June Y-15, zuu3 Ms. Perry's Free Press Page 9
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Oldest Black Town in U.S.

 Wants Property Back


 IP I' 'I 'I C LW
Shown above (1-r) is the Festival water gun fight, panelist Jacquie Reed with Cong. Jesse Jackson Jr., D.L. Hughley, (middle) Bruce Bruce,
George Wallace, Min. Louis Faarakhan, host Tom Joyner, (bottom) T ler Perry as Madea, Tom Joyner and his wife Donna Richardson, a scene
from the basketball tournament and Frankie Beverly performing.


T.J. Cruise Raises Record Breaking $1 Million


 Dozens of celebrities and well-
 recognized community leaders
joined over 3,000 dedicated fans and
America's No. 1-rated syndicated
radio personality, Tom Joyner, for
the annual Tom Joyner Fantastic
Voyage May 29 through June
5. The event continued its sold-out,
record-breaking tradition and raised
more than $1 million to benefit the
Tom Joyner Foundation providing
scholarships for students attending
Historically Black Colleges and Uni-
versities (HBCUs). .


 Now in its sixth year, the week-
long cruise set sail Memorial Day
weekend. Tyler Perry, Minister
Louis Farrakhan, Brian McKnight,
Mike Epps, Eddie and Gerald
Levert, D.L. Hughley, Chaka Khan,
Judge Mablean Ephraim, U.S. Con-
gressman Jesse Jackson Jr., and U.S.
Representative Carolyn Kilpatrick
all enjoyed various cruise activities
and first-time stops in St. Lucia, St.
Maarten and Barbados. Cruise atten-
dees were treated to daily yoga
workouts, side-splitting comedy"


acts, African-American-focused so-
cial issues forums, intimate discus-
sions and even a surprise violin per-
formance by Farrakhan.
 "We believe the Fantastic Voyage
has grown into one of the most ex-
hilarating and exhausting events in
the African American community,"
said Joyner, host of the 'Tom Joyner
Morning Show.' "And as far as all
of the extracurricular activities are
concerned, well, let's just say that
what happened on the cruise, stays
on the cruise!"
 .... i ', g', ,' .


 Unlike any other cruise, the Fan-
tastic Voyage brings the Tom Joyner
experience.to life. Old school/R&B
entertainment, hilarious hijinks, and
a fresh alternative to the usual sum-
mer kick-off make the Tom Joyner
Fantastic Voyage the must-attend
event to begin the summer. The next
event is the Tom Joyner Family Re-
union Labor Day weekend at the
Walt Disney Word Resort.


 EATONVILLE, FL Eaton-
 ville, the oldest black incorporated
 municipality in America and the
 home of famed author Zora Neal
 Hurston, has told the Orange
 County School Board that it wants
 some 90 acres of vacant and idle
 land returned to the community to
 help bring economic development to
 the small Central Florida town.
 The parcels are all that remains of
 the 300 acres given to the school
 district by the Hungerford Trust
 under duress in the 1950s. School
 Board officials, as part of a resolu-
 tion, agreed then that the land would
 be used only to accommodate
 "Negro Junior-Senior High school
 students" from Eatonville and sur-
 rounding communities. The Trust
 then deeded the property over to the
 school district. Since then, the
 school board has sold and disposed
 of more than 200 acres at a profit of
 8,400 percent and the board ap-
 pears ready to sell the remaining
 parcels for development.
 "Town officials recently re-
searched the circumstances under
which the Hungerford Trust deeded
the 300 acres to the school board in
1951," said Mayor Anthony Grant.
"The research shows that the school
board intentionally delayed building
a public high school for black stu-
dents during those years of segrega-
tion to coerce the trust into surren-
dering its school and land at a big
discount."
 Historical records show that the
school district paid less than 10 per-
cent of the value of the property.
Town officials say that the threat
that blacks would continue to have
no high school in the north part of
the county was enough to force the
bargain price for the land.
 As of 1950 Jones High was the
only high school for blacks in Or-
ange County.
 The Town of Eatonville has asked
that the Orange County School
Board convey the parcels to the
town at no cost so that the historic
community can get the benefit of
the one-time cash infusion resulting
from the land sales. About 86 acres
could be made available for devel-


