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Baseball tries to bolster image to win young fans/Page 8B
Me Charlotte Bosit
VOLUME 21 NO. 43
JULY 11 1996
A new vision for future
NAACP leaders stake out organization’s mission
By John Minter
THE CHARLOTTE POST
Insisting that a “new day” has begun for the
NAACP, Myrlie Evers-Williams and Kweisi Mfume
used spirited oratory to encourage an end to “backbit
ing” and “foolishness” within the organization’s ranks.
Evers-Williams, speaking Sunday night moments
after police and security officers stopped a demonstra-
Alexander
makes a
bold move
Lobbies, but fails to
keep N.C. position
By John Minter
THE CHARLOTTE POST
Kelly Alexander Jr. tried to
launch a “reform” movement
Tuesday to force the NAACP
national board to re-instate him
this week as president of the
N.C. confer
ence of
branches.
“This is not
about just
me,”
Alexander
told reporters
and about two
dozen sup-
Alexander
local branch
members
wearing volunteer badges. “It is
time for the rank and file to
take action.”
Alexander was suspended
from the position on May 18,
pending an audit of the state
branch’s financial records going
back three years.
The suspension was extended
for 60 days, since the initial
audit was invalidated, partly
because some records are
misiong, NAACP insiders said.
New auditors were hired two
weeks ago.
They also said Alexander has
used an NAACP credit card
since his suspension, including
an $18charge at Victoria
Secrets, an upscale women’s lin
gerie shop in South Park Mall.
Alexander said the board had
received false information about
the availability of some records.
He said The organization's
bookkeeper and the auditor
hired by the state chapter said
all records are available,
ter admitting to mistakenly
using the card, and saying he
has repaid the organization.
At his press conference,
Alexander blamed the suspen-
See ALEXANDER on page 3A
tion by midwest members protesting the moving of
their regional headquarters Irom Detroit to Baltimore,
declared “We in this organization have work to do. We
have no time for infighting.”
Evers-Williams, the civil rights group’s chairman
and widow of slain civil right leader Medgar Evers,
evoked his memory in accepting the mantle of leader
ship in difficult times. “On Medgar’s blood I took a
pledge that I would stand up and foUow him,” she said.
“ I am woman and I can stand here and take the heart
and I can take the fire, because I have been there. I
have been through the fire. I have been through it all.
I know the pain. I know the suffering.
“It is a New Day Begun and no one will turn us
around.
Tell me women cannot lead. Tell me we cannot stand
up and be strong. I don’t need to be cherished. It would
be nice, but I am here as your chairman until you put
me out.
See NAACP on page 6A
PHOTO/SUE ANN JOHNSON
NAACP Chairman Myrlie Evers-Wiiliams encouraged members of the civil rights organiza
tion to end hostiiities among themseives. The NAACP national convention ends today.
Youth will
be served
- in time
Future depends on
young members
By Jeri Young
THE CHARLOTTE POST
The NAACP sees itself as an
old organization, searching for a
new identity.
In a fiery speech delivered on
what was billed as youth night
for the nation’s oldest civil
rights organization, the Rev.
Jamal Bryant, National Youth
Director, laid the foundation for
the new NAACP.
“A lot of old NAACPers - yeah
I will call it like I see it - are
afraid of the new generation,”
Biyant told an enthralled crowd
of 2,000.
“They say we are too young,
too inexperienced...The fact is, if
you don't take care of us today,
there will be no NAACP tom-
morrow.”
Bryant 26, who NAACP
President and CEO, Kwiesi
Mfume calls the "archtitect of
the superstructure of the new
NAACP,” brings a new sense of
urgency to the organization
whose status and influence has
waned in the face of accusations
of finanical mismanagement.
The NAACP has also been
accused of ambivalence toward
young people, who have tradi
tionally been the foot soldiers of
the organization.
“Time is filled with swift tran
sitions,” added Bryant. “We
have forgotten what has
brought us this far.”
Bryant called for the NAACP
to pick up the forgotten, the
unwed mothers, those addicted
to drugs and alcohol.
