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=--- THE CHARLOTTE P< 1ST -=s=
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■ .:■■■ ■ ■
Wfcof* Afraid Of ffc*
hiarity Plea?
Story On Page 5A
Politic! Of White Flight
Editorial On Page 2A
- -
f A.
huilfufo To Honor
Polk And Lynch
,'4 '
Story On Page 3A
Polk ■
BONTo Consider
Development
Projects
Lawrence Toliver, vice president
for the Charlotte Chamber of Com
merce Small Business Division, re
cently announced that three of Char
lotte's leading businessmen have
agreed to “help create significant '
minority-owned real estate projects
for Charlotte;"
John Crosland, Fred W. Mein of
Trammel-Crow, Attorney D. G.
Martin and several other communi
ty-spirited leaders yet to be named
have "agreed to serve on the Busi
ness Opportunity Network’s Real
Estate Development committee
where they will review development
proposals submitted to them by
minorities or women.”
Toliver and BON Action Council
Vice Chairman Vincent Jadffis so
licited the Involvement of these
three business and community lead
ers because of their individual and
combined expertise and abilities to
“develop projects which serve our
~ Following^!ts June organizational
real estate
Deborah Saunders
.BON manager
Deborah Saunders
To Head BON
»
Programs Activities
Deborah R. Saunders conies to
the Business Opportunity Network
after having served the United Way
of Mecklenburg and Union Counties
for four and one-half years. Ms.
Saunders was Senior Staff for Alio
cations and Agency Relations where
she managed the budget review
process, supervised the allocation of
17 million to agencies, and managed
the activities of the Allocations and
Review Board and the Review
Panel. A former social services
worker, Mrs. Saunders has an M A
in community organizations from
Scarritt College in Nashville
As the Manager of the BON
program, Ms. Saunders win be
responsible for managing volunteer
activities associated with strength
ening M-WBEs, diversifying their
economic involvement and becom
ing Integral parts of the business
community. Her previous four and
ona-half years with the United Way
have brought her into regular con
tact with business leaders who
praise her communications skills
and efficiency.
v ■ ■ *»- ■ .
■fS DKUMMft i,!?
.“V ~
Don t expect too much from the 1
man who talks about what he did
instead of what he’s doing.
*#*rTaU, Slim and Beautiful!
Gail Sanders Views
TugfcftijN By Jalyne Strong ,* t
Post Starr Writer
Twenty-seven-year-old Gail
Sanders always thought the world of
modeling as glamorous. “I’d see
models and they were so tall, slim
and beautiful. I wanted to be like
them,” she says. With a lithe Figure
standing 5’9”, Gail could very well
have made a stunning model.
However, with the birth of her son,
Todd, now 19 months, Gail’s pri
orities changed. All her interest now
centers around her young son, who
she says, “is a handful but the joy of
rtiy life.!’
“My goal is to work in order to
maintain my son to the point when
he can take care of himself,” states
Gail, an employee of Nelson’s
Restaurant. "1 want all the good
things for him," she adds.
But when she’s not taking Todd to
run, swing, “Jump ami - cHmh,”
Gail’s free time is spent browsing
the fashion scene. “I really enjoy
V* Vj*. 0$ • ffL .
reading fashion magazines,” she
fells. "I keep up with the latest in
makeup, styles, skin care, etc.,
through them.”
Also for pleasure, Gail likes to
listen to jazz and some rock and roll.
“I appreciate David Sanborn most
of all,” she maintains. “He’ll be in
Charlotte on Mother’s Day and I
plan to go see him.”
About motherhood, Gail claims,
“It’s great.” Then she says, “It’s
hard.” She finally decides it has its
good and bad. “I still can’t believe
it,” she admits, concerning herself
being a mother
Yet experience around children is
one thing Gail is not short of; she
comes from a family of 12 siblings
“There are seven boys and five
girls,” she tells. It’s no wonder that
her parents. Mr and Mrs. Coldin
Sanders, along with Todd of course,
are her favorite people. Even with 12
different—personalities to contend
with, Gail assures, “They’ve always
See GAIL On Page 18A
South, Women Show
Largest Gains Among
Black Elected Officials
Special To The Post
The number of black elected of
ficials rose by 6.2 percent nation
wide last year, reports the Joint
Center for Political Studies, which
has conducted an annual census of
black officials since 1970. Between
January 1984 and January 1985, the
total number increased from 5,700 to
6,056. Last year’s increase was 1.7
percent.
