North Carolina Newspapers

, PUBLIC LIBRARY OF -CHA1 .L< ITTE P< fST = ; €HAHL<jti£2, NOKiH UAIJOUflA «T(l . ■ nf Tl , r ... V * SS" , rn.vn.wuun f flf* V OU'<> (I !W UUU'K (OHUH llNlty ____ Price: :i5 Cenls v L ”””— i Durham Tenants Strive To Save Public Housing GRACEFUL LYNETTE STATON ... Went Charlotte graduate "elite Lynette Staton Is Beauty Of The Week By Teresa Simmons Post Managing Editor Petite and graceful Lynette Staton has always been interested in fashions and the concept of charm. “But since I’m too small to model I’d like to study the retail selling aspect and become acquainted with fa shion merchandising,’’ she shawl The 1982 West Charlotte High School graduate plans to attend Centra] Pied mont Community College or Rutlege College for classes in fashion. She later hopes to attain more know ledge through the TRIM Modeling School. “I enjoy coordinating clothes and personally I enjoy dressing up,” she expressed. Ms. Staton is the daugh ter of Mary Pough Staton. She has one brother, Kenny Leon Staton. (lost admire my m< . She can deal with any problem I have. When we’ve had bad times or when I’ve had my pro blems she seems to solve them fast.” A member of the Taber nacle Baptist Church Ms. Staton is a faithful believer in God. She enjoys attend ing church, and there are other hobbies on her agenda as well. “I enjoy swimming, run ning, cooking and danc ing/^ she began. “My favorite musician is Ray Parker Jr. I like the songs he sings. I admire his music including the mellow and the disco songs.” While in school at West Charlotte Ms. Staton en joyed participating in va rious activities and organ izations. A member of the Red Cross, NAACP, the Senior Senate, a homeroom representative and a mem ber of the track team, Ms. Staton left an impressive mark at the high school. While in the 10th grade (she was crowned "Miss VVjj^nore” after she raised money for the Wilmore community . The group that sponsored the pageant was entitled Wilmore In Action. During her years as a tUKHMAU who thinks money on trees is bound, r or later, to get out on a limb. I high school student the teacher who stood most for what our beauty believed in was Margaret Kourt, her 11th and 12th grade Dis tributive Education teach er. “She could understand me and she’d talk over problems with me.” A Cancer, Ms. Staton is friendly and sensitive to the needs of others. Nation wide she has seen the hurt and dismay of many who are jobless and others who are struggling financially. “If I could change any thing or anyone it would be the president. He seems to be making times hard for some of us.” in spite of the n, ’s situation, Ms. Sta ton seems determined to be a blooming flower among the thorns of life. Hope fully her contributions in fashion and design will help to make the world a little more beautiful. Sociologist Says Cities Must “Adapt To Changes” “I enjoy coordinating clothes and personally I enjoy dressing up,” she expressed. Ms. Staton is the daugh ter of Mary Pough Staton. She has one brother, Kenny Leon Staton. at most admire my motner. She can deal with any problem I have. When we’ve had bad times or when I’ve had my pro blems she seems to solve them fast.” A member of the Taber nacle Baptist Church Ms. Staton is a faithful believer in God. She enjoys attend ing church, and there are other hobbies on her agenda as well. “I enjoy swimming, run ning, cooking and danc ing/' she began. “My favorite musician is Ray Parker Jr. I like the songs he sings. I admire his music including the mellow and the disco songs.” While in school at West Charlotte Ms. Staton en joyed participating in va rious activities and organ izations. A member of the Red Cross, NAACP, the Senior Senate, a homeroom representative and a mem ber of the track team, Ms. Staton left an impressive mark at the high school. While in the 10th grade f she was crowned “Miss wi^nore” after she raised money for the Wllmore community . The group that sponsored the pageant was entitled Wilmore In Action. During her years as a ■ Special To The Post ..CHAPEL' HILL - The future prosperity of major cities in the United States depends largely on policies that help the cities adapt to, rather than fend off, the powerful technological and market forces that are shifting blue-collar jobs away from urban areas. That was the message that Dr. John D. Kasarda, professor and chairman of the sociology department at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, presented on September 9 at the annual meeting of the American Sociological Association in San Fran cisco. Kasarda, a consultant to the President’s Commis sion for a National Agenda for the Eighties during the Carter Administration, is currently working with the Department of Housing and Urban Development on urban policy issues. Kasarda said the recent history and the near-term prospects of the oldest and largest U.S. cities have been profoundly affected by what he called two fundamental yet conflict ing trends. “The first is functional, as these cities transform from centers of production and distribution of mate rial goods to centers of administration, informa tion exchange and higher order services," he said. “The second transforma tion is demographic as their resident populations change from predominant ly white, European heri tage, to predominantly black, Hispanic and other minorities.” It is important to remem ber, Kasarda explained, that nearly all of the nation’s largest and oldest cities developed most ra pidly during a transport ation and industrial era that no longer exists. During the 19th century, for example, cities like Chi cago and New York pos sessed comparative advan tages over other locations that substantially reduced costs