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ff-3^-0 TO THE SPIRIT OF JESUS CHRIST
SINGLE COPYQC
IN RALEIGH
ELSEWHERE 300
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Crabtree II Task Force Supports McCoy
BY CASH MICHAEL8
Contrib«tlB| Writer
In the wake of tho latest contro
versy and nsw svidsncs of allsgad
radal discrimination at Crabtrss
Vallay Mall, a community task fines
m*d« up of various rsprsssntativss
of Raleigh’s African-American com
inunity hat bean formed to ensure a
strong and united direction toward
dsaling with ths situation.
At a masting at ths Garner Road
Shaw University
Holds Carreer
Development Meet
Success is preparation that meets
opportunity—this according to
Evon Smith, a branch managsr of
First Citizens Bank and trust and a
1988 Shaw University graduate.
Ms. Smith was one of 15 business
and industry representatives who
participated in Shaw University's
annual Career Development Task
Force recently.
Shaw students had the opportu
nity to pick ths brains of successful
African-American business leaders
who took the time to visit class
rooms and to chat with students in
(See SHAW CAREER, P. 2)
WAKE BOARD EYES
GUNS IN SCHOOL
In an effort to curb the
ever-inereasing number of
student* bringing guns end
deadly weapons to school,
the Wake County School
Board voted Monday to con
sider taking legal action
against parents in such
cases. There have already
been S3 eases of students
bringing working guns to
school campuses since last
August. The most serious was
when a gun went off in a
student’s bookhag at Sander
son High School March 8,
wounding the student. The
board agreed to send notices
to parents warning them
about their possible liability
if their children are oaught
with deadly weapons on
school ground*.
JONES SAYS WAKE
NOT PROMOTING
BLACKS
While the Wake County
Board of Commissioners
approved a new affirmative
action plan Monday for the
coming year, Commissioner
Abraham Jones had sharp
oritioism of the Job oounty
government is doing in pro
moting qualified people of
oolor to high-ranking and
supervisory positions of au
thority. Jones said that with
the exception of the Sheriffs
''See NEWS BRIEFS. P. 2)
YMCA last Saturday which in
cluded aavaral representatives of
area NAACP branch**, officers
were voted in to head up the
"Crabtree II Community Task
Force."
By unanimous vote, Ms. Marga
ret Rose Murray, community activ
ist, radio commentator and business
woman, wai elected as chairperson.
Other officers included Ms. Elaine
Dillahunt as youth liaison, Bruce
Lightner and Ma. Mary Perry as
organiiational liaisons, Frank
Roberts as communications officer,
and Rev. Clifton Buckrham as reli
gious community liaison.
According to Ms. Murray, the task
force will be made up of representa
tives of as many community, civic,
youth, religious, social and political
organizations in the African-Ameri
can community as have an interest
in the latest controversy surround
ing Crabtree Valley Mall.
The first priority of the task force
is the continued support of Lorenzo
McCoy and his family. McCoy, a 16
year-old African-American, was
scheduled to go on trial Tuesday for
charges stemming from an alterca
tion with Crabtree security guards
Jan. 25 after McCoy was asked to
leave the mall. He and his friends
were then stopped by security
again, and McCoy claims he was
, m
A MOTHER'S TEARS—Mrs. Soloana Ingram (c.) wiper1
away tears during a press conference concerning an
“Award” to tho Raleigh PoNce Officer, who shot her son
Ivan. Mrs. Ingram, Mrs. Lucy Johnson (next to her) her
sister, and Mr. Bernard Obie of the New Alliance Pary, led
75 marchers last Saturday to Police Headquarters to
protest the PBA Award. (Photo by Cash Michaels)
Marchers Protest Award;
PBA Head Makes Apology
BY CASH MICHAELS
Contributing Writer
The head of the local Police Be
nevolent Association chapter say
there was no intent to hurt th
family of an unarmed citizen wh
was shot to death by a Raleigh pc
liceman, when they gave the office
a letter of recognition and suppor
recently. But upon hearing the ex
planation, many in Raleigh's Afri
can-American community are stil
not satisfied with what they feel wai
an outrageous slight to the family.
In an exclusive interview with
The CAROLINIAN, Sgt Jeffi-e>
Pluck of the Raleigh Police Depart
ment, president of the Raleigh
Wake chapter of the PBA, explained
how a presentation to Officer Vin
cent Kerr, the Raleigh police officer
who shot and killed 36-year-old Ivan
Ingram last November, became
“misinterpreted* as an award for
the killing of an unarmed man.
