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Man Shotgunned
To Death
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Vol. 4
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COMMISSIONER BENJAMIN HOOKS
Benjamin Hooks
America’s 200-year-old Dilemma:
What To Do With The Black Man
“We have a date with
destiny. America has never
answered the fundamental
question 'What shall be do with
the Black man?’,” Federal
Communications
Commissioner Benjamin Hooks
said here Friday night at the
CSRA Business League Awards
Banquet.
Hooks said that America is
yet to come to the realization
that all men are created equal.
“They repudiated the words
of the Declaration of
Independence. We have failed
to live up to that creed.” Some
men, not all men, are created
equal, Hooks said.
Little has changed since the
Declaration of Independence
was written, according to
Hooks. A few months before
this country celebrates its
200th anniversary, the
question is still, ‘What shall we
do about minorities'.
Blacks, too, must share the
blame for not making more
progress, according to the
former minister and judge.
Many Blacks are beset with a
“second-class” mentality and
are afraid to patronize Black
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Mrs. Ann Olds (left) was named “Business Woman of
the Year” by the CSRA Business League Friday night.
Mrs. Louise Paige, last year’s winner, made the
presentation. Solomon Walker II smiles approvingly.
(See related photos page 3)
Business Woman Os The Year
James Sturgis and Mrs. Ann
Olds were named the Bussiness
Man and Business Woman of
the Year by the CSRA Business
League at its fourth annual
awards banquet Friday night.
Sturgis is the owner of
Sturgis and Sons Shell Service.
Mrs. Olds is in partnership with
her husband and two others in
an Augusta package
store-lounge.
Richmond Plumbing and
Building Supply Mart won the
businesses.
“We are never going to make
it as a race until we get the
confidence to believe our ice is
as cold, that our fires will burn
as long, and that our plumbers
can make plumbing work as
well as the white plumber.”
He praised the CSRA
Business League and similar
groups for trying to help other
people “make it”. As soon as
some of us make it, we forget
where we came from. We
forget those down in the heat
and squalor of the ghetto, he
lamented.
Hooks called for a “sense of
community” in which Blacks
patronize Blacks.
Outward symbols of
“Blackness” are fine, he said,
but real Blackness comes in our
acts. “If an afro is a cover-up
for a processed mind, we aren’t
doing anything.”
The Rev. Martin Luther
King, he said, was a
modern-day Moses. But when
he started talking about white
poor folk, they killed him
because them “couldn’t stand
us getting together”.
He praised whites in the
award as the “Business Most
Likely to Succeed”.
The “Business Most
Supportive to Minority
Business Enterprise” was
Hector Sheppard and Co.
The Citizens and Southern
National Bank was named the
“Financial Institution Most
Responsive to Minority
Business Needs”.
A special service award went
to Harvey L. Johnson,
executive director of • the
league.
P.O. Box 953
audience for “coming back”.
Many whites wanted Blacks as
consumers but not as
producers, Hooks charged. “We
had white allies when we
wanted to buy hot dogs. But
when we started trying to
SELL hot dogs, they turned
their backs.
Hooks is the first and only
Black to serve on the FCC. His
term will expire in 1979.
He castigated the media for
its failure to adequately
represent Black life. The only
image of Blacks is still one of
criminals, dancers, singers and
athletes, he said. “1 shall never
to content until people like
Julian Bond, Maynard Jackson,
Black architects, lawyers, etc.
are portrayed along with the
basketball players and the
dancers.”
Hooks said there will be no
peace until whites are willing
to admit the centuries of
inequities.
Yet he remains optimistic.
“I happen to believe that this is
still a great country inspite all
of its inequities.
He was interrupted nine
times by applause and given a
standing ovation at the end.
Rice Named Assistant
Manager Os C&S
Branch Bank
is
WILSON L. RICE
Wilson L. Rice was recently
named assistant branch
manager of the Meadowbrook
Branch of Citizens and
Southern National Bank, on
Highway 1.
He is believed to be the first
Black in Augusta to hold this
position.
Before joining C&S in 1973,
Rice taught mathematics and
was head basketball coach at
John M. Tutt Junior High
School. Prior to joining the
Richmond County public
Augusta, Georgia
Legless Black Veteran Allegedly
Beaten By White Cop
Thales Elliot, a Black Viet
Nam vetern who lost both of
his legs during the war, told
The News-Review that he was
beaten by a Richmond County
deputy Nov. 6, his birthday.