and raised the effi ciency of firms concentrat ing in those cities. The advantages included superior transportation and storage facilities, an abundance of immigrant labor willing to work for extremely low wages, the nearness of complemen tary businesses and the availability of municipal services such as police and fire protection, sewage sys tems and running water. In recent years, how ever, with advances in transportation and com munications, those advan tages have tended to dis appear, especially when the higher taxes and union labor of the Northern cities were weighed against the Sun Belt’s low er land prices, wages, tax es and energy costs. Local Senior Citizens’ Group Upset Over Council Vote On Halloween By Mac Thrower Post StaB Writer The playful "evil” of Halloween became as real as a violent death in Charlotte last year when 73 year-old Henrietta Wallace was raped and murdered in her apartment by two young men posing as trick or-treaters. In the after math of Ms. Wallace’s murder, the fear and rage of Mecklenburg senior ci tizens gradually focused on one response: an effort to ban or restrict Halloween activities in Mecklenburg County. That six month-long effort came to an unsatis factory end for local senior citizens' groups when the Operations Committee of the Charlotte City Council voted last week to approve what representatives of the Mecklenburg Council on Aging called “a watered down” proposal to estate lish voluntary guidelines for Halloween conduct. The main points of the “edu cational program” ap proved by the committee Robert Davit. .CRC member are: - Informing children who wish to engage in trick or-treating on Halloween that they should be ac companied by a parent, guardian or responsible adult and that they should call only on houses with lighted porches or ex teriors. - Advising residents who wish to participate in Hal loween trick-or-treating to leave front porch or ex terior house lights on; while those who do not wish I to participate are advised to leave outside lights off -- Informing children and adults of the hazards of various types of “treats” that are occasionally given to children who engage in trick-or-treating. - Informing children and adults that persons causing damage to property or in jury to others will be pro secuted in accordance with state and local laws. The committee assigned the Police Department, the Parks and Recreation De partment, and the Neigh borhood Centers Depart ment to conduct "intensive educational programs” on proper Halloween conduct. Terri Byrum, a Charlotte public relations consultant who represented the Seniors Scholars group at City Council and Commun ity Relations Committee meetings, called the ap proved proposal "vague” and "unsatisfactory.” “The City Council's pro gram will make it easier for people not to open their doors on Halloween ..but without an ordinance or some kind of enforcement I don’t see how the program can be really effective,” Ms. Byrum stated. She added, “Many older people are lonely and vulnerable and if someone rings their doorbell, they will open the door just to he able to talk to someone " The Senior Scholars and the Mecklenburg Council on Aging originally sought. Ms Byrum said, legal re strictions on Halloween ac tivities. Leo Hoffman, pre sident of the Senior Scholars, told the Mecklen 5urgCounty Commission in a meeting last April that Halloween had “become an acceptable excuse for ma licious activity.” He insist ed that voluntary restric tions would be ineffective and urged the commission to adopt an ordinance that would limit "trick-or-treat ing" to children under 12 accompanied by parents and that would also pro hibit all trick-or-treating after eight p.m Hoffman See LOCAL on Page 11 SBA Involves Private Sector Daytona Reach, Fla. - An official of the U S. Small, Business Administration says his Agency is actively seeking to involve the pri vate sector in meeting the problems of small business throughout the nation. Marshall Parker, asso ciate deputy administrator of SBA, told a conference at Daytona Beach Commun ity College two weeks agao that SBA is following Presi dent Reagan's lead in seek ing solutions through more private sector participa tion. The “Conference on Community College and Private Sector Involve ment: Emphasis on Enter prise" drew more than 100 participants from across the country, including par ticipants from 40 commun ity colleges. It was spon sored by the Daytona Beach Community College, the Small Business Admin istration and the National Alliance of Business. Parker said SBA Admin- . ' istrator James C. Sanders has outlined as the Agency’s top priority the use of private sector re sources in cooperation with state and local govern ments to confront the pro blems of small business at the local level. “This will require extra ordinary effort at all levels of government and involve ment of all of its institu tions,” Parker said. “We are shifting empha sis to such programs as the local development compan ies which combine federal, state and private capital to assist small business at the community level,” he said. Parker said SBA also is attempting to coordinate the efforts and services of the various development centers and research insti tutes with private initia tives such as the various Chamber of Commerce small business centers. Check Presentation - Frank Pharr, second from left, Secretary-Treasurer of the West Charlotte Optimist Club, pre sents a check to McCrorey Branch YMCA Board of Managers member Zoel S. Hargraves as West Charlotte Optimist Club members Tom Sowell, left, with Stacy Murriel, William “Bin” Oliver,” Vice President Elect. Marvin Billips, Vice-President; and Bill Covington. Chairman of