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Relatives l'
To Train
Unskilled
Youth
By Susan Ellsworth
Post SUff Writer
The Relatives, Inc., a
Charlotte-based youth run
away center recently re
ceived a $44,500 grant from
the Department of Health,
Eduaation and Welfare to
initiate an experimental
employment program for
unskilled youth.
This new program/whlch
got underway in Charlotte
on Jan. 7, is offering em
ployment, education and
career development ser
vices to high risk youths -
the homeless, former run
aways, and teenagers with
histories of low grades,
juvenile delinquency, and
social and family pro
blems.
Two-hundred twenty-five
youth agencies refer young
people ages 14-18 who de
sire to participate in the
program.
“Many kids are not in
school, not working and not
doing anything construct
ive,” according to Michael
McKee, director of the new
program.
~ " tpeakers, self
exercises to
is teem, involve
ment in community service
projects, and learning
skills for job hunting are
part of the curriculum.
“The strongest point of
the program,” McKee
emphasized, “is to get
youths to feel good about
themselves.”
Conducted Monday
through Friday at the Pro
vidence Baptist Church
from 9 a m.-2 p.m., the
program will accomodate
ten youths a day for up to
ten days.
Each week day McKee
accepts names of the first
25 youths referred by agen
cies.
A runaway center for
young people, The Rela
tives, Inc. provides tem
porary housing and coun
seling which are available
24 hours a dav.
The Administration for
Children, Youth and Famil
ies, an agency of HEW’s
Office of Human Develop
ment Services will oversee
the demonstration to be
Carried out by the 17 youth
runaway centers in the
country.
CBRC Seminar
’ If you own or operate a
minority business or are
starting a small business
the Charlotte Business Re
source Center is sponsoring
a seminar for you.
Entitled "Capital Re
quirements and Cash Flow
Projections for a Profitable
Business,” the seminar
will be held Thursday, Jan.
10 from 7-9 p.m. at CPCC on
the Square.
Participants will receive
answers to questions like:
How can I finance my
business? What are the
ftrifing terms and interest
'rates’’
e de
d in
hav
ght
I
ARTICULATE JULIA BREEDEN
...Speech communication expert
Julia Breeden Is
Beauty Of Week
By Teresa Burns
Post Staff Writer
Articulation is the gift
our beauty, Julia Breeden,
possesses. IPs not a gift
stored away in the back of
a closet. She has put hers to
use.
“I had an internship at
Butner Federal Correction
al Institution. I helped the
inmates better deal with
the outside world and be
come positive communi
cators.”
Ms. Breeden, a 1979 grad
uate of the University of
North Carolina at Chapel
Hill, received her degree in
Speech Communication,
but is now working as an
account clerk at Southern
Bell and part-time as a
sales person at Belk’s. •
She feels that it is not
easy to step right out of
college and find the job you
really want. “The economy
is such that the jobs that
are needed to be filled
without specialization are
filled by those overquali
fied.”
You need a more ad
vanced degree to get a job
that you would have gotten
with just the basics,” she
continued, “There is so
much competition. To get
your foot in the door you
may need a more advanced
degree and experience.”
Despite the apparent
gloom Ms. Breeden fears
for college graduates her
philosophy for living is the
opposite.
“I try to be optimistic
about life and expectations.
It is important to be aware
of life and its challenges.''
This is probably why our
22 year-old beauty believes
that 60 Minutes and the
news are among the most
beneficial television pro
grams.
“I really make an effort
to watch the news every
day to stay abreast of
world and local events.”
“You need to know
what's affecting you direct
ly and indirectly. In light of
the present world crises, I
would want to know if I
would need a helmet and
gun!”
In lieu of Black people
and Martin Luther King,
Jr.’s message, Ms. Bree
den had this to say:
“Martin Luther King’s con
tributions and sacrifices
have made it possible for
Black people to have ac
cess and to enjoy certain
liberties.”
Our beauty feels that
Martin Luther King contri
buted to the Black man's
frame of mind, even today.
“Because of him we have
learned not to be compla
cent with our positions in
life. If he had been content
with the inequities, we
would have yet to face the
challenge he faced And
where would that have left
us for the present?’’ i
As a native of Hamlet,
N.C., Ms Breeden now
resides in Charlotte She
enjoys tennis, piano and
reading Her parents are
Ervin Breeden and Edith
Breeden of Hamlet, N.C.
