UNFORGEHABLE
Natalie Cole reinvent;
her sound with the
Charlotte Pops/1 D
Volume 33 No. 4
Golden Bulls
try to salvage
a winning
season/1 B
The Voice of the Black Community
Dispute
breaks
out over
Jena 6
By Valencia Mohammad
AFRO-AMERICAN NEWSPAPERS
WASHINGTON - With all the
focus primarily on Mychal
Bell, one of the youth defen
dants in the Jena 6 case, many
people around the country
wonder what has occurred
with the remaining teens
charged with aggravated sec
ond degree battery for beating
a White teenager.
Bell, the first defendant to be
tried in court, received lots of
international attention with
high profile figures including
the Rev. A1 Sharpton, the Rev.
Jesse Jackson. Martin Luther
King III, congressional and
civil rights leaders leading the
fray. Radio personalities
Michael Baisden and Tom
Joyner organized a successful
march with 100.000 partici
pants converging on the small
town,
Now that Bell has been
released and awaits future
court appearances, the trials
of the other defendants have
come under the microscope.
• Theodore Shaw: According
to Robert McDuff, one of three
legal representatives for Shaw,
there will be a hearing on Nov.
7 and the trial begins on Jan.
28, 2008. Shaw has not
received any education since
he was expelled by the school
board December 2006.
■ Ryan Simmons: Has the
least amount of charges,
according to his attorney
William Whatley. His family
moved away from Jena, La. No
trial date has been set.
• Robert Bailey has more
charges than any other defen-
dcint. According to his attor
ney Jim Boren, there will be a
motion hearing on Nov. 7.
Bailey is set for trial on Nov.
28.
The day after the rally his
mother Caseptla Bailey said
her son has not received any
education since he was
expelled. Several attempts to
reinstate Bailey have failed.
The family still lives in Jena,
La. ■
■ Bryan Purvis has a hearing
on Nov. 7. According to his
mother Tina Jones, he has
moved to smother state. He
attended private school last
year. Purvis is attending pub-
Pleasgsee FEUDS/6A
Think
green
and
black
U.S. environmental
movement grows with
black influence
PHOTO/CALVIN FERGUSON
Cynlhia Brown (from left), a consultant at ttie Conservation Fund, Audrey Peterman, president of Earftiwlse
Production, Hazel Wong of The Nature Conservancy and Shaking Alston, a member of the Council of
Community Services of New York are among the AWcan Americans meeting In Charlotte this weekend
at an environmental summit. On the right is Bill Meadows of The Wilderness Society.
By Herbert L. White
herb.whife@JhechartofJeposf.com
Audrey Peterman is one of
Mother Earth’s guardians.
Peterman, president of Earthwise
Productions, is part of a growing
legion in the U.S. environmental
movement - African American
advocates. At a summit of black
environmentalists in Charlotte this
week, activists from across the U.S.
gathered to build relationships
between social justice, public
health, parks and recreation, and
faith communities about the plan
et’s status.
"There are a lot of black folk who
are tree-huggers,’’ said Peterman,
who edits a newsletter geared
toward African American environ
mentalists. "Black people are just
as passionate about the environ
ment. Black people are also pas
sionate about the great outdoors."
The Charlotte stop, the fourth in
a series of conversations around
the country called Summit 2007:
Diverse Partners for Environmental
Progress, will build upon the foun
dations laid by Summit 2005 and
regional roundtables. The summit
also included a meeting of emerg
ing leaders in the environmental
and social justice movements.
11 There are a lot of
black folk who are
tree-huggers. Black
people are just as
passionate about
the environment.”
Audrey Peterman editor of a
newsletter geared toward African
American environmentalists.
