IW
Some tips to make April 15 th a less taxing day/Page 7A
Cljarlottc
VOLUME 21 NO. 30
APRIL 11,1996
75 CENTS
Founder watches organization SAVE students
By John Minter
THE CHARLOTTE POST
Angie Bynum threw a pebble
into the water seven years ago
and the ripples are still rolling
outward.
That pebble was a simple
concept - students should
take control and work to end
the violence that seems to
ensnare more of them each
year.
Bynum sparked creation of
the first Students Against
Violence Everywhere chapter
at West Charlotte High
School, after her dear friend
Alex Orange was shot and
killed at a party on April 28,
1989.
“I was a student when SAVE
was first announced,” said
Bynum, now a medical office
assistant at the Mecklenburg
County Jail at Spector Drive.
“When I graduated, I just
thought it would stay at West
Charlotte. I never anticipated
it would get this big.”
How big? The program was
named one of President
George Bush’s Thousand
Points of Light. President Bill
Clinton has given the program
an award. And N.C. Gov. Jim
Hunt declared March SAVE
Month.
Not bad as a statement of
Bynum’s sense of loss and
frustration after Orange’s
death.
“I was getting ready to grad
uate,” Bynum recalled. “It
happened at prom time. I said
students have to take a stand
and say no more killing. I
came up with ‘Students
Against Violence.’ Another boy
came up with ‘Everywhere.’
The idea germinated from
discussion among students
and teachers after the Orange
shooting devastated the West
Charlotte family.■" Orange was
a football player who Bynum
had met while the two attend
ed Ranson Middle School. She
was a grade ahead of him.
Bynum suggested an organi
zation of students in tribute to
Orange.
“We were sitting in the cafe
teria coping with it. Football
players were crying...big old
guys. We lost a really great
person. I had seen him Friday
morning. I expected to see him
on Monday. I arrived at the
party after it happened.
Another student was telling
me he was dead. I was saying
‘Oh my God, how did this hap
pen.’ How can you see some
body and just hours later they
are dead?”
Author, Author
u
PHOTO/PAUL WILLIAMS I
Charlotte native and Los Angeles Times reporter Sam Fulwood II signs a copy of his new book “Waking From The Dream: My
Life In The Black Middle Class” for Cheryl Mayfield at Heritage House In Charlotte. Fulwood, The Times’ Washington corre
spondent, describes his experiences as an African American from McCrory Heights in Charlotte to South Africa.
America remembers
Commerce Secretary
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
WASHINGTON - The
remains of U.S. Commerce
Secretary Ron Brown were
returned to the Commerce
Department in a driving cold
rain Tuesday as his family lis
tened to a Navy band play
“Nearer My God To Thee.”
Brown's family and Vice
President A1 Gore walked into
the ornate lobby for a private
ceremony after eight honor
guard pallbearers carried the
black casket
across a red
Inside
Editorials 4A-5A
Strictly Business 7A
Lifestyles 9A
Religion 11A
Arts/Entertainment 1B
What's Up 4B
Regional News 6B
Sports 8B
Classified 13B
Auto Showcase 14B
To subscribe, call (704) 376-
0496 or FAX (704) 342-2160.
© 1996 The Charlotte Post
Publishing Company.
E-mail:
charpost@clt.mindspring.com
carpet into
the building.
Just before
the body
arrived from
Dover Air
Force Base,
Del., mourn
ers stood in
Brown
an eerie
silence out
side the
building, with the only sound
coming from rain hitting hun
dreds of umbrellas.
“I'm here because Ron
Brown is one of the greatest
men of this era,” said Roy
Lewis, who had worked with
Brown on Jesse Jackson's
1988 presidential campaign
and was one of those waiting
patiently in the rain.
The funeral was held
Wednesday at Washington
National Cathedral, with
President Clinton delivering
the eulogy. Brown, an Army
veteran, was buried in
Arlington National Cemetery.
PHOTO/PAUL WILLIAMS I
See BROWN on page 2A
Bynum found out how big
the organization had grown
several years after leaving
West Charlotte.
“I was reading the paper and
found out how SAVE had
grown when Gary Weart was
presented an award by
President Clinton in
Washington,” she said.
The organization is the sub
ject of a half hour documen
tary, “The S.A.V.E. Story,”
shown last month on WTVI.
The documentary was pro
duced and written by Beverly
Penninger.
See SAVE page 2A
PHOTO/ PAUL WILLIAMS III
Angie Bynum started SAVE
when her friend Alex Orange
was killed April 28,1989.
Post-game
fracas leads
into court
Coach’s wife alleges fan assaulted her;
Harding parents allege racial slurs used
By John Minter
THE CHARLOTTE POST
A ruckus after a heated basketball game between North
Mecklenburg rnd Harding high schools, has resulted in an
assault charge a.gainst t,\; mother of one jf Harding’s basketball
plaj ers.
A first appearance is set Monday for Shirley Outings on charges
she choked the wife of North Mecklenburg coach Leroy Holden.
Virginia Holden filed that charge on March 13, a month after the
Feb. 15 ballgame, which Harding won.
Outings denied the charge and said Wednesday she got into an
argument with Coach Holden after he began calling Harding
players, including her son, names, including “nigger.”
“I never touched anybody,” Outings said. “There were three
police officers there. They didn’t see me touch anybody.”
No police reports were filed after the incident, which some
described as a near riot. No witnesses were listed on the com
plaint filed by Virginia Holden with a local magistrate. The case
will be heard in Mecklenburg County District Court.
According to an account compiled from interviews this week,
the incident came at the end of a hotly contested match between
bitter rivals. The Holdens could not be contacted.
Harding had won the last five meetings between the two teams.
And one of Harding’s star players, center Jerrard Jordan, played
at North Mecklenburg for a year before transferring two years
See COURT on page 3A
After years without
one, county names
2 sites after blacks
By John Minter
THE CHARLOTTE POST
‘UNCLE SAM’ IN BRONZE; A statue of Samuel Billings shows
the farmer and businessman hoiding a crying child. The statue
was dedicated iast month. Though born a slave, Billings was
one of Charlotte’s leading citizens.
One was born a slave, but
later became a landowner and
farmer employing many of his
neighbors.
The other was a minister
whose political acumen and
leadership skills served his
community well for more than
a decade.
To honor their memories,
Mecklenburg County has
named buildings for the two -
the Samuel Billings Center
and the Robert L. (Bob)
Walton Plaza, formerly the
Independence Building at 700
Stonewall St.
The Billings Center, housing
the county Mental Health
department detoxification cen
ter, opened in 1992, a 44,000-
square-feet building with 56
beds and more than 120 staff
members.
It’s named for Samuel
Billings, who owned property
that is now Grier Heights and
for who a school and a road
are named.
A statue of Billings was ded
icated last month, depicting
him holding a crying child in
his arms. The likeness was
done by Richard Hallier, a
bronze scuptor who lives in
Boone. The statue cost
$24,250, of which $20,000 was
the public art portion of the
bond issue which built the
building.
County spokesman John
McGillicuddy said no statue is
planned for Walton at this
time, since the Walton PlazTi
was not purchased with bond
money, which includes the
requirement that a portion be
used for public art.
Walton was a Mecklenburg
County Commissioner who
died in July 1994. Walton
served on the county board
from 1976-78, then from 1980
until his death of a heart
attack at age 49. He was the
first African American county
commissioner.
Jim Richardson, who
replaced Walton on the county
board of commissioners.
See BILLINGS page 3A