 opment, contributing significantly to
 the Town's tax base and potentially
 create additional jobs for area resi-
 dents regardless of whether the
 town or the school district is the
 seller.
 The vacant land located roughly
 halfway between downtown Or-
 lando and Altamonte Springs is
 surrounded by parcels with highly
 desirable and economically stable
 commercial development, including
 retail and office space. Similar uses
 on the vacant land would produce a
 long-lasting benefit for the Town's
 tax base, but the Town wants to be
 the seller of the property, not just
 the governmental agency benefiting
 from the new tax base.
 Grant and Eatonville Town offi-
 cials have asked the School Board
 for time to brief the School Board
 on why the conveyance is proper
 and a wise use of a publicly owned
 asset. A joint session of the school
 board and the town council is set for
 June 27 at 4:00 PM in the school
 board's meeting room.
 The $1.4 million from property
 sales thus far. have gone to the
 schools throughout the county, not
 to Eatonville, Mayor Grant said.
 The mayor is proposing that the
 town set aside the sale money for
 scholarships for black college stu-
 dents, a museum of the history of
 the Hungerford Trust and the Eaton-
 ville community, improvements for
 Hungerford Elementary School,
 which is in Eatonville, and public
 works projects for the town. Grant
 points out that the $5 to$10 million
 in estimated land-sales would be a
 huge boost to the town. In contrast,
 it would be a loss to the school dis-
 trict of only about 1% of its $922
 million capital-improvements
 budget for 2005.

 "The Orange County School
Board of 2005 now has the power to
contribute significantly to the eco-
nomic health and well-being of the
Eatonville community. "We believe
members of the School Board will
give the last few remaining acres
back ." said Mayor Grant.


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Tyson Returns to the Ring June llth


 Former two-time heavyweight
champion "Iron" Mike Tyson (50-5,
44 KOs) will face heavyweight
Kevin "The Colossus" McBride
(32-4, 27 KOs) on Saturday, June
11, 2005 at MCI Center in Wash-
ington, D.C.
 In talking about his highly-


 anticipated return to the
 ring, Tyson said, "DC is
 one of my favorite cities
 i in the world. I am so ex-
 cited about performing
 before these people who
 have embraced me like
(i this is my hometown. I
 _... plan to give them a show
 S that they will never for-
 T get."
 Joining Tyson on this sure
 to be exciting card will be
 women's boxing cham-
 pion Laila Ali (20-0, 17
 KOs). The daughter of
 Muhammad Ali will de-
 fend her WIBA Light
 Heavyweight Champion-
 ship in the co-main event
 against mixed martial arts
 veteran Erin Toughill (6-
 1-1; I NC). In the co-
 S main event, the 'heir to the
greatest and now the latest, Laila
Ali is making her second area ap-
pearance in less than one year. Ali
fought in Bowie, Maryland last July
before more than 10,000 fans in the
midst of a rain storm. Though the
opponents respect each other, there
appears to be plenty of bad blood.


Bad enough that Ali and Toughill
had to be physically separated in
the lobby of a radio station before a
recent interview.
 .Further bolstering the already
 strong card will be one of greatest
 fighters to emerge from the nation's
 capital, former Lightweight and
 Junior Welterweight Champion
 Sharmba Mitchell (55-4, 30 KOs).
 Mitchell will fight on the live
 broadcast against an opponent to be
 announced. Mitchell headlined the
 MCI Center's first-ever boxing
 event on April 24, 1999, scoring a
 12-round majority decision over
 Reggie Green to retain his, WBA
Junior Welterweight Championship
title. The southpaw from Takoma
Park, Maryland suffered a 3rd
Round TKO in a rematch with IBF
Light Welterweight champion
Kostya Tszyu in his last' fight on
November 6, 2004. "To come back
and fight at the MCI Center in front
of my hometown fans is a great
honor and should be a tremendous
experience," said Mitchell who has
never lost a bout in Washington.
 The bouts will be shown and dis-
tributed on Showtime Pay Per
View.


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