The Park's
Ministries is
‘something
special' to
Pastor Claude
Alexander/SB
SUPER SATURDAY
Three Mecklenburg
teams aim for state
football titles/1 C
Independence High QB
Darryl McFadden
Volume 32 No. 12
IDENTITY THEFT
SOLUTIONS
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The Voice of the Black Community
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Also serving Cabarrufik,
PHOTO/CURTIS WILSON
Wynonna Mims of Charlotte hands fliers to passersby in Charlotte last week in support of workers at Smithfield Packaging Company’s
Tar Heei, N.C. piant. Activists rallied here to bring attention to abuse of laborers at the world’s largest hog-processing facility.
Blood, sweat and fear
N.C. activists rally against unsafe conditions, abuse at Smithfield pork plant
By Erica Singleton
FOR THE CHARLOTTE POST
At Smithfield Packaging
Company's Tar Heel processing
plant, more than pigs’ blood is
shed.
Lenora Bailey said she com
plained to Tar Heel supervisors
of arm pain and “was given a
heat pad and sent back to work.”
Bailey, who began work -with
the plant in 2001, was diagnosed
work-induced tendonitis and
was put on light duty for a while.
But after undergoing surgery for
other health issues, including
gallstones, she was fired.
“I busted my stitches one day
trying to get up there to give
them another (doctor’s) note,”
she said.
Bailey then joined the United
Food and Commercial^ Workers
International Union to get work
ers at Tar Heel, including her
husband C.J., unionized.
“The more we say to
Smithfield we don’t need to work
so close...we don’t need to have
so many injuries...the more the
continue to do what they’ve
always done,” she said. “We say
no more. Whatever it takes to let
Smithfield know they’ve treated
us unjustly..do it.”
Protesters from across the
state stand vigil outside Harris
Tbeter supermarkets, holding
signs that read “SMITHFIELD
BACON: Packaged with Worker
Abuse @ Tar Heel, N.C. Plant.”
Clergy, civil rights and union
activists have joined forces to
Please see SMITHFIELD/3A
Neighbors honored for improving their communities
By Herbert L. White
Heft).wh/fe@fliechariofteposf.com
Some of Charlotte’s best neigh
bors have earned more than
thanks from the communities
they live in.
Bank of America Corp. honored
recipients of its third annual
Neighborhood Excellence
Initiative awards to recognize
individuals and organizations
who work to improve communi
ties. In three years. Bank of
America has committed over $1.3
million through the initiative in
Charlotte.
“The impetus behind the
Neighborhood Excellence
Initiative is to increase the impact
of our giving by building partner
ships vidth non-profit organiza
tions, recognizing distinguished
volunteers and cultivating the
next generation of community
leaders,” said Graham Denton,
BofAs North Carolina president.
The Neighborhood Excellence
Initiative provides support
through;
• Neighborhood Builders,
which will disburse: $200,000 in
grant funding and leadership
training over the course of two
years to: Charlotte Emergency
Housing, which provides families
and single adults with short-term
emei^ency housing.
The organization, which owns a
14-room facility in downtown
Charlotte, works to provide ser
vices and stability so working
families can eventually move into
long-term housing.
Please see HOPE/6A
In Congo, superstition breeds wave of homeless kids
By Scott Baldouf
THE CHRISVAN SCIENCE MONITOR
KINSHASA, Congo - Three
months ago, Kisungu Gloire con
sidered himself fortunate.
A 13-year-old refugee, he had a
house to sleep in, food to eat, and
a stepmother who took care of
him as one of her own.
Then one day Kisungu’s frag
ile world fell apart.
His stepmother delivered a
baby that was stillborn. She
blamed Kisui^, calling him a
witch. She had a dream that
Kisungu was trying to kill her,
and then tried to bum him with
a flaming plastic bag. She took
him to a priest to perform an
exorcism, but when that
appeared to have failed, she
finally stopped feeding him and
told him to get out.
“When I would ask for food,
she refused,” he says. “Another
time I asked for food, she took a
kitchen knife and cut me in the
eye. When I talked with my
brother, he said, ‘Just drop it.’ So
then I moved out onto the
streets.”
Stories like Kisimgu’s are by
no means rare, and are one of
the most difficult challenges
faced by aid workers and the
new Congolese government as
they collectively begin the
CHRISTI/W SCIENCE MONITOR PHOTO/SCOTT BALDOUF
Ntumba Tshimanga, a IG-year-old orphan, came to Kinshasa to flee
Please see CONGO/2A
fighting in eastern Congo. His extended family initially took him in, but
later kicked him out, accusing him of witchcraft.
HIV risk
higher
despite
sale sex
Study:-Blacks still more
likely to become infected
THE TRIANGLE TRIBUNE
CHAPEL HILL - Young black adults are
far more likely to be infected with a sexually
transmitted disease, including HIV, than
young white adults, even when they engage
in the same or even safer behavior, according
to research released last week.
The study, electronically published by the
American Journal of Public Health, found
that African Americans aged 18 to 26 years
engaging in low-risk behavior - no sex in the
past year and little or no alcohol and drug
use - are nearly 25 times more likely to be
infected than whites engaging in the same
behavior. Young black adults who have few
sex partners and low alcohol and drug use in
a year are seven times more likely to be
infected than whites with the same behavior.
The survey of8,706 participants found that
young black adults generally engage less in
risky behavior that could result in the trans
mission of STDs. Additionally, condom use
among blacks is above 50 percent, while it’s
only one-third for young whites. However,
because the prevalence of STDs is so much
higher among young black adults, the risk of
coming in contact with someone with an
STD is exponentially greater, according to
study author Denise Hallfors, Ph.D., a senior
research scientist at the PIRE Chapel Hill
Center.
“Tb combat this disparity, we need a much
more aggressive public health strategy to
reach all young black adults,” HaUfo^s said.
“It’s not enough to recommend safe sex and
testing for individuals, we need a media
Please see HIV/7A
theboX
NEWS, NOTES & TRENDS
Librarian
closes book
on 40 years
By Chens F. Hodges
cheD's.hodges@fhechortotteposf.com
The year was 1966 and Kings
Mountain resident Pearhe Brown had
a chance to leave her job at Carver
High School in Spindale to return to
Gaston County to get in on the ground
floor at Gaston Community College.
“This job was a blessing for me,” said
Brovm, who is retiring this month
after 40 years of library service.
Brown has seen a lot of changes at
the school and library-moving from
the card catalogue system to comput
ers, seeing the campus grow from two
buildings to today’s sprawling layout.
But one thing has remained a con
stant is Brown’s willingness to help
students.
When she was hired in the 1960s,
Brown was the only African American
on Stas'at GCC.
“When I first got the job, they only
Please see LIBRARIAN/7A
Giving single: Navigating the
holidays by following rules
on presents/1 B
Life IB
Religion 5B
Sports 1C
Business 6C
A&E1D
Classified 3D
INSIDE
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