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Volume 1?^, )t , J> . - THE CHARLOTTE POST - Thursday. August 21, 1986 . ,
• ■■ •• --v :* ---—---- Number 12
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c®11 Comes To Charlotte
- Story On Page 7A Story On Page 8A
Jordan
Mia Pennington
.Nervous about first day
i. »•>. ft ^ y- ** * • . v •»
Mia Pennington Passes First
.
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i School
By Jalyne Strong
Post Staff Writer
Fifteen-year-old Mia Pennington
is excited about starting her first
year of high school this fall.
She’ll attend Providence Day
School as a 10th grader.
Mia has already passed one hurdle
of making it in high school: she’ll be
a junior varsity cheerleader at
Providence Day. She made the
squad after competing with 18 young
hopefuls this past springs. One
reason Mia made the squad was
based on experience. She was a '
cheerleader at Albemarle Road
Junior High the previous year.
' ‘I enjoy the exercises I have to do to
get motiviated,” says Mia concern
ing her feelings about this energe
tic activity. ”1 also like the fact that
cheering offers the opportunity to
make new friends.
“To be a We to meet new
people and make friend* with whom
I’ll go to college," cites Mia, are the
two reasons shs’s happily antici
pating high school days. “I may be a
little nervous the first day,"
confesses Mia looking ahead to
homeroom jitters. But for now she’s'
just not going to worry about it. All
she knows la that she’s really not
ready to go back to school quite yet.
The reason being, this young
lady’s been having quite a fun time
this summer. “I’ve keen helping out
at my mom’s day care center,
attending cheerleader practice and
getting ready to get my driver’s
permit," Mia tells. Her mother has
been teaching her to drive, Mia
relates. “I’m doing pretty good,”
she elaborates. “I’m up to 48 miles
per hour and can beck outi”
But when she’s net practicing her ;
three-point and U-turns, Mia can be
found doing a few of her other
favorite things. For instance, she
liken, “rending, writing poetry, end
•tinging; “when my voice doesn’t
creek." Mia laughs 8he also
“loves" to shop »»<i she confesses
she practically “lives at Eastland
Mall." Like most teenagers Mia
I
'S r V
Learning is a treasure far
eternity.
spends much of her waking hours on
the telephone, while in the back
ground the sounds of one of her
favorite recording artists, which are
New Edition, Whodini, and Whitney
Houston, are played.
‘‘Being a teenager has its ups and
downs,” Mia reveals about her age.
“But I like it. You don’t have to pay
bills and neither do you have to hold
your mother’s hand,” this young
beauty analyzes.
But Mia has an eye on the future,
noting she often thinks about
becoming an adult, a successful one
at that. This week’s beauty is
anticipating college and becoming a
lawyer one day.
Her self-described attributes of
being “easy to get along with,
outgoing, friendly and very out
spoken” will most definitely help
Mia along the way.
The eldest child with one three
year-old sister named Arlecia, Mia
says it’s nice being the oldest. “I
have authority,” she explains.
However, the real authorities in
her household remain her parents,
Willie and Arts Pennington, who
Mia says are the two persons she
holds in the highest esteem. "I can
go to them when I have problems, or
If t just want to talk, or just fool
around,” Mia claims. "They're
always there for me.”
For this young lady embarking on
a new phase of life, Mia says her
future “looks bright ” For other
young women looking for similar
outcomes, Mia advises, “Stay in
school, get an education, then have
fun!”
NOMINATE A BEAUTY
Do you know a young lady who
you’d like to see in the Charlotte
Post’s cover page, Beauty of the
Week feature?
The Post will begin selecting
young women, from ages 14 years
and up, for the Beauty of the Week
from PoBt’s readers’ and sub
scribers’ recommendations.
All one has to do is send a recent
snapshot and an up-to-date bio
graphical sketch of the person they
recommend or of themselves to be
considered for the feature.
Selections will be made based on
Information received, such as school
involvement, community activities,
professional activities, etc.; and on
appearance. Biographical in
formation should also include one’s
hobbies and interests
Let us know who you’d like to see
on the cover of the Charlotte Post
Write to the Charlotte Post, P 0.
Box 30144, Charlotte, N.C. 28230,
Attn. Beauty of the Week, or call
376-0496.
Hundreds Of Homeless Drawn To NUL Conference
New Yerk city - Over 16,000
people from across the nation
attended the National Urban
League’s recently concluded
76th Annual Conference at the
Mnacone Convention Center in
San Francisco, CA. Also drawn
to the conference were hun
dreds of the city’s homeless.
In • special wrapup press con
ference, NHL President John
E. Jacobs cited the plight of the
homeless as a problem that had
gained increasing prominence
over the course of the four
day meeting, as a multitude of
the area’s hungry and home
less came to the Exhibit Area
to receive free samples of food
and other products.
Jacob said the situation was
tragic and clearly indicated
that “even In affluent San
Francisco there is a need, a
great need." He added that It
was a reminder that the NUL
was an agency that existed, “to
serve the poor, the frier ill esc,
the helpless . "
That point was made again and
again In the major plenary
forums and through the*«>n
fsrence theme, "Working
Together To Make A Difference,”
John E. Jacob / ^
.NUL prnhloat
which examined a variety of pro
blems confronting Black
America and effective strategies
for dealing with them. .
