Summer fashions get a dash of color and versatility/Page 9A
Cjjarlotte Bosit
VOLUME 21 NO. 38
JUNE 6, 1996
Choice for
a younger
THE CHARLOTTE POST
The NAACP is looking for a
new image.
The nation's oldest civil
rights organization has com
mitted itself to recruiting
young members and including
them in decision-making.
That challenge now belongs to
Jamal Bryant, the NAACP's
youth director.
Kweisi Mfume, newly elect
ed president of the NAACP,
has promised “a new begin
ning’’ for the 87-year-old civil
rights group.
Mfum.e envisions an organi
zation with a
strong youth
and young
adult core,
with pro
grams geared
to education
and political
awareness
for this group
new to the
NAACP.
Mfume ggjjj Mfume
at a recent
chapter meeting in Charlotte,
“We must be committed to our
youth, they are the future and
we have let them down...They
are apathetic and it is our
fault.”
To that end Mfume has hand
selected Eryant, a 25-year-old
activist and minister.
“Jamal,” said Mfume, “will
hit the ground running.”
“Hit the ground running,”
laughs Bryant, “I just hit the
ground.”
Bryant has the responsibili
ty of making the NAACP a
viable organization for young
people and increasing youth
involvement in the organiza
tion's 500 chapters.
“When you go to an NAACP
meeting,” Bryant said, “you
see people age 50 and over.
We are missing those people
from 18 to 50. These are the
people with resources, creativ
ity, and new experiences.”
According to Bryant,
ambivalence among younger
African Americans stems from
the feeling that civil rights
groups like the NAACP are
obselete.
“Images of rubber hoses and
dogs just don't motivate
today's younger generations,”
Bryant said. “You have to
show them in today's terms
what our organization can do.”
No stranger to the front
lines in the international civil
rights struggle, Bryant spent
six months organizing voter
registration in newly emanci
pated Johannesburg, South
See NAACP on page 6A
generaiion
^
NAACP’s mission:
recruit new blood
By Jeri Young
Casualty of Liberia’s war
PHOTO/HERBERT L. WHITE
Philip Jorgu came to the U.S. six years ago to earn a master’s degree at Winthrop
University, but has been forced to remain in America as Liberia’s civil war rages on.
Bloodshed extends stay in U.S.
By Herbert L. White
THE CHARLOTTE POST
ROCK HILL - Six years ago, Philip Jorgu
came to America to earn a master’s degree
before returning to his native Liberia.
He hasn’t been home since.
Jorgu’s been stuck in America for the dura
tion of a bloody civil war that has claimed
countless lives and disrupted others in the
west African country. For Jorgu, he doesn’t
know the whereabouts of his family, which
was last in the capital city of Monrovia.
“I was in contact with them until about 10
days ago, when the power was taken down by
rebels,” he said Monday. “From there on, I was
unable to go through with the telephone, or e-
mail or fax. My brothers and parents are still
in Monrovia, and I look forward to hearing
from them soon.”
Liberia and the U.S. have a unique relation
ship. The country, founded by freed American
slaves in 1854, copied all things American,
including its constitution, language and cur
rency, and was seen as the model African
democracy. Now that factional fighting has
escalated between partisans loyal to warlord
Roosevelt Johnson or rebel leader Charles
Taylor, chances for peaceful settlement
appears more distant. The U.S. and United
Nations are unwilling or unable to step in as
peacekeepers, although peace talks in Ghana
have been scheduled. America, Jorgu says,
could’ve stopped the fighting before it escalat
ed by kicking out foreign factions and restor
ing free elections.
“Most of the problem in Liberia is the mak
ing of America, in the sense that the mihtary
that's oppressing people (was) funded by U.S.
taxpayers’ money,” he said. “When the war
started, it would've never gone this far (if the
See LIBERIAN on page 3A
What cost
afiEirmation
of Walton?
Commissioners’ 5-4 vote keeps
building named after colleague
By Winfred B. Cross
THE CHARLOTTE POST
The late Bob Walton will have a building named after him, but
not without political fallout.
Mecklenburg County Commissioners voted 5-4 Tuesday night
not to rescind its earlier decision to name Stonewall Plaza the
Robert L. Walton Building.
The vote was split along party lines. Chairman
Ann Schrader was the only Republican to vote to
leave the change in place.
