality of life around them but the faculty wll not trust thek own children to thek own Instruction. It Is a double standard and evil to what it Yes, Pembroke State University should develop a model school for teaching. But wl they? Probably net. They wll not Invest the minds of theh own to such a noble experiment. G2 l S3 y CROAKER I HAJE 1 s. AU_ TUt^E SPOTS V (oNweoo^i W TOl/RE JUST ]|f fl fc VAIN/ FH06S ^B \l ASS. SUPPOSED S |P TO UA^E SRCTTS. J lilf I KNOW/ BUT I V l||> WANt4A GET RID 1 If OF MIME ANYHOW I commissioner Wyvis Oxen dine Cont'd from page 1 Oxendlne's short career ss an educator has been centralized in the Maxton Schools. He served as assistant principal of Town send Middle School for three years. He served Msztoa High School (or one year as aaaistaat principal. Pleeratlj he is employed as attendan ce counselor with the Robeson County School System. In this position be serves the three schools in Maxton- R.B. Deaa.Townsend Middle and Maxton tfigh- hi addition to Union Elementary, South side/Ashpole and Rowland Middle School. His office is located in Maxton ?fh School. Other duties IncMf responsiblity for the hot transportation for the Marlon School District. Oxen dine is serving his second year in this capacity. The new commissioner spoke at length about other goals he had for the county. "Taxes concern roe," he said. "I want to make sure we are getting what we should for our tax dollar." He expounded on the high unemploy ment rate in the county and explored svenoea for lowering the rate. "We need to recruit quality industry which will pay good wages." he said. "This would broaden our tax base and provide more jobs. It is also a way of maintaining the tax rate." It it the responsibility of the Indus trial Commission to recruit new industry into the area, he explained. Oxendine has some definite ideas about the progress he wants to beapsrt of in the county. He is extremely conscious of the constituents in his District. "I wish to increase the communication between the voters and myself." One way he plans to reach this goal is through community meetifi^s. "The voters need to know how I vote and why I voted that way," he continued. "It is my responsibly to inform people...! am exploring other avenue* in addition to community meetings lor the purpose of getting information t? the people... People have a right So know what I'm doing." Not the kind of politician ftobeson County is accustomed to, Wyvis Oxen dine is quiet, somewhat shy and reserved, self-assured and moat times posdve and thoughtftil when he speaks. Perhaps the voters of Bobesoo County are looking for a new breed of politician, h would appear so, as least, In the Pesnbroke-Maxtoo-Smiths District where the general election in November produced three new members of the Robeson County Board of Education, a new county commissioner, and aided in the changing of senator and members of ?? the house of representatives. The change apparently voted for sounds like awesome responsibility, but Wyvis Oxendine appears to be equal to the challenge. Nevertheless, it wfll be interesting to watch for change sin the coming years. Will we see positive change? Or will things change on the surface and remain the same undernea th? The new county commissioner exudes optimistic vibrations giving one the sense that change might just be around the corner...
The Carolina Indian Voice (Pembroke, N.C.)
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Feb. 24, 1983, edition 1
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