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Volume39,Number 13 WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. THURSDAY, November 22, 2012
Photo by Layta Farmer
Dr. Robert Herring III stands on the campus of
Winston-Salem State University.
Eyewitness
to
history
WSSU's Herring's James Meredith
scrapbooks donated to Ole Miss
BY LAYLA GARMS
THE CHRONICLE
When it comes to the integration of the University of
Mississippi, Winston-Salem State University Professor
Dr. Robert Herring pi is a walking history book.
Herring, the son of an Ole Miss professor, was living
on the outskirts of the campus when James Meredith
integrated the university in 1962 For months, Herri^,
U1C UHJCSl UI
five children,
lived and
breathed
Meredith's
historic
enrollment
and the explo
sive riot that
marked his
arrival on
campus.
"It was
really hard to
concentrate
on my studies
in high
school, really
hard for a
period of
time," related
Herring, who
was a sopho
more at the
nearby
University
High School
the year
Meredith
arrived. "The eye of the nation - the eye of the world
J- waa right here."
Herring recorded the story of Meredith's enrollment
in three simple "school glue and paper" scrapbooks that
he created by scouring six different newspapers daily for
articles about Meredith. The scrapbooks cover
Meredith's courageous story, from Sept. 18, 1962 -
when reports of his impending enrollment began to sur
face - until Nov. 2, 1962, when Ole Miss football fans,
under threat of expulsion, reportedly ignored Meredith's
presence in the stadium and instead focused their nega
tive energy on the opposing team.
In August, Herring donated the scrapbooks - now
considered telling historical documents - and excerpts
from his personal diary to the University of Mississippi
See Herring on A7
j^p^top CTOf MERHXTM
Some of the dozens of newt clips thai
Robert Herring collected u a hoy.
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Mack & Martin
Photo by Tbdd Luck
Noted commentator Roland Martin (right) poses with Union Baptist Church Pastor Dr. Sir Walter Mack
Jr. on Sunday. Martin gave the keynote address at the Corner 2 Corner Drug Dealers and Street Life
Conference. Mack founded the conference nearly a decade ago to help reform folks who are often looked
down upon. Read more about the conference and graduation on Page A3.
Civil Rights icon says practice
'aggressive patience'
BY LAYLA GARMS
THE CHRONICLE
Hollis Watkins has been fighting
for freedom for more than five
decides.
Watkins, the younge" of 12 chil
<fepP-j^orn to sharecroppers in
TmCHn, Miss., became the first stu
dent from his state to join the Voting
Rights Project of the Student
Nonviolent Coordinating Committee
(SNCC) in 1961, and has served as a
champion for civil rights ever since.
"I don't encourage nobody to do
what I've done," he quipped. "I think
I've had two and a half vacations in
the last SO years."
Still, Watkins, the founder and
president of Southern Echo, Inc.,
shows no signs of stopping.
"The stuff we call work is no
longer wort for me," he declared. "I
enjoy every bit of it."
Watkins, a father of eight, found
ed Southern Echo in 1989, to train,
educate and equip the next genera
tion of grassroots social justice lead
ers.
"One of the things that has given
me longevity is my love and desire to
See WatkkM on Alt
? rr - Ptiolo by L*yb Garms
Hollis Wat kins addresses a crowd on Friday evening.
Ojo's road to M.D. began at Forsyth Tech
BY TODD LUCK
THB CHRONICLE
Dr. Adesanmi Abel Ojo returned to Forsyth Technical
Community College last week, telling students how the path that
led him to a career in medicine began at
Forsyth Tech.
Ojo dreamed of being a doctor since his
childhood in his native Nigeria. He would
watch his father, Abel Ojo. a nurse anes
thetist, interact with patients at a local clinic.
MI knew for me the road leading to suc
cess was always medicine," said Ojo. "I just
needed a place to go to achieve that goal."
He found that place in 2002, after his
family moved to Forsyth County. He drove
by Forsyth Tech by chance and ended up
enrollint at the school. He earned an associ
ate degree in biology. After graduating from Forsyth Tech, he
transferred to the University of North Carolina at Greensboro,
where he earned a BS degree in 2006. He just became a medical
doctor after graduating from the medical college at the American
University of Antigua. The school is located in St. John's on the
Kim4
1 See Q)o on AS Dr. Adesanmi Ah*I Ojo speaks.
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Alia n
Washington
stands in
front of the
Performance
Place on the
V N C S A
campus.
One to Watch
UNCSA student taking the world by storm
BY LAYLA GARMS
THE CHRONICLE
Twenty-one-year-old Allan Washington's performing arte
career is going places, quite literally.
Washington, a senior in the Drama School at the UNC School
of the Arte, recently returned from a trip to Oman, a tiny nation
on the Arab peninsula. The Indianapolis, Ind. native and fellow
cast members from the Copperstown, N.Y.-based Glimmerglass
See Waabinftoa on A] Ktvitt Stites
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