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11| Our answer
I | to Gov. Mecha
I \ Pi
I
j - "
I Wi
H
I Vol. XIII, No. 23
I AN ENCOURAGII
t I
Sign maker Paul Howell and Kat
for the city, put the finishing toi
INNPAapuDIc
says publish
By ROBIN BARKSDALE
Chronicle Staff Writer
P Related editorial on A4.
! - Angered that Arizona's governor
rescinded that stated Martin
Luther King Jr. holiday, the nation's
black newspaper publishers
canceled their winter meeting in
;Phoenix last week. But one local
[publisher, who had flown to
'Phoenix to attend the convention,
hopes the issue-won't end
there.
"The black press has the role,
the responsibility and the obligation
to make the community
aware of struggles and to be an
impetus to solving them," said
Ernest H. Pitt, publisher of the
Chronicle and a board member
of the National Newspaper
Publishers Association. "I hope
this is not the end of the issue."
: - Pitt said that this state's black
* publisher in particular should
"remember that North Carolina is
pne of only 10 states that has yet
10 declare a King holiday.
*5 #
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| Bvj WILLIAM F. RAWSON
| Associated Press Writer
! I; PHOENIX, Ariz. - Tourism
efficials say Gov. Evan
Mccham's cancellation of
i Arizona's Martin Luther King
| holiday hasn't had a major impact
on the state's traveldependent
economy but disagree
over whether it will.
- While one industry observer
Dredicted a "?nnu/hallino
r ?
effect," the state's tourism director
said he was confident individual
tourists would continue
to flock to Arizona.
;,An organization representing
black newspaper^?ublishers and a
Democratic Party committee
already have canceled meetings in
<r>
*
*
IBB
North T
m surge tc
SAB A A
ZUI
instoi
U.S.P.S. No. 067910
NO SIGN
kl
j||| I
^gr __
:hy Harris, a maintenance worke
jches on the street signs for th<
rnt should be
er who atten
Pitt and the other publishers
aiicnuing me ininfa's 1987 MidWinter
Workshops cancelled
their meetings to protest Gov.
Evan Mecham's reversal of an executive
order by his predecessor,
Biuce Babbitt, to establish the
King holiday in Arizona.
In a prepared statement issued
last Wednesday, NNPA Presi"This
is a good opportunity
for the NNPA to
... record that the struggle
is still not over."
?Ernest H. Pitt
dent Christopher H. Bennett
criticized Mecham's actions and
asked his fellow publishers tb encourage
others not to spend their
money in Arizona until the holiday
is restored.
Pitt, however, feels that the
organization can, and should, do
more.
"The traditional black press
has been in the thick of the civil
mm .
ancellation
*
tss of tourisi
Arizona, and a tourism official
said that at least two other groups
have expressed concern over
Mecham's Jan. 12 rescission of
the state holiday, which had been
ordered last year by Mecham's
predecessor, Democrat Bruce
Babbitt.
Also, a spokesman for the Rev.
Jesse Jackson said last week that
Jackson canceled a scheduled trip
to protest cancellation of the
holiday. Entertainer Stevie
Wonder said previously that he
will boycott the state.
John Marks, president of the
Phoenix and Valley of the Sun
Convention Bureau, said that he
knew of no other groups that
.have canceled plans to come to
Arizona but that at least two
flU
> top
i.
i-Sah
The Twin City's Avi
Winston-Salem, N.C.
Mpf
it % "7yg|^H
| J
iB BmcV W . ft*a
jP^, 4>. '.
^*' t
r new Martin Luther King Jr.
5 Wednesday (photo by James F
/
a beginning,
ided meeting
i rights movement all along," he
said. "This is a good opportunity
I for the NNPA to ... record that
the struggle is still not over."
In a telephone interview Tuesday
from his office in Seattle,
-?Bennett said that the purpose of
the Phoenix pullout was "to support
the black community there"
and that any further action will
, be decided by the NNPA board
members at a scheduled meeting
in March. He said the organization
was successful in making a
strong statement opposing
Mecham's actions.
Bennett declined to speculate
on the economic impact of the
1 cancellation, but Pitt estimated
that the total amount lost in concessions,
lodging, transportation
and tourism could total as much
as $250,000. Pitt said the boycott
not only cost the city of Phoenix,
but the black publishers as well.
"We met with the local people
and they encouraged us?to
leave," he said. "It was a tremendous
sacrifice for us because
Please see page A2
ft in Arizona
organizations have expressed
concern over the issue.,
"The only big group is one that
we don't even have yet," Marks
said, referring to a statement by
the leader of the National Baptist
Convention of America, who
said in November that the
organization might drop Phoenix
from the list of cities being considered
for its 1989 meeting.
"We're still a finalist city bidding
for that (convention),"
Marks said. "They will actually
make their decision at their annual
meeting in February."
Marks said that as many as
10,000 people are expected to attend
the convention,^ which
would pump an estimated $4
Please see page A2
\ , ,
HRH wssun
^ upset t
em C
>ard'Winning Weekly"
Thursday, January 29,1
c
jy^/
Drive. The signs were posted
>arker).