Some 85 percent of the increase
took place in the South, which con
tains 53 percent of the country’s
black population and 63 percent of
all black elected officials. Alabama
had a net gain of 61; South Caro
lina, 47; Georgia, 39; and Louisi
ana, 37. Louisiana, where 27 per
cent of the voting-age population is
black, remains the state with the
largest number of Mack elected of
ficials—475—followed by Mississippi,
with^a 31 --=2-- ■ ■ - - n
I
where Katie Haifa fJfcJN) defeat in
the May 1964 primary reduced the
number of black members of Con
gress to 20. The number of black
mayors increased by 31 to 286-the
largest increase of any year since
the center began counting. Black
elected officials remain dispropor
tionately concentrated in municipal
offices-mostly city councils; some
48 percent of black officials are
municipal officials, while only 27
percent of all elected officials fall in
that category.
Some significant firsts in 1984:
-New York State gained its first
black mayor: Ronald A. Blackwood,
in Mount Vernon.
-Pennsylvania got its first black
woman state senator: Roxanne
Jones, from Philadelphia. Yvonne
Miller of Norfolk, Va., is the first
black woman since Reconstruction
to win election to the state House of
Delegates. Oregon got its first black
woman in the state legislature:
Margaret Carter, from Portland.
-Alabama elected its first black
woman judge. Jo Celeste Pettway.
Despite these firsts and the 6 2
percent overall increase, however,
blacks still hold only 1.2 percent of
the 490,800 elective offices in the
country. Black elected officials con
tinue to be concentrated in black
majority districts and generally
depend on the black electorate for
victory.
The number of black women in
office continues to grow at a faster
rate than the number of black men.
In January 1985, there were 1,358
black women in office, an increase
of 99, or 8 percent, over the pre
vious year-as compared to a 5.7
percent increase for black male
officeholders. Black women now
make up 22.4 percent of all blacks in
elective office.
Eddie N. Williams, president of
the Joint Center for Political Stu
[t ^ , |
its 20th anniversary, the Voting
Rights Act of 1965 is still an im
portant tool for expanding black
access to the political system The
impressive gains in the South were
due, in part, to proceedings under
various sections of the Act that
reduced voter dilution and other
discriminatory mechanism. And, of
course, in 1984 we witnessed an
unprecedented number of voter re
gistration activities in black
communities throughout the coun
try As voter participation increas
es, blacks win a greater share of
elective offices and thus a stronger
voice to defend their own interests.”
Black Elected Officials: A Na
tional Roster, 1985, which contains
detailed statistics and a complete
listing of blacks in elective office as
of January 31, 1985, will be pu
blished in June by UNIPUB. Co
pies may be ordered by calling
-olack Women Have
Survived Many Inequalities
By .Vlarv Duncan Wilson
Status of Women Chairman
Special To The Post
The elderly black woman in
America today is a superwoman to
have survived the many inequali
ties of her job. educational, socio
economic and environmental oppor
tunities.
In the majority of cases she has
reared a family, worked outside the
home, has done a full day’s work
either before or after returning
home from a job and somehow she
has found the time to extend love
and training to her children. Many
have survived their husbands and
marly have always' been a one
parent family.
Of The Year Contest
■ous Attractive Prizes
By Loretta Manago
Post Staff Writer
While the pot at the end of the
rainbow for the contestants In
volved hi the “Churchworker of the
Year" contest is the luxurious cruise
to the Bahamas via Eastern Airlines
for the winner and a companion, in
addition to a trip to anywhere in the
United States that Eastern flies for
the winning contestant’s pastor and
companion, the road of the six-week
contest will be filled with a bounty of
gifts and prizes U..;..
Gift certificates from fashionable
clothing shops, beauty salons, and
an automotive service store only
scratch the surface of the potential
prises to\ be won by the chtrch
worker contestants Throughout the
contest, top sales in subscriptions
for The Post will garner some
deserving prise for a contestant
These prizes don't come out of the
thin air. Rather, they are donated by,
community conscious individuals
like Hazel Simons of D’Esaence No.
2, Don Hill of Peik’s Drugs and BUI
Holder of Ledfonfc who all feel a
responsibility to contribute to a
worthwhile endeavor like the
“Churchworker of the Year" con
test. Some advertisers even have
sentimental reasons for becoming
involved in The Poet's contest
through a contribution to one of the
Ms. winona, who is an operator at
D’Essencs No 2, remembers when
she was just starting out in the
cosmetology field that Fran Farm
Charles William*
.Haase of Charles
Bradley, The Post's Director of
Advertising, helped her consider
ably.
