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Winston-Salem Greensboro High Point Vol. xxiv No. so
Vol. XXIV No. 40
The Chronicle
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The Choice for African American News and Information ?rmoU addr??; w5chronQn*tvnlimit*d.n?t
Greensboro takes 'Night Out'
By DAMON FORD
THBCI?C1I
Hundreds of people across Greensboro
came out of their homes to take part in the
National Night Out last week
Greensboro Fohoe Chief Robert White
and law enforcement officers were at various
sites in the neighborhoods mingling with resi
dents and talking about how to better serve
"A part of National Night Out is really an
attempt for the residents to know each other
so they can establish relationships, so when
things are occurring in their neighborhood
they look out for each other and is turn they
rstahlish the tame type of relationship with
the police officers and they call us," W hite
said. "When somebody goes out of town they
tell the other people they are going out of
town so the residents can look out for each
other in their homes. We're not out here 24
hours and seven days a week so we are count
ing on the residents to hdp us do our jobs,"
Eighty-year-old Helen MiQs has paitks
pated in "Night Out" for several years and
says it has had a positive impact on her neigh
borhood.
"It's been going for quite a number of
ycara," the said. "It main a difference. We
should have more get togethen so we caa get
to know each other."
Mills is a member of the Ole Asheboro
Street Neighborhood Association which
sponsored a site She says she's lived in this
area for over 50 yean and is disturbed by
some of the changes in her neighborhood.
Crime has become more prevalent, she said.
J*lt did get worse but it's better now," she
White, who took office in June; spent the
evening traveling to sites throughout Gieens
Set Mght cm A11 J
Pilgrimage
makes its way
to Winston
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By DAMON FORD
The amoNictE
A group of modern-day pilgrims taking a year to
trace the path of slavery over three continents will visit
Winston-Salem this weekend
Members of the Interfaith Pilgrimage of the Mid
dle Passage have traveled
hand reds of miles since
the event began two
iponths ago in Massachu
setts.
2^ The marchers say their
journey is designed to
hrinor Africans whtf lived
as slaves or died as. cap
tives on harrowing voy
ages to the Americas,
known as the Middle Pas
sage.
"I've done more crying
since the pilgrimage start
- ed than I have in the last
10 years," said Aaron
Jones. 27. of California.
one of 58 pilgrims that traveled to North Carolina.
The Rev. John Mendez, pastor of Emmanuel Bap
tist Church, says the arrival of the marchers will be
gpdd for the city.
"I think it's long overdue," he said. "It's a real plus .
in bringing about healing in the African American
community. Much of the racism we face today comes
, from this holocaust. People should come out and sup
, port it."
The marchers will discuss their experiences on the
. road at Emmanuel Saturday and participate in a press
conference Friday at the City Visitors Center.
The pilgrimage started in Amherst, Mass., in late
May. Marchers will make stops at sites where lynch
mgs took place, slave auctions were held or where
slave quarters once stood. While at the sites prayers
and spiritual offerings will be given. Participants will
, walk almost 15 miles a day.
* The group plans to sail from New Orleans to some
Caribbean islands in November, then on to Brazil and
Senegal. The pilgrims plan to arrive in South Africa
next May.
Not all the travelers have walked the entire route,
ifieme started in Massachusetts, dropped out for a
-while, and rejoined the group farther south. Some
bttftrted after the group left New England. Others
walked a section of the route and returned to their
! homes and jobs.
Already, the group has prayed at former slave auc
TkSn sites and lynching trees and passed through sta
tions of the Underground Railroad.
r ? In Winston-Salem, the group will visit Old Salem,
Cone of the state's oldest slave holding communities
4nd tour Happy Hill, which was founded more than
ifOO years ago by emancipated slaves from Old Salem.
X - "This is a journey that most people of African
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Redistricting yields
imbalance in funding
, By KEVIN WALKER
Per THE CHRONICLE
Participation by parents in the PTA and other
volunteer programs is minimal at the city's predom
inantly African American schools, a recent report
concluded.
The equity committee, a group of more than a
dozen teachers, parents and community representa
tives, presented its ^findings in an annual report at
last Tuesday's city-cbunty school board meeting.
