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Winston-Salem Chronicle
The Choice for African-American News and Information
THURSDAY, MARCH 10. 1994
I 75 CENTS
/ ,?n (-/ , , ,/, s mulling xvithom a Mnitiylc." ? Frederick Douglass
VOL. XX, No 28
Committee to
Study Ways to Enhance
Liberty St.
By RICHARD L WILLIAMS
Chronicle Executive Editor
A few years back. Patterson Avenue was a shining
example of black business pride. But today, the many
black-owned shops that dominated the area have dissi
pated, leaving a row of unsightly vacant and boarded-up
structures; /
An advisory committee of mostly African-Ameri
can business owners is taking steps to ensure that the
Liberty Street business district does not meet the same
fate. It will begin meeting with city and county officials
next week to discuss ways to improve the appearance of
Liberty Street from Twelfth Street to Seventh Street.
The Liberty Street Corridor Study Citizens' Advi
sor)' Committee will hold an orientation meeting Tues
day at the Agriculture Building on Fairchild Drive.
About a month Ifater, on April 12. it will meet to identify
problems and opportunities tha; exist in the area and to
establish goals and objectives for dealing ith both.
Liberty Street is a major corridor to downtown and
it's unpleasant looking," East Ward Alderman Joycelyn
Johnson said. "As you come downtown at any other
major corridor, you feel comfortable. But this one need's
attention.
"We want to make it more aesthetically pleasing,.'
She said. Johnson said the other intent of the committee
is 'to* make sure that African-American business commu
rjjties are preserved.
She said she does not want Liberty Street to end up
like Patterson Avenue. She also cited Fourteenth Street.
?j&iiich was once a vibrant residential area, but nov* has a
lot of seedy vacant houses, many of which. are.not struc
turally sound and are boarded up. *
Johnson said that by giving Liberty Street a facelift
now, the community will be sustained in the future.
Improvements, she said, will also attract other service
oriented businesses to the area.
"We can't continue losing communities," she said.
Judy Hunt, principal planner with {he City-County
Planning Board, said there are both. problems and
opportunities in the area.
see COMMITTEE- page A4 .
It's Like Winning
The "Nobel Prize"
BVMark r MOSS
Chronirlc Staff Writer _
Among the highlights at the 11th Annual \\'\nston-Salem Chronicle
Award* Banquet Saturday night were the moral tales told hysioetryi -teller
Gran' Daddy Junebug. the rhythmic gyrations of the Otesha Creative Arts
-Ensemble and a defimngspeech delivered by the Chronicle's publisher.
But perhaps the least expected and cutest highlight of the evening was
Loretta C. Biggs', acceptance speech for being named co-winner of the
Woman of the Year award. Biggs, announcing that her voice was throttled
by the flu. turned the microphone over to her daughter. Jahmela. 13. who
earned a standing ovation after she read ? with the assuredness of a grow n
up ? her mother's thank-you speech.
The event, held at the Anderson Center at Winston-Salem State Univer
By DAYED L DDLLARD
Chroniclt Suff Writer
Dressed in early 1900s attire with
their faces painted white, 1 1 members of
the North Carolina Black Repertory Com
pany marched outside of the Winston -
? Salerr JournaLlasi week to protesi_a_
review written ?bout recent plays the
group performed in whiteface.
Larry Leon Hamlin, artistic director of
the Company said the protest was held to
protest because a review of the two plays,
"Old Judge Moseiu Dead* and "A Day of
Absence by Journal arts reporter Roger
Moore was insensitive if not outright
racist
: "I hope he was not being racist. I
would like to think that he's just naive,"
Hamlin said. "He has the right to write
what he wbnts and we also have the right
to respond to Pg= - .
Joe Goodman, managing editor of the
Journal , said the review sparked a
"healthy debate" and that the paper stands
behind Moore's review.
see REVIEW page A4
?
