Focus On
Wake Forest >
BY ELIZABETH ARCHER
MY FRIEND IS DEAD
There is a charm, a certain some
thing in the atmosphere, that all
men feel, and no man can describe.
—Longfellow
A sort of youngish, boy-man
whistled, and sang at his work of
mowing grass. He worked right
across from the home of my friend,
As he paused to yell out,“Hey, girl!
What’s your name?” and in another
breath, said, “Can I talk to you a
minute?” As I came nearer to the
steps of my friend’s home, and he,
standing in his opened door,
laughed at my approach, he said
comfortingly to me, “You don’t have
to worry. I’m sure that he [the boy
man] is harmless. He doesn’t know
that he is outclassed.”
I laughed, too, because I had seen
this man at other sites around Wake
Forest, and he had made similar
“passes.” At other times I had told
him that I had no time for conversa
tion. On this occasion, I felt sure
that the hard-working man had not
even realized that I was even the
%
same person.
My friend was the protective sort.
In the terrible heat of summer, he’d
Isay, “I’m glad to have you bring me
the paper, but I hate to see you out in
this scorching weather.”
Is it wrong to call a person a friend
whose first name you don’t even
know? I do it because he was one of
the first persons to make me feel
more than welcome in unfamiliar
territory.
“Will you be delivering the paper
every week?” he asked. Told yes, he
said, “I am so glad, because I love
The CAROLINIAN, and I’ve had to
go to Raleigh to get it, except the
other week, I was in Franklinton at
Jones’ Barbershop, 1 saw it there
and bought one.”
I did not see my friend often, there
was no need, for he was at that time
the sole person who paid me well in
advance to deliver his paper. Once
when he gave me $4, he said, “Just
continue to bring it until this runs
out, and I’ll give you some more.”
That action reminded me of how
the Good Samaritan in the Bible had
compassion on the man who fell
among robbers, and was stripped
and beaten by them and had been
left on the roadside, half dead. And
| he(theSamaritan)hadbounduphis
| wounds, set him on his own beast
Bishop Transfer
Backed By More
Than Members
NASHVILLE, Tenn.—The
United Methodist Church has a
. provision it never has used for as
signing bishopsin the United States
across geographically determined
jurisdictional lines; now 34 of the 50
active U.S. bishops have signed
statements supporting such trans
fers.
Of active U.S. bishops, 11 have
said they meet the constitutional
requirements for such transfers and
are willing to serve “wherever as
signed.” Another 23 active bishops
and 19 retired bishops signed the
appeal in support of their colleges.
Two of the 11 who meet the require
ments said they would not want to
move until 1996 because of only four
years in current posts.
Bishops in the church are elected
for life and must retire sometime
between the ages of 66 and 70. At
least 16 bishops will be elected in
five jurisdictional conferences in
mid-July of this year. Bishop Wil
liam B. Lewis, Fargo, N.d., who
announced the support for inter
jurisdictional episcopal assign
ments, said that without such a
practice “we are jurisdictional, not
general, superintendents of the
church.”
Black Males
Suspended More
Than Whites
PITTSBURGH <AP)- Black
students at public middle and high
schools in the city were suspended
nearly twice as often in the 1990-91
school year as white male students,
according to a report.
The report, released by the school
district, showed that nearly half the
black students were suspended at
The report, released by the school
district, showed that nearly half the
black male students were suspended
at least once during the year.
The report showed that about 46
percent of all black male students in
those schools were suspended last
year, a rate nearly double that for
white male students.
The report was greeted by chargin
by school board members and
Superintendent Richard C. Wallace.
and took him to an inn, and took care
of him. And the next day he gave
money to the innkeeper, saying,
“Take care of him and whatever
more you spend, I will repay you
when I come back” (Luke 10:33). My
friend was just like that.
I asked him at that time, “Why
don’t you subscribe to the paper?
Then you can receive both copies,
both Tuesday and Thursday,” but he
told me, "No, I do not care to do that,
because then you will stop coming to
bring it and TO be sorry not to see
you.”
I did not see my friend often, or I
might not have had to rely on seeing
his death notice to learn his first
name. “I wish that you could get out
of Wake Forest before dark,” he told
me the last time I saw him alive.
“When I was in Raleigh last Satur
day, to visit my friend, Ms. Jeffreys,
just down the street from her home,
a one-legged man got killed, and I
am really concerned about you being
out here because people are not like
they used to be in Wake Forest.”
The CAROLINIAN carried the
story in the Dec. 12, 1991 paper,
which read "Attempted Food Stamp
Swap Kills.” My friend had told me
that Ms. Revelle Jeffreys, longtime
organist for Rush Metropolitan
AME Church, was his “dearest
friend.”
When he learned that she is a
near relative to my in-laws, my
friend said, ‘Well, I knew there was
something special about you.”
Neither he nor I had known about
the surprise party given to her in
November by her out-of-state in
laws. It had been held on her mid
90-something birthday, that all of
my in-laws attended.
I am glad that I have a date when
it was that I last saw my friend. I
was delivering the paper for Thurs
day, Dec. 5,1991, when he told me of
the Raleigh murder. He had given
me enough money to last through
the entire month of December, prior
to that last conversation.
