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21 110807 1 5-DIMT 27101
NORTH CAROLINA ROOM
FORSYTH CTY PUBLIC LIBRARY
660 W 5TH ST
WINSTON SALEW NC 27101-2755
DNICLE
? THURSDAY, October 4, 2007
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- See Page A3
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Liberians praise God, President Bush
Photo by Todd Luck
David
F I o m o
addresses
the congre
gation at
G o I e r
Memorial
on Sunday.
US. residency extension granted, for now
BY TODD LUCK
THE CHRONICLE
Three months ago,
Liberians made a plea for
prayer and action at Goler
Memorial A.M.E. Zion
Church.
At the time, their future
in this country was uncer
tain. The Temporary
Protected Status (TPS) that
has allowed thousands of
Liberians to live in the
United States for the past
decade was coming to an
end.
Their prayers were answered two
weeks ago - but only temporarily.
Lartey
President Bush authorized an addi
tional 18-month TPS extension, giving
nearly 4,000 Liberians resi
dency here until March 31,
2009.
Members of the local
Liberian community were
back at Goler Sunday, again
thanking God and Goler
members for supporting the
cause.
David Flomo, the for
mer president of the
Liberian Organization of
the Piedmont (LOP) and
member of the board of
directors of the Union for Liberian
See Liberians on All
Burn
Baby
Burn
Fitness enthusiast
makes shedding
pounds fun
BY LAYLA FARMER
THE CHRONICLE
The music pumped though
massive speakers as Cortney
Wilson stepped onto the pol
ished floor and began dancing
furiously to the pulsating beat.
Though she donned a wire
less mic to make her voice
float out over the music,
Wilson is not a recording
artist. Her business is fitness
and her job, she says, is mak
ing getting into shape fun and
effortless.
- Wilson, an exercise
instructor and owner of the
FiF (Fitness is Fun) Element
company, has led everything
from kickboxing to step aero
bics classes. She is currently
riding the wave of the latest
fitness craze to sweep the
nation - Zumba.
"I was looking for some
thing that wasn't traditional
aerobics," explained Wilson,
who has been leading work
Photo by Lee Adams
Cortney Wilson leads a recent Zumba class.
outs since 2002. "It's fresh,
it's not really something that's
competitive; they just really
come to have a good time, and
it delivers."
Inspired by Colombian fit
ness guru Beto Perez, Zumba
has gained a loyal following
with more than 9,000 instruc
tors teaching the art in 30
countries worldwide.
"Zumba is a Latin-infused
dance style aerobics," Wilson
said. "It's really spicy, it's
sexy, it's fun, it'sJnvigorating
... so instead of you feeling
like you're working out for a
whole hour, you're really
dancing for a whole hour, and
before you know it, the time is
up."
Though traditional Zumba
is rooted in Latin music, such
as salsa and meringue, Wilson
says she likes to include her
own touches in the routine,
adding elements of the hip hop
and soul music that she loves.
"Zumba instructors are dif
ferent; some people might add
a little pop to it, some might
add a little country, depending
on what their likings are," she
commented.
Wilson is getting others
hooked on Zumba. She leads
classes at the Central YMCA,
Women's Wellness & Fitness
and the new Gateway YWCA,
where she leads the FiF
Element Zumba courses on
Wednesday nights.
Fitness buff Sandy Wrench
is a regular in Wilson's class
es. She says she has fallen in
love with Zumba.
"I discovered Zumba back
See Zumba on A6
wssu
among best
HBCUs in
the nation
Magazine rankings include
several N.C. schools
BY LAYLA FARMER
THE CHRONICLE
North Carolina is home to
some of America's best
Historically Black Colleges and
Universities (HBCUs), accord
ing to a recent study of
"America's Best Black
Colleges" by "U.S. News &
World Report" magazine. The
report
was pub
lished in
the mag
azine's
Oct. 8
edition,
which hit
stands
Monday.
S i x
N . C .
schools
were list
Reaves
ed among the top 20, more than
any other high-ranking state.
Johnson C. Smith ranked high
est among N.C. institutions,
coming in at number 10.
Winston-Salem State was just
below, at number 12; and three
North Carolina schools -
Elizabeth City State, North
Carolina Central and North
Carolina A&T State - tied for
16th place. Fayetteville State
came in at number 34, as did
Bluefield State College in West
Virginia; Miles College in
Birmingham, Ala.; and Norfolk
State University in Virginia.
Each institution was evaluat
ed on peer assessments, gradua
tion and retention rates, faculty
resources, student selectivity,
financial resources and alumni
giving rates.
This is the fust time in histo
ry that the magazine has com
piled a list of outstanding
HBCUs.
"They're a very interesting
section of the higher education
community that doesn't really
get necessarily the brightest
spotlight in our best college
rankings," Deputy Assistant
Sec HBCUs on A13
Dialogue between blacks, Hispanics continues
BY LAYLA FARMER
THE CHRONICLE
The city celebrated its annu
al Race Equality We?k Sept. 24
29, with a series of events
designed to celebrate diversity
and promote racial tolerance.
To this end, the city's
Human Resources Department
has hosted six interracial forums
over the past few years. Dubbed
"Beyond Soul and Salsa," the
forums focus chiefly on build
ing positive relationships among
local Hispanics and African
American.
"We found that as Hispanic
immigration grew in Forsyth
County, a lot of immigrants
were moving into traditionally
African American neighbor
hoods," explained Wanda Allen
Abraha, director of the city's
Human Relations Commission,
which sponsors the forums.
"You had a lot of conflict and a
lot of the conflict was based on
Abraha
misinformation and stereotypes
... We thought that it would be a
wonderful idea to provide a
venue for these two groups to
get together to discuss a com
mon ground and some other
things that were going on that
were unique to their communi
ties."
In addition to "Beyond Soul
Garzon
and Salsa," the city held a stu
dent race relations forum at
Carver High School on Sept. 25,
and helped to sponsor the
Hispanic League of the Triad's
Fiesta 2007 celebration Sept. 29.
This year's forum was held
last Thursday evening at Union
Baptist Church, where a panel
of speakers focused on two
Hairston
major issues - education and
immigration.
"The idea is for folks to
come in and address the issues
that's affecting the African
American community and the
Latino community and what we
can do as community leaders to
make a difference," stated Juan
See Forum on A13
Faceless Victims
Photo by Lay la Farmer
In honor of Domestic Violence Awareness Month, more
than 30 red "Silent Witnesses" silhouettes dot the lawn
outside of Family Services, Inc. Each figure represents a
Forsyth Country resident who lost his or her life due to
domestic violence. See page A6 for the full story.
In Grateful Memory of Our
Founders,
FlorrieS. Russell and
Carl H. Russell, Sr.
"Growing and Still Dedicated to Serve You Better "
Wishes to Thank Everyone For Their Support
822 Carl Russell Ave.
(at Martin Luther IClngC Dr.)
Winston-Salem, NC 27101
(336) 72213459
Fax (336) 631-8268
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