Newspaper Page Text
2A
FEBRUARY 22, 2001
From page one
berets. They chanted “Black
Power!” and “Longlive Khalid
Muhammad!”
» “Our hearts are aching. We
are sad but at thesame time we
are happy because we know
that his place is secure,”
Shabazz said.
_ Muhammad had spoken Feb.
10 in New York and attended
the NBA All-Star game last
Sunday in Washington,
Shabazz said. On Thursday,
The New York Times and
Newsday reported that
Muhammad had suffered a
brain hemorrhage at his Geor
gia home.
. +Muhammad led a “Million
Youth March” in New York
Cityin 1998. Therally, attended
by about 6,000 people, ended in
& clash between police and
marchersin whichdozenswere
injured.
He organized a second and
third “Million Youth March,”
but the most recent one drew a
crowd of unly about 100, police
Earnhardt remembered by fans
From page one
Express. “He wasa consistent
winner. That’s what made him
special.” Earnhardt was killed
in a crash at the Daytona 500
speedway Sunday, Feb. 18.
- For novice fans of the Na
tional Association of Stock Car
Racing(NASCAR), Earnhardt
is considered the Michael Jor
dan or Tiger Woods of his
sport. The Daytona 500 is
known as the Super Bowl of
NASCAR contests. The
Florida-based raceis perenni
ally the first contest of what’s
called the NASCAR Winston
Cup Series; a compilation of
races where points are com
piled — eventually crowning
Black
Caucus to
“investigate
state
-contracts
“ COLUMBIA, S.C.
-. (AP) State govern
-~ment spent less than
-~expected with minority
-rowned businesses last
~year and the Legisla
~tive Black Caucus
~yants to know why.
.=, Thecaucus, made up
.~6fblack membersofthe
“House and Senate, is
lookinginto the dispar
ity between the money
state agencies spend
~with minority busi
-nesses and non-minor
“ity businesses.
>+ A report by the
~;governor’s office of
-®mall and Minority
“Business Assistance
~shows state agencies
~expected to spend S2B
“million with minority
~ownedbusinessesinthe
+~2OOO fiscal year. The
~actual spending was
~Only $lB million, down
~16 percent fromthe pre
~yious year, the report
“said.
- State agencies spent
~58.9 million with busi
“nesses owned by white
“women, $6.2 million
“with businesses owned
by black men and $2.9
“million withbusinesses
“ownedbyblack women,
“the report said. Less
sthan $200,000 was
~spent with businesses
~owned by other minori
~ties, such as Hispanics.
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said. Muhammad blamed the
“devil white media” and gov
ernment officials for the low
turnout.
James Muhammad, a spokes
man for the Nation of Islam
and editor of its The Final Call
newspaper, said the organiza
tion mourned Khalid
Muhammad and sent prayers
to his family and followers.
“Werememberthe goodthat
brother Khalid did in helping
the honorable Minister Louis
Farrakhan in the rebuilding of
the Nation of Islam,” James
Muhammad said. “May Allah
be pleased with him, and we
call on those who follow him
and benefitted from him to
double the pace in the struggle
for completeliberation of black
peoplein Americaand through
out the world.”
Muhammad is survived by
his wife, three sons and three
sisters. Shabazz would not give
their names.
A funeral was set for next
Saturday at Mount Olivet
Church in Harlem. Another
memorial service will be held
later in Atlanta, Shabazz said.
a champion in the fall of the
year. Earnhardt was a seven
time NASCAR Winston Cup
Series champion and earned
$4.9 million last year as the
No. 2 point winner.
Earnhardt’s death also af
fects Ron Thomas, a race car
owner whomakesregulartrips
to a Jackson, S.C. drag strip
around 20 miles from Augusta.
While his two cars start from
a stand-still position and hit
straight-away speeds around
140 mph, Thomas still appre
ciates the fallen racer’s tal
ents. “He’ll be missed. They
called him the ‘lntimidator’
because he could start off in
10* place and end up the win
ner. He knew how to manage
the (wind) draft and maneu
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Rita Marley touches the star of her late husband,
reggae legend Bob Marley, during a recent ceremony
honoring him with a star on the Hollywood Walk of
Fame in Los Angeles. At left is the honorary Mayor of
Hollywood Johnny Grant. AP Photo/Michael Caulfield
ver his way to victory,” said
Thomas, a program manager
and morning deejay with Ra
dio One’s 96.9 “The Touch” in
Augusta. Thomassaid the 500-
mile Daytona course typically
takes about 200 laps to com
plete. The deceased driver was
travelingabout 180 mph when
the crash occurred.
