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Its Our S\nniversary! TX'e re
Thursday, September 28, 1989
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AL 35950
m-Salem Chronicle
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By ROBIN BARK80ALE
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wnroncw Stan wwr
By 9:30 Tuesday evening, It
was clear to most election night
voters and supporters that there
would be a run-off between two of
the Democratic candidatesfor
mayor. Boch camps anxiously awaiied
the results from the final two precincts, .
Martin Luther King Jr. Recitation
center ana uwer High acnooL une
i nmlirlMT . dinging to a 500-vote toad,
was not expecting to dam victoy in
bothofthepredonuiiamyAfto-Aafier
ican precincts; the other candidate^
Ihough hoping to do well in the
areas, remained cautious about
confirming that a run-off seemed
inevitable.
Northwest Ward Alderman
Martha Wood look the pocium at the
Sawtooth Building to address her sup
porters shortly before 10 pan.
Although a runoff seemed appar
ent even at that poing, Mrs. Wood
told her campaign team and
friends that she planned to exer
cise the same methods she has
employed on the Board of
men f<* the.
wait for all die i
make a decision. Mis. WftA vvn
of the city's predominantly .
American precincts that flpptidliP
but that tact did not put her at ease with
no woid in from the remaining two
precincts. Noting that Northeast VSferd
Alderman Vivian Burke had thrown
her support behind anotller
Democratic candidate, Dee Smith,
Please see page A2
T- ?_ ? r~ ' <V _ ' ? nf""
JgF Ptrattfr by MtkeCumiognam
Above, a Jubilant Martha Wood: "One mora tMil^Dpponam Dae Smith and
?upportar Mlchaal Graca ?nxtouafy awlt election rllbrna. |
Primaries narrow field of candidates,
incumbent aldermen claim victories
By TONYA V. SMITH
Chronicle Staff Writer
Seven political hopefuls were eliminated from the
field of 26 candidates in Tuesday's primary elections and
two others will bid farewell after the results from the Oct
17 mayoral run-off election are in.
Surviving the first cut are Democrats G. Dee Smith
and Martha S. Wood. In a race that was close all evening,
the final tallies gave 7,974 votes to Mr. Smith and 7,887
votes to Mrs. Wood. Democrat Gerald H. Thornton cap
tured 477 votes. Eighty-seven votes separated the two
Democratic front runners and since each other again in
three weeks.
Mrs. Wood carried all but one precinct out of 11 in
the North, Northeast and East wards. She and Mr. Smith
got 93 votes a piece from voters in the New Hope United
Methodist Church precinct. In the Southeast Ward, Mrs.
Wood beat Mr. Smith in four of the six precincts. She won
the ward, 868 votes to 610.
Please see page A 10
Stallings: Break with church is 'inevitable'
By ROBIN BARKSDALE
Chronicle Staff Writer
Father George Stallings, the
outspoken Afro-American Catholic
priest who has angered the Catholic
Church's hierarchy with the estab
lishment of the controversial Imani
Temple, brought his message to the
Twin City Monday evening and
promised that even more surprises
are on the horizon unless the
Roman Catholic Church takes swift
action to make Afro-Americans feel
more at home in the church.
Father Stallings said that he is
on an "inevitable" course that prob
ably will lead him to move further
from the umbrella of the Roman
Catholic Church. Currently Father
Stallings, who was suspended July
3 by Cardinal James A. Hickey, is
conducting Mass at his Imani Tem
ple, formed in defiance of a direct
order from Cardinal Hickey. But
Stallings insists that, although he
and the Roman Catholic Church are
not seeing eye to eye on the
church's treatment of Afro-Ameri
cans, he remains a devoted Catholic
who, as of yet, has not "broken
away" from the church. He said,
too, that despite labels of "renegade
priest" and "segregationist," he is
not proposing anything new to the
Catholic Church:
"Within the Catholic Church
there are 18 distinct rites. All of
them are under Catholicism but all
have their own theology," said the
41-year-old Father Stallings, a
native of New Bern. "They form
their own spirituality yet they are
still under the bishop of Rome,
more commonly known as the Pope
or the Holy Father."
Based on that historical prece
dent, Father Stallings said, his
Imani Temple, or its parent, the
African- American Catholic Congre
gation, suggests nothing new. He
said that the Catholic powers that be
are upset simply because Afro
Americans are finally standing up
the church.
"We're talking about people
taking charge of their own destiny.
This is nothing new," he said. "All
of the hoopla is about people taking
control and not waiting any longer."
