Newspapers / The AC Phoenix News … / April 1, 2014, edition 1 / Page 3
Part of The AC Phoenix News (Winston-Salem, N.C.) / About this page
This page has errors
The date, title, or page description is wrong
This page has harmful content
This page contains sensitive or offensive material
Pages April 2014 The AC Phoenix Melissa Harris-Perry to join faculty By Katie Neal Melissa Harris-Perry MSNBC television host, award-winning scholar and Wake Forest University alumna Melissa Flarris-Perry ('94) will re turn this summer to her alma mater as a chaired professor. Host of the popular MSNBC show "Me lissa Harris-Perry,” she joins Wake Forest's Politics and International Affairs depart ment from Tulane University, where she has served as a political science professor since 2011. "My love affair with Wake Forest began when I was 16, so having the opportunity to return is thrilling beyond measure," said Harris-Perry. "Wake Forest taught me the joys of learning, the responsibilities of citizenship, and the endurance of friend ship. I welcome the challenge of joining this demanding and nurturing academic environment." Known for her creative and dynamic teaching style, Harris-Perry brings practi cal political and relevant cultural experi ences to the classroom. Harris-Perry talked with students in Poli tics and international Affairs Professor Kathy Smith's class in 2012. "Melissa Harris-Perry is one of the nation's foremost intellectuals publicly explor ing—and thoughtfully Influencing—the intersections of politics, race, gender, re ligion and culture," said Wake Forest Pro vost Rogan Kersh."We are delighted that she has chosen to come home to Wake Forest and help ignite in our students the passion she has for contemporary politi cal issues and social justice." Harris-Perry has been named a Presi dential Chair, an endowed position that recognizes and supports exceptional faculty who embody Wake Forest's teach er-scholar ideal. She is the second Presi dential Chair honoree, joining Michele Gillespie of Wake Forest's History Depart ment. Wake Forest Magazine Features Harris-Perry is founding director of the Anna Julia Cooper Project on Gender, Race, and Politics in the South. Named for the foundational black feminist intel lectual, activist, and educator of the early 20th century, the Anna Julia Cooper Proj ect supports related programs, courses and research and will move with Harris- Perry to Wake Forest. "i am most honored to have an opportu nity to bring Anna Julia Cooper home to North Carolina," said Harris-Perry. "Estab- iishing a research center in Cooper's name at Wake Forest University wiil pre serve her legacy of black feminist schoi- arship that transcends the traditional boundaries between academy and com munity." Harris-Perry is also an award-winning au thor. Her first book, "Barbershops, Bibles, and BET: Everyday Talk and Black Political Thought," won the 2005 W. E. B. Du Bois Book Award from the National Confer ence of Black Political Scientists and 2005 Best Book Award from the Race and Eth nic Poiitics Section of the American Politi cal Science Association, Her most recent book, "Sister Citizen: Shame, Stereotypes, and Black Women in America" argues that persistent harmful stereotypes—invisible to many but painfully familiar to black women—profoundly shape black wom en's political engagement, contribute to policies that treat them unfairly, and make it difficult for black women to assert their rights in the political arena. Having also previously served on the faculties of the University of Chicago and Princeton University, her academic research is inspired by a desire to inves tigate the challenges facing contempo rary black Americans and to better un derstand the multiple, creative ways that African Americans respond to these chai- lenges. Harris-Perry talked with students in Polities and international Affairs Professor Kathy Smith's class in 2012. Harris-Perry regularly provides expert commentary on U.S. elections, racial is sues, religious questions and gender concerns for a variety of media outlets, and she will continue to host her week end MSNBC program. Additionally, she plans to maintain her scholarly research agenda and teach an array of innovative courses based on a principle of engaged scholarship aimed at providing students with opportunities that extend beyond the classroom. Harris-Perry received her B.A. in English with a minor in poiitics from Wake For est, her Ph.D. in political science from Duke University, and an honorary doctor ate from Meadville Lombard Theologi cal School. She also studied theology at Union Theological Seminary In New York. Three Sisters at Bethlehem Baptist Church Survive Cancer By John Raye It is the most feared