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l4-jNDtPENDtNT [AM) fHE5$-TEL£GttAM (PM) uw ««ch. cm, Frt- ii. m»Joan Little as a ^s1^ MILTON JORDANKnigMNewt SmiotIt’s a long way from the ancient vvooden juke joint called Usac's in the heart of the crowded black svest-side ghetto in Washington. N.C.. to the sprawling estate ot multiiniJlionaire m^-order genius and civU-rights lawyer Morris Dees in Montgomory. Ala.But 21-vear'Old Joan(pronounced Jo-Anne) Little. who paid to be a regular at Issac’s, found herself being flovrii to the estate last April with about 12 members of her defense team during a weekend break in a pretrial hearing on her first-dc-gree murder charge.thief caught for stealing worth of goods from two mobOe homes and luraed in by a younger brother, Joan Little has become a star.“THERE SHE was/’ one guest recalls, “a j'oung black woman from a place nobody ever heard of walking with Morris Dee's arm around her shoulder in this huge house that had so many bedrooms and bathrooms (hat T got lost”It was a weekend of lux-urkuis ease, with maids and other servants, good food, thoroughbred horses and more.“Joan loved every minute of it.’' the guest said. “She never stopped.KHE HAS been portrayed as a nationdl %yttm for the rights of women, prisoners and blacks. The prosecution, with its first-degree murder charge dismissed by (bo judge and its case for secondiegrec In question, has insisted she is only a defendant In a murder trialShe testified in her cwn defense this week that she killed w^hite jailer Clarence Alligood last August in self-defense after he entered her cell armed with an ice pick and forced her to perform Dial sex. Reporters from across the country jammed the courtroom to record her story.!n addition to her name becoming a household word. Joan Little has talked freely about freeing her people and returning to help other women inprison,'* recalls Abbey Kendricks, press secretary for the 211-memher defense team.Has she real!JOAN LITTLE, right and her mother, Jessie Williams, arrive at courthouse Thursday in Raleigh.WireMMtoago lhal lie helped her get out of training school There's Dees, 39. and Larry Little (no relation to Joan), head of the Black Panther Party in Winston-Salem. who spoke at many of the money-raising rallies. Then) is also a group of lesser-known, young, col lege -educated activists.“One at the things that her attorneys and everyone working on this case had to do was change Joan's image. said one defense team member who asked not to be identified because interviews with Ms. LiUle or the defense team members are off-limits unless approved by Paul, who doesn't approve any with Ms. little.em Cbmtian leader.ship Conference worker and member of the coalition formed in Ralei^ — to coordinate demonstrations, but by and large people arc so apathetic that you have. to.have someone they can identify with to get people to sliow up. A case like Joan's is about the only way you can get a \nt of those national public figures here.Tlius^ Joan Ullle lliepublic symbol goes on each day, well-groomed, well-dressed, quiet and demure.BIT SOME people in the fifth floor Joan IJttle camp’^at the Lemon Tree . Inn in Raleigh pri-THE NEW image was largely engineered by Karen Galloway, 2S, the only black attorney on the team of six. (She received notice that she had passed the state bar examination the day Joan surrendered and this is her first murder case.)'vately express questions th^SHE APPEARED atwhiskey by the bottle is Jury indicted her for first-bought at the local ABC degree murder, the shap-slore and sold fay the drink ing of the sv'mbol benan.Ms. Calloway is well dressed, articidate and self-confident. She, too. says Joan Little's case isabout whether e new Image is not a thin ven^«r (hat will shatter when M! this is over.“She really hasn't changed toat much, said one source, “because when she’s out of court, and away from the press she's not that quiet, Her attitude is like she's on one big merry-go-round. She jumps up sometimes just runs off without anyone knoMiig where she is. Her ego has gotten so
Newspaper Details
Press Telegram
Long Beach, California, US
Fri, Aug 15, 1975
Page 28
Full Page
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Select State, USA 14 Jul 2018
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