Ml '' 17 12/01''i4' lll,l!l """ lll "'il UNC-CH SERTQI r- **CHII 1 i^is ubr^Vb^ ^08 Rai r nu * CHflPEL H1 T br ^ r NC 7599-000} VOLUME 93 - NUMBER 24 DURHAM, NORTH CAROLINA - SATURDAY, JUNE 14, 2014 TELEPHONE (919) 682-2913 PRICE: 30 After violence, SC gov. wants to end biker weekend M&F Bank names 2014 Mechanics and Farmers Bank Founders Award recipi ents: community activist & civil rights legend R. Kelly Bryant, Jr; Charlotte busi ness leader Lem Long, Sr.; Baltimore Ravens defensive end Chris Canty; corpo rate turnaround leader and private school founder Claude Demby. : ( Left to right) Brad Johnson (accepting for Lem Long, Jr.), Chris Canty, R. Kelly Bryant, Jr., Claude DembySee story on page 2. Trayvon Martin’s Friend Rachel Jeantel I’m Still Standing By Jazelle Hunt NNPA Washington Correspondent WASHINGTON (NNPA) - As Rachel Jeantel inched toward a high school diploma, she tried to keep in mind that she had a promise to keep. Her slain friend, Trayvon Martin, would have wanted her to finish school, and she had promised his par ents and other supporters that she would. Now, she has kept that promise. The world met Jeantel last year, when it was disclosed that she was the last person to speak to Trayvon Martin before he was killed by George Zimmerman. Over two days of testifying as a key witness in the Zimmerman trial - in which she was questioned for six hours - a storm of opinions, analyses, and judgments were made about her - some on target, some not. At the time, she was just a teenager thrown into the spotlight in the midst of a personal and na tional tragedy. It’s a chapter of her life she doesn’t like to talk about, mostly referring to it in solemn tones as “the situation.” Bringing it up immediately de flates her cheery, laugh-filled conversation. “I’m grateful for Trayvon and everyday when I work hard or have the smack-down on me, I just say if he was here he would say “keep going,” Je antel said in an interview. “The situation was a learning experience for me, and for everyone. As everyone was watching the trial, we were all learning things about the United States. But I’m still standing. You don’t need to be Rachel Jeantel and mentor Roderick Vereen. She was traveling constantly, for questioning as part of FBI, law en forcement, and legal investigations. She was missing a lot of school. Only her closest friends knew that she had been on the phone with Martin when Zimmerman first spot ted him. “Nobody knew where 1 was. I’d lie about where I’d been every time somebody brought up Trayvon, and they would always bring it up in school [that he had been on the phone]. I'd deny saying it was me,” Jeantel says. “All the traveling and talking to the FBI was too much on afraid of me, and you don’t need to feel bad about me, and I was doing it by myself. I the situation. Justice will still be served.” still wanted my normal life.” Last year, Jeantel wanted nothing more than to That normalcy never quite re- be left alone. She was grieving and feeling guilty, turned. She still gets recognized choosing not to attend Martin’s funeral. at Wal-Mart, where people ask “I was running from Sybrina [Fulton],” she her why she shops there “now that says referring to Martin’s mother. “I wasn’t ready [she’s] a celebrity.” They want to to face her. I didn’t want to talk about it.' (Continued On Page 2) By Bruce Smith ATLANTIC BEACH, S.C. (AP) - After a bloody Memorial Day weekend left three dead and seven wounded, Gov. Nikki Hal ey wants to end the annual Atlantic Beach Bikefest which has drawn black bik ers for decades to the tiny beachside community near Myrtle Beach. But Mayor Jake Evans has no plans to end the event in a community that, during the days of segrega tion, was one of the only places on the South Caroli na coast where blacks were welcome. The Bikefest attracts thousands to Atlantic Beach - a town of less than a square mile, three ocean- front blocks and about 350 residents - as well as to sur rounding areas along the strip of coast known as the Grand Strand. Evans says there haven’t been prob lems in his town but he is willing to discuss the need for more law enforcement in other areas during the weekend. Police say the Memo rial Day weekend slaying of three people in Myrtle Beach motel 14 miles away seems to be gang-related. A look at the controversy: As the governor sees it -’’Eight shootings hap pened during this weekend. Three people died. That is not OK for South Caro lina,” Haley told reporters. “This Bikefest does not represent the people of this state. It does not represent what we are trying to do when we promote tourism and jobs.” Haley plans to talk to Evans about ending Bikefest. The mayor’s view - “I'm not above talking to Grand Strand city leaders and coming together with them and making