SAVING
GRACE
Grace AME
Zion Church
sold to
preservation
society/SB
Volume 31 No. 38
BELLY UP TO
THE RHYTHM
Belly dancing
goes from exotic
past to hot ^
of exercise/ffe, 3
Mint exhibit
goes to the
dogs, cats
and other
limals
Clhaitrlot
I,Hi..,11 Ill \
$1.00
28216 S13 PI
Jasies B. Duke Library
100 Beatties Ford fid
Charlotte NC 28216-6302
The Voice of the Black Community
Bobcats
will miss
security
blanket
Fly on the Walt is a satirical
look at Charlotte, chock full of
mischief, mayhem and a splash of
malfeasance to get the juices flow
ing. Long-time readers know this,
but if you're neophyte, these are
the rules, so don’t be a player-
hater. This disclaimer is provided
courtesy of the legal beagles at
our crack law firm,. Dewey
Cheatham and Howe, attorneys to
wanna-be stars.
• Ed Tapscott’s resigna
tion. isn’t help
ing the
Charlotte
Bobcats’ repu
tation around
these parts.
Everybody
knows about
Mr. Ed’s deci
sion to quit his
job as president
of the NBA franchise last
month after a disagreement
over his role with the team.
The ownership group
thought it was helping the
brother out by reducing his
workload. Mr. Ed took it as a
dis.
Some of Fly’s most loyal
low-flying spies say Mr. T
has privately groused about
working extra hard at gettii^
owner Bob Johnson up to
speed on how professional'
sports is supposed to work in
building up goodwill.
Apparently it didn’t work
very well, considering the
stumbling (C-SET shuttered
after a year) fumbling (over
priced tickets) and bumbling
(reversal on high school grad
uation at the arena). Mr. Ed
smoothed those wrinkles.
Man, the Bobcats are gonna
miss this guy
• The Itiesday Morning
Breakfast Forum, one of this
burg’s hvehest debate and-
See IMMIGRATION/2A
Tapscott
PHOTOCALVIN FERGUSON
Rashad Dykes (left) and his wife Misha Wallace help build their new home in Charlotte’s Druid Hills
neighborhood. Despite gains in recent years, black homeownership still lags behind whites
At home, at last
Building blitz puts families on track for ownership
By Herbert L White
herb. wh/te®fiechortoffeposf com
Nail by nail, Rashad Djdms
and his wife Misha ^^^ace are
building a piece of their
American dream
They’re building a home in
the Druid Hflis neighborhood
as part of Habitat For
Humanity’s Home Builders
Blitz. The week-long campaign
will build 400 homes across the
U.S. Djhes and Wallace are
first-time homebuyers, and the
experience of building their
own place makes it worth the
effort.
“We helped put up the frame,
the roof,” said Djdses. ‘Tn a cou
ple of weeks we’ll be moving in.
It’s a dream come true. I really
can’t believe it yet.”
Watt co-sponsors anti predatory lending bill
U.S. Rep. Mel Watt is co
sponsoring a bill that woxfld
crack down on discriminato
ry mortg'age lending.
Watt, a Charlotte
Democrat and chairman of
the Congi'essional Black
Caucus, wiU hold a news
conference today at 10 a.m.
to discuss the bill, which is
co-sponsored by Rep.
Barney Frank, D-Mass.
Other African Am^can and
Latino members of the
house wfll discuss the prob
lems ethnic minorities face
in obtaining loans for mort
gages. Ihe Watt-Frank bfll
isn’t the only one expect
ed to be debated tn the
House. A competing bUl
backed by Rep. Spencer
Bachus (R-Ala.) has also
been drafted. Both sides
have been negotiating to
build a compromise.
Herbert L. White
At legislative caucus, unity is main topic
' By Cynthia Dean
THE TRIANGLE TRIBUNE
RALEIGH - Why African-
American organiza
tions are not able to
unify dominated
discussions at the
annual N.C. Black
Legislative Caucus
conference.
N.C. Rep. Larry
Womble, D-
Forsyth, initiated
the, conversation on why blacks
have a hard time getting together
Womble
to support issues that affect them
all.
The recent protest of thousands
of Hispanics across the nation for
immigration reform sparked his
interest.
‘Tve worked here a long time
and I’ve never seen so many peo
ple turn out like those Hispanics,”
Womble said, referring to their
recent strike for fair immigration
laws. “The Hispanics put on-a hell
of a show, and they’ve only been
here a few yeare. We’ve been here
for'over 200 years.”
