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Vol. 7, No. 44 Comedian Kirby gets lOyears in prison Comedian George Kirby was sentenced to 10 years in prison Wednesday for his conviction of heroin trafficking charges. Kirby is credited as the writer of the song “King Heroin” made popular by singer James Brown, which warned against the dangers of the drug. U.S. District Judge Roger Foley ordered the 5 2-y ear-old impressionist taken into custody Monday and placed in the Clark County Jail in Las Vegas. The judge revoked Kirby’s SIO,OOO bond and raised bail to SIOO,OOO pending appeal. Kirby received two concurrent 10-year prison terms for his conviction on charges of distributing a controlled substance, possession with intent to distribute and aiding and abetting. The maximum penalty for each of the felony drug charges is 15 years in prison and a $25,000 fine. Kirby was convicted by a jury Dec. 20 of selling two ounces of heroin to an undercover agent and trying to < distribute another half pound. Both incidents supposedly occuied in mid-1977. The judge also directed federal authorities to place Kirby on special probation for three years to be added to any probation period he might receive upon his release from prison. Dr. Mays to be honored Dr. Benjamin E. Mays, president emeritus of Morehouse College, and Ewald B. Nyquist, vice president of Pace University of New York will be honored when the United Negro College Fund marks its 34 anniversary with a dinner in New York March 9. Dr. Mays served as the president of Morehouse, a UNCF school in Atlanta, Georgia, from 1940 to 1967. The author of “Born to Rebel,” an autobiography, he was also president of the United Negro College Fund from 1958 to 1961. Nyquist, who is known as a proponent of minority education, was until recently the New York State Commissioner of Education. Both honorees will be presented with paintings by Hale Woodruff. Woodruff, whose work has been exhibited at the Whitney Museum and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, taught art at Atlanta University, a UNCF-supported school, for many years. In 1938-39, he was commissioned to do “The Armistead Murals,” an episodic depiction of a slave revolt, at Talledega College, another UNCF school. Woodruff is also a member of the Art Commission of New York City. The United Negro College F und is a non-profit organization which raises money for 41 predominantly -Black private colleges and universities across the country. All UNCF schools are private and fully-accredited. Tickets for this event are SSO and are abtainable by calling Ann Dobson at UNCF, 644-9637. Augusta NmH-lUujew Booker T. Washington’s last child dies, Augusta woman is closest survivor |T| i ml rSR iw Ik il 1k Mrs. Margaret Barrington admires portrait of Booker T. Washington with Paine College President Dr. Julius S. Scott Jr. General ‘Chappie' Janies succumbs to heart attack Gen. Daniel “Chappie” James Jr., the first Black four-star general and the highest ranking Black in the U.S. Military, died of a heart attack Saturday in Colorado Springs, Colo. He was 58. He suffered the heart attack while there for a speaking en gagement. He was buried in Arlington National Cemetery Wednesday. Gen. James retired Feb. 1 ending a 34-year military career. He had a lifetime retirement pension of $42,000. President Carter, commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces, said Gen. James had been given “an equal authority ’ including responsibility for initiating an atomic attack.” The President said that such responsibility was “rare” and that it showed the superb confidence the military establishment had in Gen. James. At the end of his career, Gen. James was commander-in -chief of the entire air warning and defense network operated jointly by the United States and Canada. “That’s the top of the heap and for them to give me that kind of responsibility is about as humbling a thing as can happen to a fighter pilot,” James said. His career ended in controversy when he was transferred from the North American Air Defense Command last Wednesday. Both the Pentagon and the Defense Department denied What happened to TV’s ’Black Renaissance?’ By Bill Mandel Pacific News Service The broadcast on Feb. 12, 13 and 14 of NBC’s six-hour “King,” a TV biography of the civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr., came almost exactly a year after ABC’s triumphant presentation of “Roots,” based on the best-selling book by Alex Haley. The year between “Roots” and “King” was supposed to be a year of great progress for Black actors, actresses and writers of intelligent Black-oriented stories. A glance at the facts, however, shows that the Black TV renaissance still hasn’t happened. Perhaps the most glaring example of the TV public’s disinclination to accept serious Black topics was the rating failure of NBC’s “King,” a project the network spent almost $4 million to produce P.O. Box 953 Br* ■■ 'Jyg n. ■ I te I L m ' Kk GEN. DANIEL (“CHAPPIE”) JAMES JR., the first and only Black American four-star military officer, meets with President Carter - his Commander-in-Chief - that his transfer was due to his opposition the breaking up of the aerospace defense organization. The Pentagon said he was transferred to Washington for medical evaluation on prior to retirement. He had suffered a mild heart attack last September while watching a football game. Gen. James was bom in The mini-series’ premiere episode Sunday, Feb. 12, was rated last on that night and last for the entire TV week ending on the 12th. The final two installments on Feb. 13 and 14 were also rated in last place for their respective nights. Aside from considerations of competing shows on other networks, the TV community generally acknowledged that “K in g” ’s failure was unexpectea. its rejection by the viewing public has been attributed to reasons ranging from racism to public revulsion for the national divisions of the 19605. Whatever the cause, it’s clear from empirical observation that something-the production community, the networks and/or the public-is stopping reasonable, realistic Black projects from succeeding on TV. Pensacola, Fla., the last of 17 children. He was a graduate of Tuskegee Institute where a museum was recently named in his honor. He also served on the board of trustees at Tuskegee. He signed up with the Air Force in 1943. At that time, when, he recalled, “even in the combat zones there were Black The “Roots” phenomenon was unique, the soap-opera bastardization of Haley’s gripping book removed color from all characters, Black and white, and coated the whole story in the distorting guilt of a typical Hollywood TV tale. The series was a costume drama, suffered by 200 years of intervening history, and so didn’t strike viewers as a black-white story of today. When “Roots” set new ratings records in January, 1977, and became a national obsession for one week, Hollywood seers predicted a flood of new work for Black entertainment craftspeople. A year later, the only beneficiaries of the “Roots” success are LeVar Burton, Leslie Uggams, Louis Gossett, Jr. and Ben Vereen. Sadly, many of these talented people March 2,1978 Booker T. Washington’s last surviving child died Sunday in Washington, D.C. leaving his niece, Mrs. Margaret Barrington of Augusta, as the closest living relative. Mrs. Portia Pittman, 98, had lived in a senior citizens home in Washington, D.C. for the last four or five years, Mrs. Barrington said. She was Dr. Washington’s oldest child and only daughter. She was Mrs. Barrington’s first cousin. Their fathers, John W. and Booker T. Washington, were brothers. Mrs. Pittman’s funeral will be held Friday at noon at Tuskegee Institute founded by her father who also served as on a day of ceremonies marking James’ retirement (Feb.l). To James’ left is Defense Secretary Harold Brown. tents-where the Black guys lived and white tents where the white guys lived.” The following year, as a second lieutenant, he was arrested with other Black officers who were placed under house arrest for disobeying an order to leave an all-white officers club at Freeman Field in Seymour, Ind. His career could have been ended with now spend their professional lives constantly re-living the “Roots” saga. Ben Vereen’s recent ABC entertainment special was subtitled, “His Roots,” and LaVar Burton reports he’s more or less become the young Kunte Kinte. “Black” TV programs that are successful are, almost without exception, horribly distorted stereotypes produced and written by white men and women. CBS’ “Good Times,” the home of Jimmy “J.J.” Walker (Mr. Dy-No-Mite), suffered the loss of its female lead last fall when Esther Rolle quit the show, charging that producers (Norman Lear’s Tandem Productions) were insulting Black Americans by playing up a character who is 18-years-old, doesn’t work or go to school Less Than 75% Advertising president of the Institute. She will be buried at Tuskegee next to her mother, Mrs. Fannie Washington, the first of Dr. Washington’s three wives. His grave is located between the cemetery and the chapel. Mrs. Pittman directed the choir at Tuskegee for six or seven years after she finished her training at the Music Academy in Framingham, Mass, and three more years in Germany studying music. She married Sidney Pittman and they lived in Houston, Texas. They had three children, two