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Volume 9, Number 13 THE CHarlotte pQST. Thursday, September 8, 1983 Price~^T^T
MRS. ESTELLE DAVIS
—Captures Eastern's Prize
Mrs, Estelle Davis Wins
Ghurchwoman Grand Prize
By Loretta Manago
Port Staff Writer
Last Friday night -was
one that was long awaited.
The culmination of the six
week “Churchwoman of
the Year” contest had
Anally come to a dose and
the mystery of who was to
be crowned ‘‘Church
woman of the Year” 1963
was soon to be revealed.
However, before that
grand announcement could
be made, other present
ations, honors and re
marks had to be made.
Seeing to it that the pro
gram ran smoothly
throughout the evening was
Bob Davis. As master of
ceremony Davis first made
way for Mayor Eddie Knox
who presented The Post’s
guest speaker, Pettis
Norman, with the Key to
the City.
Next, Fran Farrer-Brad
ley, The Post’s Director of
Advertising, stepped to the
podium to recognize Ave of
The Charlotte Post’s out
standing advertisers. Hon
ored this year were Mr.
Nichols of Try on Mall. A1
Hafer of Toyota City, Mel
Waters of Independence
Datsun, Mary Bums of
Pic-N-Pay and Carol Ricks
of Ricks Counsding Ser
vice.
As eagerly as the audi
ence awaited to discover
who the churchwoman
would be, they were just as
excited to hear Pettis
Norman, former Dallas
Cowboy turned entrepre
neur speak.
Delighting and amusing
the audience with anec
dotes and jokes, Norman
first spoke of his personal
pleasure of being back In
Charlotte and highly com
mended the churchwoman
contestants for their par
ticipation in the subscrlp
. tion campaign, before
getting Into the heart of Ms
- message.
From the onset of Ms
Prejudice is nothing
more than an outgrowth of
speech, Norman made it
plain that he was here (at
the banquet) not to offend
but to awaken. Nonrtih
charged that “the Ameri
can system with its oppres
sion, racism, sexism and,
poverty is about to explode.”
In light of tiie 20th an
nivesary of King’s March
On Washington, the 30th
anniversary of the Brown
decision and the anniver
sary of the Voters Right
Act, Norman interjected
that blacks are at a critical
point in their history.
Before Norman revealed
the three-part subject of his
message: "Water Shed
Time,” “Building A Me
morial: Tell Us The Mean
ing Of These Stones,"
and “Why Sit We Here Till
We Die” he pointed out that
“society can’t be repaired
until the institutions are
repaired.”
In his message, Norman
affirmed that blacks are
in “water shed times,”
educationally, politically,
social-economically and
moral-spiritually. Fur
ther expounding on this
topic Norman explained
that a water shed was a
ridge of high land drained
by two river systems.
Commenting that educa
tionally we (blacks) are in
the winter of discontent,
Norman bluntly stated,
“Education or catastrophe,
which shall it be?”
Looking at the political
realm Norman asserted
that there was a broad base
of distrust of leaders,
poor registration and ac
tual voting figures despite
the modern convenience.
He seived through the
socio-economic structure
and quoted dispa ring fi
gures that showed quite
bleakly the breakdown of
this area. "The 1982 po
verty rate is at its high
est since 1988; the unem
ployment rate for blacks is
twice that of whltea, and 90
percent of black families
are headed by women.”
Statistic after statistic,
Norman painted a grim,
but realistic picture.
Even the churches were
not able to escape Nor
man’s scrutinizing words.
He affirmed that ‘‘the
church has gone silent on
life-changing issues and
that people are more
proned to go to church than
to be the Church.”
Having given the audl
ence a wide spectrum of
the Imperfections In the
Institutions of today’s
society, Norman was not
without solutions Citing rf.
parable from the Bible of
the stones kept by the
Israelites after they
crossed the seas to show as
a memorial to future gen
erations, Norman chal
lenged the audience by
saying. "Building A Me
morial: Tell Us The Mean
ing of These Stones.” In
every realm of life we’ve
got to leave some memo
rials (some stones) so that
when our children ask, we
can have something to tell
them,” remarked Norman.