JU" 1 2 ; i
Also serving Cabarrus, Chester, Mecklenburg, Rowan and York counties
Banking
onnmim
ofpayday
lending
Bill criticized as attempt to
bring back banned industry
By Chens F. Hodges
cheris./Todges@hechorfotteposf.conT
If N.C. Rep. Beverly Earle has her way pay
day lending will make a comeback in North
Carolina.
Sort of
Earle, a Charlotte Democrat, is the' sponsor
of a bfil that would create a new
type of loan, which would allow
consumers to borrow up to
$3,000 and repair credit as they
repay Unlike payday loans,
these loans don’t involve checks
and have terms no less than 120
days. With payday loans, a bor
rower writes a personal check to
cover the loan amormt and
interest tiiat is debited fi-om a checking
account on their next payday
, Earle did not return repeated calls fi-om The
Post.
Payday lending opponents say the bill allows
many of the same pitfalls the industry posed
when it was ushered out of the state earlier
ibis year.
“This bfil is not the answer,” said Keith
Corbett, executive vice president of the Center
for Responsible Lending.
Corbett said that since Earle has two of the
nation’s largest banks headquartered in her
• district, she and other legislatoi-s should work
with financial institutions to come up with
loans for people that don’t have such high
interest rates.
“This bill doesn’t hdp people in need, ‘wheai
you have one community payir^ interest rates
as high as pay day lending APR and another
community paying lower interest rates, they
will never get into the mainstream,” Corbett
said.
Please see N.C. LENDING/2A
Dykes, Wallace, their son
Latwan, 10 and dog Yayo are"'
looking foi"ward to moving in-
Dykes and Wallace are helping
with construction of their
Justice Avenue home, and
Wallace is shopping for appli
ances and furniture.
“Washer and dryer,
microwave, dishes, pots and
Please see HOME/2A
Earle
■ Womble wonders why blacks
can’t do the same thing to makn a
big impact on lawmakers. He has
noticed that different groups,
such as the NAACP, fraternities,
sororities and other advocacy
groups have their own set of leg
islative days.
‘Ts it because everyone is pro
tecting their turf?” he asked. For
too long, we’ve been fragmented.”
Courtney Crowder said the first
People of Color Legislative Day
held May 23, was a step in the
Please see UNITY/3A
Charlotte Juneteenth festival
combines heritage and culture
PHOTO/PAPA NDIAYE
Since its inception nine years ago, drumming exhibitions
have been part of the Juneteenth celebration in Charlotte.
Carolina Panthers receiver
Keary Colbert looks to bounce
back from injury/1 C
By Erica Singleton
FOR THE CHARLOTTE POST
Few places put on a Juneteenth cele
bration like Charlotte.
The ninth annual Juneteenth Festival
of the Carolinas begins on June 15 with
a celebration of history Founder Papa S.
Ndiaye, owner of The House of Africa on
Central Avenue, enjoyed Juneteenth cel
ebrations when he Hved in New York,
and saw festivities tn Atlanta and 'Ibxas.
Upon moving to Charlotte, he was
astounded that no such activities were
held here.
“Everyone looked at me, asking
What’s Jiuieteenth?’ No one knew any-
thir^,” said Ndiaye. “Chflture and her
itage is the only direction to help you
move forward.”
Cn Jime 19, 1865, Union General
Gordon Granger read the Emancipation
Proclamation in Galveston, Ibxas, belat.-
edly initiating the freeing of 250,000
Please see CAROLINAS/2A
the box
NEWS, NOTES & TRENDS
Fomm aims to
help poor with
civil lawsuits
A Charlotte group is advocatir^ ade
quate legal representation for the indi
gent in civil cases.
Citizens Coimcil for Equal
Opportunity will host a foruiij. Saturday
at 2 p.m. at Friendship- Missionary
Baptist Chmxdi, 3301 Beatties Ford
Road. The council is looking for public
input for an action plan.
The council was foimded by Howard
McClure, a longtime advocate for legal
represCTLtation for the indigent. Last
year the group formed a board to press
for adequate funding for some civil tri
als.
For information on the fonim or coim-
cil, call.(704) 531-3543.
Life IB
Religion 5B
Sports 1C
Business 6C
A&E1D
Classified 4D
INSIDf
To subscribe, call (704) 376-0496 or FAX (704) 342-2160.© 2006 The Charlotte Post Publishing Co.
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