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cen1 d6^w%hIL?UB"IC LiBE<rit<y lNG 30 YEARS OF COMMUNITY JOIRNALI y >1. XXXI No. 2
JJj^WINSTON SALEM NC ^VQHj^SjEZ^QQjQBQQSH ?? '
Baseball
player
swings for
the stars
- See Page B1
Black
execs
come
to WSSU
-See Page A JO
Woman
sparkles
with line
of jewels
- See Page All
Church
stages
Easter
musical
-See Page CI
Photos by J arson Pin
The panel included former Los Angeles prosecutor Chris Dorden (from left) Ed Gordon , Dave Gascon and Norma Johnson.
Talk looks at impact of O J. Simpson case
Charles Ogletree
BYT. KEVIN WALKER
THE CHRONICLE
GREENSBORO - Chris Dard
en said thai everything from Marcia
Clark's overconfidence to media
bias played a role in O.J. Simpson's
acquittal in 1995 for the murders of
Simpson's wife and her.friend.
Darden. a former Los Angeles
assistant district attorney, prosecut
ed Simpson along with Clark. He
took part in a. panel discussion last
week at N.C.'A&T State University
that probed the media's role in the
Simpson case 10 years after the
fact.
Chris Darden says media hurt prosecution
"The media was an unwanted
guest by the prosecution." said Dar
den. who complained that media
focused too much on innuendo and
not enough on the hard facts of the
case. Darden also said Clark
dropped the ball during jury seiec
- Uuii by firing the prosecution's jury
consultant. The jury that found
^Simpson not guilty was made up of
eight African-Americans, two
mixed race people, one white and
one HispaMc.
Last week's discussion, was part
of a three-day conference held by
A&T's Institute for Advanced Jour
nalism Studies. Events also includ
ed a panel discussion featuring
African-American White House
correspondents.
The Simpson talk was moderat
ed by Harvard Law School profes
sor Charles Ogletree and also fea
tured newsman Ed Gordon, who
was the first to interview Simpson
after the verdict; Dave Gascon, the
retired senior chief officer for the
Los Angeles Police Department
who made the dramatic announce
ment on June 17, 1994. that Simp
son was a fugitive: Bill Whitaker.
CBS' Los Angeles correspondent
who covered the Simpson case; and
Norma Johnson, who served as a
victims rights advocate for the Los
Angeles City Attorney's Office dur
ing the Simpson case.
Johnson had objections about
the news media. She said the media
ignored other people who were vio
lently murdered. Johnson also said
she believes news coverage is slant
ed depending on the race of those
involved.
See Simpson on A10
Filling up Free Time
Photo by Kevin Walker
Dara Moss and
Jonathan Oakes
shared a coloring
book last week ai
they waited for
an event to start
at Wake Forest
University. Oakes
is the son of Bar
bee Oakes , the
director of Wake's
Office of Multicul
tural Affairs.
Moss is the
daughter of
actress Kimberly
Brooks , who
spoke at Wake
last week as part
of the school's
Diversity Days
activities. To read
more about Diver
sity Days, see A3.
Black women celebrate one another
BY COURTNEY GAILLARD
THE CHRONICLE
They are former teachers,
librarians, volunteers, wives,
mothers and sisters. Many of
them have touched lives
across this community for
decades. This past Monday,
the Carver School Road
Library hosted a group of
African-American women for
an old-fashioned tea party
called "Herstory."
There some of the commu
nity's wisest women gathered
to share their life stories about
work and family during a time
when blacks were still consid
ered second-class citizens. The
library_along with Friends of
the Carver School Library
sponsored the tea.
The program fell during
this month, which is National
Women's History Month,
where the nation pays tribute
to the sheroes who've made a
difference around the country.
"The idea just came to me
to let these ladies share their
stores because there's a wealth
of knowledge to be gained
from the women who are 75
years and older." said Lois
Leggett, Carver School Road
Library Branch director who
dreamed up ihe idea for (he
tea. Leggett sSys she wanted
the women to share as many
pearls of wisdom as they could
for the young women growing
up today.
"We can learn so much
from the women in this com
munity,"' said Leggett. "I
thought it was fitting to hold
this on the first day of spring."
Each table was adorne#
with a doll and tea sets. Infor
mation on tea beauty remedies
and tea trivia were available
See Tea on A9
Lois Lmggett
Sutton
Lawrence
Sutton, Lawrence ?
will get top honors
CHRONK'U SIM I Ki POKl
A well-known political
activist and the head of the
city's public housing agency
will receive top honors next
month at ' The Chronicle's
Community Service Awards.
Linda Sutton was chosen
as Woman of the Year last
week for her countless hours
of volunteer work with organs
izations such as the Black
Leadership Roundtable, the
NAACP and the Winston
Salem Voting Rights Coali
tion. J. Reid Lawrence was
selected as Man of the Year for
his work leading the Housing
Authority of Winston-Salem.
Committee members cited
Sutton's tireless efforts last
year to register voters and to
turn out the vote. As head of
the Winston-Salem Voting
Rights Coalition. Sutton was
also watchdog for local vot
ers.
The committee said
Lawrence has worked quietly
over the years to transform
public housing in the city. On
his watch, the city has landed
two competitive HOPE VI
grants and. according to the
Department of Housing and ?
Urban Development. HAWS
is better run today than it has
ever been.
ng program at
United Metropolitan Mission
ary Baptist Church will get the
Community Service Award.
The program has continually
churned out a high number of
African-American Scouts at a
time when black faces in
scouting have become few and
far between.
Bertha Roundtree and
Nathan Parrish will both get
Human Relations Awards.
Roundtree created the Movie
goers to foster cross-cultural
discussions on relevant issues
Set on A9
In Grateful Memory of Our
Founders,
Florrie S. Russell and
Carl H. Russell, Sr.
" Growing and Still Dedicated to Serve You Better "
Jftussell fflmte rat ffiCgmg
Wishes to Thank Everyone For Their Support
822 Carl Russell Ave.
(at Martin Luther King I>r.)
YVtnston-Saleni.NC 27101
722-3459
Fax (33?) 631-8268
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