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1_ “The Voice Of The Bkick Community” I BLACK consumers
Vol. 6, No it "" ~* ' 11 _ _
■HKTBnkdMMww "" ' 11 _Price 30 Cents
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Hold Annual
Meeting
Neighborhood Housing
Services of Charlotte, Inc.,
Plaza-Midwood, will hold
its second annual corporate
meeting on November 20, 7
p.m. at Green Memorial
Baptist Church. Neighbor
hood Housing Services is a
non-profit organization
which seeks to revitalize
older urban neighborhoods
through home improve
ment loans and capital im
provement programs. The
local corporation is a part
nership involving Plaza
M^wood residents, the
0$ of Charlotte, and local
banks and savings and
loans.
The November 20 pro
gram will consist of com
ments from council mem
f__ n__i r\_
A«UU* U A • VVII UIIU L/Uli
Carrol who are the district
representatives for Plaza
■ Midwood. Also on the pro
gram will be Cindy Sea
ford, president of the
Plaza-Midwood Neighbor
hood Association. Execu
tive Director, Michael
Brunson, will give a report
on the progress of the
program to date. Jim Pat
terson, of Mutual Savings
and Loan, will comment on
the lender's role in the
program. The 1981 Board of
Directors will be elected by
the membership.
All interested persons
are invited to attend the
meeting, especially resi
dents of the Plaza-Midwood
Neighborhood A reception
will follow at the corporate
offices located at the “Ap
ple House", 1400 The Plaza.
Carrousel
ftrade To Have
New Additions
The 1980 Carrousel
Parade on Thanksgiving
Day will have some new
additions and changes.
During the l-t* hour
parade, which will begin at
2 p.m., spectators can line
the new route where 112
units will pass in review.
Among the attractions will
be 29 floats, 20 high school
bands, five baton groups,
Miss America, the Car
rousel queen and princess
es and the Fancy Pants
Platoon.
The parade will begin on
Third Street in front of
Marshall Park. Marchers
will turn left at Third Street
and Caldwell, proceed
dnu/n faMuioll In
and turn left again. Con
tinuing their route, march
ers will turn right at Stone
wall and Tryon. After pro
ceeding five blocks down
Tryon they will turn right
at Tryon and Trade.
Marchers continue down
Trade until they reach
McDowell, then turn right
onto McDowell. The parade
will conclude at McDowell
and Third near Marshall
Park.
(Jsjike previous years,
th£*Orossman Drum and
Bugle Corps from West
chester, Pa. will perform in
concert at 1 p m. in the
park.
After the parade, awards
will be presented to the
winners in the high school
band competition held
during the parade.
ALLURING DAPHNE BERRY
...Popular young singer
Daphne Berry Is
Beauty Of Week
dj uresa nurns
Post Staff Writer
The spotlight is shining
on a 19 year old soprano
alto The six-member band
plays the original pieces as
the singer unfolds her
natural talents over the
microphone.
The singer is Daphne
Berry. Her charisma and
style as a songstress en
chants each crowd she en
counters. Her ambitions of
achieving fame is within
her grasp for she has the
capabilities, the command,
and the initiative to cap
ture the stardom she so
strongly desires^,,
‘‘I realize that it will take
hard work to get to the top,
but I’m willing to put forth
that effort,” Ms. Berry
remarked. She has been
the lead vocal with a band
called FORCE for three
months. They have per
formed at Johnson C.
Smith University, in Lin
colnton and presently they
are being featured at the
Essence Lounge each Fri
day night.
“The band and I practice
just about every night,”
our beauty revealed. The
band’s repertoire includes
rock, soul, jazz, and pop
music. Ms. Berry’s job is to
add that vital spice of
vocals as well as produce a
III line wun me puollc
tasle.
As a performer Ms.
Berry has drawn from the
talents of Stephanie Mills.
A1 Jarreau, and George
Benson Her own ver
satility shines through at
each performance. That’s
when Ms. Berry and the
band, FORCE, realize that
hard work and long
tiours of practice is neces
sary to become successful
and effective.
Our beauty is an
Aquarian, born 19 years
ago to Ms Ann Thomas
She has two sisters and
names Calvin Alexander as
one of her most favorite
people. She finished high
school at Central Piedmont
Community College and en
joys bowling, water skiiing,
and attending parties.
With the abundance of
talent our songstress beau
ty possesses she is bound to
achieve her dreams She is
reaching toward complete
and recognized profession
alism as a performer and
the American dream of
becoming wealthy
Six years ol singing has
taught Ms Berry that her
goals will not be easily
attainable. Now she is
ready for hard work, the
easiest bridge to cross over
to success.
Joint Center Releases
Preliminary Election
Results Of Black Vote
Conferences
On Black
Elderly Set
Older Black Americans
make up a disproportionate
segment of the poor, and
their special problems will
be studied at a cross coun
try series of Mini-Confer
ences preparatory to the
1981 White House Confer
ence on Aging.
The National Caucus and
Center on Black Aged, Inc.
