r '•
A tribute to women who’ve done it all see special tabloid
itsWeek
.es leaving
arver?
Jowl champ
$ local visit
See A2
See B1 ^
Community
Census Road Show
races through city
•••
See A4
See Cl
Gov. Hunt visits
local school
Winston-Salem Greensboro High Point
Vol. XXVI No. 33
*••*****».,
112 062201
serials DEPARTMEa^T
CB #3938 DAVIS LIBRARY
UNC CHAPEL HILL
CHAfSL HIU iic 27514-8890
3-DIG,
Choice for African American News
RSDAY, MARCH 30, 2
Program teaches
residents ‘to
BYT. KEVIN WALKER
THE CHRONICLE
■ f*hotos by Kevin Walker
VS off her "Dream Book" at a graduation ceremony sponsored by the Housing
'OS one of more than four doxen who completed a course on positive thinking.
A lot of graduates would find it
totally unacceptable if a printing
error prevented them from receiv
ing their diplomas on graduation
day. But when you’re graduating
from a program that teaches opti
mism, you accept the fact that
often obstacles arise, be it flawed
diplomas, financial problems or
job layoffs.
More than 60 public housing
residents graduated from the Posi
tive Perception Programming
workshop Saturday. They received
generous applause from the crowd
that gathered at Martin Luther
King Jr. Recreation Center for the
event and congratulatory hand
shakes from city housing authority
officials, but not their certificates of
achievement, which should arrive
in the mail by the end of this week.
Positive Perception Program
ming teaches individuals how to
deal with change and develop and
maintain a positive outlook on life.
The sessions were led by Mind
Development Institute (MDI), a
private consulting and training
firm that has worked with several
housing authorities around the
country.
The program was part of the
housing authority’s Family Self-
Sufficiency Program, which also
includes seminars on such things as
home ownership and finances.
Much of the self-sufficiency
program is funded through Hope
VI, an initiative by the U.S.
Department of Housing and
Urban Development to improve
the look of public housing and to
improve the quality of life for peo
ple living there.
“There is no other program like
Hope VI,” said J. Reid Lawrence,
executive director of the housing
authority. “Hope VI gives you all
these opportunities. It’s up to the
residents to take advantage of
See Graduates on A2
J. Reid Lawrence, executive
director of the city's Housing
Authority, congratulates the
graduates and ^ives them a pep
talk.
gressive’ Methodists vow to fight racism, status quo
1 representatives
0 make progress
ur before the
ting of Black
lurch Renewal
i was shown to
i’s delegates on
screen in the
f the Adam’s
za.
licted a Texas
, that months
irge of extinc-
church’s mem-
attending ser-
ch itself was in
lift.
revolution
1. The church’s
:ach out to the
lity, establish-
igram for the
e church. They
of the church
ing guest pas-
p the choir by
■hed dances,
worked. The
cent service at
the church where parishioners
had to struggle to cram into the
sanctuary. The narrator summed
up the theme of the video, and in
many ways the theme of the
annual meeting, in a few short
words: “It’s not your parents’
Methodist church anymore.”
Many members of the group
called the four-day meeting one
of the most progressive gather
ings to date. By the time the event
ended Saturday, topics like abuse
in teen-age relationships, cyber
space and economic empower
ment for African Americans had
been covered.
Last Friday the hierarchy of
Black Methodists for Church
Renewal stepped into a contro
versial local issue when it passed
a resolution condemning the city-
county school system’s redistrict
ing plan, which replaced cross
town busing with a school choice
plan.
The choice plan has led to the
deterioration of racial integra
tion at many of the system’s
See Methodist on A2
BMCR: School plan
against the ‘Gospel’
BY T. KEVIN WALKER
THE CHRONICLE
From right - Revs. James Ferree, McCallister Hollins, Carlton Evers-
ley, Donald Jenkins, Julius Del Pino and Johnathan Keaton joined
other pastors at a news conference to announce a resolution con
demning the local school system's redistricting plan.
