RALEIGH, N.C„
THURSDAY,/
DECEMBER 20/I?
VOL. 49, NO. !
DEDICATED TO THE SPIRl/ T
M
Ml •
MERRY
CHRISTMAS
Local Leaders Charge
Disproportionate Number Of Blacks To Gulf
Tnm CAROLINIAN Staff RcparU
The last active-duty task for ex-Air
.Force Sgt. Mike Bowen was to bring
home body bags of Marines killed in
the Beirut bombing in October 1983.
Today he is mobilizing anti-war ac
tions in Philadelphia.
Linda Stouts, with the Piedmont
Peace Project in rural North
Carolina, was astounded to learn that
two-thirds of some 80 people at a re
cant meeting had a loved one in the
desert in Saudi Arabia. One man, a
recent recruit of the organization,
revealed that two brothers, two
brothers-in-law and sisters have been
shipped to the Gulf.
Pat Bryant, formerly of Raleigh,
recently led caravans through 37
communities in the Gulf Coast and
Black Belt South, forming human
barricades at gas pumps, with the
battle cry, “No blood for oil! ” Also in
the Louisiana area with Bryant is
Mayso Tomlinson from Raleigh.
Earlier this week, area ministers
and supporters met in front of the
Legislative Building in downtown
Raleigh where the Rev. Leon White,
who is a leader of the United Church
of Christ Commission for Racial
Justice, announced a national
mobilisation and prayed for peace.
He called oa blacks across the nation
to gather once a week to pray for a
peaceful end to the crisis.
White’s “National African
Americans Pray for Justice and
Peace Movement” Joins a growing
tide of opposition to the Persian Gulf
war is building, fueled by the
disproportionate deployment of black
people on the front lines and the ever
increasing hardships at home.
Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis, Jr., ex
ecutive director of the UCC’s Com
mission for Racial Justice, said the
time has come for the call that all
U.S. armed forces be withdrawn from
the Persian Gulf region to prevent a
devastating war.
“At first, the troops were initially
sent to defend Saudi Arabia and to en
force United Nations sanctions
against Iraq. U.S. foreign policy must
be more even-handed and consistent
and less contradictory. The United
States refusal to enforce previous
United Nations resolutions concern
ing the Israeli occupation of the West
Bank and other Palestinian ter
ritories only aervea to fuelfurtber
conflict,” Chvia said.
“Therefore we Join with the Na
tional Council of Churches in the USA
and demand , that all U.S. troops
return to the United States except
tboee designated by the United Na
tions to be in the UN peacekeeping
force,” Chavis said.
(See PERSIAN GULF, P. 2)
Gardens
Scene Of
Santa Visit
. is coming to Raleigh with
I gifts to give to children who
ise might not receive many
to» this year.
Ike JoUy elf has agreed to make
fids special visttlo Southeast Raleigh
a day earlier and to disperse gifts at
the Martin Luther King Memorial
Gardens. Claus said he would receive
kids on Dec. a from 4-6 p.m., prior to
departing for the long trek to other
chUdren around the globe.
The special visit was arranged af
ter he learned that the King Commit
tee was planning an “OM-Fashfamed
Christmas Caroling Program” at the
gardens. In addition to Santa, the
Martin Luther King All-Children’s
Chsir will sing along with the King
Committee’s Caroling Choir compos
ed of committee members and their
Dr. Paul Vandergrift, organizer
and director of the committee’s choir,
“The King Gardens has
one of Wake County’s
attractions. Continuing to
this positive image as a
viable community showpiece is im
P<WhUe the activities are taking
place, the committee will serve hot
apple cider and Christmas cookies
and be warmed by two old-fashioned
outdoor bonfires. The Christmas pro
gram’s coordinator, Ms. Bettye
Hargrove, said, “Christmas is such a
special time of the year. We want to
share this spirit with the total com
munity. The caroling, fellowship and
Santa’s presence will make this the
type of neighborhood gathering that
we’ve been missing. We encourage
(See SANTA CLAUS, P. 2)
NEWS BRIEFS
PUBLIC HEARING ON
The City of Raleigh is inviting
the public to make comments and
of the $20
on Nov. C. The .hearing
will ha heM an Jan. 2 at Tpji. in
the conncil chamber of the
W. Hargett St. Written*
'aloe may ha
city's
Department. They
A VITAL LINK
West Africa Promotions, a vital
link to Accra, Freetown, Lagos,
Abidjan and Lome, in association
with Global impact Media, plan a
to Africa for
. GIM is a
in the area
with Saks In New York, Housten,
Paris, Ghana and the Ivory
Coast. West Africa Promotion is
located at 21M Klagstree Court in
or 2214244.
COMEDY PARTY
of the Harlem
Charlie Good
the
Christmas Com
%
(See NEWS BRIEFS, P.2)
NEW MOVEMENT-Arta mMstan and suppartart an
taan standing naar Christmas Tran USA In tha tabby at tha
N.C. State Legislative Bedding prior to Rav. Leon White’s
announcement of a national malllizaMen pretesting
American troops In the Persian Gulf known as the
“National African-Americans Pray fir Jvstica and Peaca
Movamant.” In photo: the Rev. J. H. Janas, Rev. David
Fay, Ms. Nancy Tice, Rev. Rebecca Jahnaan and Rav.
