WILSON LIBRARY
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CHAPEL HILL
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ILUME 94 - NUMBER 29
DURHAM, NORTH CAROLINA - SATURDAY, JULY 25, 2015
TELEPHONE (919) 682-2913 PRICE: 50 CENTS
Woman found dead in
Texas jail was excited
about new chapter
bove, Aspiring Scientists
rk Alongside Astronaut.
conMobil Bernard Har-
| Camper reviews his Mars
Iider project for accuracy
DCCU.
During the ExxonMobil
rnard Harris Summer Sci-
le Camp at North Carolina
Bitral University, nearly 48
jangle area middle-school
idents strengthened their
ence, technology, engi-
ering and math, or STEM,
towledge and skills under.
J direction of college pro-
■ors and science profes-
>nals, including Dr. Ber-
Id A. Harris Jr., the first
Rican-American to walk in
ce.
See story on page 2.
)r. Bernard Harris at right
arber leads effort to unify
Charlotte as trial looms
By Jason KeyseR and
Michael Graczyk
HEMPSTEAD, Texas (AP)
- A woman whose death in a
Texas jail is under investigation
was thrilled to be returning to
her alma mater to begin a com
munity outreach job after years
of bouncing between temp work
back home in Illinois, leaving
friends doubting authorities who
say she killed herself.
Interviews with friends as well
as Sandra Bland’s own words in
online videos about racial injus
tice and police brutality present a
picture of a young woman on. the
cusp of finding her niche in life.
She landed a perfect job. She had
just gone on a joyful road trip to
Memphis with her mother. She
had a voice and a following on
social media and was active in
her community.
Even after an online video
surfaced showing the 28-year-
old talking in March about de
pression and post-traumatic
stress disorder, those who knew
her said she would not have tak
en her own life - not even over
the ' confrontational traffic stop
that led to her arrest, which mir
rored the ones she railed against
online.
“She was in good spirits. She
was looking forward to what was
next,” said close friend and men
tor LaVaughn Mosley, 57, add
ing that he was unaware of any
struggles with depression. “She
was making plans for the future,
so there’s no way she was in a
suicidal state.”
About 100 protesters marched
from the jail to the courthouse
July 17 in Hempstead, Texas, in
cluding other friends of Bland’s
who were also in disbelief.
Bland grew up in Naperville, Illinois, 30 miles southwest of Chi
cago. Known in her family as Sandy B, she was the fourth of five
tight-knit sisters. She was active in her family’s church and was the
only one of her sisters to go to college out of state. She studied at the
College of Agriculture at Prairie View A&M University, a histori
cally black school 40 miles northwest of Houston
(Continued On Page 3)
MS Sandra Bland
By Tom Foreman Jr.
tHARLOTTE (AP) - As North Carolina’s larg-
lity braces for the trial of a former police officer
Used in the killing of an unarmed black man, an
ikely coalition of barbers, clergy and law en-
sement is working to improve relations between
Black community and police in Charlotte - and
lad off possible violence once the trial ends.
Fury selection began July 13 in the trial of ex-
|•lotte-Mecklenburg police officer Randall Ker-
■ who is charged with voluntary manslaughter
he September 2013 shooting death of Jonathan
tell.
■he 24-year-old Ferrell, who is black, was in-
ved in a car accident and had gone to a house,
Irently to search for help. A person at the house
Id police, and three officers responded. Inves-
prs say Kerrick fired 12 shots, 10 of which hit
I'll. Kerrick was the only officer who fired his
Shaun Corbett, who owns a barber shop on
■lotte’s north side, the case drew immediate
Dels to another shooting: the 2014 killing of
■tanned black teenager in Ferguson, Missouri,
I white police officer. The case touched off a
Inal debate over the way police conduct them-
1s when confronting minorities.
t also touched off destructive riots that erupted
la grand jury decided not to indict the Fergu-
police officer in the death of 18-year-old Mi-
el Brown.
fearing the same violence could erupt in Char-
I Corbett said he told himself that something
Jo be done, especially as barbers have a “re-
nsibility” to look after the community.
