San Francisco State investigates
the arrest of black professor
SAN FRANCISCO ( AP) - The president of San Francisco Slate
University said an independent commission will investigate alleged
racial profiling after the arrest of a black professor on campus.
Antwi Akom, 37, an ethnic studies assistant professor, was arrest
ed on CX;t. 25 after he allegedly refused to pro
vide identification to a security guard during a
late-night visit to his office. Authorities said
Akom instigated a scuffle with university
police officers.
Akom was charged with two felony
counts of resisting arrest and assaulting a
police officer. One officer was treated for
minor injuries at a hospital.
Akom was released on his own recogni
zance and is expected to return to teaching
Tuesday.
University President Robert Corrigan said
Akom
a team led by former San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown and former
City Attorney Louise Renne will review the incident and allegations
that Akom was the victim pf racial profiling.
"We are a campus community that identifies itself by a central
commitment to social justice and equity," Corrigan said in a state
ment. "Did we fully live up to those values on October 25? To answer
that question, 1 believe our best course is a thorough external review
of this matter."
Akom denied the allegations Monday.
"I absolutely did have my ID with me. and I was never asked for
it," Akom said.
Rupert F. Richardson named
NAACP president emeritus
The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People
(NAACP) Board of Directors unanimously voted during the October
board meeting to name Rupert F. Richardson, former NAACP presi
dent, with the title president emeritus.
From 1992 though 1996 Richardson served as the national presi
dent of the association. In 1996 she relinquished the title of president
when the board changed the title of the executive director of the asso
ciation to president and chief executive officer.
Julian Bond, NAACP chairman of the board, said: "Rupert
Richardson is more than our longest continuous serving board mem
ber; she is our institutional memory, keeping us true to the faith of our
forebears."
Richardson joined the board in 1982. She currently serves as
chairman of the National Health and National Life Membership Com
mittees and sits on the Audit, Advocacy & Policy, Compensation
Reimbursement and Units & Membership Committees. She is also a
member of the Special Contribution Fund (SCF) Board of Trustees.
As a representative of the association, Richardson has exemplified
illustrious service to the NAACP at the regional, state, and local lev
els. In 1965 Richardson became education chair of the NAACP
Baton Rouge Branch, where she challenged school segregation and
served as Louisiana State Conference president from 1981 to 1995.
She is president emeritus of the State Conference.
Michael Jackson's defense attorney
honored by LA. mayor and police chief
LOS ANGELES (AP) - Gospel music rocked the rafters as the
mayor and police chief of Los Angeles joined hundreds of members
of a black church to honor Michael Jackson's lawyer, Thomas
Mesereau Jr., as "a champion of justice."
Mesereau, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and Police Chief Bill
Mesereau
Bratton swayed and clapped Sunday as a band
played and a choir of young people sang reli
gious songs in a rock tempo. They also pre
sented a medley of upbeat numbers in praise
of America.
"We are here to honor a man who is set
ting an example for all of us," the mayor told
the packed chapel at Brookins Community
African Methodist Church. He noted that
Mesereau is "a white man who has for many
years now marched with the mothers of Watts
against gang violence. He co-founded a legal
clinic for the indigent."
He noted that Mesereau also travels to Alabama every year to
defend a death penalty case free of charge.
"Anytime I get the opportunity to acknowledge those among us
willing to reach out as Tom has, I'm truly honored," said the mayor,
who presented Mesereau with a city proclamation.
Mesereau told the group: "I am so touched, so honored and so
privileged. I thank all of you very much."
Jackson State fires James Bell
JACKSON, Miss. (AP) - Jackson State fired coach James Bell
on Monday, two days after the once-proud program clinched its third
consecutive losing season.
Athletic director Roy Culberson said Bell's firing was effective
immediately.
"While Bell has made significant improvements in the overall
football program during the past two and a half years, we believe that
this decision is in the best interest of Jackson State, its fans and alum
ni," Culberson said. "We would like to thank coach Bell for his untir
ing efforts and sincere love for the players."
Quarterbacks coach Daryl Jones will serve as interifn coach for
the final three games of the season. School officials are forming a
committee to search for Bell's permanent replacement.
Bell. 47. was 8-23 with just two home victories in two-plus sea
sons at Jackson State . The Tigers are coming off a 64-36 home loss to
Arkansas-Pine Bluff, the team's fourth straight defeat.
The historically black school that produced NFL star Walter Pay
ton and won 15 Southwestern Athletic Conference titles had fallen
upon hard times.
Jackson State (2-6, 2-4 SWAC) hasn't had a winning season since
2002. and under Bell had only two wins against teams with winning
records.
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scription price is $30.72.
(POSTMASTER: Send address changes to:
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Winston-Salem, NC 27102-1636
No one safe on TV 'Boondocks'
BY JANICE RHOSHALLE UTTLEJOHN
FOR THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
LOS ANGELES - Aaron McGnider has
been called a "genius" and "the angriest black
man in America" as he skewered everything
from the Bush White House to Black Enter
tainment Television.
Even Rosa Parks almost took a hit in the
new TV version of McGruder's popular comic
strip, "The Boondocks." After the civil rights
King
icon died Oct. 24,
McGruder deleted ref
erences to Parks from a
scene that showed her
scuffling with fans of
alleged child pomogra
pher R. Kelly.