The favorite person in
our beauty's life is her
mother
Theme Of Special Program
The Legacy Of King:
New Call For Justice
CAF Offering
~Euel__
Assistance
By Susan Ellsworth
Post Staff Writer
The Charlotte' Area
Fund, Inc. recently began
offering the Energy Crisis
Assistance Program
(ECAP) to help low-income
Mecklenburg County resi
dents afford their heating
bills.
Households may receive
up to $200. in assistance,
depending on their source
of income.
' Over $200,000 is available
for distribution to Mecklen
burg County residents.
The ECAP program is
one portion of a three-part
federal program designed
to relieve part of the high
cost of fuel for the poor.
Assistance is available
through the Department of
Social Services, the Social
Services Administration
and the State Economic
Opportunity Office
(SEOO). The Charlotte
Area Fund administers
SEOO funds.
The State Department of
Social Services is giving a
one-time payment to reci
pients of Aid to Families
with Dependent Children
< AFDC) by direct mail.
Payments of $73. each
are being sent to local
recipients of Supplemental
Security Income from the
Social Security Adminis
tration.
unuer me aiaie t.i.Ah’
program, the Charlotte
Area Fund is required to
deduct the AFDC and SSI
payments from the maxi
mum allowable assistance
of $200. available through
ECAP.
To be eligible, house
holds must have an income
level at or below the Com
munity Services Adminis
tration poverty guidelines
or be headed by SSI recipi
ents.
Assistance will only be
see CAF on Page 2
Rev Ben Chavis, Jr. celebrates his
release from prison with his children and
nieces: Ben III (9), Ajulo Othow <6)
Paula (ID, Michaelle (12) and Marva
Davenport (13). (photo by Eileen
Hanson i
Chavis: “Our Leaders Are
Not Connected To The People’
By Kileen Hanson
Special To The Post
The Kev. Ben Chavis, Jr.
was back in Charlotte re
cently, following his re
lease from prison as a
member of the Wilmington
10 case. Rev. Chavis is
currently based in Wash
ington, D.C., where he di
rects the office of the Com
mission on Racial Justice
of the Cnited Church of
Christ. This is the second of
a two-part interview with
The Charlotte Post.
POST: Do you see a crisis
of leadership in the black
community today?
.Chavis: Why do we need
a leader in the first place?
Because we re oppressed
and we will never leave our
state of oppression and
reach a state of liberation
without leadership The
problem is our leaders are
not connected to the people
Which way are thev lead
Last of a two-part series
ing our people - into the
infrastructure of the so
ciety, or to a state of
liberation and self-deter
mination? The federal
government won’t hand it
to us We have to do it
ourselves Even on a
national level we have a
serious problem, which
won’t be solved by sweep
ing it under the carpet.
The second problem is
accountability of our lead
ers I'm going to make it
my personal responsibility
to go and talk to national
black leaders and ask them
to unify and to be account
able for what they say I’m
going around the country
speaking to black people to
demand they hold their
leaders accountable I'm
asking for honesty, sincer
ity and real love for our
Blacks Appointed To Charlotte Chamber
Of Commerce Board Of Directors
By Teresa Burns
Post Burr Writer
Several Blacks will be
installed as new officers or
directors at The Greater
Charlotte Chamber of Com
merce tooth Anniversary
Annual Meeting. The meet
ing will be held at the Civic
Center Friday, January 11
from 7 p.m. -12 midnight.
Walter S. Tucker, Senior
Vice President of Mechan
ics and Farmers Banks,
has been elected to serve as
the Chamber’s Treasurer
during 1900
According to the Cham
ber’s Communication Man
ager, A1 Pruit, “To our
knowledge this is the first
time blacks have been
named as officers, but both
Black men and women
Walter S. Tucker
Bank president
have been named as direct
ors.
William Cunningham,
President of Hatchett and
Cunningham Associated,
j
Inc., will serve three years
beginning this month on the
Chamber Board of Direct
ors. He was an At-Large
member in 1979. He along
with eight other new ap
pointees were certified by
the Nominating Commit
tee
Harvey B. Gantt, AIA,
Partner with Gantt-Huber
man Associates was named
to serve on the Board of
Directors as an At-large
member. Gantt’s name
was submitted by the No
minating Committee to
serve starting January,
1980 He and eight other
new directors will serve for
one year.
There are two other
Black men serving terms
on the Chamber’s board
They are Dr. Wilbert
Greenfield, president of
Johnson C. Smith Univers
ity. Greenfield is serving a
three-year term which will
be completed at the end of
1901.
