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MARCH 20, 1997 AUGUSTA FOCUS
Black ministers say menthol
cigarette campaign targets teens
B Ministers say Joe
Camel is too hip, too
cool and appeals too
much to black youth.
WASHINGTON
(AP) Black ministers accused
R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Corp.
Thursday of targeting black teen
agers with a new brand of menthol
cigarettes marketed by a cool Joe
Camel.
The “Say No to Menthol Joe
Crusade” asked RJR to withdraw
Camel Menthols, and scheduled
protestsin 22 states to push retail
ers to stop selling them.
Judge won’t dismiss church
burning lawsuit against Klan
By Jeff Shain
ASSOCIATED PRESS Writer
SUMTER, S.C.
A judge refused Wednesday to
dismiss a burned church’s law
suit against the Ku Klux Klan
and rebuffed the Klan’s claim of
First Amendment protection.
“lunderstand your movement.
Idon’t agree with it, but I under
stand it,” Circuit Judge Don
Beatty told a Klan lawyer. “But
frankly, you don’t have a leg to
stand on.”
Macedonia Baptist Church,
which has a predominantly black
congregation, sued the Klan for
unspecified damages in connec
tion with the June 1995 fire that
We Invite You To
BAPTIST CHURCH
Dr. Sam Davis, pastor
1434 POPLAR STREET
AUGUSTA, GEORGIA 30901
TELEPHONE: (706) 724-1086
Baptist Training Union (BTU) at 6:00 p.m. Sunday
Sunday School at 9:30 Sunday morming
Bible Study 7:00 p.m. Wednesdag, and 9:30 a.m. Saturday
Prayer Service at 11:00 Saturday morning ~
Thirty-five Christian Ministries
All Services Are Bible-based and Holy Spirit-led
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AUGUSTA’S GOSPEL ALIVE
Serving the CSRA with
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“We will do whatever is neces
sary to make sure Menthol Joe
leaves town,” said the Rev. Jesse
Brown Jr. of Philadelphia.
His National Association of Af
rican Americans for Positive Im
agery forced RJR in 1990 to with
draw the Uptown cigarette, de
signed specifically for black smok
ers.
RJR denies that Camel Men
thols, which debuted in January,
target black smokers or teen-agers.
“This is not an Uptown. It’s ...
designed to appeal to adult smok
ers who prefer menthol,” said RJR
spokesman Richard Williams.
“The vast majority of those smok
destroyed the century-old church
in Bloomville. It said the Klan
incited members to violence.
Four men with Klan ties have
pleaded guilty to federal civil
rights chargesin connection with
the blaze. Two of them also ad
mitted burning another black
church a day earlier.
Both churches have been re
built.
The Southern Poverty Law
Center sued the Clarendon
County Christian Knights of the
Ku Klux Klan on behalf of
Macedonia Baptist this past
June. It accuses the organiza
tion of using “disparaging and
inflammatory statements about
black churches” at rallies shortly
Spirit
ers happen to be non-black.”
But tobacco foes say almost 80
percent of black smokers smoke
menthol cigarettes, vs. 25 percent
of white smokers.
The Campaign for Tobacco-Free
Kids found Camel Menthol ads
featuring the cartoon Joe Camel
inthis month’s Ebony, Ebony Man,
Jet and Essence magazines tar
geted toblack readers. But the ads
were not in thismonth’sTV Guide,
People, Sports Illustrated, Rolling
Stone, Newsweek or Glamour.
The Rev. Alpha Brown of Wash
ington said the trendy Joe Camels
in cool sunglasses and a “youth
ful” haircut appealed to teens. At
before the fires.
TheKlan’slawyer, Gary White,
argued that despite its ties to the
men, the Klan was a victim of
guilt by association.
“This is about the conspiracy
of four individuals,” he said.
“That does not mean the organi
zation was involved.”
To hold the Christian Knights
liable would infringe on mem
bers’ free-speech and free-asso
ciation rights, he said.
No trial date has been sched
uled.
Gary Christopher Cox, 23, and
Timothy Adron Welch, 24, two
former KKK members from Man
ning who admitted setting the
fires, were given federal prison
Bethel African Methodist
.1.. Episcopal Church T
623 Crawford Avenue
Augusta, Georgia 30904
Rev. Larry W. Hudson, Sr. Pastor
Office: (706) 736-4060
Sunday Wednesday
9:30 Sunday School 7:00 Bible Study
11:00 Worship Service
protests in North Carolina earlier
this month, high school students
said similar ads had a “hip-hop
stance.”
