Poet Amiri Baraka, Nocturnal Collective to perform March 1 Poet Amiri Baraka will speak at Wake Forest University on March 1 at 9 o.m. in Carswell Hall's Annenburg Forum. He will be joined by Nocturnal Collective, a hip hop group. The university's multicul tural affairs office is sponsoring this free event. It is open to the public. Baraka. a poet and political activist, teaches African studies at State University of New York at Stony Brook. His bocnjupodlude "Y's. Why's, Wise." a collection of poetry; Inuiugies, a collection or eulogies Barak a he has written for celebrities, includ mg James Haldw in and Dizzy Gillespie; and "Jes.se Jackson and Black People."' a collection of essays on civil rights and race relations. i Baraka won the Wallace Stevens poetry prize in 1993 and was honored ac a "Living Legend" at the Black Drama Festival in 1994. j ' Nocturnal Collective is a Winston-Salem hip-hop group that performs at Thfca's House of Blues and other local ven ues. They also have been featured on local radio stations. Local sit-in will be celebrated tomorrow Winston-Salem was home to the state's first successful sit-in movement in 1960 FROM STAFF KKPORTS The public is invited to a spe cial program tomorrow to cele brate the 42nd anniversary of the lunch counter sit-in demonstra tions that led to desegregation at public places in Winston-Salem. The ceremony will take place at 2 p.m. at the comer of Liberty and Fourth streets in downtown. Students from o Winston Salem State University and Wake Forest University took part in the sit-ins, led by city native Carl Matthews. The city's sit-in movement began Feb. 8, I960, one week after the more famous Greensboro sit-in. Demonstrations continued for several months, including the landmark sit-in on Feb. 23 when white students from Wake joined black students from Winston Salem State. Winston-Salem's sit-in demonstrations were the first in the state to end in inte gration, a feat that was reached after 107 days of protests. A historical marker com memorating the 1960 sit-ins will be rededicated during the cere mony. The marker wip original ly unveiled at the 40th anniver sary celebration in 2000. The marker was moved later that year for construction of One West Fourth Street, the building built in place of the old Kress Store. Thomas K. Hearn Jr., presi dent of Wake Forest University; Harold L. Martin Sr., chancellor of Winston-Salem State; and Winston-Salem Mayor Allen Joines will speak during the cer emony. Wanda Starke, of televi sion station WXII (Channel 12), will moderate. The Burke Singers, an a cappella student group from Winston-Salem State, will provide music. Among the attendees will be participants from the 1960 sit-in, including School Board member Victor Johnson. William Stevens from Wake Forest, and Matthews. 'There was hope that our actions would be a success and lead to social change," said Stevens, who graduated from Wake Forest in I960. "But we had no idea that day what our actions would look like 40 years later." Susan Faust, communication ? instructor at Wake Forest, is coordinating the event. "Remembering how our community solved its problems and adapted to social change in an earlier day can give us inspi ration and guidance for resolv ing current challenges," Faust said. "The peaceful yet deter mined young people who sat down in order to stand up for their rights in I960 can be our models." File Photo Carl Matthews, with red coat, stands with other sit-in partic ipants at a marker dedication in 2000. California funeral home director arrested for allegedly selling body parts LAKE ELSINORE, Calif. - A funeral home owner was arrested for allegedly selling cadavers and body parts intended for burial or cremation to mortuaries and medical research centers, authorities said. Michael Brown, 42, of Murrieta was charged Thursday with embezzlement, mutilation of human remains and falsi fying death certificates. If fcbnvicted, he could face more than 100 years in jail. The arrest capped a yearlong investigation into three companies, Bio-Tech Anatomical, Pacific Cremation Care Inc., and Pacific Family Funeral Home. Authorities believe Brown - whose work included a con tract to bury or cremate indigent people from Riverside County - made more than $400,000 in the alleged body selling scheme. Riverside County Deputy District Attorney Karen Gorham said cadavers and body parts were allegedly sold for use in medical studies and to help morticians practice their embalming skills. Investigators have identified 81 victims, but said it would be difficult to find remains shipped elsewhere. Mathis to keynote racial dialogue meeting ness in Greensboro and the sur rounding region. Luis Ibarra, president and CEO of the Friendly House, a community-based organization in Glendale, Ariz., will also serve as a speaker during the conference. Ibarra, who will speak at 9 a.m.. served as sen ior vice president of the Valley of the Sun United Way. Ibarra has extensive experience in health and human services, organizational management, staff development and multi cultural education. He is a graduate of Arizona State Uni versity. Mathis, who will speak at 3:45 p.m., is known for his sharp wit and editorial com mentary during cases that come before him. His experi ence as a former real-life Dis trict Court judge qualifies him to preside over real-life civil disputes, which earned the show's slogan "Real People with Real Disputes before a Real Judge delivering Real Justice." Mathis, who is an admitted former gang member and drug user, dropped