The Rev. Donald Jenkins of St. Paul United Methodist Church has a
laugh with members of his choir, minutes before the choir sang at the
closing ceremony of an annual meeting for black Methodists.
Black Methodists for Church
Renewal (BMCR), a sub-group
of the 3.2 million-member Unit
ed Methodist Church, has joined
the 3.6 million-member Presby
terian Church (USA) in criticiz
ing the city-county school sys
tem’s redistricting plan.
The black Methodists orga
nization passed a resolution at
its annual meeting here last week
supporting the efforts of groups
that are fighting to end the redis
tricting, which began to replace
cross-town busing with a school
choice plan in 1995. The redis
tricting plan has led to many
schools becoming segregated.
“This issue is not only an
issue locally, but one of national
concern as well,” said the Rev.
Carlton Eversley, pastor of
Dellabrook Presbyterian Church
in Winston-Salem.
Eversley, who also chairs the
local NAACP’s Education Cau
cus. has been the leading voice
of opposition to redistricting.
He got the Presbyterian Church
(USA) to pass a similar resolu
tion last July.
The Methodist resolution
was introduced by the Rev. Don
ald Jenkins of St. Paul United
Methodist Church of Winston-
Salem.
Eversley says the Methodists’
support gives the NAACP
momentum as it moves forward
with a planned lawsuit against
the school system. Among other
things, the lawsuit will charge
that redistricting has been to the
detriment of many black chil
dren in the system.
Officials with Black
Methodists for Church Renewal
said they will take the issue to
the annual United Methodist
meeting this May in Cleveland.
Whether the United
Methodists will contribute
financially to the lawsuit is yet
to be determined. Bishop
Jonathan D. Keaton, one of the
See Resolution on A5
home park
0 pay $60,000
mination case
a mobile home park in Alamance
pay more than $60,000 in dam-
|lties last week for allegedly refus-
omes and rental lots to African
;son a home because of their race
fson a share of the American
r C. Holton, the U.S. attorney
strict of North Carolina. “This
s the importance of vigorous
XFair Housing Act.”
he Department of Justice, a com-
U.S. District Court in Greens-
See Mobile home on A4
City hosts Chi Eta Phi meeting
BY FELECIA P. MCMILLAN
COMMUNITY CORRESPONDENT
More than 300 nurses from seven states
attended the 47th annual Southeast
Regional Conference here last week. The
local Chi Chi chapter, chartered Sept. 23,
1978, at Emmanuel Baptist Church, host
ed the three-day conference at the Adam’s
Mark Winston Plaza Hotel March 23-26.
Attendees came from places as close as
South Carolina and as far as the Virgin
Islands.
Chi Eta Phi Nursing Sorority Inc. is an
international organization of registered
nurses and nursing students. Nationwide
there are 79 chapters. The two-fold pur
pose of the organization is to elevate the
nursing practice and to increase interest in
the field.
Elleton “Mickey” McCullough, RN,
MSN, coordinated the conference.
Employed at the Forsyth Medical Center
at the Women’s Center, she is serving her
second term as director of the Southeast,
the largest of the regions. “My job is to
galvanize the chapters and aim them
through their projects in the coming year.
My goal is to make them more visible to
the community and to help aspiring lead
ers to move forward,” McCullough said.
Robbie Irvin is the president of the
local Chi Chi Chapter. Among the many
community service activities the chapter is
involved in are encouraging continuing
education and giving awards annually
through local and national scholarships to
nursing students. The featured speaker for
the Anita K. Bass Scholarship Luncheon
on Saturday was Dr. Mary T. Perkins, RN,
director of nursing of the Brenner Chil
dren’s Hospital, a subsidiary of N.C. Bap
tist Hospitals Inc.
See Nurses on A9
Photo by Felecia McMillan
Two members of the Chi Eta Phi Nursing Sarority talk in the lobby
of the Adam's Mark Winston Plaza Hotel. About 300 members of the
group were in town last week for the Southeast Conference.
FOR SUBSCRIPTIONS CALL (336) 722-8624 • MASTERCARD, VISA AND AMERICAN EXPRESS ACCEPTED •