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Aulhot M hooks talu wWi studonts during a visit to Woko for
I hooks: Blacks not taking advantage of leaders
By T. KEVIN WALKER
THEQ?<ynCLE
bell hooks brought her 'in
your face' style of feminism to
Wake Forest University Tues
day evening.
Her lecture was as diverse as
the faces of the hundreds of
people who packed the audito
rium to hear her.
It covered a vast number of
hot button issues, from racism
and sexism, to rap diva Lil'
Kim's appeal.
But before she tackled those
subjects, she first expressed her 1
delight at speaking at the uni
versity that Maya Angelou calls
home.
Unlike many African Amer
ican woman, Angelou has
always been supportive of her
work, even when she did not
agree with it, hooks said.
"Other black women have
been very harsh toward me in
terms of my work," she said.
The controversial author and
social critic ? who writes
under a pseudonym and spells
her name in lowercase to
underscore her misgivings
about stardom - began her lec
ture by calling for a return to a
"love ethic" in a society domi
nated by power, success and
money.
"We have a negative
response to love," she said,
walking the stage with a hand
held microphone. "I know no
one who has embraced love,
who has not been more fulfilled
by it."
hooks' next two books will
deal with the topic of love, she
said. The books will be a bit of
a transgression from her past
works, which include the Afio
feminist classic "Ain't I a
Woman: Black Women and
Feminism."
But hooks told the audience '
that she has always focused on
the topic of love, even though it ?
may have been hidden by fierce
social commentaries.
"I know a lot of you are say
ing 'that doesn't sound like that
hard-hitting bell hooks,'" she
said.
But inklings of that hooks,
See Hacks on AS
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75 cents v WlNSTON-SALEM GREENSBORO HlGH POINT North Carolina R'Om Vol. XXV No. 32
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6?0SwTs?N" Tq LIB 1974 ' Celebrating 25 Years - 1999
? WINSTON SALEM NC 27101-2755 ?-' - ?^ ?
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First year in bine
Photo by T. Kevin Walker
Stephen William* is beginning life as a rookie with the Winston-Salem PaUse Deportment. He's the first to admit he has a long way
to go, "As perfect as we strive to be, perfect we are not," he says.
Rookie begins new lite on iorce
The following is the first in an
ongoing series about Stephen
Williams. The Chronicle will fol
low Williams, a recent graduate of
the police? academy, through his
first months witlt the Winston
Salem Police Department.
/
By T.KEVIN WALKER
THE CHRONICLE
Like millions of adolescent
boys, the answer to young
Stephen Williams' fascination
with law enforcement was found
on the toy aisle of a local five
and-dime. There he discovered a
variety of cop accessories - from
realistic-looking gold and silver
<1
badges, to black holsters.
With a pair of plastic guns
and a set of bogus handcuffs, he
ran around his family's home
chasing imaginary criminals
while shouting a choppy version
of the Miranda Rights.
Years later, play time is over
for Williams.
The gun he carries today is
made of cold, hard steel. The
criminals that he pursues are real,
with impressive arsenals of their
own to prove it. His badge and
uniform are authentic, carrying
with them an immense sense of
responsibility and an oath to pro
tect and serve.
Williams turned his child
hood dream into a grown-up real
ity on March 19, as he stood gal
lantly, with 18 others, to take the
oath of office of the Winston
Salem Police Department. The
day was the culmination of a
nearly year-long process that
included a lengthy evaluation by
the department and months of
strenuous tests, both mental and 4
physical.
But before he would march
across the stage to receive a law
enforcement training certificate,
the 28-year-old would speak
before the packed house at Win
ston-Salem State University s
Anderson Center on behalf of all
of hisjclassmates.
He was the president of the
graduating class.
He thanked those who had
spent months teaching his class,
a bevy of sergeants, captains,
lieutenants and special patrol
officers. He thanked newly
installed Police Chief Linda
Davis, who sat by his side and
othej- city leaders scattered about
the auditorium.-While his wife,
Angela, looked on from the audi
ence, he thanked the families of
all the rookies for their love and
support.
During his speech, Williams
addressed a perception that
many have of police officers. Law
See Rookie on All
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Seale still fights myths about Panthers
By DAMON FORD
THE CHRONICLE
Bobby Seale is still on a mis
sion.
Twenty-five years after he
stepped down as the chairman of
the Black Panther Party of Self
Defense, the 66-year-old contin
ues to fight the myths that per
vade the minds of the general
public about the liberation group.
"You would be surprised how
many people out here still today
think of the Black Panther Party
as a quote unquote 'black mili
tant hate group,'" Seale said to a
room full of students at Winston
Salem State University.
