SSAAH wil have reception and
membership drive on Nov. 29
CHRONICLE STAFF REPORT
The Society for the Study of
Afro American History of
Winston-Sale rr^^-orsyth County
(SSAAH) will nave a holiday
reception Nov. 29 from 5-7 pin.
at the Delta Arts Center, 2611
New Walkertown Rd.
The event will also serve as a
membership drive for the organi
sation. which is dedicated to pre
serving local black history.
Members are also working to
start a local black history museum
where it can store the many his
torical artifacts and documents it
has gathered over the yean.
SSAAH has roots going back
to 1983 when a group of dedicat
ed residents decided to develop a
black history society. Founders of
the group included Louise
Hamilton, Dr. Bill Rice. Ella
Whitworth and the Rev Henry
Lewis. These foot soldiers toiled
many hours to keep local black
history alive and relevant.
Today's members are equally
as driven and are devoted to
ensuring that the organization and
the legacy of its founders contin
ues. The public is invited to attend
the reception to leam more about
the organization and its goals.
Guests are asked to RSVP
with Lester Davis (336-971-6851
Isinclair92 7@aol .com ) or
Connie Smith (336-785-1854/
clsmithll60@yahoojcom).
Lenders
from pagr AS
Vince Sheheen, a lawyer
who is suing payday lenders on
behalf of customers, said the
posters will not help.
"What's going on is we have
people who are generally in
very unstable situations finan
cially," Sheheen said.
"Literally, it is window dress
ing."
The posters do mark a shift
for the industry, Sheheen said.
"They have typically called it a
fee and tried to say it's not inter
est," said Sheheen, who also has
pushed legislation overhauling
payday lending regulations.
The signs aren't expected to
affect business at the nation's
largest payday lender. South
Carolina-based Advance
America Cash Advance Centers
Inc.. company spokesman Jamie
Fulmer said. The company has
long posted similar disclosures
so consumers have "the infor
mation that is best for them to
make their choices," Fulmer
said.
Advance America is one of
several lenders named in
Sheheen's lawsuit, which claims
the companies attract borrowers
to "unconscionable loans" and
trap them in an endless cycle of
trying to repay the loans.
"We think those lawsuits are
frivolous and we're going to
vigorously defend ourselves,"
Fulmer said.
Spending
from page AS
($453 million),
for a net cost to the
state of about $759
million, or approxi
mately $420 per
resident after their
tax contributions
are considered.
"The net cost to
the state budget
must be seen in the
broader context of
the aggregate bene
fit h1nrlrs hrino tr*
the state economy,"
researchers John D. Kasarda,
director of the Kenan
Kasarda
Institute, and James H.
Johnson Jr., director of the
institute's Urban Investment
Strategies Center, wrote in the
siuay. BiacK
owned businesses,
for instance, are also
important employers
of North
Carolinians, creat
ing almost 85,000
jobs. Above and
beyond their direct
and indirect impacts
on North Carolina
business revenues,
black workers con
tribute immensely to the
state's economic output and
cost competitiveness in a
number of key industries."
Sorrell
from page A2
$5,000 from Paul Quinn.
Fantroy, a former member of the
school's board of directors, has
pleaded not guilty.
Instability at the top has not
helped. Sorrell is the school's
fifth leader since 200 1 .
Enrollment is down by about
100 students to 600 this year.
The endowment has shrunk to
less than $5 million, Sorrell
said, and the school has been
running with operating deficits.
Buildings are in need of repair,
the campus roads are pocked by
potholes, and students complain
of bad food in the cafeteria and
bug infestations in the dorms.
Sorrell has big plans. He
wants to raise academic stan
dards and increase enrollment to
2,000. A fundraising campaign
he's pushing will "raise more
money than we've ever raised in
this school's history," he said.
"There is no example for
what we're about to do," Sorrell
said. "We're going to turn what
has generally been considered a
mediocre historically black col
lege into a great, small liberal
arts college. That's where we're
going."
