'Twelve Years A Slave'
By Dr. Ada Fisher
Dr. Ada Fisher
Solomon Northrop, an 1800's skilled black
free man from New York with a musical
flair, plied his trade wherever an invitation
was extended. Unsuspecting he accepted
money to entertain at a carnival across the
"Mason-Dixon Line." There he wandered
into something he hadn't expected and
almost didn't live to exit. Northrop was
enslaved, transported to a plantation in the
south where he would face the duplicity of
that vile institution known as slavery.
Taunted by my student and young friend
into attending the movie screen written
and produced graphically by John Ridley,
Our Selective Memory
By William Sprigg
And Still Counting
directed by Stephen R. McQueen and co
produced, financially backed and acted
in by Brad Pitt, "12 Years a Slave" in all its
brutality captured accurately the harsh
ness of this institution known as slavery
which considered humans of a darker skin
as property to be used and abused at their
"masters" discretion or most assuredly lack
there of. In the theater of human tragedy,
grown men cried and were shook to the
very fiber of their being with many black
souls feeling the ever present heavy hand
of powerlessness and the stench of debase
ment which this part of history has left all
over us. One even remarked "When if ever
will we ever overcome, for the white man is
always in control as Oprah Winfrey with all
of her money suggested even with Barack
Obama, a black skinned man who would
become President of the United States of
America."
I intently listened to historical stories about
my paternal grandfather, who was a slave,
and read in my father's book about some of
the same, E. J. Fisher, the Master Slave, my
kinsman and grandfather's plight. In th.e
darkness of the auditorium I sat appreciat
Everyday is an
Opportunity to Learn
William Sprigg
(TriceEdneyWire.com) -This summer, every
one celebrated the 1963 March on Washing
ton for Jobs and Freedom and the address
of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr, in which he
described a new, refined American Dream.
On Nov. 22, we noted two historic events.
One is the 1863 dedication of the Gettys
burg National Cemetery 150 years ago by
President Abraham Lincoln, during which
he also gave a new vision for America, Lin
coln's address clearly incorporated slaves
into the American Dream by citing Amer
ica's founding documents proclaiming
"all men are created equal," and therefore
government "of the people, by the people
ing the words sung by Janis Joplin, "Free
dom's just another word for nothing else
to lose." I wasn't despondent by the movie's
realistic portrayal of slavery as much as I can
be from mourning the struggles of our His
torically Black Colleges and Universities as
well as other cultural institutions; violence
directed at each other rather than the cause
of our oppression from self inflicted wounds
which sometimes my lodofoam gauze would
help but not the resultant disembowelment;
complacency in not challenging the status
quo or the ever expanding creatidh of a
dependency mentality rather than demand
ing that doors of opportunity be opened
allowing us to get and do things for our
selves. Missed is the upside of my grandfa
ther's slave experience which exhorted by his
example. Just open the door of opportunity
and walk in to get it for ourselves.
I won't despair for the things spawned by
slavery in our mentality on all sides of the
aisle have been institutionalized belying the
lack of genetic contributions. The "mutton
grease"dabbed on my grandfather's wounds
were akin to that done in the movie's depic
tion of slave whip burns so tragically and
deeply inflicted. But when my grandfather
was freed, he didn't seek solely to entertain
the master or the masses, he sought to help
our people starting with the liberation of
their minds knowing our behinds would
eventually follow.
[continued on page 3]
and for the people"could not be reconciled
with slavery.
Dr. King highlighted those same words as
a promise America makes to its citizens. A
promise, he said, that was broken to African
Americans. They both spoke of failures in
democracy.
We also note the tragedy of President John
F. Kennedy's assassination 50 years ago. His
death gives us a moment to reflect on our
selective memory. Many want to treat that
tragedy as America's loss of innocence, but
innocence was already lost. Earlier that year,
Medgar Evers, a World War II veteran, was
assassinated for his work on voters' rights
in Mississippi. And that fall, four young girls
were murdered by a bomb set off during
Sunday services at the 16th Street Baptist
Church in Birmingham, Ala.
The Pew Research Center says in 1963, 69
percent of Americans were aware of the
[continued on page 11 ]
Winners and
Losers of 2013
By Raynard Jackson
Well, it's that time
of year once again
for me to pick my
biggest winners
and losers for 2013.
Unlike most of the
year end lists, mine
will not be based on polling data, or
popularity. Rather, it's from the lens of a
businessman. Based on the contribution
of time, money, or intangible capital,
did the person or group receive an
appropriate rate of return on their
investment?
I will begin with the three biggest losers
and work down from there.
[continued on page 14]
CELEBRATING BLACK HISTORY MONTH FEBRUARY 2014
Finding Money For
Entrepreneurs His
Main Business
By John Raye
Bill Hubbard
Say you have been in business for a few
years, and business is slow and you find
yourself in serious need of additional financ
ing. Where do you go? What do you do when
the "spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak?"
In other words, your cash flow has been
interrupted and you need cash money
now! Well, some well-connected busi
ness owners have found their way to
Bill Hubbard's First Merchants Finan
cial Services office in Winston-Salem,
For most of his adult life, Hubbard, a Winston-
Salem resident, has been self-employed. He
would agree that it's difficult working for
someone else when you have the skills, pas
sion, talent and resources to workfor yourself.
So for 17 years, Hubbard, a graduate of North
Carolina A 8(T State University, along with his
wife Brenda, operated one of the state's largest
residential and commercial cleaning services.
[continued on page 12]
Inside This Issue
Make Your Best Better
School Backpacks May Soon Be
Lighter As NC Modernizes to
Digital 6
There Are More Blacks In US
Prisons Today Than There
Were Slaves In 1850
Why Americans Have Grown
to Hate Congress
Unavoidable Year End Changes
to Redeeming The Soul of
America 14