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ity Region
Second forum to focus on race relations
In their continuing eftort
to open dialogue concern
ing race relations in Augus
ta, the Community Trust
Initiative 1s holding its sec
ond public forum Tuesday,
January 25 at 7:00 pm at
the Paine College Chapel.
The discussion will tocus on
education - a topic aftecting
not only children and par
ents but also the communi
ty at large.
“Interest in the forums 1s
gaining momentum,” said
James Kendrick, the Initia
tive’s chairman. “I was
pleased with the attendance
Area colleges remember King in joint program
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Photo by Theresa Minor
Paine College, Augusta State University and the Medical College of Georgia joined hands, literaily, to remember the life of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. during an
observance that has taken place for 17 years. In an emotionally charged speech, keynote speaker for the event, Roslyn McCallister Brock, Vice Chair of the NAACP
National Board of Directors, challenged students to go beyond the “symbolic celebration” of Dr. King and get involved in rejuvenating the civil rights movement.
Split in King's own family reflects larger debate over gay marriage
By LOUISE CHU
Associated Press Writer
ATLANTA (AP) ,
When Martin Luther King
Jr’s youngest child lit a
torch at her father's tomb
last month to kick off a
march advocating a ban on
gay marriage, it created a
strong image linking the
slain civil rights icon to a
heated social debate.
Another indelible image:
King's widow addressing
audiences at a New Jersey
college just nine months
earlier, defending the rights
of gays and lesbians.
In a year that saw the
issue of gay marriage cause
a split across the black
community, the debate hit
no harder than in the home
of King himself.
The famed leader never
publicly spoke on gay
rights while leading the
charge toward racial equal
ity in the 1950 s and ‘6os,
but the clash over gay mar
riage has prompted those
close to his legacy to pick
sides and interpret how
King would stand on the
and dialogue at the first
forum and anticipate this
meeting to surpass the last
one.”
The meeting will be
town hall style, allowing
members of the audience to
ask the panelists questions
fielded by a moderator. The
panel will be comprised of
individuals who are key to
primary, secondary and
higher education in our
community. The panelists
will include Eileen Faucette,
President of the DParent-
Teacher Association (PTA)
tor Richmond County
issue if he were alive today.
Coretta Scott King, a
longtime supporter of gay
rights, has often invoked
her late husband’s teach
ings while advocating tol
erance and equality for
homosexuals. Most recent
ly, she denounced a pro
posed national constitu
tional amendment to ban
same-sex marriage in a
speech at The Richard
Stockton College of New
Jersey.
“Gay and lesbian people
have families, and their
families should have legal
protection, whether by
marriage or civil union,”
she said in her March 23
address. “A constitutional
amendment banning same
sex marriages is a form of
gay bashing and it would
do nothing at all o protect
traditional marriages.”
Martin Luther King 111
also has condemned homo
phobia. As an organizer of
the 40th anniversary com
memoration of the 1963
March on Washington,
King and his mother invit
AUGUSTA FOCUS
Schools; Marion Barnes,
President of the Richmond
County Board of Educa
tion; Helen Minchew,
Chairperson of the Instruc
tion Committee for the
Richmond County Board
of Education; Terry Elam,
President of Augusta Tech
nical College and Herbert
Kernaghan Jr., Juvenile
Court Judge.
“Education is such a
vital issue,” said Missoura
Ashe, Assistant Superinten
dent for Administrative Ser
vices for the Richmond
County Board of Education
ed gay, lesbian, bisexual
and transgender groups to
participate in the event.
Not all members of the
King family take that
stand. The Kings" youngest
child, Bernice King, helped
lead thousands of people in
an Atlanta march last
month that drew national
attention for its anti-gay
agenda.
The march, organized by
Bishop Eddie Long and his
25,000-member New
Birth Missionary Baptist
Church, also advocated
other issues, including
education reform and
affordable health care, but
the first goal listed by the
church was to push for a
constitutional amendment
to “fully protect marriage
between one man and one
woman.”