Father S tailings said that Afro
Americans have been waiting
patiently for the Catholic Church to
fulfill its promises of equality. But
those promises, he said, have been
little more than lip service and that
the Catholic Church has failed to
deal with the hard issue of racism
within its ranks. That inaction
prompted Father Stallings to risk
suspension from his home parish in
Washington, D.C., and form a con
gregation that caters specifically to
the needs of Afro-American
Catholics. At the root of the Imani
Temple, he said, is the philosophy
that Afro-Americans should be
allowed to pursue their full spiritu
ality, within the Catholic Church,
but through means relevant to their
African heritage.
MAs African-American
Catholics we are saying that we
should be allowed to be moved by
the genius of our culture to achieve
our full spiritual maturity," said
Father Stallings. "Our approach is
holistic, meaning that we deal with
the spiritual but also with the eco
nomic and political. We will not
deal just with issues that affect our
spirituality. What this represents is a
total liberation of the black psyche."
Critics have claimed that
Father Stall ings is a trouble-maker,
more interested in accommodating
his own ego than doing what is best
for the Catholic Church's Afro
American flock. But the priest
steadfastly denounces the charge
that he is a divisive force. Many
Catholics, he said, have issued him
the ultimatum of loving the
Catholic Church or leaving it But
Father Stallings insists that he is a
"cradle Catholic" who loves the
church and would rather not leave
it
"People say I have messed up'
the Catholic Church," he said "In a
way, I have but only so it can be put
back together. I'm not trying to
withdraw from the Catholic Church.
What we have seen is a church that
Please see page A2
James N. Cloud
Afro-American vote key
factor in mayor's race
NEWS ANALYSIS
By TONYA V. SMITH
Chronicle Staff Writer
As predicted, the Afro-American vote
proved to be a most crucial factor for Demo
cratic mayoral candidates in Tuesday's primary,
changing what could have been a victory for G.
Dee Smith into a rematch with challenger
Martha S. Wood
Candidates, members
of the press corps and other
interested onlookers anx
iously awaited the returns
from Carver High School,
the largest precinct in the
city with t,601 registered 4
Democrats, and Martin L.
King Recreation Center,
1,228, registered voters. If
voter turnout was high in
the predominately Afro
American precincts, onlook
ers speculated, Mrs. Wood
could win the Democratic
nomination because Mr.
-4 Smith was onto ahead by -
524 votes; ?
Having established ties with the Afro
American community during her eight years as
Northwest Ward alderman, Afro-American vot
ers said they cast their lots with the candidate
they knew best. On the campaign trail, Mrs.
Wood cemented her ties with the community by
attending numerous teas, church services and
other gatherings in the Afro-American commu
nity.
Members of the old guajrd establishment
that rocketed Mr. Smith into the political lime
light are calling Mrs. Wood the "black candi
date." However, in a semi
victory speech at his cam
-paign headquarters .Mr_
Smith indicated that he, too,
must become a "black can
didate" if he hopes to win in
the Oct. 17 primary runoff.
"I really want to work
on working with the black
community," Mr. Smith
said. "I need their votes."
Throughout his cam
paign, Mr. Smith has
favored changing the way
the city Board of Aldermen
is elected by changing from
a ward system to an at-large
system. A fro- American
aldermen, political ami
community leaders have
The results from Martin
L. King came in first: Mrs.
Wood captured 55 percent
of the vote, beating Mr.
Smith, 263 votes to 48
Photo by Mike Cunningham
Nelson Malloy is congratulated
by Evelyn Terry and Khalld
Griggs.
objected to such a system
saying that it would dilute
Afro-American voting
power on the board, thus
community representation
votes. Only 327 voters,, almost 27 percent,
voted in that precinct.
Tallies from Carver further narrowed Mr.
Smith's lead to 87 votes, as Mrs. Wood picked
up 399 votes to Smith's 177, out of the 952
Democrats who went to the polls.
on issues.
Mr. Smith made a 360-degrec turnaround
Tuesday night after he apparently realized that
Afro-Americans would not vote for someone
Please see page A 10
RJR may offer reward for
information on Cloud killing?
By TONYA V SMITH
Chronic!? Staff Writer
R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company
is cxpected to increase the monetary
reward that will be offered to people
with information leading to the arrest
of the person or persons who stabbed,
beat and killed James Nebrasko
Cloud.
The Winston-Salem Police
DepartmentTs hosting apress confer
ence Friday at 10:30 a.m. for
Reynolds, the State Bureau of Investi
gation and the Qjty-county
CrimcStoppcrs. The conference will
convene in the auditorium of the Pub
lic Safety Center at 725 N. Cherry St.
Next month will mark the ninth
anniversary of Mr. Cloud's death. His
Please see page A10
Photo by Mlko Cunningham
Father Stalling* describes Imanl Temple during WFU lecture.