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33 110806 CAR-RT-LOT'
NORTH CAROLINA ROOM *
FORSYTH CTY PUBLIC LIBRARY
660 W 5TH ST
WINSTON SALEM NC 27101-2755
**"? aaaii no. 22?
THURSDAY, JANUARY 26, 2006
Reynolds
has no
problem
with Rowan
- See Page Bl
SweatiiT
to the
African
drums
?See Page AJ2
Church says it will picket over billboards
Photos by Kevin
Walker
The Rev. Setk
O. Lartey says
the Paper Moon
billboards mis
represent the
community.
Lartey says strip club ads don 't
represent community
BYT. KEVIN WALKER
THE CHRONICLE
The pastor of one of the most
respected churches in East Winston is
unhappy with a series of provocative
billboards promoting a local "gentle
men's club."
The Rev. Seth O. Lartey led a
prayer vigil Sunday on the campus of
Winston-Salem State University with
about two dozen members of his flock
from Gdler Memorial AMH Zion
Church. The site, behind the school's
new multimillion computer science
building, was near a billboard for
Paper Moon, an adult club on
Salisbury Ridge Road.
The brightly-colored Paper Moon
billboard - which features just the
Sec Billboards on A12
A Goler member holds her Bible
during Sunday's prayer vigil.
Nun-Sense
Sister Larretta Rivera-Williams does God's work
at East Winston Catholic church
BY TODD LUCK
THE CHRONICLE
Sister Larretta Rivera-Williams,
the pastoral associate of Saint Benedict
the Moor Catholic Church, on East
12th Street, is the only black nun in
North Carolina.
That's not something- she's particu
larly hap{>y about. She said black sis
ters aren't very common in the South
and she wished there were more
minorities entering the religious life.
She said fewer people are choosing
to enter the religious life, period. In
this day and age .where women can do
so much, it's harder to convince
women to take a vocation, but she said
the life has been very rewarding for
her. She has met a lot of people
through her work.
She said what attracts her is the
discipline and focus of the lifestyle.
She also likes to be part of a communi
ty where everyone has the same focus
on social justice issues and asks simi
lar questions about life and the nature
of God.
! One thing that many notice about
Rivera- Williams when they see her is
that she doesn't wear a nun's habit
The traditional veil and dress of a nun
are not required by her regional com
munity ef the Sisters of Mercy of the
Americas. She and another sister were
the last to enter the Sisters of Mercy in
Belmont, N.C., when they required a
habit.
Her regional community was con
servative and slower than others to
give up the habit. She and another sis
ter went to a Sisters of Mercy confer
ence one time. They were the only
ones with habits there, which became a
source of curiosity for the other sisters,
who wanted to see and try on their
veils.
"It's not the veil, it's the drive that
makes the sister," said Rivera
Williams.
She said that one of the biggest
misconceptions about nuns is that
they're holier than everyone else.
Nuns have flaws too, she said. People
shouldn't put them on pedestals
because they're just as human as the
rest of us.
"What you see is what you get,"
she said.
Sometimes people will ask her if
she ran away from something by
becoming a nun. She tells them she
isn't running from anything; instead,
she ft running toward something. ?
Rivera-Williams, a Winston-Salem
native, has' traveled a long road to
become a nun and to get to where she
is today. She remembers being attract
ed to their lifestyle as early as her
grade-school years. She said there was
a sense of mystery about nuns. But she
didn't think she could be one. She
wouldn't see a black nun iihtil college.
In ninth grade at Bishop
McGuinness Catholic High School,
one of the sisters told her she had a
calling to religious life. She then went
to college and earned a major in social
work and a minor in theology.
? She went back to Bishop
McGuinness after that and taught
school there for a couple years. She
thought being around the sisters there
and being involved in the church
would be enough. But she wanted
See Nun on A9
Photo by Todd Luck
Sister Larretta Rivera-Williams is the state's only black nan.
Being Heard
Black Leadership Roundtable hears concerns from community
BY T KEVIN WALKER
THE CHRONICLE
Residents brought a hodgepodge of
concerns with them last Thursday to a
community forum held by the Black
Leadership Roundtable.
The Roundtable, a grassroots group
with a strong history of addressing
issues that affect' the black community,
2
Linda Sutton jots down notes during the forum.
has held such forums for the past sever
al years. Many of the concerns that have
been addressed at past forums have
become initiatives and causes of the
Roundtable.
Thet$ were few empty seats at the
forum, held at the Sara Alston HeaS
Start Center. Some of the seats were
filled by elected officials and other local
decision makers, who came to hear
community concerns firsthand. They got
an earful.
Kareem Allah complained about the
City Council's 2004 decision not to fund
CAT-TV, a cable public access channel.
"CAT-TV - which also had an unsteady
board of directors and incidents of
financial malfeasance - has been off the
air for more than a year.
"This is the first city to eliminate
community television," said Allah, who
hosted a show on CAT-TV. The Black
Sec RnundluMc on AS Retina Rarnes was one of several people who made com
Ruling
favors
East
Winston
Primary
Leaders want to reopen
school in the fall
BY T. KEVIN WALKER
THE CHRONICLE
A judge has cleared the
way for East Winston Primary
School to re-open its doors to
students in the fall.
The school closed in 2004
after its charter was revoked
by the State Board of
Education. The revocation
occurred after the Office of
Charter Schools claimed.
among
other
issues,
that the
school
falsified
its sul
ci e n t
enroll
ment
numbers,
failed to
maintain
Muhammad
accurate
accounting records an4 did not
keep exact minutes from
meetings of EWPS' board.
The school challenged the
revocation. Beginning in
2004, the Office of
Administrative Hearings
heard the case in High Point.
Last September, a judge
issued a decision that is highly
critical of the Office of
Charter Schools and the
Charter School Advisory
Committee, which recom
mended the revocation of- the
school's charter to the State
Board of Education. The deci
sion clears the way for EWPS
officials to go to the State
Board of Education next
month to begin the process of
regaining its charter.
"The court finds that the
state's decision to revoke the
East Winston Primary School
charter was arbitrary t and
capricious," Administrative
Law Judge Sammie Chess Jr.'s
decision reads. The decision
says the state never produced
credible evidence to prove the
issues cited in the revocation
and that the school was denied
Set EWPS on All
In Grateful Memory of Our
Founders,
Florrie S. Russell ond
? ?
"Growing and Still Dedicated to Serve You Better
Support
822 Carl Russt-ll i
(at Martin Luther Kir