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™ Vol. 13 Issue 28
TEXAS’ Widest Circulated and Read Newspaper with a Black Perspective
August 13-19, 2008 www.aframnews.com
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Conspiracy Ain’t Prophecy See page 2
Black educational institutions must be preserved MARIO SALAS
African-American News&Issues
SAN ANTONIO- In order to better understand the evolution of the African-American experience in San Antonio, one must look at the historical and political legacy that developed over time. The control of the White elite over Black San Antonio was never more evident than in the educational arena. The
education of African-American students followed a racist model from the very beginning. Perhaps the best example of racist control was in the establishment of segregated schools. This includes St. Philips College, Phillis Wheatley High School, Grant Elementary, and Dunbar among others. When schools were desegregated, White supremacy sought to erase the presence of these Black schools in various ways. They tried to erase Black history by removing the name of Phillis Wheatley High School from its historical site and naming a school on the other side of town after Wheatley in 1970. Perhaps the most racist efforts to restrict Black desires for education was in the destruction of the revolutionary spirit of the Freedman Schools established after the Civil War. The elite in San Antonio sought to control Black education by establishing segregated schools. According to Kenneth Mason, the Episcopalian Church abandoned their efforts to Christianize Black San Antonians in favor of educational efforts that were strictly racist and colonialist. In 1882, John Randolph and other Black leaders petitioned the city to establish a state college for Blacks. The city did not act, but the Episcopalians did. James Steptoe Johnson, a
AIDS’s Trojan Horse Is HIV genocide or conspiracy?
The 17th annual International AIDS Conference was held in Mexico City.
BUD JOHNSON
See INSTITUTIONS page 6
African-American News&Issues
The front of Phillis Wheatley High School in San Antonio has been saved, but more must be done. When schools were desegregated, racists sought to destroy Black educational institutions.
BLACK
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Quote of the Week “Education is the passport to the future, for tomorrow belongs to those who prepare for it today.” -Malcolm X
In spite of African-American News&Issues’s persisting efforts to validate that Black History unfolds 24 hours a day throughout a sevenday week, our editorial staff members often have cause to pause and ponder whether or not, the South Carolina writer, and historian Prof. Chancellor Williams (1898-1992) was trying to tell Black America something when he surmised in his book, The Destruction of Black Civilization: Great Issues of a Race Between 4500 B.C. and 2000 A.D.: “What became of the Black people of Sumer the traveler asked the old man, for ancient records show that the people of Sumer were Black. What happened to them? “Ah,” the old man sighed, “they lost their history, so they died.” Even so, Lonnie Henderson’s history was duly noted when his productive life was celebrated on August 3, 2007 at Payne Cathedral of Faith, 2701 Lee. Pastor Brenda Payne officiated an order of service that included: Reverends: Paul Cox, Thelma Maxwell and Herman P. Reese, Presiding Elder James W. Ford, Frances Ann McKin-
Lonnie Henderson
January 24, 1909-July 29, 2007
ney, Brandon Clark, Deryk Jones, Rosie Tyler and Pastor Jerome Nelson Sr., of Spirit of Life Ministries. Active pallbearers were: Richard Davis, Samuel Felix, Nick Clayton, Bennie Wilburn, Anthony Creels, Gregory Felix and Ronald Tyler. Homer Brown, Clyde Henderson, John Edward Felix, Eddie Henry, Payne’s Steward Board and Retired Employees of Amoco Steel Company were honorary pallbearers. Lonnie, affectionately called “Bud,” was born on January 24, 1909
The United States has significantly underreported the number of new H.I.V. infections occurring nationally each year, with a study released here on Saturday showing that the annual infection rate is 40 percent higher than previously estimated. The study, conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, found that 56,300 people became newly infected with H.I.V in 2006, compared with the 40,000 figure the agency has cited as the recent annual incidence of the disease. The findings confirm that H.I.V., the virus that causes AIDS, has its greatest effect among gay and bisexual men of all races (53 percent of all new infections) and among African-American men and women. Surely, the chilling excerpt, extracted from an August 3, 2008 New York Times article (US Study Says H.I.V. Infection Is 40% Higher than Estimated), should give to Robert Lewis and Louetta Perry Henderson in Freestone, County, that is bounded on the east by Anderson County, on the south by Leon County, on the west by Limestone County, and on the north by Navarro and Henderson counties. He attended public school in Avant Prairie (an unincorporated Black community settlement in Southern Freestone, County that was settled in the 1850s. In 1870, the settlement’s name was changed to Sunshine after a local Methodist church. Bud met and married Rachel Johnson in Dew, and later moved to Houston, where he resided for 67 years. In 1973, he met and married Failure (Fay) Jones and happily enjoyed her for 34 years. He was an employee with Amoco Steel, and retired after 30 years of dedicated service. He was a member of Payne Cathedral of Faith A.M.E for over 60 years, and served on the Steward Board for 27 years. He remained faithful to his church until his health failed, and he will always be remembered as a wonderful man who
critical thinking citizens of good consciences, cause to pause and ponder, what’s going on. How can that happen? Especially made in America African conspiracy theorists that have always questioned the strange history of a disease that pricked the general public’s consciousness in 1981 when it was revealed: “On June 5th, the CDC reports that in the period October 1980-May 1981, five young men, all active homosexuals, were treated for biopsy-confirmed Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia at three different hospitals in Los Angeles, California. Two of the patients died. All 5 patients had laboratory-confirmed previous or current cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection and candidal mucosal infection. “On July 4th, the CDC reports that during the past 30 months, 26 cases of Kaposi Sarcoma have been reported among gay males, and that eight have died, all within 24-months of diagnosis.” Fast forward to 2008 and you’re See AIDS’s page 3
loved to eat, work in the garden, and maintain his beautiful lawn. He had a unique talent of giving a nickname to everybody he met. He loved everyone and always had a kind word to say whether he knew you or not. Lonnie left his earthy home for his heavenly home on Sunday, July 29, 2007. He was preceded in death by his parents, granddaughter; Chelsea Henderson, three brothers: Elijah Felix, Will Henderson, Edward Henderson and four sisters, Amanda Henderson, Bobbie Tims, Thelma Thomas, and Anna Tatum. In celebration of his homegoing were his wife, Failure Henderson; son, Thomas Henderson (Kathy); two granddaughters, Rachel and Carla Henderson; one grandson, Joshua Henderson, all of Houston, Texas; mother-in-law, Mary Frances Brown of Dallas, Texas; a special niece, Annette Taylor of Fort Worth, Texas; Godchildren; Brandon Clark, Herman and Mattie Reese, Houston, Texas; a host of nieces, nephews, cousins, neighbors, friends; and a loving and caring church family. TX-1