Song of Sorrow
WSSU students express frustration about Katrina in original tune
Dr. Dorothy Hoight is a living logend.
Bennett to induct Height and
other women into 'wise' society
SPECIAL TO THE CHRONIC1 J.
Bennett College for Women is
scheduled to hold its fourth annu
al induction in the Society of Our
Wise Women today (Oct. 6) at 4
pjn., in the Annie Memer Pfeiffer
Chapel. The ceremony is part of
the annual Family and Friends
Weekend (Oct. 6-9). The week
end gives the college the opportu
nity to welcome family, friends
and supporters to the college and
is open to the public.
The 2005 inductees are for
mer United Methodist Church
executive Rose Mae Catchings,
'33; civil rights advocate Dr.
Dorothy Height; retired U.S.
Army Lt. Col. Consuelo Kick
busch; Greensboro's retired Post
master Enola Mixon; and N.C.
Secretary of Administration
Gwynn Swinson.
The society, which recognizes
"women of color" who have
made significant contributions to
their profession and/or communi
ty, was established by Bennett
President Dr. Johnnetta Cole.
"I wanted an opportunity to
not only lift up our sisters who
have paved the way for so many
of the young women today, but
also to inspire young women to
lake advantage of opportunities
that have not always been, so
prevalent," said Cole in her
answer as to why the society was
launched. "These women have
done incredible things in the face
of much adversity, and yet they
were determined to make it easier
for the generations that followed."
BY T KEVIN WALKER
THE CHRONICLE
People have expressed their
personal frustrations with the
lackadaisical response to the
call for help from Hurricane
Katrina victims.
Some have taken to radio
airways or written letters to the
editor to get some of the emo
tions off of their chests; others
have turned their anger into
action by supporting local and
national relief efforts. LaShonda
Davis and Shameia Gardin used
their love of music to vent.
"I was pissed. I was very
pissed," Davis, a sophomore at
Winston-Salem State Universi
ty, said, describing her feelings
as she watched thousands of
people - most of them black
like her - stranded, tired and
hungry at various sites in New
Orleans. Gardin, a WSSU jun
ior, was equally frustrated.
Over the Labor Day week
end - when many of their class
mates were away from campus
- Davis and Gardin poured their
frustrations into the "Cries of
Katrina," a haunting song that
asks why and how could Amer
icans abandon their own. The
song was debuted Monday
afternoon during the campus
rush hour. The well-traveled
Burke Singers, of which Davis
and Gardin are members, per
formed the song to a crowd of
dozens jn front of the school's
clock tower. The popular female
singing group is led by D'Walla
Burke, a professor of music at
the school.
Portions of the songs are
spoken to the a cappella rhythm
of the singers; the women sing
in unison for the song's melody.
But not even the ladies' pretty
voices can disguise the ugly pic
ture painted by the lyrics.
"How could the wealthiest
country in the world leave its
own citizens to die?" the song
asks. "When the towers came
down, you were there that day
and the days thereafter."
The song also criticizes the
use of the term "refugee," which
some media outlets and federal
officials adopted to describe
those displaced by Katrina, and
likens the aftermath of the storm
to genocide and the Holocaust.
Gardin says she knows the
song is blunt. She hopes it is
bold enough to make people
think.
"My intentions aren't to
make people angry," she said.
"But this is what people were
thinking about while this was
happening."
Davis doesn't mince words.
She believes that had the major
ity of the people begging for
help in New Orleans been
white, the help would have
come swiftly. It hurts her, she
said, because she thought Amer
ica had changed.
"Racism is still very much
alive," she said. "We can send a
man to the moon but we can't
send food to New Orleans. That
is very odd."
A number of Katrina relief
efforts have been staged at
WSSU over the last month. On
the day of the Burke Singers'
performance, the school's Delta
Sigma Theta chapter collected
food and other items. WSSU
has also taken in four students
whose universities were devas
tated by Katrina.
