Maya Angelou Center's Dr. David Mount to
lead human services integration movement
SPECIAL TO THE CHRONICLE
Dr. David Mount of the Maya Angelou
Center in Winston-Salem has been selected
to lead a new movement: a human services
integration movement.
Directed by Mount, the N.C. Network
for Human Services Integration to
Prosperity is designed to address diversely
expressed social justice concerns and com
munity insecurity based upon decades of
adverse psychosocial and behavioral
health outcomes.
"Prosperity and holistic health equity
through human services integration. We
owe it to the nation and future generations
to address integrated human service sys
tems optimization that a decade ago
seemed completely inaccessible." Mount
said.
Stakeholders from across North
Carolina are calling for integrated human
services with both service users and tax
payers firmly in mind.
Mary Annecelli, a longtime community
advocate, stated: 'Taxpayers want the pub
lic systems they finance to be responsive to
concerns regarding systemic barriers to
services as well as implementing strategies
to address our concerns."
"Vulnerable people want a chance at
prosperity but fragmented human services
delivery remains a losing social policy
proposition in great need of redesign," said
Michael D. Connor, a professor of Theatre
Arts, professional actor, playwright and
director.
"This movement is essential as we
must continue to remind ourselves that
integrative health and healthcare is unique
ly tied to the psychosocial determinants of
health," said William O. Ntim, MD,
Cardiologist and Cardio-Oncology
Program director, Novant Health Heart and
Vascular Institute Charlotte.
"An objective for the N.C. Network for
Human
Services
Integration
to Prosperity
is to focus on
transforming
views and
opportunities
through radi
cal public
interest
engage
ment," said Dr.
Thomas Coaxum, a longtime higher edu
cation administrator who chairs the board
of directors at the Carter G. Woodson
School in Winston-Salem.
Michael Wittenberg, a board director
for CenterPoint Human Services Manage
Care Organization that oversees mental
health, substance abuse and
intellectual/development disabilities serv
ices in Davie, Forsyth, Rockingham and
Stokes counties pointed out: "The net
work's objectives are more closely aligned
with a strategic vision for generating new
ideas for improving human services inte
gration, fostering data-driven decision
making, growing taxpayers engagement
and championing innovative public poli
cy."
The Rev. Dr. Carton Eversley, a com
munity organizing expert, speaks about
Mount's qualifications.
"Dr. David L. Mount brings a diverse
set of community engagement and leader
ship talents as an ordained Elder, a fellow
ship trained neuropsychologist, a National
Institutes of Health designated health dis
parities scholar, certified foster parent
researcher, elected healthcare liaison to the
Minister's Conference of Winston-Salem
& Vicinity, and the past recipient of the Dr
Maya Angelou Service Appreciation
Award at Wake Forest University School
of Medicine," Eversley said.
Prosecutors: No retrial for white officer who shot black man
BY GARY D. ROBERTSON
AND TOM FOREMAN JR.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
RALEIGH - North
Carolina state prosecutors
announced Friday that they
won't retry a white police
officer who fatally shot an
unarmed black man, saying
that talking with jurors
after the mistrial helped
convince them they cannot
get a conviction.
The jury deadlocked 8
4 last week in favor of
acquitting Charlotte
Mecklenburg Officer
Randall Kerrick, leading
the judge to declare a mis
trial. Kerrick was charged
with voluntary manslaugh
ter in the September 2013
death of Jonathan Ferrell, a
former college football
player.
"In consideration of the
jurors' comments, the evi
dence available to the state,
and our background in
criminal trials, it is our
prosecutors' unanimous
belief a retrial will not
yield a different result,"
Senior Deputy Attorney
General Robert
Montgomery told the
Mecklenburg County dis
trict attorney.
Police say Ferrell
wrecked his car on the
morning of Sept. 14, 2013,
and went to a nearby house
and banged on the door,
apparently seeking help.
Tlie resident called police,
and three officers, includ
ing Kerrick, responded.
Investigators say one
deployed his Taser without
apparent effect on Ferrell
before Kerrick fired 12
shots, 10 of which hit him.
Kerrick testified that he
repeatedly fired because
Ferrell kept charging at
him and that he didn't think
his weapon was even
working.
Prosecutors said non
lethal force should have
been used to subdue
Ferrell, who played foot
ball at Florida A&M
University. The two offi
cers with Kerrick didn't fire
their guns.
After three weeks of
testimony and four days of
"deliberations, the jury
couldn't overcome its dead
lock.