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CLASSIFIED 112
COMICS M
EDITORIALS A*.
FORUM AS
- ? "'
PFOPI F A A
RELIGION ?7
8PORT8WEEK tl j
QUOTABLE: "in (Phil)
Donahue, the veteran,
and (Oprah) Winfrey, the
newly arrived, we have
two maatere of the eon."
PAGE A4.
a ' i
KR 2
*
Let It Snow
r
While most motorists struc
the city's first major snows'
sisters Sherlce, left, and T
welcomed the opportunity tc
in the mounds of snow (ph
Parker).
ra: 'Forcing
id to be; free'
lams? Subl
iggies bloc
PAOK SI.
hroni
987 50 cents
MLK Driv
new signs j
Claremont soon
By CHERYL WILLIAMS
Chronbcle Staff Writer
THE Board of Aldermen
voted unanimously last week to
rename Claremont Avenue Martin
Luther King Jr. Drive.
o
The resolution, made during a
special Wednesday night
meeting, makes Winston-Salem
the first major North Carolina city
to name a street for the civil
rights legend.
As soon as new signs can be
placed -- city workers began placing
them Wednesday - the .
stretch of Claremont Avenue
from Stadium Drive north to File
Street will become King Drive, a
prospect that seems to please all
parties involved.
MI think this speaks very highly
of our board," said East Ward
Alderman Virginia K. Newell.
"It speaks to the sensitivity of the
members of the board, contrary
Local residen
in support ol
By CHERYL WILLIAMS
Chronicle Staff Writer
About 25 black Twin City
residents held a one-hour vigil
last weekend in support of civil
nguia maicucrs in rorsytn county,
Qa.
The vigil on Jan. 24 was held in
front" of the old courthouse
building on the corner of Fourth
and Main streets from noon until
1 p.m., said Southeast Ward
Alderman Larry W. Womble.
The vigil was held the same day
that nearly 25,000 demonstrators
NAA<
Ga. co
, By DAVID REEC
I Associated Press W
COLUMBIA, !
^ federal court to <
mSL t a County, Ga., unf
tegrate, Executive
IJ last Thursday.
' The National A
of- Colored People
m civil rights marcl
"eliminate the whi
W sa>d Hooks. N
t through the ne;
psychological imp
can't break up a ci
ing some rocks,"
About 400 Klai
threw rocks and di
Forsyth County i\
1 w But the civil rig
down the walls o
36 /I ^at surround Foi
' r ching is done, the
' J 1 back to its old wa
The NAACP i<
county that will b
jgled through Georgia, said Ho<
tnrrn In uoare ?
" ;wi i ne NAACP s
onika Barnes "long-standing p
> build castles black people whi<
oto by James condoned as coun
. \
( PAGE A6.
cle
30 Pages This Week
j
e reality;
going up
' bear a new name
to the people who feel we are very
selfish.
"Martin Luther King should
have had this honor a long time
ago," she said. "But he got it
now, with both black and white
support. There was no dissension
on the board. I'm real pleased
with them."
Mrs. Newell said that the
street's new name also says a lot
for the Alpha Pi Lambda
Chanter nf Alnha Phi Atnha
_ __?r wa mm ?* m mm* M
Fraternity, the organization that
began efforts to rename the street
almost a year ago. King pledged
the fraternity, which is the oldest
black Greek-letter organization
in the nation, while an
undergraduate at Morehouse
College in Atlanta.
North Ward Alderman Patrick
T7 Hairston said the street'srenaming
sends the same message
to the public that, the aldermen
sent in unanimously making
Please see page A16
its hold vigil
f Ga. march
marched in the all-white county
to protest the disruption of a
march the previous Saturday by
about 400 counterdemonstrators
who threw rocks, bottles and
mud.
Womble, who participated in
The vigil- said that the event
wasn't sponsored by any particular
group or organization but
stemmed from concern by elected
officials, ministers, community
leaders and citizens.
"Since we couldn't go down to
Please see page A3
3P: Cut off
unty's funds
)
Ylter
S.C. The NAACP will ask a
:ut off federal funds to Forsyth
ess the county takes action to in:
Director Benjamin Hooks said
association for the Advancement
will resort to the courts because
hes alone won't be enough to
ite racist attitude in that county,"
onetheless, Saturday's march
arly all-white county "is of
>ortance to prove that the KKK
' ! 1 _! _ t - ?
ivii ngnis marcn ... oy just throwHooks
said.
n members and their supporters
ebris at 75 civil rights marchers in
le previous Saturday.
hts marches alone "will not bring
f segregation and discrimination
syth County, and after the marcounty
cannot be permitted to go
iys," Hooks said.
> preparing a lawsuit against the
>e filed soon in a federal court in
Dksf
iuit will cite the county for its
olicy of discrimination toward
:h has either been sanctioned or
ty policy," he said.
5lease see page A3
<