Charlotte’s Pandemonium to strike New York’s Apollo Theater/IB
Cljarlotte
VOLUME 21 NO. 48
THE VOICE OF THE BLACK COMMUNITY
THE WEEK OF AUGUST 15,1996
75 CENTS
ALSO SERVING CABARRUS, ROWAN AND YORK COUNTIES
Walton honored at plaza dedication
Family and friends attend ribbon-cutting ceremony on Monday
By Winfred B. Cross
THE CHARLOTTE POST
Stonewall Plaza, formerly
the Independence Building,
was officially dedicated as the
Robert L. Walton Plaza
Monday.
Rain forced a planned out
door ceremony inside the
building at 700 E. Stonewall
St.
Some 60 officials, friends
and family members crammed
inside a hallway of the build
ing for the dedication, which
was interrupted several times
by patrons of the building.
A portrait of Walton which
will hang in the building was
unveiled. Walton’s mother,
Curlie Walton, became emo
tional as she repeatedly
thanked the County
Commissioners for the honor.
“God placed him dovm here
to dp the work of God,” she
said with tears in her eyes.
Thank you for standing by
him. God’s going to place
another like Robert in the
community to do his work. . .
God protected him through it
all.”
County commissioner Parks
Helms said the rain could not
dampen the spirit of the day.
“This is what Bob would
have wanted: to be right
where the action is, where the
people are passing by,” Helms
said. “This is recognition that
a young man can be bom (in
meager circumstances) and be
plagued by human frailties
and overcome them. . . .”
The Robert L. Walton Plaza
was bought by Mecklenburg
County in 1994, for about $6
million. The building has 20
tenants, public and private.
County manager Gerald Fox
said the county hopes to have
60 percent occupancy in the
next few years.
Commissioners’ chairperson
Ann Schrader read the procla
mation and in what she called
“Bob Walton fashion,”
attempted to point out promi
nent members of the crowd.
“Having done that in Bob
Walton style, have I missed
^myone,” Schrader asked, then
laughed. “Bob’s sense of
humor is the thing I’ll always
remember and cherish. It
helped me get through some
very tough times. The dedica
tion of the building is very.
See WALTON on page 2A
Babies, moms healthier
3
12.0
10.0
8.0
4.0,
24)
12.5
t4^1
deaths
8.4 , 55
tota^
deaths
Key
10.1
vm
mM
6,2
4.0
r
_ , P
- .Total
mm.
. (wht' i&iionwM.)
Non-Whili
Infant Mortality Rates for Meek. County
Infant deaths down sharply
Walton portrait will grace Mecklenburg County building named
for the iong time commissioner and community leader.
Little moves
up; Dory in
WBTV limbo
Dory: “I wasn’t expecting any
changes in my spot.”
■ '^Jnfred E Cross
THE w. .ARLOTTE I'OST
By Jeri Young
THE CHARLOTTE POST
Jellrey Barnett turned one
year old Monday.
His birthday was cause to
celebrate for his mother,
Tonya Featherston, 19.
His first birthday also
marked a milestone for the
Mecklenburg Couty
Department of Public Health,
from whom Featherston
received care. For every suc
cess story, there are far too
many failures.
For every 1000 live births in
Mecklenburg County, six
babies die before they reach a
age 1.
For African American
women, the numbers are
even worse. For every 1000
live non-white births, 10
babies do not live 12 months.
The figures are considered
an effective barometer of the
community’s overall health,
for many babies do not die,
though they suffer conditions
and illnesses which diminish
the quality of life. Fewer
deaths, mean fewer such ill
nesses, experts beUeve.
Doctors are unsure of why
the mortality rate for African
American babies is higher,
but many sources i jie social
factors, such as la? . of proper
prenatal and post natal care,
poor living conditions and
nutrition, as well as the high
er incidence of poverty among
African American women and
chidren as reasons for the dis
parity.
These figures represent a
marked decrease in mortahty
rates for white and African
American women, the result
of the county’s identification
of teenage pregnany as a
major thrust for its resources.
Teenage pregnancy was
among six priority health
issues, identified by the coun
ty. Other issues include vio
lence, substance abuse, can
cer and heart disease.
Teenage pregnancy, STD's
and HIV are considered one
issue as they are all results of
the same behavior.
The mortality rate statis
tics, issued by the N.C.
Center for Health Statistics,
represents a 26 percent drop
in the Mecklenburg County
mortality rate, which mea
sures the number of deaths
among Uve births. live births
are defined by state law as
any in which the baby is bom
and cries.
"Well, I would not want to
take credit for all that," said
Dr. Stephen Kenner. "The
bulk of the improvement is
due to a drop in the complica
tions of prematurity."
Keener, director of the coun
ty’s Department of Public
Health, said that there is no
explanation for the drop in
See INFANTS on page 2A
Will WBTV News Channel 8's revamped 6 p.m. news cast
include Denise Dory?