Herman Laa. Not pictured: Rav. Lonnie Yeung. (Photo by
James GHas)
First Black Patrol Captain
To JV.C. Highway Patrol
BY DANIEL A. YOUNG, SR.
Contributing Writer
On Thursday, Lt. Richard Holden
of the North Carolina Highway Patrol
in Wake County, becomes the first
black to be promoted to the rank of
captain in die history of the State
Troopers.
Troop C Commander, Captain
Spainhour, who has been with the
Highway Patrol 24 years, says of
Holden, “He’s very professional, and
he gets along well with people. I think
he’ll serve North Carolina well.’’
Holden, a Wake County resident,
born and raised in Wendell by strong
willed, supportive parents who knew
the value of strict discipline. He went
to James E. Sheppard High School.
After high school, while pursuing
studies to be a teacher in industrial
technology at North Carolina A*T in
Greensboro, he met Capt. Charlie
Johnson who was instrumental in
changing his goals from being a
teacher to being a member of the
Highway Patrol. "He was such a nice
fellow; I just really found my interest
in law enforcement just talking to
him,” Holden said.
“He talked very positively to me
about the opportunities in the
Highway Patrol. After talking to him,
CAPT. RICHARD HOLDEN
l decided to go with the Highway
Patrol. I felt they were the utopia, the
top of law enforcement. After making
my talk with him I Just knew this was
what I wanted to do.
“I put in my application when there
was only one other black on the force,
Charlie Johnson from Winston
Salem. I put in my application, it was
accepted and in September 1969, I
started patrol school, which lasted
until December 1969 at the University
of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and
thereafter I was assigned to my first
duty station in Fayetteville.”
At 43, Holden has been married for
21 years on Dec. 27 and has two
youngsters. He threw in the date of
Dec. 27 for good measure.
While the family recognizes the
potential for danger, Holden says,
“My wife has been very supportive of
me. She said if this is the career I
want to follow, she would encourage
and support my efforts. She’s been
the person behind the scenes that has
really given me a lot of support in
many instances. She is a school
teacher and kind of keeps me straight
on a lot of things.”
Holden reflected on handling con
cerns in our neighborhoods by saying,
“I think most of it is community con
tact, and being a part of the com
munity that you live in will be a factor
that will have a positive image with
small kids and teenagers.”
Holden, who is 6’2” and weighs 215
pounds, says that physical re
quirements have changed over the
years.
“Years ago there were a lot more
restrictions concerning physical
build than there are now. There is no
longer any height requirement in law
enforcement, and your weight has to
be in proportion to vour height.
(See STATE TROOPER. P. 2)
N.Y. Courtroom Erupts As Teens
Are Convicted In “Jogger” Case
NEW YORK, N.Y. (AF)-Cour
troom spectators screamed threats at
the judge, prosecutor and jurors
when two more defendants were con
victed ih the attack on a jogger who
was gang-raped and beaten nearly to
death in Central Park.
Kevin Richardson, 16, last Tuesday
became the first of five people con
victed in the April 1969 attack to be
found guilty of attempted murder. He
also was convicted of rape, sodomy,
robbery, assault and riot.
Kharey Wise, 18, was cleared of the
more serious charges but found guilty
of assault, sexual abuse and riot. One
juror said nhysical evidence, like that
against Richardson, was lacking in
Wise’s case.
The verdicts came after 12 days of
deliberations in the case, which
rested chiefly on videotaped
statements the defendants made to
police. The defense had argued that
the teenagers were intimidated and
told what to say ny ponce.
Family members and other sup
porters erupted when tne verdicts
against Richardson were read, jump
ing to their feet, yelling threats and
waving fists.
Some yelled, “white justice," or
“white racist” and accused the judge
and prosecutor of railroading Wise
and Richardson, who are black. The
victim is white.
Richardson’s mother, Grace Cuf
fey, fainted in the pandemonium, and
the court was cleared so emergency
workers could administer oxygen.
As Wise was led from the cour
troom in handcuffs, he turned to
Assistant District Attorney Elizabeth
Lederer and said, "You, bitch, you’re
going to pay for this."
Lederer, who won convictions
against three other defendants in an
earlier trial stemming’from the at
tack, was escorted from the court by
police.
The case symbolized rising fears of
random violence in New York City
and brought the term “wilding” into
the city’s mainstream vocabulary.
Wilding is a street term for in
discriminate rampages of violence
and robberies.
Critics in the black community said
the case received wide attention only
because the victim, an investment
banker, was white and affluent.
Wise and Richardson face sentenc
ing on Jan. 9. Richardson, charged as
a mionr, could get a maximum of five
to 10 years in prison.
Wise, who was charged as an adult
because he was 16 when the attack
took place, could be sentenced to
eight and two-thirds to SB years in
prison.
Defense attorneys said they would
appeal.
