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VOLUME 19 NUMBER 947 g s SR IR GSI e G AR AN A 2 S NGE SR e g 3 3 A T Sehiv ot i E ‘ b i . pUE S R e % k BTG T g ) . T Ee o g 4 4 SR el Ll \ N L e Sl S T AT g o PR T et R g e T G e i foh e g et TTy - X kgl o S N S [ ¥ ey oy ot SR :,_'5;5.? 5 L 3 E H & Git ot gteae 't S o'& N e S % S Ryt oy E B L o R e AR R L 5744 ¥ g Fo e "3 e £ 5 f - L ] ;; i A o i GSy -fi‘” o , a i R oiv R e e : o BL’s to host census party See ARTbeatv for details b ::_.._ . k A ~5 - p " . ¥ % éditb 4SBTI : Il /e T . s ' v # ~‘s:3“"”l}’s&}'l" p (Above) H. Rap Brown as the heod of SNCC in 1967. AP Photo By Fredevick Benjamin Sr. AUGUSTA FOCUS Staff Writer . AUGUSTA In the spring of 1965, a young student activist sat across from a high government official in Washington, D.C. Ameeting had been convened to discuss grievances within the black community. When it came time for the young man to speak, he de parted from the cordial tone Ana'”is & of the meeting up to that i point and said, “I'm not |||tel'pl'etatloll happy tobe here and I think it's unnecessary that we have to be here protesting against the brutality that Black people are subjected to. And furthermore, I think that the majority of Black people that voted for you wish that they had gone fishing.. Which side is the govern ment on?” The government official was the president of the United States, Lyndon Baines Johnson, and the young student became known as H. Rap Brown. Brown, in his lack of respect for authority, was in lockstep with the prevailing mood of youth at that time who were battling to keep their balance in a decade steeped in the music of John Coltrane, Jimi Hendrix and Bob Dylan — a decade turned upside down by the excesses of J. Edgar Hoover — chief of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Thirty-five years later, Brown emerges as Jamil Abdullah Al-Amin and, until Monday of this week, was afugitive charged with shooting two Atlanta policemen. He is currently is custody in Alabama where he was apprehended this week and is awaiting extradiction to Georgia. Because deputy Richard Kinchen, 35, has died, Al-Amin will almost certainly be charged with murder. At best, Al-Amin will do a lot of time just for putting the police through changes, but, at worst, he could ultimately join Mumia Abu-Jamal on death row. Ifthat happens, his complete absorption into the Ameri can cycle of violence will have been completed. His Americanization will have been completed. See AL-AMIN, page 2A Cabbies cope with fuel hikes Timothy Cox UGUSTA FOCUS Staff Writer ! ADGUSTA i With gas prices so high, the average Joe has a choice: make the trip and pay, or stay at home. For taxicab who make their living on a road which requires the choeice is not so simple. Currently, rising gas prices are affecting drivers at both of 's cab companies; Radio Cab and Curtis Cab. Al- Radio Cab, a top official is considering a price hike that affect consumer fares if costs do not subside by fall. “If there are no decreases in gas prices by September, | we'll have no choice but to go to the county and ask for rate hike,” said David Fields, general manager at Radio also known as Augusta Cab Co., Inc. Is county legal staff diversified? No, says commissioner See page 34 Servi.ngvMFOplun — ‘Astfluth~ Carolina and the Central Savannah River Ares . g A = r r - « Jamil Abduliah Al-Amin, center, stands in court in Atlanta in this Aug. 8, 1995, file photo. The former black militant once known as H. Rap Brown was apprehended in Alabama, Monday, March 20, 2000. Two Fulton County deputies were shot in an exchange of gunfire as they tried to serve a warrant on Al-Amin. One officer has died. The surviving officer named Al-Amin as the shooter. Al-Amin has main tained his innocence and has called the inci dent o government conspiracy. AP PhotAndrew innerartty “We try not to affect our customers with any type of surcharge. And most of our customers are people who either can't afford a car, or can't afford the upkeep on a vehicle,” explained Fields. “They depend on us and we don't like making decisions that hurt them. But, if the prices don't drop, there's nothing else we can do but talk to the county,” he said. “It’s hitting us real hard right about now,” said a Curtis Cab employee who prefers to remain anonymous. “Nor mally, I can work 12 hours and put $9 in my tank. Now, that same 12-hour period will cost me S2O. The public can