At the keynote session, Jacob
formally announced the launching,
in September, of the NUL’s
national five-year education
initiative designed to improve
the educational performance of
Mack students
By Over Six Percent
Number Of Blacks
Elected Increases
The number of black elected
officials in the US. rose by 6 1
percent last year, reports the Joint
Center for Political Studies,
which has conducted an annual
census of blacks elected to public
office since 1970 Between January
1985 and January 1986, the total
number of black elected officials
increased from 6.056 to 6,424 The
previous year's increase was 6 2
percent.
The growth in the number of
blacks elected to office occurred in
every region of the country and in
every category of office for which
elections were held in 1985 In
addition, 102 blacks were elected in
jurisdictions where no black Ameri
can had ever held elective office.
For example:,
* ts." TJrtuglatf Wilder became the
first black lieutenant governor in
Virginia and the first black candi
date to win a statewide election in
the South since Reconstruction; and
Alyce Clarke became the first
black woman ever elected to the
Mississippi state legislature.
The number of black women
elected to office has more than
doubled since 1976, rising from 684
then to 1,483 in 1986. Twenty-three
percent of all black elected officials
are women, and approximately one
third, or 124, of last year’s newly
elected black elected officials were
women.
ui all the elective offices held by
black women, 50 percent are muni
cipal positions, including 40
mayoralties. The largest contin
gents of female black elected
officials are in Washington,
D C. (113), Illinois (109), Michigan
f 98). Mississippi (95), California
'94'. and New York (91).
At the federal level, the number of
blacks elected to the U S House of
Representatives remains the same:
19 voting members and one non
voting member
States with the largest number of
black elected officials include
Mississippi (521), Louisiana
'488), Illinois (426), Georgia
(417), Alabama (403), South
Carolina (329), Arkansas (315),
Michigan (314), California (287),
and Texas (281). These states also
have three characteristics in
Local Officials
■ ■" - - '•« ■ .
Ron Leeper
.City Council member
. 1
Charlie Dannellv
.Council member
Harvey Gantt
...Charlotte's mayor
Dr. Mildred Baxter I»a\is
.District supervisor
common:
Women compose more than 12
percent of the state's total number
of black elected officials and.
except in Texas, are represented
at both the state legislative and
the mayoral level;
Rlacks constitute at least seven
percent of the state's voting age
population, and
During the past year, at least one
officeholder with "first black
elected" status was elected within
the state
In three cities 'Boston, MA;
Birmingham. Al. and Mitchell.
SIX. blacks were elected to the
office of city council president for
the first time Voters in New York
City 1 Manhattan elected a black
borough president, and incumbent
black mayors returned to office in
Atlanta. GA. f'harlotte N'C;
Detroit. Ml Hartford t'T and
Los Angeles C \
At the county level 7b additional
black elected officials were sworn
into office most of 'hem in Georgia
Sep RI.ACK On Page ISA
He declared, “the time is ripe
for an Urban League interven
tion to make the schools work for
children of the poor as they now
for the children of the affluent,”
in describing the initiative that
will involve the NUL's 113
affiliates
The affiliates will develop in
dividual programs based upon
specific local needs, includ
ing the formulation of coalitions
for improving the schools and to
serve as advocates of issues of
particular importance to black
and minority students such as
greater access to science and math
courses.
In hi* keynote speech, Jacob also
dealt with several other
important issues. On the subject of
South Africa, Jacob said that the
current U.S. policy of "conatruc
ttve engagement’’ had failed and
that "time Is no longer naming
out-time has run out on South
Africa and we call on our
government to reeerve its policies
toward South Africa.”
Jacob called far a policy of
’’constructive pressure” that
would include among other this^s,
direct intervention by President
Reagan to secure the freedom of
Nelson Mandela, White House
insistence upon serious negotia
tions on constitutional change
between the Botha regime and all
major groups in South Africa and
sweeping sanctions
Jacob also scored the nomina
tions of Justice William
Rehnquist for Chief Justice of
the Supreme Court and Judge
Scalia as Associate Justice which
he said were made for ideological
reasons.
He asserted that both men have
consistently demonstrated In
sensitivity to civil liberties, the
Bill of Rights and Individual
freedom and that the Senate,
“should withhold its advise and
consent for any nominee whose
record shows persistent
hostility to minority rights.”
In a later session, Gov Thomas
H Kean of New Jersey called on
the leaders of the Democratic
and Republican parties to make
the upgrading of the public educa
tion system a national priority.
Kean declared, “the fact is that we
will never break the back of
poverty unless we provide a decent
education to every child in our
cities," and “don't let government
off the hook ”
United Way Sets Goal Of 812,067,670
United Way of Mecklenburg
and Union Counties, Inc., an
nounced its goal for the IMS
fund-raising campaign
a goal of *iz,oe7,«vn was ap
proved by the United Way
Board of Director! and Trustees
during a 9 a m meeting at the
human service organisation's
Charlotte headquarters located at
901 S. Brevard St. The goal
represents a 7.9 percent increase •
over the IMS campaign total of
911,317,Ml, according to cam
paign Chairman C. Don Stager.
Steger is an assistant manager
with the City of Charlotte.
At the new* conference held at
Goodwill Industries, Inc., a
United Way agency, Steger said,
"All of the members of this year’s
campaign cabinet agree that a
7.6 percent increase Is an ambi
tious goal; however,, it represents
the minimum request United
Way agencies feel is necessary
to operate activities next year."
This year’s United Way cam
paign officially begins Septcmbw