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IN BUSINESSMONTHLY: CATCHING THE PANTHERS AND RESTAURANTEUR KENNY GATTISON
Wht CjjarlottE Bos#
VOLUME 19, No. 17
THURSDAY DECEMBER 2,1993
50 CENTS
rmm
Community
Charlotte's
finest. 3A
Rayford Means, a Philadelphia
judge and Charlotte native, wins
re-election, while Franklin
McCain, an original member of
the Greensboro sit-in move
ment, wins another honor.
Arts &
Entertainment
Faces of Eve. IB
Eve Cornell-
ous, whose
silky voice
can be heard
at the Excel
sior Club, is
working on
some new
projects with
some of the
biggest names in jazz.
Lifestyles
Preserving a piece
of the past. 6A
Rosenwald Schools, reminders
of what education was like for
rural blacks at the turn of the
century, are all but extinct. But
in Charlotte, Ben Hoover is
working to preserve the old
McClintock School.
Sports
The game of the
year. 7B
IVesf Charlotte, No. 1 in The
Post's Magnificent Seven poll of
Mecklenburg high school foot
ball teams, plays upset-minded
and No. 2-rated South Mecklen
burg Friday at Memorial Stadium.
Beauty Of The
Month. 9B
Theresa La Nette Drakeford, a
student conservationist is our
choice.
INDEX
Opinion/Editorials 4A-5A
Lifestyles 6A
Around Charlotte 7A
Religion 8A
Church News 9A
Arts & Entertainment 1B
What’s Up 4B
Sports 6B
Classified 10B
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©The Charlotte Post
Publishing Company
Disparity gets minorify vendors’ attention
By John Minter
POST CORRESPONDENT
The Black Political Caucus
wants to hear what African
American contractors and
vendors have to say about a
study documenting discrimi
nation in how Charlotte
spends public money.
Public meetings will be
held Dec. 5 and Dec. 12 at 7
p.th. at First Baptist Church
West on Oaklawn Avenue.
The meeting will lead up to
the Charlotte City Council's
public hearing on the M/
WBE Disparity Study pre
sented to the council last
month.
The presentation sparked
division among council
members along racial lines
as District 4 representative
Nasif Majeed tried unsuc
cessfully to push council to
adopt the study’s recommen
dations before the Republi
cans took con- ■
trol Monday.
Council
member Hoyle
Martin, Dis
trict 2's repre
sentative, said
the M/WBE
program could
be in danger under the new
council.
"The Republicans have
made a big deal of the fact
Metrolina Minority
Contractors and Business
Associates will also
discuss disparity. See
story on Page 3A.
Ready for the grand opening
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coinpflete >»hUe Mrylc^ were conducted; at the .McCrorey YMCi^ ;The xieyt jfiriend^ip wUl-;
hold its first ser^ces. this .Sunday. More. on.P^e ;8A;. \ .
Senegal is full of life, activity
By Adrienne George-Bourne
5PE
SPECIAL TO THE POST
VILLE DES PECHEURES,
Senegal - The people laughed
and sang to the loud, rhyth
mic music. It seemed that
the entire fishing village was
dancing on the beach a hun
dred feet or so from the At
lantic Ocean.
It was a celebration of life -
this Senegalese naming cere
mony - that my husband.
Christopher, and I happened
upon during the early even
ing. We were introduced to
the village elder, Younouss
N'Gouf, as visiting African
Americans, and he immedi
ately made us leading partic
ipants in this happiest of Af
rican ceremonies honoring
his week-old granddaughter.
'Your being here is good for
the baby," Mr. N'Gouf, said,
putting his granddaughter.
Anta, into my arms. "It is
good for my family and it is
good for your family."
I was overwhelmed.
I am a sophomore at the
University of the District of
Columbia where I am prepar
ing for a writing career. Ear
lier this year, I wrote one of
seven winning essays, in a
national contest sponsored
by Pepsi-Cola Company, on
See SENEGAL On Page 2A
that this is a Republican-
dominated
council and
that there will
be changes,"
Martin said.
"They may use
the disparity
study to send a
message.
(Council member Stan)
Campbell said 'we are going
to do things differently.'"
The study by D.J. Miller &
Associates of Atlanta ex
plains wide disparities in the
number and size of contracts
awarded by the city to mi
nority contractors and ven
dors.
The U.S. Supreme Court
has said such a study is ne
cessary if a city wants to use
race as a factor when award
ing public contracts. Char
lotte’s Minority/Women’s
See fflSTORY On Page 3A
s »
Earle Village gets
last mstallment of
federal grant
City plans to use $34'6 million to
renovate public housing community
By Herbert L. White
THE CHARLOTTE POST
Earle Village has moved a step closer to being transformed
into a new neighborhood.
The U.S. Dept, of Housing and Urban Development Wednes
day approved the final Installment of a $34. 684 million grant
to refurbish the 26-year-old public housing community. The
government's $807,170 Urban Revitalization Grant (URG) fol
lows a $33.87 million grant made in the 1993 fiscal year. The
grants are meant to revitalize severely distressed or obsolete
public housing developments.
The Charlotte Housing Authority, which applied for the
grant, plans to turn 28 two-bedroom units into 14 three/««v
- A.J
bedroom homes, convert the community center/management,
building into a day care center to support the Family Self Suf
ficiency program and build a new community center. The pro
posed community services program will also include day and
night care for children. Job training, recreation facilities,
drug counseling, literacy and tutoring and educational pro
grams.
Earle Village, a 409-unit complex located on 35.8 acres near
the heart of the city’s central business district, has come un
der fire for criminal activity, drug abuse and as a magnet for
the homeless. The grant money will also be used to put more
police in the area and restructure its configuration to make it
easier to spot potential problems.
Economic hardships likely
to make holidays busier
for Christmas Bureau
By Herbert L. White
THE CHARLOTTE POST
While thousands are start
ing the Christmas shopping
season, Lynda Witbrodt is
bracing for a different reali
ty.
Witbrodt, coor
dinator of the
Christmas Bu
reau, expects
thousands of
needy families
to come calling
during the holi
days for food
and gifts. Last year, 14,180
Mecklenburg County fami
lies were served. Judging by
the requests for aid this year,
that number will be eclipsed.
'With our registration, we'll
probably serve more fami
lies than we did last year,"
she said.
Families are registered by
computer for food vouchers,
which will be determined by
the number of members.
Children will receive toys
and gifts donated by the Sal
vation Army's toy shop: a
book per child, donated by
The Charlotte Observer and a
Christ
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Garirag
Charlotte's holiday spirit
mas
stocking
donated
by WSOC-
TV and
the Salva
tion
Army.
Witbrodt
said the economy's uncertain
recovery is responsible for
the increase in applications
among families.
"Coiporate downsizing and
layoffs are forcing more peo
ple to come to us for help,”
See BUREAU On Page 2A
"Increased Political Partici
pation, The Most Significant
Contribution to Civil Rights
in the Last 20 Years."
The prize was a seven-day,
all expense paid trip for the
seven writers - with one guest
each - to the West African na
tion of Senegal.
Holding the beautiful baby
girl wrapped in four layers of
elaborately-woven cloth, and
sleeping peacefully through
out most of her official intro
duction to the world, I was led
by Mr. N'Gouf to the front of
the festive crowd during my
first evening in Senegal.
Younouss N'Gouf (center) with Christopher and Adrienne
George-Boume during the naming ceremony in SenegaL