VOL. VIII NO. 13 FEBRUARY 24- ARCH 2, 19
Blames critical report on
disgruntled members
NE YO�
Bo d of Director and Special
Contrfbutio Fund trustees of
the AACP ccepted "with
enthusi m" the 167-p e an
nual report ubmitted by E e-
cutive Director Benjamin L.
Hoo s at the annual meeting
held at the arriott Marquis
Hotel this put Friday and
Saturday.
Hoo ,ftring a &y at & criti
cal article which appeared
Thursday in the New York
Tim .urged the NAACP mem
be hip to " tart blowing your
o n hom" about their -
chievements,
"The pre seems to accept
the word of one or 0 di grun
tled m mbers much more rea
dily than giving an objective
analysis to hat i being done by
the odd's biggest and rest t
civil rights organization,"
Hooks told the AACP offi
cers.
The organiz tion released
reports that indicate it as in
e cellent financial conditio
and ell on i way to reaching
its goal in a drive for funds to
drielop I ne national head
quarter in Baltimore. Hooks
indicated that the building
ould be ready for dedication in
October although meetings
ould be held at the yet uncom
pleted . te in addition to the
organization's annual conven
o to be held in Baltimore in
June.
Plans have already been
completed to move the staff
from Brooklyn to Baltimore.
About.50 percent of the staffhas
elected to accept separation and
remain in New York. Hooks
told the board that job has been
found all of the employees who
had opted to remain in Ne
York.
The N York Times article
hich indicated that Hooks as
under fire quoted Thomas I.
Atkins, former NAACP gen
eral counsel, ho said the �
sociation "no longer per
cei ed the premier civil rights
. Continued on P It
i or
roup
Larry Carter
The Southwe . chipn
. chority Busin ciation
held its monthly meeting Febr
uary 5th in the all purpo
room of the Doug} Com-
munity ciation. The topic
of discu . ons included busine
planning, tatting and managing
your own busine and what
ructure be wts your
type of busine .
t twe
on hand
a
mazoo Valley Community
College's Downtown Center,
speak on the need for planning
before ctua1ly rting a busi
ne , and the ramification of
corporate . sole proprietor
ship in busin . Filling in for
Allison Parham, who was unable
to sddre the meeting, eale
fir . troduced him If to the
participants, and then intro
duced everyone to KVCC's
Do town Center.
"Marilyn Schlack, four years
Con n It
J n-C1.ud. DUV811 r and hi
(1980) befor having to fl
In 1971. (UPI Photo)
;relilinld h ,. during h p'pl r tim
ruled slnc hi '8th "sd 8th
PORT - AU - PRINCE, Haiti
(upI)--Former President Jean
Claude Duvalier consulted with
10 of Haiti' top voodoo pries
in the pre idential pa1ace before
deciding to flee the country last
Friday, one of the priests dis
ci ed,
Voodoo priest.Max Beauvoir
id he and eight other "houn
g .. - as the priests are called -
and one" mamb "or priestess,
met with Duvalier 23 days be-
fore he fled to France as unr t
steadily mounted. against his
government.
"He wanted to kno what
voodoo thought about his re-
gime and the thoughts of the
people and what could be
done," Beauvoir said Sunday
night in an interview at his
temple.
Beauvoir said the prie ts
accused Duvalier of leading a
corrupt administration that i -
nored voodoo principals of
helping the poor and fighting
corruption, and Duvalier
eemed "genuinely" regretful
C he had ignored" the basic
tenets of voodism.
Beauvoir said he was a for
mer Cornell Univer ity bloche
Diist who �t nine years In the
United States, but offidals at
Comell d they have no record
of Beau voir tudyinl or or�g
c
•
r
at the school
Duvalier's father, Francois,
ho ruled Haiti before he be
queathed the nation to his on
upon his death in 1971, as
reputed to be believer in
voodoo, a religion b d on the
magic po ers of charms and
sorcery.
Practiced in Africa and ill
p rts of the Caribbean and
South America, voodoo center
on trance said to be induced by
spirit po ession and includes
nocturnal rites of animal ac
riflce, dancing, drum-beating
and debased elements of Roman
Catholic liturgy.
The elder Duvalier also as
id by some Haitians to have
special voodoo power that al
lowed hiD}. to set up the family
dynasty.
Accordin to official esti
mates, 70 percent of Haiti' 6
million people are Roman
Catholic and 30 percent are Pro
te tanto However, many obser
vers y the v t majority of
Haitians also are believer in
voodoo, which has its roots in
West Africa.
Beauvoir, who lives in the
tiny village of Mariani, just out
side the capital of Port-au
Prince, said the pri ts met . th
Duvalier and his wife at the pre-
idential palace for 0 hour
and 45 minutes at Duvalier'
reque t.
"We gave him an evaluation
ofhis job, hich e thought as
very, very bad," Beauvoir said.
The voodoo priests told
Du alier " e thought it as
too late."
"We ked him to leave the
country," Beauvoir aid. "He
a ered all the que tions e
put to him to the best of his
knowledge but his answers ere
not satisfactory."
Muskegon
NAACP
.to honor
Bill Gill
MUSKEGO - The
gon branch of the AACP
will be giving President Bill
Gill an appreciation dinner at
the L.C. Walker Convention
Center in arch 8 t 6: 30
p.m. Donation will e $10.00
Person de 'ring re rvation
ould call O. . Demore at
739-3211 or J. Hou at 733-
2968. 0 tickets will be
available at the door.