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The Chron ic le
Volume43,Number 13 WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. THURSDAY, December 3, 2015
N.C. NAACP leads 80-day voter engagement
BY CASH MICHAELS
FOR THE CHRONICLE
Calling it "the first part of our fight at the ballot box
for 2016," the NCNAACP, in coalition with the nonparti
san Democracy NC and leaders of the Christian, Jewish
and Islamic faiths statewide, announced the "It's Our
Vote, It's Our Time," a mass voter registration campaign
over the next 80 days to register as many North
Carolinians as possible in time for the March 15 ,2016 pri
maries.
"We have determined to fight three ways to preserve
the right to vote," Rev. William Barber, president of the
NCNAACP, surrounded by supporters, told reporters
Tuesday at Martin Street Baptist Church in Raleigh.
"We will fight in the legislative halls; we will fight in
Local candidates file
to run on first day of
filing. Page A3
I
the courts; and we will fight at the ballot box," Barber
vowed.
It was no accident that Rev. Barber made the
announcement on the 60th anniversary of civil rights
activist Rosa Parks' historic refusal to give her seat to a
white man aboard a Montgomery, Ala. segregated city bus
on Dec. 1,1955.
Mrs. Parks' courageous act helped to spark a city wide
bus boycott by black citizens for over 381 days, and intro
duced the world to a little-known local preacher named
Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., who would go on to lead
the subsequent 60's civil rights movement.
"There comes a time when people get tired," Rev.
Barber said, adding, "And when they get tired, they don't
quit. They fight back." \
"Rosa sat down so that we can stand up. Too many
sacrifices have gone on for us not to fight for and exercise
the right to vote," Rev. Barber declared.
With more than 600,000 unregistered white voters in
North Carolina, along with over 250,000 unregistered
black voters and 100,000 unregistered Latino voters in
North Carolina, Rev. Barber vowed that after going to the
streets, jail and to court together, "We will go to the ballot
See Voters on A8
Customers she?
local m S?ai
Business^
1mi _
Saturdal
"We need to
support small
business because
small business
makes up a huge
portion of the
economy."
-Mr. Shannon
Jessup
Photo by Todd Lock
Winston-Salem
Black Chamber
President
Randon Pender
led the tour of
black-owned
businesses on
Saturday.
BY TODD LUCK
THE CHRONICLE
Downtown businesses enjoyed
an influx of shoppers over the week
end for Small Business Saturday.
Small Business Saturday was
founded by American Express in
2010 as a way to draw shoppers to
small businesses the day after Black
Friday. The Winston-Salem
Chamber of Commerce .distributed
materials to help shops promote the
day and businesses could also
request materials directly from
American Express:
Body and Soul, a cultural gift
store on Trade Street, was decked
out in blue signs and pennants for
the occasion. Those manning the
register wore "Shop Small" buttons
and tote bags with the slogan were
given to some customers. Store co
owner Dana Suggs warmly greeted
customers, many of whom made a
special trip just to support the store
that day.
"This weekend generates a lot of
energy and sales, definitely," said
Suggs. "It surely does kick off the
holiday season for us."
Suggs had a steady stream of
customers buying things like scent
ed oils, handbags and jewelry. Then
a bus came with more than a dozen
shoppers taking the Winston-Salem
Black Chamber of Commerce's tour
See Saturday on A2
Parents, others
question 'low
performing'
schools label
BY TEVIN STINSON
THE CHRONICLE __
Educators in Forsyth County are not happy about the
plan of action laid out by the Board of Education to
improve the school performance grade and school growth
score of the low performing schools in the area.
According to the State Board of Education's designa
tion, 29 schools in the area are considered "low-perform
ing." As a result, the WS/FCS Board of Education is
required to create an improvement plan for those schools.
During a scheduled board meeting on Tuesday, Nov.
25, the public was allowed to voice their opinions on the
plan. A number of parents say they were shocked when
they received the
11VVT3.
"I couldn't
believe it when I
read the letter
stating
Kimberley Park
was considered
low-performing,"
said Karlton
Jones. "If you
just walk through
the halls you can
see and hear that the children are learning, retaining the
information and making progress."
Jones has a daughter in the third grade at Kimberley
Park and believes teachers and administrators already go
beyond the call of duty to make sure students are learning.
"My daughter is excited to come to school everyday,"
he said. "Those are the types of things that doesn't show
on the state's grading scale."
A number of educators mentioned the board's plan
will create more issues for teachers and administrators
who are already overworked and under paid.
"I'm interested to see how this will affect me," said
Ivy Davis, a teacher assistant at Ashley Elementary. "I
think all the hard work that is going on in these schools
should be taken into consideration. Families need to be
involved too; teachers can't do this alone."
Davis mentioned the improvement plan will cause
current teachers grief and force future teachers like her to
question whether they want to become teachers.
"I've spent all these years going to school and here I
am about to graduate. Now I'm wondering if I even want
to go any further if I know I'll have to go through this
process," Davis said.
"I'm just speaking from the heart. I feel for the teach
ers and I think there should be more digging to come up
See Schools on A2
Emory
Gordon
Top cop in Chicago fired after protests
I" ?9
Illinois attorneygeneral
seeks U.S. inquiry
PROM CHRONICLE WIRE REPORTS
NBCNews.com is reporting that
Illinois' top prosecutor on Tuesday
asked the U.S. Department of Justice
to investigate whether Chicago
police practices violate federal law.
The request by Illinois Attorney
General Lisa Madigan comes on the
same day that Chicago's police chief
was fired following the release of
dash-cam video that showed an offi
cer fatally shoot 17-year-old Laquan
McDonald last year.
"The shocking death of Laquan
McDonald is the latest tragedy in our
city that highlights serious questions
about the use of unlawful and exces
sive force by Chicago police officers
and the lack of accountability for
such abuse," Madigan said in a state
ment. "Trust in the Chicago Police
Department is broken."
The letter to U.S. Attorney
General Loretta E. Lynch asks the
Justice Department's Civil Rights
Division to review police use of
deadly force and police investiga
tions into the use of deadly force, as
well as police training and whether a
pattern of discrimination exists.
Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel
said he asked police Superintendent
See Protest on K2
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Sg I I
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