robe of
MEMPHIS (NNPA) - u.s.
Attorney General Edwin
eese d the Dept. of Jus­
tice have been asked to inves­
tigate· . • reports of
the "brutal police slaying· of a
emphis, Tenn. housing
project resident fo11Qwing a
pUblic meJcc between officers
and the victim.
emphis NAACP President
Maxine Smith and Black
leaders sent telegrams to
Washington officia1s after
mayoral candidate Teddy
Withers called for an im­
mediate probe into the death
of 27-year .. old Joseph O.
Robinson ·almost in u
mothers across the
street from the LeMoyne-
Owens College campus.
Withers is running against in­
cumbent Mayor Dick Hackett.
Four white police officers
were relieved of active duty
pending the investigation into
the shooting death of Robin­
son in front of his home as his
mother and sister and neigh­
bors watched
The man was apparently at-
emphis police slaying
tempting to commit suicide by
stabbing himself with a 12-
inch butcher knife when he
shot 10 times by police,
witnesses said
Police pokesperson said the
authorities received a caD
from woman saying her
brother -uying to cut U
own throat"
Four officers dispatched to
the scene found Robinson
stabbing at his own throat with
a knife, the spokesperson said
Within eight minutes from
the time the police arrived,
Robinson had been shot and
died a few hours later in a
Memphis trauma center,
The Police Director ex­
plained, saying. "They were
protecting themselves and all
of the other citizens who ere
present,"
Eyewitness Flora Dawson
said Robinson started to walk
toward his mother who was
pleading ith him to drop the
knife. The police 1>locked his
path, their weapons drawn. "
The police refused to let
either the mother or sister go
towards Robinson, to talk with
him.
"He kept wakiDg toward his
mother, I said to myself
'they're going to shoot him'.
That's when they sho him the
first time," Dawson said
Dawson said Robinson
crawled on 1m belly and -nied
to get up, but was shot again. •
Several other witnesses con­
firmed Dawson's account of
the last shots fired at Robin­
son. They said a white female
officer dressed in plain clothes
fired the last two shots at
Robinson while he "was lying
on the ground" Dawson said
the officer "propped her leg
on a car, ood over him and
shot him in the head"
The incident has raised a·
storm of controve sy over this
southern city of 9OO,<XXl
people, 57 percent of them
African Americans, and oc­
cured on the eve of the city's
mayoral election._
African American, former
legislator, Withers is runnmg
against incumbent white
mayor.
Dymal y ge s deaf ear from
lrm wi h apar heid ties
WASHINGTON (NNPA) -
Insulted" and ·outraged" is
the way Rep. Mervyn Dymaly
said he feels after a U.S. firm
. th ties to aprtheid refused
to respond to his concerns
about abuse of Black workers
in South Africa-occupied
amibia.
The firm, ewmont Mining
Corporation, controls one­
third shares in the Tsumeb
Corp. Limited (TCL), target
of a recent trike by some
4,000 amibian mineworkers.
After dismis.ciqg all the
or ers TCL gained a court
order to evict the striking men
from hostels where they lived.
TCL has begun hiring new
laborers, p ying Blacks an
average 51 cents per hour.
ost of the Black miners earn
, pproxim tely $9S monthly
for a 48-hour wor week.
Led by the Mineworkers
Union of Namibia (MUN),
the or ers began their job c­
tion in late July.
MUN garnered con-
. derab e support internation­
ally, receiving solidarity from
several U.s. unions, church or­
ganizations and anti-apartheid
groups.
Dymally, chair of the Con­
gressional Black Caucus, was
joined by other members of
the House and Senate in sign­
ing a letter to ewmont offi­
cials August 12 urging the
company to use its influence
to help safeguard rights for
the unprotected Namibian
orkers.
When contacted earlier by
the NNPA, Newmont
spokesman said that the com­
pany, commanding 32.6 per­
cent of TCL shares, had no
control over the daily opera­
tions .
As of late September, the
New York-based company
had offered no response to
the Congressional letter .
Newmont formerly manged
the Tsumeb copper mine. The
mining conglomerate Gold
Fields of South Africa is the
. major stockholder of TCL.
Newmont's board chairman
also sits on the board of Gold
Fields.
"It's a gross insult: main-
tained Dymally. "It is an out­
rage that a U.S. company in il­
legally occupied Namibia, and
doing business with South
Africa would not respond to
what I though was a very
polite inquiry from members
of Congress."
Dymally, sponsor of a
resolution calling on the U.S.
to support a United ations
peace plan for Namibia inde­
pendence, argued that the
1986 antiapartheid sanction
law "obligates" U.S. companies
to respond to Congressional
queries.
