RALEIGH,
THURSE
APRIL 9,:
VOL. 61, N
Dept of Cultural
Resources, N.C. State Library
109 East Jones Street
Raleigh NC 27601
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HE SPIRIT OF JESUS CHRIST
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“Hats Off* To Duke University
NCAA Back-to-Back Champs!
Page 17
Heritage Arts Festival Pays Tribute
To Ancestors As Cultural Event
Page 6
Parents Say “No” To RAPP PROGRAM
rarents are opposing a plan for
violent students in Wake County
schools as a new form of "tracking”
mostly African-American special
education students out of regular
schools.
Beginning this month, principals
and other administrators can try to
have suspended spedal-ed students
sent to Required Alternative Place
ment Program, a private six-week
program at Holly Hill Hospital. The
Wake School Board will pay Holly
Hill about $180,000 ayear to run the
program for groups of up to eight
students.
Members of Concerned Citizens
for Educational Equity, a group of
African-American parents in
Raleigh, said they were “dismayed
and appalled that the Wake County
Public School System has instituted
the RAPP. We believe it is in viola
tion of state and federal guidelines
and further assert that it is unethi
cal and immoral to address student
difficulties in this manner."
Another critic, Carol Ornitz, a
Raleigh advocate for learning-dis
abled students who helped draft
parts of RAPP, said that the plan
would remove problem students
from schools with little or no consul
tation with parents.
Ms. Ornitz said she had no prob
lem with creating a program, “even
at Holly Hill.” But she added, “But
I’m saying right now, they’re creat
ing a Pandora’s box. Where do par
ents come in? The potential for
abuse in the way this is being done is
very serious.”
In a letter to Lowell Harris, direc
tor of the Division for Exceptional
Children, State Department of
Public Instruction, Ms. Omitz said,
“The arbitrary method of student
selection is also a source of concern.
RAPP is designed to serve secon
dary special education students
who have committed serious of
fenses which by school board policy
'See RAPP PROGRAM, P. 2)
ABC Reporter
Says More
Blacks Needed
In The Media
BY CASH MICHAELS
Staff Writer
The number of African-AmOrl
eans and other people of color work
ing in national television is declin
ing at an alarming rate, warns one
of the few visible black network
news reporters in the business. Bon
Claiborne, a national carrespondont
for ABC-TVs “World News Tonight
with Peter Jennings," says more
people of color are needed at every
level, especially executive manatc
ment.
Claiborne was the keyno'.e
speaker during the WTVD Minority
Advisory Committee’s ninth annual
Awards and Honors Luncheon at
North Carolina Central University
in Durham Saturday. The commit
tee, made up of African-American
representatives from many of the 2'.'
counties in WTVD’s viewing area,
has advised the station since 1971 in
the areas of programming, news
coverage and hiring goals that are in
the interest of communities of color.
Claiborne, who has been working
in network television news for the
last 10 years after an extensive
newspaper career, characterized
the current state of African-Ameri
cans and other people of color in the
television industry as “present, but
absent."
To dramatize the point, Claiborne
quoted a 1991 survey that tallied up
all of the stories broadcast over the
evening newscasts of ABC, CBS and
(See ABC REPORTER, P. 2)
CRIME
BEAT
Editor’s Note: This column, a
fixture of The CAROLINIAN in
years past, has returned to our
pages in hopes of deterring
crime in our community. The
information contained herein is
taken from public arrest rec
ords and does not necessarily
mean those mentioned are
guilty of crimes.
CAR THIEF NABBED
Ronald Dixon Branch, 5400 Town
and Country Road, has been ar
rested and charged with larceny of a
motor vehicle. The alleged theft of a
1992 Chevy truck valued at $12,000
by Branch took place at a business
located at 3416 Poole Road on Tues
day at 5:25 a.m.
ASSAULT ON FEMALE
Twenty-two-year-old Neal Ross
Eston of 812-304 Navaho Drive has
been arrested and charged with
assaulting a female. Eston report
edly, in a strongarm manner,.as
saulted Karla Jean Peslak at the
Navaho Drive address. The incident
allegedly occurred Tuesday at 2:15
p.m.
HEAD CUT
Bert James Malpass, 26, was al
legedly assaulted by Christopher
Allen Glenn, 921 Harp Terrace, on
Wednesday at 1:50 a.m. The re
ported assault occurred at a resi
dence, 944 Wilmington St. Glenn
was arrested and charged with as
sault with a deadly weapon. Mal
pass suffered a cut to the head.
(See CRIME BEAT, P. 2)
Cited Aa Humanitarian...
HUMANITARIAN AWARD—(Pictured third from left) Ms.
Mary E. Perry recepient of the WendeH-Wake NAACP
Humanitarian Award. She was the first African American
elected chair of the Wake County Democratic Party.
Presenting the award is Charles High, first vice president ot
Wendell-Wake NAACP. Also pictured (I. • r.) Rev. James E.
