2A
NEWS/ The Charlotte Post
October 3,1996
MELODYE MICERE STEWART
In the
spirit of
Ma’at
THal brings back painful memories for families
Appeal
to learn
more
Need to
discover
ourselves
Dr. W.E.B. DuBois once
wrote, “If the African
American is to learn, he must
teach himself.”
The task of re-educating our
selves and our children
toward self-empowerment is a
formidable one, but not impos
sible. The journey into self-
knowledge is, by necessity, a
journey into history. The next
several editions of “Ma’at” will
provide a brief introduction to
some of the history omitted
from American history books.
From the beginning of
America’s entanglement with
the institution of slavery,
African men and women
fought their bondage in all
manner of word and deed.
Lerone Bennett’s book,
“Before the Mayflower: A
History of Black America,”
documents hundreds of indi
vidual and collective acts of
resistance to enslavement.
America’s history books are
woefully incomplete, deleting
the heroic and courageous
attempts for freedom in the
acts of Gabriel Prosser and
Denmark Vesey. Like the
brave Nat Turner, both orga
nized enslaved Africans to
overthrow their bondage.
In between Prosser and
Vesey, the demand for libera
tion burned in the mind and
heart of one David Walker.
David Walker (1785-1830)
expressed the desires of the
race to be free and self suffi
cient in writing, while simul
taneously insisting that our
freedom was a God-given right
that whites had grossly violat
ed. Born free in Wilmington,
N.C., David Walker’s “Appeal
To the Coloured Citizens of
the World but in particular,
and very expressly to those of
the United States of America”
utilized the Declaration of
Independence and the Bible to
argue for the human being
ness of African people.
In that document. Walker
made clear that blacks should
use any means at their dispos
al to throw off the shackles of
slavery and that God would
extract vengeance upon white
America for its cruelties. Yet
Walker could still envision an
America for “all” the people:
“Treat us like men, and there
is no danger but we will all
live in peace and happiness
together. For we are not like
you, hard hearted, unmerciful
and unforgiving. What a
happy country this will be, if
the whites will listen.”
So powerful were Walker’s
self-published words that
slaveholders and their govern
ments in North Carolina,
Georgia, Virginia and
Louisiana responded fearfully,
holding meetings and making
plans to deal with the implica
tions of his 80 page treatise.
History notes that Walker
died “under mysterious cir
cumstances” a year after the
publication and mass distribu
tion of his “Appeal.”
African Americans should
read and be mindful of the
many truths of his words,
written nearly two centuries
ago. Walker warns us to, ”...
remember, that it is the great
est desire and object of the
greater part of the whites, to
keep us ignorant, and make
us work to support them and
their families.”
Continued from page 1A
blocks from her apartment.
“The trial is like having her
funeral all over again,”
Alphonso Slaughter said, look
ing up to the sky. “It’s like I
can see her casket right
there.”
Prosecutors won’t talk about
the case against Wallace, who
has been held without bond
since his arrest.
Public defender Isabel Day
has not said if Wallace will
testify, but jurors will likely
hear his voice. Prosecutors are
expected to play excerpts from
more than 10 hours of taped
statements he made to homi
cide investigators.
The tapes were played dur
ing a pretrial hearing last
year. At one point during his
lengthy statement, Wallace
describes himself as an out-of-
control crack addict.
“With the problem I have
now with drug abuse, this
probably would have lasted at
the pace of the last few days,”
he told investigators in a calm
voice. “The killing would have
continued and I would have
killed myself.”
While the murders occurred
over 20 months, three of the
victims including Debra
Slaughter — were killed over a
three-day period that ended
with Wallace’s arrest on
March 12, 1994. The tapes
were made by homicide inves
tigators in the early morning
hours of the next day.
Elsewhere in the tapes,
Wallace showed an ability to
control his emotions, describ
ing how he took the time to
carefully clean up crime
scenes - sometimes bathing
his victims and disguising evi
dence to lead police on a
phony trail.
Asked why he set fire to vic
tim Valencia Jumper’s apart
ment after she was strangled,
Wallace said the reason was
obvious.
“I didn’t want her murder
scene to seem like the others,”
he said. “I didn’t want to con
tinue a chain.”
Alphonso Slaughter said he
forced himself to listen to the
tapes. His wife, Lovie, was
unable to do so, he said.
“He (Wallace) said on the
tape that he only meant to rob
Debra to buy dope,” he said.
“But she was very strong and
she fought back. If he had
been a weakling she would
have hurt him.”
According to police, most of
the victims were found stran
gled in their homes with no
evidence of forced entry. Most
had been strangled with a
towel or their bras.
Wallace, described by police
as bright and charming
despite his severe crack
cocaine habit, apparently was
able to talk his way inside
their homes.
