Tuskegee Airmen Hold 34th Annual Reunion Dedicated to Keeping Their Memory Alive Page 7 II II,,,; ,;, ,,i l =imoo: , ,, E Page 11 Snoop's Youth Football League Drawing Controversy from Competition America's Hip Hop Influence on the World Where Does It End? Page 2 50 Cents Whites Only' Sign Said to be Posted in Tysons Food Plant Twelve Black employees of Tyson Foods, Inc. in Ashland. Ala. are suing the Springdale. Ark.-based corporation, alleging that it maintained a segregated break room and bathroom. They charge that it was replete with a "Whites only" sign. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has also joined the lawsuit, filed Aug. 12 in the U. S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama Eastern Division. The 70-year-old multi-billion dollar Tyson Foods has 300 plants around the world. including 12 in Alabama. According to the complaint, in July 2003, a newly-renovated bathroom at the plant remained locked except to a White supervisor and certain White employees. It alleges that a Tyson authority initially placed an "out of order" sign on the door although the bathroom was working well. It added that despite complaints to the supervisor and the plant manag- er by Black employees, the exclusive use of the bathroom by Whites was continued. The sign and a padlock remained on the door through the month of August 2003 even as the plant manager, to whom the Black employees had complained, held a meeting on Aug. 25 accusing them of being unsanitary. Blacks were allowed to use another bathroom at the facility, the complaint states. Dallas Prosecutors Excluded Blacks DALLAS As recently as 2002. Dallas County prosecutors were excluding eligible blacks from juries at more than twice the rate they turned down whites, a newspaper reported Sunday. The issue surfaced earlier this year when the U.S. Supreme Court over- rumned the 1986 murder conviction of a black man accused of killing a white motel clerk, saying the Dallas County jury that convicted Thomas Miller-El was unfairly stacked with whites. The Supreme Court cited a manual, written in 1969 and used until at least 1980, that instructed prosecutors on how to exclude minorities from Texas juries. Justice David Souter wrote that racial discrimination in the Miller-El case was unquestionable. Bill Hill, who took over as district attorney in 1999. said his prosecu- tors don't exclude jurors on the basis of race. Blacks still served on Dallas juries m proportion to their population, the newspaper's study found, because defense attorneys excluded white jurors at three times the rate they rejected blacks. Racial discrimination in selecting jurors has long been federally pro- hibited. A 1986 Supreme Court ruling cited in the Miller-El case barred prosecutors from disqualifying potential jurors based on race. Slain Beheaded Girl Known as 'Precious Doe' Buried KANSAS CITY, Mo. A slain little girl, long known only as Precious Doe. was buried last week four years after her death and mourned by the resi- dents and investigators who kept the search for her family and her killers alive for four years. The marble grave marker in a city cemetery bears her picture and more importantly, her name. Erica Michelle Mane Green. "This time, she has her identity," said police Sgt. David Bernard, who led the investigation and was one of the pallbearers for her small, white casket. Erica's decapitated body was found in a park in April 2001 and her head was found days later. Neighbors came to call her Precious Doe, and years passed before she was identified this spring and her mother and stepfa- ther were charged with murder. The body was exhumed in 2003 so a life- like bust could be made to show how her face may have looked. Police said Harrell Johnson admitted that under the influence of alco- hol and the hallucinogenic drug PCP. he became angry with Erica when she refused to go to bed, grabbed her, kicked her and threw her to the ground. leaving her unconscious. After she died, he said he used hedge clippers to sever her head. Campaign Halted Equating the Treatment of Animals to Slavery The scenes are graphic. The charred body of a Black man is juxtaposed with a burning chicken. A shackled Black leg is shown next to the leg of a chained elephant. A woman is branded next to a panel of a chicken get- ting branded. The message is unmistakable: animals are suffering the same fate as African-American slaves. That's the point of a controversial campaign by the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA). The online exhibit has been placed on hold amid of flurry of protests. The central question in the emotional debate is: Do animals deserve the same respect and rights as Black people? To William H. Horton. associate professor history and philosophy, Grambling State University in Louisiana, the answer is an emphatic no. "When you compare slavery to animals, it sends a negative message," he explains. It's not what you say, it's what you don't