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I**I? 4-Th? Chronlcl*. Thursday, January
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Q Wrqston-Salem
Audit >!- ? hounded I
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Elaine L.
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People Of The Y(
> We are happy to feport that it was
not easy to choose our first man and
woman of the year.
r That fact delights us because it
means that a number of people have
made significant and selfless contributions
to the blacK community here
both in 1982 and years prior.
They include Louise Wilson, Victor
Johnson, Mazie Woodruff, Clifton
Graves, Howard Wiley, Geneva Hill,
Beverly Mitchell, Vivian Burke, Larry
Womble, Georgia Moore, Norma
Smith, Vera Phillips, Walter Marshall,
Patrick .Hairston, Dr. C.B. .
Hauser ahd others tnn niimpfnnc t/*
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mention in this space.
We salute them all, and encourage
you to give them words of thanks and
support when you see them. More im- v
portantly, we ask that you join them
in their efforts to make life better for
us all.
As for the winners of this year's
awards, Mrs. Virginia K. Newell and
Larry D. Little have clearly
demonstrated their concern for
Winston-Salem's black community '
during the past 12 months, waging
often unseen battles to accomplish
their goals.
Mrs. Newell, of course, was a vital
cog in the movement to make the East
Winston Shopping Center a reality.
The tangible result of her efforts sits
on Claremont Avenue, but few probably
realize the tangle of negotiations
and controversy that preceded
the project. She does.
A v%A W? it ?
ruiu winic mr5. ixcwcii isn i me only
one who worked to see the shopping
center through, her determination to
A Love Offering
Pat Hairston's job is about as
thankless as they come.
As NAACP president, the 57-yearold
retired blue collar worker is fully
expected to champion the civil rights
of whomever in the black community
feels he has been wronged.
ToWard that end, Hairston
sacrifices his time and money, ruffles
the feathers of the powers that be and
opens himself to criticism and abuse.
In return, Hairston gets more
criticism -- this variety from the people
he serves ? and an incredible lack
of support and gratitude.
Witness the shameful turnout at last
spring's Freedom Fund Banquet.
Witness the disproportionate
amount of support the local NAACP
receives from the white business sector
.^.4 U1--1 1- - - * *
? uui uiav;* pcopic ?10 stay nnanciaily
solvent.
And witness the fact that Hairston
works as hard as he does without the
benefit of a salary.
As one black elected official said
recently, "Black folks around here
About Letters...
The Chronicle welcomes letters to the editor as v*
neatly .printed and concise in length. They should
number of the writer.
Letters should be addressed to Chronicle Lette
Winston-Salem, N.C. 27102.
The Chronicle reserves the right to edit letters 1
remember that letters published within our pages
*v.
6. 198S
/
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Ernest H. Pitt (y||yw
Robert Eller
Sports Editor
Pitt v
i after
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make the concept work and to
cooperate with the mayor and other
city officials as well as the developers
and members of the community stand
to be congratulated:
Mrs. Jewell also had a hand in
numerous other projects, including
the East Winston Crime Task Force,
the- Committee to Promote Black
Ownership and the East Winston
Restoration Association.
Lest we forget, Mrs. Newell also
finds the time to be an alderman and
chairman of the mathematics department
at Winston-Salem State University.
Larry Little is an alderman, too,
and his major contributions in 1982
include his involvement with the Black
Leadership Rouncitable Coalition, a
group he organized and chaired and
which served as a valuable conduit of
information during both the primaries
and the general election. The Roundtable
also aided the NAACP's voter
registration efforts and offered, informed
endorsements as signposts
for black voters.
Little^Worked as well with residents
in the Liberty-Patterson community,
helping displaced residents negotiate
relocation settlements with R.J.
Reynolds Tobacco Co.
And he continued to provide friendship
and advice to youth, especially
young athletes, and, most importantly,
to maintain strong rapport with the
grassroots community which nurtured
his political and personal growth.
Mrs. Newell and Mr. Little, thank
you for caring.
A "
can come out of their pockets to give
love offerings to their ministers. They
ought to *do the same for Pat
Hairston."