"Fran helped me out, so when
ever she calls and makes a sug
gestion about a particular thing, I
usually follow through," remarked
Ms. Simon*/ \
Ms. Simons also commented that
she was glad when Fran suggested
that she donate a prize to The Post's
contest last year, because it helped
her pick up additional clientele.
“I think the contest is a real
interesting idea, emphasized Ms.
Simons. t ”. ■&'- -
Don Hill, owner of Peak’s Drugs
attributes his long association with
The Post as ona of the main rea
Elaine Ferguson
.Hair Original
■one for participating in the annual
contest. "My wife and I have been
owners of the drugstore for five and
one-half years and we’ve always ad
vertised with The Charlotte Post.
Before we owned the store, the
owners preceding us also advertised
with The Post. 9o to my knowledge,
The Post and the drugstore’s ties go
back as far as 20 to 2f years.’’
Participating in The Poet's annual
contest and other special promo
tions of the paper is Hill’s way of
fostering good community relations
"We try to be a vital part of the
community."
Hill attended one banquet which
culminated the activities of the con
test and considered it very in
teresting “We don't get a whole lot
by participating, but our name stays
in the foreground a lot and, hope
fully, people will see that we’re
trying to do some good,” concluded
Hill. 1
At Ledford’s, a men and women's
clothing store. Bill Holder reiterat
ed the sentiments of the other ad
vertisers by saying that he thought
the “Churchworker of the Year”
contest was a good idea
Ledfords has been involved with
the contest every since Robbie
Thompson, an account executive,
has been handling their account
Holder credits her persistence as an
influential factor in their store being
in the contest this year.
“What we hope to gain by par
ticipating is increased sales from
the readers and subscribers of The
Charlotte Post. It's a little dif
ferent direction than moat advertis
ers take, but one that we definitely
feel la worthwhile," he confirmed.
Thoee three advertisers are a
small representation of the growing
Hat of advertisers who are joining
the bandwagon to give away fowl
prises to some well-deserving Indi
viduals.
Here are the names of some of the
other businesses that will be partici
pating in the "Churchworker of the
Year" contest: Montaldo i - a ISO
gift certificate; Buffalo Tire a ISO
gift certificate; Natorallzer (South
Park) • a pair of shoes; IVEsssnce
No. 2 - a $35 valued hairdo.
Sae CHURCHWORKER Pag* ISA
Second in scries
Now that their children arc* grown,
more of our elderly black women of
low income brackets have moved to
public housing units, where rents
are controlled and social services
are more accessible
A Rutgers University research
project which was funded by grant'
from the National Institute of Men
tal Health i NIMH i women who were
born in the 30 years between IKHO
and 1910. in order to inform the
public about the historic movement
in which they have taken part their
study shows that crime against the
elderly is a_serious problem They
are subjected to abuse In then
neighborhoods and through fraurlu
lent business practices With a
slowed economy and high inflation
the nation has diverted its atten
tinn from the solving of social pro
blems of the economically deprived
black women and their families to
an economic entrenchment from the
policies of the seventies
The interest that once was shown
in redressing wrongs which have
been done to minority groups, has
been redirected to the difficulties
which affect whites and majority
groups in America Since Congress
cut appropriations to l^-gal Ser
vices Corporations by one fourth in
1982. families in need of assistance
have increased by 35 percent. F’eo
pie must either go without services
or suffer a significant decline in the
quality of service rendered
One of every three persons on
Food Stamps is black Government
al spending on Food Stamps has
been cut four percent According to
the Congressional Budget Office
(CBO) in 1983, four out of five tax
dollars given through the 1981 Rea
gan tax cut went to households
whose income was above $20,000 a
year. Two-thirds of white families in
America are in this category Under
this administration appropriations
for the expansion of housing pro
grams for the poor have fallen 72
percent.
Younger black women should
avoid the following most common
mistakes which the majority of our
elderly black women have made
about money and security
1. They don’t save money For
painless saving, women should try
an automatic deduction plan, from
their employer or their bank
2 They have equated budgeting
with poverty We should not spend
money impulsively -y*
See ELDERLY On Page 1IA
, .* . sJU * fi