"Although we know that each of
these communities has its own
strengths and seeks to retain its
identity, we also recognize that
there are common links among our
issues. If we can find more ways to
collaborate, we stand a better
chance of successfully resolving
our differences and being more
successful in protecting our envi-
See BLACK/6A
SCRIP
crambles
under
Bush veto
Child health insurance
plan would’ve expanded
By Madeline Drexler
NATfONAl. NEWSPAPER PUBUSHERS ASSOCIATION
BOSTON - Just after Christmas 2006,
Dedra Lewis faced a stark choice. Alexsiana,
Lewis’s young daughter, was going blind
from a rare eye disorder called uveitis, and
losing mobility from juvenile rheumatoid
arthritis, part of a devastating syndrome
that had suddenly struck the year before.
Together, these conditions required steroid
eye drops every hour, other medications
throughout the day, and doctors' appoint
ments three times a week.
Lewis, who manages a federally subsi
dized housing project in Springfield, Mass.,
‘ had to choose between staying at her full
time job and thereby stinting on Alexsiana’s
care - or cutting back her work hours to
care for her daughter, thereby losing her
family's health insurance.
"Any mother is going to pick her child,’’
Lewis said.
Two days later, her insurance was can
celled. The costs for Alexsiana’s medica
tions alone: about $450 per week. As Lewis
recalls, "Everything crashed,”
What saved Alexsiana, now 9, was the
State Children’s Health Insurance Program,
or SCHIP - the same program that Congress
has voted to expand, and that the President
Bush vetoed last week, fearful that it would
Please see PARENTS/3A
Marking the
Million Man
March
12th anniversary includes
Louis Farrakhan webcast
By Herbert L. White
hert>.wh;fe@fhecfiartofteposf.com
The 12-year anniversary of the Million
Man March will be marked with a series of
events in Charlotte.
Muhammad Mosque No. 36
will celebrate the Holy Day of
Atonement Oct. 16 at the
Crowne Plaza Hotel, 201
South McDowell St. Doors
open at 6 p.m., with the pro
gram starting an hour later.
Admission is free. For
information, call the mosque Farrakhan
at (704) 399-0096.
Nation of Islam leader Minister Louis
Farrakhan, organizer of the 1995 rally in
See RALLY/2A
Street dedications honor Greenville community’s best, past and future
THE DRAKEFORD COMPANY
NorthEnd Square, a condominium and retail development planned for Statesville and
Oaklawn avenues, will bring new shops and housing to northwest Charlotte. The project
kicks off Oct. 17 with the projects introduction and street dedication honoring Oaklawn
entrepreneurs Romeo Alexander and Walter Taylor.
By Herbert L. White
fierb.wh/fe@fhechorioffeposf.com
Two of the Greenville neigh
borhood's most influential
boosters will have streets
named in their honor.
Walter Taylor Way arid
Romeo Alexander Road will be
dedicated Oct. 17 at 11:30
a.m. at the comer of Statesville
and Oaklawn avenues. RSVP to
Vanessa Howard at (704) 344-
0332, extension 305. , .
"I'm very surprised," said
Alexander, 85. "I think tllat^s
one of the most important
things to ever happen to me. if
the Lord spares me. I’ll be
there."
The dedication is a fitting
tribute for Taylor and
/Alexander, who built busi
nesses despite segregation
that minimized opportunities
for black entrepreneurs, said
developer Bobby Drakeford,
who plans to build NorthEnd
Square condominiums in the
neighborhood.
"We're just recognizing
these guys for the work
they've done through segrega
tion and urban renewal,” he
said. "It’s unheard of."
Jeep Liberty muscles up
with design changes/2B
Life 1C
Religion 5C
Sports 1B
Business 5B
A&E ID
Classified 4D
INSIDE
To subscribe: (704) 376-0496 FAX (704) 342-2160,© 2007 The Chariotte Post Publishing Co.
Alexander, who was born
and raised in Greenville,
opened his first business, a
snack shop on 1133 Oaklawn
after leaving the Army in the
late 1940s with $3,000 in sav
ings. He renovated the build
ing and changed the restau
rant to the Oaklawn Tavern,
.then opened Razades at 1616
Statesville in the mid-1950s.
The Greenville eatery
became an instant success as
an upscale restaurant for
/African Americans, serving as
a gathering place for prom
See NEW/2A
Please
Recycle
o