Newspaper Page Text
James Brown
undaunted by lien,
plans film career
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barren a. cahdler
library
PAINE COLLEGE
AUGUSTA. GEORGIA
JUN. 26'1900
VoL 10 No. 6
Augustans provide food, clothing
and shelter for jobless Haitians
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LEAVING AUGUSTA - 20 Haitians left Augusta for Miami Monday after their
work plans in Johnston, S.C. fell through and there was no work lor them here.
Their transportation was furnished by the Miami Community Action Agency.
James Brown planning
new career in films
Singer James Brown said
Sunday that he’s considering
purchasing an FM radio station
in Barnwell, S.C., and that he
will star in another movie to be
released in about 45 days.
Brown made the comments
in the face of a series of
financial setbacks that include
the loss of his radio station and
reports that he owes $2.3
million to the Internal Revenue
Service for back taxes.
Asked to comment on
reports that his rags-to-riches
career is again headed for rags,
Brown said, “You have to
make your own analysis of
that. A man is as poor as his
friends. If he does not have
friends, he is poor. If he has
friends, he’s rich.”
Residents less than pleased
with Wheeler Road mini-park
By Fannie Flono
Another of Augusta’s
mini-parks was in the spotlight
last week.
This one, called the Big Oak
Park at the intersection of Boy
Scout and Wheeler Roads, was
dedicated by city and county
officials.
The $250,000 parks is
shrubbery-Lined and has swings,
sand boxes and other
recreational equipment for
small children.
Area residents are not
completely satisfied with the
facility which was built
without their input.
There are no water fountains
Deadline Wednesdays, please
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Newspaper articles released
last week reported that the
Internal Revenue Service has
filed liens against Brown’s
20-acre estate in Beach Island.
Asked how he plans to pay
the money, Brown said, “I
don’t know that I owe it yet.
That is just an assessment.
“It won’t be that much.
There is no fraud, no evasion,
just a matter of things being
documented, it’s an
assessment.”
In April, Brown lost his
radio station here when it was
sold at public auction after he
defaulted on payments. He also
lost his station in Baltimore.
But if there are people
concerned about his financial
plight, James Brown appears
in the area and older youths
who gather there every day and
night said there were no
facilities like a basketball court
or a tennis court for them.
Officials have said there was
not enough money for those
facilities.
The park, constructed by
Bennett-Thomas Associates,
architects and landscape
architects, was built with
federal community bloc, grant
funds.
Earlier this year, residents of
another area rejected the
mini-park the city constructed
for them.
That park, located in the
Bethlehem Community, was
Big Oak Park
unsatisfactory to
area residents
Page 1
not to be one of them.
“People can’t imagine I’ve
taken show business over. I’m
going into films, he said.
The movie, “Blue Brothers,”
in which he has a starring role,
opened in Augusta Friday.
Playing the role of the
powerful minister of Triple
Rock Baptist Church, Brown
sings and dances “The Old
Landmark,” backed by James
Cleveland’s southern California
Community Choir with whom
Brown recorded an album in
his early gospel days.
Brown, who was baptized in
October, was administered
communion in his home by his
pastor, the Rev. Aaron Bush
Jr., and by his traveling
spiritual adviser, the Rev. Al
said to cost $40,000 and was
nothing more than a cleared
off lot.
Those residents were also
concerned that the densely
populated area where the park
was squeezed in among homes
would become hazardous with
criminals and drug abusers
taking refuge there.
Residents near the Big Oak
Park have the same concern
noting that drunks already
gather there at night.
The area once housed a
nightclub and liquor store.
Officials said the residents
should call the police whenever
they see drunks or others
misusing the park.
By Mallory K. Millender
When I came into the office
Monday morning, the secretary
had an urgent message:
“Thomas Burts -- director of
Augusta’s HOPE -- has 20
Haitians in his office. He can’t
speak French. And they speak
no English. He needs your
help.”
When I arrived at the HOPE
office the Haitians were
gathered in the small yard that
doubles as a parking lot. 1
greeted them in French and
addressed them as “brothers.”
They immediately wanted to
know if I lived in Augusta.
And how long 1 had lived here.
I was surprised to learn that
they thought that I was
Haitian.
Two black ministers -- Rev.
David Brown and Rev. James
Wright -- discovered the
Haitians walking toward
Augusta last Tuesday after
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HOLY COMMUNION - Singer James Brown takes communion under gazebo
outside his home in Beech Island, S.C. Brown’s pastors, the Rev. Aaron Bush Jr.
performs the communion service. The Rev. Al Sharpton, the singer’s traveling
spiritual adviser, assists.
Sharpton of New York City,
prior to the News-Review inter
view.
