Winston-Salem Chronicle
I'he Twin City's Award-Winning Weekly"
Established in 1974
Ern?$t H. Pitt ? Ndubisi Eg?mony*
Editor/Publisher Co- Founder
Member in good standing with:
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Editorials
CIAA Fever
When news of Winston-Salem's successful CIAA
bid rcached the city this week, city and community lead
ers were nearly jumping up and down with excitement/
But hot everyone shared in the jubilation. No doubt,
some folks are wondering just what kind of people
(20,000 of them) are going to invade the city in the win
ter of *94.
The CIAA is akin to a reunion for the many alumni
of 14 prestigious histori
cally black colleges in the
southeast. Ask anyone
who has been to an ACC
event and a CIAA event:
they will confirm that
CIAA fans are on the
sophisticated side of the
scale. J
Downtown area businesses must be eagerly planning
how to lodge, feed, transport, entertain and otherwise
care for the needs of thousands of visitors, many of
whom have never spent the night in Winston-Salem.
Ironically, it will be white-owned businesses that
reap 90% of the revenues from this historical black
sporting event. It will be important to respect the impor
tance of this first impression, and not gouge the unknow
ing customer. The CIAA will be to Winston-Salem what
the furniture market is to High Point. We look forward to
seeing the community at large continue to work together
to make the tournament a success for all of our visitors.
Value of a life
The recent rape and kid
naping of a white woman,
appearing day after day in the
news, brings to mind trou
bling questions. The most
recent publicity over this case
had to do with how quickly
the local police and the SBI responded: how seriously
they took the case from the beginning, how determined
they were to find the woman, how long and hard and
tirelessly they worked.
There is a heavy implication that the life of this
woman is more valuable than that of another: is it more
valuable than a poor white woman? more important than
the life of an old woman? how about a poor, old black
woman? Does God feel the loss any less?
We must constantly ask ourselves these questions.
Each day we are influenced by messages that we should
measure ourselves and each other by our achievements,
by the things we possess, by the power we wield, the
people we know.
When a crime takes place, it is not more tragic
because the victim is a white woman and the alleged
assailant is a black man.
The tragedy of a crime is not reduced if the victim is
a black woman and the alleged assailant is a white man.
No justice, no peace.
The CIAA represent*
Winston-Salem's
first opportunity to
feel the power of the
black dollar.
Is a crime against a
prominent white
woman worse than
any other crime?
Vote November 2nd
About letters .
The Winston-Salem Chronicle welcomes letters
from its readers, as well as columns.
Letters should be as concise as possible and should
be typed or printed legibly. They also should include the
name, address, and telephone number of the writer.
Columns should follow the sarnaauidelines and will
be published if we feel they are of interest to our gener
al readership. ^ ^ .
We reserve the right to edit letters and columns for
brevity and grammar.
Submit your letters and columns to:
Chronicle Mailbag
P.O. Box 1636
Wlnston??im, 27*62 ^'^^ ^
Ms. Mack: when will we honor her?
To the Editor:
(I originally wrote this as a
white man for the white citizens of
Winston-Salem to appear in the
Journal.)
Mrs. Lee Faye Mack went to
jail this week/month. "O Jerusalem,
Jerusalem, killing the prophets and
stoning those as a hen gathers her
brood under her wings, and you
would not! Behold, your house is
forsaken!" Jesus understood his life
with the image of a mother hen w ho
would care for her brood. Ms. Mack
has been a mother in Winston
Salem. O Jerusalem. Jerusalem...
Perhaps some of us in the w hite
community do not know much
about this woman. I want to share
the little I know. A single, black
mother with a house full of young
children. Defeated, overwhelmed?
Not this woman. With little formal
education herself, she had the good
sense to raise her children to value
it. With help from Upward Bound at
WSSU and college scholarships,
they went to college. Those children
today are all productive citizens in
this city and include two teachers
and a lawyer. O Jerusalem,
Jerusalem..., when will we sing the
praises of this woman?
Ms. Mack has also been the
mother of an extended family of
children. Through her Back to Life
organization and her work with the
Urban League's program, Family
Focus, she has inspired many sin
gle, black mothers to take hold of
their lives. She has been able and
willing to lead others through what
she had been through. Some of
them gained the courage to take
non-traditional jobs for women, like
construction. She has worked with
individuals, male and female, with
the whole assortment of problems
that characterize the disadvantaged ?
of America's inner cities. O
Jerusalem, Jerusalem..., when will
we honor this woman? ? 1 '**?
-
I first met her twenty years ago
when she was mothering a group of
young blacks who were carrying
out a preschool breakfast program
and raising money for the first free
ambulance service for blacks in our
city. This was a group of Black Pan
thers, a group whites were taught to
fear in those days. Larry Little and
Nelson Malloy, who today serve
this city well, were in that group.
She has been through the years a
grass-roots neighborhood organizer
on behalf of social justice. I have
known her for most recently as a
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Our Readers Speak Out
member of the black ministers' con
ference here in our city, and I have
seen her stand up, among her peers,
for equality for women ministers. O
Jerusalem, Jerusalem...,
Her words to her family and to
her community, after her trial, were
to be strong and not lose hope. 1
have no dbubt that Ms. Mack will
follow her own advice; we shall
hear from her again, if we have
"ears to hear."
