3S?- Chronicle
; ^ 27101-2755 HRATING 30 YEARS OF COMMUNITY JOURNALISM Vol. XXX No. 2
HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
Calvin
Pace talks
about
NFL life
- See Page B2
Victims
program
to test <
in the city
- See Page A3
G'boro
rally
takes on
NFTA
- See Page A5
Magnet
school
fair
attracts
-See Page A3
KRT photo by Mike Ewen'
A woman holds a poster of Martin Luther King Jr at a rally in Florida on MLK Day in 2001.
City prepares
to honor King
Slate of activities to honor slain leader
will stretch throughout the day
BYT. KEVIN WALKER
THE CHRONICLE
Those looking for a way to
celebrate the work and legacy
of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
won't have long lo look. Start
ing this evening and into
Monday, the day designated
the MLK holiday, events
throughout the area will pro
mote various aspects of
King's dream of racial equali
ty and
oneness.
For
the third
year The
Chroni
cle is
hostinj a
Martin
Luther
King Jr.
Prayer
Break Alexander
fast. The
event will begin at 7:30 a.m.
at the Anderson Center on the
campus of Winston-Salem
State University.
Chronicle Publisher Ernie
Pitt conceived the event as a
way to bring together the
city's diverse population to
ponder topics that King
believed in, topics such as
faith, love and peace.
"The Martin Luther King
Jr. Prayer Breakfast is an
attempt to articulate the val
ues that Martin Luther King
it. promoted." Pitt said. "He
was not a separatist. He want
ed to try to bring the commu
nities together, and that is
what we are trying to do."
A racially eclectic group
of speakers is expected to
address an audience of more
than 400. Speakers will
include Mayor Allen Joines;
Miriam Hernandez, the head
of the Hispanic International
Action Center; Rev. Sheldon
McCarter. pastor of Greater
Cleveland Avenue Christian
Church; and Andrea Falden, a
senior at Salem College.
National Black Theatre Festi
val founder Larry Leon Ham
lin will deliver King's "I Have
a Dream" speech.
The breakfast is free and
open to the public, but space
is limited. To see if space is
left, call 123-8428.
An MLK breakfast will
also be held at Mt. Zion Bap
tist Church at 8 a.m. The
breakfast will be held before
hundreds of people assemble
at the church for the annual
march to the Benton Conven
tion Center. The march has
become a tradition, drawing
people of all races who sym
bolically walk up Martin
Luther King Drive and down
Fifth Street into the heart of
the city. The marchers usually
sing protest songs and spiritu
als as they walk. The walkers
will begin to assemble around
10 a.m.
The march is complete in
time for walkers to catch the
annual MLK Noon Hour
Commemoration at the Ben
ton Convention Center. The
event is sponsored by Triple A
radio, the Winston-Salem
Chapter of the NAACP and
the city's Human Relations
Commission. Triple A owner
Mutter Evans founded the
noontime program 24 years
ago. She says the event has
See MLK on All
Principal
0
hired for
ambitious
academy
New school to prepare
African-American
students for college
BY COURTNEY GA1LLARD
THE CHRONICLE v
Dennis Walker believes that
the Winston-Salem Preparatory
Academy will be able to com
pete with area high schools once
it opens
in me
fall.
Walker,
who was
recently
named
principal
of the
new col
lege prep
school .
says Walker
prospec
tive students can look forward
to a small community atmos
phere in the classroom.
"I'm excited. This will be a
new experience for me in terms
of starting a new program that 1
think will be beneficial to many
students. I look forward to the
challenge, and I know there's
going to be a challenge ahead of
me....l think my program will be
able to stand up to the rest of the
high school programs as well,"
said Walker, who most recently
worked with the N.C. Depart
ment of Public Instruction. He
has also worked in school sys
tems around the state, including
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools
as principal of Albemarle Mid
Set Walker onAlO
G 'boro leader:
Truth project
could help in
Hunt aftermath
Current community-led effort
is looking at '79 Klan shootings
BYT. KEVIN WALKER
THE CHRONICLE ? .
A member of the groundbreaking Greens
boro .Truth and Commiitiity Reconciliation
Project says that the residents of Winston
Salem may be well served with a similar kind
of community-driven project to seek answers
in the Darryl Hunt case.
"Any process that expands the communi
ty dialogue is always helpful." said Ed Whit
field. a co-chairman of the Greensboro Peace
Coalition and a participant in the Greensboro
Truth and Community Reconciliation Pro
ject. "People need to seek to learn lessons
from that. The injustice that happened to
Darryl Hunt was certainly not the first time,
and if we don't change things it won't be a
last time, and it is an absolute travesty of jus
lice."
The project has been formed to examine
fcvery nook and cranny of the 1979 shootings
by members of the Ku Klux Klan and Amer
See Project on A9
Color of Love
Photo by Courtney Gaillanl
Jeff and Heather Morgan hold up their 1 1 -month-old son , Noah. The couple
says Noah has brought new joy to their lives. They adopted Noah , who is
biracial. There are many black and biracial children waiting to be adopted.
The number is so large that many agencies have endorsed a color-blind adop
tion policy f which advocates letting qualified parents adopt children regardless
of race. Read more about the Morgans on A 10.
EWPS vows to
continue fight
School loses latest appeal
CHRONICLE STAFF REPORT
The chairman of the East
Winston Primary School
board said he w^s not sur
*~pysed that an appeals panel
approved a decision to revoke
the school's charter. The
school's
lawyer
planned
this
week to
pursue
another
appeal
and to
fight the
state
' 1 ? 11 ' Muhammad
c o m -
pfetely
cutting the school's public
funding.
School supporters made
the trip to Raleigh last week
to attend the appeal's hearing,
during which the state's
Office of Charter Schools,
which first made the recom
mendation that EWPS be
closed, and the EWPS offi
cials got a chance to be heard.
.EWPS board chair Mikal
MuHammad said the time the
appeals panel allotted for the
hearing was insufficient.
Muhammad said several peo
ple who wanted to speak were
not given time to. The
school's former director. Jim
mie Bonham.- whose use of
school funds first piqued the
interest of the state, was
allowed to talk.
"Mr. Bonham was only
able to get "out a quarter of
what he wanted to say,"
Muhammad said. "There was
a great deal of information
that he was not allowed to get
to."
Bonham did get a chance'
to tell the panel that he often
went into his own pocket to
cover school expenses. Bon
ham said he even refinanced
his house to keep the school's
doors open at one point.
Sec EWPS on A4
In Grateful Memory of Our
Founders,
Florrie S. Russell and
Carl H. Russell, Sr.
"Growing and Still Dedicated to Serve You Better "
ffiugggll ^umvvci Same
Wishes to Thank Everyone For Their Support
822 Carl Russell Ave.
(at Martin Luther King Or.)
Winston-Salem, NC 27101
(336) 722-3459
Fax (336) 631-8268
rusftiome @ bellsouth .net