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B I ?3 Published each Thursday since January 18,1973 I
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I e, NC "Building communicative bridges in a tri-racial setting" Robeson County I
"j II I 1 I .1. ? i m i i
Dr. Ray Brayboy Named Supt.
Of Bladen County Schools
Dr. RayBrayboy
I am anxious to get on board, roll up my sleeves and
get to work." Dr. Ray Brayboy, a Pembroke native said
two weeks ago after signing a contract as the new
superintendent of Bladen County Schools. The former
assistant superintendent of Moore County Schools was
unanimously chosen June 14 by the Bladen County Board
of Education to head its school system.
Brayboy, who also has served as assistant superin
tendent of Scotland County Schools, took the position July
1 under a four-year contract He replaced W.J. Hair, whdt
resigned June SO after 40 years with the school system,'
including 21 years a* superintendent
"I intend to listen, consult assess and move forward
with any desired change in a very focused manner." says
Brayboy. "The school board's commitment to providing
I
quality educational experiences for all children is truly
outstanding."
Brayboy will be paid a state-based salary of $64,324
phis an annual supplement of $10,000. The contract is for
a four-year period.
School board chairman Leon Martin said that he feels
good about the board's selection. "I think Dr. Brayboy
brings a great deal of enefgy and leadership to our school,
system. Because we have quite a few administrators near'
retirement, he has the opportunity to shape our school
system for years to come. r
" He'll be able to select a team of people who wili have a
great influence on education in Bladen County into the
21st Century."
Brayboy, 48, is a Lumbee Indian and graduated from
Pembroke High School in 1966.
Since March 1989 he served as assistant superinten
dent of Moose County Schools and for six years before
that as assistant superintendent of Scotland County
Schools. He also worked as principal from 1976 to 1983 at
Carver Middle School in Laurinbuig.
Brayboy received a bachelor of science degree in health
and physical education from Pembroke State University in
1969.
He was named All-district and honorable mention Ail
American in baseball in 1967 and 1969. He played semi
professional baseball with the Bladenboro Spinners and
professionally with the Minnesota Twins.
hi 1984, he eras inducted into the PSU Athletic Hall of
Fame. In 1975, he received his Master's degree in Public
Health from the University of North Carolina at Chapel
Hill. He earned his doctorate in in 1981 from
Penn ?"*?*?? ~l ?
Brayboy is the son of the late Tecumaeh B. Brayboy, Jr.
and Eva Harris Brayboy of Route 2, Pembroke. He is
married to the former Beatrice Loddear and has three
children, Shannon, Jacob and Mary Beth who will attend
Bladen County Schools.
11KfW\ Mlgflii
Economic
Committee
Organized
Hie Economic Committee at Indi
an Solidarity met recently for then
organizational meeting. The meeting
was held at Doris' Restaurant in
Fairmont. The purpose of the
committee is to recognise Indian
owned businesses, identify them,
and encourage Indian people to
patronize them. Selective buying will
be encouraged in an effort to
increase the volume of sales for
Indian-owned businesses.
Rudolph us Hunt of Lumberton is
chairman of the Economic Commit
tee. Other officers elected were:
Bobby Griffin, vice chairman; Coo
nee Brayboy, secretary; and Severeo
Kerns, treasurer.
Efforts will be made to re-direct
the discretionary income of Indian
people back into the Indian com
munity. The basic philosophy is tor
Indian people to support each other
economically.
The Economic Committee is the
second committee operating under
the umbrella name Indian Solidarity.
The other committee is the Native
American Political Action Committee
which is chaired by Cliff Sampson.
NAPAC will continue to be a political
voice and continue to address the
political agenda of Indian people.
The Economic Committee will
meet again on July 7. 1M0 at
roller's Barnecur ?c~e p.m. AS
interested Indians are encouraged to
attend.
NAPAC meets every second and
fourth Saturday morning at 7:80 a.m.
Furhter information may be obtained
by calling Cliff Sam peon.
LOCAL
YOUTH
HONORED
Joel Garth Loe&ear, Jr. at "Fair
mont baa bean aelected as one at the
Outstanding Young Men of America
for 1989. His complete biography will
appear in the annual awards publi
cation, "Outstanding Young Men at
Imarira "
Amenca.
The program seeks to recognise
the achievements and abilities of
men between the ages of 21 and 40.
These men are being honored for
their outstanding civic and profes
sional contributions to their com
munities, their states, as well as to
their nation. _
i. ,-i > . J?t iSfigap t ' -? -
* - '*??."'? <1
7tu /km kydnmtm A? wMflt o/?
dry, 6amrn field teemt to cry out
"We need ram." IFlotot by Horace
Jj>ddeat$ ___
Skottm it ? reminder of things putt
McNeU't Bridge between Highway
71 and ttfmtat* 96 it tk* hutoftk*
ho* Bridget m Mum Count*
i
The Land:
A Part Of
Our Heritage
Mr. (Mkmmg Hunt of tkt ML Arm
Community it tkoumg nlaxing afar
faitkmg up kit eueumkur crop for
ku ptmr. [Hornet IxcMtwr photo]
iXV ,-:rr? A.
