RJN get apology from Guilford school board
By DAMON FORD
TOBgHBONEH
Guilford County School
Board members apologized to the
N.C. Racial Justice Network at a
public forum last Thursday.
Several board members,
including chair Susan Menden
hall, admitted they dropped the
ball when they failed to discuss a
revised redistricting plan submit
ted by RJN after telling members
of the interracial civil rights
group that they would.
lite proposal was scheduled to
be discussed during ? February
meeting.
Ervin Brisbon, a member of
the Network said the gaffe by the
11 member board contributed to
the "passionate" outburst at
school board meetings on Feh. 22
and March 1 and the subsequent
arrest of 19 people on misde
meanor charges of disrupting a
meeting.
Brisbon said he wanted the
board to admit their mistake.
"I'm not here to ask that you
drop any charges," Brisbon said.
"I'm here to ask you to take on
some responsibility as to what
happened
"We were told (the plan)
would be discussed in a prelimi
nary discussion next week and
told it would be discussed another
week and another week and up to
this day we have not discussed it."
"I will admit we may not have
gotten it read in as quick of a time
as you wanted," Mendenhall said.
"There are many issues that have
not been addressed yet but we're
going to get to them."
After apologizing for the mix
up Mendenhall told Brisbon that
the board "would discuss these
concerns in our next work ses
i sion," which was held Monday in
High Point.
Besides the lengthy exchange
ova- the proposal that ended the
three hour meeting, the rest of the
night went smoothly. Two hun
dred and fifty residents attended
the forum held at Page High
School in Greensboro. Seventy
six people were signed up to speak
but like last Tuesday's meeting in
High Point, only three-fourths
See KJN on A10
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71 Winston-Salem Gheenseoro High Point North ?5to"na Roc*" , vol. xxv No. 31
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Saint* Ddlight Church stand* a* a stark reminder of tho dangar of Art. Jho church wa* torchod throo wtila ago.
Torched black church still in need of aid
# . fl
? By DAMON FORD
! THE CHRONICLE
Saints Delight Church is slow
ing recovering, says the Bishop
Evelyn Timmons, the church's pas
tor.
"I'm still getting calls," she
said. "I'm really wanned by that. I
preach the word of God and I have
to believe what I speak. I have
sewn into other ministries before
so now I'm reaping what I have
I sewn."
The church was destroyed by
fire March 14. Winston-Salem
Fire Department officials found
traces of chemicals at the site and
have determined that the fire was
intentionally set.
Officials still have no suspects
at this time,
The estimated cost to rebuild
the small church tops 5125,000.
Timmons says the congregation
would like a larger building built
on the present site on Barry Street
or somewhere in East Winston.
Like many other churches,
Saint's Delight was not insured,
which means Timmons and her
congregation will have to raise the
funds they need.
So far only $500 has been
raised. While she is thankful for
those who have given so far the
Greensboro resident knows more
dollars will be need to be generat
ed.
But help is on the way in the
form of the Congress of National
Black Churches, an ecumenical
group made up of eight of the
largest black denominations and
religious organizations.
In 1997 the Washington D.C.
based organization began a pro
gram to help rebuild churches,
particularly those destroyed. The
$12.8 million program was created
to help SO churches torched
churches rebuild.
Saint's Delight is number SO.
Not only has CNBC helped
rebuild churches but, according to
Phil Mason, director of planning
and evaluation for the church
rebuilding program, the organiza
tion has sent out packets of infor
mation to churches with tips on
how to better protect their build
ings and property.
"We encourage them to think
about adequately insuring their
buildings (too)," he said. "Nobody
can adequately guard against hate.
Hopefully we can adequately
guard against the manifestation of
hate"
Timmons Has been talking
with officials from CNBC for two
weeks to determine how much
insurance the new church will
need.
"That's going to based on what
we build and what square feet we
have along with other amenities
inside the building," she said.
CNBC will hold a special two
day conference in Winston-Salem
April 12-13. The site of the confer
ence has yet to be determined.
Pastors as well as political offi
cials from around the Triad are
being invited to attend the confer
ence which will serve as a rally for
the state's black churches touched
by arson.
CNBC will also hold work
shops on dealing with security
Sff Torched Church on All
r
1 1 1 ?
