Dorothy Bonner, Left, is presented the 2016 Grassroots Leadership Award dur
ing the "We've Got Roots" celebration hosted by Neighbors for Better
Neighborhoods on Saturday, June 25.
Rev. Byron Williams delivers the keynote address during the "We ve Got
Roots' fundraiser held inside the File-Goodwin Center on Saturday, June 25.
The event, designed to honor community leaders, was hosted by Neighbors for
' Better Neighborhoods.
Nearly 100 help honor community leaders
BY TEVIN STINSON
THE CHRONICLE
For the last five years,
Neighbors for Better
Neighborhoods (NBN) has
honored community lead
ers during their "We've
Got Roots" fundraiser.
The purpose of the
non-profit organization is
to help build strong neigh
borhoods in Winston
Salem and Forsyth County
by supporting a wide range
of community-based initia
tives. NBN believes that
the long-term change in
communities only happens
when residents participate
in creating solutions.
Executive Director
Paula McCoy said, "We've
Got Roots" is their oppor
tunity to celebrate the com
munity and showcase indi
viduals who are going over
and above, leading efforts
to organize, revitalize, and
transform their neighbor
hoods.
"The only way we will
be able to build strong
neighborhoods and com
munities is through a joint
effort from all stakehold
ers," she said. "Although
we only recognize a few
individuals here today, we
know there are many of
you who work tirelessly
every day to make a differ
ence in the lives of others
in your neighborhood.
During this year's cele
bration held inside the File
Goodwin Center at Mt.
Zion Baptist Church, NBN
honored Executive
Director of the Center for
Community Safety at
Winston-Salem State
University Alvin Atkinson
with the Outstanding
Board Leadership Award;
President of the Dreamland
Park-Rose of Sharon
Neighborhood Association
Sean Hawkins with the
Emerging Leadership
Award; and longtime com
munity leader and activist
Dorothy Bonner with the
Grassroots Leadership
Award .
Recent Carver High
School graduate Kywun
Roberts and Winston
Salem Preparatory
(WSPA) Academy rising
junior Daysi Sanchez were
presented with the 2016
Youth Leader Awards dur
ing the celebration as well.
Roberts helped to
found the Cleveland
Avenue Transformation
Team and has been active
in helping to organize and
transform the Cleveland
Avenue community.
While enrolled in
Crosby Scholars at WSPA,
Sanchez still finds time to
volunteer at the Bridging
the Gap Community
Center in the Southeast
ward. She also enjoys
learning about building
strong communities
through various programs
provided by NBN.
The keynote address
was delivered by the host
of the NPR-affiliated
broadcast The Public
Morality, Rev. Byron
Williams. Williams, who is
also an author and adjunct
professor at Wake Forest
University's School of
Divinity, has spoken across
the country and appeared
on numerous television
and radio news programs.
He is considered one of the
leading public theologians
in the nation.
As he stood before the
nearly 100 people in atten
dance, Williams said a
healthy community is
reflective of healthy roots.
While using the roots of a
plant as an example,
Williams noted, "That
makes the communities
vibrant, ripe with growth,
and fertile with possibility.
"What happens under
ground where the plants'
roots live is what deter
mines the quality of plant
growth," said Williams.
"We can't have healthy
roots if we don't have a
healthy root system in
place.
"That's what is at the
core of what Neighbors for
Better Neighborhoods is all
about."
Started in 1991 by The
Winston-Salem
Foundation, NBN is dedi
cated to connecting people,,
strengthening voices and
leveraging resources in the
community. Through their
Grassroots Grants Program
last year, NBN distributed
$15,000 in grants to seven
grassroots community
groups.
Following Williams'
address, community advo
cate Delores Hill, who is a
member of the NBN gover
nance committee, said the
organization will continue
to do great things in the
community moving for
ward. She also urged the
community to get involved
with the organization so
they can continue to make
an impact and change
lives.
"With the team we
have here at NBN and the
help from the community, I
am confident that we will
be able to achieve great
things in the future," she
said. "I encourage you to
help us continue to have
roots in the communities
here in Winston-Salem."
Photos by Tevin Stinson
Executive Director Paula McCoy welcomes residents
to the 5th annual "We Got Roots" Celebration held
inside the File-Goodwin Center at Mt. Zion Baptist
Church on Saturday, June 25. The event is designed
to honor community leaders who are improving the
lives of others in the community.