word in the Engiish language, and nothing shifts the mood or mental disposition of a person quicker than a diagnosis of cancer. Cancer scares people. It also kills people. But everyone faced with a cancer diag nosis do not die from the disease. Howev er, the cancer survival rate is often over shadowed by the sinister nature and high death rate caused by cancer. Thus, many people tend to focus on the death rate in stead of the survival rate, mainly because a cancer diagnosis, in the minds of many, carries an automatic death sentence. Bethlehem, like most churches, has its share of cancer survivors. But perhaps few can match a certain reality or count among its members, three biological sis ters who have been screened, diagnosed, treated and beaten the so-called, "Big "C" Cancer, like any iife-threatening disease, is no respecter of person, it strikes church goers and non-church goers alike, even multiple members of the same family, the oldest as well as the youngest. At Bethlehem, three biological sisters, Joann Agnew, Helen Mitchell and Yvonne Wiley, share an unlikely and an unwel come honor; all three are breast cancer survivors, and all three have been mem bers of the same church since," birth or all our lives", says JoAnn Agnew, the old est of the three sisters, a retired hospital employee, and a 17 year breast cancer survivor. JoAnn was the first one to be diagnosed. Helen, often lovely referred to as "the baby and retired from RJ. Reynolds, was the second sister to be diagnosed. She is a 14 year survivor, Yvonne, the second oldest of the three sisters and retired from the Winston-Salem Transit Author ity, is a 5 year survivor. Bethlehem Baptist Church, under the leadership of its charismatic senior pas tor, the Rev Dwight Hash and first lady, Constance Hash, has been their "rock", their home-away from home. "i believe i must have been in kindergar ten when i started going to Bethlehem", said JoAnn, the oldest sister. Yvonne, I think, was about a year old and Helen was just being born, and so all three of us have been here every since", she said. Even though Helen is the youngest of the three, she was the second one to be diagnosed with breast cancer, while the middle sister, Yvonne was the last one to get the bad news. "It's highly unusual to have three mem bers of the same family, all sisters, come down with the same disease, breast can cer. We re glad they are still with us, still among the living. Personally, this is very inspiring to me", said Hash, whose now celebrating his eleventh year at Bethle hem and 41 St year in ministry. "God's grace can take us through some very difficult times. What we see with these three exampies is nothing but the miracle healing powers of God. We've seen families lose loved ones before. We've seen people die from the disease. My father, for exampie was 79 when he died from prostate cancer. But in all of my years in ministry, i've never seen a situa tion like this, like where three biological sisters ail come down with the same dis ease, and then survive", he said. "But the love of God, and the power of God, can change everything and anything" said Hash. "I believe in the Lord, but i thought i was not going to make it. i was so sure that I went home, wrote my obituary and started to plan my own funeral", said JoAnn, who suffered another horrendous setback when her husband of 29 years, David Agnew, passed away due to compiications from heart disease and diabetes. "Friends, family members and our church family were very supportative, very help ful", JoAnn said. Prayer? Yes indeedIA lot of people prayed for us and with us. Yes, prayer changes things". Middle sister, Yvonne, now a five years survivor, said she knew what to expect when she was diagnosed, "it was fright ening, being told that I had cancer, espe cially after seeing what my sisters had gone through. But i saw what they did, how they dealt with it, so I knew what to expect", she said. "Plus our church family was always there for us". But cancer, which Is no respecter of person, didn't stop with these three bio logical sisters. Three years ago, Yvonne's daughter, Lashaunda was diagnosed with breast cancer. JoAnn's daughter, Dvanna went in for the annual screening and her test came back positive. "At first, I was very afraid and worried because my test results were position and my cousin's results, Lashaunda, was negative. But i know God is bringing her through, just iike the blessing bestowed upon my mother and her sisters", she said. [continued on page 4]
The AC Phoenix News (Winston-Salem, N.C.)
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
April 1, 2014, edition 1
3
Click "Submit" to request a review of this page. NCDHC staff will check .
0 / 75