Williams, however, said RJR
bought adsin 51 publications, only
five of which are black-oriented.
He said Camel Menthols were ad
vertised in three months’ issues of
Ebony, for example, but four
months of Playboy.
Noneoftheblack-oriented maga
zines cited Thursday have enough
teenreaders for the Food and Drug
Administration to ban tobacco ads
under new regulations that begin
this summer.
sentences last month. Welch was
sentenced to 18 yearsand Cox 19
1/2 years.
Arthur A. Haley, 51, and
Hubert Rowell, 50, still await
sentencing after admitting they
conspired with Cox and Welch to
set the Macedonia Baptist fire.
Prosecutors said Haley provided
the flammable liquids and Rowell
mixed them and instructed Cox
and Welch on how to apply them.
Haley was an official of the
Christian Knights, though White
said the title was ceremonial and
involved no decision-making.
Rowell has been described as a
Klan guard and was seen put
ting up KKK posters in the area
in 1994, |
NAACP announces
national call for peace
Inthe wake ofthe violent deaths
of rapper Christopher Wallace/
Biggie Smalls (aka Notorius
8.1. G.), Ennis Cosby, and rapper
Tupac Shakur, the National As
sociation for the Advancement of
Colored People (NAACP), isiniti
ating a national call for peace
entitled STOP THE VIOLENCE
START THE LOVE. Working in
conjunction with entertainersand
otherindustry professionals, Rev.
Jamal Harrison Bryant, the
twenty-five year old director of
the Youth and College Division,
isleading this national initiative
tostop the senseless violence and
save a promising generation. The
campaign will kick-off with a Non-
Violence Rally in Brooklyn, New
York on March 21 at 7 p.m. with
subsequent rallies in Los Ange
les, California and Hollywood,
Florida. The campaign will cul
minate with a National Day of
Non-Violence on April 4, 1997,
the 29th anniversary of the as
sassination of Dr. Martin Luther
King Jr.
“We are motivating a move
ment of young people to become
activein civil rights and to place
an understanding on the impor
tance of humanlife,” Bryant said.
“Whereas the NAACP has his
torically spear-headed action for
the civil rights of all persons,
likewise in these efforts we stand
for peace, self-respect and self
love and against emotional and
physical violence.” STOP THE
VIOLENCE-START THE LOVE
is an effort aimed at resurrecting
communities and youth from the
Augusta Focus is a
Walker Group Publication
5:.‘ Williams Memorial
&Y' C.M.E.Church
Rev. Alex R. King
1630 Fifteenth St. Augusta, GA 30901
(706) 733-9430
Sunday: Sunday School 9:30 a.m.
Worship Service 11:00 a.m.
Ist Sunday Evening 6:30 p.m.
Wed: Praise Bible Study 7:00 p.m.
Thurs: Senior Services 10:00 a.m.
Day Care Center:
6:45 a.m. -5:30 p.m.
Efl— X _ :_:{_«;f‘
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Some :"d III: :lm man, ;
What do you call Him?
THE BLOOD
THE WHIP
~ THE NAILS
March 9, 16, 28 (Good Friday),
30 & April 6 at 7 p.m.
Maranatha Christian Center
400 Warren Rd., Augusta
Reservations accepted ¢ 860-3011
Limited Seating!
FREE ADMISSION!
death and violence that is de
stroying the hope, opportunity
and potential of an entire genera
tion. “The NAACP is taking ac
tion because we place value on
each life, especially those of our
youth,” NAACP President Kweisi
Mfume said.
On March 21stat 7 p.m., there
will be a Memorial Service/Stop
the Violence Rally at Brooklyn,
New York’s famous Love Fellow
ship Church where the pastor is
the Grammy award- winning gos
pel artist, Rev. Hezekiah Walker.
Speakers willinclude political rep
resentatives and civic leaders,
representatives for the musicin
dustry and will culminate with
anaddress by the National Youth
& College Director of the NAACP,
Rev. Jamal Bryant. In light of
the recent tragedies, the Youth &
College Division of the NAACP
seeks to provide this opportunity
to enlighten the larger genera
tion about the violence that is
corroding our community and re
member gifted young people that
are senselessly killed. Love Fel
lowship Church is located at 464
Liberty Avenue, Brooklyn, NY
11207.
Subsequent events will include
a Non-Violence Rally in Los An
geles, Calif. around March 27th.
On April 4th, the National Day of
Non-Violence, there will be arally
in Hollywood, Fla. which will
bring in youth from the South
east Region (including Georgia,
North Carolina, South Carolina,
Mississippi, Tennessee, and
Florida).