sure they handle the problem which is to make sure everybody abides by the law,” said Evans who as of June 5 had not heard from the governor. “But I’m not willing to sit down at the table with anyone and discuss canceling Bikefest.” Unfair to Atlantic Beach? (Continued On Page 2) Durham Committee On the Affairs OF BLACK PEOPLE Resolution In Support of Elizabeth City State University and Other Historically Black Colleges and Universities in the UNC System Whereas, Elizabeth City State University has contributed greatly to the education and well being of citizens of the State of North Carolina, along with other Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) in the UNC System, and Whereas, a budget proposal in the North Carolina senate recently would have had the effect of closing Elizabeth City State University or severely limiting the university’s future development, and Whereas, Elizabeth City State University and other HBCUs in the UNC system have been hampered for many years by not being provided with the same level of support and resources as other universities in the UNC system, The political committee of the Durham Committee on the Affairs of Black People does hereby declare its unwavering support for the continued existence, development and advancement of Elizabeth City State University as well as the four other HBCU’s in the UNC System and, The political committee of the Durham Committee on the Affairs of Black People urges the governor, our elected officials and the Board of Governors of the UNC system to refrain from efforts to harm or abolish Elizabeth City State University and other HBCUs and to focus efforts on contributing to the growth and development of these vital institutions that have given so much to the state of North Carolina. We’ll Be Back!’ After 3-Hour Teach-In, Teachers, Students and the Forward Together Moral Move ¬ ment Promise to Return to the NC General Assembly for Further Action RALEIGH - Teachers, parents, alumni, students and other concerned North Carolinians arrived June 9, intent on petitioning Senate Leader Berger over the devastating cuts to public schools that he included in his 2014 and previous budgets. They came armed with fact sheets; the teachers brought lesson plans. They demanded repeals to the many extreme laws attacking teachers and schools this year. The Senator cleared his office and locked the doors before the teachers and students arrived. Undeterred, they held a three-hour Teach-In for members of the legislature and public. Senator Berger only arrived hours after the Teach-In began, and only after he ordered the NC General Assembly police to clear all the supporters out of the building. “The Forward Together Moral Movement is proud of the courageous teachers, students and parents who decided to stand up for students and schools today by demanding the extremist legislative leadership take decisive action to repeal destructive policies designed to undermine public education in our state,” said Rev. Dr. William J. Barber, II, president of the North Caro lina NAACP. "These fifteen moral witnesses had doubts as to whether Senate Leader Berger’s offers to consider restoring education funding were genuine, but they decided to give him a few days to prove that he will act as a statesman and do the right thing. Ifhe does not, then we will be back for a full and direct action. The teachers and students will not stay home. They and the Forward Together Moral Movement will be back in their offices and the People’s House to make sure they do not put public education and opportunities for our children at risk.” Rev. Barber continued, “We have spent the past few years attempting to get a good-faith meeting between the legislative leadership and the Forward Together Moral Movement. For Senator Berger to clear the building before meeting with the moral witnesses, to avoid the people for the past few weeks on Mondays, is shameful. Teachers are smarter than that. The Moral Mondays Movement will not fall for it.” Background: Last summer, thousands gathered at Moral Monday to protest this extremist General As sembly’s decision to slash money from the education budget - hobbling public schools, leaving teacher pay at 47th in the nation, burdening students with skyrocketing tuition rates at public colleges and universities and funneling millions of taxpayer dollars to private schools through a voucher program. This summer, Senate Leader Phil Berger put together a budget that attempts to raise teach ers' wages, but does so at the expense of eliminating vital classroom support, teacher worker protections and other public school funding that enables our children to learn in safe, diverse and supportive environments.

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