' There's also may be no
example of a college president
with as unlikely a career path.
The Chicago native played
basketball at Oberlin College,
leaving as its fifth-leading scor
er. He went to Duke for a mas
ter's and then a law degree. He
also has worked as an NBA
agent, practiced law and helps
out on Barack Obama's presi
dential campaign.
The school's alumni seem
unconcerned about Sorrell's
inexperience in academia.
"The alumni are overwhelm
ingly enthusiastic with the
changes Mike has made," said
Kevin Kelley, a 2000 Paul
Quinn graduate who founded a
Dallas law firm with a class
mate. "His ability to fundraise
and bring in other supporters of
the college has nothing to do
with whether he has published
any articles."
Sorrell does not want to
change the school in the slow,
careful, committee-heavy fash
ion for which colleges are
known. He wants to change Paul
Quinn now.
"I am never going to be an
academic," he said. "They are
very staid. They are very aca
demic. They wear tweed. There
is a place for those guys, and I
respect them and I am awed by
them.
"But that's not what my
school needs and that's not what
this community needs. They
need someone who will roll up
their sleeves and fight - fight for
their students and fight for the
school."
DNA
from pa/tt A2
point to a country of origin.
That's more difficult for
blacks, because many of
j Afr;^on
luuay ? nmwaii
nations literally
didn't exist a cen
tury ago. For
blacks who are the
descendants of
slaves, family his
tory often hits a
roadblock at about
1870 because
that's when their
last names first
started appearing
Mil icucidi itwiua.
DNA testing can help peo
ple reach back further, perhaps
all the way to Africa. "This is
going to help some individuals
to cross the waters and that's
why it is so significant." she
said.
Gates developed a passion
Walton-Raji
for his own ancestry while pro
ducing the 2006 PBS docu
mentary series "African
American Lives." DNA testing
done in conjunction with the
program revealed some sur
prises in the family
histories ot Uates ana
other prominent black
Americans.
Gates, for exam
ple, discovered that
an ancestor fought in
the Revolutionary
War
"Going about
making that PBS
series showed me that
there was a lot of con
fusion in the field of
Atrican ancestry, he said.
Gales plans on donating
some of the profits from the
project to the Inkwell
Foundation, which aims at
using genetics to reform the
way science and history is
taught.
PFLAG AWARDS HONOR THOSE
WITH OPEN HEARTS AND MINDS
CHRONICLE STAFF REPORT
The Winston-Salem chapter
of Parents, Families and Friends
of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG)
presented several awards last
month to honor individuals,
businesses and others that have
proven themselves to be allies
to the city's gay, lesbian, bisex
ual and transgender community.
The Oct. 27 Kaleidoscope
Awards ceremony was held at
Augsburg Lutheran Church .
PFLAG says the awards
"aim to highlight the powerful
changes being made in all
aspects of life by fair-minded,
straight allies and organizations
who recognize that moving
equality forward for GLBT
individuals is the key to achiev
ing justice in every part of our
lives."
"Often it is difficult for the
families and friends of GLBT
people to stand up for their
loved ones for many of the same
reasons gay people do not speak
up," said Thomas Farmer, presi
dent of the Winston-Salem
PFLAG chapter. "This event is
about strengthening and broad
ening our community and sup
port structures. It is about letting
our community know who our
role models and advocates are
and in turn empowering all of us
to find our voice."
Nominations were accepted
in four categories - Business,
Faith Community, Individual
and School .
Dell, Inc. took the business
prize for its strong anti-discrim
PI'LAO Photo*
Members of Universalis I
Fellowship of Winston-Salem
accept the faith award.
Right: The Rev. Susan Parker
of Wake Forest Baptist holds
her trophy.
ination and anti-harassment
policies. The international com
puter giant, which has a super
sized production facility in
Winston-Salem, also offers ben
efits for same-sex cobles and a
networking group that preaches
the importance of acceptance
and tolerance.