out of high school to deal drugs. He was eventually arrested on a drug offense and was sent to jail. Before his trial, his mother, Alice Mathis, visited him and revealetj she was dying of can cer. Her news forced Mathis to re-evaluate his life. Fortunately during the sentencing, Mathis got off with probation and time served. He obtained his GED, went on to law school and became an attorney. In 1995, he was elected to a judgeship in Detroit, and in 1999, Mathis was offered a court show. He resigned his real-life bench because he felt he could have a positive effect on more peo ple's lives from a television courtroom. Judge Greg Mathis 1 SPECIAL TO THE CHRONICLE GREENSBORO - Greg Mathis, star of the popular, syndicated television court room reality show "Judge Mathis," will be a highlight of the fourth annual Shades of Color Conference at The Uni versity of North Carolina at Greensboro on Saturday. March 2. The daylong conference will be held in the Joseph M. Bryan Building from 8:30 a.m.- 5 p.m. Sessions are open to the public and pre-registra tion is encouraged. The dead line to register is Feb. 27. The cost of the conference, which includes lunch, is $8 for UNCG students, $10 for non UNCG students and $12 for all others. Late registration and on-site registration are $15. Additional information is available by contacting the Office of Multicultural Affairs at (336) 334-5090 or visiting its Web site at www.uncg.edu/maf. This year's conference theme. "Removing Barriers...Creating Communi ties." will focus on diversity issues. The conference is intended to help the communi ty. the university and surround ing communities gain a better understanding of diversity issues and to enhance cross cultural communication. The program reflects UNCG's commitment to cultural aware Victory-Masonic Mutual Credit Union 7K Your Community Credit Union Our strength comes from our members. With you, Victory can be your full service community credit union. * Located inside 5 Star International Market Britain supports Annan Peace Centre ACCRA, Ghana - Britain has pledged to support the planned Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Centre in Accra. Colonel George Partington, of the Ghana Armed Forces Staff College (GAFSC), said the U.S. and German govern ments have also promised to support the project, set to launch this year and to be built over three years. Partington, speaking at a news conference during British Prime Minister Tony Blair's visit to the college, however, gave no details on the assistance. Ghana had asked for support from the British govern ment to establish the center named for the U.N. secretary general. Partington said it would be a center for regional excellence offering train ing in peace support operations, elec toral monitoring and peace negotiation. Some 100 participants from the sub region and other African countries would be trained annually. Meanwhile. Blair held closed-door discussions at the college with Ghana ian government officials on how Africa and the G-8 (group of industrialized Annan countries and Russia) could work I toeether to nrevent thf? manv rnnflirts I hindering development of the continent. The meeting underscored the need for African countries to urgently address local causes of conflicts such as politi cal and economic exclusion, poor governance, corruption and ethnicity. Britain and other G-8 partners would be tackling the conflicts with international linkages, such as halting the flow of illegal arms. Indiscriminate exploitation of mineral resources in con flict areas and the weakness of international mechanisms for dealing with conflicts in Africa would also be addressed. A document on a Joint Action Plan for Peace and Secu rity highlights the importance of the international commu nity acting quickly and effectively to prevent conflicts, build peace, support peacekeeping operations and post-con flict reconstruction. The document also stressed enhancing peace support operations and Africa's ability to deal with conflicts. Blair arrived in Ghana last Thursday on a three-day visit as part of a four-nation African tour aimed at bolstering the emerging partnership between his country and African democracies. He addressed the Ghanaian Parliament after his meeting at the college and later visited the Cocoa Research Institute at Tafo in the eastern region after a courtesy call on the Okyenhene, Amoatia Ofori Panin at Ofori Paninfie at Kyebi. Partington said Ghana has contributed 90.000 troops to 31 U.N. and sub-regional peacekeeping operations since 1960. The country, which has 1,800 soldiers serving on U.N. missions, has recorded 100 casualties from the global peace operations. "he Chronicle (USPS 067-910) was established by Ernest H. Pitt and Ndubisi Egemonye in 1974 and is ?ublished every Thursday by Winston-Salem Chronicle 'ublishing Co., Inc., 617 N. Liberty Street, Winston Salem, NC 27101. Periodicals postage paid at Win iton-Salem, N.C. Annual subscription price is $30.72. 'OSTMASTER: Send address changes to: The Chronicle, P.O. Box 1636 Winston-Salem, NC 27102-1636 INDEX OPINION A6 SPORTS B1 RELIGION B5 CLASSIFIEDS B8 HEALTH C3 ENTERTAINMENT C7 CALENDAR C9 www wschronide. com You can e-mail the news department at news@wschronicle.com ' Homes 1 year and older need to be checked for termites "A flea circus is a good act but it takes termites to bring a home down." Call Triad Pest Control 1535 S. Martin Luther King Drive Winston-Salem, NC | 788-3020 | Welcome to ... 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