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Serving Metro Augusta, . e e
South Carolfina and The CSRA R
February 5-February 11, 2004
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INSIDE
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son & Johnson .
Attorney ]Ofimifi
class action lawsuit
against the Johnson &
Johnson Company after
allegations of racial dis
crimination. Page 2A
Clinton brokers African
AIDS deal ]
Five medical technology
companies have agreed to
lower the cost of AIDS
tests for millions of peo
ple in Africa and the
Caribbean in a deal struck
with former President Bill
Clinton. Page2A
Coroner candidates face
off e
Grover Tuten and
Jimmy Wylds, both can
didates for Richmond
County Coroner vying to
fill the unexpired term of
Leroy Sims, got a chance
to push their resume
before the political action
groip, Page 3A: 7o
s G S !!Av'}‘
Brown gets the media
shaft Cihe
~ James Brown recent
arrest and the media fren
zy over his mugshot calls
into question the actions
. of the media apparently
obsessed with humiliar
ing the Godfather. Page
Superfly’ gone but not
~ The recent death of
_actor Ron O’Neal of
Superfly fame has a
‘whole new generation
looking at the blaxploita
ion films of the 70
flage 1B i,
'mifi RIC
. RS
- Dr. Jerry Buccafuisof of
the Alzheimer’s Research
- Center at the Medical
College of Georgia has
edited a new book about
drugs that improve mem
yory. Page OA g i
INDEX
; ; z '*fi*’;
Vol. 23, No. 1143
Nation’s poor gain attention
of Democratic hopefuls
By HALEY A. DUNBAR
Augusta Focus Staff Writer
COLUMBIA, SC. -
Vanessa Brown rode hours on
a crowded, stuffy bus to tell
the story of how an abusive
marriage left her and her son
homeless with only a dead
end welfare system to turn to.
Lucille Tucker came bearing a
picture of her dead grandson,
a victim of Medicaid cuts in
her home state of Montana.
James Holloway arrived from
the small town of Saluda, S.C.
to tell of its dying economy
after the closing of its largest
manufacturing plant. And
theirs were not the only sagas
told during a recent Colum
bia, S.C. town hall meeting
between six of the seven demo-
cratic presidential hopefuls and nearly 3,000 Americans con
cerned with the plight of the nation’s poor.
“Dialogue With America’s Families”, a grassroots event aimed
at gaining political attention for issues facing minorities and
over 30 million Americans living in poverty, gave little in the
way of concrete solutions but did bring hope to the country’s
underserved that they may finally have the ear of U.S. policy
makers.
AIDS falling on deaf ears in
black community _ e
By THERESA MINOR
Augusta Focus Staff Writer
“HIV/AIDS prevention
is a civil right” — a slogan
being touted nationally in
observance of National
Black HIV Awareness Day
(Feb. 7), but according to
AIDS activist, Sandra
Wimberly, it’s falling on
deaf ears within the
African-American commu
nity.
“What concerns me is
that a lot of times when I
go into the community to
do a presentation on HIV
and AIDS, the people who
are present are practically
null and void,” said Wim
berly, who has been an
AIDS educator for the
Richmond County Health
Department for five years.
In that time, Wimberly
has witnessed AIDS among
blacks skyrocket. National
ly, African Americans make
up about 12 pércent of the
population and more than
half —54 percent —of all
Augusta speaks out ‘ - ‘
Did law enforcers try to humiliate James Brown during his recent arrest? -
| @
“I really think they did that
just because he’s a celebrity and
they wanted to show that he was
n't above the law. I also think it’s
a racial thing and a way for them
to get publicity. It was very
cruel,”
Benjarmin Frank
@
Subscribe to the Augusta Focus, Call (706) 722-4222, extension 225
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North Carolina Sen. John Edwards (center)meets with supporters.
new HIV diagnoses. In
Georgia, the latest statis
tics indicate out o
27,144 cases of AIDS,
17,405 are African Amer
icans. Wimberly attrib
utes the staggering num
bers to denial.
“I hear all the time from
people who say I think I
have a right to know if a co
worker or student is HIV
positive. But people don't
acknowledge what they do
to put themselves at risk,”
she said.
Wimberly says this is par
ticularly true among
African-American women
who she encounters. Statis
tics suggest that black
women are 23 times more
likely to develop AIDS as
white women. Wimberly
says many become infected
after having “unprotected
sex with a man, who is hav
ing unprotected sex with a
man.”
“We allow them (men) to
control what we do. We
o R e ity
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“No, I think they treated them
like they would treat anybody
else if they were to arrest them.”
Dennis Short
“I don't feel that my concerns were answered today at all but
I didn't come here necessarily looking for answers because 1
knew they were going to be campaigning more than anything,
What brought me here today — my primary focus — was to just
get my story out there,” said Brown, who fought her way back
from poverty and then “returned” to help others like her
. _}\‘T’-u . |
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put
ourselves at risk by not
asking questions, not ask
ing for protection, not
being honest about our
relationships,” Wimberly '
stated.
Ironically, Wimberly says
she has experienced surpris
ing success among those
considered to be on the
fringes of society, the
homeless. Wimberly is a
repeat visitor to a local
homeless shelter sot men
and believes she “might be
able to save one or two.”
But as for those in the gen
eral papulation, she can
only hope the message gets
e
/")
“I was so angry about that. I
think they tried to humiliate him
*and tried to make him look bad
and cast a negative shadow on all of
the things he’s done. I hope that
one day Georgia and South Caroli
na will Jearn that human beings
should be treated as human beings
and not as animals.”
Lynwood Harris
www.augustafocus.com
Photo by H. Dunbar
Sec Hopefuls, page 12A
through.
“I challenge ever
organization and churc
to get on board to sto
the stigma because the
will get tested more an
learn their status. That
a piece that continues t
fuel HIV in the blac
community —the stigm
because they don’t kno
how they're going to b
treated among their fa
ily, friends and social cir
cles,” Wimberly said."
The Delta Sigma Thet
sorority is putting on a
awareness walk an
fundraiser during th
month of March. Fo
more information you
Jackson’s Super
Bowl performance
takes shock to a .
new level
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Janet Jackson (left)
clutches her breast after
singer Justin Timberlake
rips off part of her costume
during the Super Bowl! haif
time entertainment
%NH(ESA. MUMBI MOODY
Music Writer
NEW YORK (AP) -
Suddenly, Britney and
Madonna’s smoochfest
seems tame.
Janet Jackson’s perform
ance with Justin Timber
lake at the Super Bowl
halftime show on Sunday
has sparked a federal
investigation and set new
standards for raunch in an
entertainment . industry
that seems to be setting
new highs — or lows
—every day.
“Every time an artist
does something you think
they sort of break the bar
rier, and it keeps getting
more and more outra
geous,” said Tom Pole
man, senior vice president
of programming at New
York City radio station
ZIOO.
When - Timberlake
snatched off part of Jack
son’s bustier, revealing a
breast clad only in a sun
shaped “nipple shiéld,”
the barrier was not bro
ken, it was shattered
before 89 million viewers.
Federal Communica
tions Commission chief
Michael Powell said in a
statement, “Like millions
of Americans, my family
and I gathered around the
television for a celebra-
See Jackson, page 12A
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“Nick Nolte pretty much had
that same picture taken when he
was arrested and I guess it's a
matter of opinion but they didn't
treat him any differently than
they've treated others in similar
situations.”
Travis Holloway
PRSRT STD
US POSTAGE
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