boys and a girl. All three of their children have died in the past 10 years. that incident. But he was acquitted. He won a fight to have the incident removed from his records. In July 1950 he flew combat missions in Korea and in the 60s in North Vietnam. He received his fourth star in 1975. He was one of only 36 officers to hold four-star rank today. and seems to survive on street hustling. Black leaders had earlier complained about “Good Times” when the father character (John Amos) was written out of the show, thus leaving a mother-headed household. Are all Blacks living in fractured families, the leaders asked? Must all Black women be depicted as maids? The most successful “Black” show now on TV is ABC’s “What’s Happening!,” which is basically a white version of what life is like in a funky, funny ghetto. In this series the main character is a hippo-like teenager nicknamed Rerun, a living Dennis the Menace gone too fat. The adult characters in “What’s Happening!” strive to impose order and civilization on the bumptious youngsters, but the jungle drums of the ghetto rock music and the call of the streets always triumph. w Sb Joseph Jones First Black Joseph Jones to manage bank Joseph Jones will become the first Black to serve as branch manager of an Augusta bank when First Federal Savings and Loan Association opens its new Glenn Hills branch March 6. Jones is believed to be the first Black branch manager of a savings and loan association in Georgia and possibly in the South. Prior to joining First Federal in 1976, Jones served as director of the Urban League’s Labor Education Advancement Bobby Womack found not guilty New York State Police arrested a man Feb. sth driving across the Canadian border in a stolen 1970 Rolls Royce who claimed to be entertainer Bobby Womack. The man had identification in the name of Michael Robert Womack and, according to New York State Trooper Victor Ryecroft, he claimed to be the famous CBS recording star Bobby Womack. After being charged with criminal possession of stolen property in the first degree, the News Deadline Friday In “What’s Happening!,” the bad guys always win. The newest “Black” show to hit the air is CBS’ “Baby I’m Back!,” and if its writers ever heard about the Black renaissance post-“ Roots” it doesn't show up in the series. “Baby I’m Back” is about a charming, hustling wastrel (played by Demond Wilson of the late NBC hit “Stanford & Son,” another racist stereotype) who returns to his wife and two children seven years after deserting them to play the horses. His wife has become engaged to another man in the interim and has had the Wilson character declared legally dead. Obviously, the writers and producers think desertion of a family is an excellent fulcrum on which to balance a “black” show. The firm resolve of the wife to retain her 25 e Program in Augusta. He is a 1966 graduate of T.W. Josey High School, and a 1970 graduate of Fort Valley State College where he majored in political science. He is a member of the Richmond County Personnel Board. He is also a director of the Central Georgia Health System, the Boy Scouts of America and the Paine College Upward Bound program. He and his wife, Elia, are members of the Tabernacle Baptist Church. imposter posted a SI,OOO bond and was released. Newspapers and radio stations around the country soon were reporting that entertainer Bobby Womack had been arrested. Womack, meanwhile, was at his Los Angeles home just putting the final touches to his latest LJP. PIECES, and was inundated with calls from concerned family and friends. Womack stated, “Whoever this man is, he's been using my name and claiming to be me for a long time, getting and doing things I’ve never dreamed of. He doesn’t even look like me ... guess people were paying more attention to the Rolls Royce.” The imposter resides in Los Angeles where police, according to Sargent Kalas, also have warrants out for his arrest. independence from the roughish hustler is eroding weekly on the series, which is climbing in the ratings after its introduction early this year. On all “Black” shows-one of the most important humor sources-to judge from the hysteria of the recorded laugh track-is the dialect joke. Just let one character utter “de ribber” or exclaim “Oh, yeah!” in minstrel-show exaggeration and the canned laughter erupts in torrents. It was only a year from the triumph of “Roots” to the disheartening failure of “King.” The year intervening was supposed to see a maturing of TV’s attitude toward Black topics and artists. Instead, the TV audience has been given “Roots” retreads and two new racist situation comedies. Those waiting for the revolution are still waiting.