Four of the victims, includ
ing Debra Slaughter, worked
at one time or another at the
same Bojangles restaurant on
Central Avenue. Two others,
including Shawna Hawk,
worked with Wallace at a
nearby Taco Bell.
Three attended Central
Piedmont Community College.
Hawk was studying there to
become a paralegal when her
mother found her strangled in
her bathtub on Feb. 19, 1993.
Hawk’s mother. Dee
Sumpter, understands
Alphonso Slaughter’s anguish.
Sumpter has taken some
measures to preserve her
daughter’s legacy. Her car’s
license plate reads SHAWNA.
She keeps photos and memen
tos of her murdered daughter
in her home.
Sumpter
founded
Mothers of
Murdered
• “ft Offspring, a
support
group for
families of
murder vic
tims. The
Hawk has
about 75
members
who have lost children to vio
lence.
“I cannot allow her life of 20
years and her rich and full
legacy to go in vain,” said
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No audit for the NAACP
Continued from page 1A
according to personal and
NAACP related contents.
The postmaster said he is
awaiting a ruling from the
Postal Service attorneys in
Washington as to how to
resolve the situation.
Alexander was suspended by
the national board pending
the outcome of an audit after
newly elected state officers
filed complaints about his
cooperation with new treasur
er Z. Ann Hoyle, including the
use of checks pre-signed by
the previous treasurer, James
Florence of Fayetteville.
The auditors have focused on
a money management account
at Merrill Lynch in Charlotte,
which Alexander said was
used as a depository holding
account into which about half
of the state branch’s funds
were held.
Alston said Tuesday that
auditors got some records
from former treasurer James
Florence of Fayetteville
regarding the cash account at
United Guaranty in
Fayetteville, where funds
were held until Hoyle, a
Hickory city council member.
Alexander
took over in March.
Funds are now kept at
BB&T.
Alexander
has said as
much as half
of the state
chapter’s
funds were
kept at
Merrill
Lynch.
Alston said
the auditors
do not have
cancelled
checks, meeting minutes or
other data to determine what
happened to the money kept
in that account.
The state chapter’s annual
budget ranges from $200,000
to $250,000, consisting of
membership fees, fund raising
drives and corporate dona
tions.
If half of its funds were kept
in the Merrill Lynch account,
as much as $100,000 per year
would have been deposited in
the account since it was set up
in 1989, as much as $700,000.
“They could not do an audit,”
Alston said when asked for an
audit update Tuesday. “All the
information is not there for an
audit. Books and records are
not there. It wasn’t in the
office and Kelly has not given
it to them and Mary (Peeler,
former executive director) has
not given it to them.”
Alston said records such as
minutes, bank statements and
invoices, were missing from
the NAACP’s office in
Greensboro. The missing
records included hard copies
and others kept on the organi
zation’s computer.
Peeler, who resigned as exec
utive director after Alston
became acting president in
May, could not be reached for
comment.
“Kelly says he turned over
what he had, but according to
the auditors it wasn’t what
they needed,” Alston said.
Alston said he will not spec
ulate on how the national
board will react to the report.
“It is a serious situation,” he
said. “I just hope it will come
out for the betterment of the
state conference.”
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Continued from page 1A
side are they on.”
“Tm not voting Republican either,” she said. “They sure don’t know
what they are talking about.”
Local voter registration workers have also run into the same con
cerns among the elderly.
In a recent voter registration drive by the League of Women Voters
and the Mecklenburg Voter Coalition, representatives ran into oppo
sition from seniors citizens who had never voted and didn't want to be
registered.
“They just didn’t think their vote would count - they didn’t want to
be part of the process,” said Maxine Eaves of LWV. “They didn't know
the system.”
The two groups began the drives “to promote and inform citizens” in
areas where people are not talking about the process, said Eaves.
“A lot of them,” Eaves said, “did not want to register because they
didn’t want jury duty. It was an absolute no-no.”
Still, many will be heading out to the polls to vote on Nov. 4 or to
the nearest registration site to pick up a registration form before the
Oct. 11 deadline.
Johnson and Eaves hope more will register.
“Most people don’t know they can just pick up the form and fill
them out anywhere,” Johnson said. “Just mail it back in.”
The bumper crop of registered voters can be credited to the presi
dential election, says Mecklenburg County Election Supervisor
William Culp.
“It’s a presidential year,” he said. “Lots of people don’t pay attention
to elections until there is a presidential year.”
Culp believes that the new regulations that allow registration forms
to be distributed by private organizations has also helped increase
the numbers.
“We distributed 75,000 registration forms last month,” Culp said.
“They are out there floating around at neighborhood events. It is
more accessible than when they had to go to one specific place.”
However, neighborhood distribution can lead to some problems.
“On election day, there will be a lot of people having long waits to
vote,” Culp said. “We have lots of incomplete addresses, which means
cards didn’t get to people. Our experience is that getting people regis
tered is only half the battle. The other half is getting people out to
vote.”
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