Newspaper Page Text
Vol. 7, No. 36
Beauty
of the
Week
“Look before you leap” is
the motto of Benita Cheryl
Thompkins, a communications
major at Augusta College.
Ms. Thompkins, the
daughter of Mr. and Mrs.
Clarence Thompkins, is a 1975
graduate of Westside High
School and a graduate of the
McConnell Airline School in
Minneapolis, Minn. Her
interests include cooking,
sewing, dancing and jogging.
She is a member of the
Greater Mt. Canaan Baptist
Church, where the Rev.
Nathaniel Irvin is pastor.
What kind of people does
Ms. Thompkins like? “I enjoy
people better when they are
down to earth and like being
themselves,” she said.
Photo by Mike Carr
Pryor, Lyle,
Kirby busted
While the new year is
supposed to bring new hope
for many, it has brought only
trouble for three popular Black
celebrities.
In Los Angeles,
actor/comedian Richard Pryor
HdHkrl
Richard
,>rvor
faces charges of assault with a
deadly weapon. After
surrendering to police Monday,
the 36-year-old Pryor was
released on SSOOO bail.
His problems grew out of a
New Year’s Day incident where
he allegedly shot at his wife,
Deborah, and two friends who
were visiting her at the Pryor
home. The two friends, who
filed the complaint, have been
identified as Beverly Clayborn,
25, of Los Angeles, and Edna
Solomon, 37, of Washington.
According to police,
“Witnesses said the three
women were ejected from the
house by force, chased around
the yard in a car by Pryor and
shot at when they escaped into
the street. Earlier, witnesses
said, Pryor had rammed the
victims’ car with his Mercedes
Benz five or six times.”
Top 10 Stories
of 1977
(Not necessarily in order of significance)
1. Black unemployment: up to 60 percent among Black
teenagers.
2. Confrontation between Blacks and President Carter because
of unfulfilled campaign promises.
3. The strong leadership of U.N. Ambassador Andrew Young
and his impact on the nation's foreign policy.
4. Alan Bakke’s challenge to Affirmative Action.
5. Jesse Hill elected as the first Black Chamber of Commerce
President of a major city (Atlanta).
6. The construction of (local) Paine College’s administration
building through an interracial “Budd It Back Campaign”
to replace the original Haygood Hall which burned to the
ground in 1968.
7. Tribute to County Commissioner Edward Mclntyre and his
recent State Department tour of Africa.
8. The split between Mayor Lewis Newman and his longtime
friend and former Civil Service Commissioner Joseph
Taylor who said the mayor replaced him on the
Commission because of Black Pressure. Taylor says he will
oppose Newman for mayor in the fall.
9. Tl apparent suppression of former Augustan Dr. Robert
Screen’s book “With My Face to the Rising Sun.” The
public’s right to know is a freedom that we must protect.
10. The beginning of construction of the Coliseum.
Paine College Library
1235 15th St.
Augusta, GA 30901
Augusta Nmß-Srttjput
BWSK
In Denver, the situation was
worse for boxer Ron Lyle. The
35-year-old heavyweight
contender has been charged
fßon
Lyle
e
with first-degree murder as a
result of a shooting incident at
a party being held at his home.
Comedian George Kirby has
been convicted in a Las Vegas
federal court on drug charges.
Kirby [ S
He will be sentenced before
Federal Judge Roger Foley on
Jan. 30.
A federal grand jury had
indicted Kirby on two counts
of distributing heroin to
undercover narcotics agents
last March and April. In the
first transaction, the
5 2-year-old entertainer
supposedly sold two ounces of
heroin for $2600, while in the
second he allegedly sold 1.1
pounds for $26,000.
P.O. Box 953
Dr. Chishom
Proclamation great
as Commandments
By E.R. Shipp
“The concept of the
Emancipation Proclamation
represents one of the most
profound concepts in Black
history,” according to Dr.
Andrew Chishom.
Chishom made his remarks
as he delivered the keynote
address at the celebration of
Emancipation Day here
Monday. The Emancipation
Proclamation was issued 115
years ago by President
Abraham Lincoln, declaring
that slaves in the Confederate
States would be legally free as
of Jan. 1, 1863.
According to Chishom,
the Emancipation
Proclamation “is of equal
importance to Black America”
as the Declaration of
Independence and the UJS.
Constitution.
The decision to issue the
Emancipation Proclamation
was “a solution to a political
problem,” according to
Chishom. He quoted from
President Lincoln, who during
the trying days prior to die
Civil War declared, “If keeping
the Negroes slaves would
preserve the Union, then I
would order it.”
