Ronald Nelson is overcome with emotion as he surveys the charred remains of Matthews Murkland
Presbyterian Church's old sanctuary last Sunday in Charlotte. A 13-year-old white girl was charged with set
ting the fire that destroyed the church.
Authorities arrest 13-year-old
f rom AP and I hrotiu U S-jtt Reports
C HARLOTTK - A 13-year-old white girl was
arrested this week on charges that she set fire last
week to the predominate!) black Matthews
Murk land Presbvterian Church.
Authorities have withheld the name of the girl
because she is a minor. The) called the girl "trou
bled" and said privately that she practiced witch
craft.
Charlotte police said they found no evidence of
a conspiracy involving ihe^ teenager. who was
charged with setting the tire last Thursday at a sanc
tuarv used to store pews on the grounds of the
Matthews Murkland PresbvterianChurch.
The Res. William Hill, pastor of the Matthew.
Murkland ehureh. uhich owned the 87-year-old
structure, said he is glad the burning was not racially
motivated, hut is just as troubled that it occurred.
Hill also said he \sa\ concerned about how the
Charlotte incident will affect the debate about previ
ous fires.
"1 have some deep concern tor m\ fellow broth*
ers whose fires were racially motivated,'* Hill said.
those other 30 are not racially motivated because
this mav not be "
Please see A i THORl TIES A10
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Winston-Salem Chroniclc
75 C
?: iSSSSfi" ?. "? .
N?;ST 2l\<b\'
66? V 5TH,kLEM ^
40l"Tnafcn
to U.S. Justice
Department
* ?*,
AProtesters deliver 1
million letters to Reno
By BRIDGET KVARTS
Special to the Chronicle .
WASHINGTON. D.C. ? More than 400
people marched to the U.S. Justice
Department offices recently to hand-deliver
one million letters to Attorney General Janet
Reno, demanding a new trial for Philadelphia
journalist and death row inmate Mumia Abu
Jamal.
As if on a mock guided tour of
Washington, they wound their way from
Howard University to pause, first in front of
the offices of National Public Radio on
Massachusetts Avenue, and then outside the
massive building that houses the FBI. The
two stops on^-me mat called attention to
both organizations' involvement in Abu
JamaTs case.
Under the covert Cointelpro surveillance
program, the FBI amassed a 700-page file on
Abu-Jamal, beginning when he was a 15
year-old minister of communications for a
Philadelphia chapter of the Black Panther
Party.
NPR signed a contract with Abu-Jamal to
air his commentaries last year, but canceled
the "Live From Death Row" broadcasts under
pressure from the Fraternal Order of Police.
The Prison Radio Project and Abu-Jamal
recently filed a $2 million lawsuit against
NPR for breach of contract.
Abu-Jamal was arrested in 1981 for the
shooting death of police officer Daniel
Faulkner, and the ensuing murder trial has
been called a "miscarriage of justice" by Abu
Jamal's supporters. Reno has said that she
would grant Abu-Jamal a new trial if evidence
of a conspiracy was found in his first trial.
Abu-Jamal was sentenced to death in
1982 by Judge Albert Sabo. Sabo, described
as a "prosecutor in robes" by members of the
Please see 400 A11
co0i The Choice for African-American News and Information
THURSDAY, June 13,1996
icated to the Memory of Clarence E. Nottingham: 1903-1995 vol. xxii, no. 44
7
Otis Sellers, left, Dionne H.K. Jenkins and Hubert Lash were among the nine African-Am eric an plaintiffs of
the Hethania Town IaH Committee who won a permanent injunction preventing the city of Winston-Salem
from annexing 2,100 acres of Bethania.
Bethania annexation nixed
Bv JOHN HINTON _
Chronicle Senior Staff Writer
Forsyth County Superior Court Judge Todd
Burke issued a permanent injunction this week pre
venting the city of Winston-Salem from annexing
2.KX) acres within the town of Bethania. giving the
plaintiffs a rare victory over a local government.
The state law "An Aet to Revive the Charter of
the Town of Bethania," which reduced Bethania's
boundaries from the 2,500-acre lot to 400 acres,
was unconstitutional. Burke said in his ruling. The
N.C. General Assembly passed the act last year.
/'We won this baby." said Annie Brown
Kennedy, whose son Harvey Kennedy argued the
case of the Bethania Town Lot Committee, the
plaintiffs, before Burke in a packed courtroom on
Monday. Burke's ruling returns the town of
Bethania to its original 2,500-acre lot.
There was no reaction to Burke > ruling imme
diately inside the courtroom as he warned the
crowd of 120 people, mostly Bethanian residents
opposed to the annexation, to discuss the case out
side the courtroom.
