• •O
ALL SUBSTANCE
In a sea of diluted
music, some solo
acts stand out/1 D
Lina is a fresh face
► - and has a style
to match.
GRAPPLING FOR
SUCCESS
Patrick Desmarattes puts
a toehold on his wrestling
dream through ACW •
Entertainmenl/8C
Volume 29 No. 35
www.thecharlottepost.com
charlotte
2 5 2C:u
THE NEW AND
IMPROVED STING
Andrea Stinson leads
Charlotte into WNBA
season opener against
Western Conference
^QfjDower Houston/1 C
$1.00
********it;*)t;)t:*5-DIGIT 28216 S12 PI
James B. Duke Library
100 Beatties Ford Rd
Charlotte NC 28216-5302
The Voice of the Black Community
Also serving Cabarrus, Chester, Mecklenburg, Rowan and York counties
WEEK OF MAY 20-26, 2004
Obiorah
Caucus
chair:
Politics
only focus
By Herbert L. White
herb.white@thediarlottepost.com
Danielle Bess Obiorah
insists the Charlotte-
Mecklenburg
Black
Political
Caucus is
headed in the
right direc
tion.
And she’s
determined
to keep it
that way.
Obiorah
(pronounced
Oh-beer-uh) was elected
^;Sunday to succeed Franklin
ItIcCain, who was elected
last'^ear to serve the
remainder of Marqx Scott’s
term. She said the organiza
tion will adhere to its rede
fined role as a political action
committee, the result of
sanctions handed down last
month by the N.C. Board of
Elections.
‘We’re in the process of
putting together a team of
folks to work on voter regis
tration, voter education and
voter motivation,” she said.
We’ve received very positive
responses so far.”
Sarah Stevenson, a long
time caucus member and
former Charlotte-
Mecklenburg school board
member, supports Obiorah.
“Danielle has the energy,
commitment and back
ground that we need to
ensure this organization
moyes in the right direction,”
she said in a statement.
Also elected: Dwajme
Collins (first vice chair);
Andrea Huff (second vice
chair); Maria Macon (third
vice chair); Johnnie Tracey
(treasurer); Joyce Waddell
(financial secretary); Sharon
Young (secretary); Ella
Williams (correspondence
secretary) and Vernon
Herron (historian).
Obiorah, an attorney and-
co-founder of the firm
Mason-Watson, Obiorah &
Singletary, takes over a cau
cus that has undergone sev-
Please see CAUCUS/2A
May means motorcycles in Myrtle Beach,
S.C. But allegations of mistreatment have
black bikers considering alternatives.
Uneasy
riders
PHOTO/WADE NASH
Ian Grier of Charlotte prepares his motorcycle for Black Biker Week in Myrtle Beach, S.C. Some
African Americans say discrimination by Myrtle Beach officials and businesses is forcing them
to explore alternatives, including going to Miami for Urban Beach Week.
By Cheris F. Hodges
cheris.hxiges@thechariottepo5t.com
Black bikers are gearing up
for a Memorial Day motorcy
cle rally. But some of them
are bypassing the traditional
Atlantic Beach site for what
they consider a friendlier
environment.
“I’m going to Miami
because I’m tired of the police
harassment and you get
more riding time,” said
Renee Baker of Charlotte.
Baker has been a regular at
the Atlantic Beach rally since
1990, but she says Myrtle
Beach doesn’t play fair.
“One year, my husband
broke down on the side of the
road and instead of the police
asking if we needed help,
they said we needed to move
along,” she recalled.
But city officials in Myrtle
Beach said they haven’t
heard complaints like that
from rally-goers.
“Our police enforce rules
(on Memorial weekend) the
same way as any other time
of the year,” said spokesman
Mark Kruea.
Baker doesn’t agree. She
said that she has seen
footage from the Hariey-
Davidson Rally, which is pre
dominately white, and she
doesn’t see nearly as many
police officers as she has seen
at the Atlantic Beach rally,
commonly called Black Biker
Week.
Please see BIKERS/6A
news
connection
Grassroots groups encourage voter registration
By Cheris F. Hodges
cheris.hodges@thecharlonepost.com
Civic groups in Charlotte
want to make sure everyone
who can vote gets a chance
to do so.
The NAACP has teamed
with other groups, including
the Urban League of Central
Carolinas and Omega Psi
Phi fraternity to educate vot
ers and get absentee ballots
in the hands of those who
need them.
Saturday representatives
from those groups went door
to door in the Belmont com
munity registering voters.
providing paper work for
absentee ballots and spread
ing the word of early voting.
Dwayne Colfins, chairman
of the NAACP’s political
action committee, said
everyone’s vote will be count
ed. “Due to the current cli
mate in America, we want to
insure that African
Americans register to vote
and will be able to do so,”
Collins said.
But, he added, Afncan
Americans shouldn’t blindly
support a particular candi
date because of the way he or
Please see VOTING/2A
Jamaica
welcomes
HaMan
refugees
Few contemplate trying
for American shore
By Dionne Jackson Miller
INTERNATIONAL PRESS SERVICE
KINGSTON, Jamaica - Nearly 500 Haitians
fleeing violence and turmoil in their coimtiy have
made the precarious journey in small, often over
crowded boats across the 160 kilometers of ocean
separating Haiti from Jamaica since a political
crisis erupted there in February.
When the boats appear off Jamaica’s east coast,
usually at the parish of Portland, they are often
pulled to shore by local fishermen and their pas
sengers welcomed by community members before
they are turned over to the authorities.
In contrast, U.S. residents rarely see the
Haitian refugees bound for their shores — their
worn vessels are stopped by U.S. Coast Guard
ships at sea and the asylum-seekers returned to
Haiti — a process known as interdiction — in vio
lation of international law.
The policy was spelled out by President George
W Bush on Feb. 25, as a violent rebel uprising
swept from Haiti’s north toward the capital Port-
au-Prince, and fearful residents started fleeing
the Caribbean island.
Please see HA1TIANS/7A
Fewer low-income
U.S. families are
buying homes
By Genaro C. Armas
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
WASHINGTON - Home ownership rates for
low- and moderate-income working families with
children have declined since the late 1970s, even
though the overall U.S. homeownership rate has
risen, according to a study released Tuesday by an
affordable housing coalition.
The new analysis of already-released govern
ment data suggests in part that incomes for these
working families haven’t kept place with soaring
housing prices, highlighting a need for govern
ment to promote construction of more affordable
homes, the Center for Housing Policy says.
Over the last couple of decades, builders have
generally erected bigger homes than those built
Please see FEWER/2A
PHOTO/PAUL WILLIAMS III
Poet/activist Nikki Giovanni encouraged women to vote at the
Pantene Total You Tour last week in Charlotte.
the box
NEWS, NOTES
& TRENDS
Mecklenburg County and N.C. Treasurer
Richard Moore will host a financial confer
ence for the faith community May 25 at 8:30
a.m. at Steele Creek AME Zion Church, 1500
Shopton Road.
The conference will include workshops on
debt financing, tax issues and retirement
planning.
Early registration can be made by logging
onto www.nctreasurer.com or call the Rev.
Ralph Williamson of the Department of Social
Services office of faith-based and community
initiatives at (704) 336-7512.
Inside
Editorials 4A
Life 4B
Religion 8B
Sports 1C
Real Estate 5C
Business 8C
A&E ID
Happenings 4D
Classifieds 5D
To subscribe, call (704) 376-0496 or FAX (704) 342-2160.
© 2004 The Charlotte Post Publishing Co.
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