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Shattered
(American)
Dream
Black family victims of racial vandal
ism in posh Clemmons community
BY LAYLA FARMER
THE CHRONICLE
It sounded like a gunshot. The shattering glass roused the
Rev. Tejado Hanchell and his wife, Victoria, from a dead sleep.
"I was awakened by a loud sounding noise and the sound of
breaking glass, said Kev.
Hanchell, who pastors
Mount Calvary Holy Church
in Winston-Salem. "I origi
nally thought that someone
shot a bullet through my
window."
In the next room, Victoria
Hanchell's mother, Cheryl
Binford. stood wide eyed in
front of her armoire, hearing
the words the men had yelled
echoing in her head.
"She heard two or three
men scurrying about in front
of our house and one of them
yelled out, 'F you, nig
gers,' as he threw the bottle
into the windows," explained her son-in-law.
"It really scared me when it. happened," Binford confessed.
Victoria Hanchell rushed to check on the couple's 18-month
old daughter, Zaria, and found the toddler cowering in her crib.
"Normally, when she wakes up, she stands up in the crib,"
she explained. "This time, she didn't stand up; she was in her
crib ducking .... She knew something wasn't right."
It was 3:30 a.m. on the morning of Dec. 18, barely three
weeks after the family had relocated from a townhouse in
See Hanchells on A6
Photos by L?yU Fanner
Victoria Hanchell looks through the window that was damaged by vandals.
Angelou Center on a mission to save lives
Photo by Todd Luck
Center
Director
Ronny Bell,
right, with
J a i m i e
Hunter and
Sarah
Langdon ,
left.
BY TODD LUCK
THE CHRONICLE
For the last five years, the Maya Research Angelou Center on
Minority Health has been fighting health disparities through
research and education.
The Angelou Center, part of Wake Forest University Baptist
Medical Center, has 10 employees and dozens of affiliates in dif
ferent departments throughout the hospital. The center primarily
focuses on areas such as research, community outreach and the
development of minority faculty members and students at Wake
Forest School of Medicine.
Ronny Bell, the director of the center, says the center is not
only trying to end health disparities between minorities and
whites but also working to uncover why the disparities exist in the
first place.
"First of all, we want to help identify why those disparities
exist and also to try to do things that will help address and elimi
nate those disparities," said Bell, who took over the agency after
the center's original director. Dr. Kristy Freeman Woods, left in
See Center on A4
Johnson
to face
lesser
charge
Forsyth County
prosecutor decides
there is not evidence
for a murder case
CHRONICLE STAFF REPORT
A Forsyth County assistant
district attorney has decided that
21 -year-old James Johnson of
Wilson will not face first-degree
murder
charges
in con
nection
with the
2 0 0 4
slaying
of a 17
year old.
He will
face a
lesser
charge ,
Johnson
inougn.
Belinda Foster, a prosecutor
in the office of Forsyth County
District Attorney Tom Keith, has
been appointed by the N.C.
Administrative Office of the
Courts to- review Johnson's case
to determine if there was signif
icant evidence to charge him
with the murder qf Brittany
Willis.
The Chronicle contacted
Keith last week for more infor
mation on his office's involve
ment. The DA left a message at
the paper the evening of Dec.
19, after The Chronicle's dead
line for its Dec. 20 edition, to
say that murder charges had
been dropped.
Prosecutors in Wilson were
criticized for their handling of
the case and agreed to let a spe
cial prosecutor take over. The
case had also caused racial rip
ples in Wilson, a town about 50
miles outside of Raleigh.
Kenneth Meeks, who admitted
to killing and raping Willis, who
was white, is African-American,
as is Johnson. Meeks had initial
ly said that Johnson helped him
kill Willis, but he later admitted
that he acted alone. Johnson was
arrested and remained in jail
even after Meeks said he lied
Sec Johnson on A4
A
Merry
Melody
Photo by Jaeson Pitt
The sounds of the season rang
out recently inside the walls of
historic Lloyd Presbyterian
Church. Three groups - the
Grace Presbyterian Church
Youth Choir, the Central
Carolina Children's Chorus
and the Downtown School
Children's Chorus performed
duirng a fundraiser for the
church, which is trying to raise
$200fl00 for renovations. Read
more about the effort on B5.
In Grateful Memory of Our
Founders,
Florrie S. Russell and
Carl H. Russell, Sr.
"Growing and Still Dedicated to Serve You Better "
ffittggeK fflimmtl IMmra
Wishes to Thank Everyone For Their Support
822 CTarl Russell Ave.
(at Martin Luther King Dr.)
Winston-Salem, NC 27101
(336) 722-3459
Fax (336) 63 X? 8268
nufhome @ bellsouth Jiet
U
89076*3243
SI