Che dottean Jerry Springs Relates African Experience
o; . ris< f
^Post Staff Writer
It has been altnos' a year
*- now since Jerry Springs has
ft been back from the continent
;ricaand a lo. of things
-happened to linn since
last summer when he retur
... ned
Marriage and .1 joo w ilh the
Union County Department ol
Social Services have come his
way in'that short span
Last weekend. Springs sat in
the quiet of his Countryside
Drive Apartment with his wife
Brenda; surrounded by origi
nal African statues, kitchen
utensils, hatchets, raffia wall
mats, clothes baskets, and ot
her artifacts; and reflected
T— 1
upon ms year in A Inca, ending
the conversation on that topic
with a smile, indicating that
he would like to return to
Africa soon
' This time I would like to go
toPhana fora while and study
history, -eflecled the JS-ye
ar old graduate ol the l niver
sits ol North Carolina at < ha
rlot le.
Tt>e last time the place was
Zaire and Jerry was a teac
her During his year long stay
he shed many stereotypes I
know now." he said, "that all
Africans are not bushmen. all
do not live in small villages,
and that most seem to have a
great love for their black Am
erican brother because they -
know we are linked together
historically.
Springs and his wife made
many friends during their stay
in the Kasaf-Occidental pro
vince capital ot Kananga. and
almost every day an aerg
ramme arives telling the Spr
ings' about w hat has happened
since their departure
The son of Mr and Mrs.
Zachariah Springs of 2819 Ca
pital Dr served as a teacher
at a missionary school spor.
sored by the Zairian Church ol
Christ and the U.S. Presbyter
ian Church General Executive
Board
He is presently working on
his masters degree in admini
stration at the University of
North Carolina at Charlotte.
Springs has gained the 26
pounds that he lost dunng>H>
stay in hot humid Zaire He is
now back to a stocky 180
Why did he go to Africa?
"I went to Africa because I
wanted, to offer assiclanpfi (p
the people and to see the
homeland of my ancestry." he
said
When he speaks of his stay,
he smiles, explaining that
"Friendship came very easily
for me in Zaire. I met and
enjoyed a lot of people. In fact,
in some aspects I didn't want
to leave.”
Before he left the states he
underwent a six-week training
program at Montreat-Ander
son College to prepare him for
certain expectations ol the co
untry of Zaire
I remember it no*. he re
minisced "These included a
course in basic French and
history and geography lessons
of the.countrv_
In the city of Kinshasa Kan
«mga. „ westernized city full ol
skyscrapers a net about two
million people. Springs taught
math, health, physical educa
tion and science to four clas
ses daily
When he wasn’t teaching or
resting in his two and a half,
room apartment, he was busi
ly exploring Did he enjoy
exploring’’ Springs flashed a
big wide grin and said "tour
jours" which is French for
"always
His eves gleamed with exci
tement a> he remembered the
diamond mines at Mbuji Maxi
and the tact that he couldn't
keep a sample to bestow upon
his .wb1 ‘hc;r I’eeetiiber L’u
ceremon;. in I.uurmgburg N
C
h' ery thing did not come up
roses, however I did have
some frustration* he said
•'lost ot the young children
age- to 8 'Hi percent ol the
women and most ot the older
men and middir-aged men
spoke Tshiluhu the mother la
nguage ol ihe area and one
which Springs s'ruggled with
until his departure
During his trip home, he
made stops in Lagos. Nigeria .
Accra. Ghana: The Por> Co
ast and Parts France
But it is Ghana which captu
red his heart
< >ne of the highlights of my
.tr.HLvVa> h.urmg the old fort
and castles along the beautiful
white beaches ot Ghana."
Springs said
We saw a tremendous am
ount ot heritage including du
ngeons where slaves were he
ld before shipment to Ameri
ca.' he said •>'
And to authenticate and dis- j
cover this heritage is why
Springs hand still reaches ac
ross the wide and his heart
still reaches across the wide
blue waters ot the Atlantic
o' 11 t
World traveler
ocean to clutcn tne moiner
land of Africa, his motherland
ot Africa
m 1 HR CHARLOTTE POST RiR
Call 392-1306 * Readers
1 Charlotte s Fastest Growing Community Weekly"
Beverly Parker
Is Our Beauty
| “After graduating I plan to
attend Clark College in Atlan
ta. Please don’t ask why I
j chose Clark it's just a school I
want to go to.” stated our
beauty for this week, Miss
Beverly Parker.
“I have chosen the field of
Business Education. I don't '
have any special reasoning for
considering this field. I feel
that it is open, which leaves a
good opportunity for me. I
would like to teach or become
an executive secretary."
When Beverly speaks of
, graduation she has reference
to her upcoming high school
graduation from North Meck
lenburg. As Beverly puts it “I
2 • can't wait until June ”
At North our beauty is a
member of the Spanish Club,
Junior Achievement Club,
NAACP Vice-President and a
member of the Annual Staf.
