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10 supporters of a sweeping
le complexion of an area of
4 on members of the Board
)nday as they gave the plan
voted 7-1 to approve a rede
velopment plan for the
area of Liberty Street
and Patterson Avenue on
the outskirts of down
town. The board’s
endorsement will make
the revitalization effort
eligible to receive certain
types of state and federal
funding. The redevelop
ment effort is projected
to cost between $16 mil
lion to $17 million,
atterson plan is being spear-
loler Community Develop-
ich was formed by Goler
Zion Church in response to
lopment interest in the area.
a the heart of the area being
an.
See Goler on A5
Community
Afarewdl to star
Hden Martin
Winston-Salem Greensboro High Point
DJShifynneOde
wins oyer fans
Vol. XXVI No. 36
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3-DIGIT 275
The Choice for African American News
THU RS D AY,
Photo by Cheris Hodges
Erica Johnson chose
to take a glitzy
approach to styling
her model's hair at
a hairstyling contest
earlier this week.
Johnson fashioned
the back with black
feathers.
Turning heads
BY CHERIS HODGES
THE CHRONICLE
Cosmetology and barber school students
from across the state got a chance to pW their
knowledge to work in a competition at the N.C.
State Beauticians and Cosmetologists Associa
tion Inc. ’s 61 St annual state convention.
The competition was just one of the many
benefits students receive from attending the con
vention, said Reba Kennedy, director of student
competition for the group.
■ “It gives them a chance to build their confi
dence level up,” she said.
Kennedy added that competition is a major
See Hair stylist on A9
‘Where’s Mike?’
some locals ask
BYT. KEVIN WALKER
THE CHRONICLE
By the time the May 2 pri
maries roll around, Forsyth Coun
ty will have been well-treaded by
candidates seeking the state’s high
est offices.
But in local Democratic circles,
one gubernatorial candidate’s low
profile here during the primary
season has become an intriguing
sidebar to this year’s election saga.
The number of events Attorney
General Mike Easley has attended
in Forsyth County varies from one
to six, depending on whom you
ask.
Easley’s closest competitor, Lt.
Gov. Dennis Wicker, has become a
fixture here, making at least four
non-fund-raising appearances
within the last two months.
Most recently, Wicker
addressed a small crowd at the
county’s Democratic Convention
Saturday at the Sawtooth Building.
Easley was a no-show, although he
was invited to speak.
A top elected Democrat on
hand for the convention said
Easley’s absence in the county has
caused quite a bit of speculation
among cal party faithful.
“Eve heard many reasons why
he hasn’t been in Forsyth County a
lot,” said the official, who asked
not to be identified.
Some have speculated that
Easley may
feel that
Forsyth
County is
unfriendly
territory
because
Wicker seem
ingly enjoys a
great deal of
support here,
especially
among politi-
cally-promi-
nent African
those
allies
Easley
Americans. Among
Wicker’s camp counts as
are former legislator and
treasurer of the county’s Democra
tic Party Annie Brown Kennedy
and Alderman Fred Terry, who
serves as chair of the local party’s
resolutions and platforms commit
tee.
Others say Easley’s fund-rais
ing endeavors have been more vig
orous here than his public appear
ances.
See Easley on A1C
br: Youths shouldn’t be
ho capti-
’d at
an
young
mot be
mpletely
to lives
nd crime
ER
who managed
Ution of a mil-
1 years ago in
no trouble riv-
several hundred
a last week,
arly 30-minute
speech, Ayinde Jean-Baptiste, a
fiery 17-year-old orator who was
one of the highlights of the Mil
lion Man March, talked the
crowd at the NAACP’s 24th
annual Ereedom Fund Gala into
moments of deep reflection and
raucous applause. Most of
Jean-Baptiste’s words were tai
lor-made for the theme of this
year’s gala - “Through the eyes
of our youth: race, culture,
humanity.”
But Jean-Baptiste, who is a
freshman, at Harvard University,
did part from the theme long
enough to talk about the ongo
ing debate in South Carolina
over the Confederate flag.
“We as black people cannot
(stand for) the flying of the
Confederate flag on any public
property,” he said as members of
the audience applauded. “The
only place we want to see this
flag is in a museum.”
Jean-Baptiste called on
adults to help young people
from straying down the road of
crime and underachievement.
Oftentimes, he said, young peo
ple are unfairly blamed for the
negative predicaments many of
them find themselves in. •
“We should not be scape
goated,” Jean-Baptiste said. “We
cannot solely fault youths who
(are) out of control. Somebody
failed to teach them control.”