Ingram, who had no weapon or
drugs on his person, had no drugs or
alcohol in his system, was killed
when Officer Kerr shot him in the
chest with a 12-gauge shotgun last
Nov. 8. Ingram’s familly says Ivan
was an uninvolved bystander as
Raleigh police were raiding an ad
dress for drugs.
<&.:r s,......
Officer Kerr contends that In
gram was one of several men told to
- halt during the raid, and when In
* gram didn’t stop, Kerr shot him.
» Though a grand jury has cleared
> Officer Kerr of criminal wrongdo
■ ing, a final administrative report
f from Raleigh Police Chief Frederick
: K. Heineman was released to the
public at a Police Affairs Committee
' meeting Wednesday.
The family of Ingram expressed
i deep hurt and outrage when the
Raleigh-Wake PBA recognized Offi
cer Kerr during its fifth annual
Outstanding Performance Ceremo
nies at the Raleigh Hilton on March
4. When asked how her aunt, Ms.
Solona Ingram (Ivan Ingram’s
mothsr) had taken the news of the
recognition, Ms. Roylene Smith, a
family member, responded, "How
would you feel if someone was just
given an awardforkillingyour son?”
Sgt. Fluck told The CAROLIN
IAN that the impact of the killing
had been very traumatic for Officer
Kerr also, and that after award
nominations were considered by the
PBA board, a motion was made (and
accepted) to give a letter of support
and recognition to Kerr. “We as an
association, felt that pain with him.
We felt a need to let him know pub
REMEMBERING IVAN—Mrs. 8Muna Ingram and bar
huiband, haac (lawar right) laad a march Saturday ta
pratait a PSA racagnltion at the Raleigh offlcar wha that
. ...... ;. ,ff ft*
licly that we knew what he was
goi ng through, and that we are there
for him, because quite frankly no
one else is.”
Sgt. Fluck said that because of the
legal aspects of the case, the Raleigh
police administration could not offer
support to Officer Kerr. “They had
their interests to look after. We [the
PBA] are Officer Kerr’s family, and
what we did that evening was make
a determination to let him know
that.”
The Raleigh-Wake PBA is the
local arm of a 30,000-member re
gional professional service organi
zation that provides support, coun
seling and legal assistance to mem
(See PBA HEAD, P. 2)
beaten. A report from the Raleigh
Human Relations Commission
blamed mall security for the inci
dent and alleged racial discrimina
tion, causing a Crabtree attorney to
announce a 10-day suspension of
the security chief. But the mall still
decided to press charge against the
youth.
The Crabtree II Task Force had
representatives at the trial. Ms.
Murray told The CAROLINIAN,
"This recent development at
Crabtree ie unfortunate, unjust,
and will not go unchallenged. Youth
in the African-American commu
nity continue to be disrespected and
singled out by Crabtree officials. As
a community task force, we are
coming together to collectively and
responsibly address these injus
tices.*
(See CRABTREE II. P. 2)
Project Phoenix Program To
Expand With $100 G Grant
The Raleigh Police Department
will expand its part of Project Phoe
nix to help clean up drug activities
in several high-risk communities,
thanks to a $100,000 federal grant.
For the next two years, police will
receive $50,000 from the Raleigh
Housing Authority to increase pa
trols in six neighborhoods: Heritage
Park, Kentwood Park, Halifax
Court, Walnut Terrace, Dandridge
Downs, and Chavis Heights.
Although these areas are already
part of Project Phoenix, the city’s
multi-faceted drug intervention ini
tiative, police and Housing Author
ity officials agree more police pres
ence is needed.
This grant will allow police to
assign four more patrol officers to
work part-time in these areas. It is
part of a $410,000 grant the RHA
has received through the U.S. De
partment of Housing and Urban
Development’s Public Housing
Drug Elimination Program.
Money from this HUD grant also
will be used to support the city
Parks and Recreation Department’s
programs in the housing areas,
erect security fences and better
lighting in two areas, purchase
playground equipment and help
fund several other community serv
ice programs throughout the Hous
ing Authority neighborhoods.
Sgt. R.H. Strickland, who heads
up the police department’s CLEAN
unit, said the police department is
already making a real difference in
the neighborhoods and the grant
funds will simply make the job a
little easier.
CLEAN stands for Community
Law Enforcement Against Narcot
ics. The CLEAN unit consists of Sgt.
Strickland, four full-time officers
and two additional part-time patrol
teams. Along with the six areas
targeted under the new grant,
CLEAN’s “floating patrol” also
works in Eastwood Court, Rich
Park, College Park and, beginning
juet recently, Birchwood.
“We’re having a big impact in all
these areas,” Sgt. Strickland said.
“One of our biggest effects, however,
has been in the improvement of
community relations between the
police department and these neigh
borhoods.”
