LIFT EVERY VOICE
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TURNER AGONIZES OVER DEATHS WITHOUT A CAUSE
Opinion 1
Nor * Gv ? 'V* R ~om
Fors <h C " ? i * * y Public Libra'
660 West Fifth Street
Winston-Salem, N. C. 27101
The Choice for African-American News and Informatio
THURSDAY, MAY 26, 1994
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"Power concedes nothing without a struggle. " ? Frederick Douglass
Memorial Day Finds Vet
A Sam Brown: "I was called a lot of names . .
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Reliving War Wounds
. I had to do twice as much as whites " <
By VERONICA CLEMONS
Chronicle Staff Writer
Most soldiers only get one Purple Heart
for being wounded during service in the mili
tary ? and that wound is usually fatal.
? Sam Brown has two Purple Hearts and is
still living to tell about them.*
"I think the good Lord was looking out
for me to get two Purple Hearts and still be
kicking," said Brown, who was wounded
twice during the Korealn War where he
served as a combat marine. - .
He was working at R J. Reynolds when
he was called to the Marine Corps on April
27, 1 952. j
On this Memorial Day weekend, Brown
will have vivid memories some of the most
gruesome details of the war ? seeing his
friend's head being blown off during an
attack and another one losing a leg. He said
he also recalls, as if yesterday, creeping
through barbed wire, tipping across mine
fields armed with grenades and automatic
rifles and lying down in the cold waiting for
an ambush. 4
The living quarters, he recalled, were
primitive.
"I lived in crude bunkers of sandbags
and logs and when we coughed it came up
black as soot," he said
see MEMORIAL page 3 '
Sam Brown
These students participated in the Reading Olympiad sponsored last week by Winstqn~Salem Urban League.
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Urban League Helps Students Learn Black
History Through Reading Competition
By DAVID L DiLLARD
Chronicle Staff Writer
Uordon Wilson Jr. constantly urges his
daughters to read so that they will team about
black history and increase their overall knowl
edge. . V
On Thursday, two of his daughters,
Chondra and Sateria, won silver medals for
reading books at the Reading Olympiad
awards reception sponsored by the Winston
Salem Urban League.
. "1 think it's great," Wilson said. "I stud- 5=5
ied history at Winston-Salem State, so I
required them to read black-history books. It's
- good to see things that promote our culture in
? the community." ?
The Reading Olympiad started five years
ago as a program to expose students to black
history and literature by encouraging them to
read books try and/or about black people.
Alberta McMillian, an education and train
ing director at the Urban League, said the pro
gram offers a fun and competitive way for
black youths to learn ahouf their hrritagp
"It helps them understand who they are,"
she said. "The (public school) system doesn't
"The system doesn't expose them to
African-American history, so we have to
find a method to do it. "
expose them to African-American history, so
we have to find a method to do it."
ment and community relations for Dudley Prod
ucts, was the keynote speaker. In a dramatic
speech, he told students that the ability to read
would be the key to open all doors to success.
"Reading people are ruling people. They
know what it takes to get ahead," Raye said.
"When you know how to read, you can create
your own future, , , . Your power is in what you
think."
Students had to read and discuss each book
with a volunteer "chatperson" in order to get
earn points for gold, silver or bronze
medals.
Cash prizes up to $100 were given to
the highest readers, who read over 20
books by such authors as Gwendolyn
Brooks and Langston Hughes and biogra
phies on blacks-ranging from baseball star
Satchel Paige to civil-rights activist Fannie Lou
Hamer. ??
Thomas produced several cash-award winners.
Both said they used competition to encourage
their students to read and said they felt a sense
of pride in helping black youths learn about
their history.
Schools Seek
?
Image Change
A Task force to look for ways to
improve schools' unsafe perception
By VERONICA CLEMONS #
Chronicle Staff Writer
Forsyth County commissioners
have charged the Safe Schools Task
Force with drafting proposals to
obtain portions of the $12 million
state-wide school-intervention grant
established by the General A&aem
ry.
The 58-member committee was
to meet today to begin discussing
possible programs to be funded by
the Intervention/Prevention Grant
Program for North Carolina School
Children. ?
The grant was created during the
. legislature's special crime session
Mazie Woodn^ff
where more than $50 million was allocated for crime prevention. Forsyth
County's lot is $ 1 00,000.
"The committee will have the opportunity to propose programs and
projects intervening in situations to provide some relief to issues and prob
lems as related to safety in schools," said Pam Chisholm, a committee
member and auditor for the school system. .
She said the task force will likely implement programs to reduce a per
ception that schools are unsafe.
Between August and January, 10 weapons were fpund at middle
schools and 20 at high schools. Found at middle schools were seven knive$,
a starter pistol, a b.b. gun and a .25-caliber pistol. At the high schools, the
weapons consisted of six knives, three starter pistols, two b.b. guns, two
-.25-caliber pistols, two ,38-caliber pistols, a .45-Caliber pistol and two
including curriculum for students teaching life skills, such as self-esteem,
ode? of conduct and understanding differences. Teachers are also getting
programs to teach life skills.
Funds also have been allocated for a teacher at LIFT Academy, and a
Juvenile Advocate Resource officer has been hired. Also, a considerable
amount of the grant money has been invested into training all schools" on
conflict resolution, cultural diversity and peer mediation, Chisholm said.
Marcia Epstein, director of middle school and committee member, said
Forsyth County has an advantage in applying for the grant because the
committee is representative of the kind of people required by the state for
the intervention task force. She added that because the group has worked
on the Safe Srhonls grany it ha&ralrcady been thinking about some inter
vention.
Commissioner Mazie Woodruff said she is pleased that the same group
of people will be working on this grant proposal.
"We've got some good people on that committee, and thev are not
afraid to speak up, she said.
Church Makes History with First Women Deacons
B> VERONICA CLEMONS
Chronicle Staff Writer
Sunday's deacon ordination service at
Emmanuel Baptist Church was like no other
in its 79-year history.
The procession of the candidates with
their spouses was the same and the order of
the service was similar to previous ordination
ceremonies. The difference?
For the first time in the history of the
church, women were ordained as deacons.
"I am filled up today because I've wit
nessed a great occasion," said Sammie Torbit,
chairman of the deacon board.
Mary Jenkins, a Winston-Salem native
who holds the oldest church membership at
56 years, did not believe this day would ever
come ? much less that she would be a part of
it. She was one of three women ordained. The
others were Helen Watkins and Nadyr.e
Brown*.
"My daddy was a deacon and I know in
his time it would have never happened," she
said. "They didn't believe in it."
Three men also were ordained.
"We can be proud of this day Emmanuel,"
said the Rev. John Mendez. the church's pas
tor. "We have taken a bold step forward in the
right direction. We must empower all of our
members and not practice discrimination."
Helen Watkins, an Emmanuel member
for 26 years and a Sunday school teacher, said
she knew at some point the time would come,
but she just didn't expect to be one of those
making history. ?
"We've always been a progressive
-church." Brown said. "I never doubted that
we would get to this point, because out in the
workforce in corporate America you see
things changing constantly."
Brown is a lead systems analyst for RJ.
Reynolds and the only female deacon who y>
married. She said she has received a tremen
dous amount of support from her husband anfa
her daughter, despite some opposing com
ments.
"He is the most fantastic person," she
said. "People said stuff to him, and anyone
else would have said don't do this because it
will cause friction. He's been so supportive.
That's a strong man."
, Brown, originally from Hamlet, came to
see CHURCH page 3
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