She was recently presented
in the “Miss Debutante Pag
eant." The affair was spon
sored by the graduate chapter
of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority.
Beverly was sponsored by
Mrs Dorothy Bradley.
As her hobbies Miss Parker
enjoys sewing, drawing, and
singing. She sings regularly in
the Cannon's Temple Church
of God Choir. Her favorite
singer is the group •'Tav
ares”. Her favorite subjects to
draw are animals
Beverly is the daughter of
Mr. and Mrs. Bennie Parker.
They live at 180B Griers Grove
Road. The Parker family re
tains their membership at St.
Judes Holiness Church in Wil
son. N. C. “Although we
haven’t moved our member
ship, we still attend various
churches in the Charlotte
area, smiled Beverly.
Beverly was recently a con
testant for the “Miss YPHA"
contest. She came in fifth
place The event was sponsor
ed by the holiness churches in
the area. Rev. M. R. Round
tree is the pastor of St. Judes
Holiness Church.
Miss Parker is S feet 3
inches tall and weighs 120
pounds. Her favorite actor is
Clifford Davis. “I think he s
cute and also a very good
actor," Beverly stated, some
what shyly. |
She is born under the sign of
Gemini and describes them as
being sometimes very moody,
having a split personality.
Black Unemployment Rate Hits
Record High 14.2 Percent
Food Stamp
Allotments
To Change
Washington, -- The U. S.
Department of Agriculture
(LSDAi announced today that
food stamp allotments and
maximum income eligibility
standards will be increased on
July 1 by approximately five
percent. For example, the
allotment for a four-person
household will be increased
from $154 to $162 a month, and
the maximum income eligibil
ity level from $513 to $540 per
month.
The Food Stamp Act, as
amended by the Agriculture
and Consumer Protection Act
of 1973 (Pulbic Law 93-86),
directs that coupon allotments
be adjusted semi-annually to
reflect changes in food prices
as published by the Bureau of
Labor Statistics Maximum in
come eligibility standards are
based on allotments and are
therefore adjusted at the same
time.
Allotment adjustments are
based on the cost of USD As
Economy Food Plan as it is
computed from Bureau of
Labor Statistics food prices.
Adjustments are made each
July based on the cost of the
Economy Food Plan in the
preceding February, and in
January based on the cost of
that plan in the preceding
August.
The cost of the Economy
Food Plan for Feb. 1975 was
$162 for a family of four with
school children. Accordingly.
USDA will raise the value of
the coupon allotment for a
four-person household from
$154 to $162 and make appro
See Food Stamp on page 4
I>. 1. Mutual Kicks-Off
Insurance Week Celebration
I he Charlotte District
Office of N. C. Mutual Life
Insurance Company, 103
Beatties Ford Road was the
setting last week for The Char
lotte District's kick off meet
ing celebrating the 41st Na
tional Insurance Week May 12
- 17.
For 41 consecutive years,
beginning May 24, 1935. the
National Insurance Associa
tion has conducted Nation In
surance Week a full pledge
effort to educate the public to
the benefits, uses and value of
life insurance asa means of
achieving economic security.
L. B. Frasier Vice President
Agency Director of N. C. Mut
ual Life Insurance Company
and Chairman of National In
surance Week was the Char
lotte District guest speaker In
Mr. Frasier's forceful mess
age he encouraged all employ
ees of N. C. Mutual to decide
early in life their individual
goals, work hard to achieve
them and enjoy life in the
process.
Mr Frasier has been with
N. C. Mutual lor 42 years and
will retire next February. The
meeting was closed with a
lunch at Royal Villa Motel on
1-85.
Although the 41st National
Insurance Week is set for May
12 - 17. The Charlotte Ihstnct
and N C Mutual Life Insur
ance Company have pledged
to double their efforts as they
strive to help the public achi
eve economic security
through life insurance
County Commissioners Invite
Public To Attend May 19 Meeting
The Mecklenburg Board of
County Commissioners will
hold a public hearing at 10
A M. Monday. May 19. for
discussion of the County's
tentative budget for 1975-76.
: The public is invited to at
tend the hearing and to speak
on concerns and requests that
are related to the budget
County Manager Glenn C.
Blaisdell presented a tentative
budget of SI 12,143.945 to the
Commissioners May 5. He
said this budget would require
a County tax rate of 79c pro
vided reductions in local funds
of Si.539,347 could be made
Blaisdell said S3,250,000 had
already been cut from County
departmental requests
Commissioners will spend
the next several weeks study
ing the tentative budget, line
by line, to determine where
(he additional reductions can
be made.
Blaisdell said that nc new
programs (except $300,000 for
emergency medical services).
no new facilities, no purchase
of open land, and no across
the-board increases for
County employees are recom
mended in the tentative bud
_ .
