Dr. Marl!in luther King Jr.
HIS BIRTHDAY BECOMES A NATIO AL HOLIDAY
Turn to Page 8
VOL. VII NO.7 JA UARV 16 - 22,1985
25.
Bulk of Black stud
ARBOR - More than
75 percent of all Blac u­
den in the United States are
cncentrated within about two
percent of the nation' school
di trict , according to University
of ichigan education Prof.
Charle D. oody Sr.
Whil the statistic may
eem a mandate for new de g­
regation effort, oody believe
they rai another i ue. "By
targeting effort to provide th
highe t quality teaching and pro-
gramming within th 350
(out of 16 (00) d· trict e
•
2%of nation's districts
can impact the vast majority
of all Black students enrolled
in public sch 01 , in this coun-
try," he erts.
• oody, director of U-M'
Program for Educational
Opportunity, a federally-funded
de egreg tion i tance unit,
suggest that the be t level of
expectations and motivation,
their mastery of basic skills
rates of college enrollment,
strong administrative leadership,
and the calibre of instruction,
pecially in the areas of com­
puter ,math and science.
un down
To a e the current status
of education in kindergarten
through 12th grades for Ameri-
can Black children, oody i
surveying 120 Black and 82 non­
Black superintend nt who head
school districts with the highest
concentrations of Black stu­
dents.
"During the past fe years,
no le than 25 national surveys
have looked at the American
educational system. State and
local school system also are
examining such i ues as the
Conti oed on p e 3
unarmed Black teen
Chritian
. p Conference i calling
U.S. Ju tice Depart­
m nt nd b ma Governor
George allace to investiga re
the death of a IS-year old Black
youth who wa shot and kill d
by police in the town of Child­
er burg on December 28, 1984.
S LC Pre ident, Joseph
Lo ery, . d SCLC ked
by th family of ichael Jerome
John n to u it influence to
demand a full inve tig tion. In
ddition to contracting the J -
tice Dep rtment nd the
Governor' office, S 1£ h
rrang d for a cond utopsy
on Johnson body.
District attorney, Robert
Rum y, said a grand jury will
review the circumstances of the
shooting of Johnson, who was
apparently unarmed.
Police report th t Johnson
was driving a van that had been
tolen from the driveway of a
home in Munford. The van was
potted at a Chevron tation
ne r Childersburg on U.S. 280.
According td clo ly guarded
police reports, after police sur­
rounded th van, Johnson and
20-year old Kimble Wayne
o re of Alpine, Alabama re­
por dly jumped from the van
and rted running. oore
w c ught and pinned to the
Off to inaug ural
BENTO
AVO W
HARBOR
yon to "gain valuab
infonnation n for th city .
C e, a Republican, had
th city cle read hi invi
tion to the Ball t an
com n t".
ground but Johnson escaped,
running behind djoining
converuence store and eaping a
fence into a ditch.
Childer burg police officers,
Tim Unger and Charles Brown,
said they chased Johnson and .
rued veral shots. John on
was found wounded in the
ditch. He died on the way to
Birmingham Hospital.
Rev. John ettie, Anniston,
Alabama SCLC State President
said ohnson' mother, Vivian
Ferguson of Jenifer, Alabama,
told him she found out her son
was dead about an hour after
the shooting.
All I know is that he was
home for Christma ," she said.
Childersburg Police Chief, Ira
Finn, aid his officers had
received an earlier radio broad­
cast from the Talladega County
Sheriff's Department warning
that the stolen van was occupied
by "heavily armed" Black males
who had taken a white man
captive. The report was trans­
mitted through official police
channels and appeared on police
teletypes, Finn said. 0 wea­
pons were found either in the
van or on Johnson or Moore.
SC1£ wants the J u tice De­
partment and the Governor'
office to investigate the shooting
and the mysterious circum­
stance urrounding the fal e
report of arms and the ub­
seq ent jllmg of an unarmed
youth.
(
of piano instruction a
writer behind the re
•
nVI
African
By Mich I B er
BE TO HARBOR -' e
hope it will be an electic gather­
ing . . . .. e want people to
leave with some values as well
as knowledge about Africa.'
That's how Barb Paxson urn­
marized what she and the
organization People Together
hope to accomplish with "An
African Evenin ", to be held
Sunday, January 20 from 5 to 7
p.m. at the First Congregational
Church in Benton Harbor.
_ Barb said that in keeping
with People Together's goal of
aquainting people with world
cultures, the evenings program
will serve s an introduction
to variou African cultures.
"Each event comes from very
different part of Africa," B rb
ot
OM
ve
•
I
g'
said. "frica is much larger
than Am rica there is al t
more diversity. n
Barb received a ma ter
history, specializing in
art - pecifically frican rt.
She ha held exhibits on African
art at Kalamaz ollege
Andrews University Kra I rt
Center 'and will have an ex­
hibit at the C Art Gall ry
from February 4 to rch 1.
Som of the item he exhibit
ill b available for publi
viewing, ell tradition
rican dishes, uch ground
nut tew.
She h made three trip to
Africa and will disp y te til s
from Sierra Leone' and art
Continued on p e 3