“To Black America,
however, the Emancipation
Proclamation was not a
political solution, but a gift as
great as the Ten
Commandments to the
children of Israel,” Chishom
said.
Dr. Chishom, the son of Mr.
and Mrs. Junious Chishom of
1032 Twelfth Ave., is currently
serving as U.S. Marshal for the
State of South Carolina. He is
the first Black since
Reconstruction to hold this
position in any Southern state
and one of only four Black
marshals in the entire US.
system at present.
In speaking to the more than
300 people gathered at the
Tabernacle Baptist Church for
the program, Dr. Chishom said,
“We have come a long way as a
NEWS ANALYSIS
President Carter recently
said energy will be the top
priority of his administration
in 1978, but close behind
energy must be his proposed
reform of the welfare system.
Currently the proposal he
sent to Congress last August is
in trouble. The problem is not
WHETHER to reform the
system, but rather HOW to
reform it.
Under Carter’s plan, the
three major welfare programs
would be abolished. These
include the Aid to Families
with Dependent Children,
supplemental security income
and food stamps. In addition,
employment programs, upon
which some cities depend to
staff their service agencies, will
be phased out. All these
programs would be repheed by
a new system combining cash
assistance and jobs for the
poor.
If the President has his way
there would be two categories
of poor people. First, poor
people who are able to work
would be required to work,
taking government-created jobs
where available.
Carter has proposed to
create a maximum of 1.4
million public jobs, though
many more people might be
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j-
Photo by Mike Carr
Dr. Andrew Chisom
Welfare plan in trouble
eligible for work. Under the
Carter plan, if those eligible do
NOT work, they could lose
most of their public assistance
payments. The new public jobs
would pay only the minimum
wage. In adddition, the
government would pay cash
subsidies to people in
low-payingjobs.
The second classification of
poor people will be those who
are, for various reasons, unable
to work. This would generally
include the aged, the disabled,
and single parents of pre-school
children. Persons eligible in this
category would receive a single
monthly cash payment.
The entire scheme of the
President seems to be to
encourage families to stay
together and to provide an
incentive for all able-bodied
persons to work.
Specifically, the program
would be designed so that
people in private jobs would
always have a higher income
than those in public jobs.
Likewise, those in public jobs
would be compensated better
than those who do not work at
all.
The measure the President
submitted to Congress five
months ago is still tied up in
the House. A special
HAPPY NEW YEAR I!
country and as a people."
He highlighted the history of
the struggle of the Black race
for what he called “common
decency” and “justice,” from
Reconstruction, when Blacks
became Congressmen and state
governors, to 1953, when
Blacks in Montgomery, Ala.,
began to challenge America “to
see if the country was ready to
actualize the Bill of Rights, the
Declaration of Independence
and the Constitituion.
As he sees it, the only thing
that separates people in this
January 5, 1978
country is color, an artificial
barrier. As long as that remains
true, he said, “we will continue
to bask in the problems we are
pursuing.”
Chishom equated fear with
hate, saying they thrive upon
each other, keeping the races
apart at hostile distances.
While he lauded Blacks and
whites who in the past aided
the cause of freedom in this
See “PROCLAMATION”
Page 3
: subcommittee has been
> established to develop a
• welfare reform package
: acceptable to a majority of the
; House’s 435 members.
i The work requirement is the
; most radical innovation
i proposed by the President and
i gives rise to the most serious
disputes. Who will be required
f to work? How much will they
i be paid? How many jobs will
; be created?
■ The Carter proposal would
, require single mothers with
I childrer? over age 14 to work
i full time and those with
children between 7 and 14 to
work part time. Critics of the
: plan can’t agree whether the
i age requirements are too high
or too low.
i Because the 1.4 million new
I federally-created jobs would
pay only the minimum wage,
i critics fear that some of the
t President’s basic aims will be
I defeated.
> They point out that
situations could arise where
> people work side-by-side at the
same job but receive radically
t different pay. For example, an
unskilled laborer in private jobs
t might receive $6 an hour,
• See “WELFARE PLAN”
I Page 5
Less Than 75% Advertising
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REV 7 . IKE is Alice Travis’ guest on the television show “For You ... Black
Woman.” The unpredictable man-of-God lays it on the line to viewers.
Rev. Ike claims he
advises gov’t. heads
NEW YORK - In an
interview that will be televised
early in 1978 on the
syndicated series “For You...
Black Woman,” Rev. Ike
disclosed that he had been
asked for advice from “the
highest echelon of
government.” He did not
identify a beneficiary of his
counsel but said the nation
would be surprised by the
“Nicodemuses” that came to
him.