Bernice King, an elder in
the church, began the
event by lighting a torch at
Martin Luther King Jr.’s
tomb and handing it over
to Long, who carried it on
a two-mile route through
the neighborhood where
and Initiative Committee
member, “because matters
concerning our children
today will impact our com
munity in the future. We
encourage everyone - par
ents and teachers, as well as
school administrators - to
attend.”
Dr. Shirley Lewis, the
President of Paine College,
will conduct the opening
and closing statements,
while the Paine College
Choir will conclude the
torum. The forum will be
taped and will later air on
both WJBF Channel 6 and
King grew up. She has
repeatedly declined inter
view requests made by The
Associated Press over the
past month.
“Bernice says herself that
she knows deep within that
her father did not march
and did not take a bullet
for same-sex marriage,”
said Alveda C. King, niece
of the slain civil rights
leader and founder of the
faith-based King for Amer
ica Inc.
Alveda King, who has
been a vocal opponent of
gay marriage, said she
joined her cousin in the
march because she believes
her uncle never intended
for gay rights to be part of
the civil rights movement.
“I'm simply a Christian
minister, and I vote accord
ing to the Bible’s standards
and issues at hand,” she
said. “I don’t believe that
people should be penalized
for their affections, but we
need to be clear on the
purpose of sexuality and
marriage, that purpose
being procreation.”
Comcast.
Beginning in 2003, the
Augusta Metro Chamber of
Commerce Community
Trust Initiative has sought
to foster trust, unity, fair
ness and justice for all
Augustans. The Initiative is
comprised of over 200 vol
unteer members from vari
ous sectors of Augusta: busi
ness, education, law
enforcement, media, reli
gion, etc., who hope to
uplift and transform our
community.
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Bernice King
Beyond King's family,
many who marched along
side him during the equali
ty movement for blacks
have drawn on the leader’s
message of inclusion in
shaping their own stances
on the subject.
“Martin Luther King was
one of most tolerant and
understanding and gener
ous persons I've ever
known, and I'd never heard
him make a judgmental
statement about anyone’s
sexuality except his own,”
said former United
Nations ambassador
Sec Marrlage, page 10A
January 20, 2005
Science
online
ATLANTA - Furthering her
commitment to provide teach
ers with the tools they need to
improve student achievement,
State Superintendent of
Schools Kathy Cox announced
the release of an online test
question bank that will help
students across Georgia prepare
for the Science portion of the
Georgia High School Gradua
tion Tests.
The new online tool, which
is expected to launch in late
January 2005, will allow about
150,000 Georgia 11th and
12th grade students to log on
and test themselves using ques
tions similar to those found on
the actual Science GHSGT but
not used on the actual test.
Students will have approxi
mately six weeks to practice
before the first administration
of the test takes place between
March 21st and April Ist.
“A lot of hard work and ded
ication went into making this
project a reality,” said Superin
tendent Cox. “Its a truly pow
erful tool that will help our
teachers be sure that all students
are achieving at the highest lev
els.”
Students will be able to take
two kinds of tests — those put
together by the computer or
those that are constructed by
teachers. Test results are avail
able to the teachers as soon as
the student is finished, and will
immediately identfy concepts
that may need to be reinforced
or students who may need extra
help. The key is that this valu
able information is available
months before the student
takes the actual test, giving
teachers time to help those who
may be falling behind in specif
ic areas.
It is believed that the more time
a student spends using the
online practice system, the
higher his or her test scores will
be. Recent studies show that
there appears to be a strong rela
tionship between using the
online system and improved
performance on high stakes
tests.
For the last three years, the
percentage of students who
failed the science portion of the
GHSGT has hovered around
30 percent.
Over half of African Ameri
can and Hispanic students did
not pass the science portion of
the graduation test dur
ing the same period. The per
centages are only slighty better
for Asians and Native Ameri
cans with 30 percent failing
Caucasian students fair the best
on these tests, but 20 percent
still failed the science portion
consistently.
The online system is a pass
word protected tool for class
room teachers and students,
and is not accessible by the gen
eral public.
Correction
In the January 13 edi
tion of the Augusta
Focus, it was stated that
the Augusta NAACP was
observing its 14th Free
dom Fund Banquet when
the organization actually
observed its 31st Annual
‘reedom Fund Banquet
on Monday, Jan. 17.
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