Juror Victoria Bryers said
tticanrason was convicieu ot roe
(See JOGGER, P.S)
A Christmas Stogy
Best Theme Told
BY DOROTHY 8HAW-THOMP8ON
C«trlMk| Writer
Once upon a time in a faraway but
very dose kingdom lived a Father
who was both mother and father to
his 144,000 children. Of course any
father with so many children had to
own a very, very large home
kingdom and be very, very wise and
extremely rich and, of course, most
creative. Of his many, many wonder
ful qualities, the most loving one is
Ms spirit of permissiveness. He had
learned that the more choices he per
mitted Ms children to have, the more
able Ms children were to nuke the
best choices. The leas he whipped and
controlled Ms children the more they
yearned to be like Mm.
The children were good children
because they had been created
through a wonderful and wise father
but as all children do they liked to
play, imagine and pretend to be
somebody else. Some were more
creative than others buit all in some
way had the same qualities of the
father, of course in different propor
tions.
Within this family were the two
older children who were twins. These
children were the leaders of the
others. One day one of the twins said
to his group of children, “Father has
tricked us. He's told us we can do
whatever we’d like but he really
doesn’t let us. Think about it, every
time we go out of the kingdom too far,
he whispers and there we are called
back before we know it. Now what
kind of freedom is that?”
The other twin listening said, “But
dear twin, that isn’t freedom, that’s
love—haven’t you learned
anything?”
“Love, love, love, I’m sick of tht
word,” said Ms twin. “I don’t want
love, I want freedom and I know
Father—he will give it to me and I’m
going to ask him now.” Of course,
since they were both correct, the
father said to them, “Certainly, twin,
you may have freedom but I can’t
give that to you without love—you’ll
learn that what I have to and I can
turn nothing off because you demand
it, nor can I refuse to give you what
you want because since you came
tram me all I have to yours."
And so the twin and all who even
tually followed im went off to play,
create and imagine—all, that to, but
the other twin. That twin stayed with
the tether and his elder aequain
tsnwfw called the M Archangels.
Sure enough, the further the
children went out to play, the more
freedom they had and the less they
heard the whisperings of their
father’s love. Before they knew it,
their creations were getting out of
hand. They had created wars and
sickness and confusions among the
many ten things they had also
created—so much so that sometimes
they couldn’t tell which was which.
Money was fun and so was war and
sometimes sickness created much for
them to laugh at, discover and
change.
Soon there came a time when the
Archangels went to the tether and
said, “Sir, don’t you think the
children’s games have gotten out of
hand? Aren’t you afraid you wUl lose
them altogether? Can’t you Just stop
this madness and call them all
beck?”
Hie tether simply replied, “I hear
you, Archangels, hut a promise is a
promise. There to only one way I can
stop than and that to to destroy them
How can I destroy my own creation?
The mother in me Just won’t let me do
Umt she’s too wise.”
Hie twin that had stayed with the
father and the Archangels and a few
of his followers who had stayed closer
to the kingdom, listened intently. He
had from time to time gone out to
play with Ms brothers and sisters but
had never stayed too long. Just long
enough to remind them'of the Father
and his love. As he listened he created
(See BEST THEME, P. 2)
IN DEATHS
U.S. District Judge W. Earl Britt
ordered a mandatory life sentence
without parole to a 20-year-old
Raleigh woman who helped sell
heroin to three persons who died us
ing the drug, and also left four others
sickened.
Sonia Camille Taylor had pleaded
guilty in September to conspiracy
and aiding and abetting heroin
distribution. In such cases, federal
laws require a life term, because Ms.
Taylor had a criminal record for dkug
dealing and because she was con
victea of distributing drugs that caus
ed deaths and serious injuries.
Mi. Taylor’s attorney, Ed Walker,
argued that the sentencing law was
unconstitutional, and Oat due pro
cess should require that the deaths or
injuries be “reasonably foreseeable”
from her actions before she is sub
jected to life in prison.
Her attorney later stated that he
would talk to Ms. Taylor about ap
pealing the sentence on that basis, in
hopes that Ms. Taylor might return to
the court in the future and seek a
reduction of the sentence as an in
vestigation is etui ongoing.
In other news:
Raleigh Police and CrimeStoppers
of Raleigh are looking for the subject
or subjects Who assaulted a city resi
dent in the vicinity of Ms home Nov.
11.
Tom GiU, 50, of S10-A Lord Anson
Drive, left Ms residence at approx
imately ll p.m. Sunday, Nov. ll, to
buy cigarettes. When he returned ap
proximately 45 minutes later, he had
been beaten severely, causing serious
head injuries.
Gill collapsed on the floor of his
home. Family members did not
recognise the seriousness of his in
juries until the next morning, when
he was rushed to the nsuro-surgical
unit of Wake Medical Center and ad
mitted in critical condition. GiU is
presently undergoing therapy for the
km of movement on the left side of
Ms body, believed to be the result of
head Injuries he received in the
Gill is described as a dark-skinned
Mack male, 5lVk" tall, weighing ieo
pounds, with Made hair, which is
graying at the hairUne. The victim is
(See CONVICTED, P. 2)