After Burke had ruled, several plaintiffs hugged
and congratulated the Kennedys. It is rare for a citi
zens group to prevent a city from annexing neigh
bor^ 7 communities, said a smiling Harvey
Ketn.wdy.
"That is the end of it, unless the city appeals."
he said. "We won."
-Hi
^Hie-ciLy-"s Board of Aldermen will decide
whether to appeal the ease, said Rod Ligon. the
attorney who represented the eit\ of Winston
Salem. a eo-defendant. at the hearing. He declined
to comment on the ruling.
"It would he inappropriate for the lawyers to
comment." he said.
Ericsteen J. Lash, one of the IS plaintiffs, said
she was pleased with Burke's ruling.
"We felt all along that our constitutional rights
had been violated." she said. "We were willing to
step out on faith, believing in our hc.gts that justice
would prevail." ?
Kennedy argued that nine African American
plaintiffs ? Otis B. Sellers. Hubert K. Lash.
Ericsteen J. Lash, Dionne B.K. Jenkins. Joseph C.
Jones. J.C. Covington. Beulah (i. Miller. Clarence
G. Hauser and Julius Walker ? were denied their
equal protection under state laws based on their
race, due to the defendants' conduct and passage of
the law to reduce the town's boundaries.
Some of the African-American families can
trace their ancestary in Bethania back to the 1830s.
Because of the law. blacks had been virtual 1\
excluded from the tow n of Bethania. Kenned} said.
The African-American population in the town
numbered 1.421 on the 2.5(M)-acrc tract, but it was
reduced to 36 on the 4(X)-acre tract because of the
Phase see HI.Til WW MO
Watt demands
apology from
AHouse speaker
spreads rumor
B> JOHN HINTON
Chrcitu lc Senior Statt W rilor
U.S. Rep. Melvin Watt. D-N.C.. joined other
Congressional Democrats in
demanding an upolog) from
House Speaker Newt Gingrich for
spreading rumors that Commerce
Department stall might ha\e
shredded documents following the
plane crash that killed Secretary
Ronald L. Brown.
"Nrcwt Gingrich's remarks are '
reprehensible and out of line." S. Rep.
Watt said in a statement from his ' e ^att
Washington. D C. office. "To
demean the memory of an indi\id
ual v\ho died in ser\iee to our
country takes irresponsibility to a
new level."
Gingrich spokesman Tons
Blank ley confirmed last week
that, in a closed meeting with
other Republicans. Gingrich had House Speaker
suggested there might have been a (lingrich
cover-up to get rid of Brown's
papers after he died. Brown had
been under investigation regard
ing his finances.
Brown and 34 others were on
a trade mission when their Air
Force plane crashed in Croatia on
April 4.
The allegations were first
made b\ the American Spectator, a ommerce
conservative publication. Gingrich e
repeated them last Tuesday in a on roHn
closed meeting with several hun
dred GOP directors of congressional districts.
Blankley said Gingrich was unapologetic.
Please see M.4 TTS A11
[CLASSIFIEDS B-13
OPINION A-12
ENTERTAINMENT....B-10
OBITUARIES B12
ISPORTS |B-1
This Week in Mack History
June /.?, /V67
Thurgcxxl Marshall. I S solicitor
general, named to the Supreme
Court bv President Johnson.
He was confirmed
h> the Senate on
August 30 and
became the first
black Supreme
Court iiistice.
New Generation opens avenues for youth
B\ MAI Kin CROCK! K
CommunilN News Reporter
Several men from Winston-Salem are trying
to change the image of the African-American
community and the destructive trends of the
community's youth.
They have founded the "New Generation
Social Club," which consi>ts of 10 African
American men ranging in age from 26 to 34.
"We were basically just sitting around, look
ing at the ways of our youth, and decided to do
something," said Willie McLcndon. viee presi
dent.
Besides looking at what the youth were
doing, the organization's members also analwed
their participation and decided*to ge* involved.
McLendon said.
"A lot of people are talking about the \outh
and their problems, but those same people aren't
helping out." he said.
According to McLendon. the primarv locus
of the organization is to show the youth that a
lite ot crime is not the onl\ choice available.
He also said the youth nerd to know and
understand that there are some repercussions to
selling drugs and committing other crimes
"What we Want to do is show our \outh a
better vva\ to succeed, rather than |iist making
fast monev." McLendon said
Please see XF.W \ll
\t left. Durellc Ingram, president of the "\ew (feneration Soeial Club,"
stands with Willie \1c l.endon, vice president. The project is geared
toward helping youth.