Newspapers / Winston-Salem Chronicle (Winston-Salem, N.C.) / Oct. 15, 2015, edition 1 / Page 6
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OPINION i 1 inBBBr : I The Chronicle . t\ebrHQ, 617 N. Liberty Street f/t -|?. 336-722-8624 \ f?. f www.wschronicle.com k Ernest H. Pitt Publisher/Co-Founder donna Rogers Managing Editor Elaine Pitt Business Manager Our Mission The Chronicle is dedicated to serving the residents of Winston-Salem and Forsyth County by giving voice to the voiceless, speaking truth to power, standing for integrity and encouraging open communication and lively debate throughout the community. Conferences should lead attendees to work This past weekend was a busy time for several civil rights organizations. Two had their statewide conferences in Winston-Salem: the North Carolina Branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (N.C. NAACP) and the North Carolina Chapter of the National Organization for Women (N.C. NOW). Then there was the Million Man March in Washington, D.C., which had the theme "Justice or Else." The N.C. NAACP, which had the theme "Pursuing Liberty in the Face of Injustice," featured the Rev. Dr. William Barber II and numerous other prominent speakers. The N.C. NOW conference had as its theme, "Focusing on Women's Power NOW." It featured U.S. Rep. Alma Adams of the 12th District, which includes Winston-Salem. In fact, she also spoke at the N.C. NAACP conference. The Million Man March, spearheaded by / / r-*-n # -i /"% 1 here is a lot or civil rights work to be done." Minister Louis Farrakhan, featured speakers of note, also. The speakers were good and conference-goers liked what they heard, but what happens now? There is a lot of civil rights work to be done. "?Recent statistics are showing that Women and children are getting poorer in Forsyth County. The N.C. General Assembly is passing laws that are help ing women and children to become poorer in the state, namely the laws restricting food stamps and unemployment compensation for people who need more help, not more hindrances to help. *The United States Congress doesn't seem to want to fix the Voting Rights Act that was broken by the U.S. Supreme Court. Lawmakers can't agree on a yearlong budget that helps people instead of hurt them. And there are more issues. How can conference-goers translate what they heard into action? They can form partnerships to help people. Nonprofits are always looking for help in the form of volunteers and materials, not only in money. Also, some of the most powerful forces Americans have regarding civil rights are our ability to petition and vote for lawmakers at all levels of government. If we didn't know already, we are find ing out that local governments' actions can affect our lives maybe more so than other levels of govern ment. Take the local school board. This body decided to close schools because of a perceived threat, wreak ing havoc in many African-American families when students were sent to other schools during the school year. Now, more students might be moved as part of a bond issue that could be on the ballot next year. A position is open on the Forsyth County Board of Education. It must be filled by a Republican. This person won't be on any public ballot. The school board has to fill it. That's the law. Who will get the job? Will that person have African-American stu dents at heart? Who will petition the board and attend board meetings to find out? Conference attendees should take the time to leam about how government works to make sure government works for them, and then take action. It will take more than attending civil rights meetings and conferences to make things happen. LETTERS TO THE EDITOR To the Big 4 Alumni Association, thanks for your work To the Editor: Being the only living of the three honored Big 4 Band Directors (April 25,2015), Harry D. Wheeler - Atkins High School, Bernard T. Foy, Sr. - Paisley High School, and Rudolph V. Boone Sr. - Carver High School, I want to publicly thank all who partic ipated in any way for making this his torical event and honor happen and a great success. The Big 4 Alumni Association of Forsyth County Inc., accepted the responsibility of petitioning the Winston-Salem/Forsyth County School Board to honor these three men. The School Board approved the petition unanimously. The Big 4, with Beverly F. Williams as coordinator of the Dedication Program (and lettering) had a "first-class program," honoring these directors shortly after the names of the directors were installed on the buildings (band rooms) of the respec tive schools. The most challenging, time-con suming and sacrificial component of the entire project was that of raising $3,678.57 to pay for installing the let ters on the buildings. Many thanks to those six organi zations and 20 individuals who gave generous contributions, which exceeded that goal. That excess amount, plus any further contribu tions to honor these men (as a group or individually) will be deposited in the Big 4 A A of FC Inc.'s Scholarship Fund, Box 24872, Winston-Salem, NC 27103. Groups or individuals should send further contributions to the above organization/address. The Big 4 AA of FC Inc. is cele brating its 21st Reunion Weekend (Oct. 15-17 Theme: Moving Forward ... Together) and should be com mended for its many contributions to this community. The top officers are: Eric Martin (president), Colista Ramseur-Green (secretary) and James McCants (trea surer). Presidents of the four alumni groups are: Theodis Foster Anderson; George Johnson, Atkins; Sarah Hill Carter, Carver; and James Pickens, Paisley. On behalf of the families of Mr. Wheeler, Mr. Foy and mine, thanks to all of you for this high and noble honor. Rudolph V. Boone Sr. Happy Birthday, W-S Chronicle; thanks for for 41 years To the Editor: Thank you. Chronicle for being an instrumental institution for 41 years, recording the news and cele brations of the African-American community of Winston-Salem. Our stories are rarely highlighted even today in the media. Your consis tent chronicling of our successes, failures. m ?mi?m untold stories, I religious < celebra- | tions and just plain human experi- d ences are I a n I immeas- I u r a b 1 e | asset in our com munity. El-Amin When other media outlets either omitted or didn't consider it news worthy to publish, you have been there to give our concerns a steady voice. As a native son, I know when other attempts were made by people like the late Mr. Robert A. Miller, who wrote a column in the Journal reporting on all the activities in our community back in the '50s, other attempts were made by other leaders, but the Chronicle accomplished what others were only able to attempt. I appreciate all of the other attempts for their efforts, but I wish you continued success and many birthdays to come as you model what community news should be in the African-American community of Winston-Salem. Fleming El-Amin File photo by Erin Mizelle for The Chronicle Mary Carpenter and Rudolph Valentino Boone Sr. listen as members of the Carver High School Alumni Association speak dur ing the Dedication of Band Rooms celebra tion on Saturday, April 25. We Welcome Your Feedback Submit letters and guest columns to let ters? wschronicle.com before 5 p.m. Friday ( for the next week's publication date. Letters intended for publication should be addressed "Letters to the Editor" and include your name, address, phone number and email address. Please keep letters to 350 words or less. If you are writing a guest column, please include a photo of yourself, your name, address, phone number and email address, j Please keep guest columns to 550 words or j less. Letters and columns can also be mailed or dropped off at W-S Chronicle, 617 N. Liberty St., W-S, NC, 27101; or sent via our website, www.wschronicle.com. We reserve the right to edit any item submitted for clarity or brevity and determine when and whether material will be used. We welcome your comments at our website. At r~< 1 i Also, go 10 our raceooon ? page to comment. We are at face book .com/WSChronicle. Send us a tweet on Twitter. We are at twitter.com/WS_Chronicle.
Winston-Salem Chronicle (Winston-Salem, N.C.)
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Oct. 15, 2015, edition 1
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