Earnhardt, 49, was known
for his patented black No. 3
Monte Carlo. Hedied instantly
of a broken neck and brain
damage suffered in a head-on
collision with a wall on the
finallap, about a half-milefrom
the finish line, medical reports
stated. President George W.
Bush called Earnhardt’s wife
Teresa and offered his condo
lences by telephone. Funeral
services were scheduled for
Thursday, Feb. 22 in Char
lotte, N.C.
(EDITOR’SNOTE: TheSil
ver Eagle Speedway, in con
junction with WEKL Eagle
102, will hold a memorial ser
vice for Dale Earnhardt Fri
day, Feb. 23, at the Silver Eagle
Speedway at 7 p.m. The race
track is located past the Gate
No. 1 Fort Gordon Army base
entrance near the ‘Augusta
Prison facility on Gordon
Highway. Gatesopenat6p.m.
Amemorialbook willbe signed
by all in attendance. Please
bring potted plants to be used
to create a Dale Earnhardt
memorial garden. The event
is free of charge. For informa
tion, call 803.279.1977.)
Lending abuse targeted
From page one
gious act against poor and low
income people throughout the
state of Georgia,” said Senate
Majority Leader Charles
Walker, D-Augusta. “It is a
problem that must be dealt
with.”
“Our constituents havebeen
getting ripped off for a long
time, only now it ismore preva
lent,” added Sen. Donzella
James, D-Atlanta. “So many
seniorsaregettingtheir houses
refinanced so they can make
repairson their house, andthey
are falling prey to these preda
tory lenders who have already
been doing this for the past
decade to first-time
homebuyers or those getting a
second mortgage.”
After some contentious and
often harsh debate a compro
mise predatory lendingbill was
voted out of the Senate Bank
ing committee this week.
Because of the nightmarish
situations of Ferguson and
Dumas one of lending reforms
requestedisanacross theboard
ban on credit insurance.
“The financing of credit life
insurance is just an indirect
way for the predator to charge
higherinterest rates,” said Sen.
Vincent Fort, D- Atlanta, and
author of the predatory lend
ing legislation. “It’s almost al
ways overvalued or underval
ued and it doesni’t do what it is
supposed todo. Itis adefective
product.”
The controversial and hotly
contested Senate bill also pro
hibits balloon payments, nega
tive amortization, increased
interest rates, advance pay
ments, modification or defer
ral fees, mandatory arbitration
clauses, lending without home
ownership counseling, lending
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without due regard to repay
ment ability and places restric
tions on home improvement
contracts.
Despite the merit and well
meaning intent of the legisla
tion, Senators Walker and
James believe it is going to be
awfully tough to convince
enough legislators to support
it.
“We’re trying to find some
common ground between tra
ditional lending institutions
and sub-prime lending,” said
Walker. “Sub-prime lending
occurs when people have credit
with blemishes on it. So in or
der for them to get aloan, they
are charged a higher rate be
cause they are a higher risk.
That’s a fair proposition. But,
when you are flipping loans,
charging interest on credit li
censeinsurancethatnever pays
off, then you get to the point
where you are being abusive.
We’re going to have to be real
careful in making sure we pass
some legislation with teeth and
some backbone. There is a lot
of resistance to correcting this
problembecausebasicallywe’re
talking about poor people and
people who have no power, soit
is going to be tough. We're up
against some very powerful
special interests and lobbyists.
Itisgoingtotakethepublicand
the media in order to make a
change, but predatory lending
is real and very egregious.”
Sen. James added; “It is go
ing to be tough to pass it be
cause there are a lot of high
paid lobbyists who work for the
banksand they have been good
to some of the legislators up
here. But, it is a sad situation.
They are preying on those who
are less fortunate, and those
who really need some help to
try and make ends meet.”
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