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The Voice of the Black Cotfimunity
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Also serving,Cab« g. Duke Library
100 Beatties Ford Rd
Charlotte NC 28216-5302
PHOTO/BRAND) WOODSON
Basketball hall of famer Earvin Johnson talked AIDS prevention last week in Charlotte. HIV and AIDS affects African Americans
disproportionately, with blacks accounting for half of new HIV c
Magic’s AIDS message
Basketball legend lends personal experience to educating African Americans
By Brandi Woodson
THE CHARLOTTE POST
Earvin ‘'Magic” Johnson is
urging African Americans to
take the stigma out of AIDS.
The basketball hall of famer
brought the “I Stand with
Magic” campaign to Charlotte
last week with a series of
events, including a town hall
meeting at little Rock AME
Zion Church and an education
al summit at Johnson C. Smith
University to send a message
of prevention to students.
In 1991. Johnson announced
to the world that he was HIV
positive and retired from the
NBA’s Los Angeles Lakers,
where he played on five cham
pionship teams.
“I never hid my status •and*''''
after I got over the initial shock
of it, I had to tell my wife,” said
Johnson. “That was the hardest
part.”
More than 15 yearn later,
Johnson is sharing his story to
help stop the spread of the dis
ease among the black commu-
.nity. “At the time it was a gay
white man’s disease,” said
Johnson. "Now it’s basically a
black person’s disease."
Blacks make up 13 percent of
the U.S. population but
account for 50 percent of new
HIV cases in 2004. Johnson,
who launched an HIV educa-
Please see MAGICIS/2A
((I never hid my status and after i got over the initial shock of
it, I had to tell my wife. That was the hardest part. | J
L 1 Basketball legend Earvin Johnson on being diagnosed with HIV
Charlotte family’s goal: Put Africans on their feet
Collecting shoes for S. Africa mission
By Brandi Woodson
THE CHARLOTTE POST
The Porter family is collect
ing hundreds of shoes to put
Africans on their feet.
It was while attending a spe
cial service at Park Wood CME
Church that Tard Porter heard
about the need for shoes in
Africa. Porter and wife
Josephine started collecting
shoes with the help of
Samaritan’s Feet, an interna
tional non-profit organization
that changes the lives of
youth through sports and
recreational activities under
the direction of the Rev.
Emmanuel Ohome. Each
month this organization takes
a trip to a different place in the
world to give shoes to those in
need. Samaritan’s Feet hopes
to put shoes on the feet of 10
million children over the next
10 years.
“It got to a place where I had
so many shoes, that they
asked me to go to Africa,” said
Please see MISSION/3A
PHOTO/PAUL WIU-IAMS III
Tournament week brought traffic snarls and smiles
By Chens F. Hodges
ctieris.hodges.fifhectiattottepos(.com
Working in Uptown Charlotte
was no party last week.
CIAA basketball tournament
fans enjoyed the games and
parties, but people like James
Wood had to go to work.
"Parking wasn’t too bad,” the
Bank of America employee said.
"Over the weekend it was
clogged up.”
Wood said that he normally
parks about four blocks away
from the BB&T Center where he
works and he didn’t experience
any problems.
"On the last two days, traffic
was a little bit busy,” he said.
But Wood, who attended
Winston-Salem State University,
Please see CIAA/6A
PHOTO/CURTIS WILSON
Abraham Mitchell - also known as “Mr. CIAA,” greets Miss St.
AugustineS College Chrishauna Thomas.
More CIAA events
appealed to young
adults, families
By Brandi Woodson
THE CHAPLOTTE POST
A decade ago, the CIAA bas
ketball tournament was losing
its luster with the young and
hip.
Not anymore.
The tournament is about
more than basketball now. Now
it has become one of the most
anticipated events of the season
and uptown is always full of
sports lovers and party goers. "I
love when CIAA comes around,”
3 EVENTS/6A
Obama .
makes
palling
inroads
U.S. senator passes Clinton
among likely black voters
By Hazel Tnce Edney
NATIONAL NEWSPAPER PUBUSHERS ASSOCIATION
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senator Barack
Obama’s rock star-like following in his
Democratic bid for the presidency has now
overtaken Sen. Hilary Clinton’s support in the
African American community,
causing two former black pres- I
idential candidates to skepti- ;
cally say Obama (D-Ul.) really
could become America’s first
black president - if he over
comes major hurdles.
“I guess anyone has
chance." says activist A1
Sharpton, a Democratic candi
date for president in 2004.
"But, the poll challenges him
more than anything else. I see
the poll saying that he was bet
ter than he was, but he’s got a
long way to go before he talks
about winning.”
A Washington Post-ABC I
News poll shows Clinton at 36 Sharpton
percent and Obapia at 24 per
cent generally consistent since January. But, in
black support, the poll shows a dramatic shift
since January when Clinton led Obama 60
percent to 20 percent. The most recent poll
late last month showed Obama with 44 per-
Please see OBAMA/6A
theboX
NEWS, NOTES & TRENDS
Time digs into
Myers Park
banishments
By Erica Singleton |
FOR THE CHARLOTTE POST '
The possible banishment and mis- ;
coding of Myers Park High School stu- i
dents during the 2004-2005 school 1
year is the subject of a national maga- ;
zine article. ;
On Wednesday, Time was scheduled ■
to publish a story on its website, result- ;
ing from their own investigation into
the allegations. The Post broke the orig
inal story last August and reported last ■
week Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools
completed an investigation of the alle- ;
gations. i
; In North Carolina during the 2004- ;
2005 academic year, there were more :
than 20,000 dropout events recorded
statewide for grades 9-12, with African
American student rates among the
highest. For CMS, the total was 1,108
with blacks accounting for 555. Data
fitim a sample group of 49 Myers Park i
transfers and dropouts obtained by
The Post showed 16 were coded incor- '
rectly and 12 of those were African
American. Among 16 correctly-coded ;
Please see NATIONAL/2A
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