Lee, pastor of Wendell First Baptist Church; Rev. John
Mendez, speaker for the occasion and pastor of the
Emmanuel Baptist Church in Winston-Salem; Ms. Mary E.
Perry, the honoree; Bill Windley, assistant for
Congressman David Price; and Everett Ward, executive
director of the North Carolina Democratic Party.
Wake Superintendent
Subpoenaed In BB Gun Case
BY CASH MICHAELS
Staff Writer
The superintendent of the Wake
County Public Schools will be sub
poenaed to testify for the defense in
the case of a 16-year-old African
American who was convicted of
bringing a broken BB gun to school.
The case of the teen, Willie Barnes,
has drawn attention statewide be
cause the youth was allegedly con
victed of something ho was never
charged with.
Barnes allegedly got into a scuffle
with three Enloe High school ad
ministrators last November 15 after
he was called out of class for alleg
edly bringing a broken BB gun to
campus. The administrators were
reportedly trying to search the
young man after refusing to call
either his mother or the police at his
request.
Bames was convicted in February
on three counts of assault and two
counts of verbal threats stemming
from the incident, despite what
many call inconclusive evidence.
According to Mattie Barnes and
Jim Scales, the parents of Willie
Bames, who were present, District
Court Judge Anne B. Salisbury
made it doar in announcing her
decision that she was “making an
example” of Willie because "he
brought a gun to school.” Despite
Teen Mothers Helped
Through New Program
To be a teenager and a compe
tent, confident mother at the same
time requires community support
and resources. Opportunities must
be made available to assure the teen
mom and her baby of a chance to
survive and thrive! Thanks to a
grant from the Z. Smith Reynolds
Foundation of $36,000, such an
opportunity is now available in
Wake County.
The MELD Young Moms program
is dedicated to reaching into the
heart of the family system to ad
dress the needs of teen moms.
MELD Young Moms is a not-for
profit, comprehensive two-year pro
gram. It provides teen mothers with
age-appropriate parenting informa
tion and the emotional and psycho
logical support they need to survive
and progress during their crisis.
> MYMs assists the young mother
in working through the many diffi
culties she faces to prevent both
infant mortality and child abuse
and neglect, to develop a solid
mother/child relationship, to maxi
mize the child’s developmental ca
pacities, to help the mother with
academic and/or career goal setting
and achievement and to prevent
subsequent pregnancies.
A typical MYMs group consists of
10 to 20 adolescent girls, some preg
nant and some already mothers.
Each group meets once a week for
two-hour evening meetings over two
years. Groups are facilitated by two
women who were teen mothers
themselves and who show evidence
of successful parenting and career
achievement. Essentially they are
peers by experience, rather than
age. These women work as volun
teers and are reimbursed for their
child care and mileage. Intensively
trained to create a non-threatening,
non-judgmental atmosphere, these
volunteers aid the teen mother in
learning parenting skills, how to
make appropriate choices, and how
to set goals.
MYMs’ curriculum provides ba
(See TEEN MOMS, P. 2)
having no prior criminal record, tha
judge sentenced him to two years in
the Youth Correctional Center.
Willie’s parents have appealed
that decision because they say that
their son was not on trial for bring
ing a gun to school, and was never
charged with that. The appeals trial
is set for April 27 in Wake Superior
Court.
Ronald Campbell, attorney for
the youth, called in to WLLE-AM’s
"Traces of Faces and Places with
Ms. Margaret Roee Murray" last
Saturday while Wilie’s parents
were guests. Campbell told the lis
tening audience that he plans to
subpoena Wake Superintendent Dr.
Robe-t Went* to testify why he over
ruled the Enloe principal’s decision
to suspend Willie for a year, and
transferred the youth to Mary E.
Phillips School, where he currently
attends and is reportedly doing well.
"Dr. Wentz wrote a Elec. 10,1991
letter to Willie’s parents stating
that after reviewing the details of
Willie’s case, he was going to return
Willie to the school system,” said
Campbell. He contends that this is
documented proof that in the judg
ment of the system’s highest admin
istrative officer, Willie Barnes was
not a threat to anyone in the system
and deserved to resume his educa
tion.
Campbell also said that the Enloe
High assistant principals who filed
the charges against Willie will be
subpoenaed, as will tapes from an
Enloe appeals board hearing that
was held in December.
Campbell says that a transcript of
these tapes will show that none of the
administrators who filed criminal
charges against the youth could
definitely prove in their testimony
how the youth attacked them in any
way while he was trying to leave the
school.
, (See SUPERINTENDENT, P. 2)
Rev. Dr. L. H. Sullivan
Unveils $40 Million
Program To Help Africa
By Capitol News Service
WASHINGTON, D.C.—Rev. Dr.
Leon H. Sullivan returned to the
nation’s capital to unveil and an
nounce, at an extraordinary cere
mony on Capitol Hill, a four-year,
$40 million program to help improve
the quality of life in Africa.
