Muncie Times, Muncie, Delaware County, 15 February 2001 — Page 1

Yjj e Muncie Times, 1304 N. Broadway, Muncie, IN Inside Editorial 2 Community Focus 33 I In Colored Circles 19 Community Calendar 36 I Youth Spotlight 21 Religion 41 I

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The Muncie Times

Vol. 10, No. 6

Also serving Anderson, Marion, Richmond and New Castle communities February 15, 2001

Payne says black history should be year-round effort

Dr. Pat Brown Payne

By T. S. Kumbula Talking about African Americans only during Black History Month is not enough because it should be done every day, a multicultural expert said here recently. Dr. Pat Brown Payne, head of the Office of Multicultural Education for Indianapolis Public Schools, was the keynote speaker as Muncie kicked off its 2001 African American History Month on Feb. 1 at Minnetrista Cultural Center., “It’s not enough,” she said in a phone interview from her Indianapolis office, “that black history should be

taught only in February. I’ll never be satisfied as long as that happens. It should be taught all year

long. “It’s good to have special programs, like this. But we cannot

confine African American history teaching just to February. Not enough is being done. Colleges and universities need to do more to teach those who will be teachers in our district. “When we offer it as professional development, we run into some people whose attitude is that they already know it all. Yet we also find out that there are a lot of teachers, black and white, who really don’t what’s going on. There are not enough who are learning. There are some people in some schools who know something, but many do not learn. “What they fail to

realize is that their history is not complete until they also learn our history.” Payne, a former Indiana Public Schools second grade teacher, joined IPS in the iate 70s. After several years working on a project to make multicultural education more readily available to IPS staffers, parents and students, in 1987 Payne established the IPS Office of Multicultural Affairs. “I developed this office. In my time here, I have found out that there are some black teacher.who are as bad as some white teachers when it

PAYNE SEE PAGE 14

26 years ago assassins’ bullets ended Malcolm X’s life

Coates settles into new job as Animal Shelter boss

By T. S. Kumbula —I am not antiAmerican or unAmerican. I think there are plenty of good people in America. But there are also plenty of bad people in America.” —’’Revolution is always based on land. Revolution is never based on begging somebody for an integrated cup of coffee.” —’’Once our freedom struggle is lifted from the confining civil rights label to the levei of

human rights, our struggle then becomes internationalized.” These are among some of the more provocative — and thought-provoking comments—made by Malcolm X (born Malcolm Little on May 19, 1925) in Omaha, Neb. Malcolm was easily one of the most uncompromising and most provocative figures of the Civil Rights Movement during the 1960s. In fact he and the late Dr. Martin Luther

Malcolm X

MALCOLM X SEE PAGE 12

By C. Lewis Reed Ezell, (aka Jimmy, “Mr. Clean”, Big Man”) Coates feels his life has literally gone to the dogs, cats, and sometimes, snakes. Because of his love for animals, he is very grateful to be superintendent of the Muncie Animal Shelter. The recently-appointed Coates, 63, told The Muncie Times, that he and his team removed 272 stray animals from Muncie between Jan. 1 and 20 this year. In addition, 23 people were taken to court and

fined as a result of breaking local laws. “I want people to know that they need to be responsible and take care of their pets. We’re not going to have them just running loose all over the street. That’s not safe for people who walk around and might get bitten,” Coats said. The fines for having an unleashed animal start at $125 and go as high as $500, according to the Boliver, Tenn. native. Coates said he did not rnATCC QPC DAGCT 14