f i i TE ST
"The Voice Of The Black Community"
; __ ■ ■ y;, _
Volume 13. Humber 7 THE CHARLOTTE POST - Thumday. July 16, 1987 Price: 50 Cents
The Brands' First Home 1
Through I
Habitat For Humanity I
Lifertylea/Page 8A I
Bryant Takes Over At WPEG ^
S|/ E ntertainmen t/Pago IB
Love Of Learning For Black Students I
_ _ Education/Page 6A
Loretta “Jean" Webber, president of Metro £res
oent Communications officially began the first
full broadcast day July 8 at WJZY-TV, Channel
46, in Charlotte, North Carolina. WJZY, with a
-^pOO-foot, 6-miiUon-watt tower, ooveramore than
"dto*lC2S>Ms
ing more coverage of the Charlotte market than ei
ther the ABC or NBC affiliate. He independent
station is airing a full-time lineup of action and
adventure programming, including first-run
and exclusive motion pictures.
' ‘ ‘AlSfiEi *«.-'• - V
Poet Managing Edito# '
Charlotte's only Independent
television station, WJZY-TV,
Channel 46, began broadcasting
19 and one half hours of exclusive
programming on Wednesday,
July 8.
Lorretu, "Jean" Webber, Presi
dent of Metro-Crescent Commu
nications, Inc., the company that
owns WJZY-TV, officially be
gan the first foil day of broadcast
ing at the Station. About that
momentouf occasion she says, "It
was tough getting up at 4 a.m. to
do that. But it was a delight. We
had worked long and hard to get
(he station on the sir."
* WJZY-TV is Charlotte's only
majority black-owned television
station with blacks accounting
for five of its nine stockholders.
WJZY joins the list of the na
tion's ten black-owned television
stations, according to the
''Blackbook 1987," an interna
tional reference guide of black
owned businesses published by
Dollars & Sense magazine.
Webber sits on the station's
Board of Directors which in
cludeo, Charlotte Mayor Harvey
Oantt, State A1-wander, Bob Hllk
er, Bill Bollins, John Green and
Jim Goodman.
These same board members
are the station's stockholders
with the addition of David Wagn
er and Jean Webber's husband,
Dr. Spurgeon Webber.
Webber points out the fact that
the majority stockholders of the
company are black was not a FCC
consideration for granting the
television station to Metro
Crescent. "There were few people
left who met the qualifications,"
says Webber, whose company be
gan negotiations with FCC in
1993. In the interim, Webber's
group bought out one company
and merged with another to form
Metro-Crescent, the company that
was granted the license.
At present, Metro-Creseent
owns 81 percent of WJZY-48,
while Capital Broadcasting owns
40 percent of the station.
A businesswoman, Webber has
previously owned, along with her
husband, a computer tabulating
card manufacturing company.
She has also owned p computer
specialty card business and shs
sold hardware, floppy discs, and
computer printer paper. Her com
pany sold lte prodiucU throughout
' mf \e / •pT-f*
the U.S. and exported to two coun
tries. The computer company was ~
add in 1983.
"In 1983, I got invdved in the
application for the license for
Channel 46,” recounts Webber.
The process took three years be
fore her company was granted the
license.
Webber says the reason she
went after the television station
license was because "the opportu
nity presented itsdlf." She also
says the most weighing factor in
the FCC granting the license to
her company was based on the
Board members' community in
volvement,
As president of Metro-Crescent,
Webber's primary role at the sta
tion is administrative. She is also
involved in AGCW a real estate
development company comprised
of four women.
State Alexander says when
WJZY went on the, air, "It was
like a dream fulfilled for me.
You could say, it's the top of the
line in aspirations one seeks to
attain."
Alexander,
who's back
ground Is in
radio broad
casting, was
previously the
Community
Affairs Direc
tor at WPEG
FM. He is now
the Informa
tion Director at
Johnson C.
owned companies in the broadcast
field," explains Alexander,
"especially in this area." The
fact of which, he comments,
"points out the need for blacks to
get involved in broadcasting;
making it more than a notion to
talk about. They have to be will
ing to roll up their sleeves and get
involved in the long, detailed pro
cess.
"And, at the same time, our
ownership of WJZY, offers great
er challenges. It should serve as
some encouragement from what
we have been able to do," contin
ues Alexander. "Successes can be
had when one sticks with it.
"I'm real proud of what has
taken place,” he confirms. "We
are now making our presence felt
in the market."
WJZY-46 transmits five mil
lion watts of power from its 2,000
foot tower, making it the second
most powerful TV station in
Charlotte. The station covers cit
ies within a 65-mile radius of
Charlotte, including Spartan
burg, Winston-Salem, Hickory,
Gastonia, Monroe and Rock Hill.
The 17,000 foot facility is locat
ed at 3501 Performsmce Rd. in
Charlotte, and features state-of
the-art, computerised television
production and transmission
equipment. '
Mark Conrad, formerly a Sta
tion Manager at WCCB-TV in
SeaWJZY on Page SA
Local Pregnancy
Council Receives
State Award
The North Carolina Coalition
on Adolescent Pregnancy present
ed awards at tha Spring Confer -
enca to local councils, program*,
and task forces that have shown
excellence and commitment in ad
olescent pregnancy prevention in
North Carolina A
The Mecklenburg Council On
Adolescent Pregnancy (MGAP) re
ceived an award for tha local
council that demonstrated a com
prehensive coordinated preven
tion program.