Cast members of "Days of Absence " and " Old Judge Mose is Dead" protest a recent review by Journal
sity. opened with the foot-tapping drum beats from Otesha, who offer as
authentic a taste of Africa as one can perhaps get from non-native Africans.
~ The banquet's tone was set by the Chronicle' s publisher Ernest H: Pittr
"These tthe honorees) are people who have dedicated themselves to
turning the tide, to making a difference." said Pitt, who like at least half of
the crowd was dressed in African garb.
^Tonight s honorees are newsmakers and movers and shakers. They are
leaders and legends ? luminaries who let their lights shine as beacons for
us ail. . . . Fortheirtnrless e (Toils; they: deserve mudrmore praise than we
could ever heap on them in one short evening. :
Although the stories, the issuer aad the personalities continually
change, our mission remains constant ? to paint a true picture of the
African-American community he said. "We aim to inform and inspire . . .
to enlighten and encourage. We strive to provoke thought and. when neces
sary. to challenge the status quo. In so doing, we sometime1 act as a catalyst
for change. Most importantly, we give African-American citizens a voice in
the communitv."
Pitt also paid homage to African Americans' "long history of communi
cating."
"We at the Chronicle . . . take pride in carrying on this tradition. The tra- ?
-dmon of the drummers who have captured the rhythm of life since ancient
times. The tradition of African griots, who are not only storytellers, but
keepers of history.
Gran' Daddy Junebug. alias Mitch Capel, appears to be following in the
long tradition of those griots.
Cape!, who is~acTuaiiy 39. but portrays a man more ilian twice that age,?
took to the stage wearing a rumpled hat. an old sport coat covered m mes
sage buttons and a long walking stick.
He fold humorous, moral tales in rhyming verse. Accompanying the
stones were such sayings as "Stand for something or you'll fall for any
thing." And. "Shucking it off and stomping it down." which was the moral
ditty for a story about a stubborn mule and a farmer.
Several people were honored, including the Man and co-Women of the
see MENDEZ page A3
Woodruff: Legacy Incomplete Until Black Male Groomed for Board
Mazie Woodruff
By DAVID L DILLARD
Chronicle Staff Writer
For years, Mazie Woodruff has
helped direct young blacks toward politi
cal positions, and now she wants a young
black male to sit on the Forsyth County
Board of Commissioners.
"I'm running for another term and
when it's over, I want a young black male
to be ready," she said. There hasn't been
a black man on that board and we must
push them."
Woodruff, a three-term incumbent
who has served on the board off and on
since 1976, was elected vice chairman of
the board in December and has taken a
stronger role since Chairman Wayne
Willard announced that he will retire after
his current term expires.
Woodruff, of 420 Bacon St., has
lived in the Boston/Kim berly area of East
Winston her entire life, and growing up
there introduced her to politics.
At the age of 18, Woodruff became
politically motivated by noticing inade
quate facilities in the neighborhoods. She
graduated from Atkins High School and
skipped college to take care of her family.
As a young mother, she joined with other
women in the community who wanted
playgrounds for their children.
"I would always ask questions about
everything," she said. "I saw the other
mothers in the city and they would go
asking (the city) for this and that, and
slowly they would get it and so I said I'm
going to be a part of this."
As a member of the local National
Council of Negro Women, she was busy
trying to find someone to run for city
council ? and she was their choice. In
1976, she won a seat on the commission
and also was a delegate to the Democratic
National Convention.
Woodruff was attracted to the board
of county commissioners because it over
see WOODRUFF pageA4
WHERE TO FIND IT
Business . . . .7T7. . . . : R1 0
Classifieds B12
Community News A4
Editorials A12
Entertainment Bll
Obituaries B9
Religion B8
Sports *B1
This Wrek In Black Histoky
March 9, ] 961, Clifton R. Wharton sworn in as ambassador to Nor
way. March 9, 1963, CaH T. Rowan named ambassador to Finland.
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