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Thursday, December 21, 2006
Protesters ‘shopping for justice’ in NYC
Continued from page 1A
his mother. Others at the
head of the march were
NAACP President Bruce
Gordon, the activist and
singer Harry Belafonte, U.S.
Rep. Charles Rangel, the Rev.
W. Franklyn Richardson and
Randi Weingarten, president
of the United Federation of
Tteachers.
‘We’re not coming to buy
toys. We’re not coming to buy
trinkets. We’re coming to shop
for justice,” Sharpton said at a
pre-march rally that under
scored the message “Shopping
for Justice” - a title he
bestowed upon the protest.
“Unless Santa Claus is going
to bring justice, we don’t want
Santa Claus coming down
the chimney this year.”
On Nov. 25, Bell, Benefield
and Joseph Guzman, 31,
were confronted by police as
they left a bachelor party at
about 4 a.m. Believing there
was a gun among the three,
five officers fired 50 rounds
on Bell’s car, that struck an
undercover officer and an
unmarked police van.,. All
three men were unarmed.
The shooting is under
investigation by Queens
District Attorney Richard
Brown, who will present evi
dence to a grand jury.
Belafonte, the renowned
Calypso singer and interna
tional civil
rights activist,
spoke to
applause and
cheers about
the history of
and present
forms of
Sharpton racism in the
United States.
“It is indeed a sad state
ment that we have to, after
300 years, still be gathering
to query, look for and demand
justice,” Belafonte said.
“Racism is the root of most of
the evils that ruin this coun-
tiy.”
“I have nephews, brothers
and grandsons,” said retired
health care worker Ada
Leamon, “If this continues to
happen, nobody is safe in the
streets with the mentality
(police) have.”
House panel to urge joint venture
Continued from page 1A
areas are not being able to
retain students until the 12th
grade,” she said.
Dropouts impact North
Carolina’s economy, educa
tors and business leaders
agree, a student who leaves
school without a diploma has
less than a 50 percent chance
of landing a job. For Afncan
Americans, the likelihood
plummets to 25 percent. Jobs
taken by dropouts also earn
Second Ward grant
Continued from page 1A
some aid to continue this mission, in the form of a $15,000.00
check from the Drakeford Company.
“This is an early Christmas present from a member of a
younger generation who values preservation and quality of life
in his home town.” said Vermelle Diamond Ely, museum execu
tive director and archivist, who knew of the holiday surprise
ahead of time.
Bobby Drakeford, ovmer of the Drakeford Company, is a
native Charlottean who knows some of the history of Second
Ward, which inspired him to lend his support;
“My mother was a graduate of Carver College,” said the
Developer. “I have a natural interest in Second Ward.”
Outside of personal interest, Drakeford also had professional
interest in aiding the groups’ preservation efforts.
“I was involved with a development in First Ward that led to
the demolition of four homes (that) some asserted were historic,”
he said.
Drakeford added when the information was first brought to
him; he pledged his support to try to save the homes.
“I offered to give them to a non-profit group...to move them and
preserve them. There were no takers,” explained Drakeford. “If
no one could move them, I would support an organization whose
efforts were to preserve history in Center City.”
Though the houses were demolished, Drakeford kept his word
with his donation.
‘Virtually all of my development projects are within historic
neighborhoods where I do work very hard to preserve the his
toric integrity of the community,” said Drakeford,
“Bobby has an intuitive knowledge of the lingering effects of
the wide path cut by urban renewal and he brings an under
standing of the deep, emotional value that homes have - both to
individuals and to the larger community,” said Ely. “He strives
to honor the past as he goes about his successful work and
understands that knowing our history can help us all build a
better community.”
The foundation has worked to build an archive of black histo
ry images for their on-site archive, the Robinson-Spangler Room
of the Riblic Library of Charlotte & Mecklenburg County, and
“An African American Album: The Black Experience in
Charlotte and Mecklenburg County” as well as “An African
American Album: Vol. 2.”
'Fhe foundation provided 16 mm film footage from their
archive which became the visual backdrop of a documentary “A
Colored School” first broadcast on UNC-W. The foundation also
published “Charlotte, North Carolina” as part of The Black
America Series through Arcadia Press. The organization has
supported research for local and national groups including the
Behind the Veil Project of the Duke Center for Documentary
Studies.
The funds from this grant will help support two foundation
projects this v^inter and spring:
• lb continue work on a digital initiative on the Brooklyn
neighborhood; a nearly ten year effort to preserve and tell the
story of the lost neighborhood of Second Ward through original,
materials, media and digital techniques.
• Tb support the filming of the three remaining desegregation
pioneers of Charlotte school integration. The footage will be part
of a new documentary and will include the stoiy of Charlotte
photographers who covered those events. In anticipation of the
50th anniversary of school desegregation in America, the alum
ni group plans to have materials available on the web by
September 2007.
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less than they did 20 years
ago and studies have shown a
lack of education is a key fac
tor in crime and welfare
dependency.
“When we talk about
preparing our citizens to new
technology, we’re losing
them,” Parmon said. “It
makes for a very bleak future
for North Carolina.”
In addition to studying
dropout rates, the committee
is also expected to weigh in on
whether the state should
raise the compulsory age to
remain in school to 18.
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