He condemned youth advisors
for using the same young people
year after year and neglecting
the talents of those who need
the organization the most.
“Business as ususal,” said
Bryant, “is not acceptable."
And the NAACP's young peo
ple have brought whole hearted-
ly into Bryant, Mfume and chair
of the board of directors, Myrlie
See Young on page 2A
Grier Heights survey
measures residents’ wish
list for local services
By Jeri Young
THE CHARLOTTE POST
PHOTO/FRANK WILLIAMS
Greetings from the Chief Executive: President Ciinton and Rep.
Mei Watt (D-N.C.) share greetings Wednesday during the
President’s visit to Chariotte. Clinton addressed the NAACP
nationai convention and Centrai Piedmont Community Coilege.
Positive things are going on in
Grier Heights.
In March, the Grier Heights
Economic Foundation received a
$28,000 grant for community
improvements.
The neighborhood will also
soon boast state of the art reno
vations to the old Billingsville
Elementary School.
The renovations, which will
transform the school into a com
munity center, featuring a
branch office of C.W. Williams
Health Center, satellite police
office, a Mecklenburg County
youth and family services office,
meeting rooms and offices for
the community economic foun
dation.
As part of GHEF’s commit
ment to serving the needs of
Grier Heights residents, the
organization, Grier Heights
Presbyterian Church and the
Mental Health Association are
jointly sponsoring a survey of
residents.
“The survey is a needs assess
ment for Grier Hieghts resi
dents,” said George Wallace, of
GHEF. “It is an effort to address
the needs of our residents. We
ask basic questions about
human service needs and what
they want in the new communi
ty center."
The Community Needs survey
consists of 28 questions that
gauge residents’ feelings on
housing, employment and
human services needs.
According to Wallace, a per
centage of the grant money is
being used for the survey. Grier
Heights residents were trained
to administer the survey to
insure accuracy and consisten
cy. The group hopes that at
least a third of Grier Hieghts’
1,200 households will partici
pate in the survey.
“The survey is taking a little
longer to complete than we
thought,” Wallace said. “It takes
approximately one hour to take
the exam. People are really
sharing their feelings.”
If you are a Grier Heights resi
dent interested in taking or
administering the survey, con
tact Wallace at 375-9566.
S. Africa’s
changing
politics
Nationalist Party
no longer factor
By Tom Cohen
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
JOHANNESBURG, South
Africa - Most South Africans
are experiencing something
they've never known before -
a government without the
National Party.
During 48 years of icy
oppression of blacks mixed
with sometimes stunning
progress. South Africa under
the Afrikaner nationalists
built the continent's strongest
nation, pioneered heart trans
plants and made nuclear
weapons.
They also implemented a
political and social system so
repugnant that it rallied
unprecedented global opposi
tion.
In the end, the most glorious
achievement of the “Nats” -
scrapping the apartheid sys
tem to free the struggling
black majority - brought
about their inevitable down
fall.
For Afrikaners, the descen
dants of Dutch settlers and
the backbone of National
Party support, the moment
mixes pragmatism with a
twinge of nostalgia.
“On the one hand. I’m very
glad about the way in which
things have gone," said Use
Schermers Griesel, 34, who
came home in January after
five years overseas. “On the
other hand, being white and
Afrikaans and South African,
it’s a sad thing. It's an era
that’s gone past."
The National Party came to
power in 1948, exploiting
Afrikaner nationalism in the
political split that followed
World War II, when British-
descended whites supported
the Western allies and
Afrikaners backed Nazi
Germany.
In ensuing years, they
passed laws that entrenched
their rule and codified the
nation's white political domi
nance and discrimination
against non-whites.
Under international pres
sure from sanctions and isola
tion, the Nats under former
President F.W. de Klerk
launched reforms in 1990 that
led to the nation’s first all
race election in 1994. As
expected, power shifted to
their longtime enemy -
Nelson Mandela’s African
National Congress.
A power-sharing arrange
ment negotiated with the
ANC gave the Nats six
Cabinet seats, including a
deputy president post for de
Klerk. For two years, the
unity government that also
included the Zulu nationalist
See TIME on page 3A
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