The key to building these
memorials, according to
Norman, comes through
involvement, work and
commitment. “Like the
lepers (Biblical refer
ence) we (blacks) must not
sit here till we die” be
cause as Pettis emphasized
“the time is not on the
horizon, not facing us next
year, it’s facing us now.”
Those words soaked in
the audience’s minds and
once Pettis was finished he
See MRS. DAVIS Page 9
Landmark Voting Rights
Act Changes Summarized
Dr. Hannon
Announces
Fcr Governor
By Karen Parker
Post Staff Writer
Among all the discussion
about a black presidential
candidate, some people be
lieve blacks should first
seek more elections as go
vernor for experience pur
poses. /
Time should/tell if that
opinion is an Effective one
when Dr. Robert L. (Bob)
Hannon runs for North
Carolina governor in May,
1984. Dr. Hannon will make
a public announcement
about becoming a guber
natorial candidate Friday,
September 9, in his home
town of Greensboro.
’ Dr. Hannon is a higher
education consultant in the
area of fundrawing and
university relations. He
campaigned in 1972 for the
office of Lieutenant Gover
nor and ran for U.S.
Senate in 1974.
“I stand for and will
support all- policies, prac
tices and programs de
signed to improve the qua
lity of life for blacks, the
poor and our society as a
whole," Dr. Hannon ex
pressed.
One of those issues which
Dr. Hannon is apparently
concerned with is “a prac
tical and comprehensive
educational program in
North Carolina public
schools, college and univer
sity systems.” According
to Dr. Hannon, the pro
gram will be free of racist
practices and loopholes.
Dr. Hannon’s educational
issues have developed from
a long involvement in the
See DR. HANNON Page 12
' •■***■•■• * • 1 .
LOVELY JULIE BYRUM
™To become fashion director
Julie Byrum’s Beauty Is
As Simplistic “As A Weilk”
By Teresa Simmons
Post Managing Editor
Beauty is a mystical en
tity often beaming from the
most unexpected. For Julie
Byrum, beauty is simplis
tic as a walk in the neigh
borhood or singing the re
cent tune by Michael Jack
son.
But she also finds that
her head and talents are
focused on what makes a
human more appealing to
others, and that is fashion.
“I like clothes. My am
bition is to become a fa
shion director...to set up
outfits on mannequins to
display in windows,” she
stated
Those attractive, some
times way-out fashions
and scenes often seen on
the department store man
nequins must be composed
by creative minds Our
beauty feels that her train
Mrs. Gantt Expresses Pleasures
Through Political Involvement
By Karen Parker
Post Staff Writer
When Cindy and Harvey
Gantt Jog, usually 9:Ma.m.
each morning, they find it
one of the best times to
discover what’s going on
with the other.
Mayor pro tern Harvey
Gantt is a mayoral candi
date. An interview with
Mrs. Gantt concludes a
series of stories about
mayoral candidates’ wives
and how they manage the
dual role of politics and
personal Interests.
"Because Harvey has to
attend so many campaign
functions it’s often late
when he gets home.”
Smiling, Mrs. Gantt ex
plained she attempts to be
lucid during those late
hours when her husband
might want to talk about
the events of the day. "We
find that when we Jog
together early in the morn
ing we can do a lot of
catching up with what's
happening, then,” Mrs.
Gantt acknowledged.
Frequently Mrs. Gantt
might be caught in the
limelight with her husband
at cocktail parties or meet
the candidate campaigns.
Nevertheless, they both
feel, according to Mrs.
MRS. CINDY GANTT
.PTA treasurer
Lost In series
Gantt, that with four child
ren, it’s important that
considerable time be
devoted to family activi
ttea,
"It's mandatory that
Harvey attend all the cam
paign functions.” but
there's no pressure on me
to attend,” expressed Mrs.
Gantt. “Therefore we can
maintain a normal housed
hold, and I can be active in
the children’s involve
ments Each of the Gantt
children-Sonja, Erica,
Angela and Adam-are
more aware of political
actions since their father
has served as city council
man and mayor pro tern.
■'That’s one of the joys of
being so closely tied to
politics,” Mrs Gantt
pointed out. "The children
are aware of issues. When
thev read or hear about
something they can speak
on it.”
