? ?'? >v
The Chron"" t
Vol. XXXVI No. l WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. THURSDAY, September, 3 2009
Rams
ready
to plav
A&T*
-See Page BIO
TV star
gives ties
to WSSU's
BMC
-Jiff Pane A2
Students
honor
retiring
principal
-See fane A 10
It's Our
Birthday!
T. Kevin
Walker
A Thought
or Two
For most of us. a birthday is a
reason to celebrate. Even those of us
who don't have a full-scale party
tend to indulge ourselves in some
small way, as well we should.
Seeing another year is nothing to
be glib about, especially when you
consider that so many weren't so
blessed.
Many businesses are pretty non
chalant when it comes to celebrating
their
birthdays.
0 r
anniver
saries ,
r at h e r .
T h e
demands
of weekly
dead -
1 i n e s .
meet i ivg
goals and
attending
meetings
o f t en
make it
difficult
to take
time to celebrate much of anything.
We have been guilty of that here
at The Chronicle, but it is a habit we
have to break. In today's economic
climate, surviving another year in
the business world is a blessing in
and of itself.
It was 35 years ago this week, on
the first Thursday of September, that
the very first issue of the Winston
Salem Chronicle was published.
Back then, it was more like a flier
than a newspaper - just a few black
and white pages with a handful of
articles about local happenings.
An issue of The Chronicle has
been published each week since then.
- in good times, bad times and real
ly. really bad times.
Ernie Pitt, who founded the paper
with his wife, Elaine, at his side,
often tells me that God has watched
over the paper for all these years.
Although his spiritual roots run
much deeper than my own, I have
come to believe him wholeheartedly.
How else could our survival be
Sec Chronicle on A6
"* . . % ? , ' f PIk>U*? b\ Tpdti Luck
Keith Howell stands in front of Nu Shoes and Carlos Carvana stands at the door of The Oval Office.
Downtown State of Mind
B Y TODD LUCK
I III CHRONICLE
New African- American-owned
businesses have landed on Fourth
Street - a main downtown stretch
that is still in the midst of a long
revitalization effort.
Nu Shoes, a women's shoe
stare, opened in the Loewy
Building a little over a month ago.
and the Oval Office Barber Shop.
Businessmen settle in on Fourth Street
which is across from the Winston*
Salem Chamber of Commerce
Building, opened a week ago. Both
businesses are hoping to capitalize
on the popularity of downtown,
which hosts many street festivals
and events and is home to several
popular eateries and watering
holes.
"The location is perfect. I
couldn't ask tor a better location."
said Nu Shoes owner Keith
Howell. "It's just a matter of peo
ple finding out and finding the
place."
Retail stores in the Loewy
building, located at 500 W. Fourth
St. have just recently become a
fixture in the building, ?where the
tenants are mainly law offices and
other firms. The Housing
Authority of Winston-Salem
.(HAWS); which owns i.oewy. !?>
also headquartered there.- HAWS
decided last year ty dedicate much
of the main level of the building to
retail shops in order to capital i/e
on downtown's growing popular i
Sec Businesses on \2
Apache leader connects to Baptist congregation
Battle for sacred land
takes Wendsler Nosie
around the world
to win allies
BYT KEVIN WALKER
FHE CHRONICLE
A small choir sang Wendsler
Nosie's introduction on Sunday
morning at Emmanuel Baptist
Church - their a-cappella voices
reverberating through the sanctuary
as they dug deep into the spiritual.
"Oh, Freedom."
The song - which proclaims.
"Before I'd he a slave. I'd be buried
in my grave" - became an anthem
after the Civil War for blacks taking
their first breaths of freedom.
Today, the tune cbuld very well be
the soundtrack for Nosie and his
people as they fight to break free
from what they say are the modern
day chains of government bureau
cracy and hypocrisy.
Nosie is the chairman, or leader,
of the 13,000-member Arizona
based San Carlos Apache Tribe,
Photo by Kevin Walker
The Rev. John Mendez and Chairman W'endsler Nosie greet church
goers after Sunday's service.
which is locked in a David vs.
Goliath-like struggle with the fed
eral government over large tracts of
land that the Apache and other
American Indians say are sacred.
Nosie was given the perfect
forum to discuss his tribe's
decades-long fight on Sunday. His
longtime friend and ally Dr. John
Mendez, Emmanuel's pastor, let
Nosie deliver the morning message
to the hundreds of parishioners
packed inside of the church.
But from the oversized, wooden
pulpit, Nosie said nothing of the
many times he has been arrested for
praying atop the mountain that has
become key in land dispute; or the
daily threats he faces from residents
of small Arizona towns w ho feel
that the tribe's fight will drive aua\
jobs and opportunities. In fact.
Nosie barely mentioned the issue,
choosing instead to speak about
topics that both American Indians
and the African-Americans can eas
ily understand things like respect
ing elders and heritage: being sepa
rated from one's homeland: and the
government's broken promises,
"In the Indian world, we see
changes and we are worrying,'
Nosie told the congregation.
He said that in times of uncer
tainty. the Apache look up and look
back - to their God and their ances
tors - for answers.
"It means going back to the
past, because the past has the
answers to the future." he said.
Fittingly. Nosie's appearance at
Emmanuel came on the last day of
the church's annual Maafa
Commemoration, a week-long
remembrance of the Africans who
did and did not make it through the
horrific Middle Passage journey
from the Mother Land to the New
See Nosie on A 5
Approving Glance
I
Photn by Todd Luck
Mandy Parker has a chuckle as her son. Drake,
checks out (he face-painting work of Darlelle
Drummond, right. The trio were on hand Saturday for
a special event hosted by the Liberty CDC. Read more
about it on page HI .
Milestones and Memories
Assistant police chief feted at
retirement celebration
BY LAYLA FARMKR
the chronicle
Friends, colleagues and family members celebrated
and recalled Assistant Chief Louis O.
Saunders' long career with the
Winston-Salem Police Department last
week.
A gathering took place at Big Shot/.
Tavern on Stratford Road just a few
days before Saunders' official Sept. 1
retirement date.
He spent nearly three decades with
the department, serving in various posi
tions, including a stint as a homicide
Thompson detective during the time when the city
experienced a record 44 murders in one
year.
"I'm just as happy as I can be; it's a good feeling,"
Saunders said with a broad smile. "It's all by God's grace
? ? - M-3V' - rntHit* n>,i ,a> id ranwi ?
See Saunders on A5 ^ouis Saunders with daughters. Tiffany and Danielle.
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