Sid Kelly
M'
Thanks to Chronicle
To the Editor:
1 just wanted to inform you that
I greatly appreciated the Winston
Salem Chronicle featuring my
sports and entertainment law prac
tice a couple of weeks ago. Mike
Grace and I have worked very hard
to develop a complete package to
accommodate the needs of young
professional athletes and entertain- -
ers.
Also, 1 have been intending to
congratulate you on, having such a
* i
*
professional staff. My contact with
your office personnel has always
been extremely pleasant.
Moreover, 1 really enjoyed my
interview with Carol Ragins. Her
professional manner and warm per
sonality made me feel' comfortable
enough to discuss the objectives of
our program without the fear of
being misunderstood or misrepreHj
sented. She is clearly an asset to Iter
Winston-Salem Chronicle and is at
first-class journalist.
If I can be of assistance to you
or the newspaper, please do not hes
itate tb call.
Mason P. Ashe
Esch says, call me
To the Editor:
I am a candidate for the State
Senate from Forsyth County. If
elected, I will replace either Sen.
Ted Kaplan or Senator Marvin
Ward, our longtime senators. My
legislative and spending priorities
are for "crime control and public
safety" (including salvaging our
court and correctional systems so
that "equal justicc under the law" is
not just a platitude).
Sen. Ward is well known for
having "education" as his priority
and area of expertise. I do not know
Sen. Kaplan's priorities for legisla
tion and tax dollars. In my opinion,
he should tell us what he is commit
ted to other than his party.
Discussion of issues is occur
ring in homes, churches, grocery
stores, unemployment offices, hos
pital waiting rooms, schools, courts,
and WSJS Radio.. .our own local
"electronic Town Hall" ...at the
"grassroots" where all of us live our
lives.
Unfortunately, there have been
no public "Candidates' Meetings"
where voters can voice their con- .
cerns with local candidates and
have a two-way discussion of solu
tions.
If you would like to know why
I am standing for election and what
I propose to do as a senator, please
give me a call or write. ..I am the
only "Esch" in the telephone book.
Ann Esch
Two saved-youths will save us
In mid-April, I wrote a col
umn asking for support for Karesha
Lowe, a 14-year-old math genius in
Philadelphia. She and her 13-year
old brother, Chris, are alone
because of the death of their father
and the incarceration of their moth
Yet Grades Excel" was the story's
sub-head just above the sentence
that tore me apart psychologically:
"Karesha Lowe is a rose growing
through rubble, one that will unfold
or be trampled underfoot."
On May 13, almost a month
TONY BROWN
Syndicated Columnist
er.
I appealed for donations to
establish a fund for their education
and maintenance.
The basis of my appeal was an
article by Kimberly K. McLaurin in
The Philadelphia Inquirer. In "A
Child Shines Amid The Shambles,"
McLaurin wrote, "Karesha Lowe is
14, and fatherless and poor, with a
mother serving life, a half-sister as
a reluctant guardian, crowded
house, an angry brother and an
intellect so hungry she thinks alge
bra is fun."
"Mother Jailed, Money Short,
later to the day, I held a press con
ference at the University City Sci
ence Center (which donated its
facility after a black religious group
demanded payment for its space) at
which Dr._Isaac B. Horton III
awarded a full $50,000 scholarship
to the College of Wooster for Kare:
sha.
The scholarship was awarded
on behalf of the Delaware Valley
chapter of the National Organiza
tion for the National Organization
for the Professional Advancement
of Black Chemical Engineers
(NOBCChE) in conjunction with
the College of Wooster, Ohio.
Responding to my plea for
money to maintain these two young
people with the norm things of life
? clothes, books, food, living quar
ters ? until they get to college, the
following angels of mercy sent
money:
Dr. Jean Gilbert (NY and W.
Va.); Tena Hincs (New Orleans);
William Mays (Indianapolis); Iolan
da and Robert Scott (Clawson); and
the Pepsi-Cola Black Employees
Association (Fred Canady, Presi
dent) joined me in donating $1,000
each. Paula Wright Coleman of Ft.
Washington, MD also made a dona
tion.
As of this date, $6,025 has
been deposited in the only Black
owned bank in Pennsylvania, Unit
ed Bank. If you want to make a
donation, you can make checks out
to: ITF Chris Lowe and Karesha
Lowe. Send it to me at 1501 Broad
way, Suite 412, New York, NY
10036 or call 212-575-0876.
The funds are administered by
two of Karesha's teachers at Vaux
Middle School, Lynn Johnson and
Florence Johnson. Karesha and
Chris just settled in school for the
fall and after the necessary expendi
tures, there is $4,045 left in the
bank account.
"A sincere thanks for all of the
donations. Without the money, the
children would have been up a tree,
so to speak," the Johnson wrote.
But aside from the $50,000 and
the $6,025 in donations, an invalu
able present was made by the
Muncy State Prison officials who
allowed Karesha's mother, Cheryl
Casper, to attend the press confer
ence.
Those who donated would have
had tangible proof of their giving
had they seen the tears of joy and
pride burst loose from these mem
bers of a broken family.
Thanking all of us for doing for
her children what she was unable to
do, Casper said: "They will learn
and grow as long as people believe
in them and they have faith in
God."
Karesha wrote afterwards to
those who helped: "Not only have
you changed my life for the better,
but you also changed the lives of
my mother, my sister and my broth
er. I thank all of you from the bot
tom of my heart."
Those of us 'who gave, howev
er, got more out of it than her fami
ly. When you give, you get a feeling
you can't get doing anything else.