Membership Committee, look on JPhoto: Peeler) .. Against Blacks Social Changes Contribute To Increase Crime By Hacks Special To The Post By Elizabeth F. Hood An abundance of energy has been directed to the problem of crime in black communities in the forms of talk, get-tough-with criminals campaigns, de mands for more police pro tection, community sur veillance efforts, and crime prevention pro grams. A number of books and articles have been written on the subject of black self-hatred as a cause of crime In spite of these strategies, even in better economic times, the percentage of criminal ar rests among blacks re mains higher than those among low-income, Span ish-speaking people and native Americans. ( Blacks are charged with 44 per cent violent crimes and 30 percent crimes against perty). Many blacks are more willing now to admit that social changes in the last 20 years have indirectly con tributed to the increase in crimes committed by blacks against other blacks. Attention is focused upon the movement away from low-income black communities by blacks who have achieved relative degrees of economic and occupational success. This is a sensitive issue, deeply rooted in the racism that allows a limited num ber of blacks to break into the American mainstream. It also tends to pinpoint a breakdown in ethnic unity based upon a shared heri tage of slavery and racial oppression. Whatever the cause, expanded opportun ities in employment, edu cation and housing have Local Senior Gtizens’ Group Upset Over G>uncil Vote On Halloween resulted in residential pat terns which tend to cluster unemployed and under employed blacks in certain areas. This clustering of the have-nots, in many in stances. depletes neighbor hoods of the stabilizing effects of large numbers of gainfully employed models of success and sustainers of an economy based upon trust and discjplined work habits. LOW INCOME AREAS Without blaming the "victims," Lee Daniels, a reporter on the metropoli tan staff of the New York Times ("Black Crime. Black Victims.” THE NEW YORK TIMES MAGA ZINE, May 16) explores the possibility of black reli gious institutions increas ing their efforts to work with children and families in low-income areas. Be cause the black church has been successful in uniting blacks around civil rights issues, Mr. Daniels feels that it is worth a try in a massive campaign to re duce black-on-black crime Mr Daniels' proposition! is well-taken. Some black religious groups have achieved enormous suc cess in engaging blacks of different age and income groups in common "mis sionary efforts." The Church of God in Christ (COGIC) is an ex ample of a religious de nomination that exerts enormous influence on its followers The power of COGIC was evident in the gathering two weeks ago of 10,000 plus for its inter national Women's Conven tion in Cobo Hall The opening evening session re vealed an organizational structure of female leader ship that brought youth and age together in strong working relationships based upon commitment to the beliefs and goals of the church. From most points of views, as a body, the women of COGIC had suc cessfully eliminated age and income barriers to par ticipation. U.S. To Kill Public Housing? By Anne Braden ' Special to the Post . Tenants in Durham. N.C are organizing a massive new movement to save public housing. On Septem her 16. they will conduct a caravan and march through the city to bring this issue to the attention of federal, state, and local officials. Similar efforts are begin ning in a score of other Southern cities It's part of a National-Local Save Public Housing Day. called by the National Tenant Organization NTOi and ex pected to touch 175 com munities. NTO chairman Jesse Gray said: "The federal govern ment is out to kill public housing. They are already selling it where they can, and where they can t they are demolishing it and building businesses that are profit making. We in tend to stop this." LIGHT TO KKKP OUR HO MFCS Durham is the center of one of the strongest tenant movements in the South. Pat Rogers is executive director of the Durham Tenants Steering Com mittee, which she, Howard Fuller (Owusu Sadaukai) and other organizers found ed in 1968. Rogers said: "In the late 60's, we were in the streets, we strug gled, and we organized, and we won many victor ies; life became better for tenants. But since 1976, we have been going backward We are taxpayers, and we are going to fight to keep our rights and our homes " Durham is setting an organizing example for the country, because there a broad coalition of commun ity groups has come toge ther in support of the ten ants. The tenants’ organi zation is predominantly black and is black-led; this coalition is the first oppor tunity many whites have had to work under black leadership. Among the most active supporting groups are Dur ham’s anti-war organiza tions, which see the hous ing issue as key lor people dedicated to turning na tional policies away from war and destruction to pro grams that support life Dania Southerland of the War Resisters league's southeast office in Durham said: HUMAN SUFFERING “This is an opportunity to educate the total commun ity on the human suffering caused by policies that put war preparations before human need. We hope peace groups across the south will support tms movement ” The Southeast Project on Human Needs and Peace <a joint endeavor of WRL, the Institute for Southern Studies, and the Southern Organizing Committee for Economic and Social Justice) is giving regional support to efforts to save public housing. Project or ganizer Pat Bryant said many whites mistake pu blic housing as an tissue that affects only blacks and other people of color.