ROANOKE TIMES 
                      Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times

DATE: Sunday, January 21, 1996               TAG: 9601220063
SECTION: VIRGINIA                 PAGE: B-1  EDITION: METRO STEPHANIE 
SOURCE: JAN VERTEFEUILLE STAFF WRITER 

ACTIVISTS MARCH FOR `JOBS, JUSTICE, PEACE' FOCUS IS ON WORK SECURITY, FEDERAL COURTS

Civil rights marchers undeterred by subfreezing weather gathered outside the Poff Federal Building in Roanoke on Saturday for their first local march for "jobs, justice and peace."

Postponed from Martin Luther King Jr. Day last Monday, the march drew 33 people Saturday morning, including members of Girl Scout Juniors Troop No. 9560 who took time from selling cookies to walk.

"I think these children help bridge that gap between the '60s and the '90s," troop leader Carolyn Word said. "It is so important that they are aware of their black history."

The group walked from the federal building to St. Paul United Methodist Church on Gilmer Avenue, carrying signs promoting civil rights and fair employment, and singing "We Shall Overcome."

Perneller Chubb-Wilson, president of the local chapter of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and of Concerned Citizens for Justice U.S.A., said the march had two main themes: Overturning Virginia's employment-at-will laws that allow employers to fire people without stating a cause; and preventing the Roanoke federal court from hearing civil rights cases until the court itself is investigated.

Chubb-Wilson accused local federal judges of practicing racism in the courtroom and said her groups would work to get an investigation.

"I received basement-court justice," she said of her own suit against an employer.

Henry Craighead, a Norfolk Southern retiree, was marching because he wants to raise people's awareness of employment rights and the struggle to keep affirmative action alive.

"I'm not satisfied with the turnout," he said. "A lot of people think they have it made, and they don't."

George Franklin, an SCLC member, said he came out to express his support for the cause.

"As a responsible citizen, I believe that it's important people express their support for peace ... and justice worldwide.

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