licellum
I C* - ? - - ?
%/iym page A J
?-die two. Since retiring in 1980,
"*iowever, he's gone solo - usual
with a group of his friends.
"My wife knows that when
the last week in February comes,
I,I'm going away for a one-week
| vacation," he said.
> ' The expenses for the tourna
? ment have been lessened since
! the tournament made its home
ip Winston-Salem. Kellum said
'he's enjoyed being able to just
drive across town to see the
tHournament However, he isn't
Mad to see it move to Raleigh
v,-which will host the tournament
>for the next four years.
"It's good in a way," he said.
? "That's one of the things that
wjj'd always look forward to. The
^tournament has moved around
rto a lot of good places and it has
Always managed to attract the
?alumni and supporters of the
schools."
? Kellum, like most fans, views
the tournament as a gathering
of African American culture.
The basketball is what brings
the fans to the tournament, but
it's not the only attraction.
"It's like a family reunion,"
he said. "You get a chance to see
a lot of friends and visit with
them in a social environment."
V * As far as the basketball, Kel
! lum said lots of things have
* changed. Kellum's introduction
; to the CIAA and in black col
%
%
lege sports goes back some 61
years. He was a member of the
basketball team at Winston
Salem Teachers College in 1938.
Back in those days, the school
was comprised of about 3S0
women and SO men. Kellum was
one of a select group that made
the basketball team coached by
Harold Taylor.
"Back then you were a
celebrity on campus if you were
on the basketball team," he said.
"I was fortunate enough to be
on the team."
When he looks back, a smile
comes across Kellum's face.
"I wasn't a super star," he
said. "In fact, I was a bench
warmer. Coach Taylor gave me a
set of knee pads so that I would
n't hurt myself if I fell off the
bench because I rode the bench
so long."
? Kellum's career was inter
rupted by World War II and a
tour of duty in the Army. When
he returned to school, Coach
Bighouse Gaines was the Rams
coach. Kellum didn't go out for
the team, choosing to concen
trate on his studies. He graduat
ed in 1947 and attended his first
tournament the following year.
"The talent level was really
outstanding," he said. "You had
guys like Earl Lloyd, Harold
Hunter and Sam Jones playing.
Those guys went on to be super
stars."
After Gaines established the
WSSU program, the talent level
in the league continued to
improve.
t
"Back during those days you
had the top black athletes in the
country competing," Kellum
said. "Then with Gaines' boys,
they did the recruiting for him.
They'd send him the best players
they knew so the program kept
improving."
That Rams pipeline helped
the school dominate league play
beginning in the late 50s and
lasting into the mid 70s. Players
like Cleo Hill, Teddy Blount,
Earl Monroe and Earl Williams
were all recruited for Gaines by
former players.
But in the mid 70s that began
to change.
"You could see a change in
the CIAA when the top black
players started going to the
white institutions," Kellum said.
"The level of play started going
down."
That, however, didn't stop
the annual tournament from
increasing in popularity.
"People recognize that
there's nothing like the CIAA
Tournament," he said. "The bas
ketball is good, but the gather
ings, the social events and the
chance to meet and greet friends
is something that really matters.
If you're black and you have
experienced one, you'll want to
come back."
Spark
from page A /
pulling for Shaw University. He
and two of his colleagues, Leon
Davis and Joe Lewis made the
trip from Raleigh to Winston
Salem.
"I was just so excited," Jenk
ins said. "I couldn't stand
myself. So far it's lived up to
what it is set out to be."
Jenkins and Davis work at
Shaw. Both say it will be nice to
be able to stay home to watch
the tournament next year.
"We're ready for it," Davis
said. "We've got a brand new
arena."
Not only will the teams from
the 12 institutions play in a
brand new state of the art arena,
but because of its location offi
cials hope to get more students
involved.
Two CIAA schools: Shaw
University and St. Augustine's
College are located in the state
capital while North Carolina
Central University is just a hop.
skip and jump away in Durham
While Hopkins admits the
tournament could be improved,
she hoped that it would remain
in Winston-Salem. /S,;.
"There are probably a few
things the conference could do
to better things but it certainly
has not lost its flavor," she said
"It's still fun. You haven't seen
fun until you've seen a CI A A
basketball game. I meet some
body new every year. Having a v.
good time never gets old."
, t
Photo by Damon Ford
Both Hopkins and hor tan David arm juit two of thousand* of poopl* who havm como to Winston-Salem
for th* CIAA tournament.
II New School
? from page A1
[ new high school will be more east
i than south.
* "I'm under the impression that
f the school will be in the (Winston
?Salem State University) area,"
C Johnson said. "I can't see them
I putting a school out there (the
J Waughtown area)."
? After a nearly yearlong debate
over the future of Atkins Middle
* School ended last month - with
r the board deciding not to convert
11 Atkins into a high school - many
' in the East Winston area - includ
J ing Johnson -, thought they had
* spoken loud and clear: they want
> a high school in East Winston.
; Johnson says he considers the
f proposed school - which would be
t implemented by 2003- to be that
much talked about inner city high
I school. And even though blue
* prints or money for the school do
* not exist yet, Johnson said he
* wants to call it Atkins High
* School.
jr. The school would have a pop
ulation of about 1,000 students
1 ?jwho will come from schools like
LMfest Forsyth, East Forsyth and
f jjjarkland, but the school will not
|Hn-aw students from Carver High
(RSchool, Superintendent Don Mar
Kgn said Tuesday. But Martin was
;Rft as clear on the location of the
school, saying that it could only be
built in an area of the Southeast
where enough space was available.
Martin and Johnson do appear
to be on the same page as far as
the general location of the high,
school.
"I would think in the Winston
Salem State area," Martin said.