see what's going on. Something needs to be done.” Some of company in an agreement similar to a subcontractual arrangement. Only a small number of Radio Cab drivers See FUEL COSTS, page 2A MARCH 23 - 29, 2000 Not in my neighborhood ®Local truckers seek right to park cabs in residential areas. By Eileen Rivers AUGUSTA FOCUS Staff Writer AUGUST 2 Local truck drivers failed to convince Rich mond County commissioners to change the ordinance prohibiting them from parkingthen cabs in residential neighborhoods. But truckers say the enforcement of thi: law is geared toward people in lower incom« areas — making this fight more about a power struggle, than keeping Augusta neighbor hoods safe, or their roads clear from the dan gers of large vehicles, accordingto Cory Green, who has been driving an 18-wheeler for U.S Express for the past two years. “[Former] Mayor Larry Sconyers has sev eral trucks parked in his front yard that have over three a:{es,” Green, a resident of East Boundary, said. “A clear violation of the Bill expands Peach Care program By Eileen Rivers AUGUSTA FOCUS Staff Writer AUGUSTA Afamily of four can now earn up to $40,000 a year, and still be eligible for Georgia's Peach Care program, which has already pro vided health insurance to more than 60,000 of the state’s previously uninsured chil dren. “Just one year ago, 60,000 children had never heard of Peach Care for Kids,” Senate Majority Leader Charles W. Walker (D- Augusta), who presented the newly passed bill in the Senate, said. “Now this bill will provide access to affordable health care to an additional 11,000 children of working parents in this state.” The other side of judge Mablean By Eileen Rivers AUGUSTA FOCUS Staff Writer AUGUSTA She calis herself an “entertainer,” instead of ajudge, describes divorce as “the best people at their worst,” and for 21 years, before she be came known as Judge Ephriam, treated law as “a divine ministry, one in which you dole out more than legalize,” as family attorney Mablean Ephriam. “We owe them [clients| more than just divid ing assets and issuing court arders,” Ephriam, presidingjudge over TV's revised Divorce Court, said. “There are some out there that just don't do the whole thing.” But being a “judge” (her decisions are legally binding, but in actuality she has never been sworn in as a judge) wasn't something she sought, but was instead “divine destiny.” “I never wanted to be a judge,” Ephriam said. “I just wanted to be an attorney, but this just happened. Fox was looking for someone to do the revival of divorce court, and | was looking for something new to do with my life.” Although her segue into television sounds simple, on many levels it wasn't, and she had to overcome a lot of the insecurities that “continue to plague women in the African-American com munity today.” *“I had low self-esteem,” she said, describing the doubt that ran through her mind before the television interview. “I was getting ready for this interview, and my hair wasn't done, and | o ' - ’ - :0.: P et i > 8 - Y = v -\ ':“'; T Wiy T e ;‘f".‘ - L ” . &A- ? i ;;’ W 2 GOOD NEIGHBORS? The owners of these trucks feel they should have the right to park in their driveways, but the law says, no. Photo by Fileen Rivers ordinance, but nobody's done anything about that. It'sall about the power, if youdon't have See TRUCKERS, page 13A Thebill, which passed in the Senate March 13, increases the amount of money a family can make within the program from 200 percent to 230 percent above the federal poverty level — a category an estimated 22,000 children in Georga fit into, accord ing to Walker Previously, the most a family of four could earn was $32,000 The bill does not, however, change the monthly premium parents pay for the insur ance: $7 .50 per month for one child ages 6- 18, and sls a month for two or more chil dren. Parents with children five and under do not pay a premium Approximately 120,000 of Georgia's chil- See PEACHCARE, page 2A ". « 4 L = ‘!‘ Mablean Ephriam. Photo by Eileen F ran through all the negative stereotypes that we as black women hold ourselves back with: dark skin, short hair, big nose. But I didn't let any of that stop me.” And the interview that she almost didn't go to, changed her life, she said during a March 18 speech at the scholarship gala hosted by the Augusta Conference of African-American At- See DIVORCE COURT, page 15A 50 CENTS BULK RATE U.S. POSTAGE PAID NO. 302 AUGUSTA, GA