Universal Pictures, the
makers of “Blues Brothers,”
will sponsor Brown in a
number of concerts across the
nation this summer. There is
the feeling, according to the
Rev. Sharpton, that 1980 will
be a “long hot summer.” And
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SUMMER JOBS - The News-Review last week hired 40 youths who will work
during the summer selling subscriptions to the paper. They will receive $3.50 for
each yearly subscription they sell. Staffer Paul D. Walker (right) leads sales
orientation.
Courts rule against
at-large voting for
3rd time in 2 weeks
Page 1
June 28,1980
having left a Johnston, S.C.
migrant camp.
Their working papers
indicated they had been
processed in Miami. The men
said they wanted to return
there.
Jacques (not his real name),
who served as spokesman for
the group, asked as many
questions as he answered:
“When are we going to Miami?
Where will we live? Will we
have work there? How soon?
Can we go back to Haiti when
our visas expire July 21? Can
we go back after a year?”
Burts said the men would
have work in Miami and could
return to Haiti.
Only three of the men
expressed an interest in
remaining permanently in the
United States. When asked if
they would like to remain in
the U.S., Jacques said, “Only if
pur families would wish to
come and if they would be
the hope is that Brown’s
concerts will help to “cool off’
young blacks. The concerts will
show how people like James
Brown made it without
throwing rocks, he said, adding
that “nobody has Brown’s
credibility among grassroots
people.”
Brown said his latest film,
Less Than 75% Advertising
allowed to come.”
He said the Haitians feel no
resentment toward the
American government for
allowing large numbers of
Cubans to come into the
country but very few Haitians.
“The Cubans,” he said, “are
allowed into the country
because they are willing to
come without their families.
We will not come without our
families.”
The men came to this
country, legally, looking for
work. They obtained
temporary working permits in
Florida, which allowed them to
leave the state after the picking
season.
Jacques said that a man
named Bahaman Telsen
brought them by truck from
Miami to Jacksonville where
See “HAITIANS”
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“James Brown is Feeling
Good,” will be released in
about 45 days. The movie
features him in a live concert at
New York’s Studio 54, and
meeting with young people in
different communities. Brown
summed up: “If I were broke
today, I’d be a millionaire
tomorrow 15 times over.”
‘most important’
civil rights bill
Page 3
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AUGUSTA’S HOPE Director Thomas Burts bids
farewell to Haitians at Trailwavs bus terminal.
3rd time in 2 weeks
Courts rule against
at-large voting
For the third time in two
weeks, a federal judge has
redistricted a rural Georgia
county to allow blacks a
chance to win election to
public office-- this time in a
case involving the Seminole
County Board of
Commissioners.
U.S. District Judge J. Robert
Elliott of Columbus ordered
last week that the commission
seals be redistricted to
eliminate racially lopsided
districts and that the qualifying
period for the Seminole
commission election be
extended two weeks to allow
black candidates to enter
political races if they wish.
The reapportionment was
effective immediately.
Elliott’s action followed a
suit brought by the American
Civil Liberties Union in May
against the Seminole
commission on behalf of four
black residents of
Donalsonville, the county seat.
U.S. District Judge Wilbur
D. Owens Jr. of Macon ordered
the Early County Board of
Augustan is
SGA president
and trustee
at Smith College
Serena Maria Williams of
Augusta was recently elected
president of the Student
Government Association for
the 1980-81 academic year at
Smith College, Northampton,
Mass. In this capacity, Miss
Williams will also serve on the
Board of Trustees of Smith
College for a two year term.
Serena is a senior at Smith
College, majoring in
Economics. She serves as
secretary of the Smith College
senate, A Gold Key Guide, and
a member of the Minority
Admissions Committee. She
also sings with The Smith
College Gospel Choir and is a
member of the Black Students’
Alliance. She is also senior
co-drector of the Bridge
Program, a two week
Commissioners to switch from
at-large voting to district voting
for four seats on the
commission. A similar directive
was handed down in Calhoun
County.
Early and Calhoun counties
had changed from district to
at-large voting in recent years -
a move which thwarted blacks
seeking election.
The three decisions are
closely aligned with recent U.S.
Supreme Court rulings on
minority discrimination in
voting. The court held on April
22 that plaintiffs must prove
deliberate discrimination to
win a change in voting districts
unless a governmental body has
changed voting patterns
without the approval of the
U.S. Department of Justice
under the Federal Voting
Rights Act of 1965.
In the Seminole County
case. Judge Elliott agreed with
ACLU attorneys that
deliberate discrimination
existed under the present
districting setup.
Sts
Serena M. Williams
orientation program for
incoming minority students.
In 1979, Serena was selected
as one of thirty Leadership
Fellows by Alpha Kappa Alpha
Sorority. She participated in
the Sorority’s first Leadership
Fellows Training Program for
undergraduate sorors held in
Spencer, Ind. She is currently
serving a summer internship
with Chase Manhattan Bank in
New York City.
Serena is the daughter of Mr.
and Mrs. Tracy E. Williams Jr. .
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