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The Chronicle
Volume41,Number 14 WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. THURSDAY, December 11, 2014
Black &
Blue
African-American law
enforcers react to
Ferguson, NYC uproars
BY CHANEL DAVIS
THE CHRONICLE
As both a former Winston-Salem Police
sergeant and Winston-Salem Branch
NAACP president, Stephen Hairston sees
the police-inflicted deaths of Michael
Brown and Eric Garner and other black
men through a unique prism.
Hairston retired from active police duty
more than a decade ago; he now works as a
WSPD background investigator. His
NAACP presidency ended four years ago.
Yet, when grand juries failed to bring
indictments against
the officer who
killed Brown in
Ferguson, Mo., and
Garner in New York
City, his phone
began to ring inces
santly.
"They want to
protest and do
something because
they feel so power
less by what's going
Hairston
wii, >aiu iian^iuii,
who says he has
reassured callers
Winston-Salem is
not like Ferguson,
or New York, for
that matter.
Hairston said he
understands the
frustration. He, too,
has been dismayed
by the criminal jus
tice system.
Bratton
"I am hurt,
embarrassed, and being a black person with
a young black male, I'm worried. I've gone
through all types of emotions." he said. "I
was disappointed in those cases in particu
lar. I personally disagreed with the grand
jury decision but I'm just one of millions."
Glenn Bratton. a retired Gaston County
Police officer who is president of the
statewide black law enforcement group
North State Law Enforcement Officers
Association, said he has reserved judgment
in the Brown and Garner cases, but says
they have created an even wider rift
between law enforcers and the community.
He says developing proactive solutions is
the answer.
"Anyfime there's violence and people
are upset about something, it doesn't help."
he said. "Hopefully, there are going to be
some people that will be proactive in devel
oping that relationship. There are a lot of
things that are going to be done on both
sides before that relationship can start to
heal."
Bratton said the public should try to
understand that law enforcement officers
are just but a small part of the overall crim
inal justice system. He believes at the root
of some of the anger is the belief that
police played a part in the grand jury
process.
"A lot of people miss the point that even
though the police are part of the criminal
See Police on A7
WSSU Photo by Devm Divis
Winston-Salem State students hold a campus rally in the wake of the grand jury's decision in the Michael Brown case.
Students answer activism's call
BY CHANEL DAVIS
THE CHRONICLE
Winston-Salem State
University, Salem College and
Wake Forest University stu
dents are joining their contem
poraries around the n ition in
expressing their dissati tction
with what they see a.. Uk jus
tice system's devaluing of
black lives.
Saturday, students capped
the city's annual tree lighting
ceremony in Corpening Plaza
with their hands raised and
chants of "Black Lives
Matter." The "Hands Up/Black
Lives Matter" movement has
Javar Jones
Shelby Rittman
Olivia Sedwick
spread across the country since
two separate grand juries
failed to indict white police
officers in the deaths of
unarmed black men Michael
Brown and Eric Gamer
Winston-Salem State
University Student
Government Association
President Olivia Sedwick was
among the student protesters.
Sec Students on A8
Search for UL leader has yet to start
BY DONNA ROGERS
THE CHRONICLE
The Winston-Salem Urban League is still without a per
manent leader, nearly a year after its former president and
CEO departed.
Don Williams was named the interim president/CEO in
February. At the time. Board Chair Evelyn Acree said he
would serve in that role for a mini
mum of three months and a maximum
of six months. It's been 10 months
since Williams' appointment.
"The (Winston-Salem Urban
League) Board has not begun the
search for the permanent president
and CEO," Acree, senior VP and
Piedmont Triad Regional executive
for Mechanics & Farmers Bank, said
Monday. "The board will make a
decision on when the search will
Williams
Begin in tne near tuture.
Former leader Keith Grandberry resigned after some on
the board questioned his leadership and abilities to manage
the agency. Williams, a retired Lowe's Home Improvement
executive who is a former member and chairman of the local
Urban League Board, said the board quickly determined
after he was hired that he would need more than six months
to fix some of the agency's longstanding problems.
"There are a few more things we need to get squared
away," Williams said. "1 will be here as long as the board
needs me."
Fixing the agency's financial house and its physical
house (renovations are planned at its aging 201 W. 5th St.
headquarters) are top priorities. Williams said. This year has
been dedicated to getting the nonprofit organization into
financial compliance to satisfy recent audits conducted by
funders like the City of Winston-Salem and the federal go\
See III, on A 7
School Board freshmen begin their tenures
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Photo by Todd l uck
New members
(from left)
Robert Barr,
Lori Goins
Clark, Deanna
Taylor, Dana
Caudill Jones,
David
Singletary and
Mark
Johnson.
BY TODD LUCK
THE CHRONICLE ______
An orientation was held Thursday. Dec. 4 for the
six new members of the Winston-SaUm/Forsyth
County Board of Education, a few days before they
were officially sworn in.
For the first time, the new members took their
seats behind the stately semi-circular table in the
auditorium of the Education Building, where the
Sec Board on A2
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