North Carolina Newspapers

Anniversaiy Issue /Section C The Mama Of Grier Heights Editorials/Page 6A ^ African Art Exhibit Entertainment /Page 8A Alliance Women's Equality Day Page 13B Cl)e Cljarlotte Vol. 15, No. 13 Thursday, August 24,1989 THE AWARD-WINNING "VOICE OF THE BLACK COMMUNITY' 50 Cents V. Photo/CALVIN FERGUSON West Charlotte High School assistant principal Karen WatU Oeft) points sophomore AmJa Canada to a class Wednesday. New Year, Challenges By A.C. TURNER Post Staff Writer When Amla Canada woke up Wednesday morning she knew It was not going to be an ordinary day. Instead of waking up in the afternoon, she rose at 5:30. Instead of eating a full break fast, she ate a doughnut on the run. This would be her morning routine for the next 282 days. Canada is among the 75,000 Charlotte Mecklenburg stu dents starting school. Canada is a sophomore at West Charlotte Senior High School and she says a stu dent feels a great deal of pres sure and anxiety leaving the safe halls of Junior high to en ter high school. "My stomach was queasy and I was nervous. I couldn't even go to sleep because I kept tossing and turning," she said. "The night before school opened, new problems came up like what to wear the next day. I called my friend Lisa that night and I asked her what she was wearing to school. She said '1 don't know what you should wear be cause you are going to West Charlotte you know they dress up over there.' So then 1 had to worry about whether or not what I had on looked right," Canada said. To sophomores who are ac customed to smaller schools and socializing with a set group of friends, high school can be a shock. Insecurities develop as a result of being thrust into a school with roughfy 1,700 students. Canada said the group of sophomores she wandered around with didn't eat lunch because they felt that while standing in the long line peo ple could teU they were soph omores. The consensus of the group was they would rather be hungry than feel like sopho mores. Canada says she and her friends worry about teachers, being teased by members of the upp>er class, and falling down in front of groups. However their main concern is being accepted. 'You worry about making good first impressions and a lot of that has to do with your ap pearance because people judge you ly your outside first You are labeled. People say whether you're in the In crowd just by looking at you." she said. "I'm not really going to worry about all that though. My mother told me to be my self, respect myself, and not to try and change for anybody." Canada found herself lost occasionally. "I thought I was going to be lost and I knew I was kind of confused. Upper classmen were sending peo ple the wrong way so I wasn't about to ask them. I asked as sistant principals," she said. While West Charlotte jun iors and seniors did not bend over backwards to help their sophomores find classes, they did offer a sophomore orienta tion program that stuck in Canada's mind. " I loved it! It made me feel very welcome and a little bit more relaxed. The skits were funny," she said. Despite her anxieties, Cana da feels West Charlotte is the right place for her. She likes what she sees in friends and See A SOPHOMORE'S On 2A JCSU Opens Doors For New Year By WINFRED CROSS Post Staff Writer Freshmen and upperclass men are once again scurrying about the campus of Johnson C. Smith, registering for classes, meeting new friends and beginning a new school year. Most freshmen arrived on campus Aug. 15. For many it's the beginning of life away from home wlUiout mom and dad. Jennifer Lewis, a freshman from Greenwood, S.C., said this is her first time being separated from her parents, but she's adjusting. See JCSU On Page 2A Black Panther Huey Newton Sybolized Party BY JENNIFER MCNULTY Associated Press Writer OAKLAND, Calif.— Huey P. Newton, the charismatic co founder of the Black Panther Party whose defiance was bol stered by his powerful Intellect, was adrift without a battle to fight in his final days, according to a close friend. Newton's bullet-riddled body was found lying in a pool of blood an hour before dawn Tues day in a neighborhood known for drug-related violence. Police had no suspects and no motive for the slaying, according to Lt. Mike Sims. Newton, 47, was killed in the same area of west Oakland where he began organizing blacks more than 20 years ago. The scene was several miles from his Oakland home. But the compelling leader was struggling recently to find a niche for himself after earning a doctorate, overcoming alcohol and drug abuse problems and facing life with no criminal charges before him for the first time in 15 years, according to Fred Hlestand, a Sacramento lawyer who was Newton's attor ney and close ftleiid. "He was just trying to figure out where he fit, what he was going to do ... trying to shake some al cohol and chemical dependency that he acquired, but he was do ing it all on his own, without anyone's help," said Hlestand. Hlestand, who knew Newton for 15 years, last saw him Fri day, when the former Panther leader "seemed to be okay. There was nothing bothering him that he talked alx)ut." Hlestrmd refused to say what kind of drug problem Newton had suffered, but he said he be lieved Newton had been clean for at least six months. Although Newton had been ar rested earlier this year for pos session of drug paraphemedla. police investigators said they had no indication that the slay ing was drug-related. "He didn't seem to be able to find a role for himself," said Hlestand. "1 think he was like a lot of perople who went through that period ... He lived It Intense ly and it left its scars." With Bobby Seale, Newton fpunded the Black Panther Par ty to combat racism. Envisioned as a revolutionary political par ty, Panther members armed themselves with shotguns and followed f)ollce patrol cars to ■monitor their activities in the black community. Huey Newton Under the slogan "All power to the people," the Panthers also operated a school, a health clin ic, programs for ghetto youths and served breakfast to school children. Newton's strong leadership helped win the group Interna tional attention at the same time that his numerous clashes with police produced critics who questioned the party's violence- prone methodology. The party gradually disinte grated, in part because members were killed and the FBI