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MOVING UP . . . .

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Police Commissioner Benjamin Ward today announced the appointment of Wilhemenia E. Holliday as Deputy Commissioner Community Affairs. 

Commissioner Holliday comes to this department from the New York State Parole Board where she has held the position of Commissioner since 1976. Appointed by the Governor as one of the 12 members of the State Board of Parole she has presided over parole hearings for eligible inmates in the 37 correctional statewide facilities. From 1974 to 1976 she served as Executive Director of the Pre-trial Service Agency of the Vera Institute of Justice. She also served from 1968 to 1974 with the New York Police Department as Director of the Precinct Receptionist Program. This program was responsible for training receptionists to assist and encourage those needing help in non-police matters to come to the precinct for assistance and referral. Commissioner Holliday has also been a Court Reporting Officer and a Probation Officer with the New York Office of Probation as well as a caseworker with the New York City Department of Social Services. 

Commissioner Holliday replaces William Perry who served as Deputy Commissioner Community Affairs since January 1978. As Deputy Commissioner Community Affairs she will be responsible for the Community Affairs Division, Auxiliary Forces Section and Crime Prevention Section. 

Commissioner Holliday is Vice President of the Board of Trustees for Exodus House, a drug treatment center and Wiltwyck School. She is a consultant to Key Women of America and is an active member of Northside Center for Child Development, Coalition of 100 Black Women, Women in Criminal Justice, Manhattan Urban League, and the New York State Pretrial Services Agency. She is also listed in Who's Who In Black America. 

Commissioner Holliday is married and resides in Manhattan and Albany. She has a B.S. Degree in Sociology/Psychology from New York University and has done graduate work in Educational Psychology at N.Y.U. and Social Work as Columbia University. 

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Bernice F. Powell is President of the New York Coalition of 100 Black Women. A public relations consultant, Ms. Powell is a graduate of Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism and Wilson College. She formerly served as Special Assistant for the Public Information in the Women's Division of the office of Governor Hugh L. Carey as well as in private industry and the non-profit sectors. 

Ms. Powell is President of the Board of Trustees of the Helene Fuld School of Nursing in Harlem and is on the board of the Negro Ensemble Company, Associated Black Charities and the New York City Police Foundation. She is Commissioner of the New York City Commission on the Status of Women.

Born and raised in Washington, D.C. Ms. Powell now lives in Harlem.  

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BLACK HISTORY MONTH: FEBRUARY, 1984 PEACE CORPS SALUTES DR. SARAH MOTEN, SWAZILAND COUNTRY DIRECTOR

Dr. Sarah E. Moten has distinguished herself as being the first black woman to direct Peace Corps projects in Swaziland, Africa-- a phenomenon Swazi officials find nearly as amazing as the fact that she is a woman with a doctorate degree.

Her Peace Corps assignment began in August, 1982, and her background as a teacher, counselor and administrator has given Moten an edge in a country where nearly 80 percent of the 100 Peace Corps volunteers are teachers.

"I think I was pretty fortunate in that the skills I needed most, I had the experience in," she says. "Our first year of teaching is a frightening experience. When I share some of the experiences with our teachers, they see it's the same all over, whether you are in the District of Columbia or Swaziland."

Under the leadership of Director Loret Miller Ruppe, the Peace Corps has intensified its efforts to reach out to minorities, and Moten is joining the agency-wide effort to increase black recruitment. 

"I'm the perfect role model," Moten says. "I'm out in the field seeing it, living it. I want to give my resources and self. I'm a part of this family we call Peace Corps. Because I believe in the goals and what Peace Corps is doing, I don't want to be someone sitting by the wayside– I want to help out."

She is not only a role model for prospective black Peace Corps applicants, but for the people of Swaziland as well. "I am looked at not just as the head of Peace Corps in the country, but as representative of all black Americans," Moten says. 

Accompanied by her teenage daughter Michele, Moten stands out as a black female single parent, but finds a high level of acceptance and respect from the people around her. She says she color and sex make little difference in her relations with the volunteers: "I demand respect from them and give it to them"; and with the Swazi government and people. . . no, I know it. It's because I work for it– I give Swazis respect too."

She says that Swazi official do not find it so unusual that she is a black woman in a position of importance, but are surprised to find that she has a doctorate. "They do not expect a woman to be so educated," she says, adding that many times callers expecting "Dr. Moten" to be a male are confused when they hear a female voice on the telephone. 

As country director, Moten is based in the capital city of Mbabane, overseeing a staff of 26. In addition to her regular duties of managing the staff, budget and volunteers, she makes a concerted effort to keep abreast of activities in the field by dedicating every Wednesday to making site visits. She is on call 24 hours a day, and also keeps the office open saturdays for volunteers who are not able to visit during the week.

She also works to keep a positive flow of goodwill between the country staff and ministries by meeting with various government officials to establish and maintain friendly working relationships.

She earned her doctorate degree in administration and supervision from Atlanta university in 1979, and received an M.A. degree from George Washington University in 1970. She earned a B.S. from Hampton Institute in Virginia in 1964. She is a native of Norfolk, Virginia.
Peace Corps currently has more than 

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