Improvements or better
ments in the County's portion
of the budget, with minor ex
ception, are for Federal and
Stale programs over which
the County has no control or
for programs which were
started in 1974-75 and are just
now becoming operational
The County's entire allocation
of Federal Revenue Sharing in
the amount of $2,443,000 has
been budgeted for operations.
The Charlotte-Mecklenburg
School Board is requesting a
$2,960,601 increase in local
funds for operations The So
cial Services Department is
requesting a $1,999,431 in
crease in local funds to cover
the rising costs of Aid to Fam
ilies w ith Dependent Children,
Medicaid. Food Stamps and
the Medically Indigent
Rowe Jack ‘ Motley
...County Commissioner
April Report Lists 8.2
Million Jobless Blacks
i nr uiieuipiin meni raitr ior
blacks rose to 14.6 percent in
April, the L'. S. Labor Depart
ment's Bureau of Labor Stat
istics has reported. The un
employment rate for blacks
was 14.2 percent in March.
The unemployment rate for
whiles in April was reported
at 8 1 percent.
National, unemployment
continued to increase in April,
but total employment rose
Afro Cultural
Group Announces
New Project
The Charlotte-Afro Ameri
can Cultural and Service Cen
ter. the group who brought the
successful Afro-American
Cultural Festival to the Queen
City last summer has announ
ced a new project at a meeting
held Tuesday night downtown
at the Public Library.
Mombasa. Kenya, a city in
Hast Africa has been named
as a new sister city for Char
lotte The hands across the
•water concept however is not
new Charlotte has been en
gaged in exchanges with Are
mu uui Amer
ican sister city for years.
However, it was the belief
said officials of the ACSC that
it was time for the black
community ol the city to come
forth and make some exchan
ges with an African "sister
city "
A sizeable crowd consisting
of regular members of the
ACSC and the general public
were on hand toT>e introduced
and become acquainted with
the overall purpose of the
.ACSC.
Who are J. F Williams,
Marie G Davis, and Eugene
Potts'’ These names and
others of historical signifi
cance were discussed at the
meeting of the ACSC whosf
function is to increase black
awareness of black contribu
tion and talents to the Char
lotte community
"There's a great deal of
Black History about Charlotte
stored away in attics and
trunks-history that belongs to
blacks and that we need to be
aware of," said Bertha Max
well a member of the group
organized by Mrs. Maxwell
and Mrs Mary Harper as an
extension of the Black Studies
Program at the University of
North Carolina at Charlotte
designed to help the Charlotte
community and to transcend
the gap between theory and
practice
slightly.
The unemployment rate
moved up to 8.9 percent from
8 7 percent in March This w as
the highest rate since 1941 and
nearly double the rate of
October 1978, the prerecession
low.
Total employment '.is mca
su.ed by the monthly survey
of households) rose by 240.ihki
in April to 84.1 million. This
represented the first employ
men! gain in 7 months, bet
ween last September and
March, employment had re
ceded by 2 6 million With
employment and unemploy
ment both rising, the labor
force posted a strong advance
for the second month in a row,
and the rate of labor force
participation actually exceed
ed the year-earlier figure
Total nonagricultural pay
roll employment (as measur
ed by the monthly survey of
establishments) held steady in
April at 76.2 million, as a
continued drop in manufactur
ing jobs was countered by
small gains in the services
sector Since last, October's
peak level, payroll jobs have
diminished by 2 6 million, with
all but 200.000 of the reduction
occurring in the goods-produe
ing industries
I 'ncmnlnvmpnl l»v
200.000 in April to 8 2 million
seasonally adjusted, following
an increase of 500,000 in the
previous month. Since August
1974, when the extraordinarily
large increases in unemploy
ment began, the jobless count
has risen by 3.3 million per
sons. As has been the case
throughout this recession, the
April increase in unemploy
ment stemmed primarily
from job loss Since August,
the number of job losers has
risen by 2 7 million, account
ing for more than four fifths of
the total increase Job loss
now accounts for 57 percent of
tptal joblessness, compared
with only 41 percent last
August.
Most of the April increase in
unemployment occurred
among adult men Their job
less rate was 7 0 percent, up
from 6 8 percent in March and
at its highest level since July
1958 This rise was also re
flected in unemployment rate
increases for married men
and household heads to 5.6
percent and 6.0 percent, res
pectively Both the level and
rate of unemployment for
each of these three wbrker
groups have doubled over the
past year
The unemployment rate for
adult women '8 5percent' and
teenagers <20 4 percent) were
about unchanged in April, but
remained at or near record
high levels
BEVERLY PARKER
...North Mecklenburg senior
CHAKLOTl’E DISTRICT PARTICIPANTS in
North Carolina Mutual Life Insurance Com
pany’s KICK-OFF MEETING which began
• %* , . •
the 41st observance of National Insurance
Week. Photo by Peeler
I
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I ..To make your DREAMS
come true, don’t OVERSLE
EP!