In the historic Caucus Room of the
Russell Senate Office Building and
in a ceremony attended by members
of the U.S. Congress, an exception
ally large number of African ambas
sadors, corporate officials and other
leaders, Rev. Sullivan announced a
$15 million agreement with the U.S.
Agency for International Develop
ment, to help expand the work in
Africa of his newest organization,
the International Foundation for
Education and Self-Help.
Rev. Sullivan said, “Today, we are
witnessing what I believe to be
another landmark signing of an
agreement between the IFESH and
AID, an agreement that will support
three major programs to help im
prove the quality of life in Africa.
“Last year, we announced Phase I
of our Debt for Development Pro
gram in Africa for $2 million that
was initiated in Nigeria, Guinea
and Niger. Today, we announce
Phase II of Debt for Development,
an exciting new Teachers for Africa
program and an interesting Short
Term Training Program for African
bakers,” Rev. Sullivan said.
He indicated that a portion of the
$15 million grant will be used to
purchase debt for human resource
development and that IFESH will
augment the grant through non
federal funds for a total of $40 mil
lion which is expected to benefit up
to four million grassroots African
citizens.
Participating m the special sign
ing ceremony were U.S. senators
Arlen Specter (R-Pa.), who hosted
the ceremony; Paul Simon (D-Ill.),
Nancy Kassebaum (R-Kan.), and
Claiborne Pell (D-R.I.); and Con
gressmembers Mervyn Dymally (D
Calif.) and Donald Payne (D-N.J.).
Top officials from the U.S. State
Department who participated in the
ceremony included Assistant Secre
tary for Africa Herman Cohen, AID
Administrator Ronald Roskens, and
Assistant Administrator of AID,
Bureau for Africa, Scott M. Span
gler.
Also attending were more than 20
African ambassadors and a host of
distinguished leaders and support
ers of Africa from throughout the
country, including a large delega
tion from Zion Baptist Church in
Philadelphia, of which Rev. Sulli
van is the former pastor.
Presenting remarks on behalf of
the African diplomatic corps and
some of the countries pattiripating
in the program were His Excellency
Paul Pondi, ambassador of
Cameroon and dean of the African
Diplomatic Corps; His Excellency
Zubair M. Kazaure, ambassador of
Nigeria, representing the chairman
of the Orgahization of African
Unity, and His Excellency Charles
Gomis, ambassador of Cote d’Ivoire
and chairman of the Planning
Committee for the Second African
African-American Summit,
planned for 1993.
According to Dr. C.T. Wright,
executive director of IFESH, the
Teachers for Africa Program will be
implemented in 12 countries, allow
ing teachers from the United States
to spend a year helping their
counterparts to improve the educa
tional system in these countries.
The Short Term Training Pro
gram for African bankers will pro
vi de an opportunity for the “best and
brightest” among middle-level Afri
can bankers from up to 12 countries
to come to the United States for
executive training. Eight major
banks participating in this program
include Chemical, American Ex
press, Bank of America, Chase
Manhattan, Citibank, National
Bank of Detroit, J.P. Morgan, and
Mellon.
Rev. Sullivan said he is “abso
lutely encouraged by the enthusias
tic support we have received from
the American community and espe
cially African-Americans” for his
recent initiatives to help Africa to
become more economically self-suf
ficient.
In his closing remarks, Rev. Sulli
van said, “We will be speaking out
for Africa in America and in the
world. Africa may have been alone
(See HELPING AFRICA, P. 2)
BASEBALL
Just after the Wake County
Commissioners voted la at
week to pay for half of a pro*
poaed Triangle Central Park
a porta complex to be located
on the Wake aide of Research
Triangle Park, and juat be
fore the Raleigh City Council
wae auppoaed to vote laat
Tue ad ay on the project, the
deal waa called oft
Reportedly, there were too
many problems attached to
the controversial baseball
stadium that was planned to
be constructed for the Dur
ham Bulls once they left the
Bull City. Now that Wake offi
cials have backed away, Jim
Goodmon, the owner of the
Bulls, has asked Durham city
officials to oonsider building
a new stadium in Durham.
Vernon Malone, chairman of
the Wake County Board of
Commissioners, says of Dur
ham doesn’t answer Good
mon in 80 days, Wake may try
to jump-start the deal again.
CHAPEL HILL CHURCH
OKAYS GAY MINISTER
In a controversial move,
the Olin Binkley Memorial
Baptist Church in Chapel
Hill voted Sunday night to
grant licensure to a 24-year
old gay Duke University stu
dent for the ministry. This
means that the student, John
Blevins, is one step away
from ordination. Leaders in
the conservative Southern
Baptist Convention have
threatened to expel the
church from its association
for its actions.
PRISON CROWDING AT
ALL-TIME HIGH
According to the N.C. State
Department i f Correction,
the state prison population
over the past weekend was at
an all-time high. Officials say
the population in the state’s
91 prisons at 12:01 a.m. Satur
day, April 4, was 20,152, just
nine more than what it was
two days earlier. Twenty
(See NEWS BRIEFS, P. 2)