But the fact that
Parks was included in
the first place demon
strates that McGrud
er's show, which will
premiere Sunday at 1 1
p.m. EDT on Cartoon Network's "Adult
Swim," will retain the edge that has periodi
cally gotten the strip pulled from newspapers.
"The Boondocks" follows the adventures
of junior revolutionary Huey Freeman and his
hip-hop obsessed younger brother. Riley, who
live in a white, middle-class suburb with their
cantankerous grandfather.
While the series won't tackle current
events (the 1 5-episode order took 1 8 months to
complete), it's certainly not lacking in irrever
ence. In one show. Granddad starts dating a
younger woman, oblivious to the fact that she's
Aaron McOruder
a prostitute, which leads to a discussion
between Huey and Riley on whether all
women are "hoes."
Another episode centers on the resurrec
tion of Martin Luther King Jr., whose nonvio
lent message is ridiculed in a post-9/1 1 world
by media outlets such as Time Warner's CNN
and Time magazine (and yes. Cartoon Net
work is a division of Time Warner).
"Anyone who is familiar with the comic
strip knows that "The Boondocks' is anything
but soft," said actress Regina King, the voice
of Huey and Riley. "Aaron McGruder is not
scared of taking on anybody."
McGruder began writing the strip in 1997
while attending the University of Maryland.
Now it's carried in about 350 newspapers,
although some have moved it to the editorial
page
A few papers temporarily pulled the strip
for hs attacks against the war in Iraq in 2001 .
And earlier this year, several papers dropped it
for a few days because of its use of the n-word
- which, not coincidentally. is sprinkled
throughout the TV series.
"This is a country that celebrates Richard
Pryor as a genius, and still we wonder if we
should be using the word 'nigga' in entertain
ment," said McGruder, 3 1 . "It's a conversation
that hasn't gone anywhere in about 30 years." !
Bringing "The Boondocks" to television
took several years. Fox made a pilot two years
ago, but McGruder says the network's pletho
ra of "rigid creative rules" made the experience;
a nightmare
Cartoon Network "is letting me do the
show I want to do," McGruder said. And net- 1
work senior vice president Mike Lazzo is mak-J
ing "The Boondocks" the centerpiece of the
three-hour "Adult Swim" late-night block,
which pulls in more of the coveted 1 8- to 34
year-old male demographic than Jay Leno,
David Letterman or Jon Stewart.
A longtime fan of "The Boondocks,"
Lazzo believes McGruder's voice is vital to
See Boondocks' on A10
More blacks try to make US . Senate
BY JAMES WRIGHT
NNPA
WASHINGTON
- Promising to be an
independent-minded
U.S. senator if elected
in 2006, Maryland Lt.
Gov. Michael S. Steele
(R) entered the race for
the Senate seat current
ly held by the retiring
Paul Sarbanes, a
Democrat. The
announcement took
place at the Novak
Field House on the campus of
Prince George's County Commu
nity College before a crowd of
350 supporters that included Gov.
Robert L. Ehrlich (R). who enthu
siastically endorsed Steele for the
position.
"It is time to heal our divi
sions," Steele said. "It is time to
empower people, instead of
empowering government. It is
time to change the culture of our
nation's capital. And that is why 1
am certain it is time for me to run
for the United States Senate.'"
Steele, who once served as the
leader of the Maryland Republi
can Party, took a subtle swipe at
both parties.
'"For too long, one party wor
ried more about prices in the stock
market than prices in the corner
market," Steele said, "'and too
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Steele
many in the other party preached
reconciliation at the same time
they practiced divi
sion.
"Red states must
be red. Blue states
must be blue; black
always black; and
white always white. It
may look that way to
Washington, but I
know that that is not
the view from Main
Street, Maryland."
Steele talked about
how his race will
emphasize more economic
empowerment for blacks.
"And instead of the right to sit
at the front counter, the new civil
rights straggle would be a struggle
for the right to own the
diner and to create lega
cy wealth for our chil
dren," he said.
r
Massachusetts, who served from
1966 to 1978.
Former congress
man and NAACP
Chief Executive Offi
He talked about
lowering barriers to
small business owner
ship, fighting terrorism
abroad and at home,
making sure that health
care is a reality for
everyone in the 21st
century, and improving
failing public schools.
Ford
cer Kweisi Mfume is
seeking the Democra
tic nomination for the
U.S. Senate seat in
Maryland.
Elsewhere, Rep.
Harold Ford is seek
ing the Democratic
nomination for a U.S.
Senate seat from Ten
nessee, replacing
If Steele is elected, he will be
the first black Republican U.S
senator since Edward Brooke of
retiring Majority Leader Bill Frist
(R). Keith Butler, a black Detroit
See Senate on A9
ft New Direction lor a I
It's time for a change.
We need a new direction for a new day.'
My name Is Mac Weatherman. 1 am a life long re
Winston-Salem, NC. I am running for the City (
represent you in the East Ward. I understand a
address the needs of the entire East Ward. You ri
deserve someone to represent _you.
"As a long-time member of the community, I
the neglect that has continued for years due to
philosophy of our current administration. W(
curtail and eliminate unnecessary spending. Wei
reach into the pockets of pur residents by
property taxes year alter year?
by creatine more business ventures?*
Well, it's time to tnake
take on the responsl
Paid for by committee to elect Mac Weatherman. City Council Cast Ward
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