75 CENTS
32 PA
THURSDAY. AUGUST 19. 1993
"I'owcr <7 mcedes nothing without </ struggle." ? Frederick Douglass
VOL XIX, No 51
Winston-Salem Chronicle
WSSU graduate has plenty of Local track team founder retires
choices In pursuing career. A4 after decades of coaching. B1
Open Options Passing a Baton
ood" Leader
? ' V. ? .?// v? ? . ' ? . . . ,>.*?
Idier and an agitator
' Wall-to-wall, plush-blue carpet lines
i floor. A large, mahogany desk sits
decorated with disheveled gtsrk? of
apers and books ranging from philosophy
} poetry. A small statuette of Rodin*s
Black Lawmakers Wield
Power During '93 Session
By DAVID L. DILLARD
Chronic It Staff Writer
A possible state lottery, veto power
for Gov. Jim Hunt and other major issues
brought before the 1993 N.C. legislature
heavily rested in the hands of the state's
black lawmakers.
Many black legislators were instru
mental during the session that ended in
July, because they were key factors influ
encing not only issues of interest to*
African Americans, but also m^jor legisla
tion for the state.
Rep. Annie Brown Kennedy, D
Forsyth, said one big difference in African
Americans wielding an unprecedented
amount of power was the committment of
House Speaker Dan Blue, North Caroli
na's first black speaker.
"He appointed every African Ameri
can with more than one term of experience
(17) to chairmanship of a committee ? a
very influential committee," said
Kennedy, who chaired the House Courts
and Justice Committee. "The speaker sets
the tone for the House, and the chair sets
Ifce tone for the committee. Black legisla
tors are holding the power."
Blue flexed his muscles and got his
way as the House voted against giving
veto powers to the governor and having a
state lottery. He said black legislators
were crucial because of their positions.
"I put them where I thought they
could make a difference," Blue said. "We
looked at things that had an adverse
impact on others to make sure things were
fair and equitable to all citizens."
Blue said he was personally pleased
with the health-care reform, efforts to
reduce the infant mortality rate, and help
ing rn Hpyplnp "q ran of r<vgprtn?ihi1ity
among local school districts to truly edu
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"We got a lot of people to
understand things that
were important to the
black community .**
*-*ep. Wafflm "PmT Oldham
_ [ " " 1 '
cate their entire student body."
"I want to make sure this state is
moving forward, and that we're creating
jobs for everybody, and all citizens have
the opportunity to try to reach their God
given potential," he said.
Blue said his duties as speaker are
very broad, but he has not severed ties
with the black caucus and attends meet
ings when possible.
Rep. Frank W. Ballance, D- Warren,
and chairman of the state Congressional
Black Caucus, said Blue didn't turn his
back on the black community after
"Although he has a broad agenda to
wmm. . M'
uThe chair sets the tone
for the committee. Biack
legislators are holding thet
power. " . /
? Rep. Annie Brown Kennedy
deal with, he does not ignore issues that
impact heavily upon the black commu
nity," he said.
Redisricting two years ago boosted ?
the number of African-American legisla
tors from 19 to 25. Seventeen of the 18
blacks with more than one-term of experi
ence were appointed to head committees.
The increased number of blacks also
enabled them to have a stronger push for
issues they supported through the black
caucus.
"I think we got a lot of things done
this session," said Rep. Warren C. "Pete"
Please see page A3
NEWS WEEK
NEWS AT A GLANCE
Getting a Big Break
Randy Johnson has added several new books to
his reading list ? books on Malcolm X. Bui John
son is familiar with the slain human rights activist
? he's trying to get better acquainted with Mal
colm X*s daughter, Attallah Shabazz.
Complete story A4
Black Asst. Superintendent
Joseph Flanner Johnson said it was ego that
drove him into the field of education. Not ego of the
kind that's associated with vanity, selfishness and
conceit But the kind, Johnson explained, that makes
a man think that he can make a difference.
Complete story A7
WHERE TO FIND IT
BUSINESS ....... ......B9
Classifieds B13
Community News A4
Editorials A12
Entertainment B8
Obituaries Bll
Religion BIO
Sports B1
Tuts Wkmm In Blacs Haromr
August 21, J 831, Ike Nat Turner rebellion began in Scutkamp
County, Va. Some 60 wKites ? vert killed.
Financial Woes Plague School for Troubled Youths
A At-risk students to suffer most from cutbacks
By MARK R. MOSS
Ckrmidt Staff Writer
LIFT Academy, a school for trou^
bled youths in Forsyth County, will start
the new school year with a budget less
than half of what it needs to operate.
As a result, two teachers were laid
off and some students who may turn to
LIFT as the school year gets underway
may have to be turned away.
"If we don't have a staff aboard,
trained and ready to go to work now,"
said Earline Parmon, the academy's direc
tor, LIFT won't be able to accommodate
them.
Parmon explained that when a LIFTs enrollment was close to SO stu
school year begins, enrollment at the dents.
academy is low. When schools opens The goal of LIFT, which stands for
county wide on Monday, she will only Learning Is Fun Too, is to "mainstream"
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School Board Member Walter Marshall says the
school system should help fund LIFT Academy.
have a handful of students. But that num
ber will likely increase dramatically as
the school year proceeds. Last April,
three months before summer break.
students back into the educational system
after they have been expelled from the
regular schools, Parmon said.
Please see page A7
*
Youth Shot to Death After Dispute Over Gold Chain
By SABRINA JONES
Chronic It Suff Writer
Rainal Devon Williamson was an
active teen-ager. He frequently left his
home to hang out with his friends from
other neighborhoods. Last week he did
not return home.
Williamson, 17, was fatally shot on a
poison-ivy -covered path between Pendle
ton Drive and Ansonia Street early last
Thursday morning when a man began fir
ing on the teen-ager and his three friends,
as they sat on a porch of one of the apart
ments on Pendleton Drive, said police.
There have been no arrests.
Williamson's companion, Antonio
Lamont Abrams, 16, of Ansonia Street
was shot in the right leg and was treated
and released from Baptist Hospital. The
other two young men were uninjured. The
shooting reportedly followed an earlier
dispute over a gold chain between the
four teen-agers and another man.
A woman who lives on Fairchild
Road said that she saw the altercation
between the youths and a man who
wanted to exchange drugs for a gold
chain. *
"All of them ran up to the car ? the
boys wanted to get the chain first but the
man said no," she said. "They started
beating him up ? you could hear the
punches"
The woman, who asked not to be
identified, said that before the fight
Abrams suggested that the young men
instigate an argument She said that the
necklace Williamson was wearing when
he was killed was stolen off his body and
is being worn by one, of the youths who
was with him that night
"Something crazy happens every
night," she said. 'They need to ban this
whole place. I can't deal with raising my
son in this kind of environment"
Walter Marshall
Dead Over a Necklace
Yvonne Fair, 30, said she talked to
the young men'as they walked bock from
the altercation.
"I asked, 'Why did you do that to the
man,* and one ofjhem said, 'Why should
we buy it if we can take it,'" she said. "I
said, 'That's wrong. What if he had a
gun/ and one of them said 'That's the
way we live."'
"It was senseless. I thought the man
went about his business," she said.
"He (Rainal) was real sweet," Fair
said. "I couldn't believe he was the one
Please see page A3
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