here’s to
GOOD HEALTH
Bobcats forward
Emeka Okafor
works his way
past injury bug
Sports/1 C
Volume 32 No. 5
The Voice of the Black Community
Brooklyn’s
bridge
Second Ward initiative revives history of
long-destroyed inner city neighborhood
Alsoservingt ,„n«Kn»5-tlI6n 28216 514 PI
Jaies 6. Duke Lihraiy a'
100 Beatties Ford Rd
Charlotte KC 28216-5302
Gantt
By Herbert L. White
heft).wh(te@fhechartotfepost.com
Urban renewal killed the-
Brooklyn neighborhood.
Urban revival woiold bring it
back to life.
Lost in the hy^e of building
a baseball stadium in
Charlotte’s urban core is
remaking the long-destroyed
neighborhood with a nod to
its history.
Brooklyn Village is the
linchpin of the Second Ward
Neighborhood Vision Plan, a
joint effort between city plan
ners, developers and stake
holders from the historically-
black community that was
razed in the 1960s as part of
Charlotte’s urban renewal
push. Brooklyn
Village, which
boosters
describe • as
“urban
I revival,” was
I approved by
I Charlotte City
Council in
2002 and
would bring new housing and
retail to center city. Once
obliterated, Brooklyn, which
was the heart of black
Charlotte for most of the 20th
century, became home to cor
porate-owned hotels,
Marshall Park and the
Mecklenburg County Aquatic
Center. Single-family homes,
most black-owned businesses
and Second Ward High
School, openend. in 1923 as
the first built for blacks in
Mecklenburg, were ' wiped
out. Other neighborhood
landmarks, such as
Friendship Missionary
Baptist Church, were relocah,
ed.
“A lot of us feel that part of
the community should’ve
never been destroyed,” said
Charlotte architect Harvey
Gantt, who is consulting with
Spectrum Properties,
Brooklyn Village’s developer.
How quickly Brooklyn’s'
restoration becomes reality
depends on baseball.
Charlotte Center City
Partners, the engine behind
bringing basebeill to the
Please see BROOKLYN/6A
CHARLOTTE CENTER CITY PARTNERS
Top: Second Ward High School homecoming queen Margaret Alexander, 1941. Second from top:
Condos and apartments at Stonewall Street would be part of the proposed Brooklyn Village, as part of
the Second Ward redevelopment plan.
A view of
Brooklyn
Highlights of the Brooklyn
Village plan if an uptown
land swap is approved:
• Recall some of the
history ot the original •
Brooklyn area:
• Build mixed-use,
mixed-income vil
lage with shops, and
homes;
• Bring bock streets
that were obliterat
ed by urban renewal
in the 1960s that
made Brookshire
Freeway and 1-277
possible:
• New park;
• Provide a new
headquarters for
Chariotte-
Mecklenburg
Schools;
• Could add a new
magnet high school
A baseball stadium for the Charlotte Knights, like Brooklyn Village, would
be built with private funds if Charlotte City Council, Charlotte-
Mecklenburg Schools and Mecklenburg County commissioners agree to
a complex land swap.
Bailey Teagu stands
in front of his Plum
Street home. The
site of Teague’s
home and the
neighborhood gro
cery store he owned
are now part of the
1-277 and
Independence
Boulevard inter
change. PUBLIC LIBRARY OF CHARLOTTE-MECKLENBURG
Illegal immigrants stay on alert with their every move
By Hazel Trice Edney
NATIONAL NEWSPAPER
PUBLISHERS ASSOC/ATTON
WASHINGTON - Michele sits
up startled in her full-size bed.
Her heart is thumping. Her mind
races with fear as she peers at the
glow of the digital clock in the
dark. It’s near midnight. Who
could be knocking at her door at
this hour?
She crawls from her bed and
tips slowly across the carpeted
floor of her efficiency apartment,
horrified at the prospect of who
could be awaiting her. She holds
her breath as she nears the door.
Peering through the peek hole,
she sighs with relief. It’s only a
fireman.
The 37-year-old laughs heartily
as she recounts the incident.
J.C. Smiffi eyes
rebound against
Fayetteville State /3C
Michelle (not her real name) is an
illegal immigrant from Trinidad,
having overstayed an
Immigration and NaturaMzation
Service Visa that ejqjired nearly
10 years ago. She has no driver’s
license. Green Card or passport.
“Sometimes you’re getting up
with night sweats and you’re
thinking. This is them’. You know
they’re coming.. .You feel as
yields
fommon
disparity
January summit to bring
Charlotte leadership to
work on tangible solutions
By Erica Singleton
FOR THE CHARLOTTE POST
Call it a meeting of the minds.
Or an open forum for change.
Or a chance to be heard.
In January, it’s a summit to eliminate dis
parities that leave African Americans disad
vantaged.
On Wednesday, members of the Charlotte-
Mecklenburg Afncan American Agenda, or
CM3A, met with the media to announce a
summit to address the need for collaboration
among Afiican Americans in Charlotte-
Mecklenburg to affect change. The CM3A
Tbwn Hall Meeting will be held January 5-6,
2007 at the Charlotte Convention Center.
Admission is free.
CM3A Chair, N.C. Sen. Malcolm Graham,
discussed the organization’s vision.
“Three years ago eis a member of the
(Charlotte) City Council, I thought it would
be a good idea to have a meeting of the
minds,” said Graham.
From that thou^t, spawned the' -vision to
“launch and maintain a powerful communi
cation vehicle that engages...dialogue and
action around issues affecting the Afirtcan-
American community.” The main compo
nents to the organization’s mission are
‘Tauilding collaborative relationships; priori
tizing issues relevant to the Charlotte-
Mecklenburg African-Americans; and
empowering the community to hold all lead
ers responsible for improving the quality of
life for African Americans living in
Charlotte-Mecklenburg.”
CM3A urges that countywide particpation,
because “all citizens have a stake in the
progress of the Afncan American communi-
3 JANUARY/2A
though you’re confined,” she near
ly whispers in her rich
Trinidadian accent. “I can’t go
anywhere that requires an I. D. I
can’t tell anybody. I pick and
choose the ones who I can trust.
And I know who I can trust by
having a conversation with them.
It’s hard, it’s hard even to travel.
So, in cases like mine, it’s in the
Please see ILLEGALS/7A
*eb0X
NEWS, NOTES & TRENDS
Remembering
Earle Village
with reunion
By Herbert L. White
heit).wh/te@fhecharioffeposf-com
Earle 'Village is throwing a party
this weekend.
The Earle Village Reunion will be
held Saturday from 12-7 p.m. at
Independence Park on Seventh Street
and Hawthorne Lane. A social dance
will kick off the festivities Friday at 7
p.m. at the Afro-American Cultural
Center, 404 North Myers St.
The reunion will include a health
fair vrith screenings for blood pres
sure, diabetes and drug and alcohol
abuse; children’s village with games
and arts and live entertainment pro
vided by hip hop, gospel and open
microphone artists.
Please see REUNION/7A
Life IB
Religion 5B
Sports 1C
Business 6C
A&E1D
Classified 3D
To subscribe, call (704) 376-0496 or FAX (704) 342-2160.© 2006 The CharloKe Post Publishing Co.
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