“It's not something that should have been
brought up in the first place, especially after
hearing some of the discussion last night,”
Schrader said. “It was a mistake to this commu- |
nity for us to revisit the issue.”
At-large commissioner Parks Helms, who I
voted to keep the change, described the meeting Helms
as “a highly-charged emotional meeting, one
that raised issues that the people in the county needed to con
front.”
Walton, who died in 1994, was a commissioner for 17 years,
mostly in District 2. He was found guilty of assault in 1986
against an 18-year-old male in a sexual encounter and sentenced
to 30 days in jail.
Commissioners voted unanimously to name the building after
Walton in November. Commissioner Jim Richardson, who suc
ceeded Walton, suggested the honor. There was no discussion.
Commissioner Linda McCall svid she placed the issue back on
the‘age '.la alter r.jceiving ra’l-jj^id because she felt the decision
was too hasty.
Helms said the issue was politically based.
“This really was not so much about Bob Walton as it was about
the divisiveness and intolerance that is all too prevalent in this
community,” Helms said. “This simply was one of those issues
See WALTON on page 6A
Foundation wants memorial
for black Revolutionary troops
By Olive Vassell
NATIONAL NEWSPAPER
PUBLISHERS ASSOCIATION
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Last
week, as America remembered
the millions who died fighting
for their coimtry, a group plan
ning to construct a memorial to
black Revolutionary War sol
diers urged the nation not to for
get the contribution of these
long-neglected African
American patriots.
“We urge everyone to join with
citizens like Ossie Davis and
Joanne Jones, a direct descen
dant of two black patriots, to
support this most important
memorial. Black Americans
have the opportunity to raise
the money — or we will lose this
memorial forever,” said Wayne
F. Smith, executive director of
Editor launches paper with first-hand view of homelessness
By John Minter
THE CHARLOTTE POST
Word on the street is that a
new newspaper about the
homeless will hit the streets
soon.
Word On The Street editor
Michael Manual is busy
putting the finishing touches
on the effort, which will be a
12-page tabloid-sized publica
tion on newsprint. It is a non
profit operation.
“The paper should come out
June 15,” said Manual, a 28-
year-old former investment
broker. “The first issue will
have an interview with
Montel Williams. We
addressed issues of homeless
ness and some political enti
ties and what they need to do
about homelessness in
America.
“The goal of the newspaper
is to assist the homeless and
financially oppressed commu
nity in spreading the word to
various communities through
out Charlotte. It will be strict
ly on issues pertaining to
them - their needs, objectives,
etc.
“Readership is directed to
the community, all different
shapes and sizes of economic
sructure and social structure.
It is for and about the home
less, but it’s not going to the
homeless.
“We also want to create eco
nomic diversity. The homelss
will be selling the paper as
vendors. Anyone can sell it.”
Word on the Street will cost
$1, with 75 cents going to the
vendor. Manual said.
Manual takes more than a
passing interest in homeless
ness. He’s been there.
Born in Germany to a Cau
casian mother and an African
American father, he first came
to the United States in 1986,
after high school. He worked
on Wall Street with New York
Life Insurance Co., he said,
transferred to Atlanta and
then to Charlotte in 1995.
Here, Manual said, he
worked in NationsBank’s
investment department for a
while.
Then a downward spiral
began. Manual suffered bouts
of severe depression and spent
several weeks in the
Mecklenburg County mental
health center.
From there, he went to the
Uptown Shelter.
He resigned his job at
NationsBank.
See PAPER on page 2A
PHOTO/PAUL WILLIAMS II
Michael Manual (left) hands out fliers advertising Word On The
Street, a newspaper about the homeless.
the Black Patriots Foundation.
In a May 30 ceremony at the
site of the proposed memorial on
the Mall, located between the
Washington Monument and the
Lincoln Memorial, the BPF paid
tribute to the 5,000 African
Americans who served in the
Revolutionary War. The site
will be forfeited if the $6.5 mil
lion needed to construct the
memorial is not collected by the
October deadline. An additional
$3 milhon is needed for mainte
nance and other costs, which
can be raised after construction
begins. During observances,
which included presentation of
colors by the Colonial Guard,
U.S. Military District of
Washington, the BPF
announced the celebration of
Black Patriots Week, June 30-
July 7. It will be marked with
special events nationwide. The
organization also unveiled a
series of Public Service
See PATRIOTS on page 3A
Inside
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