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THE NATION AFTER FARRAKHAN I who'll lead next? Story below ] Farewell message/SB
Jennifer Hudson breaks
through with Oscar/1 D
Volume 32 No. 24
1.I11...1I lli
28216 Sll PI
The Voice of the Black Community
Also serving CabarrC^C^^e^ ffi^^enburg, Rowan
>r . .
and York counties
PHOTO/CUFITIS WILSON
Johnson C. Smith University drum major Kenyada Mitchell goes airborne during a pep rally Monday at Founders Hall in Charlotte.
The rally was held prior to the start of the CIAA basketball tournament.
Time to catch up, let loose
Die-hard CIAA tournament fans get into town early for relaxation, camaraderie
nament is his winter vacation.
He arrived in Charlotte
What to see and
do @ the CIAA
Thursday; Ford Fan
Experience opens at 2
p.m. Free, Includes nation
al recording acts Mario,
Trey Songz, Doug E. Fresh
and Ruben
_Studdard, Also,
I^Taste of Food
■■ Lion Super
'’Stoge.
Men's quarterfinals, 1 p.m.
Friday
Steve Hoivey Morning
Show goes live at 6 a.m.
Women’s semifinals start
ot 1 p.m.: men’s at 7 p.m.
Saturday
Women's championship,
5 p.m.: men’s 8 p.m
Christine Williams said. She
attended UNC-Chapel Hill, but
shows her support for the
CIAA nonetheless.
“Most of the time you come
to see your old classmates (on
Monday),’’ he said. "I like to
watch the girls play, too.”
■ Williams said he also wants
to instill CIAA love in his son,
like families with ACC ties do
for that league.
"(The CIAA) is different than
most tournaments," Williams
said.
Curtis Edwards from
Greenville, N.C., said the tour-
By Cherts F. Hodges
cheris.hodges@fhechortotteposl.com
They’re the few, the proud,
the CIAA fans who actually
show up when the basketball
tournament actually begins.
Like Kenneth and Christine
Williams, who brought along
their 3-year-old son Kenneth
Jr.
Williams Sr. is a graduate of
Elizabeth City State University
and lives in Charlotte.
However, that didn’t stop him
from taking the entire week
off.
"1 just take off a few days,"
11 Most of the time you come to see your old classmates (on
Monday). I like to watch the girls play, too.f f
Elizabeth City State alumnus Kenneth Williams Sr. of Charlotte
Monday so that he could cheer
for his favorite teams,
Elizabeth City State and
Raleigh’s St. Augustine’s
College.
“I take the whole week off
from work and me and my
wife come down and we have a
daughter who attends
Elizabeth City and she usually
participates as well,” he said.
Unlike, the Williams and
Edwards families, many fans
of the tournament wait until
Please see CATCH/2A
Father knows measure of man, and Oprah agrees
Charlotte dad on March 28 program
By Herbert L. White
herb-whife@fhechariotteposf.com
Tommy Hayes-Brown
learned valuable life lessons
from Sidney Poitier.
On Wednesday, it earned
him lunch with the Oscar-win-
ning actor and talk-show
queen Oprah Winfrey to boot.
Hayes-Brown, a multicultur
al marketing manager at
MetLife in Charlotte, flew out
to California Wednesday to
meet Poitier and Winfrey as
well as tape an episode of the
“Oprah Winfrey Show." He
earned the trip after his
review of Poitier’s “Measure of
A Man’’ for Winfrey’s book
club caught her attention.
“We had the book on our
shelf for five years and never
got around to reading it,"
Hayes-Browo said. "I read it on
a business trip to California,
and by the .time 1 got off the
plane 1 was inspired."
Poitier’s biography lays out
details of the actor’s-rise from
poverty to international star
dom and the lessons he
imparted to his children.
Hayes-Brown, 40 and the
father of four boys - three of
them adopted - could identify
Please see LUNCH/3A
PHOTO/WADE NASH
Tommy Hayes-Brown (center) and his sons, clockwise from left:
Isaiah, Zion, Oree and Solomon.
Nation of Islam’s future uncertain after Farrakhan
By Amanda Paulson
THE CHRISnAN SCIENCE MONITOR
CHICAGO - In an address to
members of the Nation of Islam
at the end of the sect's three-
day convention in Detroit,
Louis Fanakhan’s main subject
was the importance of religious
unity and peace.
That message, delivered
Sunday, is possibly the last
address from the fiery leader,
who hadn’t appeared in public
for seven months and who
announced he will be stepping
down due to health reasons. It
may seem less inflammatory
than the rhetoric for which Mr.
Farrakhan is sometimes knovm,
but some say it was typical of
Black history and culture
are alive and well in
!ndianapo!is/1 B
the direction he has been taking
the Nation in recent years.
The organization has played
an important role in civil rights
and African-American empow
erment even as it has been crit
icized for its separatist and
sometimes racist views. Now, it
faces perhaps its most critical
juncture since the split that
probe
complete
CMS student banishment
details yet to be released
By Herbert L. White
heri3.wh(te@tliechartotteposf.com
A month after completing an investigation
into alleged banishment of academically at-
risk students at Myers Park High School,
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools has yet to
release its findings.
The probe was launched after The Post pub
lished an article in August detailing how
Myers Park administrators systematically
pushed underachieving students off campus.
The article focused on Marcus Turner, who
said he dropped out of Myers Park during the
2004-2005 school year at the urging of school
officials.
The investigation, conducted by CMS
Executive Director of Employee Relations
Janet Hamilton, was unavailable for com
ment. A CMS spokesperson said neither
Superintendent Peter Gorman nor Chief
Operating Officer Maurice Greene would com
ment for at least two weeks.
Records obtained by The Post showed
examples where Myers Park students - the
majority of them black - were coded as trans- •
fers to private school or public schools out
side the district when they still lived in
Mecklenburg County. During that time, Myers
Park was named a School of Distinction by
exceeding all No Child Left Behind standards
- the only CMS campus to be honored. Critics
Please see DETAILS/6A
occurred in the mid-70s, when
Farrakhan took over the Nation
and many members left td fol
low Imam Warith Deen (W.D.)
Muhammad.
“As with so many other reli
gious movements, the charis
ma of the leader is extremely
important,” says Anthony Finn,
Please see N0/3A
thebox
NEWS, NOTES & TRENDS
Sharpton: Test
for Thurmond
DNAlink
By Adam Goldman
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
NEW YORK - The Rev. A1 Sharpton
wants a DNA test to confirm genealo
gists’ findings that he is related to for
mer segregationist Sen. Strom
Thurmond through his great-grandfa
ther, a slave owned by an ancestor of
the late senator.
“! can’t find out anything more
shocking than I’ve already learned,”
Sharpton told the Daily News.
His spokesman, Rachel
Noerdlinger, confirmed
Monday for The
Associated Press that
Sharpton_ plans to pur
sue DNA testing, but had
no further details.
Thurmond, the late
senator from South Sharpton
Carolina, ran for presi
dent in 1948 as a segregationist.
Sharptpn ran for president in 2004 call
ing for racial equality.
Last week Sharpton learned about the
genealogists’ finding.
Please see SHARPT0N/2A
INSIDE
Life IB
Religion SB
Sports 1C
Business 8C
A&E 1D
Classified 6D
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