We second that motion.
Why not a love offering for
Hairston, whose work has touched
The Great .Bourgeois Pretenders
among us as well as the grassroots?
Why not an appeal by ministers and
community leaders and fraternal and
social organizations and black
businesses for their clients and
memberships to give something back
to a man who has given so much to
them?.
Or a movement by individuals to
save the cash they spend during one
week on movies that ignore the existence
of black people or papier
mache hamburgers that ignore the existence
of nutrition'orliquor or The
National Enquirer to show this man
that we recognize his worth to us?
It's one of the best New Year's
rMAllltlAMii *l??4 ?* - - *
ivswiuuwua UlCU WC ?U1 inillK OI.
'ell as guest columns. Letters should be typed or
also include the full name, address and phone
rs, Winston-Salem Chronicle, P.O. Box 3154/
fof brevity and good taste and asks readdfcs to
do not necessarily relfect our views.
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Kl&HT tiNWJ PLACE UOOkS /"
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Black Wings:
I hope by now that you are aware of the
4'Black Wings'^xhibit at the Smithsonian
Institution's Air and Space Museum in
Washinaton. It is scheduled to last fr?r two
years. But I hope, after reading this column
and/or seeing the phenomenal testimony to
blacks in aviation, you wHl write the
secretary of the Smithsonian and request
that our history become a permanent part
of thi$prestigious institution.
A part of the exhibit is "Wings of War,"
the World War II story of blacks fighting
for the right to fight, the subsequent
establishment of the all-black 99th Fighter
Squadron and later the 332nd Fighter
Group. Thesex 10,000 black men and
women are commonly referred to as the
Tuskegee Airmen.
The Smithsonian's first black curator,
Louis R. Purnell, was a pilot in the original
99th and the original 332nd. There were
few pilots in either outfit who saw more action
than he did. He flew 88 combat missions;
because of segregation, white pilots
had more replacements and few about 50
missions before rotating home. Purnell was
typical of all black pilots in one respect: he
was shot at 20 times more than white
pilots!
However, accomplishments and contributions
comprise "Black Wings." I was
interviewing Purnell, Art- Carter (WWII
war correspondent of the Afro-American^
Dilot Elwood Driver and Alfr^H
Anderson at the exhibit for a four-part
Black History Month special on the
Tuskegee Airmen called "The Black
Eagles."
Seeing this-"living" history and hearing
these men recall a part of history that has
been tucked away or ignored gave me a
feeling of being there myself. "Chief *
Anderson, the acknowledged "Father of
Black AviatJon/.' is still a flying instructor
and witty and spry at 76 years of age.
He recalled with detail the flrsrtfensconBe
It Resolvipi
Whereas, the African-American community
of North America has made significant
progress, yet has so far to go, and,
Whereas, in this new year 1983, we collectively
and individually need to recommit
ourselves to the principle of "self-help,"
and,
Whereas, the principles of Kwanza and*
the Congressional Black Caucus' Family'
Plan offer us guidance as to how to better
ourselves and our community, #
Be it resolved that, in the continuing
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economic equity for people of color in this
land and around this world, we shall in
1983:
. ?either join or renew our membership
with an existing civil rights organization
(e.g. NAACP, Operation PUSH or
SCLC).
encourage our respective churches to be
more community-minded and to consider
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"[HE SEMME REC
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: Our Forgotte
a
tinental flight by black aviators. He and
Dr. Albert Forsythe were a areat team and
the "Chief** proudly pointed to the picture
and caption in the exhibit: "Goodwill
Flight to Nassau in 1934. Residents of
Nassau greeted Alfred Anderson and Dr.
Albert Forsyihe after their flight from
Miami in 1934.**
To a man, each Tuskegee Airman will remind
you of the tremendous influence that
Anderson had on their liv^s as the chief
flight instructor at Tuskegee Army Airfield
during World War II. He has trained the
majority of black combat pilots and hundreds
of others.