‘Back in the day, a barber was a prestigious po-
p in the community. That’s where you came to
the information. That’s where you came to get
nsel. That was the cornerstone of the commu-
, and I think we got away from that,” Corbett
JONATHAN FERRELL.
Ie brought the issue to the N.C. Local Barbers
pciation, where he is a member of the board,
the "Cops and Barbers” program was born,
rhe group organizes town hall forums so com-
lity members can talk to police. The program
I Urges officers to get to know the places they
by getting out of their cruisers and meeting
residents. The youth are advised on how to
handle encounters with police.
The first event was held on Super Bowl Sunday,
and Corbett said more than 200 people showed up.
"Whatever the outcome is with the trial, I think
the foundation and the groundwork we’ve laid is
going to make that difference,” he said. “I think
that it’s actually that we have the opportunity to
have an honest dialogue. That’s what the 'Cops and
Barbers’ movement is about.”
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Det. Garry Mc
Fadden, who is active in the group, shares the op
timism that there will be calm during and after the
trial.
“We can’t say what’s going to be the verdict and
what’s going to be the jury, but I think that when
it comes to the community, we have a good rela
tionship with the community people here, and that
makes for a much better advantage for us,” Mc
Fadden said.
In the aftermath of the Civil War, Charlotte -
(Continued On Page 3)
2 Confederate monuments
vandalized in North Carolina
By Emily Masters
RALEIGH (AP) - A vandalized Confederate monument in Charlotte, North Carolina was
removed from Old City Hall on July 16 and relocated to a city warehouse for cleaning.
“Right now there are plans to put it back, but that’s a decision that needs to be made by city
council.” said Charlotte’s corporate spokesman Ken Brown. It is unknown how long the clean
ing will take or what it will cost, he said. The city manager’s office ordered the monument
moved but did not respond to requests for comment.
The vandalism comes as the nation debates the appropriateness of the Confederate battle
flag and Confederate monuments after the shooting of nine worshippers at a historically black
church in Charleston, S.C. The suspect in that case, a white man, has been seen posing in pho
tographs with the Confederate flag.
While there have been numerous Confederate monuments vandalized across the South since
the shooting, most monuments have been cleaned and reopened without having to be moved.
“The vandalism, in some cases, will give city officials a much welcomed excuse for tak
ing them down,” said James W. Loewen, an American sociologist who researches Confederate
memorials. “This gives them an excuse to say we’re taking it down because it is a point of
contention and to save the city trouble and money. Then they don’t have to take a stand on the
underlying cause itself.”
The North Carolina legislature is moving forward on legislation that would protect Confeder
ate monuments. In April, the Senate passed a bill banning state or local authorities from remov
ing “objects of remembrance” from public property without state legislative action. A House
committee approved the bill July 15, sending it to the full House.
The monument at Old City Hall was one of two Confederate monuments to be defaced in
Charlotte on July 15. Police are investigating both acts of vandalism. No arrests have been
made.
At Old City Hall, someone spray-painted “racist” on a memorial that honors Confederate
soldiers and was placed in 1977. Liquid cement was smeared on another Confederate memo
rial monument located near the Grady Cole Center. The monument is owned by Mecklenburg
County and was unveiled in 1929.
County spokesman Rick Christenbury said the county will pay a private company to repair
the damage for $300. Workers covered the monument with black trash bags July 16, so rain
would not harden the cement further.
The cement covered the carved inscription, two battle flags and the word 'Confederate.’
The inscription states that Confederate soldiers “preserved the Anglo-Saxon civilization of the
South,” which Loewen called an “overt" white supremacist message.
The United Confederate Veterans raised funds with Charlotte citizens to pay for the monu
ment and erected it in 1929. The Old City Hall monument was donated by the Confederate Me
morial Association of Charlotte and the city council voted to allow its 1977 placement, Brown
said.