MM if ?Aom? m Am gardon. [Photo
Ay Home* LotUoor]
She lives in two worlds.
In one world, she serves
on a task force working to
help children who aspire to
go to coffege. In the other, she worries
about a beautiful four-year-old child
whose only aspiration may be to
survive.
In one world, she works with heads
of a major department store and a
London china company on a Wedge
wood china project. In another, she
helps a man in rural North Carolina,
crippled by life's trials and pains, sell
handwoven sweaters.
In all these worlds, filled with
contrasts, at times despair, but always
hope, Betty Mangum's focus stays
centered on one thing?preserving hei
American Indian heritage and spread
ing the message that American
Indians have made quality contribu
tions to life as we know it
She has a sensitivity to the prob
lems and needs of those less fortunate
that she says comes from being a
minority in a world that is often seen
as either black or white with no room
left over for those who, from the
beginning, were kind to other peoples
"When you get post the bitterness, il
gives you a sensitivity that is so deep
that I believe only minorities under
stand. You first have to get past the
bitterness that comes from being
rejected because of what you are and
not who you are."
This is part of the message that
Betty Mangum delivers as she travels
the state helping teachers understand
the importance of welcoming every
child as they come through the doors
of a school.
It may be because her own child
hood was so rich in experiences, in
contrast to many of those around her,
that Mangum has such a determina
tion to make a difference for children,
especially American Indian children.
From the time she was a six-month
old infant to the age of 19, Mangum
lived on the campus of Pembroke
State University in Robeson County.
Her father was a college professor and
dean of students at the university.
Having the college campus as a
playground meant exposure to the
symphony, theatre, a well-stocked
library, tennis and basketball courts
and other experiences.
Mangum earned a degree in ele
mentary education at Pembroke State.
She left Robeson County and her
home state in 1960 to teach in Michi
gan and later in Iowa, Nebraska and
Kansas. Upon leaving the state, she
said she realized that she was moving
into a majority non-Indian world and
to maintain her Indian culture would
require a great effort on her part.
In the mid-1960s, Mangum re
turned to North Carolina and taught
at Lynn Road Elementary in Wake
County.
Mangum came to the Department
of Public Instruction in 1977 as direc
tor of Indian Education. She is now
Indian Education consultant. Man
gum spends much of her time provid
ing staff development and pointing
out the special problems of Indian
children who sit in schools where
most attention is focused on blacks
and whites and little time is spent on
their heritage. Mangum also works
with the state's new Advisory Council
on Indian Education and helps make
sure Department policies reflect
attention to American Indians.
To Mangum, being an Indian is a
real source of pride.
"American Indians are a race of
people who have withstood obstacles
beyond compare and have been able
to maintain their heritage with dig
nity.
"We have made quality contribu
tions to society. My people were kind
to the people who came to the shores
of this country and because of our
kindness, the people who came here
were able to survive in a wilderness."
Nothing illustrates this point better
than a passage from The Indians' Book,
published in 1907. The passage reads,
"...Onc%only Indians lived in this
land. Then came strangers from
across the Great Water. No land had
they; we gave them of our land. No
food had they; we gave them of our
corn. The strangers are become many
and they fill all the country... None of
the things that make their riches did
they bring with them from beyond the
Great Water; all comes from my land,
the land the Great Mystery gave unto
the Indian.
"And when I think upon this I
know that it is right, even thus. In the
heart of the Great Mystery it was
meant that stranger-visitors?my
friends across the Great Water?
should sit down with me and eat
together of my com. It was meant by
the Great Mystery that the Indian
should give to all peoples*
The complete passage from this
book was used in Native Americans,
The People and How They Lived, written
by Eloise F. Potter and John B. Funder
burg. The authors of this children's
book about Indians dedicated the
book to Mangum.
Mangum counts this book, as well
as an Indian Education Guide for
teachers that is in all media centers in
the state, among her achievements.
She also was behind an effort to raise
scholarship money for Indian children
by using Graham County clay in a
project with Ivey's Department Store
and Wedge wood China. Plates
depicting Indian life were made from '
the clay with the profits going to
scholarships.
The future for American Indian
children is a source of great concern to
Mangum. Several photographs taped
above her desk aieiof a beautiful four
year-old child. TMs bright child, the
son of a relative, shows a lot of poten
tial. Mangum is afraid, though, of
what the future holds for him since
close to 40 percent of Indian children
drop out of school.
"We have to change the direction
we're going in education and care
about children where they are. Teach
ers must believe that Indian children
have tremendous potential even
though they often do not have gifted
lives."
Betty Mangum's gift to this world
is to inspire in American Indian
children the pride in their heritage
that she has always felt and to remind
others of the contributions to America
by the native people of this land.
1 1 TT*??"' ??? ?
Betty
Mangum's
Gift....
to
Inspire