0 2 019 6DA6 2
FORSYTH CNTY PUB LIB
NC ROOM
Winston- Salem Chi tnucie
C 00*7
-2755
North Carolina Room . .
fortyth County Public library.
js w?<t_Fify\SWeet .
77# Choice for African-American News and Information
? ? ?
ft
BER 26,1995
?' ( (</t s noihii/'it >ut a strni'i'lc
I rederick /)ougla s s
'8)
VOL. XXII. No. 9
A President Tatum questions reliability
of school bond referendum promises
By JOHN HINTON
Chronicle Senior Staff Writer
The Winston-Salem chapter of the NAACP has
declined to endorse the $94 million school bond ref
erendum that will appear on the Nov. 7 ballot
..... 'That doesn't mean that we are going out and
actively oppose the bond issue,'* said William H.
Tatum, the president of the local NAACP. "We are
just not going to support the bond."
The executive committee of the NAACP met
Tuesday night to decide its position on the bond
issue. The committee agreed on it's position by
majority vote.
Several members had concerns about the timing
of the repairs to schools in the black community and
the unpublicized locations of the proposed middle
schools, Tatum said.
'They are trying to rush this bond without giv
ing some of us pertinent information to support this
$94 million bond issue/' Tatum said.
Dr. Donald L. Martin Jr., the superintendent of
the Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools, said
that he was disappointed with the NAACP's posi
tion.
"I'm disappointed with any group that chooses
not to support our bond issue,44 Martin said. "If they
need more information, we will gladly provide it."
He added that the exact locations of the new
middle schools would be revealed publicly after the
Nov. 7 vote. Martin did say that 10 locations are
being considered within a 10-mile radius of down
town Winston-Salem .
Tatum said that the executive committee ques
tioned why repairs to the schools in the black com
munity were not included in the system's operating
budget. He further added that the school board and
school officials have done a poor job of selling the
bond package to African Americans.
'The NAACP could not accept the bond pack*
age in its current form/' Tatum said. "The umubtfi
are free to vote for the bond if they feel like they
have receive enough information about it**
School officials and board members have met
with blacks to discuss bond issue in recent weeks,
Martin said. The referendum is the approprirte way
to pay for replacing roofs that have a 20-year life, he
added.
Geneva Brown, Walter Marshall, both school
board members, and Virginia Newell will lead a
see NAACP page 2
St. Philip's Holds Reunion
? Artist Wilson speaks at tribute
By JOHN HINTON
Chronicle Senior Staff Writer
Fred Wilson's own ancestry in
Winston-Salem spurred his research
into the lives of slaves in Old Salem.
"I had to come because of my own
family connections/' Wilson said last
week before he recounted the legacy of
African Americans in Old Salem and at
the St Philip's Moravian Church.
"I was thrilled for the opportunity
to find my family."
The Southeastern Center for Con
temporary Art (SECCA), Old Salem,
and the St. Philip's Church held a love
feast and reunion at the sanctuary.
More than 50 blacks and whites
attended the event. Wilson is the third
participant in the SECCA's Pilot Artist
and the Community Program.
During the early 1800s, black
slaves worshiped with whites in St.
Philip's, Wilson said.
The white Moravians felt pressure
from the outside to conform and sepa
rate themselves from blacks who lived
here," Wilson said. The slaves and
freed blacks worked hard to make a
Old Salem a thriving community dur
ing the years before?he Civil War, he
added. ?"
St. Philip's opened its doors in
1861. It became the oldest standing
African American church in North Car
olina. The plot of land in front of St.
Philip's was a cemetery for strangers
* ?
see ST. PHILIP'S page 2
This Week in B Lack History
October 24,1923
Department of Labor
said some 500,000
blacks had left the
South in the
preceding
twelve
months.
Several participants (top photo) look at the roster of St.
Philip's Sunday School for the years, 1926*1940. Fred Wil
son, above, appeared at the love feast and reunion.
By JOHN HINTON
Chronicle Senior Staff Writer
Lela V. Gibbs has overcome the odds to become a
success in her field of psychology.
"I consider myself a role model for anyone who
thinks they can't do what they want to do," Gibbs said
last week. "If you want to achieve your goals, you must
a plan. You can't go at it haphazardly."
She raised three children mostly by herself and later
obtained a doctorate.
'I grew up with all the minuses that prevents most
women from succeeding in life," she said.
Gibbs* who spent part of her childhood living on
East 25th Street, was married at 16 and had three chil
dren when she reached 21. She later divorced her first
Gibbs Achieves Success Despite Obstacles
husband when she was 25 .
"I took my three kids and left the marriage." Gibbs
said. "I never got any child support."
She took nursing courses at Forsyth Technical Insti
tute in 1971 when her children - two girls and a boy -
were ages one, four, and six. She later worked a
licensed practical nurse.
"I used to read a lot when 1 was growing up," she
said. "It was an escape. I decided when I grew up, 1 was
going to get as much as education as I could."
Gibbs enrolled at WSSU and completed her studies
in three years. She graduated in the summer of 1977.
"If I could do that with three kids, I could do any
see GIBBS page 9
FOR SUBSCRIPTION INFORMATION PLEASE CALL 722-8624
I Aldermen OK Study
for Liberty Street Plan
By MAURICE CROCKER
Chronicle Staff Writer
The city's Board of Alder
men has approved a $125,000
contract for the design of the
Liberty Street corridor improve
ments.
"I do appreciate the fact
that we have gotten to this point
on the project." said Northeast
Ward Alderman Vivian Burke.
Burke says she is glad the
Liberty Street project is under
way because no money has
been spent to improve that area.
In January, the Board of
Aldermen adopted a Liberty
Street Corridor study prepared
by the city planning board.
The study extended from
the Southern Railroad tracks
just north east of Main Street to
the Smith Reynolds Airport.
The study recommended a
landscape designer be hired to
do a design study of Liberty
Street.
The study is to include the
following: l)a visual inventory
of Liberty Street; 2)develop
ment regulations for the pro
posed thoroughfare overlay dis
trict; 3) a detailed plan for the
urban boulevard concept
including recommendations for
public improvements; 4) design
guidelines for the two recom
mendations for gateways and
community focal point; S) rec
ommendations considering
views from U.S. 52.
HWe spent lots of money in
other parts of the city on mak
ing improvements, bill *e
haven't spent any incentives on
Liberty Street," Burke said.
Some of the public invest
ments approved by the Board of
see ALDERMEN pace 9
Panelists Discuss
Racism, Violence
By MAURICE CROCKER
Chronicle Staff Writer
As racial intolerance con
tinues to increase across the
nation, the Winston-Salem
YWCA held a panel discussion
in an effort to develop solutions
to the problems.
The topic of discussion was
the role of the media, and its
promotion of racism and vio
lence. The panel consisted of
local media members, who dis
cussed the impact of racism
and violence with local resi
dents.
Linda Brinson, editorial
writer for the Winston Salem
Journal. told audience mem
bers that she doesn't believe
people in the media deliber
ately try to encourage racism or
violence and sometimes scatch
a bad rap.
"I think it's like the old
saying, "Killing the messen
ger," or "being the barrier of
bad news," Brinson said.
Brinson feels the media is
important despite its criticisms
"I think if there is a rapist or
robber in the neighborhood,
then I think it is important that
we report that," Brinson said.
According to Brinson.the
media's role is not to be a
cheerleader, but to report the
news.
"The purpose of the media
see PANELIST page 2