Newspapers / The Charlotte Post (Charlotte, … / Sept. 29, 1988, edition 1 / Page 11
Part of The Charlotte Post (Charlotte, N.C.) / About this page
This page has errors
The date, title, or page description is wrong
This page has harmful content
This page contains sensitive or offensive material
LIFESTYLES Section B Page One By LORA VANDERHALL Lifestyles Editor Freddie Hendrix has had a very troublesome life because of drugs but now he Is tiylng to put It all back together again. Hendrix, 41, was a part of the prison system until about a year ago. He says that he hopes that ly telling his life story It will In spire some young person to do good and stay off of drugs. "A good way to stay out of pris on Is to stay off of drugs. It's easy to start using drugs but you have to realize that It will al ways be with you. You can stop uslrig them but everyday will be a challenge for you." Hendrix encourages kids to stay In school and further their education. "A high school diplo ma Is not enough. If you drop out of school you'll probably end up In prison." He had a fairly normal up bringing. "I was raised by my grandmother and I knew right from wrong." He attended West Charlotte High School In the mid 60's where he played on the golf team. "I was klnda small for my age so I started playing golf In the Uth grade and that started to build my courage and self confidence. John Crawford was the coach at that time." "In the 12th grade I was still on the team and we won the state championship and that realty made me fell like I could do anything." he said. After graduation he volun teered to go Into the Army In stead of being drafted. He en listed for three years. About nine months after his enlist ment he was sent to Vietnam. "I was In the 173rd Airborne Bri gade." After about three weeks In that unit we made combat con tact with the enemy. The Initial contact lasted for about 15 min utes but It seemed like years. I was scared because this was the first time my life had been threatened," Hendrix said he was visibly shaken after this Incident, when some of the guys who had been in Vietnam longer approached him with some marijuana. "At this point 1 had never even smoked a cigarette but thqr said It would calm my nerves...and 1 Wed IL" 'Things got worse every day and we continued to smoke marijuana every day for about a year." Drugs Altered In 1969 he got out of the ser vice but returned In 1970. With in 30 days of his second enlist ment he was back In Vietnam but was not In as life threaten ing situation as before but the drug usage continued. "1 became addicted to heroin for about eight months. Before 1 left Vietnam the Army asked me If 1 had a drug problem and 1 told them 1 did and they hospi talized me for about 30 days be fore 1 returned to the States," said Hendrix. He returned to Fort Bragg, where he had about three years left to serve. That Is when he re alized the Impact of his drug ad diction. He says he sold drugs from 1971 until 1979. "Less than a month after 1 got back to the States, I started us ing marijuana and heroin again. I got busted In 1972." The jury gave him live years and a dishonorable discharge but the division commander overruled the decision and said because of his record he would allow him to serve a probation ary period of 16 months and If nothing went wrong the charges would be dropped. He stayed out of trouble while on probation. Hendrix was released In 1974 when he moved to Baltimore. E^ren though he found himself a job he was still Involved In sell ing drugs. He returned to Charlotte In 1977 to continue the same vi cious cycle of selling and using drugs. All of the people around me were breaking the law and 1 joined In with them." During a two year period he was arrested at least eight times for possession of stolen proper- ty, larceny and crimes of that nature. In 1979 he sold drugs to an SBI agent and was sentenced to five years probation. "In 1983, 1 realized I had a real problem so I checked myself Into the VA Hospital and I stayed for about 30 days. After that I was In a halfway house for about nine months," he said. Just four months short of completing his five-year nroba- tlon he was arrested for forgery. For this crime he was sentenced to live years In prison. Because he had violated his parole he had 10 years to serve but the judge ruled the two con current so that when he served a day on the probation he also served a day on the sentence, making it five years. But when he got to prison the sentence was cut In half "Almost from the beginning I was on work release. I made restitution, paid some of my liv ing expenses and I saved some money while I served time," said Hendrix. "Anybody will tell you that prison life Is a hard life and It Is. I know that I probably should have been there before then be cause I was breaking the law," he added. Hendrix says that the prison system seems to be set up to help those who are In for 15 or 20 years because