Coming out: 14 participate in Jabberwocl^
By JERI YOUNG
THE CHRONICLE
The air at the Anderson Center
was electric Saturday night.
Backed by the pounding
rhythms of Otesha, a group of
African-influenced drummers and
dancers, 14 young women swirled
across the stage.
Draped in miles of white silk,
satin and tulle, they twirled in intri
cate steps on the arms of escorts in
stylish tuxedos to a unique walk
choreographed by members of
Scarlet Lace, Winston-Salem State
University's dance team.
The 14 were being presented
during Delta Sigma Theta Sorori
ty's Jabberwock. The event, which
is held every two years, marks the
end of three months of intensive
classes and workshops on topics
ranging from hair and makeup to
how to fill out applications for col
lege. Participants were selected
from a pool of 27 applications
gathered from local public and pri
vate high schools.
"I hope it's a chance to bond
with women that they may not
have come in contact with but
through this Jabberwock," said
Denise Hartsfield, one of the
event's organizers. "But more
importantly, I hope this signifies
the importance of working to get
your own, to help yourself go to
college and how important it is to
go to college."
A major part of the pageant
revolves around college scholar
ship. Each participant receives a
portion of the money she raises in
the form of a scholarship. This
year's pageant raised more than
$30,000, Hartsfield said.
Pageant participants held
fundraising events and solicited
funds from friends and church
members.
But, the pageant was about
more than raising money. Harts
field said.
"Our first workshop was a pre
sentation workshop with represen
tatives from Maybelline," she said.
"Then we had etiquette, manners
and protocol seminar where we
actually went through table setting
- what fork and glass to use. We
did quizzes to find out what they
did know and taught them what
they didn't. The idea is to help the
participants improve themselves."
For some, Jabberwock marked
Set CoHIMow on A10
WSSU defends
movement of funds
By T. KEVIN WALKER
THE CHRONICLE
What appeared to be yet another towering mountain for Win
ston-Salem State University Chancellor Alvin Schexnider's admin
istration, is merely a mole hill, says one of the school's vice chan
cellors.
After the school's board of trustees raised concerns about the
transfer of a quarter-million dollars from the university's endow
ment fund to another account at its most recent quarterly meeting,
Clementine Cone, the vice chancellor of finance and administra
tion, says she is ready to work with the trustees to develop a set of
procedures that will prevent such concerns from arising in the
future.
"This is a procedural'issue. We need to have steps...A written
procedure that is understood by all parties," Cone said by phone
Monday from Dallas. "I'm not threatened at all by questions. (I'm)
accustomed to having things questioned."
Cone said $258,000 was moved from the $13 million endowment
fund - which is administered by the school's endowment board, a
sub body of the board of trustees - because it was erroneously
placed into the fund.
Cone says the money was "unrestricted funds''' and was put into
the endowment fund before she came to WSSU in the summer of
1997. Interest from the endowment fund is used for such things as ,
scholarships and professorships, Cone said. ??
After more than $100,000 of the "unrestricted funds" wound up
being used to fund a Joan to the athletic department, the board of
trustees learned that the money had beenHaken out of the endow
ment fund. - "
See WSSU n A10
NOW activist urges
-?
unity with blacks
"By T. KEVIN WALKER
TUC rUDOWIfl P
African Americans must unite with other minorities, women and the
homosexual community to mount a force strong enough to combat a pow
erful army of right-wing politicians and Christian extremists who are slow
ly but surely chipping away at the strides minority groups have made in civil
rights, a top official at the nation's largest feminist
organization told a group at waice rorest university
Tuesday.
Many groups and individuals who spout anti-gay
rhetoric, also have similar unkind words and feelings
toward blacks and women, says Kim Gandy, the exec
utive vice-president of the National Organization for
Women.
"There is a lot of overlapping. TTie racist groups
overlap with the anti-gay groups, and the anti-gay
groups overlap with the anti-abortion groups. They
are ail the* same enemies," Gandy said. "They are the
Qandy
same folks who opposed women's rights, rights for
people of color, and now the rights for the gay, lesbian, bisexual and trans
gender community."
Gandy did not stop there. She named names ? pointing to groups (ike
the Promise Keepers and Eagle Forum and popular religious figures like Pat
Robertson and Jerry Falwell. all of whom she said promote an agenda that
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