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WINSTON SALEM NC 27101-2705 JF K H M ? j .
Vol. XXXV No. 30 WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. THURSDAY, March 26, 2009
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Local
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-See Page BIO
Film by
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?See Page A12
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WSSU becomes gay-friendlier
Board of Trustees includes LGBT community in non-discrimination policy
WSSU lnufc B
The new I
measure^
means that f
everyone ['
on the
WSSU
campus is
protected
from dis
crimina - h
tion.
BY LAYLA FARMER
THE CHRONICLE
The Winston-Salem State
University Board of
Trustees has voted to
include sexual orienta
tion among the pro
tected groups of indi
viduals in university
policies.
The unanimous
vote took place last
Friday. WSSU became
one of the last institu
tions in the UNC sys
lem to pass such a measure.
Designating sexual orienta
tion as a protected class allows
members of the LGBT (lesbian,
gay. bisexual and transgender)
Hughes
community to be free from dis
crimination based on their sexu
ality.
"It was a matter of dignity
and resneft " said
Board Chair Nigel
Alston. "Everyone
deserves that, and to a
degree, that's what the
aetion of approving the
policy did."
It is an important
step in the university's
j history, says WSSU's
Equal Employment
Opportunity Officer
Edward Hanes Jr.
"This was a very good thing
for the university," stated
See WSSU on A4
Students find outlet in poetry slams
BY LAYLA FARMER
THE CHRONICLE
Fourteen students took to
the stage at Carver High
School Tuesday, gunning for
a cash prize and the chance to
become the school-wide
poetry slam champion.
Armed only with words and
the wisdom of their short, yet
varied existences, the final
ists wooed their peers with
tales of love and loss, of sad
ness. heartache, abuse and of
finding one's voice in the
crowd and overcoming
obstacles.
The students that surged
into the auditorium to wit
ness it all were every bit as
energized as their counter
parts on stage. Whoops and
screams of encouragement
peppered each poet's rendi
tion. It was a surreal experi
ence for Senior A.J. Banner,
who entered the contest at the
behest of his teacher.
"I've kind of always been
into poetry at least since
the seventh grade." Banner
said.
Though he says he has
shared his work with friends
and family members, per
forming before a large group
was a new experience for
Banner.
"It feels great," he said at
the outset of the final compe
tition. the third round the
school has held this year. "I
love it; 1 wouldn't trade it for
the world."
Fellow finalist Alexes
Johnson couldn't contain her
excitement either.
Ph<??os by Layla Farmer
Talented students Nikeysha
Flowers (above) arid Chris
Torrey were among those
who took to the stage at
Carver High School this
week.
"It's like an adrenaline
rush," commented Johnson,
who plans to attend UNC
Charlotte in the fall. "It feels
good to know that my peers
and people around me can
relate, or in a sense feel,
where I'm coming from."
The project is the brain
child of English teacher
Jason Bratton and Media
Coordinator Laura Lyons,
who collaborate on "Visible
Voice," the school's online
literary magazine, now in its
second year.
"The magazine online
really doesn't get accessed as
much as I'd like it to," Lyons
said of "Visible Voice,"
which showcases the literary
and artistic talents of Carver
Sec Po?ts on All
WSSL' Photo by Garrett Guttdn
Terry McMillan speaks at
WSSU last week.
McMillan
is again
ready to
'Exhale'
Author reads
from sequel
to bestseller
BY LAYLA FARMER
THECHRONICLE
Robin Stokes, the naive,
love-starved insurance execu
tive who first sprung to life
from the pages of Terry
McMillan'* emu nd breaking
hovel, "Waiting to Exhale."
has not changed much in the
last 15 years.
"She's 49 and you didn't
hear it from me. but she's still
just as dinghy as she was in
the first (book)," McMillan
told the students and faculty
members that packed an audi
torium and crowded the door
ways to hear her speak last
week at Winston-Salem State
University.
The passage that she read
from her forthcoming novel.
"Getting to Happy," related to
Robin. The new book, which
McMillan says is still a wdrk
in progress, will revisit the
four ladies of "Waiting to
Exhale" which, after becom
ing a international bestseller,
was made into a blockbuster
film starring Whitney
Houston. Angela Bassett.
Loretta Devine and Lela
Rochon (who played Rotyn).
"1 was interested in what
happens when you do every:
thing you think you'rs sup
posed to do ... and then you
realize that you're miserable,
or lonely, or just not thrilled
Sec McMillan on A12
Remembering When
A youngster experiences washing in a
tin tub.
Kids learn what life was like for
THEIR GRANDPARENTS
BY T. KEVIN WALKER
BftffffhMlCLE ? : ' - '
For a generation born in the e-mail and text mes
sage era, communicating with pen and paper is almost
a foreign concept. But tell them that there was a time
when youngsters had to ignite an oil-filled lamp
instead of flicking a light switch to complete home
work assignments, and you might as well be spewing
science fiction.
The elementary-age group of boys who Annie
Hamlin Johnson took on a walk down memory lane
last week looked like cavemen discovering fire as they
listened with*rapt attention to Johnson's memories of
outhouses, wood-burning stoves and manual washing
machines.
Sec Johnson on All
, Photo* by Kevin Walkei
Annie Hamlin Johnson discusses the horrors of slavery with a group of kids.
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