they can sometimes learn a skill. "Those of us who had short time didn't have a chance of learning a skill to better ourselves." "I use to read a lot about what was going on nationwide. I read magazines like Newsweek and Tlme...anythlng educaUonal," he added. Hendrix ended up serving 22 months before he was released In August 1987. "I ran Into my old golf coach, John Crawford, In May of this year and he has realty helped turn my life around. He has helped me get a steady job and he started taking me to church with him," Hendrix said. "My principles are back to gether." Charlotte Cares Week Proclaimed V-UJ.1CL1L uiai wnen ne served a Len Bias' Mother Speaks Out Against Drug Use RACINE, Wls. (AP) — The mother of Len Bias, the Univer sity of Maryland basketball star who died two years ago after us ing cocaine, encouraged the me dia to convey positive messages to young people about avoiding peer pressure. "The one thing Len Bias taught me before he died was all music teaches a story," Lonlse Bias told an audience of black radio man agers and personalities Monday at the Johnson Foundation's Wlngspread Conference Center. Bias quoted pop singer Whitney Houston and said she tells school assemblies that Michael Jackson's "Bad" video Is about resisting peer pressure. In the video, Jackson Is pushed to rob an elderly man to show his friends he is "bad." Instead, Jackson resists their pressure. "Our babies are always being nudged and pulled down about the things they believe In," Bias said. "I teU kids aU the time. If you stand up for what's right your friends wUl talk about you In front of your face. If you stand up for what's wrong, they are talking behind your back.'" On June 19, 1986, Mrs. Bias was c^led to an emergency room to IdenUfy the bo^ of her son, who had been drafted to play for the Boston Celtics of the National Basketball Association two days earlier. ■’ Bias said she has spent the two years since his death traveling ^d talking to groups about the dangers of drugs, alcohol, sexual activity and other teen-age temptations. Stay Alive, Say "NO" To Drugs! Charlotte Cares Week, Octo ber 16-23, 1988, will be pro claimed by Mayor Sue M5Tick and Mecklenburg County Board of Commissioners Chairman Carla DuPuy to mark a commu nity-wide effort to stop drug and alcohol abuse through preven tion and education. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools Superintendent Dr. Pe ter Relic, and his wife, Maiy Jo, will serve as Honorary Chair men for Charlotte Cares Week, which is sponsored by the Char lotte Cares Coalition, an um brella organization of Charlotte organizations and social service agencies. Charlotte Cares Week hosts a variety of activities for all age groups, from school children to senior citizens, all designed to promote safe, healthy lifestyles. In addition, Charlotte Cares Week serves as the Introduction of the Safe Homes Pledge to Charlotte-Mecklenburg. The Safe Homes Pledge, which Is signed by parents and wit nessed by their chUdren, prom ises that parents will host sub stance-free teen parties, will allow children to attend only substance-free parties, and S^orantees parents will chape rone teen parties in their homes. Carolina Governor James G. Martin, the Executive Council of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools, and the members of the Charlotte Cares Coalition. "I see the Safe Homes Pledge as an opportunity for parents and children to sit down togeth er and review their beliefs as a famUy," says Dr. Relic. "I hope the pledge will be accepted be cause it reflects our communi ty's standards, as well as Its laws, and that It will help fami lies make a commitment to these standards In their homes." line on stickers and posters dis tributed to students In CMS jun ior and senior high schools. These materials will be used In conjunction with student activi ties to promote prevention of substance abuse during Char lotte Cares Week. Peter Bell Speaks For Charlotte Cares Week The Safe Homes Pledge unites parents and their children to make decisions about drug and alcohol use In the home. It has been endorsed by over 50 area agencies, public office holders, and businesses. Including North The Safe Homes Pledge wlU be sent home with all Charlotte- Mecklenburg Schools students In grades 4 through 12 during Charlotte Cares Week. Two guest lecturers will also visit Charlotte as part of Char lotte Cares Week. Peter Bell, co founder and Executive Director of the Institute of Black Chemi cal Abuse in Minneapolis will be the featured speaker at the Charlotte Cares luncheon at McDonald's Cafeteria on Thurs day, October 20, at 11:45 a.m Sharon Scott, Licensed Profes sion^ Counselor and Instructor of refusal skills, wiU be the key note speaker on Monday, Octo ber 17, at 7:30 p.m. at CPCC's I ease Auditorium. Ms. Scott will also work with students in ■ three CMS junior high schools and with CMS Intervention counselors. "Charlotte Cares About Me- A