What Seale told the students
during a lecture and what he has
been trying to tell countless oth
ers with whom he speaks, is that
the perception of the organiza
tion he co-founded in 1966 with
the late Huey P. Newton, was and
still is wrong. The group's '60s
slogan was never "black power"
and the Panthers weren't a bunch
of gun-toting thugs who had no
other purpose but to kill white
people.
Their real slogan, he says, was
"all power to all people."
"We saw ourselves as defend
ing our constitutional, democrat
ic. civil, human rights to organize
our people politically, to unite
their votes, to take the majority of
seats if we could in terms of polit
ical institutions like the city coun
cil," Seale said. "That's the way
we saw ourselves. We were a polit
ical party."
What they were able to do
from the mid-'60s to the early '70s
was help make blacks more polit
ically aware of their rights while
fulfilling needs with free food,
clothing and heath service pro
grams. The group's 10-Point Plat
form and Program fought for bet
ter housing and education and
called for an end to the exploita
tion of blacks by the government.
These facts, Seale contends,
have not been told and greatly
contrast the violent images that
have been painted of them in the
media. Even the 1995 film "Pan
ther," which attempts to tell the
story of the group, is discounted
by him.
"Ninety percent of what you
see portrayed on the screen in that
Sec S?al? on AS
No soup or salad?
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Four men claim they were
refused service at local restaurant
By T. KEVIN WALKER
THE CHRONICLE
: -I
Although Souper! Salad - a San Antonio-based chain of restaurants
known for its fresh salads and savory soups - has yet to celebrate its one
month anniversary at its new Winston-Salem location, four black men
have already charged some of the eatery's employees with racism, lead
ing to an investigation by the local NAACP.
Frederick Barnes, Denard Williams, Jeff McManus and John Sadler
- all employees of ALLTEL Communications - say they were prohibit
ed from eating at the restaurant during a special grand opening event for
employees at businesses near Souper!Salad's Hanes Mall Boulevard loca
tion.
The restaurant had given out invitations to local businesses, inviting
employees in for a free meal on March 26 at the restaurant, which is
located in the Pavilions Shopping Center, just a few stores away from
ALLTEL.
According to Barnes, he and his co-workers decided to go to Souper!
Salad after several ALLTEL managers came back from the restaurant
complimenting the food.
Before they reached the door of the restaurant, a female employee
asked for the men's invitations.
After they explained to her that they did not have invitations but that
they were ALLTEL employees, the employee at the door went to get
another female employee who told the men they needed invitations.
According to Barnes, the group asked the second employee why other
employees of ALLTEL were allowed to eat without invitations, simply
by saying that they were with the company.
But the employee insisted that the four needed an invitation to come
in
"We were ju$t disgusted. It was very belittling...It makes you feel like
you are nothing," Barnes said Tuesday. "Why did we have to have an
invitation and no one else had to have one?"
As they walked back to their office, the answer to that question
became quite obvious, Barnes said. ? ^
The ALLTEL employees that were let into the restaurant without
invitations were white - save one black female who went in with a group
of whites, Barnes said.
Barnes recalls seeing only two other black faces, both females in the
restaurant; . v
He says that outrage over their treatment, led them back to the
restaurant to speak with the pianager.
To avoid discussing the situation near the entrance of the crowded
restaurant, Barnes said they asked the manager if there was a private
place where they could talk.
The manager told the four men that she did not have such a place,
Barnes said.
Therefore, in a corner of the restaurant, she began to explain to the
men that the door greeter was told to do certain things to control traffic,
although Williams said there were no other customers coming into the
restaurant at the time.
The manger's explanation was interrupted by more explanations
from a training manager, David Cannon, who offered them an apology
and an invitation to come back to the restaurant at dinner.
. The fouf men declined the dinner invitation. They, instead, asked
Cannon for a formal apology and that some type of admonishment -be
given to the employees who had refused to let them in.
\"l think it shattered what little bit of confidence I had left in this soci
ety," Williams said. "It changed my whole attitude. My whole out
look...I'm keeping my guard up all the time." h,
Cannon promised that a formal apology would be issued to the men,
but two weeks later, they say they have received nothing.
"We hive not heard anything from them, not a word," Williams said.
Williams said that Cannon even admitted to him and his co-workers
that the incident was racially motivated, but did not confront his employ
? Sec No Soup on A10
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Reno honors students
Attorney General Janet tteno talk* wWi Temeshia Brown, a stu
dent at LtAP Academy. Temethia wot one of several student*
Reno honored during a visit to Winston-Salem, for full story tee
page A3.
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