Newspapers / Winston-Salem Chronicle (Winston-Salem, N.C.) / June 24, 2004, edition 1 / Page 4
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OPINION The Chronicle iKMliT H. PIT r Publisher/Co-Founder In INI Pitt Business Manager E KICK A AilUK r Office Manager T. KtVIM WAIKIK Managing Editor K*r Stuiti Production Superv isor NMonai NmmfMpar Ptm Association PuWishars. Inc. PutoNstera Association Photo by Kevin Walker Rudy Anderson, a member of the Wentx Memorial United Church of Christ choir, performs during Saturday's Juneteenth celebration at Mount Pleasant. Free? African-Americans cele brated their Independence Day Saturday, but most of us did not know it. There were no fireworks or PBS specials from the National Mall, but a faithful few around the nation did not let the day pass with out acknowledging June teenth. It is the oldest African American holiday and proba bly the most obscure as well. Juneteenth. June 19, cele brates the day in 1865 that the last slaves in the United States were informed that they had been freed from bondage by the Emancipation Proclamation. Before that day. Independence Day in the country could only truly be celebrated by white Ameri cans. Although black and white Americans had fought side by side nearly a century earlier to free America from the chains of England, it was only the whites that could truly lake a whiff of the sweet smell of freedom. It is one of those ugly ironies in this country that tarnishes our his tory. The Fourth of July will remain an important day for all Americans. It is the day that we remember those who fought and died, black and white, to make this country what it is today. But we should not let the Fourth of July or Juneteenth pass with out giving thought to our his tory and the true meaning of independence and freedom, contradictions and all. Reviving Independence Independence High School, or some variation of it, will reopen this August after its doors were chained up for the last year. The school system says the new Independence will be better than ever, with new elective classes and a more concen trated focus of counseling stu dents and guiding them. Whatever the new school is or is not, it has to be better than the ill-planned day schools that the school system imple mented this past school year. The day schools were set up for disappointment and failure. One teacher to teach a class of 30 students who are in different grade levels and taking various courses of studies was insane and shab by. The school system has too many millions to nickel and r dime students ttu \ ay the day school plan did. Independence was not a perfect school by far. Students were not passing their classes; that's if they bothered to show up for school at all. But the school was at least something to which students could relate. It had various teachers for different classes, hall ways, a cafeteria and a princi pal. The dary schools were as different from a high school as you could get. The school system has said that it saved more than half a million dol lars over the year that Inde pendence was closed. Whether that money is worth the education (or lack thereof) that day school students received last year is still a question that has to be answered. 1 Submit letters and columns to: Chronicle Mailbag, P.O. Box 1636, Winston-Salem, NC 27102 Please print clearly. Typed letters and columns are preferred. If you are writing a guest column, please include a photo of yourself. We resene the right to edit any item submitted for clarity or brevity. You also can e-mail us your letters or columns at: news @ wschrottide.com The case for uncles and aunts day ? , ? 1 George E. Curry Guest I hud just finished eating din ner on Father's Day when my mother called on my cell phone and tearfully told me that one of her brothers. Percy Harris, was in intensive care at DCH Regional Medical Center in Tuscaloosa, Ala. Mama was so distraught that she had to repeat her message before I could comprehend what she was saying. She had no details except that Uncle Percy was in intensive care. That set in motion a series of calls. First, 1 contacted Aunt Julia Mae Cousin in Johnson City, Tenn. Since Big Mama died in 1968, Aunt Julia Mae has been titular head of the family and Percy's wife. Gloria, had contact ed her first. Aunt Julia Mae told a few relatives who, in turn, con tacted other family members. Aunt Julia Mae told me that Percy was in the hospital and as soon as she could, she would head to Alabama, where she and her brothers and sisters were born, to see about her brother. Next, I called my sister, Char lotte Purvis in Durham, N.C. Charlotte is the oldest of my three younger sisters, and she always knows exactly what to do in a cri sis. She suggested that 1 call the hospital and that I find a way to put Mama at ease. 1 delayed call ing my other two sisters - Sue Gandy in Tuskegee. Ala., and Chris Polk in California - until I had more specifics. After speak ing with Charlotte, 1 called my cousin Lynn Stuart in Nashville. I promised to get back to him later in the day. I telephoned a cousin on my father's side of the family, Mary Linebarger. who lives less than five minutes from the hospital. Mary placed me on a three-way call with a nurse in the intensive care unit who would tell me only that Uncle Percy was in stable condition That was encouraging enough to again call Mama and ^unt Julia Mae to give them a status report. By the way Mama had been reacting, you'd think that Uncle Percy had one foot in the grave. But Mama is very close to and protective of all of her brothers. Come to think of it, over the years, all of my aunts have been like that. They call my uncles spoiled and then proceed to spoil them. Finally, I was able to reach Uncle Percy's wife, Gloria, in Tuscaloosa and she gave me the full story, which I was able to relay to Mama, my sisters and my cousin Lynn. Essentially, Uncle Percy had begun choking on a hot dog last Friday and experi; enced difficulty breathing. He tried