(NCBA i will hold the se
cond of three Mini-Confer
ences in Atlanta, Ga., De
cember 9-11. The Con
ference will be held at the
Atlanta Hilton Hotel,
Courtland and Harris
Streets, N.E. The first con
ference is scheduled for
late November in Detroit,
while Los Angeles will host
the third Mini-Conference
January 7-9, 1981, at the
Biltmore Hotel.
“The problems of Black
and white elderly are dif
ferent," says Dr. Dolores
Davis-Wong, president of
NCBA. “An overriding ex
ample of that difference is
the disparity in income
levels.”
With some 40 other
national Black organiza
tions expected to partici
pate in the Mini-Confer
ences, plans are to define
and sharpen issues facing
the Black elderly for con
siderations at the National
Conference in November,
1981.
The 36 percent of older
Blacks living at or below
the poverty line represents
a proportion almost three
times that of similarly dis
advantaged whites and
their situation is worsened
by a lack of education,
information and availabil
ity of health services.
Dr. Davis-Wong also
says Blacks are worried
about matters like hospi
tals in Black communities
being closed along with the
tendency of some nursing
homes and hospitals to dis
courage Medicaid patients
because they don’t provide
as much revenue as
patients covered by private
insurance plans.
ROBERT NELSON PREPARES
-For n busy work day
Business Is Booming!
Collecting Garbage Has
Been Good For Robert Nebon
By Teresa Burns
Post Staff Writer
Back in 1948 a company
was only a figment of a
dream for Robert W
Nelson. Nelson, with his
wife Freddie behind the
wheel, would get up several
mornings of the week,
around 5 a.m. usually,
climb into the pickup truck
and haul trash from homes
and a few businesses.
By 8 a.m. all of the trash
had been loaded into the
back, and later at the dump
site, Nelson would use a
board to pull the heavy
barrels down from the
pickup. It was then time for
the Nelsons to be on their
way to their other jobs.
At first the Nelson Sani
tation Service, Inc. was
simplet a side job for Nel
son But his hired help soon
cost him more than he was
making. As one of two
independent garbage col
lectors in the county back
in ’48, Nelson only charged
.75 cents a month to his
customers
But those sparse 75 cents
began to add up and, as
Nelson explained, he real
ized he could make a fair
living collecting garbage
He quit his job at Huff
VVhiley in 1956; stopped
cutting hair at Claude
Steele's Barber Shop on
Fridays and Saturdays;
and began to work his own
business full time.
"Just about all my cus
tomers where white then,"
Nelson explained. His main
vein was out of the city
limits in the suburbs And
there just weren't too many
blacks residing in the sub
urbs in the 40s and 50s
Those first two decades
saw Nelson drawing trash
in the back of pickup
trucks in tin cans. But
business began to boom
Those mornings of getting
up early to collect trash
began to pay off.
By 1968 the tasks of col
lecting became a little less
burdensome "We bought
our first packer,” Nelson
remembers. "Then in 1969
we bought another one."
The trend was set - the
business expanded to pick
up business containers
backed by the force of
three container trucks and
eventually several more
packers.
GROWTH SPROUT
Yes, it had taken 24 years
to achieve that certain
freedom only a few can
claim - owning one's own
business. It was 1972 and
the growth of Nelson Sani
tation Service had even
surpassed its owner's ex
pectations.
The company boasted
8.000 customers; it has
hiring power, employing
30; and by 1974 Nelson
Sanitation Service had be
come incorporated. But
that was also the year
things started to change
“Many of my customers
began receiving city ser
vice,” Nelson began. “The
city limits began to ex
pand. And when I first
started the business there
were only two sanitation
services Today there must
be at least 20."
The area of service de
clined but competition in
creased, leaving Nelson
with 2,000 clients to date.
Instead of employing 30 he
employs 11 today And in
stead of covering a vast
area, he collects fnlm the
southeast area mairay
Nelson Sanitation Ser
' 'vv, aiis.. 10 uic wiurai
private collector in the
county - no one can take
that distinguished honor
away from them The com
pany still provides residen
tial and commercial pick
up as well as dumpster
rentals
The residential pick up
fee is far from the 1W8
charge, which is to be
expected. The charge to^
day is $8 a month for twice
a week pick up The com
mercial rate varies
FAMILY AFFAIR
The Nelson Sanitation
Service, Inc. strived on
family unity and partici
pation from the beginning
Nelson's wife, Freddie,
was the first truck driver
I^ater she became secre
tary and bookkeeper
When their two sons were
younger they helped out on
the trucks Today, Walter,
who attended Hampton In
stitute and graduated from
UNCC, received his degree
in accounting and passed
the CPA test Their young
est son, Ronald, attended
AAT State University and
Central Piedmont Both
sons continue to contribute
their skills as well as sug
gestions to the company
see Collecting Page 8
Blacks
Supported
Carter
Special To The Post
An overwhelming major
ity of blacks who voted on
November 4 supported
President Jimmy Carter,
but blacks appear to have
given Ronald Reagan suf
ficient votes in several
closely contested southern
states to provide him with a
margin of victory.