According to Elliot, the
incident occurred last
Wednesday afternoon after he
drove past the traffic light at
the Gordon Highway and
Deans Bridge Road.
Elliot said he was driving in
the left lane when a brown
Pinto cut in front of him
forcing him into the path of
oncoming traffic. The driver of
the car reportedly began
pointing his hand as the vet cut
back to the right side of the
road which was merging from
three lanes into two lanes.
A stopped truck forced
Elliot to stop. Then the man
motioned the double amputee
to pull to the side of the road.
The man said he was a police
officer and told Elliot he was
going to arrest him. Elliot said
Man Shotgunned
To Death
An Augusta man was found
dead on the floor of his dining
room Sunday by his wife who
was returning from a trip.
Jessie Lavert Williams Jr. of
1682 15th St. was found lying
face down on the dining room
floor with an easy chair over
his back and a dining room
chair upside down in the easy
chair.
Williams’ hands were tied
behind his back with an
Black Group
Endorses Rockefeller
The Council of 100, An
Organization of Black
school system, in 1966, he was
chairman of the mathematics
department and head
basketball coach at Washington
High School in Cairo, Ga.
where he worked from 1963 to
1966.
He received the B.S. degree
from Albany State College and
the M.A. degree in
mathematics from Michigan
State University.
A native of Sylvester, Ga.,
he is the son of Mrs. Carrie
Rice of Sylvester and the late
Robert Rice.
He is married to the former
Louise Allen, an assistant
professor at Paine College.
They have two sons, Wilson,
Jr., 8, and Robert Christopher,
4.
The Rices live at 3016
Bramblewood Trail.
Deadline
Mondays,
Please
Verlyn Bell: Victim
Os Recount Or Rip-off?
the man pushed something in
front of his face (apparently
identification), but it was so
close to his face he couldn't
read it. Elliot questioned the
arrest stating, “You’re the one
who pushed me off the road.
How are you going to arrest
me?” The deputy then began
punching him in the chest
while saying “I’ll beat your
Black -
“I told him he wasn’t going
to do to me”, Elliot said.
The deputy began pushing
him and that’s when he told
the deputy that he was a
double amputee and had no
legs. The deputy then grabbed
him behind his back and began
throwing him around, Elliot
charged.
He said he hollered at each
passing car for somebody to
make the deputy turn him
loose.
A neighbor, identified only
as Jenkins, a retired sergeant,
electrical extension cord.
Another extension cord and a
necktie were tied around his
neck. He was dressed in
pajamas and a bathrobe.
Police reports show Williams
had been shot twice with a
shotgun. One of the shots
struck Williams at the base of
the skull and one three inches
below the shoulder line, just
left of the center of the back.
Republi cans, announced its
active support of Nelson
Rockefeller’s confirmation as
Vice-president.
Lloyd von Blaine, director
of communications, said that
the council, through its
chairman, Samuel C. Jackson,
reaffirms its unstinting support
for the former New York
governor and, having appeared
in this posture before the
Senate Rules Committee, is
pressing for an appearance
before the House Committee.
Jackson further stated that
the time has come for Blacks
to shake the shackles that have
tied them blindly to the
Democratic party and press for
gains on such issues as budget
for minority enterprise, more
housing, jobs, grants and
deposit in Black banks and
other institutions.
Jackson continued, saying
that these issues should have
been dealt with more firmly
during the Nixon
Administration and Blacks,
regardless of political faith,
should take issues with any
administration not supporting
these objectives along with
recognition of their welfare
and contributions in the
economy.
Von Blaine issued a
statement saying that the ties
of Blacks to the Democratic
party hurts all Blacks, and they
must learn to patronize the
two party system through the
same format that has benefited
the white man.
Blacks must develop a new
trait and political character by
did stop and told the deputy
that Elliot was indeed a
disabled veteran with both legs
amputated.
The deputy reportedly
had witnesses who
said Elliot waved his walking
stick at the deputy and used
abusive language.
A female passenger in
Elliot’s car witnessed the
incident. Elliot said there were
no other witnesses.
