& Photo courtesy of NBTF
"lorry Leon Hamlin and his grandson listen as Mayor Allen Joines formally announces that
Cherry Street's name will be temporarily changed to honor the NBTF.
The Great 'Black' Way
Street renamed NBTF Boulevard in honor of festival
I. M V l \ WALM:K
The chronicle
It doesn't have the bright
Jights or the hustle of Broadway,
?but everyone now knows that the
city's downtown is once again
playing host to the National Black
Theatre Festival. Cherry Street/
University Parkway has been
temporarily renamed Black The
atre Festival Boulevard by order
of Mayor Allen Joines.
NBTF founder, producer and
'artistic director Larry Leon Ham
lin joined Joines at City Hall July
24 as it was made official.
"I am honored that the city of
"Winston-Salem is recognizing the
festival," Hamlin said.
The light brown street signs
bearing the NBTF name have
been erected side-by-side with
green official street-name signs.
The NBTF street signs appear
near the Adam's Mark Hotel and
.the M.C.: Benton Convention
'. Center and down Cherry Street
; toward the Joel Coliseum. The
signs will be up until after the fes
! tival's conclusion Aug. 9.
Everything is being fine-tuned
Tor Monday, the first day of the
2003 festival. The hundreds of
"volunteers who will do everything
[?next week from transporting
' actors to ushering, are getting
their final training. And festival
officials are making a final big
.push to get local people pumped
i bp about the festival.
On Saturday, music groups
; and a few celebrity surprises are
expected at the Convention Cen
ter for a formal kickoff event (see
more details about this event on
.page 34 in The Chronicle's NBTF
guide inside of this issue). Mon
day's Opening Night Gala is also
-scheduled at the Convention Cen
ter. The gala - during which enter
Itainers such as Diahann Carroll
I and Ben Vereen are expected to
make appearances - has already
sold out to the delight of Hamlin.
It is the earliest sell out for the
gala in the festival's 14 year histo
ry
Hamlin has often said that he
expects this festival, which will be
the seventh time the biannual
event will be staged, to he the
biggest and best yet.
"We are excited about this
year's lineup." Hamlin said. "We
are going to have a Marvtastic
time."
Festival officials say they are
expecting thousands of people to
travel to the city to attend the fes
tival. If past festivals are any indi
cation. the visitors will spend tons
of money with local restaurants,
hotels and shops.
For details about festival
plays, including a full schedule,
check out The Chronicle 's NBTF
Guide inside this issue. Log onto
wMw.nbtf.org for tickets and addi
tional information.
Michelle Jinks named
director of media relations
The Mid-Eastern Athletic
Conference announced last
week the appointment of
Michelle Jinks as the confer
ence's director of media rela
tions.
Before joining the MEAC
staff, Jinks was manager of
team operations for the Char
lotte Sting of the WNBA.
Jinks began her career in
sports nearly 10 years ago in
media relations at Florida A&M
University, as the coordinator of
women's sports information.
After her tenure at FAMU, she
moved to the conference level,
serving as assistant director of
media relations for the Atlantic
Sun Conference from 1998
2000.
Additionally, Jinks has
extensive work experience,
which includes stints with
ESPN X Games in 1995 as a
press officer; serving as tourna
ment coordinator
for the Marquis Grissom
Celebrity Golf Classic (1998
1999); an NCAA representative
for Women's College Basket
ball Championship - first/sec
ond rounds and a stringer for
the Associated Press.
The Miami, Fla.. native is
1993 graduate of Florida A&M
University with a bachelor of
science degree in broadcast
jOUT.allMII,
Mack tn appear on
television
Dr. Sir Walter Mack, Jr.,
pastor of
Union
Baptist
Church,
will be a
guest on
t h e
Praise
the Lord
program
on Trini
t y
Niack
Broadcast Network (TBN)
tomorrow. The program will be
air at 10 p.m. It the network is
cable channel 8 for people in
the area.
Union Baptist Church, "A
Church Determined to Live for
Christ." is located at 1200 N.
Trade St.. Dr. For more informa
tion on Mack and church pro
grams and schedule, visit the
web site www.unionbaptistws
nc.org.
Z. Smith Reynolds
Foundation awards
sabbaticals
The Z. Smith Reynolds
Foundation has awarded grants
of $15,000 each to five leaders
from North Carolina's nonprof
it community through its Z.
Smith Reynolds Sabbatical Pro
gram. The awards are made
annually to five nonprofit lead
ers, allowing them to take
extended breaks from their
demanding jobs to relax, revi
talize and gain new energy.
This year's winners are
? Stella Adams, executive
director of N.C. Fair Housing
Center in Durham.