Sen. Brown seeks
review of pol ice tactics
ByJ Rayfield
lANSING - St. Sen. Basil
Brown (D-Hi.Pk.), facing char­
ges of delivering and possess­
ing cocaine and heroin has
had his lawyers request a
delay in his trial to allow for
review of prior court opinions
that police tactics used were
"reprehensible."
The Michigan Supreme
Court will be asked for the
delay in order to allow time
for further review of the
entrapment and police miscon­
duct issues that were ruled on
by the Appeals Court two
ee ago.
Brown is contending that
pecial favors promised to the
alleged prostitute in the case,
is clearly entrapment. Entrap­
ment occurs when law enforce­
ment officials induce or en-
courage a person to commit a
crime that he or she would not
otherwise commit.
In Brown's case a Lansing
pr titute, whom the Senator
alleged had mown for about
four years, was enlisted as an
undercover agent by police of­
ficials to assist them in making
his arrest.
While the court has cited
law enforcement tactics used
in the case as "Reprehensible,"
the judge assigned to the case
by the Appeals Court has con­
cluded that there is sufficient
evidence to take the case to
trial.
Brown and his attorney feel
the court's criticisms of police
tactics point out the akness
in the case brought against
him by the Attorney General's
3
Bernadine Denning
among finalists for
national award
DALLAS, TX - Bernadine
Denning of Detroit is one of
15 women from nine states
who are the finalists in the
prestigious Salute Black
Women Who Make It Hap­
pen" achievement awards com­
petition.
A panel will select the five
winners from the finalists to
be announced at the NCNW
national convention, Saturday,
November 14.
The biennial award
program is designedd to recog­
nize women who have made
significant contributions to
• I
soaety. '
The 15 finalists range in
age from 30 to 67 and pursue
professions as diverse as
educator, attorney, and
psychologist. They were
chosen from more than 128
women nominated across the
country from NCNW ational
President, Dorothy I. Height,
noted that "the 'salute'
program is unique because it
recognizes that wherever
problems exist in Black family
life or the community, Black
women have always been part
of the solution."
The selection of finalists
was based on five criteria:
need of the contribution; level,
impact and future impact of
st. Sen. Basil Brown
Office.
The appeals Court panel of
three judges was critical of the
fact that law enforcement offi­
cials "promised the prostitute
a place to stay, food to eat,
spending money, transporta­
tion and the opportunity to en­
roll in a drug rehabilitation
program", in exchange for in­
forming on Brown and others.
Brown's indictment is seen
by some as just a part of an on­
going attempt to discredit
prominent Blac leaders and
elected officials, going all the
way bac to Adam Clayton
Powell, the late New York
Congressman.
achievement; and obstacles
overcome by nominee.
Other finalists are: Mary
F. Berry, Washington, D.C.;
Carmen Black, California;
Marva N. Collins, Chicago;
Maudine R. Cooper,
Washington, D.C.; Peola But­
ler Dews, Washington, D.C.;
Mary Hatwood Futrell, NEA
president; Frankie Jacobs Gil- I
lette, San Francisco; Brenda
M. Girton, Washington, D.C;
Suzan D. Johnson, Bronx; Shir­
ley M. Malcom, Maryland;
Julianne M. Malveaux, San
Francisco; Glendora M. Put­
nam, Boston; Edythe Synder,
ew Jersey; and Gladys Gary
Vaughn, Maryland.
The awards are sponsored
by the NCNW and Frito Lay.
Senior drug
reimbursement
program faces
cuts in Senate
By Kristin L. Hay
COVERT A federal
program for reimbusing
senior citizens for the cost of
generic drugs is in jeopardy,
according to the Rev.
J osepbine Morgan of Covert,
longtime advocate for the
elderly.
Rev. Morgan is urging
people to fight drug makers'
effforts to defeat amendments
too 'the Medicare Catastrophic
bill iwhich will come before the
Senate at the end of this
month.
Rev. Morgan says proposed
amendments to the Senate Bill
would reimburse senior
citizens for the cost of generic
prescription drugs, but not for
the more expensive brand
name products.
She says drug maker claim
the program would cost too
much and threaten the quality
of care for the elderly.
The truth is, she ays, that
the proposed reimbursement
program would limit out-of­
pocket exxpenses for the elder­
ly, who as a group spend over
$7 million a year on prescrip­
tion drugs.
The Senate bill with the
proposed amendments is
similar to the Medicare
Catastrophic Protection Act
passed by the House in July.
People interested in retain­
ing this help for the elderly
can write to their Senator in
Washington, D.C., at
Washington D.C., 20510.
For those unable to write,
petitions will be circulated at
the Warren Center in South
Haven, the Van Buren United
Civic Center in Covert and
other sites in Van Buren Coun­
ty, which will be announced
later.
