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C? ...ONICLE
Vol. XXXIII No. 47 THURSDAY, August 9, 2007
Carver
promises
productive
season
wssu
student
headed to
Africa
A look at
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Family Forsyj
Fest SSL
Relative
parents
group a
success
More than 100 heal
caregivers get
support, encouragement
via RAPP
BY LAYLA FARMER
THE CHRONICLE
Parenting is by no means
an easy task. No matter how
much you want to do it, the
job of a parent or caregiver is
Kindley
unend
ing and
fraught
with
c h a 1 -
lenges.
For
those
who
become
care
giverS to
family
mem
bers as the result of an unex
pected twist of fate, the
demands of becoming a parent
overnight can mount very
quickly.
Social worker Krista
Kindley of the Forsyth County
Department of Social Services
joined forces with other con
cerned colleagues to try to
alleviate the strain many rela
tive caregivers feel through
the creation of the RAPP
(Relatives As Parents
Program), which received an
initial grant from the
Brookdale Foundation in
2003.
"We identified that there
are unique parenting needs
with regard to relative care
givers," said Kindley, who
serves as the program coordi
nator for RAPP. "Sometimes
the children that they are par
enting, because of the circum
stances that they have lived
under, may come with some
other special needs and rela
tives are not aware of how to
seek services or how to seek
support," she added.
Through support groups,
fundraisers and'other events,
RAPP offers programming
that is specially tailored to
meet the needs of this unique
group of parents as they work
Sec RAPP on A12
Exhibit probes N.C.'s shameful past
Thousands were sterilized against their will
BY LAYLA FARMER
THE CHRONICLE
Winston-Salem State University has
become the first site in the state to
host a traveling exhibit that showcas
es the horrors of eugenics.
The Raleigh Museum of Natural
History first unveiled the exhibit ear
lier this summer. It details the North
Carolina's shameful history of
eugenics, a process of selective
breeding that was popular among the
Nazis. This state forcibly sterilized
thousands of men and women, many
poor and black, from 1929 to 1975 to
keep those deemed as mentally and
physically challenged from procreating.
i ne exnioii tries to aeive into tne rationale
and attitudes of those who perpetrated these
sterilization, which were legal under N.C. law
at the time. The exhibit also includes recorded
W omble
accounts from some of the sterilization victims,
many of whom were under the age of 18 at the
time of their sterilization.
"I was just so impressed with what a fantas
tic job the N.C. Department of
Health and Human Services did with
capturing this issue," said Jonathan
Martin, executive assistant to the
chancellor at WSSU. "I decided to
talk with the director for Minority
Health about the exhibit traveling
and ... we decided that Winston
Salem State would be a good loca
tion for the first stop."
The exhibit, which will be on
display in WSSU's Atkins Building
through January of next year, has
much to offer students and the greater commu
nity, Martin says.
"History is important, especially under
Sec Eugenics on A12
Photo by Layla Farmer
Some of the instruments used to sterilize are on display.
From Artist to Artist
Photo by Kevin Walker
Andre Chinn puts the final touches on his colorful portrait of Larry Leon Hamlin.
The Winston-Salem State-educated artist's work caught the attention of many
shoppers at the National Black Theatre Festival's Vendors' Pavilion, where Chinn
and dozens of others sold their wares.
Law School 101
Students put through rigorous schedule during month-long course
Photo by Todd I-uck
Barry
Stanback,
from left,
and Dianne
Williams
stand
beside pro
gram par
t ic ipant
D a r o n
Tredwell.
BY TODD LUCK
THE CHRONICLE
Last month, 20 students
from four area colleges
found out just how tough law
school can be. They took part
in a new program that helps
minority and disadvantaged
youth become lawyers. Road
to Law School Academy was
a four-week program spon
sored by Womble Carlyle
Sandridge & Rice and the
Council on Legal Education
Opportunity (CLEO), which
is a federally-funded project
designed to help minority
and low-income students get
into law school.
The academy drew five
See I-aw Program on A 10
Why is Elvis
no 'King'
to blacks?
Duke professor ponders that question on
30th anniversary of performer's death
BY TODD LUCK
THE CHRONICLE
Aug. 16 will mark the 30th anniversary of the death of
Elvis Presley.
Dubbed "The King of Rock 'n' Roll," Presley's success
endures today, with an estimated one billion records sold
worldwide, more than any other artist in history. But Elvis'
legacy has often received mixed reactions in the black com
munity.
Duke
University
Professor
Mark
Anthony
Neal, who
studies black
music in
popular cul
ture, dis
putes those
who praise
Presley as a
musical
innovator.
Neal says
Elvis' sound,
especially
his early
recordings,
were copied
from south
ern black
artists Elvis
idolized
while grow
ing up in
Memphis.
"Elvis
obviously
was an
Mark Anthony Neal is a well-known pop cul
ture critic.
incredible entertainer-but he wasn t a musical innovator, as
other musical innovators at the time were, and what was real
ly important about Elvis is that he was a cultural icon," Neal
said. "And part of what we're responding to is now, 30 years
after Jlis death, is not so much the greatness of his music but
just how much of a powerful cultural icon he was."
Neal believes that the legacy of Elvis and race is a com
plex one. Some of the resentment that African-Americans
have toward Elvis. Neal said, is the result of the belief that
Presley took a musical style that a segregated black America
originated and became the most successful singer in the
world. In doing so. the historic musical contributions of inno
vative black artists who inspired Elvis, such as Little
Richard, went largely unnoticed by the public.
On the flip side. Neal said, Elvis helped open up rhythm
and blues to the mainstream *0 that musicians like Little
Richard could become widely popular. Elvis wasn't the only
white musician borrowing from black culture. Record com
panies. Neal said, would often take songs by popular black
artists and have popular white artists re-record them in order
to win over white music listeners. Pat Boone, for example.
Sec Elvto on A15
In Grateful Memory of Out
Founders ,
Florrie S. Russell and
?arlH. Russell, Sr.
"Growing and Still Dedicated to Serve You Better"
jRuggcll fflmtiral fficrme
Wishes to Thank Everyone For Their Support
822 Carl Russell Aye.
(at IVtartin l.uther King Dr.)
Winston -Salem , NC 27IO!
C33?> 722-3459
F?, ,336) <>31-8268
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