Newspapers / The Carolina Times (Durham, … / March 27, 1976, edition 1 / Page 1
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Duke University Lilrary Newspaper Departuefit- :-k6T-T0-DUBDEB BEV. OTAVB VyRGf., - 13"""; .'J.Sff :-rr.' . WASHINGTON - The National Wilmington 10 Defense Committee cried out that their fears for Rev. Ben Chavis have proven correct. Rev. Chavis is the principal defendant in the famous North Carolina case. "Rev. Chavis Was moved a few days ago to a prisonhospitalsanitarium -but he is not sick! Why", they ask. The Committee charges that the state has place the 29 year old ministeractivist in an unhealthy environment where there arc inmates with serious contagcous diseases as well a mental disorders in an effort to murder him. They said emphatically that there is no reason for having placed him in the facility at McCain, North Carolina since he is neither physically or mentally ill. They charge that the prison authorities are attempting to make him contract a disease after which they could merely let him die untreated. The Committee also believes that the State is trying to manufacture the illusion that Rev. Chavis might be mentally unstable which they say U absolutely not true. The Defense Committee sites that the hospital personnel have attempted to administer "thcrozinc" a potent mind altering drug to Rev. Chavu, but that he has refused all medication. The Committee also expressed the possibility that prison authorities in their desperation to harm Rev.Chavis might not be above putting these drugs into his food. The Committee feels that these recent developments and overt acts by the State against key members of (he Wilmington 10 arc symbolic of the kinds of tactics traditionally being used on Black political figures nationally. The National Wilmington 10 Defense Committee has put (Hit a national appeal for all fair minded citizens to put pressure on North Carolina Slate officials to stop their campaign to destroy the lives of Rev. Benjamin Chavis and his 9 co-dcfcndajits. They are specifically directing protests to Ralph Edwards, Director of the Dept. of Corrections, State of Norrth Carolina, Raleigh. This recent development follows a erks of harrawnent activities against Rev. Chaii. One week ago, he was placed in 24 hour lockup at Caledonia Prison Farm for having helped to organize an inmate organization and starting a newsletter at the request of fellow inmates, lie was then transferred in leg irons and chains to another 24-hour lockup at Central Prison, in Raleigh. Finally, he was moved to his current location at the McCain correctional complex which is a permanent assignment according to Prism officials. The question remains, however, 'Why has Rev. Chavis been assigned to a huipitalsaniturium since he is not ill ph' -tcally or mentally? THE ENTIRE NORTH CAROLINA CENTRAL UNIVERSITY community worked for passage of the $43 million capital improvement bond issue which was approved by the voters Tuesday. One of the most energetic student groups was the Gamma Sigma Sigma Service Sorority. Shown at the polls campaigning for the bond Issue are: (l-r) Sethia Hall, Diano Borey, Christine Gaither, Laverne Williams, Faye Mizelle, Maxine Joyner, Jerylou Ferguson, Sonja Ferguson and Edith Avery. VOLUME 54 - NUMBER 13 DURHAM, NORTH CAROLINA - SATURDAY, MARCH 27, 1976 PRICE: 20 CENTS Scenes from the Polls on luesday CHRISTINE GAITHER asks for W. a Rhodes' vote wt & w ill- Prifinry: Turning IPoinD or S 0 cCi By Ray Jenkins The victory may have seemed unexpected to many analysts who predicted a win by President Ford, however, the North Caroline primary, held last Tuesday, proved otherwise. Ronald Reagon scored a surprise and crucial triumph over his incumbant rival. It was his first in six previous primaries. It ' was also the first time that an incumbent president was beaten in a primary since' Lyndon Johnson dropped out of the race two days before the 1968 Wisconsin primary, thereby throwing most of his intlal votes .to Senator Eugene McCarthy When the final tally was made, it was Reagan with 101,448 representing 52 per cent of the vote to Gerald Ford's 88,924 or 46 per cent of the count. On the democratic side, it was former Georgia governor, Jimmy Carter overwhelming his closest rival, George Wallace of Alabama as well as Henry Jackson of Washington who got 25,698 or four per cent of the vote. Morris Udall of Arizona took 14,122 or two per cent and Fred Harris of Oklahoma got 6,136 or one per cent. The win gave Carter 36 of the delegates, while Wallace had to settle for twenty-five. Though Ford had predicted a victory and was stunned by the loss, it was already reported that Ford's political strings were running somewhat loose in the state of North Carolina. The CAROLINA TIMES reported several months ago that this foresight was the major thrust behind Ford's visit to North Carolina Central University, which, it was said, to be purely political. It may have been that he felt that this was enough to swing (See ELECTION, Page 20) if ' ; S f " V I f . V I WWO v i m J ..,.-;?ivis; li BEN CHAVIS WRITES SETHIA HALL tails Dr. L M. Harris why her yes vote is needed as FAYE MIZELLE and JERYLOU FERGUSON await the arrival of the nexVoters. imriwr m - - m: A.y3t7LI i J I I J EDITH AVERY solkiU vote of unidentified citizen as Mrs. Aleasa J. McKlnnietoll worker, looks on. i -. V5f V)' . 4 Please find enclosed an open public letter to 'The Carolina Timet" that I wrote while inside of an isolation cell at Caledonia Prison on March 18, 1976. Later that day, I was put into leg irons and chains and transferred to Central Prison where I stayed four hours and then transferred here at McCain Prison in McCain, N. C. I wish to express my sincere appreciation to "The Carolina Times" for the excellent coverage of the Wilmington Ten Case. We shall overcome. Sincerely, Rev. Ben Chavis THE DIALECTICS OF INCARCERATION OPEN LETTER TO THE CAROLINA TIMES From Rev. Benjamin Chavis Caledonia Prison March 18, 1976 I write this account in hope that the citizens of North Carolina, whose tax dollars pay for the administration of one of the largest per capita prison systems in the United States, will become more aware of the unusually cruel and inhumane treatment of the state's 13,000 prisoners. Today in nearly all other states many prisoners are organizing themselves into inmate councils which make and develop various constructive, creative, and rehabilitative programs often by working in mutual cooperation with concerned prison administrators. In some states inmate inspired programs