various maneuvers to dis lodge the hot dog but couldn't. He drove himself to the Maude Whatley Health Center, near McKenzie Courts, our old hous ing projects, and hailed a taxi. Upon reaching the hospital, they discovered that Uncle Percy had punctured a, hole in his esophagus in the process of try ing to regain his breath and that it required immediate surgery. The surgery went well and Uncle Percy is expected to remain in the hospital another week or two. While frantically , trying to discover what had happened to Uncle Percy and his prospects for the future. I thought how ironic that this was happening on Father's Day and that we have no special holidays to honor our aunts and uncles. That's a shame. And it's even more of one when you consider that we have special days for bosses and secretaries at work, but niU the people who spoiled us almost as much as our grandparents. My favorite Uncle Percy story involves another uncle, his brother. Jesse Harris ("Padna"), four years my senior, was the brother I never had. He taught me how to play basketball and agreed to teach me how to drive shortly before my 16th birthday. There was only one hitch: We didn't have a car. That's where Uncle Percy comes in. Once he turned in for the night, "Patina" and I would slip the keys out of his pocket and go driving. By the time we came back, someone else would have parked in Uncle Percy's original parking space. This went on for several weeks before Uncle Percy busted us one night. He ran toward us and we ran toward Big Mama, who told him to leave us alone. I could always count on Big Mama. Let's add a special holiday for aunts and uncles. At least once a year, we'll be prompted to reflect 011 some of our great childhood memories. George E. Curry is editor-in chief of the NNPA News Service and BluckPressVSA.com. His most recent book is "The Best of Emerge Magazine. " an antholo gy published by Ballantine Books T Curry's weekly radio commentary is syndicated by Capitol Radio News Senice (301/588-1993). He can be reached through his Web site, georgecurry.com. Trees versus people Ernie Pitt This & That I received a very interesting phone call last week regarding the tree removal in the Cleve land Avenue Homes communi ty. These apartments are owned and managed by the Housing Authority of the City of Win ston-Salem (HAWS). I was called as the chairman of the board of commissioners of the Housing Authority. I was told by this gtentleman to get in touch with the executive direc tor. Dr. J. Reid Lawrence, and tell him to cease and desist immediately in the removal of those trees. I try to be patient and understanding anytime I receive a call from whomever. I try as best I can to listen attentively to the speaker in order' to clearly understand what the problem is and then try to reach a win-win solution. This time, however, I found this call to be somewhat strange: The person whose name I have forgotten demand ed that I stop the tree removal right then and there. I asked the person if he lived in the Cleve land Avenue community and he said no. He said he just felt like cutting those trees down was not the right thing to do. Of course. I had to respectfully disagree because of the reasons the authority had to cut them down: not all of the trees, just about 1 7 or so of the 80 or so trees. I have never received a call from anyone from the other side of town expressing con cern over, the hardships that many of our residents face each and every day .- things like no jobs, low-paying jobs, drive-by shootings, overcrowdedness, little or no economic develop ment in the area, infant mortal Photo hv Courtney Gaillard Workers prepare the area where trees were cut down in Cleveland Avenue Homes. ity, inadequate housing, few recreational facilities, aging population with people who really should be moving into elderly facilities but can't afford to, high cost of medi cines. poor health care, and on and on. The executive director of the authority has a massive task before him. Part of his job is to ensure the safety and wel fare of the residents, provide quality housing (all of the apartments in Cleveland have air conditioning), and he must conform to guidelines and directives issued by HUD. It may not take a rocket scientist to do this job but it sure takes someone with the knowledge, intelligence and experience to carry it out properly. In my humble opinion Dr. Lawrence has done his job and has done it quite.well. Many may remember that part of the authority's problems six years or so ago were related to not following HUD guide lines and regulations. We are doing that now and are being touted all over the country as a high performance housing authority. Many agencies from across the country are now try ing to learn from us. We have one of the few successful flOPE VI programs in the country. Removing those trees was an act of decency and protec tion of the residents. Many of the roots had broken up the sidewalks, grown so large that they were bursting sewer and water lines as well as disfigur ing retaining walls. Additional ly. some of them posed a prob lem during ice storms and -made il difficult if not impossi ble to grow grass, thereby cre ating further erosion control problems. In fact, the authority had been cited for the very things it is trying to correct by removing and replanting trees. Anyway. I love trees but I also care about the health and welfare of my fellow citizens, particularly those who reside in - units owned and/or operated by HAWS. We care even when there is no imminent threat of danger. God loves people who are servants to mankind. We try hard to serve our residents. God bless you. Amen! Ernie Pit! is the publisher of The Chronicle unci the chair man of the Housing Authority of Winston-Salem Hoard of Commissioners. E-mail him at erpiit<&> wschmnicle.com.
Winston-Salem Chronicle (Winston-Salem, N.C.)
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June 24, 2004, edition 1
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