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ANNIE LEDFORD GA NEWS
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June 14 - June 20 , 2007
INSIDE
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Page 3A
Comel West Raps on
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incest
Page 2A
Goodandg:gxhfix
Page 7A
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Worst Football Game
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Page 5A
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Vol. 25, No. 1289
Article of Analysis and Duterpretation
Augusta: Can we all get along?
The vast majority of the
letters directed through e
mail and regular postal
service have one subject:
How is it that the Augus
ta-Richmond County
Commission has most of
its criticism directed
toward the five Blacks on
the body and not on the
five white Commission
ers? The real question is
how the white Commis
sioners can vote as a block
99.9 percent of the time
and never receive criti
cism? They do it with
impunity and go right
along unscathed. On the
other hand, when the
black Commissioners vote
in as much as a four-per-
: R . omemes ] 0
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: Photo by Renee Norris
Ribbon-cutting Ceremony for new Thrifty Car Rental office opening at Augusta Regional Airport
(From left to right): Augusta Metro Chamber of Commerce Membership Director lan Fisher, Rep.
Henry Howard, Mayor Deke Copenhaver, Mayor Pro Tem Betty Beard, Thrifty Franchisee managing
principal Fred Johnson, 11, Esq., Commissioner Johnny Hatney, and Augusta Aviation Commission
Chair Cedric Johnson.
Grand Opening Celebration for
Thrifty Car Rental Franchise
By DEBORAH MOODY
Augusta Focus Staff Writer
Thrifty Car Rental launched
a new operation at the Augusta
Regional Airport on Monday
June 11, with a ribbon-curting
ceremony and tasteful recep
tion. Doric Miller Automotive
Group, LLC, an independent
licensee of Thrifty Car Systems
will operate this location. Mr.
Fred A. Johnson, 11, Esquire is
the Managing Principal of this
entity and atained the Augusta
Franchise rights.
Thrifty is the first significant
Airport Concession Disadvan
taged Business Program tenant.
The ribbon cutting ceremo
ny had numerous dignitaries,
airport personnel, representa
The Power of the Black Father
By HAZEL TRICE EDNEY
NAPA Whingion Goroponders
LAS VEGAS (NNPA) -
Some Black fathers come
home wearing a suit and tie
every day. Some may arrive
wearing coveralls, speckled
with paint. Others come
wearing a blue-collar uni
form after riding the
garbage truck. Still others
comc%!omc after a long day
of just lookini for work.
No marcter the circum
stances, if they arrive in the
spirit of love, they bring a
power to the home tfiat
cannot be substituted.
That is the sentiment of
men interviewed by the
NNPA News Service durin
the 100 Black Men o%
America’s 21st Annual Con
ference in Las Vegas, last
week.
With the theme, “Taking
Control of Our Future” as a
backdrop, they all conclud
ed one dnns The experi
ences of a Black man in
www.augustafocus.com
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Joe Bowles
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son block, they get vili
fied>? The ugly “mass
media engages in a feed
tives and well-wishers in atten
dance. The occasion com
menced with prayer offered by
Pastor Richard Peoples, Sr. of
Faith Outreach Christian Life
Center.
Augusta Mayor Deke
Copenhaver delivered a hearty
welcome, “I cannot tell how
excited 1 am to see this day
come for a new minority busi
ness venture o come to us.”
Mayor Pro Tem Betty Beard
gave endearing comments,
"My husband would be very
proud of Cedric and Fred. This
(Thrifty Car Renal) is a new
and welcomed presence at
Augusta Regional Airport, giv
ing the clients another option
to rent a car with the highest
quality and service.”
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Photo by Malcolm All
Albert Dotson Jr., chairman of the 100 Black Men of America,
inc., says his son, Albert, 9, is beginning to emuiate him.
America can be transformed
into a mobilizing force that
every child can 7ook up t
and admire,
“You look at the way that
this country was built on
the backs of Black men,”
sag record producer Kashif,
a former orphan who is now
% &
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Jerry Brigham
B PR %
. T
Calvin Holland, Sr.
e e
Betty Beard
ing frenzy that zeroes in
on the Blacks every time,
with no exception. Mari
District 9 Commissioner J.
