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Muhammad Ali's for
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Page 2A
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note
Page 2A
Cost keeps college out of
reach for many minority
Page 3A
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What do summer
songs from the Beach
Boys to Rihanna have
in common? They
make you feel good
Pasrwlgm
Is it Time for a
nghe;kl-l“lp?
Mary Su
Page 2B ¥
Hazel Trice Edney
Named Editor-in-Chief
of the NNPA News Ser
vice
Page 6A
- Annual SRS summer
food drive raises over
$22,530 for the CSRA
Page 6A
INDEX
ARTbheat ..........1B
8u5ine55..........TA
City/Regi0n......3A
Good News ......6A
SPlrit.ccceceeserses2B
Vol. 25, No. 1291
Your children: Put some time in them!
The breaking news recently
has been the revelaton that a
large percentage of Richmond
County eighth graders are in
limbo, not knowing whether
they will be able w 0 go into high
school next school year. What
they are prefentdy strapped with
are test scores on science and
math tests that did not meet
the thresholds for moving into
the ninth grade, the offical
beginning of high school, the
first step above middle school,
and the grade in which they
will start o tally scores that will
figure inw their high school
grade point average. The sig
nificance of the marter s thar
their success at this point, along
with SAT/ACT scores down
the road, will determine their
worthiness for entrance inw a
Sharpton joins call for ‘justice’ after child shooting
WEST MEMPHIS, Ark.
(AP) - HThe Rey: Al
Sharpton was among the
more than 2,000 people
who packed the West
Memphis Civic Auditori
um to remember DeAun
tac Farrow, the 12-year
old boy shot and killed
by police last month.
Sharpton urged the
public to “stand up for
justice’ at Sunday’s
funeral service. Sharpton
was onc of several at the
service calling tor justice
while urging the commu
nity to remain calm. He
said Farrow's death
should not be forgotten.
“We must not be upset
for two weeks. They
expect you to be angry
and cool off,” Sharpton
said. “If we stand up for
justice, this boy will not
have died in vain.”
Farrow was shot the
evening of June 22 by a
West Memphis police
officer who said he
believed the youth was
holding a gun. Police
'All-American’ debate reveals stratified hlack constituency
Q'NMHAZELTRICE EDNEY
Editor-in-Chief
WASHINGTON (NNPA)
— The All-American Presiden
tial Forum held ac Howard
University last week not only
showcased domestic issues of
interest to African-Americans,
but has also revealed a Black
constituency that, although
admires Sen. Barack Obama, is
dlearly stratified in its support
for several candidates.
“My favorite candidate at this
point is still John Edwards. |
think that his views are most
aligned with mine and he pre
sented himself very well,” says
Dr. Rochelle For\?., a Howard
University advertising and jour
nalism professor, who attended
the : debate.
At the same time, Ford, like
other members of the vastly
Black audience interviewed as
they pressed their way out of
Howard's Crampton Auditori
um, also held a special alle-
Sina: to Sen. Barack Obama,
loan Black candidate who
has reached rock star fame as he
runs neck-in-neck with Sen.
Hilary Rodham Clinton for
the Democratic nomination.
“I am an Obama rter.
Id love to see mma-
Edwards ticket,” says Ford. She
mshcdidano:flinctcsttosc:
ich candidate’s views most
www.augustafocus.com
college of their choice.
College right now is not on
their mind, passing the tests is
the immediate problem. Poor
test scores at this cridical junc
ture are plaguing students, not
just in Richmond County, but
throughout the state. At the
state level, only 63 percent of
seventh graders passed the sci
ence test. Eighty- one percent
passed the math twst. Those
who did not pass are faced with
the task of making up the defi
ciency in summer school. If
they don't make it up in sum
mer school, they face retention.
This does not bode well for the
prospect of any coming from
this group to become mathe
maticians or scientists in the
future.
Education, while the great
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FORA Rev AT Shai pton
said the boy had a toy
gun; the boy's family has
said he had a bag of
chips and a soda.
Kirsten Foy of Sharp
ton's National Action
Network urged angry
community members not
to “turn to despair.”
“You may be feeling a
little hurt, you may be
angry,” he said. “But the
way to victory is not
with hate. Don't turn to
hate. Don't turn to dark
ness.”
West Memphis City
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Candidates participating in the debate were Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton; Sen. Joe Biden; New
Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson; former Sen. John Edwards; Sen. Barack Obama; Rep. Dennis
¥ucinich; Sen. Mike Gravel and Sen. Christopher Dodd.
aligned with hers. “John
Ecfivmis was number one and
Obama was number
two... And so, g‘pd'rzsnn:cnm
president kind of thing I thi
would work.”