Even she doesn't know.
WB'TV announced last week that sports anchor Paul Cameron
will replace retired veteran anchor Bob Inman. Weekend sports
anchor Delano Little will replace Cameron.
The announcement left in question whether Dory, who co
anchored with Inman, would continue iil that slot on the new
telecast, which starts airing Sept. 2.
"What we're trying is to gather all of the resources we have to
determine the most effective
combination of anchor teams,"
said Ron Milter, WBTV news
director. "She'll still be with the
station and anchoring, but not
necessarily the program's she
anchor's now."
That was rie'vs to Dory, who
returned from maternity leave
Aug. 5.
"I wasn't expecting any
changes with my spot," Dory
said. "When I was told that was
a possibility, I was surprised. It
wasn't something I was really
thinking about."
Dory ',;ft May 29'. She gave
birth to a daughter, Quinn
Michelle, May 31.
"I had a difficult pregnancy. I
had real bad complications and
had to go back to the hospital.
Ten weeks ago all I could think
about was pulling through and being around for my kids."
Miller said such considerations are not unusual when a vacancy
becomes available.
"Whenever you lose someone like a Bob Inman of 26 years and
you're placing a new dynamic in the anchor chair, then I think it
behooves us to look at all information on hand in regards to audi
ence research to determine the best possible conijgination on the
anchor desk," Miller said.
See DORY on page 3A
Dory
Henrietta Marie exhibit controversial in L.A. showing
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
LOS ANGELES - A Watts
community group hosting a dis
play featuring artifacts from a
sunken slave vessel - and set to
open in Charlotte in November
- made changes in the exhibit to
make it conform to the group's
interpretation of African-
European histoiy.
The Watts Labor Community
Action Committee consulted a
former county museum curator
to modify “A Slave Ship Speaks:
The Wreck of the Henrietta
Marie” because the group
believed the exhibit minimized
the horror of the slave trade.
The resulting show, now in its
fourty weak of a three-month
run at the committee’s cultural
complex, has drawn 1,200 peo
ple. But the changes have dis
mayed the exhibit s Florida
owners.
•The curator, Cecil Fergerson,
kept intact the artifacts, includ
ing Italian-made glass beads
that were traded to Africans
and sets of shackles, some tiny
enough to have been used on
children.
A pamphlet given to visitors
challenges some ol the asser
tions made in the exhibit text,
such as one that describes
Africans and Europeans as
“equal trade partners” in the
slave trade.
The pamphlet also disputes a
reference to Europe's “Age’of
Exploration,” calling it an “Age
of Exploitation” for Africa and
its people.
But visitors to the Watts
exhibit said they were unaware
of the controversy and seemed
impressed by what they saw.
Thelma Williams, 72, of subur
ban Compton said it enhanced
her knowledge of the slave
trade.
“I knew about it,” she said,
“but I couldn't actually see it in
my mind until I saw it in there."
Fergerson was most disturbed
by a replica of the hold of a slave
ship with foam figures repre
senting captured AfHcan men.
Fergerson contends conditions
were much more crowded in the
holds.
“They look like they are on a
cruise to the Caribbean in jock
ey shorts,” Fergerson said, refer
ring to the figures. Funding con-
.straints prevented Fergerson
from altering the replicas.
The exhibit's owners and orga
nizers, the Florida-based Mel
Fisher Maritime Heritage
Society, defended the exhibit,
which was in Florida for six
months before it began its 16-
city tour.
Executive director Madeleine
Burnside said the exhibit was
intended to teU the story of the
ship in question, not to present
a general picture of all slave
ships.
“It is the story of one particu
lar shin that mi .id Ha Hiclnriral.
ly documented,” she said.
Burnside said the Henrietta
Marie was atypical. The ship
sank 35 miles off Key West in
1700 on its way back to Europe
after it had delivered 188 cap
tured Afneans to a slave broker
in Jamaica.
The wreck was found in 1972
but not not fully excavated imtil
the mid-1980s. Brutal condi
tions that existed on most slave
ships were not present on the
Henrietta Marie, she said.
She acknowledged alterations
to the show also were made by
the curator at the DuSable
Museum of African-American
History in Chicago, who
expressed concerns about the
■
Inside
Editorials 4A-5A
Strictly Business 7A
Lifestyles 9A
Religion 11A
Healthy Body/
Healthy Mind 14A
A&E IB
Regional News 6B
Sports SB
Classified 13B
Auto Showcase 14B
To subscribe, call ('^04) 376-
0496 or FAX (704) 342-2160.
1996 The Charlotte Post
Publishing Company.
Comments? Our e-mail address is;
charpost@clt.mindspring.com
World Wide Web page address:
http://vvww.thepost.mindspring.com