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Local/Region
Nation of Islam
elder harkens
back to glory days
By Tawana Lee
AUGUSTA FOCU Staff Writer
AUGUSTA
Minister Abdul Rahman remi
nisced in publicabout the Golden
Years of the Nation of Islam
under the leadership the the
Honorable Elijah Muhammad.
In its maturity, the Nation was
a powerful economic and spiri
tual entity, Min. Rahman as
sured his listeners. It will take
dedication and hard work to
achieve that level once again, he
said.
Minister Rahman was the fea
tured speaker at a recent pro
gram hosted by the local mosque,
entitled “The History of the
Nation of Islam.”
Minister Rahman relived the
lWatkigg_ appointed chairman of BOE
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Attorney David Watkins
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the dough with her careful hands, the hands that knew just the right
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goodness... and the feeling that everything’s just right.
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days when he worked closely with
Mr. Muhammad as a captain and
minister. During the heyday of the
movement, the Nation was a for
midable economic force which
owned supermarkets, canning
companies, real estate, and astate
of-the-art newspaper printing fa
cility, Mr. Rahman said. He esti
mated the worth of the Nation as
SIOO million dollars before the
death of Elijjah Muhammad.
Mr. Rahman cites the conver
sion of Muhammad Ali to Islam as
one of his fondest memories with
the Nation. Mr. Rahman takes
credit for persuading the impres
sionable young prize fighter to
accept Islam and follow the Hon
orable Elijah Muhammad. In 1961,
during the days when he first met
Ali (formerly known as Cassius
Local attorney sur
prised to learn he had
been appointed, even
36 hours after the
decision
by Gloria Nelor
AUGUSTA FOCUS Staff Writer
Attorney David Watkins was
recently appointed as chairman
of the Board of Elections (BOE).
Since the Board’s establishment
in 1973, Watkins is the fourth
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NATION OF ISLAM MINISTER ABDUL RAHMAN takes credit
for converting Muhammad Ali to Islam. Photo by Tawana Lee
Clay), Mr. Rahman was known in
Muslim circles as Captain Sam.
Every night, he would sneak into
Ali’shotel roomto teach him about
the Nation. Finally, Aliannounced
his conversion. His decision led to
chairman and the first African
American to hold that position.
Acting as an election superin
tendent for the Augusta-Rich
mond County Commission, the
BOE is a policy-making body on
the local level. Among its many
functions, theboard reviews quali
fications of registered voters and
elected officials along with autho
rizing special elections.
The Board of Elections is made
up of five members that consists
of two Democrats, two Republi
cans and a chairman that actsin
anon-partisan capacity.
his refusal to register for the
draft and, eventually, he was
stripped of his title and forced
into temporary retirement.
Mr. Rahman urged young
Muslims to work harder.
County commissioners se
lected Watkins from a list of
three nominations submitted
by thelocal legislative delega
tion. In this seat, Watkins
will be paid on a per diem basis
when the group meets.
According to Lynn Bailey of
the Board of Elections, each
member is required to serve a
four-year term and to meet on
a quarterly basis. :
“Typically, they meet six or
seven times a year to make
policies or set policies,” said
Bailey.
il
Family violence simple battery
A 49-year-old Augusta woman,
Ramona Browder, stated that.she
was struckin the faceby her spouse,
at Maxwell House Apartments.
Ms. Browder stated that the two
were engaged in a verbal alterca
tion when he struck herin the face
with his head. The victim sus
tained visible swellingaround the
right eye and her right eye was
black. The complainant did not
want to press charges, but subject
wasarrested.
Public Indecency
An Augusta man was arrested
after publicly exposing his penis.
Tonjala Freeny, the flash victim,
and Nicholas Paolone were in
volved in an argument over a traf
ficviolation when he exposed him
selfto her. Ms. Freeny stated that
she did not want to prosecute.
Paolone was arrested for an out
standing warrant.
Criminal Trespass
Brenda Fraizer, a 39- year-old
Augusta woman, complained that
her son, Marcus Henley, came to
her residence and kicked out the
door,demanding thatshe give him
some blankets.
NAACP seeks stability
From page one
location has been a major problem
for the organization, according to
Walker. For the past several
months, the meetings have been
held at either the Wallace Branch
Library, or Liberty Baptist
Church.
“Withnocentral location or tele
phone number, it has been a bit
difficult to conduct business. How
AUGUSTA FOCUS MARCH 13, 1997
(The following information is
based on area law enforce
ment reports and press
releases.)
She had previously issued be
tween one and five complaints
against her son. There were per
manent property damages and
theft. Henley was arrested. He
stateshe had been asleepin his car
and neededblankets tokeep warm.
Shoplifters Caught :
18-year-oldJanese Howard of 2708
Margaret Circle tried to steal S9O
inclothingand 18-year-old Kamela
Bunch, SIOO worth of clothing from
alocal department store. :
The complainant stated that the
two young women concealed store
merchandise under theirclothesin
the dressing room. The merchan
dise was recovered. :
Marijuana Found .
49-year-old Eddie Williams was
arrested when officers responding
toafamily violence call discovered
aclearplasticbag containing mari
juana in his jacket pocket.
Upon searching the subject’s
house, the officers found three
marijuana blunt cigars that had
already been smoked and a small
plastic bag containing marijuana
seeds.
The marijuana in the bag was
less than an ounce. :
ever, we are working with Paine
College to lease a building close to
the college campus. This is a per
fect opportunity to establish pres
ence in the community as well as
get involved with the college stu
dents,” said Walker.
The organization is awaiting
approval from the national office
to establish new headquarters.
Tocontact the NAACP, the pub
licmay call Liberty Baptist Church
at 724-3322.
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