R. Hatney, Representative
Henry L. Howard, Lynthia
Ross representing Congress
man John Barrow and Aviation
Commission member Isaac
Johnson also proffered acco
lades onto Mr. Fred A. John
son, 11, Esq. for this undertak
ing and for the contributions to
the community in the past and
Mr. Cedric Johnson for his
leadership.
Aviation Commission Chair
man Cedric Johnson said, “I've
got some great folks o work
with on the commission who
are devoted to making the
Augusta Regional Airport a
premiere facility with the ability
See Theifty, page 8A
raising two foster children
asa singc father. “You look
at the fact that millions of
us survived the journey
from Africa to here. And we
survived the journey of
America. So, we have the
power to instill in our
young people how to build
‘i %
Jimmy Smith
J. R. Hatney
TA e T S
»
on Williams is a prime
tar?ct. Not because he is
malevolent individual,
In ‘State of 100 Address”:
Dotson calls on Black Men to
‘See Eagles’ in America’s Youth
m}g\m TRICE EDNEY
INNIPA Wshinggon Comrespondent
LAS VEGAS (NNPA) -
Social justice and economic sta
tistics seem to indicate doom
for Americas Black male.
Therefore, the theme, “'l'aking,
Control of Our Future”
extremely aggressive for
:pé)l?&m men's odrganization.
But, Albert E. Dotson, Jr.,
chairman of the 100 Black
Men of America, Inc., says 21
years after the organization’s
founding, it is poised to do just
that.
“It is ime to turn the corner
on this conference, to tumn the
corner on this organization and
to truly Take Control of Our
Future,” says Dotson in his
annual “State of the 100
Address” before the more than
¥
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(B . i
Photo by Malcoim All
Al Dotson, president of the 100 Black Men of America.
a nation of resources,” he
says.
“The knowledge, the
energy, the development,
when we're there, the whole
world is an unlimited uni
verse,” says the now mil
lionaire, who, as Michael
Jones grew up in at least
eight foster homes in
Brooklyn, N.Y. “But, when
we're afiscm, obviously that
takes away. from the power
of the Black family. Black
men bring power into a
family, even if it's not our
family, just creating a fami
ly like I did by adopting
two boys.”
According to the National
Urban League’s State of
Black America 2007 report,
the future of the Black man
is critical to the “American
family.” Statistics on the
Black man run the gambit
from being six times more
likely than White men to be
incarcerated to nine times
more likely to be killed by
firearms , to nearly eight
FIFTY CENTS
but because he always
calls out the shell game
and he is black. Speaking
of ‘boys’ of sorts; Marion
is the antidote for the
proverbial “good ole boy.”
He is what the doctor
ordered for challenging
business as usual. Sty
the course, Marion. You
have more supporters
than the mass media
would have you believe
that you have. You can
not march by their music.
If you do, you will stum
ble. Stand tall!
When you look at the
issues, vote by vorte,
whites, for certain, vote
for the interests of the sta-
Sec Augusta, page 8A
2,700 registrants of the annual
convention in Las Vegas last
week.
“Calvin Mackey opened this
conference with an honest, no
holes-barred assessment of
where we stand as a people —
leading for us as a group of
E:ldcrs and as a group of Black
men that care to somehow
intervene. Dr. Cornel West,
Tavis Smiley, Ed Gordon, Dr.
Jawanza Kunjufu and others
have implored us. And, if I may
borrow from the great philoso-
Ehcrs Harold Melvin and the
lue Notes to capture their col
lective message - “Wake up
everybody, no more sleeping in
bed. No more backwan}) thi%\k—
ing, time for thinking ahead.”
Sec Dotson, page 10A
times more likely to suffer
from AIDS. Of single par
ent Black houschol§s. only
12 percent were led by men.
More than two-thirds of
Black children live in one
parent households in 2005,
the majority headed by
women.
Notwithstanding the sta
tistics, there are millions of
Black fathers who are living
at home or at least doin
right by their children ang
families. Here in Las Vegas,
where more than 2,(%00
Black men registered for
this conference to discuss
answers to the problems,
the crisis somehow
appeared dwarfed. !
You can look into every
community -the White
community, the Asian com
munity — and find fathers
who aren’t doing what they
ought to do,” says Thomas
W. Dortch Jr. of Atlanta,
president emeritus of the
Sec Father, page 9A