The City of Winstoh-Salem,
Winston-Salem Hospice &
Palliative Care Center and the
Winston-Salem Foundation's
Youth Grantmakers in Action
were also nominated in the busi
ness category.
The faith award went to
Unitarian Universalist
Fellowship of Winston-Salem.
The church was cited for its
strong stances on human rights
issues. The Rev. Charles Davis,
the church's pastor, also refuses
to perform legal wedding cere
monies until the law allows all
people, mainly same-sex cou
ples, to marry legally. Davis
does perform religious union
ceremonies for same-sex and
heterosexual couples
Metropolitan Community
Church (MCC) of Winston
Salem and Church of the Holy
Spirit Fellowship were up for
the faith award as well.
The Rev. Susan Parker, an
associate pastor at Wake Forest
Baptist Church, won the indi
vidual award for her active role
with several organizations that
push for social justice and
change Parker's efforts as a
bridge-builder are well known
throughout the city.
Wade Boyles, Jamie Lawson
and City Council Member and
N.C. lieutenant governor candi
date Dan Besse were also nomi
nated for the individual award
PFLAG did not receive
nominations in the school award
category, a fact that is troubling
to the organization, which says
schools should do more to pro
tect and support gay youngsters.
The organization presented
Jonathan Chaney with the
Volunteer of the Year Award for
his tireless work for PFLAG.
Chaney has lent his talents to
designing and redesigning the
organization's newsletter, Web
site, fliers and posters.
Wake Forest Law Professor
Shannon Gilreath was the
event's keynote speaker, and
Jason and deMarco. a gay duo
known for their spiritual tunes,
performed.
For more information about
Winston-Salem PFLAG, go to
wwwfflagwinstonsalem .org .
Scam
from page A1
$2,900?"
Though it is pretty typical
wording for a long-standing
hoax, many people never
imagine that a scammer would
contact them in such a manner,
says David Dairy mple.
President & CEO of the Better
Business Bureau of Northwest
North Carolina.
"You have very little to
confirm the identity of some
body by email," he stated.
"But most folks take (the iden
tity of the sender) to be the
gospel, you know the absolute
truth - they don't fathom that
that can be falsified."
No one is safe from such
intrusion, as an official of a
prominent civil rights organi
zation learned recently. The
official, who when inter
viewed last week asked that
their name and organization
not be used, still has no idea
how scammers gained access
to the organization's address
book, which contained nearly
2,000 names and e-mail
addresses.
The official was unaware
that a scam e-mail had been
sent from the organization's
address until phone calls
began pouring in from recipi
ents.
"Folks ... called my cell
and also my office number to
make sure I was okay, and that
made me feel really good," the
official said. "Thank God,
most of them thought it was a
hoax anyway."
A mass e-mail was sent to
all of those in the organiza
tion's address book, warning
them of the scam, and as far as
the organization knows, no
one on the list fell victim to it.
'*1 have not heard, and I
pray to God. that they don't
(send money to the scammers)
because that's the part that
really is so bothersome, that
they'l) be thinking that they
are helping me, and I'm alive
and '/well in North Carolina,
not in distress," the official
commented.
Unfortunately, the savvy of
those affected by this organi
zation's victimization is not
mirrored throughout society,
and Dalrymple cautions all
Internet users to be suspicious
of anyone who contacts them
asking for money or informa
tion.
"If you see somebody you
know, a name that you know,
you'd better confirm through
some other means with them
before you start believing it
really is them." he advised.
Telltale signs of fraudulent
emails include poor grammar
- which may indicate a lack' of
understanding of the English
language - and ambiguous
greetings such as, "Dear Ebay
Member," or "Dear Bank of
America Customer,"
Dairy mple says.
Internet scams are here to
stay, and recipients must learn
to be more cautious in order to
protect themselves, he warns.
"(These scams are)
absolutely happening. If peo
ple think that it's the excep
tion, it's not. The folks that
are doing this to us, they can
gain a lot by doing very little,"
he stated. "Question - you
need to question (every
thing)."
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