These conclusions are
based on preliminary find
ings from a two-part na
tional survey of black
voting patterns conducted
by the Joint Center for
Political Studies One part
of the survey consisted of
exit interviews of black
voters in randomly select
ed precincts across the
country The other is based
on actual votes cast in
randomly selected pre
VIIIV.VO V 1141 JU pci tniv UI
more black population
The survey also disclosed
that there was a slight
decline in the proportion of
registered black voters
who went to the polls this
year as compared to 1976
The preliminary findings
suggest that the black vote
followed closely the pattern
of 1976 with President
Carter receiving about 89
percent of the vote com
pared to just under 9 per
cent for Governor Reagan
Independent John Ander
son and minor presidential
candidates shared about 2
percent of the black vote.
In 1976 Jimmy Carter won
90 percent of the black
vote, and incumbent Pre
sident Gerald Ford won 7 8
percent, according to the
Joint Center's 1976 election
analysis.
The 1980 survey indi
cated that very few black
voters heeded the call of
some black activists to re
fuse to vote for any of the
presidential candidates
While strong support for
Carter was nationwide, in
at least two southern states
in the Joint Center's sam
ple. it appears that Reagan
won enough black votes to
provide his margin of
victory In Arkansas, for
example, where he won
with less than 5.000 votes,
he won over 8.(KM) black
votes. Similarly, in Ten
nessee, where his winning
margin was about 6,000
votes, Reagan won over
16,000 black votes Indica
tions are that this develop
ment may have occurred in
a few other states
The Joint Center esti
mates that 40 percent of the
17 million eligible black
voters went 10 me polls,
compared to about 52 per
cent for the nation as a
whole This is about two
percentage points higher
than in 1976 when there
were 15 4 million eligible
black voters
"In a landslide presiden
tial election, such as that
achieved by Governor Rea
gan, the black vote has
little direct impact on the
outcome. However, it
might still be crucial in
certain localities and
states Moreover, peculiar
ities in black voting be
havior often suggest im
portant trends for the fu-~
ture and provide unique
opportunities for both
blacks and a new admin
istration.
Black Voting Participation Hits
New Record In Presidential Election
ao vo-IV tCill
of all registered Black
voters took part in Novem
ber 4th’s national election
according to projection fi
gures released by the Na
tional Association for the
Advancement of Colored
People.
NAACP executive Direc
tor Benjamin L. Hooks,
speaking the morning after
the elections noted, "No
other single interest group,
including the elderly and
women, demonstrated the
great strides that Blacks
showed in realizing their
full voting potential. These
gains are especially im
portant, since most politic
al observers had expected
a continuation of the down
ward trend that had been
evidenced over the past 15
years.”
"Even before the elec
tion," Hooks noted.
"NAACP data revealed a
keen Interest In the pre
sidential race among Black
■
Benjamin Hooks
...NAACP Director
voters. After checking the
almost 200 branches in
volved in voter registra
tion, we discovered that we
had managed to raise the
number of Blacks register
ed to almost 11 5 million, or
67 percent of Blacks eli
gible This represents the
highest percentage ot
Blacks registered in our
history, and is even better
than the 63.8 percent re
gistered among the 133 mil
lion white eligibles ”
Joe Madison, National
Director of the NAACP
Voter Education Depart
ment, noted also that Black
voters maintained their
tradition of supporting the
Democratic Party. “Pre
liminary results show that
in spite of Catholics, blue
collar workers, ethnics and
women going heavily for
Ronald Reagan, President
Carter received a solid 80
percent of the Black vote
Those same figures showed
Ronald Reagan and John
Anderson splitting the re
maining difference.”
"More importantly,"
Madison maintained,
"these preliminary results
illustrate the political ma
turity developing within
the Black community That
maturity and motivation
must be continued in future
elections."
Hooks pointed out a
serious departure from the
record Black turnout sta
tistics, when he talked
about results from key pre
cincts on the West Coast
NAACP officials there re
ported the Black turnout
was 10-15 percent lower
than the national average,
and as much as 12 percent
lower than the turnout in
1976. The Executive Direc
tor said, “This was clearly
the result of the news an
nouncements of Carter's
defeat, and a few minutes
later the President himself
conceding " ,
According to an NAACP
official in Los Angeles,
many community canvas
sers reported their turnout
had been almost 50 per
cent, with three hours left
to vote, when the news was
broadcast “Thereafter,
the turnout was light Can
vassers who were contact
ing Blacks, were met with
a response that the race
was over and thetr vote
was not necessary "
"With the exception of
the West Coast, Blacks not
only turned out in record
numbers, but showed up at
the Dolls much earlier in
the day than in previous
years,” Madison said
"Our findings show that in
many cities, such as De
troit, New Orleans, Atlan
ta, Miami and Kaleigh,
almost 50 percent of the
registered Black voters
had cast their ballots be
fore 3 p m Helping to swell
this figure was the unusual
ly large increase in the
Black youth vote on college
campuses in Atlanta and at
Howard University,"
The entertainers used in
the campaign, such as
Aretha Franklin, Della
Keese and Alex Haley,
"were varied enough to
appeal to all segments of
the American population, "
concluded Hooks, "and we
owe each one of them a
great debt of gratitude "
I'
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|*TECT: Be SATISFIED if
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