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- i - !• What to see and do during NAACP national convention/Page 6A CIiarlottE BoSt VOLUME 21 NO. 42 JULY 3,1996 75 CENTS NAACP has full convention agenda North Carolina is focal point for 87th national gathering By John Minter THE CHARLOTTE POST The 5,000 NAACP delegates expected in Charlotte this week for the organization’s 87th annual national convention have a plate full of work for the weeklong session. Much of it comes from North Carolina and the South. In Fayetteville, just over two hours east of Charlotte, two soldiers stationed at Fort Bragg shot and killed two African Americans selected at random. A number of black churches in North and South Carolina have been burned by arsonists and sever al of those arrested have had ties to the Ku Klux Klan. Just two weeks ago, as it has in other states, the Supreme Court threw out a majority black con- A. Alexander gressional district, N.C.’s 12th. Officials began arriving Tuesday and delegates will begin arriving Thursday. Most activi ties get underway on Saturday, though registration begins Friday afternoon. The gathering is headquartered at the Charlotte Convention Center. “Everything is on track,” pro- noimced Charlotte-Mecklenburg Chapter president Alfred Alexander Tuesday. “All the committees have done exactly what we antici pated. People are arriving as of today. As a local branch, we have done ever3d,hig we were supposed to do. Alexander said the convention’s souvenir journal includes not only a picture of new CEO Kweisi Mfume on the cover, but his father, Kelly Alexander Sr., who was chairman of the national board when he died in 1985. See NAACP on page 9A Making good on promise Despite deficit, mostly-black D.C. cleans up image By Janice Frink Brown WASHINGTON AFRO-AMERICAN WASHINGTON - The nation’s capital may be broke, but there’s an effort to clean up its image. Mayor Marion Barry revealed last week that plans are in the works for a massive clean up and extension of Georgia Avenue, NW, a major thor oughfare in Barry The mayor also noted there are a large number of new buildings going up around the city despite some media por trayals of the city as having numerous problems. Seventh Street below Florida Avenue will be renamed Georgia Avenue, which will make Georgia Avenue extend from Pennsylvania Avenue all the way up to the Silver Spring, Md. line. The Mayor's Chief of Staff, Barry Campbell, outlined the three phases of the project. • Phase one; Clean up will be conducted by the Department of Public Works, Consumer and Regulatory Affairs, and the police department. • Phase two: Secure an eco nomic development grant with HUD to create new businesses on the avenue. Assistance with this phase of the project has already come from the People's Involvement Corporation. • Phase three: Expand hous ing on the strip. The clean up and extending are all a part of Barry’s new transformation plan for the city, a plan that was imveiled nearly four months ago, and one that See D.C. on page 3A It’s not your father’s library PHOTO/SUE ANN JOHNSON Janice Blakeney, branch manager of the West Boulevard library, gets a computer demonstration from (clockwise) Jecorey Fraylon, 12; Randon Stratford, 6 and Ken’non Stratford, 10. The 12,500-foot facility features has state-of-the-art computers and community meeting rooms that seat 100 people. West Boulevard library boasts latest technology By John Minter THE CHARLOTTE POST What local library officials are billing as the “most technologically advanced branch” in the nation opened this week on West Boulevard. The new 12,500 square-foot branch replaces one that was only 1600 square feet, and has more books, videos, CDs, tapes and, of course. computers, more than 30 of them. Microsoft Corp. donated 25 of the machines and Microsoft volunteers are busy teaching courses in how to use Windows 95 on the pentium-based units. Central Piedmont Community College is also teaching courses in basic com puter classes. To register for the CPCC classes on Mondays and Thursdays in July and August. Call the school at 330- 6670. A free class in how to use the Internet - access available at the library - will be taught July 11, July 18 and July 25. Branch manager Janice Blakeney described a full range of services that will be provided at the new library, ranging from homework help for young people, to job hunting and career devel opment help for adults. “We formerly did not have meeting space,” said Blakeney, who managed the smaller West Boulevard branch being replaced. “Now we have a large community room that seats 90 people and a small conference room that seats 10. “We have a learning center to use for small classes. The learning center has See LIBRARY on page 9A Volunteers needed for AIDS drug trial NATIONAL NEWSPAPER PUBLISHERS ASSOCIATION Some 560 people infected with the Human Immunodeficiency Virus are being sought to partic ipate in trials sponsored by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases of the African-developed drug Kemron. The Kemron Study, otherwise known as low-dose oral alpha interferon trials comes following a drive by the Washington, D.C.