say that's communi- cated. In essence, you're saying that slaves and animals are equivalent." "NAACP is opposed to animal cruelty, but valuing chickens over peo- ple is not a proper comparison," says John C. White, director of commu- nications for the NAACP. Volume 19 No. 32 Jacksonville, Florida August 25 31, 2005 *4 Nd ah Eboost "Copyrighted Material SSyndicated Content Available from Commercial News Providers" - 11 1r Alonzo Chappell, Senator Tony Hill, Shelton Chappell, Paula Barnes Catherine Walker, Jacqueline Williams, Ernest Chappell, Ruth Monteroy, Willie Jr., Chappelle Rep. Terry Fields and former State rep- resentative Daisy Black at the dedication. Chappell Murder Site Dedicated With Marker A road designation ceremony has been held in honor of Mrs. Johnnie Mae Chappell, the Jacksonville mother killed more than forty years ago during the March 1964 riots. Following a 10+ year crusade by her youngest son, Shelton Chappelle, formal ackowledge- ment marks a stretch of US1, the location where she was killed while looking for her wallet in 1964 in a random act of violence. "No longer- \ ill you have to drive this street and wonder where your mother died," Said Sen. Tony Hill who helped pass the legislation. In April, Governor Jeb Bush asked the Florida Department of Law Enforcement to re-open the Johnnie Mae Chappell investiga- tion The four men who were charged with the crime are still alive. Local Leaders Prepare for 'Millions More' National March "The Value of Building a Covenant" was the theme for the second Town Hall meeting of the Millions More Movement. The brainchild of Bro. James Muhammad, chairman of From Unity to Loyalty, the forum was held on the campus of Edward waters College to enlighten, inspire and encourage in preparation for the Millions More Movement March in Washington.. The knowledgeable dais of pan- elists were each allowed two min- utes two answer a variety of ques- tions ranging from, "Define in your own words what is the word covenant." to "What are the steps you would take to build a success- ful covenant for Black people living in America.?" All of the panelists elaborated on Shown above at a recent forum are (left to right) Dr. Baruti Katembo, Desmond Muhammad and M.A. Ahmad. (Rogers Cain not shown). the subjects with a concise agree- agreed that a covenant should be ment that a covenant is an agree- established with achievements and ment. Panelists and attendees accomplishments clearly laid out. Prayers Continue to Go Out for Coretta Scott King Coretta Scott King is slowly recovering from a stroke that had left her unable to walk and barely able to speak, and she has been singing with a speech therapist, her daughter said earlier this week. "It's not in the soprano voice that she has," Bernice King said of her mother, a trained classical singer. "But it's a voice that's good to hear." Doctors say the 78-year-old widow of civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. suffered a stroke last week that left her weakened on the right side of her body and most- ly unable to speak. At a prayer vigil at The King Center, Bernice King said her mother was able to lift her right leg Sunday. Martin Luther King III, left, and About 400 people attended the the Rev. Bernice King, the son vigil, including Christine King and daughter of Coretta Scott Farris, the sister of Martin Luther - King, share a private moment. Continued on page 8 "Each of us must first build a per- sonal covenant with god, only then can we build a covenant with our people." Said Bro. Desmond Muhammad. Gary Thomas, Chair of the Martin Luther King Foundation feels that a covenant with the people must first be a two step process involving responsibility and visibility. "We cannot operate in the dark." He said. Some people expressed the idea that a march is not necessary. That idea was not well received as 90% of the attendees agreed that a demonstration of local and national support is necessary and vital to energize the community for change. Henry Wilson, a senior citizen who attended the Million Man March, Continued on page 5 Inside Crowns Crowns, the off- broadway hit play written by actress and director Regina Taylor recently graced the stages of Jacksonville thanks to local director Darryl Hall. The play is a lively and soul stirring musical portrait of African-American women and how they define themselves through the hats they wear. Preceding a performance at the FCCJ Ezekiel Bryant Auditorium, Michael Cunningham who wrote the book the play is based on, joined the Jacksonville Chapter of Links and others for a book signing and discussion. Shown above at the signing is Wanda Montgomery, author Michael Cunningham and the play's director Darryl Hall of Stage Aurora. 4 1 _ ) __ ~i__i____ll.__ __C (_ _i_ _i_ C _ PIRST STD U.S. Postage PAID Jacksonville, FL Permit No. 662 A Game Plan is Way Past Due on United States Removal of Troops in Iraq Page 4 I dwis Allsom %A%4wjrjwftj foap! I 1kre 414#64k