PhataobyT&vtelMkar
"1 love a good
fight. Too bad
the challengers
didn't show up."
- Armstrong
WUMams
,A 1 . i
Kinder, gentler Williams touts family values 11
By T.KEVIN WALKER
TreCWOMOjE
Hdcame in like a lamb and left
the same way.
Armstrong Williams, a nation
ally known black conservative,
kept his much criticized political J
views to himself during a weekend
speech he delivered at a youth
summit.
A kinder, gentler Williams
touted the value of a good spiritu
al upbringing, gradually winning
over a small crowd during his 15
minute, sermon-like speech.
"I never thought that growing
up in 1999 with a mother and a
father would be a luxury,"
Williams said Saturday during the
Second Annual C Kids Day Sum
mit.
Williams, 40, often referred to
his own childhood in order to
draw stark parallels between the
way things were and how they are
now.
He told the audience that he
grew up on a tobacco farm in
Marion, S.C., where his parents -
James and Thehna - never argued
or took opposing sides in front of
him and his siblings. His parents'
marriage was based on respect
and a mutual commitment to raise
morally responsible children, he
said. Williams said his parents
remained committed to each other
until the day James Williams
passed away.
"Marriage is too easy today,"
Williams said, drawing "amens"
from the crowd. "We marry
because somebody looks good or
has a nice body."
Williams did tread lightly into
a heated political topic when he
told the crowd about the many
guns his parents kept in tbeir i
house.
In Washington, the city
Williams now calls home, Democ- *
rats and Republicans in the U S,
House of Representatives have
been rumbling for the past week ?
over a bill that would make it
tougher for young people to get I
guns.
"We had guns, but my father
never had a safety lock or a glass
case," he said. "My parents said if
you touch them...you*ll loose a
See Wilioms on AH
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75 cents WlNSTON-SALEM GREENSBORO HlGH POINT Vol.XXV rto.39
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^TstSTt Tq LIB a 2756 1974 - Celebrating 25 Years - 1999 H'-gton-Satem, NC 27101
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Robinson sparks
fireworks at
"
budget meeting
By T. KEVIN WALKER
the chronicle
Add City Hall to Winston-Salem's growing list of
playhouses. The drama, or comedy, that premiered
there this week could easily rival any currently show-.
ing at The Little Theatre.
Alderman Vernon Robinson stormed out of the
board of aldermen budget hear
ing Tuesday night after the
chairman of the board's finance
committee said he was "out of
order" for suggesting financial
malfeasance was rampant at a
local nonprofit'agency. Robin
son's departure came after he
unleashed allegations from an
unnamed source that accused
Twana Wellman, the executive
-t director of Experiment. m Scif
Rehance. of misusing funds.
"Ms. Wellman, it's been alleged that as ESR
director, you used ESR credit cards for (use) other
than ESR purposes," Robinson told Wellman, whoA
had just pitched the agency's successes to the board. . ?1 .
Robinson alleged that Wellman purchased tires
on the agency's credit card, a charge he says an ESR
A See Robinson on A9'
" ? j
Hundreds attend
rally for schools
By T.KEVIN WALKER " '
THE CHRONICLE ;
The city's most
famous resident urged
?v hundreds of people to
actively work to better
the racial climate during
a rally Monday.
"It is better to light a
match than to curse the
darkness," Maya
Angelou said at an anti
school redistricting rally
at Reynolds High
,v* School. The rally was
sj billed as one of the first
grassroots challenges to
; the school system's con
troversial redistricting
v.: plan.
Rally organizers say
they fear that the redis
?.* tacting plan, which
X replaced cross-town bus
Angelou
See Rally on A4
A Capitol L
matter j
. ? ...? ... ?
Photos by T. Kevin Walker
ttvk HiipiMif posses out picket sign* to members of the Uberian Organisation of the Piedmont before last Thursday"s ratty. LOP joined liberian orga
nizations from across the nation at the event, which oiganamrs ho/90 wrfF roue cvworonosi of the plight ?tf refugees front the smoff AAvcon notion*
Local Liberians take battle to Washington
By T. KEVIN WALKER
THE CHRONICLE
? > '
WASHINGTON, D.C. -
Their bloodlines shaped and
molded the latter part of the
century, and their last names
have become synonymous'"with
progress and equality. (
For thousands of Liberian
\ refugees facing the possibility of
deportation from this country,
U.S. Rep. Patrick Kennedy, D
R.I., and Martin Luther King
III are among the oqly voices of
hope left in a nation determined
. >??
to force them out.
* The two men spoke here last
Thursday at an outdoor rally
aimed at persuading Congress to
pass legislation that would grant
more than 9,000 Liberians per
manent resident status in the
United States.
Kennedy is the nephew of
the late John and Robert
Kennedy and one of the
youngest members of the House
of Representatives. King is the
son of the slain civil rights
leader and the new president of
the Southern Christian Leader
ship Conference.
They awakened the sleepy
crowd of several thousand and
whipped it into a frenzy during
their back-to-back speeches.
Evoking memories of the lega
cies from which they come, the
men spoke with passion and
conviction, often making refer
ences to liberty, equality and jus
tice. .
"1 want to make sure that we
in this country live up to the
greatness of this country.. .The
Liberian community has more
than earned its right to be called
Americans. The Liberian com- .
munity has paid the price,"
Kennedy said from a makeshift
* stage erected in front of the
elaborate water fountain in Cen
ter Park.
The rally, which stretched for
nearly five hours, was originally
scheduled to take place in the
Upper Senate Park, but due to a
scheduling conflict the location
was changed to the nearby loca-'
tion at the last minute.
?) The crowd, which was made
. <
Set Liberian* on A10
Lowrance grads look
forward to future
By DAMON FORD
THE CHRONICLE
/
/
Graduation day is always a special day as parents and students
alike celebrate the work that has been achieved and look forward to
the future.
That feeling was no less evident in the voice of Robin Allen, who
was getting ready to watch her son R.J. graduate Monday from
;, Lowrance Middle School, a school designed for special needs chil
dren. R.J. and 26 of his peers said goodbye to classmates at
Lowrance and hello to the new challenges that lie ahead at South
Park High School, another special needs educational institution.
"I feel pretty good," Allen said. "I'm confident with where he's
going."
Allen first met RJ while she worked at Lowrance seven years ago.
"He just grew on me," she said.
A couple years later, with the approval of the state as a thera
SrrOrods onAl]
Photo by Damon E. Ford
|J. proparol for graduation Monday at Lowronc* Middla School.
Tho riling ninth-grodor wo* ono of Mvtral itvdonti who rocohrod
and trophirt during tho COCOWOOy.
Tearful goodbyes for
graduates, faculty at
Hill Middle School
By JERI YOUNG
THE CHRONICLE _
?
Graduation day was bittersweet for students at Hill Traditional
Academy.
During the almost two-hour-long ceremony, students from all
grades were honored for a host of achievements, from perfect atten
dance to participating in Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association's
annual essay contest.
The awards came as no surprise to most of the winners. Dressed in
their Sunday best, a large portion of Hills 400 students were seated on
the floor of the school's gymnasium. As flashbulbs from proud parents
lighted the bleachers, one by one the students marched up to receive
SrrHiN At 3
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