Hayes' 'media trial' opens pandora's box
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By T KEVIN WALKER
TwamamxB
Although nearly two weeks
stand between Roland Hayes Jr.
and the day he will enter a court
room to answer misdemeanor
charges, many African Americans
say Hayes has already received a
guilty verdict in the court of public
opinion.
The talk of the town is Hayes'
so-called "trial by press," a trial
where headlines and television
sound bytes can be more harmful
f
than any prosecutor, and the public
- the biggest and most important
jury of an-renders instant verdicts.
"We still need improvements in
the way African Americans are cov
ered (in the media). There is always
a tendency to rush to deal with the
negative and forget about the posi
tive,'' said the Rev. John Mendez, a
local pastor and community
activist who has taken media out
lets to task over the years for dis
paraging coverage of blacks.
Hayes, the son of Roland
Hayes, the county's only African
American District Court judge, was
died June 25 by the Winston-Salem
Police Department for solicitation
during a reverse-sung operation -
in which female police officers pose
as prostitutes - near Broad Street.
He allegedly offered two under
cover officers money for sex. Police
abo say they found marijuana in
Hayes'car.
Hayes was one of eight men
cited that day for solicitation during
the reverse sting, an operation
police say is one of the best ways to
combat drugs and prostitution in
areas thai have become riddled with
them.
In media time; word of Hayes' ?
citation crwvfed along at a snail's !
pace, not appearing on local televi
sion news broadcasts until the fol
lowing Tuesday and appearing in
the city's daily newspaper a day
later.
Hayes' name was the only one
that made the news News reporters
cited his connection to the city
county school system - Hayes is a
Stt Hayes an AlO
75 cents WlNSTON-SALEM GREENSBORO HlGH POINT Vol. XXV No. 45
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i6 n c room 1974 - Celebrating 25 Years - 1999
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WINSTON SALEM NC' 27101-2755
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Historic
Secret
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Photos courtesy JuaniUa Gwyn
Pauline Moore Hightower of Atlanta shore* a lough during a picnic at Tanglewood Pork. The picnic wtu part of a three-day family
reunion last weekend. Inset, Oeorgeonna Moore, left, the family's oldest surviving member, talks with Linda Moore.
Family uncovers mystery of lost legislator
? By JERI YOUNG
THE CHRONICLE
The Fourth of July is special
for the Moore family.
For the past two years, scores
of family members have gathered
each year on the nation's birthday
to talk about times long gone
The reunion marks a time of
profound sharing.
Babies are passed from person
to person and welcomed into the
fold. Spouses are introduced to a
host of far-flung relatives, And
during a special necrology, tribute
is paid to members who have
passed since the last gathering.
They came from as far away as
California and as close as East
Winston.
During the three-day gather
ing, elders share the family's long
history.
According to stories passed
down through generations of
Moores, the family roots begin
with the 1838 birth of a mulatto
slave named Alfred Philip Moore
in rural Fairfield County, S.C.
Bom to a black slave mother
and white father, Moore would by
the 1880s own a small piece of
land in Ridgeway, SC., and begin
a family that eventually become
the foundation of the Moore fam
ily- -
Moore and his wife, Mary,
who according to family lore was a
Native American, would have 10
children - seven sons and three
daughters - whose descendants
would fan out across North and
South Carolina.
For years, Georgeanna M.
Reed, the family's oldest surviving
member, quietly held a secret
about her grandfather.
During the 1870s, it was whis
pered, Moore was elected to the
S.C. General Assembly.
Reed, now 71, first heard sto
ries of her grandfather s years as a
legislator as a child growing up in
Chester SC. Her father, Dawson,
told stories of his father's years in
the General Assembly during fam
ily dinners and while he and the
children worked in the fields
"From a little girl I would hear
my father say that his father was
one of the first black senators
elected in the state of South Car
olina," she said. That was after the
time Abraham Lincoln freed the
slaves. After he served, there were
no more black senators or (repre
sentatives) until the 1970s."
For years, Reed didn't think
much of the stories, passing them
off as family myth. She had no
proof of Moore's service. Plus she
simply couldn't believe that in the
1870s a black man, particularly a
former slave, could be elected to
anything in South Carolina.
"You know it was kinda hard
to believe," she said, with a shake
of her gray curls, "especially with
all the stuff that we as black people
went through when I was growing
up in the '30s and '40s."
See Moor* <m A9
Awards day
*%? ? -
After 29 years, vet finally receives medals ,
By DAMON FORD ? >
THE CHRONICLE ^
? ? '
The military awards ceremony on Tuesday afternoon for
Michael Smith was simple.
There was no flag-waving throng. There was no band playing
"The Star Spangled Banner." . "i
Congressman Mel Watt, who represents the 12th District, said
a few words about Smith s heroism during the Vietnam War and
the diligence he showed in the years after the war ended in his
never-ending battle for recognition. , ,
For Smith, who served in the U.S. Navy
from 1968-1974, finally receiving the medals
for military service was more than enough.
It's been 25 years since the 49-year-old left
the service, and he was very proud to be pre
sented four military service medals by Watt as
a few friends looked on.
Smith's delay in receiving the medals was
frustrating. He has always known he deserved
them, but circumstances out of his control
kept him from being able to hold them in his Smith
; - hands.
He was all set to receive the medals after leaving the service, but
his records were lost. ( -
Smith says the problem began with a visit to the doctor. Tests
revealed that Smith suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder, a '
condition that affects thousands of Vietnam veterans. Symptoms
of PTS include depression, trouble falling asleep and paranoia.
The diagnosis meant Smith was entitled to receive monetary
compensation from the government, but the money never came
and neither did any of his awards.
See Medals on A10
Photo by Paxil Collins
The *??. lizzie Earline Green standi behind her burned home.
Pastor needs help in
repairing burned house
By ?AUL COLLINS
the Chronicle ; ?
The Rev. Lizzie Earline Green has served God and helped her
fellowman for years. Now she could use a helping hand herself.
Her modest home at 1412 E. Fifth Street was set on fire May 11.
A contractor has estimated the cost of repairing the damage at
S7,000 to $10,000, said Green, adding that the house was uninsured
and she cannot afford to make the needed repairs.
Omega Days Ministries, of which Green is director of outreach,
is asking the community to help.
A letter signed by Green and the Rev. Aaron P. Harris, the
founder and president of Omega Days Ministries, says that Green
"has been active in so many organizations in the community. She is
active in Antioch Christian Church... Freedom Road Prison Min
istry, Winston-Salem Ministry Conference, Black Leadership
Roundtable and voter registration. She (has) also been active in
helping the homeless and people in prison. With all of her needs,
we are asking if you could please extend your kindness. We would
appreciate any financial or labor you could extend to help us in
repairing Lizzie Earline Green's home. We would be very grateful
for any help you could extend. Any building materials and dona
tions are tax deductible. Also fire report available."
Harris said in an interview, "It's good for us black people to
rally around one another and show the love of Christ in our own
neighborhoods.....We need to get back where we look out for one
another...not just in tragedy, but all the time."
Harris said that Greene "is a real good person. She has a lot of
love in her heart. She cares about people in the community."
Sometimes she takes money out of her own pocket to help oth
Ser fire on All
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