Jean-Baptiste credited his
family for his success over the
years. He tested above high
school levels at the age of 6 in
many courses and has taken his
inspirational messages onto talk
shows like “Oprah” and the
“Today Show.” He has also
shared the podium with such
luminaries as President Bill
Clinton, Minister Louis Far-
rakhan and the Rev. Jesse Jack-
son.
Jean-Baptiste also attended
the famous preparatory school
founded by Marva Collins in
Detroit. He borrowed a quote
from Collins during his speech:
“Students don’t fail,” he said.
“Teachers do.”
For young people who do not
have a strong family presence,
the village must step in and
become surrogate family mem
bers, Jean-Baptiste said.
“If they don’t have the struc
ture they need. It’s up to us to
be the cousins, the uncles, the
aunts...,” he said.
Jean-Baptiste joked to the
crowd that if he were to talk
about all the issues that were on
his mind, then his speech would
last a very long time. He did,
however, manage to touch sever
al topics not directly related to
his overall focus. He talked
briefly about the destruction of
the rain forest, depletion of the
ozone layer and about a prison
work force that is thriving
because of black male labor.
He called for an end to the
practice of prisoners producing
products for multimillion dollar
companies and reaping no bene
fits from work, a practice that
some have likened to slavery.
“We must raise our voices
See Speaker on A10
Photo by Kevin Walker
Harvard University student and renowned speaker Ayinde Jean-
Baptiste signs autographs after his speech at last week's NAACP
Freedom Fund Banquet.
WFU students volunteer at agencies
BY PAUL COLLINS
THE CHRONICLE
Photo by Paul Collins
feke Forest freshman, helps Da'Shawn Wade with
Best Choice Center.
Nearly 250 students from
Wake Forest University went
into the Winston-Salem com
munity last Thursday to volun
teer at 25 local agencies from 3
until 5 p.m.Visitors did every
thing from planting flowers at
Samaritan Ministries to tutor
ing children at the Best Choice
Center.
Dorothy Graham-Wheeler,
the executive director of the
Best Choice Center, said she
assigned about 10 volunteers
from Wake Forest to various
classes to work with the teach
ers. “It’s supposed to be a com
munity service for them,” Gra
ham-Wheeler said of the volun
teers. “It’s definitely a commu
nity service for us because extra
volunteers. If we get one volun
teer to read to a child for 20
minutes, that’s really a great
thing....I wish more (college stu
dents) would follow that lead.”
Best Choice Center is “a
drug prevention, drug education
center for children ... grades K
through nine,” Graham-Wheeler
said. “It ... focuses on educa
tion. We assist kids with their
academics, basic learning skills,
cultural enrichment, prevention
for drugs, sex education....Our
goal is to keep as many kids as
we can out of the crime scene,
off drugs, to make sure they do
not get so dysfunctional that
they drop out of school.”
Beth Cauble, a freshman at
Wake Forest from Knoxville,
Tenn., was helping Da’Shawn
Wade, a 9-year-old third-grader,
with multiplication. At one
point, Cauble grouped colored
blocks together to review multi
plication. “If I have two groups
of three, how many do I have -
two times three?” she asked.
Da’Shawn responded “six.”
Cauble repeated with differ
ent combinations of blocks.
Later she said, “What if you
have a whole lot of blocks?
What if you had 20 different
piles out here? Instead of count
ing all the blocks - that would
take a really long time - you can
just count how many piles and
multiply that by how many
blocks are in each pile.”
Da’Shawn nodded.
In an interview, Cauble said
of Wake Forest’s community
service program: “I think it’s
good. I’m going to maybe look
into coming out here.”
She said she enjoys working
with young people. She has not
decided her major, and she has
thought about becoming a
teacher. “...My first-year semi
nar, last semester, was on educa
tion, and so I volunteered at
Independence, which is the
alternative high school for Win
ston-Salem, and worked with
kids probably closer to my own
age.”
At a different table in the
same classroom, Vandy Vander-
ford, a WFU junior biology
major from Charleston, WVa.,
was working with second-grader
Jerod Dixon on multiplication.
In an interview, Vanderford
said he was doing community
service for his fraternity as part
of Greek Week.
The teacher, Fabio Almeida,
said it’s a combination second-
and third-grade class. He said
his students are learning fifth-
grade math skills.
One method he uses to teach
math skills is chess.
At another table in the class
room, a Wake Forest volunteer
was tutoring children in read
ing.
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