.Bobby Lowerv president
of Better Cleaning Main
tenance Supply, Inc, is
also serving a three-year
term through the end of
I960.
The following will serve
as 1980 Action Council's
vice presidents and de
velop the Program of Work
for the coming year, Gwen ~
Cunningham, Education;
Melvin L Watt, Sports and
Recreation; and Jenry J
Faison, Private Enter
prise.
The Charlotte Chamber
f
of Commerce represents
Charlotte's business com
munity. However, “ ..any
individual can join if they
have any interest in what
the Chamber should or
should not do The mini
mum dues for a year’s
membership is $150.00,"
according to Pruit.
Presently the Chamber
consists of 2,900 member
companies out of 10,000
Mecklenburg companies
And, according to Pruit, 73
percent of these businesses
have fewer than 20 em
— _
"The Chamber raises
money for all bond issues -
schools, streets, airport
etc. We also raised money
for the Martin Luther King
Statue.” Pruit concluded
people. We must practice
what we teach, be role
models for young blacks to
identify with We've almost
lost the young generation of
black youth because we
haven’t given then! inspi
rational leadership models
to follow.
The third problem is that
the white media, since the
assassination of King, has
picked the black leaders
for the black community
The media parades these
guys into black homes and
says, “This is your
leader.'' It's time for the
black community to pick
their own leaders.
POST: What are the
main issues black leader
ship must address?
..C’HAVIS: First, unem
ployment is going up, high
er than a year ago, even
though Carter won’t talk
about it W'e must have
jobs
second, we need
adequate health care for
blacks Third, we need
adequate housing The ma
jority of our people still live
in substandard housing, es
pecially in the inner city. A
whole generation was
pushed into substandard
housing projects Now we
are reaping the problems
of drugs and black-on
black crime. We have to
reverse this Blacks must
be very careful now Some
whites have decided to re
claim the center cities and
may move into take it over,
moving blacks out If we let
them move us out of the
center city, we’ll lose what
little power we have.
POST: What role doe*
the black press play?
.CHAVIS; The_bjack
press is very, very Im
portant It is not dominated
by the power structure Too
often the black press is just
a carbon copy of the white
see CHAVIS on Page 6
1
Program Will
Be Held
January 15
B> Kileen Hanson
Special To The Post
“The Legacy of King: a
New Call for Justice in the
1980's" w ill lie the theme of
a special program to Honor
Dr Martin Luther King Jr
on his birthday. Tuesday,
January 15. The program
will be held at St Marie s
United Methodist Church.
917 Clanton Road, begin
ning at 7 p.m., sponsored
by People United for Just
ice and the Charlotte Equal
Rights Council.
Tlie program will begin
with a film about King's
file. "I Have a Dream
The film includes speeches,
crusades and scenes from
the civil rights movement
King led in the 1960's Rev
James TVilnn1!'. minister <»f—
University Park Baptist
Church, will be the keynote
a speaker, focusing his mes
ysage on the legacy of Dr
King
inner speaxers will in
clude Ted Quant, field or
ganizer for the Southern
Equal Rights Congress,
and Rev James Barnett,
head of People United for
Justice, Rev John Epps,
pastor of St. Mark's, will
lead in prayer
Music will lie provided by
members of St Paul's Bap
tist Church Adult Choir,
and the University Park
Baptist Church Choir Solo
music will be presented by
Jessie McCombs of Me
morial Presbyterian
Church and Scotty Hen
dricks of St. Paul's Church.
fir King was born Jan.
15. 1029 in Atlanta, Ga He
was a Baptist minister in
Montgomery. Ala in 1955
when Rosa Parks refused
to take her seat at the back
of the bus, thus launching
the Montgomery Bus Boy
cott, which sparked a new
movement for civil rights
across the South King be
came president of the
Montgomery Improvement
Assocation
In the late 19!>0's Dr King
emerged as the main
leader of the non-violent
civil rights struggle He
founded the Southern lead
ership Conference on
Transportation and Non
violent Integration in 1957,
which later became the
Southern Christian leader
ship Conference (SCLC).
In 1963 he led the move
ment for integration in Bir
mingham, Ala., attacked
by police hoses and dogs.
From behind prison bars in
Birmingham, we wrote,
“In the movement for
equality, there are no out
side agitators "
King led the 1963 March
for Jobs and Freedom,
when 200,000 people
marched on the nation's
Capitol calling for passage
for the Civil Rights Act. In
1965 he led the march from
Selma to Montgomery,
Ala , which focused nation
al attention on the Voting
Rights Act.