Newspapers / Winston-Salem Chronicle (Winston-Salem, N.C.) / Jan. 30, 2020, edition 1 / Page 6
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A6 January 30, 2020 The Chronicle OPINION The Chronicle James Taylor Jr. Publisher Bridget Elam Judie Holcomb-Pack Timothy Ramsey Tevin Stinson Shayna Smith Deanna Taylor Paulette L. Moore Managing Editor Associate Editor Sports Editor/Religion Senior Reporter Advertising Manager Office Manager Administrative Assistant Our Mission The Chronicle is dedicated to serving the residents of Winston-Salem and Forsyth Coun ty by giving voice to the voiceless, speaking truth to power, standing for integrity and encouraging open communication and lively debate throughout the community 4 tilings we can learn from Kobe’s life BY BRIDGET ELAM THE CHRONICLE 5 key initiatives on which elected officials and candidates must focus It’s an unfortunate truth that a person’s life often speaks volumes after his or her death. That truth re- sounds even more with the untimely passing of Kobe Bryant. Bryant was killed in a helicopter crash on Sunday, Jan. 26. The news of his death and that of his young daughter sent shock waves around the world. Many celebrities and athletes chimed in on social media to offer their condolences and pay tribute to Bryant and his family. While I’m only a basketball fan to the extent that my son has dedicated half his life to the game, I am, by no means, a stranger to Kobe Bryant, the basketball player. However, since his death, I have been intro duced to Kobe, the man. His contributions can teach us valuable lessons about living life to the fullest. Here are four areas in which Bryant excelled and consequently became the reasons for his success. 1. Discipline: Kobe Bryant was drafted 13th over all in the 1996 NBA Draft, being drafted right out of high school. It is reported that he would put up 1,000 shots per day, regardless of what kind of day it was. That is discipline. If you commit to that level of disci pline in your respected area(s) of expertise or passion, how much further along would you be? 2. Commitment to family: Bryant had four daugh ters with his wife Vanessa, Even during his hectic professional schedule, he made time to attend his children’s school and extra curriculum activities. In an interview, he recalled how he would play a game, fly home to attend a birthday or event, and then fly back to the team. By doing so, his family members felt loved and valued. In what instances should you make your family a priority? 3. Charity: Bryant supported several charities. There is the Kobe and Vanessa Bryant Family Foun dation whose goal is to provide scholarships. Then there’s the After-School All-Stars, that partners with schools to extend school hours for low-income chil dren. Kobe also supported the Make-A-Wish Founda tion by granting more than 250 wishes. You may say that Bryant had enough money to be philanthropic; how can I give on that level? In reality, charity is not as big of a feat as we may think. Time is just as valu able to give as money. What worthy cause can you give your time, talent and treasure? 4. Inspiration: Bryant inspired so many by his discipline, commitment to family, and philanthropy. Just check out social media to see examples. If all we do is satisfy ourselves and our own desires, have we really done anything at all? As we walk this brief phase called life, we should do so in a way that those around us are inspired by our actions. Was Kobe perfect? No, none of us are. But there are snapshots from his short life from which we can glean the principles he lived by and be inspired to be better people. Paying attention to his life can change the trajectory of our own lives while we are still able. Thank you, Kobe Bryant, the basketball player. But more importantly, we honor Kobe, the man, for his contributions to the sport of basketball and to our society. May you rest in peace. We Welcome Your Feedback Submit letters and guest columns to letters® 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. Please keep guest columns to 550 words or less. Letters and columns can also be mailed or dropped off at W-S Chronicle, 1300 E. Fifth 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. Also, go to our Facebook page to comment. We are at facebook.com/WSChronicle. The primary elec tion season has ar rived - current elected officials and candidates for public office are showing up at forums asking for your vote. We have deeply inflicted eco nomic wounds in our community and the only way to remove many of the dispari ties that divide large groups of citizens is to focus on healing key areas. Early voting kicks off Feb. 13 and pri mary election day is March 3, so you have limited time to evaluate candidates, understand their plat forms, and decide who to support. Here are five key initiatives to focus on when making your decision: Workforce De velopment Winston-Salem was built on the backs ofhardworking people who invested much of