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Youth in motion
gills learn art of dance
recreation center.
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Winston-Salem Chronicle
75 pents
'T he Twin City's Award-Winning Weekly"
VOL. XVIII, NO. 38
Rec centers to close?
A Budget cuts threaten to close recreation centers in black housing
developments: Aldermen Newell, Womble and Malloy are furious
By SHERIDAN HILL
, Chronic# Assistant Editor
Children who spend their afternoons
playing table soccer and socializing at four
of the city recreation centers may soon be
looking for another place to hang out.
Aldermen Virginia Newell, Larry Womble
and Nelson Malloy hope it won't be the
: street
Assistant City Manager Tom Freder
icks said the city must trim its $170 million
budget, and is trying to "truly and honestly
downsize the recreation program to fit the
needs of the community."
The current parks and recreation bud
get, excluding $250,000 for Tanglewood
Park, was $731,550. The animal control
budget is $567,457. ^ .
The recreation centers currently being
considered in the budget reduction are
located in four housing developments and
were given to the city by the Winston
Salem Housing Authority in 1989: Morn
ingside, Kingston Green, North Hills, and
Northampton.
Aldermen Larry Womble, Virginia
Newell and Nelson Malloy argue that the
centers haven't offered aggressive program
ming to the community.
Outraged and critical
"It's so sad/ said Newell. "There is so
little offered for these people to begin with.
I've been very critical of the recreation
department as it relates to blacks. If they 'v
had good programs at these places, there'd
be less fallout in the street, less vagrancy,
less vandalism, less drug abuse."
Womble expecting several hundred
people to turn out at a neighborhood meet
Please see page A 12
y '-v.. ?: ; V7MM3
Pictured (!-r): Derrick Davis - 13, Woodrow Wilson - 14, Tony Pettlgrew - 13, and
Vernon Richardson - 11, play checkers and cards at Kingston Greens Rec Center.
Malcolm X
program set
? Dr. Alton Pollard said
forum will include communi
ty panelists and discussions
surrounding Malcolm X
By 9ANMNTHA MoMNtlE
Chronicle Staff Writer
For many-years, the quote "by any means neces
sary" ? made by assassinated black leader Malcolm X
? has been misconstrued and taken out of its original
context, according to Dr. Alton Pollard, keynote speak
er at the Malcolm X Day celebration scheduled this
weekend
Pollard, director of the Kemet School of Knowl
edge and religion professor at Wake Forest University
said many people have associated the picture of Mal
colm X holding a rifle, which was taken after he had
received numerous threats on his life, and his quote,
"by any means necesary."
The birthday celebration, free and open to the pub
lic, will begin Friday, May 15, at 7 p.m. with a film on
ON THE
AVANT-GARDE
By TANG NIVRI
Please see page A 13
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to break It up when we've bad too
nk! Issue a penalty when one of os
something that doesn't belong to us.
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when we pUy too roughly caning
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Giving back to the community I?
Left to light: Awakening Giants President Rasheed Bey and Larry Branch make their presentation at
Mayor Wood's office (center) as Ben Plggott and Reginald Fullard look on.
Lost Legacy
donated to
rec centers
? Entrepreneur donates
Mies of Historical bldgri
phles of prominent blacks ~
By YVETTE N. FREEMAN
Community Newt Editor
During the 60s, it was "Bum Baby Bum." Today,
it's "Build Baby Build." That's the theme in which the
local organization, The Awakening Giants, has adopted
in the wake of the violence that erupted in reaction to
the Rodney King verdict in Los Angeles.
To live up to that theme, the organization is work
ing hard to increase African-American self-awareness
and self-esteem in the community in the effort to pro
mote better race relations. And it's getting help from all
areas of the community.
Last Wednesday, May 6, Larry Branch, the owner
of the Phillips Convenience Stores in the Happy Hfll
Please see page A6
Slimier, Hairston, Womble await decision
? After closing arguments on Monday, jury deliberates on conspiracy, extortion, and fraud charges
By SHERIDAN HILL
Chronicle Assistant Editor
Alderman Larry Womble, political
consultant Rodney Sumler, and former
alderman Patrick Hairston sit in a quiet
courtroom, waiting for a jury to deter
mine their guilt or innocence in the sev
enth week of a political corruption trial.
The jury of five whites, five blacks and
one Asian, began deliberations Tuesday
afternoon on charges that the three
coerced businessmen to donate money to
charities in exchange for favorable votes.
Sumler faces 27 counts, Hairston faces
19, and Womble four.
Only Sumler and Hairston are
charged with conspiracy, which is the
most serious of the charges.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Doug Can
non told the jury in his closing argu
ments that "Sumler is a man who has
studied corruption, could teach a course
on corruption, and has a notion that so
long as money is not discussed in front
of (then alderman) Hairston, everything
else is legal."
But Sumler's attorney, John A. "
Dusenbury, said that no witnesses testi
fied that Sumler ever promised that
aldermen would vote a certain way if
they hired him, and that there was no
evidence of intimidation, "only conjec
ture, speculation."
Please see page A 13
O.F.F. manager says she won't resign
? Minister's Conference supports the Rev. John Mendez^Who opposed the appointment of Anne MacLeod, a white
female, to manage a program designed for clients who are primarily black
By SAMANTHA McKENZIE
Cbronido Staff Writer
Opportunities for Families Fund pro
ject manager Anne MacLeod said she has
no intentions of resigning from her posi
tion, following complaints that a black
should be appointed to position.
Last week, MacLeod, a white female,
was named to head the program which is
geared to help teenaged parents and their
families -*? most of whom are African
American ? move out of poverty.
"If I believed that an African-Ameri
can was required to manage this program
in order for it to be successful, I would not
have applied," , said MacLeod, who started
the new position on Monday.
"I do believe, however, that there will
be particular parts of this program that
will require African-American involve
ment and cultural sensitivity," she said.
MacLeod said that training, which will be
a major part of the program, will be han
dled out of the East Winston Community
Development Corporation and involve
African -American input. "By no means
would I attempt to do that training. We
will bring in African- Americans who have
those skills that are necessary."
The Rev. John Mendez of Emmanuel
Baptist Church spoke out last week
against her appointment, stating that the
program, geared to blacks, should be man
aged by a black.
Mendez received support from the
Minister's Conference this week at its
Tuesday meeting, where MacLeod, assis
tant county manager Kevin FitzGerald, the
Rev. Lee Faye Mack and Doris Bines all
attended.
The conference's public affairs com
mittee released a statement and said they
are investigating Mendez' concerns.
The conference voted to support the
spirit of Dr. Mendez' concerns and
appointed the committee to do a full scale
investigation. We began with a face-to
face interview with Ms. Gail Bumette, an
employee of the Human Relations Com
mission, dhd continued with a lengthy, in
pcrson discussion with Marion Ackerman
of the Council on the Status of Women on
May 6. Our intention is to speak with as
many people involved before we render a
final report and plan to issue several such
reports as time goes one."
The report stated that "this is not an
isolated case of "Mendez vs. O.F.F. Hun
dreds of black folk are tired of white so
called liberals pimping poverty in order to
profit."
The report stated that the Minister's
Conference will resist and resent any
attempt to divide the black community.
Two other issues brought forward were
the patterns of upper to middle class white
women holding executive positions over
social service agencies and the lack of
black men in the planning process of
O.RF. and other social service agencies.
Community activists, the Rev. Lee
Faye Mack supported the appointment of
MacLeod and reassured the community
that African-Americans will be involved
in all aspects of the project
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