Rev. Ike, once considered a
flamboyant minister, is
thought of as a saviour by
many and a confidence man by
others. During the interview,
which was conducted by Alice
Travis, Rev. Ike said he owns
16 Rolls Royces, that his
laigest single contribution
received was $200,005, that
“the best thing you can do for
the poor is not be one of
them” and that he believes
Jesus was a capitalist.
Charles S. Gerber, creator
and producer of “For You...
Black Woman,” which is seen
on more than 50 TV outlets
across the country, said,
‘‘While constructive
controversy is our show’s
mettle, 1 expect Rev. Ike’s
manner of expression and
beliefs to cause a sensation
among our viewers and move
them to write to us both in
support and condemnation.”
Some of Rev. Ike’s responses
Hill scores another Ist
in business community
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Photo by Mike Can*
Jesse Hill
to Alice Travis’ questions are:
“I used to preach hell and
damnation... but I looked
around and saw that people
were already in he 11... I realized
I needed to devise away to
help people get out of the
various hells they were already
in... We keep people poor by
all this poverty talk... all of this
sophisticated sociological
teaching has said to Black
people... look you’re poor and
you can’t help yourself.”
When questioned about
reports of his high income.
Rev. Ike said: “Giving is the
strongest affirmation of ‘I
have’... when you give it says
to your subconscious mind., to
all the infinite subconscious
forces... ‘I have’... This is why
the rich get richer and the poor
get poorer... And it seems cruel
until you understand that rule
of mind... I even tell people
that if you don't have
something to give... borrow
something to give... All that
giving is not simply in money...
Each person who receives
anything in life receives
because he gives to people.”
Rev. Ike talked about
coming to New York City, “I
walked down Central Park
South... it blew my mind to see
all those fancy places and the
Rolls Royces... Today when I
walked down Central Park
South, usually the only Rolls
With jesse Hill’s election as
the first Black president of its
118-year-old Chamber of
Commerce, Atlanta's business
community should have a new
outlook in 1978.
In his inaugural message to
the 4000-member organization,
Hill said, “Everything has
changed and nothing has
changed.”
Hill, said to be involved in
every phase of Atlanta’s
political, economic, social and
religious life, is president of the
Atlanta Life Insurance
Company, the largest
Black-controlled,
shareholder-owned insurance
company in the country, as
well as the president and
publisher of the Atlanta
Inquirer newspaper.
He was the first Black
member of the Georgia Beard
of Regents and the first Black
to serve on a number of
corporate boards of directors.
Currently he is a board
member of the National Urban
Coalition, the Southern
Christian Leadership
Conference, the National
Urban League, the
Opportunity Funding
Royces I see are mine.” He
continued, “I teach people
this: 1 am not other people’s
opinions... You must come to
peace with yourself.”
When asked if many of those
who had called him a charlatan
had come to him for help now
that be has achieved
world-wide fame, Rev. Ike said.
“1 have a lot of Nicodemusei.
The Bible says Nicodemus
came to Jesus by night... a lot
of people come around (to me)
and say ‘how do you do it?’... I
don’t even mention who' may
visit me or call upon me for
counsel... or the calls 1 get
from the highest echelon of
government.” If he were
President, Rev. Ike says he
would “administer massive
doses of positive image
psychology... our white
brothers and sisters have had
their Norman Vincent Peales,
their W. Clement Stones... to
teach them how to think and
grow rich... the white man has
been taught how to use his
mind... the Black man has
always been taught to use his
behind.”
During the “For You...
Black Woman” interview. Rev.
Ike discusses racism,
misconduct in the Black
community, how a Black
woman can use everyday skills
to get a job and make money
and women’s rights.
Corporation and the Martin
Luther King Center for Social
Change.
Hill not only was
instrumental in the elections of
Maynard Jackson as mayor of
Atlanta and now-Ambassador
Andrew Young as Congressman
from the Fifth District, but he
was also a prominent
early-supporter of Jimmy
Carter. Hill, as early as 1973,
was one of a select group of
Georgians who K elped Carter
plan his presidential campaign.
As he accepted the
presidency. Hill, who moved to
Atlanta 25 years ago from St.
Louis, Mo., said, “There are
those who tell me that it says
something about Atlanta and
how times have changed that a
Black man has been chosen to
head the Chamber of this great
city. But I well know that I
stand on the shoulders of those
who have gone before.”
“You and I well know
something else: that ten years
from now it will little matter
that we came together here for
this purpose if any children in
Atlanta find themselves
trapped by poverty in dead-end
ghettos instead of a city of
promise and fulfillment.’”
25‘