Sgt. Strickland said his officers’
day-to-day presence in the housing
areas, along with the other Project
Phoenix programs, has built an at
mosphere of trust and cooperation
with the residents. More and more
often, residents are turning to police
for assistance and support.
One example of this growing rela
tionship is the popularity of the
CLEAN officers’ new 24-hour pager
numbers. Not a night goes by, Sgt.
Strickland said, without at least one
of the officers receiving a pager call
from residents.
Most of the time, residents want
(See CLEAN PROGRAM, P. 2)
Pulitzer Prize
Winner Orator
At A&T State
GREENSBORO—A Pulitzer
Prize-winning newspaper colum
nist and a vice president of the
Gannett Corp. will keynote the
annual Communications Confer
ence at N.C. A&T State University
March 2fr-27.
Addressing the opening session
on Thursday, March 26 at 9 a.m. in
Merrick Hall Auditorium will be
Eleanor Brown, vice president for
personnel for Gannett Broadcast
ing. Theme of the conference is “The
Job Hunt: Outpacing the Reces
sion.”
Speaker far the conference lunch
eon on Friday, March 27, at 6 p.m. in
the Memorial Union Ballroom will
be Clarence Page, a columnist and
editorial board member of the Chi
cago Tribune.
A special feature of the conference
will be a Job Fair on Thursday,
(See A&T SPEAKER, P.2)
Fate Of Haitian Refugees May
Become A Campaign '92 Issue
MT. RAINIER, Md.—In opposi
tion to current U.S. policy toward
Haiti, more than 3,500 individuals
and organizations representaing
hundreds of thousands of U.S. citi
zens signed a full-page ad in the
New York Times questioning the
Bush administration’s commitment
to Haitian democracy and demand
ing specific actions to help restore
the Aristide government to power.
The ad, appearing in the Times
the week of March 15, represents
the largest public condemnation to
date of U.S. policy toward Haiti’s
coup d’etat, which took place since
Sept. 30,1991.
Pledging to continue to press for
the return of Aristide, the signers
call upon the administration and
the member nations of the OAS to do
the same by condemning the repres
sion fomented by the coup leaders,
reinstating a strict embargo until
Aristide returns, and granting
“temporary protected status* to all
Haitian refugees. They also urge the
nations of the hemisphere to sup
port the replacement of the Haitian
military with a civilian-controlled
police force and to commit resources
to a program of "substantial and
collaborative” economic develop
ment once democracy is restored in
the island nation.
Signers will be following up by
lobbying the administration, Con
gress and political candidates for a
strong pro-Aristide policy.
The ad was initiated and spon
sored by Quest for Peace, an organi
zation with a decade of experience in
rallying thousands of citizens to
challenge U.S. policies toward Nica
ragua. “Like his predecessor, Mr.
Bush is long on rhetoric and short on
action when it comes to real democ
racy in the hemisphere,” said Rev.
William R. Callahan, coordinator of
the Quest for Peace.
“Even in these difficult times,
President Aristide, elected with 67
percent of the vote, continues to
represent the only hope for the des
perately poor people of Haiti. Yet
the administration guted the em
bargo, continues its inhuman policy
of forced repatriation, and seems to
be using the OAS negotiation proc
ess to covertly undermine Aristide’s
power," he continued. “It’s time for
U.S. citizens to make Haiti an issue
in this year’s elections.”
The ad is signed by more than
3,500 individuals and organizations
representing all 50 states, the Dis
trict of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and
four foreign countries, including
Haiti itself. Many organizational
signers represent large national
constituencies. They include sev
eral religious denominations, Cen
tral America solidarity activists, the
anti-apartheid movement, stu
dents, and human rights and refu
gee groups.
Individual signers expressed out
rage over the duplicity of U.S. policy
and the obvious racism toward Hai
tian refugees.
Rosa Capella Hodgson, a Cuban
now living in Raynham, Mass., re
ceived U.S. asylum along with her
son 30 years ago. “Nobody asked us
if our reason for leaving Cuba was
political or economic. We both were
white... I cannot claim that either
my life or my son’s life was threat
ened when I left. The day that
America ceases to be a beacon of
hope and light for the refugees who
land at her shores, the American
dream is gone,” she said.
Td like the world to know what
Haiti and Haitians did for free
blacks and my family," said L. Marie
Guillory, a Fairfax, Va. resident
whose ancestors received asylum in
Haiti in the mid-1800s after freeing
repression in the United States. “I’d
like to see my country respond with
compassion and take the humani
tarian route by giving asylum to
(See AD DENOUNCES, P. 2)