. TONY BROWN COMMENTS
TONY C3
BROWN Ji
Other pioneers displayed are Bessie Coleman,
who became the first licensed black
pilot in this country. Of course, because of A
racism, she had to go to France to train and ^
be licensed. Eugene Bullard, a native of
Columbus, Ga., had gone to France years
before Bessie Coleman and became the
woHd's Yirst black combat pilot and a
mucH-dCfcorated member of the Lafayette
Flying Corps during World War I. Because
of discrimination, Bullard never fought for
*-r=-Tr^S?
America. "
Of course, the first black pilot to shoot
down an enemy plane for America was Lt.
Charles HalL This native of Brazil, Ind.,
was a member of the original 99th when he
destroyed a German Focke-Wulf 190 over
..Castelvetrano on July 2, 1943.
The exhibit goes on to display America's
lost combat-pilot heroes. There is the
towering Gen. Benjamin O. Davis Jr., no
doubt the most celebrated member of the
99th or the 332nd. He commanded both
groups as well as the 477th Composite, j
Group v ' ^yj-1
i: An Agenda ]
pooling their considerable resources into a
"self-help" development fund.
make a concerted effort to buy AND
bank black. (The sisters and brothers will
appreciate your business).
CLIFTON mM
GRAVES JOf
support (financially and otherwise) the
United Negro College Fund and/or the
historically black college of our choice. (If
you didn't attend a black college, then
adopt one).
volunteer as a Big Brother or Big Sister.
(The program really needs black adults),
promise ourselves to read more and
broaden our horizons.
become more politically astute con
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D
J06MI2ES THE Disrweusv
FROM NORTH CAROUVIA
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n Heroes
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Gen. Davis, now retired, was the fourth;
black graduate from West Point whenjie;
finished in 1936* No blacjk had graduated!
In (IIA nvMfiAiia * *
... niw pivTiwus years. s*llflOUgfl I1C r&lU(*|
ed a very respectable 35th in a class of 276,J
his white peers forced Davis to room alone
and be "silenced" during his entire stay at
the academy.
"Black Wings" also has a model of the
P-51 "Miss Pelt," Clarence "Lucky"
Lester's plane during the war. This
Tuskegee flyer of the 332nd Fighter Group,
while in a fighter sweep on July 18, 1944,
shot down three German Messerschmitts in
a dogfight over the Po Valley in Italy, a
remarkable feat performed in about six *
minutes.
"Lucky" .told me in an interview for
"The Black Eagles" special that when his
daughter ^as a college student at Penn
State, a white instructor told her class tKd}
blacks had never been pile&s in World War
II. Whj^n she said her father had been oge,
he calledTthe story^Hie. And even after being
shown "Lucky's" scrapbQok, he ignored
the evidence.
That's an example of the virulent form
of racism loose in this country that we must
resist. And we must repel it with the facts
by digging into our history ? then preserve '
ing it.
YoiTcan help preserve these heroic feats
and role models for our people by writing
the secretary of the Smithsonian Institution,
Dr. S. Dillon Ripley, at the Smithsonian
Institution, Washington, D.C. 20560,
and requesting that the "Black Wings" ex
hibit be made permanent.
If you don't, and the history is lost to
future generations, these brave men and
women will have died in vain.
"Tony Brown's Journal," the television
series, can be seen on public television
Tuesdays on Channel 26 at 7:30 p.m. It can
olW*faseen on Channel 26 Sundays at 6:30 *
pirh:1 Please consult*ftstin$s. J *A/ 1
For 1983
sumers by supporting the NAACP's Fair
Share and PUSH'S "selective buying"
campaigns.
join or renew our memberships with vital
community entities as the Friends of the
East Winston Library and the Patterson
Avenue YMCA7
t >
take a more active interest in international
affairs ? especially matters pertaining
to Africa and the Caribbean; joining
Washington-based TransAfrica is an ex
cellent way to expedite this.
regularly attend Board of Aldermen,
school board and county commissioners
meetings to stay informed, as well as provide
support for those whom we put in office.
patronize and monitor the East Winston
Shopping Center; also, encourage the
management to name the complex after a
prominent local African-American.
* See Page S
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