have actually reduced the rate of recidivism which could ultimately reduce overall crime. However, the N. C. Department of Correction takes a different attitude toward inmate councils. In a recent report of the North Carolina Advisory Committee to the United States Commission on Civil Rights concerning the status of the state prison system, it was revealed that Ralph Edwards, Director of the Division of Prisons, is opposed to the concept of inmate councils. To quote the report: "Edwards further stated that he would neither encourage nor give his personal approval to inmate councils in the North Carolina Division of Prisons until SOMEONE designed a structure that would ensure efficient operation of such bodies." The problem is that on each occasion when a group of inmates attempts to organize and design an efficient structure for the establishment of an inmate council, most N. C. prison authorities unjustly and severely punish the prisoners. For example here at Caledonia Prison a majority of the approximately 600 prisoners are now expressing a collective concern for official recognition of a proposed inmate council. The wish of the inmates is to, through the council, present to the prison officials more meaningful programs. The name of the council is the Caledonia Inmate Steering Committee. One should note that the recidivism rate of the N. C. prison system is between forty and fifty per cent. This means that nearly one half of all prisoners who are released after serving their prison sentences will soon become prisoners again with new sentences to serve in the same old prison system. Why? At Caledonia as soon as democratic elections were held in several cell blocks to elect black and white inmate representatives to the council, the prison authorities have systematically attempted to prevent the formal establishment of the Inmate Steering Committee. Prisoners Larry Bagley, Jerry Bagley, William Bright, Curtis Geer, Tezzell Kenyon, Jerry Hillard, and several other inmates were unjustly put into chains and leg irons and transferred A FACTUAL ACCOUNT OF HOW NORTH CAROLINA PRISON AUTHORITIES UNJUSTLY PUNISH PRISONERS WHO DARE TO SPEAK OUT FOR THEIR RIGHTS - to destinations unknown because the prison authorities assumed these inmates were some of the leaders of the effort to gain inmate council recognition. At this moment I am also being punished unjustly for the same reason. I have dared to speak out for basic human rights. For the last several days inside of Caledonia Prison I have been locked up in a cell 24 hours a day with a special assigned prison guard standing in front of my cell door all day and all night long. N. C. Division of Prisons Area Complex Administrator F. K. Sanders, Caledonia Prison Superintendent L. V. Stephenson, and Assistant Superintendent Boone have informed me that I have been placed on administrative lock up, "for your own protection -because we have received numerous threats on your life." These officials, however, have not indicated the identities or the sources of the alleged threats. The manner in which a special prison guard stands in front of the cell door at all times seems to infer that I might be in some kind of danger from fellow prisoners. Let me publicly state that I am not now and never have been in any danger at all among the inmate population. I have maintained a wholesome and good relationship with all inmates both black and white. If my life is presently in danger, it is certainly not from prisoners but rather from the prison authorities themselves. A prison system is only reflective of the society that supports it. Therefore it is logical that in a state where I, Marvin Patrick, Connie Tyndall, Anne Sheppard Turner, Willie Vereen, James McCoy, Wayne Moore, Jerry Jacobs, Reginald Epps, and Joe Wright (The Wilmington Ten); Dr. Jim Grant, T. J. Reddy, and Charles Parker (The Charlotte Three) have all been punished not for criminal activity but because of our political and civil rights activity - then the state prison system would also follow the pattern by punishing prisoners who openly seek their rights. We can all remember the severe punitive treatment of women inmates at Women's Prison because they struggled for better living conditions. A dialectical and historical analysis affirms that the exploitative prison system of N. C. shares the identical fears of organization and unionization as do the monopoly interests of J. P. Stevens Co and Burlington Mills. Most prisoners in N. C. have to work their way out of prison. Working prisoners like all working people have a fundamental right to organize. Rev. Benjamin Chavis Caledonia Prison March 18. 1976. CHRISTINE QAITHER working for a successful bond referendum Tuesday. TERESA! DIXON Miss Teresa Y. Dixon, 17. won the Burroughs Wellcome Achievement Scholarship through the National Achl evement Scholarship Program for Outstanding Negro Students which is administered by the National Merit Scholarship Corporation. She is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Herman Dixon of 1304 Scout Drive, Durham and will graduate from Durham High School in the Class of 1976. Durham Mbs Wins flationc! Scholarship Among the names of 433 winners in the twelfth annual National Achievement Scholarship Program for Outstanding Negro Students, announced by the National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC), which administers the competition, was Miss Teresa Y. Dixon, 17, of Durham. Winners come from schools in 35 states, the District of Columbia, U. S. territories and commonwealths, and foreign schools that enroll U. S. citizens. Miss Dixon, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Herman Dixon of Scout Drive, has been awarded the Burroughs Wellcome Achievement Scholarship. Burroughs Wellcome Co.. a North Carolina manufacturer of pharmaceuticals with over 2100 employees, yearly provides an Achievement Scholarship. B. W. Co. is an international organization which devotes its profits, to medical research in the service of humanity. A member of the National Honor Society, Miss Dixon plans to major in speech pathology. Site attended the 197S Governor's School (in English), is a member of the French Club, Math lienor Society, Parnassians vice-president, PTSA secretary, National Beta Club, Computer Cub and a senior class play actress. Site was also tht Christmas Parade Float Chairman and a graduation Marshal.
The Carolina Times (Durham, N.C.)
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March 27, 1976, edition 1
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