success fully infiltrated and disrupted the organization. At the scene of the fatal pre dawn shooting, longtime resi dents of the neighborhood, which is marked by rundown Vlctorlan-style homes and abandoned buildings, recalled Newton's work with the Pan thers in the neighborhood. One man, who declined to be Identified, said: "He knew every body down here. This area is part of his roots. This area is where he came up." Tire shooting was reported to police shortly before 5:29 a.m., when officers arrived on the scene, said Sgt. Dan Mercado. Newton was taken to Highland Hospital, where he was pro- rfounced dead at 6:12 a.m., he said. Neighbor Audrey DePalm, 29, said she heard one shot at about 5:15 a.m., followed seconds later by three more shots. Then an eery sUence. "It was like the echoes of the shots were eating up the neigh borhood," she said, adding that shootings in the neighborhood are common but are usually fol lowed by screeching tires or oth er signs of a dispute. "To us, Huey Newton was a hero," said DePalm's brother, Fred, who was awakened by the gunshots. "The Black Panthers were a thing to identify with along with Mdcolm X and Mar- See HUEY On Page 2A Mayor Pushes Drug Initiative Myrick Urges Changes In War ByA.C. TURNER Post Staff Writer Saying that North Carolina is losing the war on drugs, Char lotte mayor Sue Myrick pledged her support for plans to help turn the tide. At a recent press conference, Myrick presented a plan devised by mayors across the state to reduce the flow of illegal drugs. The strategy would effect legis lation and promote positive neighborhood activlfy. Myrick said a conference of 30 mayors began this most recent attack on drugs by sending let ters to President George Bush and drug czar William Bennett. The plan encourages full fund ing for anti-drug progreuns, of fering Incentives to deter the producing of illegal crops, and redirecting seized money to law enforcement agencies. "We are trying to indicate to the nation how we feel about tlie drug problem and how we feel like we don't have enough re sources to get this done," Myrick said. 'We need help from the fed eral government and the state government. We want to seize money from drug busts and use it to fight drugs." Myrlck's drug task force is ex panding on a new neighborhood program called " The Teddy Bear Club." According to Pat Ktlleher, a task force affiliate, the program • encourages neighborhood chil dren to stay off drugs by offering a support group. Elementary school-aged neighbors meet once a month to discuss pres sures they feel at school. 'We want the kids to feel like they have someone to talk to when they are faced with pres sure about drugs and alcohol," Kelleher said. Eric Massey, a student at Lin coln Heights Elementary and secretary of the Teddy Bear Club, said he learned a lot tlirough the club, 'We learned about needles and drugs and how you can catch AIDS," he said. Jackie Thayne, a drug task force member, said communi cation skills are stressed in the club. 'They {the children) put them selves in real drug situations. I might ask them what they would; do If their best friend offered them drugs and they have to- come up with an answer," she said. Kelleher said there are plans to expand the club to other neighborhoods. Myrick agrees drugs are a problem everywhere. "It crosses See MAYORS' On Page 2A Think Tank Needs African-American Input By WINFRED CROSS Post Staff Writer When the economic, social and political pie is divided in Charlotte, the African- American community often isn't involved with the planning of how the pie is divided. So a group of concerned citi zens and organizations are hop ing to get the African-American community involved in the planning process with a "black think tank" to pool the commu nity's ideas and resources. The workshop, "Challenges For The Black Community: The Decade Ahead," will be held Sept. 9, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. at West Charlotte High School. Registra tion is $30 per person and covers reference materials, refresh ment breaks and lunch. The deadline to register is August 31 with the first 90 applicants be ing acce 3ted. 'There will be a variety of top ics to discuss. They will Include housing, education, iiealth care and the elderly and criminal justice. Paula Newsome, vice president of Focus on Leadership, an or ganization that trains African- Americans for future leadership positions and a developer of this idea, said the workshop is a one time only event that will try to unify the community's efforts for progress. "■We're going to provide a work ing document tha t we hope each organization's representative can take back to their respective groups tc use during their pro gram planning for the coming year," Newsome said. We hope that If the organization's pro grams do not go along with what this workshop has determined as the most pressing problems facing the community that they would consider aligning their programs so that they would be more in tune with the think tank's priorities." Newsome said the idea for the think tank was developed in June when Focus on Leadership met with First Friday, a net working group for blacks and 25 elected officials and business people. She said each was " over whelmingly supportive of the idea." Newsome hopes that the presi dents of each fraternity and so rority along with ministers, pol iticians, educators arid any one else concerned with the African- American community will at tend the think tank. For more information on how to register, please call Paula Newsome at 333-7238. UNCC’s SAT Prep Course CHARLO'TTE-UNC Charlotte will offer a preparation course on the university campus for high school students planning to take the Scholastic Aptitude TestfSAH. The preparation course, con^ slstlng of all-day (8:30 a.m, - 4 p.m.) sessions on three consec utive Saturdays, features analy sis of and practice with both the verbal and mathematical sec tions of the SAT. Instructors are UNC Charlotte faculty members specializing in math, engllsh,, testing and education. Cost is $125, which Includes all materir als. Early registration is en- See UNCe On Page 2A Editorials.. lummiiitiinMi Inside This Week auiPg 6A Entertainment.. iU-lB Church News.. i^biiuanga luifiumtiiiujiimt ..Pq. 4B:'. .■Ptt.SB;; ClassMsds. Alliance.. u^P4 m- Subscribe To The Charlotte Post, CaH 376-0496