At one point, Johnson had
threatened to try to kill any bond
referendum that did not specifical
ly earmark money for a brand new
inner-city school. But Johnson
says if the high school is built in
the WSSU area, he'll support a
bond.
"We would have no other rea
son not to support it," he said.
Johnson has been critical of
the $94 million school bond refer
endum that was. passed by voters
in 1995. He said the bond money
was used to construct new schools
in Kernersville and other subur
ban enclaves while mostly ignor
ing the inner city.
"This time we have some idea
of what we are getting; we aren't
buying a pig in the dark," Johnson
said.
Board member Geneva Brown,
however, is still somewhat wary
about the (0-year plan and possi
ble bond referendum.
Tuesday, Brown voted to
approve the plan only after she
was assured by board chair Donny
Lambeth that it was a "work in
progress" and not written in stone.
Brown says Moore Elementary
- where she once served as princi
pal - and many other schools are
in dire need of repairs and renova
tions but are not included in the
10-year plan.
"We are talking about a lot of
money, and we need to maintain
the buildings we already have,"
Brown said.
The system must also make a
serious effort to make sure all
existing structures are at capacity,
before building new schools,
Brown said, especially since there
is no guarantee that any of the five
schools in the plan will call the
inner-city home.
Brown voted to have the 1995
bpnd referendum because she said
the system was in desperate need
of renovations and buildings.
But, she says, she'll have to
think long and hard before she
supports the bond referendum
that is likely to spring from the 10
year plan.
' "What's fair about this,?" she
asked. "Cook is a renovation.
Ashley is a renovation. All the
new schools went where?"
Brown said ?t hat she will "have
to have assurances that East Win
ston won't get scraps while other
areas of the city benefit from the
funds.
Last month, while the hubbub
over Atkins was at its height,
Brown said that if a high school
was to be built in East Winston it
should be constructed on Lowery
Street so that it would not be too
close to Carver.
Although Lowery Street is just
a stone's throw away from WSSU,
Brown says she is under the
impression that schools in the
southeast would mean breaking
ground in the Sprague Street area
near Hill Middle School, which is '
not East Winston by any stretch
of the imagination.
"That's what it means in my
, mind," Brown said. "If they don't
mean that, they better show me on
a map what they're talking
about."
The ambiguity of the term
"Southeast" is also a concern for
the Rev. Jimmie Bonham, Bon
ham was one of many who attend
ed a community meeting at Atkins
last month to urge the board and
the superintendent to build a high
school in "East" Winston.
Bonham said Tuesday night
that he and other concerned
African Americans will attempt to
"negotiate" with school system
staffers to insure that the new
schools have East Winston
addresses.
"If a bond comes up again,
this time we will be more aware
and more involved. We want to
make sure that our concerns and
needs will be addressed," Bonham
said. "It wasn't clear when they
came to us last time and asked us
to support the bond...Where the
schools were going to be built, was
not clear."
Now that the plan has been
approved by the board, the school
system will now begin talks with
county commissioners, who must
approve any bond referendum
The process will not be brief.
"It doesn't mean that (the
bond referendum) will be next
year or the year after that, but
sometimes in the next few years,"
Lambeth said.
Funds from a state bond could
also be used to implement the 10
year plan.
issues
UiempageAl
Wrongest block of votes that can
mape any election on the local or
Mate level, how do we utilize this
r)>lock to best effect change for the
betterment of total North Caroli
na?"
[ | Six of the 17 black Democrats
1 j in the House, along with two white
? Democrats, joined 51 Republicans
! on the Legislature's opening day to
; vote for former House speaker Dan
? Blue. Rep. Jim Black, the unani
mous choice of the Democratic
; caucus for speaker in November,
; won the election by one vote.
! Five of those black Democrats,
! including Blue, were among the 60
people who attended Friday's
closed meeting at St. Augustine's
College.
| .. Barber praised the coalition
? that supported Blue, saying it
! refused to tolerate "cumulative dis
! respect" shown to black voters by
J the Democratic Party.
He said the disrespect included
conservative Democrats who win
\ office with straight-ticket black
votes and then side with conserva
? tive Republicans; primary chal
! lenges to black officeholders that
; draw no outcry from white Democ
; rats; and the failure of white Demo
cratic voters to support black can
;! didates like Harvey Gantt
j statewide.
i
! "We are telling Democrats there
; may come a time when we have to
; split a ticket," Barber said. "We're
' not talking about becoming
Republicans; we're talking about
j issues."
; Barber said the notice applied
? to black politicians as well as white
! ones.
J "Even among black politicians,
J our question must be, what have
&'Vou delivered for your community
mtetyT' he said.
"It's about getting our fair share
what's out there." said Rep.
Jjiickey Michaux. D-Durham. one
Utf those who voted for Blue. "His
tory has shown us that when
? ?
minorities get their fair share,
everybody benefits.
"Affirmative action has benefit
ed more white women that it will
ever benefit minorities," he said.
Michaux said the six black
Democrats who supported Blue
will keep Democrats from ever
being comfortable with their con
trol of the state House. Democrats
hold a 66-54 edge.
"They will never hold a majori
ty of Democrats in the chamber,"
Michaux said. "They have 60 votes,
"And you never know what will
happen, if anything," he said.
^BARGAiSr^
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By diversifying our workforce to employ
the talents of African Americans and
other ethnic groups in the development,
manufacturing and sale of oqr products.
\ .
r \
By expanding our supplier base to ensure
that companies owned by African Americans
have the access and opportunity to provide
us with goods and services.
By partnering with cultural service and
charitable organizations to improve the
quality of life for the African-American
community and society at large.
i ' ? '
By striving~to incorporate the legacies
of African-American and other leaders
lost and loved into the way we do business
*' " 1 ' IL
not just during the month of February but
?
365 days a year.
MILLER BREWING COMPANY
? # .