The school board formed the committee nearly
four years ago to look into issues of equity after the
implementation of the system's controversial redis
tricting plan.
That 1995 plan virtually eliminated busing in
favor of neighborhood schools, but the school
board vowed to make a commitment to racial inte
gration. ?
A commitment, the report suggests, that is not
being lived up to.
"We see great value in maintaining integrated
schools and we urge the board to take steps to con
trol this trend toward one-race schools," the report
states.
Using the results of a questionnaire sent to
principals at 14 elementary schools, the committee
found, among other things, that many schools with
See PTA on A10
YMCA's
Orange heads
to Cincinnati
Winston Lake director
named vice president
By DAMON FORD
THE CHBOMCtE
After seven years of service as Executive Director
of Winston Lake YMCA, Marcellete Orange is leav
ing.
"The excitement is there for a new opportunity but
it's also a sad day," she said. "This has been my home
for seven years. I've grown to know the people in the
city and the Y. I'm going to miss them. I'm leaving my
heart here."
Orange was recently named Associate Vice-Presi
dent of Operations of the Greater YMCA of Cincin
nati. She will supervise six of the Cincinnati's 21
YMCAs.
Her last day is Aug. 17.
"You hate to lose someone like her, but you have to
feel good about the new opportunities given to them,"
said Brian Cormier, President/CEO of YMCA of
Greater Winston-Salem. "For seven years she's done a
fine, fine job over there."
YMCA officials have already begun a national
search for Orange's replacement and hope to fill the
slot by early November.
"We're looking for someone who will garner
strong community relationships and will improve
membership and participation numbers," Cormier
said. "We also want them to be able to keep a strong
program base."
Orange's impact was immediate. When she walked
through the dopr of the Winston Lake Y in 1991, a
$302,000 deficit awaited her. But Orange didn't let
that faze her.
"Within five years I've paid that deficit off," she
said. "In the same time we've used half a million dol
lars for renovations and new equipment. We're still
upgrading."
During her tenure, membership at the Y has
increased 57 percent. Now more than 900 local resi
dents are members of the Y and countless more par
ticipate in Winston Lake's unique programs. With the
help of a competent staff she has been able to start
and keep programs like the Annual Character Devel
opment Summer Games rolling.
"We had a good foundation of programs when I
came," Orange said. "I just tried to enhance the pro
grams we already had - increase the quality of them."
She says the toughest part of leaving is the chil
dren, many of whom she's worked with since they
began in Winston Lake's preschool program.
"There are so many," she said holding back tears.
"This is hard because the kids are real special to me. I
% don't know if I can say that there is one thing that
c 1 ? v
Sep Qronoa on A9
Black Bethanians vow to fight decision
i! J
By KEVIN WALKER
For THE CHRONICLE ;
All her life, Lillian Miller has been a res
ident of Bethania, a small historic town
tucked between Forsyth and Stokes coun
ties.
Miller, a soft-spoken elderly woman,
remembers when the old dilapidated school
house down the road from her used to be
filled with young, smiling black faces.
With a twinkle in her eye, she can easily
recall walking with her grandmother
through paths and woods to get to the then
one-room Bethania AME Church.
Like her parents and their parents
before them, Miller expected to spend all of
her life in this historically black region of
Bethania. But now, that is unlikely.
The Bethania that Miller and many
other African Americans call home is no
more, according to the N.C. Supreme
Court.
Miller was not a part of the suit, but
says the decision hurts.
"I would rather be a part of Bethania,
but I don't think we have a choice now,"
Miller said.
The court's decision, handed down on
July 30, gave the city of Winston-Salem the
go ahead to annex nearly 1,300 acres of
land once considered Bethania. Among the
annexed acreage are the Oak Grove and
Washington communities, as well as other
black areas within the town.
It was also the latest round in a bitter
legal battle that had pitted many of Miller's
neighbors in the town against one another.
The saga began in 1994, the year the
Winston-Salem Board of . Aldermen
approved a plan to annex the town. State
law prohibits the annexation of incorporat
See laltionlo on A10 1
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