-based Abundant Life Clinic, headed by Dr. Abdul Alim Muhammad, health minis ter for the Nation of Islam and joined by Dr. Barbara Justice, a New York-based physician and the National Medical Asscociation, which represents Afiican American doctors. ‘We believe this is the dawn of a new era in medicine,” Muhammad said at a recent news conference to announce the trials. “This has never been done before and taken through the channels over here in America so that it gets looked at in a very respectful way. It can truly be said that it is the first clinical trial that is our very own,” Muhammad .said. Seasoned professional steers Gantt’s Senate campaign PHOTO/SUE ANN JOHNSON U.S. Senate candidate Harvey Gantt is banking on a refined image to unseat Jesse Helms. The new team includes profes sionals like media coordinator Lisa Mortimer (right). By John Minter THE CHARLOTTE POST Spike Lee may be fun at a party, but in a fight, Mike Tyson is by far the better companion. So it is in the 1996 Gantt- Helms rematch. To lead his U.S. Senate cam paign, Gantt, the gentlemanly Charlotte architect, has selected the tough and gruff Jim Andrews to help him beat the four-term incumbent. They don’t declare world champions among the politically savvy organizers who run cam paigns. There are too many elec tions each year to pick one best among those behind-the-scenes movers and shakers who orga nize workers, polish speeches and plot strategy to win votes. But if there’s a campaign manager with some worthy notches on his belt, Andrews is one of them. Observers say he’s a natural fit for the Gantt-Helms race, which is considered “one of th(> premier races in the countiy" by many political observers. “Jim is considered one of the best in the country,” said Stephanie Cohen, press secre tary at the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. “It is only natural that he would come to work in North Carolina." Andrews cut his teeth in Chicago’s political cauldron, where he helped elect Harold Washington twice. And then there’s the time he took over thJ campaign of New Jersey Gov. Jim Florio. Many felt Florio -should have avoided the embarrassment of losing a re-election bid. That was back in the days when a tax increase was political suicide. Not to .mention getting tagged with re.spoiisibilily for a lax on a.ssault weapon.s when the NRA was king. But professionals like Andrews don’t shrink from a fight. For them, it is not always about winning and losing - it’s who gets in the most body shots. Andrews accepted the challenge of running against the Republican Party’s rising star Christine Whitman and nearly pulled off a comeback. Florio, who began the campaign with only an 8 percent approval rat ing, lost by a 51 percent-49 per- See VETERAN on page 2A Civil War memorial for blacks Celebration for ‘colored troops’ WASHINGTON AFRO-AMERICAN WASHINGTON - After gen erations of neglect, a great historical wrong is being righted. A five-day celebration is being planned for the dedica tion of the African-American Civil War Memorial in Wa.shington, D.C. Sept. 8-12. The memorial, which has been in the planning stage for the past five years, will honor the 185,000 “colored troops” and their White officers who fought in that war to free the slaves between 1861-1865. The events will be held in conjunction with ilie National Council of Negro Women's Black Family Reunion which is scheduled for Sc'pi. 6-8 on the Washington Monument Grounds and 'the Congressional Black Caucu.s Annual Legislative Conference set for Sept. 11-15 at the Convention Center. Also on tap that weekend i-s the Greater Washington Urban League Coca-Cola Football Class to be held Sept. 13 at RFK Stadium between Howard and Hampton univer sities. All descendants who can prove that their ancestors served in the Union Army or Navy during this war between the North and South, with copies of official documenta tion will be invited to attend the commemorative ceremony as special guests at the Arlington Cemetery on Sept. 10. Councilman Frank Smith, chairman of the Civil War Memorial Freedom Foundation who proposed the memorial project, states the foundation and its board of directors are working in con junction with the D.C. Government and the federal government to complete the construction of the memorial. Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.J in 1992 introduced H.J. Res. 320. President Bush See CIVIL on page 3A Inside Editorials 4A-5A Strictly Business 10A Lifestyles 12A Religion 14A A&E IB 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. Comments? Our e-mail address is: charpost@clt.mindsprlng.com World Wide Web page address: http://www.thepost.mindspring.com
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