The string of issues presented
at last weeks energetic forum,
moderated by Tavis Smiley on
PBS, was vast and n:fiuhmE to
political observers who
cleared tred debates that
almost solely featured discus
sions about the war in Iraq and
equalizer in a democratic socie
ty, now and always has been
caught in the vise of politics.
The current Governor cam
paigned with the promise of
improving schools. The past
Governor, Roy Barnes, had in
place during his tenure an edu
cational reform package that
was in very many ways similar
to the No Child Shall be Left
Behind mandate instituted by
President George W. Bush.
Governor Sonny Perdue has
pushed through a number of
remedies, including lowering
class size and increasing teacher
pay. Both of these strategies
hold great promise if carried
out properly. First of all,
See Chilidren, page 10A
Council member Marco |
McClendon read words
written by Deborah Far- |
row, the boy's mother:
“What would I give to
have you back here with
me?! Momma misses you
very much.”
Sheri Lowe, DeAun
tac's principal, said he
was one oftEe most well
mannered children she's
encountered in her 28
years as an educator in
West Memphis.
“With somcone the
quality of DeAuntae, it's |
a tragedy to us all,” she |
said. |
DeAuntae was outside |
playing with a friend
while police were on a|
stakeout of an adjacent
apartment. Police have |
said the boys ran by,
yelling, and officers told |
them to stop. Police say |
one officer grcd when it |
appeared Farrow was |
hoYding a weapon and |
moved. |
Relatives and commu—;’
immigration issues. The issues
discussed were mostly issues
from Smifz"s best-selling “Con
venant With Black America” and
The Sapuc ot i
Coet i
31:5 consideration of race d::
descgregation, i
parities, public cdumtiow::,gc racial
profiling, mandatory mini
mum sentences, AIDZHIV in
the Black commu:r"g, the
death penalty, crack and pow
der cocaine sentencing dispari
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Nation Sets New
Record in the Jailing
of African Americans
By Phillip Borden
A%’ NcwsPVVriter
According to a recent
report released by the Jus
tice Department, the num
ber of incarcerated Ameri
cans reached an all-time
record last year. Local, state
and federal officials jailed
an additional 62,000 people
as of June 2006 sending the
prison population to 2.24
million people.
The Bureau of Justice Sta
tistics' (BJS) annual report
says the 2.8 percent increase
in incarcerations was the
largest increase in six years.
[§|ack men continue to be
imprisoned at record pace.
[g)lacks and Hispanics are
the primary people being
jailecs). Currently, Blact
men, who are roughly 6 and
a-half percent of the
nation’s total population,
represented 37 percent of
those behind bars.
ties, jobs and Hurricane Katri
na relief were among the issues
directly addressed or men
tioned during the forum.
Obama, who has demon
strated that he may be at his
best as a keynote in front of
large crowds, drew screams and
cheers as he stepped out onto
the stage in front of the 1,500
snnding-momonlfiycmwdand
millions television
indleUmM Eadier,
he and his wife, Michele, could
PRSRT STD
US POSTAGE
PAID
AUGUSTA GA
PERMIT NO 302
Serving Metro Augusta,
South Carclina and The CSRA
FIFTY CENTS
African American males
have an incarceration arte of
4.8 percent compared to
1.9 percent for Hispanics
and 0.7 percent for whites.
Amazingly, 11 percent of all
Black males between 25 and
34 are in prison.
The primary culprits are
the so-called war on drugs
and tougher (some critics
argue extreme) sentencing
laws. The U.S. has more of
its citizens in prison than
any other nation in the
world.
Communist-led China,
for example, has a popula
tion nearly four times larger
than that of the U.S. but
has fewer people in prison.
Some critics, such as the
Drug War Chronicle - are
now blaming a “prison
industrial complex” which
benefits and profits from
the growing incarcerations.
hardly press through the crowd
of well-wishers at a PBS recep
tion just before the debate. But,
it was Sen. Hilary Clinton who
drew the loudest cheers and
applause when she hit home
with people in the audience
who have tired of national news
attention to the personal lives of
White starlets. “If HIV/AIDS
were the leading cause of death
of White women between the
ages of 25 and 34, there would
be an outraged outcry in this
country,” (Alfimon said as the
audience stood to their feet
with applause and Black
women cheered.
A Gallup poll taken a week
before the dcfitc showed Clin
ton and Obama running neck
in neck among prospective
Black voters, bofin with favor
able views by about 8-to-1
margimaver(f:'cmstofd\cmn
didates. The survey was Passgczi
on a telephone survey o
glhds witha margin of error of
us or minus
points. Also, this wmfl,ergcn l%f
eral Election Commission
reports that Obama has sur
gamed Clinton's fundraising by
10 million during the second
quarter of their afi% require
ments, Obama with at least
s3l million and Clinton with
s2l million for the primary.
Despite the “Run Obama
Sec Dobate, page 9A