Newspapers / Winston-Salem Chronicle (Winston-Salem, N.C.) / Feb. 21, 2002, edition 1 / Page 46
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Black businessman has big plans for Montreal Expos If Donald Watkins is success in J o becoming sport's first black owner, he wants to move the team to D. C. BY JbbrKbY MCMUKKAI 1MI ASSOCIATED PKhSS WASHINGTON - An Alabama businessman said recently he wants to buy the Montreal Expos and move them to Washington. D.C., but baseball officials have been cool to the idea. Donald Watkins. who runs a commercial bank in Birmingham, would be the first black compiling owner of a major league franchise. He is also involved in negoti ations to purchase the Minnesota Twins and keep them in the Twin Cities. But in an interview with The Associated Press, Watkins seemed to signal a preference for a Washington team with a downtown stadi um that includes a Hall of Fame for black athletes. Such a stadium would be privately financed. Watkins said, adding that he would shoulder the bulk of ^he expected $350 million cost. "Washington has a number of strategic advantages," Watkins said. "It's a larger market than Minnesota. Washington is an internation al destination city, and Washington has a fan base that can support a majo^ league baseball team." At a Judiciary Committee meeting earlier Wednesday, Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., recounted a conversation he had recently about baseball interests with Watkins, a law school classmate. Sessions said Watkins told him he had asked baseball officials about whether there was any possibility of buying the Expos and moving them to the nation's capital, but was told that possibility was "not on the table." A week later. Commissioner Bud Selig described Washington as the prime candidate for a relocat ed team. Owners originally planned to dissolve two teams - likely the Expos and Twins - prior to this season, but legal hur dles delayed the process until next year. In the meantime, major league baseball pur chased the Expos and local officials in Minnesota are scrambling to find an owner who won't move the Twins. During the hearing. Bob KRT Pholo Donald Watkins is surrounded by the media as he leaves a meeting. He could become the first black MLB owner. ? DuPuy, baseball s chief legal officer, said baseball had to buy the Expos only because no other buyer could be found. He said he never got the impression Watkins was inter ested in buying a team to keep it in Montreal, noting his cur rent discussions over the Twins. "Why shouldn't he be able to shop around?" Sessions asked. DuPuy said baseball offi cials weren'l preventing Watkins from talking with any franchise and that they would be "honored and delighted to have an African-American owner of a major league base ball team. Watkins also has been in < talks over the potential pur- J chase of the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, but he said recently that was now "very low on my radar screen." j Couple receives human rights medal from N.C. A&T State University SPECIAL TO THE CHRONICLE GREENSBORO Civil rights activists Vincent Harding and Rosemarie Freeney Harding are the recipients of N.C. Agricultural and Technical State University's annual human rights medal. They were honored at the university's 42nd Sit-in Movement Celebration. The event was held on Feb. 1 to pay tribute to the A&T Four, Franklin McCain, Joseph McNeil, Jibreel Khazan (for merly known as Ezell Blair Jr.) and the late David Richmond. Harding, a religion and social transformation professor i Rosemarie Harding at the University of Denve'r. and his wife were recognized for their work in the Southern Freedom movement. In 1968, Harding became Vincent Harding the founding director of the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Center and also served as the chairperson of the 1 nationally televised "Black Heritage" series. Harding was one of the organizers and the first director of the Atlanta-based Institute of the Black World, serving from 1969 to 1974. Harding has lec tured widely in this country and overseas on history, religion, lit erature. and peace and justice. He and Rosemarie conduct workshops and lead retreats on the connections between per sonal spirituality and social responsibility. Harding was senior academic adviser to the award-winning PBS television series, "Eyes on the Prize." Freeney-Harding is co chairperson of the Veterans of Hope Project, an interdiscipli nary initiative on religion, cul ture and democratic renewal location at the Iliff School of Theology in Denver, Co. She is also the project's special con sultant for workshops and train ing and a member of the adjunct faculty at lliff and the University of Denver Graduate j School of Social Work. Freeney-Harding has a pri- ' vate practice, integrating grati tude therapy, Feldenkrais, and family and personal counseling, in Denver Colo. [ Allstate Insurance I Celebrates Black History Month , Thomas Day The Master of Mahogany ?? Thomas Day was an African-American born free in a slave state in 1801. Day moved to Milton. North Carolina to learn the cabinetmaking trade at which he pros pered. In 1830, Day con sidered returning to Virginia to be with his wife?A North Carolina law prohibited free Blacks passage into the state. Day's threat was heard and as a result of the town's outcry, the state passed a law permitting Acquilla Wilson Day to join her husband in Milton. The Yellow Tavern became Thomas Day's home and workshop in 1848. At that time Day was one of the largest fur niture manufacturers in North Carolina. Among his many projects. Day designed and built furni ture commissioned by Governor David Reid for the Governor's Mansion in Raleigh. Governor Reid's collection is now part of a permanent exhibit in the North Carolina Museum of History in Raleigh. A wealthy man and a respected community leader. Thomas Day carved his life into the hearts of generations through his furniture designs, now cherished heirlooms of days gone by. The Thomas Day House is listed on the | Federal Register of Historic Landmarks. Reproduction by Craftique The Atrium Furniture Mall Proudly Salutes The Artistry And Craftsmanship Of Thomas Day O Hours: Monday - Friday, 9 a.m. - 6 p.m. Saturday, 9 a.m. - 5 p.m. Open Sunday, August 5, 1 p.m. - 5 p.m. The Atrium Furniture Mall 430 S. Main Street ? High Point, NC (336) 882-5599 www.atriumfurniture.eom Mose' Belton-Brown, LUTCF 3911 University Parkway, Suite A ^1||Winston-Salem, NC 27106 0!Rid!!!S Bus <336?759-39" FAX (336) 759-9192 ? y/r ? //s/a/// 4 ? J^/ae/ 0&ete/ <0/ f)0//4fa/t - 0a/em 0e/e/eaYe4 i ? Sj/w/' - fy ? /fY///// I KEEPING THE DREAIvULIVE 336J25J500 ? 80O.444ADAM ? 425 N.Cherry St ? Winston-Salem, NC 27101 adam'S rTXJRk ajlnsfon-salem uitnston plaza ?N??ii?*woie(?|pe?^p?i?.liwk^towelBresm?riA?rtBfc^?l?EbettOTriw^tew 0 ii'W. ndumsmark . C()m {
Winston-Salem Chronicle (Winston-Salem, N.C.)
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Feb. 21, 2002, edition 1
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