"Cries of Katrina" will be
included on an upcoming Burke
Singers CD. Some of the pro
ceeds from the sale of the disc
will go to the Katrina relief
effort.
Photo by ICe\in Walker
LaShonda
Davis (left)
and Shameia
Gardin wrote
"Cries of Kat
rina" to
express their
disappoint'
ment with the
delayed relief
effort.
Building
from page A1
broadcasts from a large win
dow.
The architectural firm Wal
ter Robbs Callahan & Pierce,
which designed the building,
and the engineering consulting
firm Cavanaugh also plan to
move into the building.
Sixteen condos, ranging in
price from $225,000 to
$500,000, will be on the upper
floors. Chris Chapman, presi
dent of The Chapman Group
and the development's manag
ing partner, said that 12 of the
condos have already been sold.
The new building will be a
far cry from the row of small
retail shops that once called the
space home. Three black
owned shops and an African
American church were operat
ing out of the existing building
as recently as August. They left
reluctantly after the city sold
the building to The Chapman
Group earlier this year. Some of
the businesses were on Trade
Street 10 years ago, when the
street was not the vibrant arts
mecca that it is today.
The City Council tried to
appease the business owners
and church by offering finan
cial packages to help them with
relocation. Assistant City Man
ager Derwick Paige said at last
week's ceremony that the three
businesses have each received
$7,500 from the city. The city is
still working to provide the
church with a financial pack
age, Paige said.
The Chapman Group paid
$235,000 for the building. But
the city has made an investment
of the same amount into the
project. Some displaced tenants
argued that the city was giving
the building away. Paige dis
agrees.
"We are not giving it to
them," he said. "This will be a
$12 to $15 million investment
in downtown."
Joines said the investment
Photo by Kevin Walker
The building is slated to be demolished any day now.
will pay off for the city in the
long ran. The city eventually
plans to sell all of the down
town commercial and business
property it owns downtown.
City-owned property does not
generate tax revenue.
"The city should not have
been in the real-estate business
in the first place," Joines said.
East Ward City Council
Member Joycelyn Johnson said
she believes the city did right
by the displaced tenants, espe
cially since the city was not
legally obligated to give them a
dime.
"There was nothing that
said that we had to do that," she
said.
Johnson added that the city
owned building was in such bad
shape that demolition was the
right thing to do.
Paige says that at least one
of the displaced businesses,
Tele-Ad Used Electronics, has
found a new home outside of
the downtown core in the
Hewitt Business Center. The
business owners had expressed
frustration that they would not
be able to find affordable space
in the heart of downtown. At
the city-owned building, they
paid no more than $350 a
month. Similar space down
town is more than three times
O
that price.
Chapman said he did have
conversations with some of the
displaced owners about space
but that the price range was out
of their budgets. There will
only be two retail spaces in the
new building. Chapman said.
Business owners still on
Trade Street have high aspira
tions for Trader's Row. Bendet
ta Davis, who sells African art,
soaps and jewelry at My Sis
tah's Place, hopes the new
building will increase Trade
Street's visibility.
"I think it will bring more
traffic down here, and more
traffic will bring more business
to me," she sajd. Davis also
hopes that city officials will
take more of an interest in
Trade Street. The city has
focused much of its energy
developing a so-called "restau
rant row" on Fourth Street.
Davis said Trade Street is often
treated like a stepchild. She
points to the city's Rock the
Block outdoor music festival,
which takes place each fall on
Fourth Street.
"Spread it out so that we
can get some of those people
over here," Davis said.
Trader's Row is slated to be
completed by January of 2007,
Chapman said.
The Clark A.Thompson Lectures
Hosted and sponsored by
Home Moravian Church
on
Salem Square
Monday, October 10, at noon
Featuring
Dr. Alton B. Pollard III
Director of the Black Church Studies Program and Associate Professor of Religion and
\ Culture, Candler School of Theology at Emory University
Lccture title:
"Wade in the Water: A Meditation on Race, Class and Katrina"
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