Community Effort To Be Drug Free" will appear as the theme including North Film Released To Help Fight The War On Drugs BY RONALD POWERS the "Safe Passatre" nime BY RONALD POWERS AwocUted Press Writer NEW YORK (AP) — New York educators and city officials un veiled their newest weapon In the war against drugs, a pair of straight-talking films that tell students and their parents about the dangers of drugs and how to avoid them. Unlike earlier films, these new ones produced for the city school system make no effort to fright en or preach to students, said Robert F. Wagner Jr., president of the Board of Education. Instead, In "Kids Talk to Kids About Drugs," the first part of the "Safe Passage" films, city school students who have avoid ed the temptations of drugs tell their peers how they can do the same. The film will become a part of the cltywlde curriculum for grades four through seven, tfie officials said. Hie second film, "Keeping Kids Off Drugs," is aimed at parents and offers advice from teachers, drug counselors and police. It will be shown to parent and civic organizations. "People tend to listen to groups their own age, and I think they will have a tremendous Impact," schools Chancellor Richard R. Green said of the films. If something is not done to in hibit the use of drugs "the 1990s will be a time none of us Is very proud of and by the year 2000 "it will be out of our reach to be a great nation," Green said at a news conference at Grade Man sion. Mayor Edward I. Koch noted that Illegal drugs were involved in the death of every city police officer killed in the line of duty In recent years. And, he said, most people ar rested "have some drug in them Its enormous, the Impact of drugs on this city." Other anti-drug educational films he had viewed were for various reasons Inadequate, the mayor said. He called the Safe Passage films "exceptional" but added that a recent visit with kinder garten and first-grade classes showed him other films were needed to coimter the education they get on the streets and at home. he asked the youngsters If they knew about crack, "I was Rocked, because they all knew. They said, 'Mayor, you must be retarded. It's a drug,"' Koch said. By LORA VANDERHALL lifestyles Editor Peter Bell, co-founder and Ex ecutive Director of the Institute on Black Chemical Abuse In Minneapolis, Minnesota, will be the featured speaker for the Charlotte Cares Week Lun cheon and Workshop on TTiurs- day, October 20. Charlotte Cares coalition was formed to develop and support programs In the creation of a community-wide effort to stop drug and alcohol abuse In Mecklenburg County. The Charlotte Cares coalition Consist of several organizations and churches Including: The Drug Education Center, The Jimlor League, National Confer ence of Christians and Jews, Mecklenburg Council on Ado lescent Pregnancy, Cities In Schools, YWCA, Charlotte Council on Alcoholism and Chemical Dependency, Char- ‘lotte-Mecklenburg Senior Cen ter, UNCe, Charlotte Parents for Drug Free Youth, TTie Alcohol and Drug Defense and The Bethlehem Center. The workshop will be held at McDonald's Cafeteria from 9:30- untll 11 a.m. Bell will present Information designed to strengthen the clinical skills of educators, counselors, clergy, and other Interested parties to counsel alcohol and drug abus ers who are members of racial minorities. He wlU also exam ine culture's role In shaping the development of chemical use and abuse, and Identify chemi cal dependency service needs In minority communities. The workshop Is free and open to the public. Following the workshop Bell ^11 be featured at a luncheon to be held at McDonald's Cafeteria 11:45 a.m. He will explore ways a community can diagnose, treat and prevent alcohol and drug abuse most successfully by BeU examining the cultural context of abuse. The luncheon Is open to the public and It will cost $10 per person through October 6 and $12 each after that date. Tickets and reservations may be obtained from the Drug Eldu- catlon Center, 500 E. Morehead Street or call 375-3784. Bell has over 14 years experi ence In identifying the unique causes of drug and alcohol abuse In the minority communi ty, and In training counselors to treat minority clients special needs. He currently supervises a staff of 25 to provide training and evaluation for professionals to understand the diversify of counselor's attitudes and be haviors toward black clients With substance abuse prob lems. A graduate of Metropolitan State University, Bell Is a presi dential appointee to the White House Conference for a Drug Free America. He Is also an ad visory board member of the Na tional Association of Children of Alcoholics and of the Drug Abuse and Mental Health Ad ministration. " \ ■ Vv .Y
The Charlotte Post (Charlotte, N.C.)
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
Sept. 29, 1988, edition 1
11
Click "Submit" to request a review of this page. NCDHC staff will check .
0 / 75