their time in helping manufactur ers grow by leaps and bounds. Hanes, RJR, Krispy Kreme, and many others found early success in our community. As these com panies grew and eventually relocated primary operations to foreign and do mestic communities, the laborers respon sible for their success were forgotten; these people were not re trained for the jobs of the future. Now the high pay ing jobs in our com munity are mostly technology-based and housed in the same warehouses utilized by the com panies of yesterday, but these historical properties have a new brand - Innova tion Quarter. Lab technicians in the Quarter earn on average $70,000 an nually, but you won’t see many of the pov erty-stricken locals filling these jobs - they mostly go to in dividuals migrating to Winston-Salem from California, New York, and all points in between. We must identify strategic ways to le verage our bustling universities and com munity college to help local workers obtain the necessary skills to transition into the jobs of today and tomorrow. Free or deeply reduced tuition for residents could be a great step in the right direction. Entrepreneurship Not ■ everyone wants to work for a major employer for life - some peo ple have a desire to develop their own workplace, create jobs, and provide op portunities. However, doing so in Winston-Salem can be incredibly frustrating, especial ly if you don’t pos sess the important connections to inves tors and capital. Our community histori cally is cliquish, with many roadblocks and obstacles preventing an entrepreneur from cultivating a good idea. We somehow must tear down the “good ole boy” network that serves as gate- keepers in Winston- Salem and moreover allow capital, tal ent, and resources to flow naturally to entrepreneurs with the best and bright est ideas - regardless of race, background, or whether or not you graduated from the “right” university. Economic and Financial Literacy Knowledge and simple access to in formation has dis united communities for ages. Some of the richest people in the world only had one advantage - they discovered some in formation that oth ers largely were unaware of or just ig nored. Knowledge is truly power. One of the best ways to insure bal anced growth and diverse wealth is to help undereducated citizens to gain ac cess to vital pieces of knowledge that en ables them to make better daily choices and develop positive habits. In most commu nities across the na tion, individuals and families don’t fully understand how their local economy or per sonal finances may work. So their lack of knowledge leads them to make bad decisions that don’t drive wealth cre ation. Helping more citizens to have a ba sic level of economic and financial literacy can position them to make life changes that can have a gen erational impact. Transportation The greatest ob stacle to economic mobility is lack of transportation. Ac cess to reliable transportation can not only affect your bank account, but it can also be mentally and emotionally dis couraging. Imagine not knowing how you’ll get to work daily, make an im portant doctor’s ap pointment, or simply pick up your children from school - deci sions that most of us take for granted, but can provide real bar riers to the least ofus. A good friend challenged me to use public transit for a week. I’m sad to ad mit that I only made it two days. Not all of us have the luxury to jump back in a car as easily as I did. The current public transportation system is confusing, doesn’t provide enough time ly stops, and largely inefficient. We must pressure elected offi cials to become more innovative with their approach to public transportation, while also discovering a funding mechanism that gives residents fare-free access. Regional Coop eration Mecklenburg, Wake, and Durham counties are grow ing at unprecedented rates for many rea sons, but the primary one is that they have a regional commu nity vision and all the municipalities are working cohesively to achieve the objec tive, unlike Forsyth County, where small rural communities don’t play so well with the larger an chor, which is Win ston-Salem. Undoubtedly the conservative na ture of these smaller communities when it comes to corporate incentives, taxes, and quality of life drives their willingness not to partner with the urban core, but we must somehow find a way to focus more on what unites us while ignoring the minor differences separat ing us. All communities in the county must strive to get on the same page and row in the same direc tion, which largely benefits thousands of residents that mostly ignore the imaginary lines detaching us. Algenon Cash is a nationally recog nized speaker and the managing director of Wharton Gladden & Company, an invest ment banking firm. Reach him at acash@ algenoncash.com
Winston-Salem Chronicle (Winston-Salem, N.C.)
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Jan. 30, 2020, edition 1
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