Other deputies arrived at the
scene and arrested Elliot
The deputy, Jerry Haley,
gave a different version. He
said Elliot got right behind his
bumper then pulled up beside
him and started yelling
something at him. Then Elliot
pulled in front and slammed on
brakes almost causing the
deputy to hit him.
As Elliot was getting out of
the car, he cursed, “You white
m— f—, jf I had my G- D
Mrs. Betty Williams
discovered her husband’s body
upon arrival from a trip to
Atlanta. She stated she had
talked with her husband by
phone Saturday from Atlanta.
When she arrived home, she
found her husband dead on the
dining room floor.
The house had been
ransacked according to police
reports.
being objective, analytical, and
judicial on issues as well as
candidates void of sentiment,
says von Blaine.
The council is comprised of
independent business men and
women from across the nation
and vows not to be a rubber
stamp for any party or
candidate, while at the same
time, enlarging its efforts to
elect more Black Republicans
to congressional as well as state
and local offices. It does not
seek funds from Republican
organizations, Black or white,
but finances its own activities
and has given financial
assistance to some Black
Republican candidates in the
recent elections. The council
says, in passing, about his gifts,
“His gifts to the many facets of
society in all areas, ethnic
groups, and the aid to Black
institutions in the South are
more impressive than a loan to
a faithful friend, and 525
million to these causes is in
itself unbelievable.”
Give
the world ■
a little !
gift today |
Blood. i
+ The American J
Red Cross.
The Good
Neighbor. &
AMERICAN RED CROSS CAMPAII
November 14, 1974 No. 34 20C
gun I’d kill you,” Haley said.
After the deputy identified
himself, he said Elliot charged,
“You’re picking on me because
I’m Black.”
Haley went on to say that
Elliot raised his cane and
attempted to strike '' him,
yelling at Blacks who passed
by, “Get this m— f—ing
EDITORIAL
RECOUNT OR RIP OFF
By now, almost everybody in the CSR A knows that
Verlyn Bell, the only Black candidate running for the
Richmond County Board of Education on Nov. 5, was
declared a candidate for a Nov. 26 runoff against Mrs.
Mary E. Wooten.
And all of that has been changed now. We are told
that the computer made a mistake and didn t count all
the votes. A recount was held last Thursday, and the
“uncounted votes” were added in.
James W. Phillips, who placed third on Nov. 5, came
out six votes ahead of Bell, after the “recount”.
The computer’s “mistake” is said to have occurred in
failing to count precincts, 86-3 and 86-6. Totals had
been “more or less” correct up to the time those two
voting places reported in.
We are told that the “clincher” came when the
absentee ballots were counted. Totals given Thursday
night before those votes were counted showed Bell
ahead of Phillips, 4,048 to 4,025. After the absentees
were added in, Phillips reportedly gainer! 80 votes and
Bell 51. Thus Phillips, we are led to believe, finished six
votes ahead of Bell.
And now Phillips is in the run-off and Bell is out
The recount included all of the legislative delegation,
county commission, and board of education races, as
well as the three local referendums. But the only race
that changed as a result of the recount was the Seventh
Ward board of education seat.
We are told that the totals for candidates previously
declared winners changed in the recount, but they were
still winners.
We raise a number of questions: 1) Whenever these
“mistakes” are made - whether with police guns
“accidently” going off or computers “accidently”
leaving out votes - why do the victims almost always
turnout Black? 2>lf the computer made all the mistakes
that we are led to believe, then how do we know which
figures are accurate? 3) The recount took five hours.
But hours before the recount, many people knew what
the recount was going to show. Three hours before the
recount, the News-Review was told that the recount
would show Bell losing by seven votes. The actual
recount showed him losing by six. How was this
determined before the recount? It the “lost ballots
were found, how do we know others weren’t added?
It may be that there wasnomiscarriageofjustice.lt
may be that Blacks are just “accident-prone”. But we
question it. And we feel that all people interested in
justice should question it.
It M-** - - i ff W
School board candidate Verlyn Bell (left) is pictured
during recount last Thursday that took him out of the
runoff for the 7th Ward board of education seat. Bell
has demanded another recount (State Rep. Matthew
Mulherin looks on.) (News-Review Staff Photo)
cracker off me.”
Elliot was arrested and
charged with obstruction of an
officer, abusive languages and
reckless driving.
He has filed a complaint
with the Human Relations
Commission and has secured
the legal services of Attorney
John H. Ruffin.