Upon seeing the wreath upon the
door of my friend’s home as I deliv
ered the paper late on Monday, after
a very rainy weekend, I rang the
doorbell that one time to allow my
friend to tell me who it was that had
died. Instead, the door was an
swered by another gentleman, who
politely asked me in. I asked if Mr.
Mangum was in, and I do believe
that he answered “yes.” Having
never before gone inside of the
home, I knew that my friend lived
there with his mother.
I felt badly that I was coining to
the home with the paper in the face
of a death, that I felt was the mother
of that home. I asked the stranger if
the mother had died. “No,” I was
told, “my brother did.” I asked, “Did
your brother live here?” and was
told that “Yes, he had for the past 20
years at least.” Feeling sure that my
friend had an invalid brother whom
I had not met, for never having gone
inside, that very question was put to
his aunt two doors away, as I en
tered her home. I was told by her
that, “No, he had not even been ill.
I'm surprised that you have not ever
met him.”
It had not for an instant dawned
on my foggy brain that they could
have been talking about “my
friend,” the man whose name I did
not know completely, who I only
called Mr. Mangum whenever we
saw each other.
As I finished the route, I asked one
person, could they have been talk
ing about the man who worked for
Wake Forest Middle School, and
who had told me once he was a mili
tary retiree?Could theypoesibly be
talking about him, and not another
brother whom I had not met?
I was told, yes, it was he, and I was
very, very sad and sorry that I had
never really learned his name, only
enjoyed his smile and light conver
sation in praise of another, his
friend, Ms. Jeffreys of Raleigh.
I know the name of his uncle, next
door, and his aunt, the third door
away, and now, after reading the
account of his death in the Franklin
Times on Wednesday, late after
noon, too late for his funeral on that
day; I know the name of his mother,
Delores Mangum, of the home, and
his brother, William H. Mangum of
Raleigh. Nothing else, but that is
enough. True friendship isn’t built
on knowing names only, it is a prod
uct of the heart.
By not seeing his lifeless remains,
as they lay in state directly across
the street from his home at Feggins
and Feggins Funeral Home, I will
always remember his joy of living,
and think of the name Lenwood
Mangum, Jr., 61, of Wake Forest,
my friend.
To his mother and brother, your
pain is mine. I’m sorry I hadn’t
known to offer you my condolences.
\
Emancipation
Day Program
Held For Dunn
An Emancipation Day program
and dinner were held at the Dunn
Chapel Freewill Baptist Church
fellowship hall Jan.l. The theme of
the observance was “New Ways for
New Days.”
The group sang “What a Fellow
ship, with Ms. Valencia Crossland
at the piano.
Prayer was offered by Elder Hal
ford McNeill, director of the Love
and Help Association of Dunn.
Greetings and introductions were
made by Ms. Eva M. Minter, narra
tor.
Chris Ray read a paper on the
institution of slavery which trig
gered the Civil War.
Ms. Geraldine Cameron read
“Creation” by James Weldon
Johnson.
Ms. Dorothy Smith read Martin
Luther King’s famous “I Have a
Dream” speech.
Ms. Betty Lou McKoy read the
Emancipation Proclamation which
was signed by President Abraham
Lincoln Jan. 1, 1863, setting free
millions of black people in slavery.
The group then sang a black spiri
tuial, “Free At Last.” Remarks were
made by Elder Halford McNeill,
Deacon Nazo Ray, Ms. Gerthie
McAllister, Ms. Mary Elliott, Ms.
Alma Cousar and a guest, Ms. Wil
liams of the Oak Grove AME Zion
Church near Erwin.
In addition to the food, the group
enjoyed old-fashioned singing.
The hosts for the affair were
Bishop and Mrs. Louise McLean,
pastor and first lady of Dunn
Chapel.
Deacon Curtis C. Ray asked that
those attending reach out and help
someone each day and pronounced
the benediction.
The dietician, Ms. Mary Grady,
Ms. Brazzie Ray and Ms. Martha
Fordham assisted in the serving.
Ms. Betty McKoy thanked the
hosts for the experience and bade
them a happy and prosperous New
Year.
THE GIFT OF HOPE
Believe in your dream, not your
fears. Believe in your hopes, not
your worries. Believe in your in
spired goals, not so-called impos
sible problems. Concentrate on your
hopes.
Pack‘it Save
WAREHOUSE FOODS
Three Convenient Locations Open 24 Honrs Everyday
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N9213770-59
TIMES OF TROUBLE CAM BRING
OUT THE BEST IN ALL OF US
Wc have just completed a year that those of us who
survived it will not soon forget. In addition to the man
made calamities of war and economic recession, we
saw an incredible parade of natural disasters
throughout the world. There were floods, along with
tornadoes and other Killer storms; as well as earth
quakes and volcanic eruptions. Tor the answers to
why these things happen, go to your House of Wor
ship. There you will learn that misfortune can bring
out the best in us, causing us to forget our own prob
lems and pursuits while we help our neighbors in
trouble. This is true of nations as well as individuals.
Qod has been reminding us of the power of His uni
verse, and helping man to develop an unselfish ca
pacity for dealing with it.
They helped every one
his neighbour; and
every one said to his
brother, Be of good
courage.'
-Isaiah 41:6
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