Receiving the award for tha
moat outstanding creative single
project that hw had an impact on
prevention in North Carolina was
tha "Sexuality Education In Relig
ious Settings" Workshop designed
Charlotte Educators Help Launch
Initiative To Improve Public Schools
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Associa
tion Educators' Hiawatha Foster,
Jackie Cox, Stan Fraizer, Arthur
Garrigus, Charles Guy, Velma
Leake, Antonia Moore John
Moore, Margaret Moreland and
James Tribue, were among the
Leake
July 5.
8,000 school
and college
staffers from
throughout the
United States
who attended
the National
Education As
sociation's
125th Annual
Meeting in Los
Angeles, Cali
fornia, June 26
port personnel from all 50 states
and overseas—addressed educa
tion issues that ranged from class
size to growing teacher shortage.
"The convention was an inspir
ing experience." says Hiawatha
Foster, District 6 Director and a
delegate representing the Char
lotte-Mecklenburg Association of
Educators. "All of us in NEA are
working hard to ensure that every
child gets the best education possi
ble."
Delegates to the NEA's eleven
day convention adopted a propo
sal by NEA President Mary
Hatwood Futrell to begin efTorts to
make NEA's foundation, the Na
tional Foundation for the Im
provement of education, one of the
r.
nation's largest grant-giving foun
dations in education.
Under the plan adopted by dele
gates, the NEA foundation will
eventually be able to award $ 1
million a year to innovative educa
tion projects designed and devel
oped at the local level.
"Our NEA foundation," says Di
rector Foster, "will be able to pro
vide educators with the seed mo
nies necessary to do everything
from improve writing skills to en
courage more parents to get in
volved in their children's educa
tion."
NEA, with nearly 1.9 million
members, is the nation's largest
professional labor organization.
Invest in America: Support
Public Education" was the theme
of the convention, and delegates -
representing teachers, higher edu
cation faculty and education sup
A new NEA study notes that in U.S. public
schools the percentage of black teachers is
declining, while the number of black students
grows. See story on page 7A.
NUL To Promote Cooperation
URBAN LEAGUE Conference To Be Held In Houston, Tx.
The National Urban League
(NUL) brings its 77th Annual
Conference to the Albert Thomas
Convention and Exhibition Center
in Houston, Texas on Sunday,
' marking the first time
&
The four-day meeting, which
takes place July 19-22, will also be
a homecoming for NUL President
and Chief Executive Officer, John
E. Jacob, who is a native of Hous
ton.
In an effort to focus attention
on the continuing need to bring all
sectors of American society to
gether to overcome social and ec
onomic disadvantage, the theme
-i——.. - ■
of the 1987 Conference
is"Working Together To Make A
Difference: Coalition, Collabora
tion, Cooperation." It emphasizes
the different shades of coopera
tive effort that can serve as a base
for the development of effective
"WSte^iesfor achieving this-goal.
Through m^jor plenary ses
sions, forums, special meetings,
luncheons and Conference Din
ner, a number of issues of vital im
portance to Black America will be
explored.
Keynote Session
Opens Conference
Mr. Jacob will deliver a major
domestic policy speech during the
opening session on Sunday night,
July 19, setting the tone for the
rest of the conference sessions.
Dr. Donald Stewart, president,
The College Board will deliver a
speech on "Higher Education: Ap
proaching the 1990‘s," Tuesday
morning, July 21. Dr. Stewart is
the first black to ever serve as
President of the Board.
' Civil Rights Focus
On Wednesday morning, July
22, Rev. Dr. Leon Sullivan, found
er and Chairman of OIC Interna
tional will center his talk around
the recent resurgence of overt acts
of racism on college campuses
and in other areas across the
country.
WINSTON-SALEM • RJR Nabisco, Inc. made
• $80,000 contribution to the NAACP during
the 78th annual NAACP convention in New
York City recently. Prior to the presentation,
Benjamin L. Hooks (oenter), executive direo
tor and CEO of the NAACP, met with guest
speaker* Marshall B. Bass (left), senior rioe
president of RJR Nabisco, and Mario M. Cuo
mo, Governor of New York.
Contribution To Help NAACP
Fight Blatant Discrimination
NEW YORK CITY - It may ba
harder for minorities to conquer
the economic disadvantages fac
ing them today than it was to
battle outright discrimination In
an official of RJR Nabis
said as hs presented
I to the NAACP recently,
no longer have to go to
i schools, drink from sop
s tar fountains, or sit in the
. Xtfcu bus,* aaid Marshall B.
Bask, senior vios president of RJR
Nabisco, at the NAACP annual
convention. "But blatant discrimi
nation was practiced in this coun
try fcr mors than 200 years, and
its after-effects cannot be erased
by a couple of decades of civil
rights legislation.’
Base explained that RJR Nabis
co hopes its funds will help the
NAACP combat "subtle prejudice,
inferior education, high unem
ployment rates and other prob
lems that cannot be legislated
away."
He added, "It is harder to gener
ate concern about quiet injustices
than deafening disrespect. In my
judgment, the need for the
NAACP ie greater today than ever
in history."
The RJR Nabisco donation in
cluded $26,000 earmarked for the
NAACPe Building Fund, which
has financed construction of a
new, larger headquarters facility
in Baltimore. An additional
$30,000 was donated to the
NAACF* Special Contribution /
Fund, which support* minority
enterprise, educational assistance,
and affirmative action programs.
Benjamin L. Hook*, executive
director and CEO of th* NAACP,
expressed gratitude for th* com
pany'* philanthropic apirit and for
its employment, educational, civic
and business programs for minor
ities. RJR Nabisco i* to b* com
ssaswsr-*"
RJR Nabisco, an international
consumer product* corporation, is
th* parent company of R J. Re- J
ynolds Tobacco Company, Nabie-jra
co Brands, Inc. and Del Montt%
Corporation.