Sports Weft
Vikings win
Frank Spencer
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County B-ball talent
on the rise
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See A8
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Community
Youngsters win
essay contest
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Pictures from
Kwanzaa events
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75 cents WlNSTON-SALEW GREENSBORO HlGH POINT XXVIII No 18
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* | 77;V (Jwice for African-Ameiicaib \ew.\ _
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Road to clash with black heritage in Bethania
BY SHERIDAN HILL
THE CHRONICLE _____
The descendants of Rev. Joseph
Loften Lash want the impossible: to
save the family's land from being split
apart by a thoroughfare pro
posed by the city transportation
department.
Lash (1867-1953) was a
minister, an educator, and pres
ident of the 1916 Forsyth
Countv Colored Aurinilhinil
Fair, back in the day when
blacks were not welcome at the main
fair.
The city has proposed to build a
four-lane road similar to Silas Creek
Parkway through the Lash family tract,
connecting Bethabara Road to Betha
nia-Rural Hall Road just east of Main
Street in Bethania. This road is a short
i
ened version of the thoroughfare plan I
that has been on the books since 1991, I
according to Greg Turner of the city I
Transportation Department. A consult- ;
ant hired by Bethania is trying to come I
up with a plan that satisfies both the I
_ i
city's desire for road connectivity in the
northwest part of the city and Bethania's
desire to keep traffic away from the his
toric town center.
For years, the family has endeav
ored to preserve the historical integrity
of the land and buildings known infor
mally as Lash Heights, a dozen acres of
land that has been in the family for more
ban 150 years. Walter Glenn, one of
Lash's grandsons, recently built a fence
iround the foundation of the school-?
louse on Walker Road where Lash
aught black children reading, writing
:inH orifhmpfio Qpvprol uparc
ago. the family reluctantly
agreed to tear down the origi
nal Lash home after receiving
complaints that it had fallen
into disrepair.
/\ Mouse num mai years
ago by Lash's son-in-law still
stands at the corner of Walker Road and
Bethania-Rura! Hall Road, and is home
to Lash's granddaughter. Inside are pre
cious historical artifacts, including a
small, hand-bound booklet believed to
be a listing of slaves, in a flowery hand
writing that includes dates as far back as
Set Road on A8
"This house, this land and these
artifacts are a part of who we are and
how we see life." - Robert Wayne Glenn
Photo by Sheridan Hill
Descendants of Joseph Lash are up for 6 fight to save the historic property.
Photos by Kevin Walker
Kevin and Sharon Johnson brought their two children, Kayla and Tyshon, to Kwanzaa last Thursday night. Below, the
kinara is lighted at another Kwanzaa event in the city.
City celebrates Kwanzaa
BY T. KEVIN WALKER
THE CHRONICLE
Susan Benjamin isn't relying
on the school system to teach her
three children about their her
itage. That's a matter she has
decided to take into her own
hands. ,
Benjamin and her children
were among the hundreds last
week and early this week who
took part in city Kwanzaa cele
brations. Benjamin hopes that the
cultural and historical elements
of the fairly new but steadily
growing African-American holU
day celebration will help her little
ones realize they come from a
past steeped in centuries-old val
ues such as respect and humility
and time-proven traditions such
as helping one's neighbor and
placing elders on pedestals.
"We have been coming to
Kwanzaa for the last five years,"
Benjamin said. "I believe events
like this are important. If we
don't take our kids to things like
this, how will they ever' learn
about their culture?"
Since its creation 35 years
ago, Kwanzaa has grown into an
international phenomenon. It is .
believed that more than 28 mil
lion people around the world take
part in Kwanzaa, a nonreligious
based holiday celebration that
begins the day after Christmas
and ends on New Year's Day.
? See Kwanzaa <<// A9
Dr. Maya Angelou capti
vated a crowd Tuesday at
United Metropolitan Bap
tist Church. She said
African Americans have
come quite a way since
slavery. "I see the faces
of blacks today and it
shows me that we've
come a long way."
Black voices
%
prominent in
fight for CAT-TV
Board will consider fate of public
access station later this month
BYT. KEVIN WALKER
THE CHRONICLE
Even those with satellite tele
vision and the hundreds of chan
nels that that technology provides
would be hard pressed to find a
station as brow-raising as CAT
TV. the city's eight-year-old pub
lic access station. It is probably
the only chahnel where one could
see an atheist, a fire-and-brim
stone Baptist preacher, an up-and
coming local musical artist, and
get tips on lowering cholesterol
all within a two-hour span.
Those who have become fans
of the station's sometimes quirky
shows and those who use the
channel to promote a variety of
interests are in a fight to save
CAT-TV from a permanent state
of dead air..'
The Board of Aldermen will
soon vote
up or
down a
proposal
between
the city
and Time
W-a r ne r
Cable, a
proposal
that would
I ' ?fT . ?^ m e a n
Johnson probably
$2 million
a year for the city from the cable
provider, but no 4ong-term com
mitment for financial support for
CAT-TV, In fact, after three years,
the Board of Aldermen will have
to allocate money annually for
CAT-TV
from
money
generated
by the
city from
Time
Warner,
under the
proposed
deal.
Griggs CAT
TV sup
porters say if that happens, the
station's "budget, which is about
$140.(XM) annually, could be
dwindled down to nothing when
it comes time for city officials to
crunch numbers at budget time.
They want this proposal trashed
and another one drawn up that
includes a commitment from the
cable company to fund CAT-TV,
preferably at a higher level of
funding.
"If we could get (an econom
ic commitment), it would give
CAT the luxury of not having to
worry about the cycle of funding,
and we would have time to come
up with an economic infrastruc
ture," said Khalid Griggs, chair
person of the station's board.
CAT-TV has aired a series of
programs over the last month
touting the importance of the sta
tion. A petition drive and letter
writing campaign have also been
under way. The drive will end
early next week, and the signa
tures collected will be presented
at an aldermen's finance commit
See CAT-TV on A9
Hundreds celebrate freedom
*
BY SAM DAVIS "*
THE CHRONICLE
"Amazing" is the word Dr. Maya
Angelou used (o^ describe the
African-American experience in the
country at Tuesday's Celebration of
Emancipation, which was sponsored
by the Winston-Salem/Forsyth Coun
ty Emancipation Association.
Angelou - the noted poet, author,
actress and current Reynolds profes
sor of American Studies at Wake For
est University - brought the audience
at United Metropolitan Baptist
Church to its feet with her rousing
orations depicting the plight of
African Americans in this country.
Angelou took the audience back
to the early days of slavery when
millions of Africans were taken from
their homeland and brought to this
country. During her speech, she con
stantly reminded African Americans
that they should be proud of their
past, but be mindful of all that they
have endured.
"I am not ashamed of a past wilt
ed in pain." Angelou said. "I see the
faces of blacks today and it shows
me that we've come a long way,"
"This is where we started." she
said. "They drug you from your
homeland, yet somehow you foui? a
way to survive and make it. In every
phase of of life today you can find an
African American."
Angelou said she attributes the
survival of African Americans to
something that seems endemic to
their existence.
"What we're the best at is pres*
ing and praying." she said. "That's
how you find liberation. What we've
done is taken the alloy - great abuse
- and somehow managed to continue
forward. That's why you can walk
down the street today and see a
young man who is a second- or third
generation welfare recipient walking
down the street as if he has oil wells
in his pocket."
That type of resiliency is one rea
son Angelou said African Americans
should.be happy to celebrate emanci
pation. President Abraham Lincoln
signed the bill that freed blacks in
September 1862 and it was enacted
on Jan. I. 1863. Since that time.
.Sc, Emancipation on A3
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