? Kenny House, clinical
director of Coastal Horizons
Center in Wilmington.
? Vickie Pait. executive
director of Families First in
Whiteville.
? Michele Rivest, executive
director of Orange County Part
nership for Young Children in
Chapel Hill.
? Kenneth Rose, executive
director of Center for Death
Penalty Litigation in Durham.
The sabbatical may last
from three to six months.
Recipients structure their time
away as they choose to travel,
work on special projects, spend
time with family, read, relax or
simply reflect.
Recipients of the Z. Smith
Reynolds Foundation sabbati
cals were selected on the basis
of the need for a break from the
stresses and challenges of their
work environment, the innova
tion and creativity they have,
demonstrated in their past work
achievements, and their poten
tial to continue to make signifi
cant contributions to public
service. ?
Telemarkerters stopped
from targeting Hispanies
RALEIGH- A telemarket
ing scant that targets Spanish
speaking consumers who want
to learn English has been
ordered out of business in North
Carolina.
In a suit filed last week.
Cooper alleges that F.G.H.
International broke state laws
by deceiving consumers and
failing to register as telephone
solicitors with the Secretary of
State's office. Cooper is asking
the courts to stop the company
permanently and require them
to pay penalties Named as
defendants are F.G.H. Interna
tional. which also operates as
Financiera Gubermental His
panu and GF&C International,
and its presidents, Franco
Morales and Johnny Rojas, all
based in California.
"These scantmers are prey
ing upon a group of consumers
who arc new to our state, eager
to learn our language, and unfa
miliar w ith just how low some
telemarketers will stoop to
steal,"
said
Attorney
General
Roy
Cooper.
" T ?o
make
t h e. i,r
phony
offer
sound
1 e g i t i -
Cooper
mate, the telemarketers even
claim that their victims have
been chosen by the government
to receive language classes."
The complaint alleges that
F.G.H. International has mar
keted a program to teach Eng
lish to Spanish speaking North
Carolina residents since at least
the fall of 2001: Telemarketers
working for F.G.H. Internation
al tell prospective customers
that they have been specially
selected by the government to
receive subsidized language
training but that they must pay a
quarter of the cost out of pock
et, a total of $1,200. The tele
marketers sometimes offer a
program to train auto mechan
ics using a similar pitch. In real
ity, none of the customers called
by the telemarketers have been
selected by a government
agency to learn English or other
skills through any F.G.H. Inter
national program.
'Area woman travels to Africa
SPECIAL TO THE CHRONIC LI
C High Point University grad
uate Rdmona Ramsey-Brooks is
?among a group of ten young
?activists from communities
across the United States in
i Africa this month as part of the
; first American Friends Service
."Committee (AFSC) Youth
/Exchange program. The three
r-week study tour is one part of
"the work launched under the
banner of AFSC's Africa Initia
l-five" that, among other things.
"seeks to connect U.S. audi
Cences with Africa engaging
/youth, communities of faith and
-people of goodwill for a better
lAfrica"
?* Ramsey-Brooks graduated
. from High Point University with
a master's degree in public
administration . She is the group
/coordinator for the High Point
? Africa Initiative youth exchange
"program, and the part-time coor
dinator for the High Point office
-of AFSC. Her interests include
women's economic issues and
empowerment in South Africa
and Zimbabwe, and she plans to
-visit the Women's Centre while
lin Africa. Ramsey-Brooks is a
Aboard member of Winston
~Salem's Sister Cities board and
a member of the Social Action
Committee for .Delta Sigma
. Theta Sorority. She is the moth
er of two young adults and has
been married for 25 years
During their trip, the group
will travel to Cape Town. South
Africa for a two-week course in
leadership development and
peace education. After two
weeks, the students will take
part in one-week internships
with a variety of non govern
mental organizations (NGOs) in
South Africa. Zimbabwe, Ango
la and Zambia.
Now in its second year, the
AFSC Africa Initiative fosters
collaborative reconciliation and
economic development in trou
bled regions of Africa. AFSC
works through indigenous peace
builders from key areas of con
flict throughout the world,
including Angola, the Democra
tic Republic of Congo. Rwanda.
Burundi and areas of southern,
central and eastern Africa.
It'smot how wide to make it'
It's how to make it wide.
Come to the city Transportation Department's drop-in
meeting Wednesday, August 6 to review the proposed plan
for widening Old Walkertown Road between Carver School
Road and Old Rural Hall Road. Transportation staff will be
present to answer questions and collect public opinion.
4 to 7 p.m. August 6
Woodruff Center of Forsyth Technical
Community College g I. |
4905 Lansing Drive, Winston-Salem. I g II
CaH Geoffrey Burdick at 727-2707. WHSHM-SHII'ITI
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