"Our prosecutors
believe they were able to
introduce the relevant evi
dence and examine the wit
nesses, including the
defendant, appropriately
and that the jury fully con
sidered the details of the
case," Montgomery wrote.
"However, meeting the
standard of proof of
beyond a reasonable doubt
could not be achieved."
The Ferrell family has
settled a lawsuit with the
city of Charlotte, receiving
$2.25 million. Chris
Chestnut, the attorney for
the Ferrell family, wasn't
immediately available for
comment, but Ferrell's
mother told The Charlotte
Observer that she doesn't
think prosecutors tried hard
enough to convict Kerrick.
"They didn't try hard
enough. It was just another
black life," Georgia Ferrell
told the Observer. "They
don't care."
She said two prosecu
tors called her Friday
morning to tell her that the
case would not be retried.
"I am going to continue
to fight," she said. She
already planned to use part
of the civil settlement for a
foundation named for her
son. "I am going to work
on the foundation, continue
to work for justice. It's not
the end."
Kerrick has been free
on bond. He is suspended
without pay from the
Charlotte-Mecklenburg
Police Department.
On Friday, Charlotte
Mecklenburg police Chief
Kerry Putney said internal
affairs will conduct an
investigation.
Kerrick's attorney
George Laughrun said his
client is relieved there will
not be another trial, but
there wasn't necessarily a
reason to celebrate.
"I think there are no
winners or losers here,
obviously," Laughrun said.
Jibril Hough, a
spokesman for the Islamic
Center of Charlotte and an
activist on behalf of the
Ferrell family, called the
attorney general's decision
"heartbreaking news."
Hough said he had been on
a conference call Thursday
night with Ferrell's rela
tives to discuss efforts to
convince the attorney gen
eral's office to retry the
case.
"Two years later,
Jonathan Ferrell is still
looking for help," Hough
said, "and just like that
September night after he
wrecked his car, doors are
being closed and people are
refusing to give him the
help he needs."
It took two grand juries
to indict Kerrick. The first
refused to do so, suggest
ing prosecutors seek a less
er charge. But Attorney
General Roy Cooper's
office tried again. The 14-4
vote by jurors to indict met
the minimum needed to
charge the officer. '
Speaking to reporters in
Raleigh, Cooper wouldn't
second-guess his special
prosecutors, saying they
put on a compelling case
and that the manslaughter
charge was appropriate
based on the evidence.
Cooper said the shoot
ing shows the need for bet
ter and consistent training
of law enforcement officers
and pushed for pending
legislation to help with it.
Putney this week said
agency training is being
changed and will focus
more on how to subdue a
suspect.
"The loss of Jonathan
Ferrell's life is a tragedy. It
should not have happened,"
Cooper said.
The Aug. 21 mistrial
led to protests, as some
demonstrators lay in the
middle of the street soon
after the trial ended.
Dozens gathered that
evening near Charlotte's
minor league baseball sta
dium as a game was in
progress, and later some
protesters walked through
the city and shouted. Police
officers stopped the pro
testers at one point from
entering a covered transit
center.
"I understand the frus
tration," Cooper said. "Our
prosecutors were frustrat
ed, but I think it's important
that we listen to the jury."
Tom Foreman reported
from Winston-Salem.
r i
Tweedy
from page At
said.
After the death of his
grandmother and being
diagnosed with high blood
pressure during his first
semester of medical
school. Tweedy decided he
wanted to put all his
findings together to try
to make sense of what was
going on.
For years, African
Americans have ques
tioned the health services
provided by doctors and
health care professionals.
Tweedy realizes that the
medical system has not
always been kind to
African-Americans and
believes a lot of those feel
ings come from the times
when hospitals were segre
gated.
"The health system
hasn't always been so
great," said Tweedy. "Not
too long ago, they were
segregating wards, and
experimenting on blacks
without permission. I think
a lot of those feelings are
still lingering in the minds
of a lot of African
Americans."
Over the years, the
relationship between
health service providers
and African- Americans
have improved, but is still
a work in progress, accord
ing to Tweedy.
"There has been some
progress over the years,
but it seems to be uneven.
It's kind of like one step
forward, two steps back,"
said Tweedy. "It's going in
the right direction, but
there are still some situa
tions that are less than
ideal"
Bookmarks authors
have won hundreds of
awards, including more
than 100 honorary degrees,
multiple Emmy Awards,
10 James Beard Awards
and several NAACP Image
Awards.
The 2015 Bookmarks
Festival of Books and
Authors will begin
Thursday, Sept. 10. For a
list of authors and story
tellers attending this year's
festival visit bookmark
snc.org.
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