Expressing other plea
sures achieved through a
political environment. Mrs
Gantt mentioned meeting
diverse people. "Some
times a person tends to
relate to a certain kind of
people." But in politics and
campaigning there are no
clicks.” Mrs. Gantt
assured She approvingly
reflected the necessity to
meet all kinds of people
with varying backgrounds
Though Mrs. Gantt's po
litical interest is over
whelming, there is another
side of her that extends
beyond hand shaking with
constituents, attending
campaign functions, mail
ing political materials,
classifying telephone num
bers for campaign pur
poses or hosting parties for
300 people, such as the one
recently held for Char
lotte's Young Democrats
organization.
With degrees in math and
accounting, Mrs. Gantt is
the treasurer of the Parent
Teachers Association and
has financial responsibili
ties at Friendship Baptist
Church where she and her
family are members The
native of Hopkins, S.C. also
See MRS. GANTT Page 1^
ing at the American Busi
ness and Fashion Insti
tute, as well as her own
ingenuity, will enable her
to succeed in this field
"You can always do your
best with God behind you,"
she stated. Ms Byrum also
plans to take two years
of Data Processing at the
Institute to broaden her
scope of knowledge.
Ms. Byrum attended In
dependence Senior High
School where she was a
Letter Girl for two years
and on the chorus for three
She was chosen for Who s
Who in American High
School Students; received
a trophy during her par
ticipation in an Alpha Kap
pa Alpha Sorority pageant;
and received the honor of
"Miss Congeniality’’
during the Miss Indepen
dence Pageant, 1982-83
Nettie and Lloyd Byrum
are the parents of Ms By
rum. She has one sister,
Valerie Carothers "My
mother has had the most
positive influence on me
She always helps me
through tough times "
Evidently our beauty's
mother has taught her
much compassion With a
personality filled with
honesty and a tinge of
quietness, one ot our
beauty’s main concerns
is the children who have
accidentally drowned this
summer. "I’m concerned
about the hard times many
people are having to live
through I wish something
could be done about it."
At 17 Ms. Byrum attends
Our Lady of Consolation
and has already started on
her education at the Amen
can Business and Fashion
Institute in Charlotte. Her
next steps will be the com
pletion of her education,
but if it's God will her heart
will reach to many in a
helping fashion It seems
as if she was made to
spread that special beauty
of love and understanding.
Book Helps
Avoid Costly
Reversals
Officials in all states who
are involved in evaluating
current and proposed poli
cies that could affect
minority voting rights now
can have completely cur
rent information on section
five, U S Voting Rights Act
of 1965,
Section Five, U.S Voting
Rights Act of 1965, Voting
Changes That Require
Federal Approval, origin
ally published by the Uni
versity of Georgia’s Insti
tute of Government in 1981,
is now accompanied by an
insert summarizing the
major amendments to the
act signed into law by
President Reagan on June
29, 1982.
The publication is de
signed to help governments
avoid costly reversals and
drawn-out legal disputes by
offering concise informa
tion on federal regulations
and the approval process.
In addition to covering
section five, the insert
summarizes the important
amendment made to sec
tion two, applying to
voting districts in all
states. The section has
been amended to prohibit
any voting qualification,
standard, or practice that
results in discrimination.
The Institute publication
defines the key language of
the landmark act, speci
fies the kinds of govern
ing bodies subject to it, lists
those states and localities
currently covered, and of
fers a general test to assist
in determining whether
policy changes are subject
to Justice Department
approval.
In easy-to-understand
language, the book clari
fies the rules applying to
ethnic and language min
orities, political parties,
primaries, and local im
plementation of state en
abling legislation It also
describes changes not re
quiring prior approval The
insert describes the re
cent amendments regard
ing section five These
changes permit political
subdivisions in covered
states to independently
gain release from section
five Stipulations for this
release are discussed.
The book and update pro
vide a source of all major
cases from 1964-82 involv
ing section five disputes In
addition, the latest regula
tions from the Federal
Code of Regulations and
the Federal Register are
reproduced.
According to co-author J.
Devereux Weeks, attorney
with the Institute of Go
vernment, the amend
ments have not eased the
effect of section five,
despite the fact they allow
individual political sub
divisions to gain release in
covered states “These
amendments make the re
lease process from
section five very com
plex.” Weeks states.
“Furthermore, the amend
ment to section two re
garding all states illus
trates that Congress and
the President are serious
about the act.”