Maryland to^xpress
'profound regret' for slavery
ANNAPOLIS, Maryland (API - Maryland lawmaker;
approved an apology Monday for the state's role in the slave
trade, expressing "profound regret" that it once "trafficked in
human flesh."
Maryland follows Virginia in issuing a
formal apology.
The voce in the House of Delegates
makes the apology official, because a reso
lution doesn't require the governor's signa
ture. The state Senate already approved it.
The resolution notes that slavery "fos
tered a climate of oppression not only for
slaves and their descendants but also for
people of color who moved to Maryland
subsequent to slavery's abolition."
Co-sponsor Sen. Nathaniel Exum. a
Democrat, said he was exhilarated that Maryland lawmakers
decided to Anally recognize the painful role the state played in
slaveiy.
"Once we come to that recognition, maybe we will also rec
ognize steps we need to do to get rid of the lingering effects of it
on the people," Exum said.
In the 1700s, slave ships docked blocks away from the
Maryland State House, and thousands of enslaved men and
women arrived in the town. Slavery officially ended in Maryland
with the adoption of a new state constitution in 1864.
Emm
Pilot seeks to be first black
person to circle globe alone
OPA-LOCKA, Fla. (AP) - A 23-year-old aerospace stu
dent who built his plane from more than $300j000 in donated
parts took off Friday hoping to become the youngest person and
first black pilot to fly around the globe alone.
Barrington Irving plans to arrive back at Opa-locka
Executive Airport on April 30 in his single-engine Lancair
Columbia 400.
He had planned to fly last year, but a lack of funding delayed
his $1 million project. He still needs about $20,000. but that did
n't stop him from setting out.
"I want this completed before the year is over so kids can see
that someone who started off with nothing set a goal and com
pleted it," he said just before takeoff. "Even with the challenges,
everything is starting to fall in place. It's just my time."
Irving was bom in Jamaica and grew up in Miami. He said
he saw little chance for success until he met a Jamaican
American pilot at his parents' Christian bookstore.
The pilot, Gary Robinson, took Irving to see a Boeing 777.
The 15-year-old was mesmerized. He turned down college foot
ball scholarships to become a pilot.
Irving is now studying at Florida Memorial University; he
has private and commercial pilot licenses. He also founded
Experience Aviation, a Miami-based organization that encour
ages minority youths to pursue aviation careers.
He will make stops in Cleveland and Farmingdale. N.Y..
before passing into Canada, then crossing the Atlantic, through
Europe, the Middle East and Asia.
Eddie Griffin wrecks rare Ferrari
IRWINDALE, California (AP) - Eddie Griffin crashed a
rare Ferrari Enzo worth $1.5 million into a concrete barrier
while practicing at a racetrack Monday, destroying the car but
escaping uninjured.
The comedian was practicing for a charily race to promote
his upcoming film, "Redline." when he drove too fast around a
curve at the Irwindale Speedway. Video footage showed the red
snorts cat snwrhinp K'fnrc it rinvhrfi'/t
off the barrier with heavy damage to its
front.
"Undercover Brother's good at karate
and all the rest of that, but the brother can't
drive," Griffin, referring to one his past
films, said after the accident.
The film's publicist, Wendy Zocks,
said Griffin was "doing OK."
"He walked away completely
unscratched, but probably a little shaken."
7 I '.A
/ .< *_ K> >?llU
The Enzo. valued at around $ 1 .5 million, was owned by the
executive producer of "Redlinc." Daniel Sadek. whose exotic
car collection is featured in the movie.
Only 400 Ferrari Enzos were ever produced . all between
2002 and 2004.
Griffin's credits include the comedies "Undercover
Brother"; "DeBce Bigalow. Male Gigolo" and its sequel; "Date
Movie"; and "Norbit."
Brooklyn library gets first
black woman executive director
o
NEW YORK (AP) - Dionne Mack-llarvin has been
appointed executive director of the Brooklyn Public Library,
making her the first black woman in the state to lead a major
public library system, the mayor said last Thursday.
Mack-Harvin, who has served as the library's interim exec
utive director since June 2006. was unanimously approved to
the permanent post by its board of trustees.
Brooklyn has the fifth largest public librdfy system in the
country. It serve&^.fi million residents and has 60 branches
throughout the BOrough.
A lifelong librarian and true success story. Dionne Mack
Harvin started in the Crown Heights branch more than a
decade ago, and now has ... become its first African- American
executive director," Bloomberg said in a statement.
He said Mack-Harvin was selected after a nationwide
search.
She has held many key positions within the Brooklyn
library system, including as director of central library and
chief of staff.
The Chronicle (USPS 067-910) was established by Ernest H.
Pitt and Ndubisi Egemonye in 1974 and is published every
Thursday by Winston-Salem Chronicle Publishing Co. Inc.,
617 N. Liberty Street. Winston-Salem. N.C. 27101.
Periodicals postage paid at Winston-Salem. N.C. Annual
subscription price is $30.72.
POSTMASTER: Send address changes to:
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Winston-Salem, NC 27102-1636
Disney could unlock controversial film
" Song of the South" was released in 1946
BY TRAVIS REED
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
ORLANDO, Fla. - Walt Disney
Co.'s 1946 film "Song of the South"
U/9K hiwtnrir It u/uk Hit:iv>vV
first big live-action picture
and produced one of the
company's most famous
songs - the Oscar-winning
"Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah." It
also carries the story line of
the Splash Mountain rides at
its theme parks.
But the movie remains
hidden in the Disney
archives - never released on
viueo in ine unueu states anu criti
cized as racist for its depiction of
Southern plantation blacks. The film's
60th anniversary passed last year with
out a whisper of official rerelease,
which is unusual for Disney, but
President and CEO Bob Igcr recently
said the company was reconsidering.
The film's reissue would surely
spark debate, but it could also sell big.
Nearly llSjUOO people have signed an
online petition urging Disney to make
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of-pnnt inlernational copies
routinely sell online tor $50
$90, some even more than
$100.
Iger was answering a
shareholder's inquiry about
the movie for the second year
in a row at Disney's annual
meeting in New Orleans.
This month the Disney chief
made a rerelease sound more
possible.
"The question of 'Song of the
South' comes up periodically, in fact it
was raised at last year's annual meeting
..." Iger said. "And since that time.
Sec Disne> on A12
< 'LASSM
Who will
be next
NAACP
leader?
BY HAZEL TRICE EDNEY
NNPA CORRESPONDENT
WASHINGTON - The
weighty issues now facing
Black people in America indi
cate that the next NAACP pres
ident must be an aggressive,
energetic leader focused on
civil rights in the 2 1 st century,
says veteran civil rights advo
cates.
~1 ' d
think
they'd be
looking
for a rela
lively
young
person
with
vision and
vigor who
under
stands the mission of the
NAACP to work to achieve
social change, to work for
increased economic opportuni
ties for African-Americans, to
fight discrimination at every
level, to seek empowerment
"economic, political, and social
empowerment for Black peo
ple" to find ways and means of
hitting a level of global con
sciousness, to help organize our
people in local communities
around these issues, and to rise
to a new level of dynamism and
activism," says the Rev. Joseph
Lowery. 85, known as the dean
of the civil rights movement.
Lowery. who co-founded
the Southern Christian
Leadership Conference with Dr.
King in 1957, says by 'young
person,' he means someone
who may have been bom inside
or outside the civil rights move
ment, but who is able to vigor
ously deal with the high level
issues of inequality now facing
America.
"I mean people who are
energetic intellectually as well
as .physically energetic," he
says.
The nation's oldest civil
See NAACP on A9
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