State Rep. Terry
recovering from
health challenge
SPECIAL TO THE CHRONICLE
State Rep. Evelyn Terry, Democrat of Forsyth County
(District 71), this week told constituents that she has been
dealing with a health challenge, but assured them that the
phpgnosis is good and she will continue to serve them in
Raleigh.
"A couple of months ago, doctors found a growth on
my bladder. It was removed through
out-patient surgery and subsequent
ly, in an abundance of caution, I
started chemotherapy, which now is
about complete. We caught it in the
early stage," said Terry, "but still it
was a matter of concern. Thankfully,
1 have the support of family, friends,
constituents and great doctors at
Baptist Hospital. I see this as yet one
more challenge along life's way,
and together with prayer and God's
help, we are working our way
Rep. Terry
through it."
Despite ongoing treatment, Terry has been fully
engaged in the current "short" session of the General
Assembly now being held in Raleigh. "There are a lot of
issues on the table that are important to the voters here in
Forsyth County," she said, "and I am making sure their
voices are heard loud and clear.
"As always, I encourage residents of District 71 to
contact me if they want to share a concern or viewpoint
or if they think there is some way in which I can be of
assistance," Terry said. "My number is 336-788-5008
and my email is Evelyn.Terry@ncleg.net."
Terry's leadership over the years has ranged from
precinct level political activity to serving on public
boards and commissions, including membership on the
Winston-Salem City Council.
A strong and effective advocate for women's rights
and civil rights for all people, Terry currently serves as
Forsyth County's Department of Social Services board
chair. She is a long-time advocate for children and the arts
and believes strongly in education as the foundation for
successful living.
She graduated from Johnson C. Smith University and
received her master's degree from Appalachian State
University.
Terry is the granddaughter of George Black, the
famous African-American handmade brick maker, who
was one of Winston-Salem's best-known citizens of the
20th century.
Supreme Court to rule on use
of race in N.C. redistricting
BY JONATHAN DREW
ASSOCIATED PRESS
RALEIGH (AP) - The
U.S. Supreme Court agreed
Monday to decide whether
Republican lawmakers
relied too heavily on race
when they redrew North
Carolina's congressional
districts to give the CjOP a
powerful advantage in the
swing state.
The justices will hear
the case in the fall - almost
certainly too late to affect
November's elections. But
in the years ahead, it could
impact partisan efforts to
create electoral districts
aimed at swaying the bal
ance of power in Congress
and in state legislatures.
The Supreme Court
could consider it together
with a similar appeal from
Virginia, where challengers
say Republicans packed
black voters into a dozen
statehouse districts,
strengthening GOP control
of neighboring territories.
Five of the eight cur
rent justices appear sympa
thetic to such claims
brought by minority voters,
based on a 2015 ruling in
an Alabama case, accord
ing to election-law expert
Rick Hasen at the
University of California at
Irvine.
North Carolina's GOP
leaders deny factoring in
race to an illegal extent,
saying their 2011 map was
designed primarily tp give
Republicans an edge while
complying with the federal
Voting Rights Act after the
2010 census.
"We continue to
believe the maps are fair,
legal and constitutional and
look forward to our day in
court," state Sen. Bob
Rucho, a chief architect of
the maps, said Monday.
Opponents say they
unfairly stacked black vot
ers into two districts that
were already electing
African-American repre
sentatives, thus diluting
their influence in neighbor
ing territories.
A federal court ruled in
February that race was the
predominant factor in
drawing the two districts
and ordered them redrawn.
A new map of 13 congres
sional districts was used in
an unusual June 7 primary,
separate from most other
races.
A high couit ruling also
should influence a separate
court challenge of North
Carolina's state legislative
districts.
North Carolina is a
swing state whose voters
split almost evenly in the
last two presidential elec
tions. But the GOFs maps
created veto-proof majori
ties in the state legislature,
and the congressional dele
gation now has three
Democrats to ten
Republicans.
The state's lawyers,
meanwhile, say the federal
court's logic forces North
Carolina into the difficult
situation of having to con
sider race to comply with
federal voting rights laws,
while also triggering "strict
scrutiny" of its maps for
doing so.
"The three-judge
court's approach would
trap states between the
threat of vote dilution
claims and the hammer of a
racial gerrymandering
claim," they wrote in a
Supreme Court filing.
Their challengers argue
that GOP mapmakers ille
gally gerrymandered the
2011 map, drawing bound
aries "whose grasping ten
drils were necessary to
capture disparate pockets
of black voters."
The case is McCrory v.
Harris, 15-1262.
Associated Press writer
Gary D. Robertson in
Raleigh contributed to this
report.
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