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Volume 31 No. 14
Cliarld
Dare to be
different at
home
remodeling
time/4D
$1.00
The Voice of the Black Community
WEEK OF DECEMBER 22-28, 2005
Also-servir j(,„e5 dUKE LIBRARY ' .
too BEATIIES FORD RD
CHARLOTTE NC 28216-5302
ities
lomiHing
starts for
school
changes
Meetings with CMS
leaders and community
to back taskforce ideas
By C. Jemal Horton
FOR THE CHARLOITE POST
'Hie much-ballyhooed recommendations
made by the Citizen’s Tbsk Force on
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools last week
essentially were just that - recommenda
tions.
Because the task force does
not have the 1^^ authority
to implement the 21 proposed
changes itself, it must con
vince public and private
members of the community
— many of them already
skeptical - to embrace the rec
ommendations intended to
dramatically improve CMS.
While the challenge is daimting, it is one
for which the task force is immensely pre
pared, co-chair Harvey Gantt said.
In fact, much of the task force’s action plan
already has begun to take form.
For starters, the task force met with
Charlotte-Mecklenburg School Board offi
cials on Tliesday to discuss the recommen
dations, and additional meetings with dect-
ed officials are planned in the coming weeks.
Please see TASK/2A
Blacks more
likely to live
with pollution
By Gary D. Robertson
THE ASSOCIATED PRF^S
RALEIGH — When Lonnette WiUiama
moved into the city’s South Park nei^ibor-
hood five years ago to help care for her aging
godparents, she didn’t have any trouble
with her breathing.
But soon after she settled into the mostly
poor nei^iborhood thats 93 percent black,
the coughing and the sinus infections
began Last year, she used more than four
weeks of sick leave as she strug^ed with
sinus pressure and had trouble with her
balance.
“The tests indicated I had some exposure
to something and that they didn’t know
HOLIDAYS, ROCKETTES-STYLE
Gantt
PHOTOCURTIS WLSON
Radio City Music Hall Rockette Nirine Brown dances during the world famous troupe’s first
Charlotte performance last week. The Rockettes, who are in Charlotte for the first time, are
performing at the Blumenthal Performing Arts Center through Jan. 1.
See DIRTIEST/3A
N.C/s
poorest
children
struggle
Academics, child care
most likely to suffer, but
health care miproves
By Herbert L. White
kerb.whilet^tliecfiarlottepost com
It’s toug^ to be a low-income child in
^Jorth Carolina.
A study released by the Ralei^-
based North Carolina Child Advocacy
Institute shows that middle- and
upper-income children fare better on a
series of indicators of well-being. Kids
who live in families earning more than
200 percent of the federal poverty line
- rou^y $19,000 - are more likely to
have better health and academic
achievement than their low-income
peers. They are also more likely to par
ticipate in after-school activities.
‘Money mi^t not buy love, but it
buys quality child care, gas to partici
pate in extracurricular activities or go
to the library, and other essaitials of
family life,” said Barbara Bradley,
executive director of‘the institute.
”Tliese data show that low-income
families face more barriers in their
day-to-day lives than moderate or
hi^er income families, even as they
have fewer financial resources to deal
Please see POOREST/2A
Ex-Panther:
Institutional
racism tough
to root out
By Cynthia Dean
THE TRl.ANGLE TRIBURE
RALEIGH - structural racism
was the underlying
theme of a recent
speech given by
fslnous activist Angela
Davis at N.C. State
University
Davis was also hon
ored at the university’s
2005 Brotherhood
Banquet The NCSU
Office of Diversity and" African-
American Affairs sponsored both
events.
Davis is known for her many years
of work to combat aU forms of
oppression in the United States and
Please see ACTIVISTS
Davis
Carl Bailey,
66, is retiring
after 18 years
with the
Charlotte Fire
Department
Rejoined the
service in
1987 as a 47-
year-oid
rookie.
At 66, firefighter douses second career
By Virlanda Miller
FOR THE CILSRIjOTTE POST
Carl Bailey Sr. retired from
the Charlotte Fire Department
Tbesday Retirement is not
imusual for a man of 66, but
the beginnings of Bailey’s
career as a firefighter are. He
joined the fire department in
1987 at age 47, a time when
many firefighters are just
years away fium retiring
themselves.
Tt was a challenge,” Bailey
said of the training program.
“The men in my class were the
age of my son My oldest son
was headed to East Carolina
University, and I was headed
to the academy”
How Bailey came to the fire
department is a story of its
own Bailey and his wife,
Clara, moved to Charlotte in
1980 when Clara Bailey’s
mortgage underwriting job
was transferred fiom Ralei^
to Charlotte, fBailey, at that
time, had worked as a comput
er operator for Durham Life
Insurance Company for 15
years, and was the first black
in a whit^oUar position.)
Bailey went to work at
Barclays American but was
downsized, and for a period
worked at diflerent jobs while
applying for work wherever he
See FIREFIGHTER/6A
VYR Drew Carter seizes his
chance to make an impact
with Panthers 1C
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Happenings 6C
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