Photo By Tevin Stiiuof)
Members of the Minster's Conference of Winston-Salem and Vicinity listen closely to panelists during the Martin Luther King Jr. Breakfast Forum held at the
Benton Convention Center on Monday, Jan. 18.
Chavis
from page A1
County. (See The
Chronicle's 2016 MLK Jr.
Holiday special section for
details.)
Chavis said the Berlin
Wall is a mindset.
"If you really want to
know how someone feels
about you, you have to see
how they think about you."
While Chavis, an
ordained minister, mar
veled at the diversity of the
audience and the steps var
ious leaders said they are
taking to rid Winston
Salem of its ills, he said
there are two North
Carolinas, "one looking
forward and one running
backward."
He said North Carolina
is headed in the wrong
direction. For instance,
race still plays an important
part in deciding funding for
schools; school ahave been
resegregated.
Also, North Carolina
has restricted voting rights
through a 2013 law. Chavis
urged the audience to sup
port the N.C. NAACP and
die Moral Monday move
ment in the fight to regain
voting rights and spur voter
registration.
The N.C. NAACP and
others have sued the state
of North Carolina over the
2013 law that requires reg
istered voters to show a
government-issued identi
fication card before they
can vote. This part of the
lawsuit is scheduled to be
heard Monday, Jan. 25.
The N.C. General
Assembly passed an
amendment to the law this
summer that provides a
way people can vote with
out the required ED. The
N.C. NAACP sought to
defer the Jan. 25 hearing
until after the March 15
primary elections but a fed
eral judge denied an
injunction in the case.
"If you want to cele
brate and participate in
keeping Dr. King's dream
alive, you ought to support
the N.C. NAACP and its
Moral Monday
Movement," Chavis said.
"The 2016 election
ought to have the largest
turnout in American histo
ry. We owe it to Dr. King,
we owe it to Rosa Parks"
and other stalwarts of the
Civil Rights Movement.
Chavis said there are
two Americas, one with
President Obama at the
head and the other against
him. He said black
Americans must continue
on the battlefield through it
all.
Chavis said Dr. King
would not be pessimistic
today.
"He would be opti
mistic because more and
more people in the United
States want justice, want
freedom, want equality."
Chavis said he is opti
mistic about the future.
"The reason I'm opti
mistic is because I see
young people going back
to the front lines" with the
Black Lives Matter move
ment. He said King would
support that movement,
and he said he is proud of
it.
Young people today
need "the proper encour
agement" to do their best,
Chavis said.
"It's our responsibility
to raise up a new genera
tion of freedom fighters,"
he said.
Chavis, who once was
executive director of the
National Association for
the Advancement of
Colored People (NAACP),
is now president and CEO
of the National Newspaper
Publishers Association,
president of the National
Newspaper Publishers
Association, a trade organ
ization of 206 black-owned
newspapers. The Chronicle
is a member of that organi
zation.
Chavis said the NNPA
member newspapers have a
duty.
"It's about doing what
we think and know what's
right for all of God's peo
ple," he said.
Chronicle Publisher
Emeritus Ernie Pitt spoke
about Winston-Salem and
The Chronicle.
He said that he has had
a "crazy notion" Winston
Salem can be a model city
in the United States.
"We have an obligation
to make this city better and
I believe we can," he said.
However, "economic reci
procity" is needed to sup
port the newspaper.
"We keep on pushing
because we believe our city
and this county needs
someone to tell the truth
about what's happening,"
Pitt said.
Chavis said it appears
Winston-Salem is part of
the North Carolina that
wants to move forward.
"That's the North
Carolina that we all should
be striving for," he said.
Photo by Tcvio Stinson
Citizens carry signs as 1
they make their way
around the Benton
Convention Center on
Monday, January 18
during the Martin
Luther King Jr. Day
march and rally hosted
by the Winston-Salem
Ministers Conference
and Vicinity.
r
March
from page A1
Forest store that left her
with severe brain injuries.
Although this year's
march was shorter and
colder than it has been in
the past, the Rev. Alvin
Carlisle, third assistant vice
president of the Ministers'
Conference, seemed
pleased with the turnout.
"We are happy to see so
many members of the com
munity join us for the
rally," he said- "We hope
the rally and other Martin
Luther King Jr. Day festiv
ities in the area continue to
grow in the future."
The Chronicle (USPS 067-910) was established by Ernest
H. Pitt and Ndubisi Egemonye in 1974 and is published
every Thursday by Winston-Salem Chronicle Publishing
Co. Inc., 617 N. Liberty Street, Winston-Salem, N.C.
27101. Periodicals postage paid at Winston-Salem, N.C.
Annual subscription price is $30.72.
POSTMASTER: Send address changes to:
The Chronicle, P.O. Box 1636
Winston-Salem, NC 27102-1636
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