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Chronic ^
Vol. XXXIV No. 33 THURSDAY, May 1, 2008
Carver
names
football
coach
-See Page Bl
Pam Grier
accepts
RiverRun
film honor
- See Page A3
75 cent#
NAACP xebra/
honors
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-See Page
jyinstob's; a'em, NC^IOI/
6 Human
frailties' of
legal system
get attention
BY TODD LUCK
-THE CHRONICLE .
Law students got real life lessons on how innocent
people can sometimes become victims of the flawed
legal system.
Their teacher one evening last week was Darryl
Hunt, who knows first-hand of the subject. Hunt spent
nearly 20 years in prison for a murder he did not com
The discussion
took place at Wake
'Forest University
"School of Law and
explored the
importance of
innocence projects,
which seek to
exonerate the
wrongly convicted.
Hunt now has
an innocence proj
ect of his own. Part
of the mission of
his Darryl Hunt
Project for
Freedom and
Justice is to fight
for those who are
behind bars for
crimes they did not
Photo by Todd Luck
Dean Blake Morant
commn.
Innocence projects don't necessarily have to be
well-known and well-financed. Hunt reminded the
audience that local ministers and concerned citizens
formed a coalition that worked for his freedom for two
decades.
For those in prison unjustly, Hunt said innocence
projects are a lifeline.
"If you been where I been, one day in there is one
day of hell because you never know if you're going to
live or die in the next second" said Hunt. "If you can
imagine yourself somewhere and you know that you
don't belong there, then can you feel the pain that so
many people feel that are innocent and crying out for
help."
Duke University Law School has a well known
innocence project, which involves students and profes
sors working on behalf of people they feel have been
wrongly convicted. The project is now working to free
Kalvin Michael Smith, a black man who was convicted
of a violent assault on a white, female employee of a
Winston-Salem floral shop in 1995. Wake Forest Law
began an innocence project of its own last fall.
Ronald Wright, the school's executive dean for aca
demic affairs, works with Wake's innocence project.
Already 36 law students are working on 12 open cases.
Wright was a part of the last week's panel discussion,
as was Mark Rabil, the attorney who helped win Runt's
See Law panel on A4
Photo by Charlie Pfaff
Sen. Barack Obama speaks at a campaign event in the Joel Coliseum Annex.
(Jbama says he won t
be a sore winner or loser
BYT. KEVIN WALKER
THE CHRONICLE
During a campaign stop in Winston-Salepi Tuesday,
the Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum.
Members of the association held a similar talk with Sen.
Hillary Clinton, Obama's rival for the nomination, on
Monday in Greensboro. Tuesday , North Carolina voters
jcii. uaiacK wudiim auuiiucu uiai uciug a
hop, skip and jump away from the
Democratic Presidential nomination still
takes some getting used to.
"We have been successful beyond our
expectations," the Illinois senator told a
small group of publishers, editors and
reporters from black-owned newspapers
throughout North Carolina. "I wouldn't
have gotten into this race if I did not think
that we could win, but obviously, the odds
were long. And for us to be here as the
Democratic frontrunner in the nomination, I
John Hope Franklin
win move eiuier uoama or bunion one siep
closer to the nomination and a fall showdown
with Sen. John McCain, the presumptive
GOP candidate.
Obama's Winston-Salem event was billed
as a "town hall meeting" instead of a "rally,"
but someone forgot to tell the thousands of
attendees, who whooped, hollered and chant
ed as soon as the senator bolted onto the
small makeshift stage. His ability to attract
diehard supporters is one of his hallmarks - a
political gift that has been pondered, debated
and editorialized.
think is extraordinary.
Obama held a nearly hourlong, round table pow
wow with members of the N.C. Black Publishers'
Association before his noontime rally in the annex of
Dr. John Hope, Franklin, the legendary
author, educator and Presidential Medal of Freedom
See Obama on A6
Summer
feeding
program
returning
BY LAYLA FARMER
THE CHRONICLE
i
"If one child in Forsyth
County is hungry, it's one too
many," declared Nan Griswold,
executive director of Second
Harvest Food Bank of
Northwest North Carolina, at
t h e
Gateway
Y WC A
last
Friday
after
noon.
"The
need is
here,
we're
respond
ing to the
need, but
Martin
we need the total community
... in order to feed our hungry
kids."
The purpose of the April 25
event was to announce the
return of the Winston-Salem/
Forsyth County Summer
Feeding Program for Hungry
Children.
"(Childhood hunger) is a
tremendously serious problem
in our community," said Mayor
Allen Joines, who has worked
closely with the program since
its inception in 2006. "As
we're moving our economy
towards a more knowledge
based economy, we've got to
make sure that our young peo
ple are successful.
This program here will con
tribute to mat."
The summer feeding pro
gram employs federal grant
money and the efforts of volun
teers to provide free meals to
the more than 24,000 children
across the county who qualify
for free or reduced lunch during
the regular school year.
An average of 1,690 chil
dren were fed daily during the
2006 summer season - less
than 10 percent of those eligi
ble - and the school system was
forced to return $6 million in
unused grant dollars to the fed
eral government.
A breakfast program was
added to the 2007 roster and the
See Meals on All
A Woman's Worth
Annual awards pay homage to female leaders
BY LAYLA FARMER
THE CHRONICLE
"Women are really stepping forward
and making such a difference in our
community," . Mayor Pro Tempore
Vivian Burice told the group of honorees
and well wishers at the 2008
Outstanding Women Leaders Reception
last Thursday evening. "You would not
imagine the impact that they make when
it comes to generating money back to
this community."
Burke has sponsored the ceremony
since its inception in 2003, along with
Southern Community Bank and Trust
and Visit Winston-Salem. Nine women
were honored for their leadership and
commitment to the community tj^iis year.
"It just (never) ceases to amaze me;
it always humbles me when people do
give me an award," commented Police
Chief Pat Norris, one of the evening's
honorees. "It just really does make me
feel great to know that a little bit of what
I'm doing is making a difference,"
added the chief,
who will be retir
ing in June.
Sylvia P.
Adams, executive
director of the
Salvation Army
Boys & Girls
Clubs of
Winston-Salem,
was also recog
nized.
WI felt really
honored to be
among the distinguished women, sne
later said. "It makes me want to go out
and do even more for our community
and look at how we can partner with
Irty
other agencies, again among some of the
distinguished women here. We've
already talked about how we're going to
collaborate and do things for our com
munity."
Honoree Simona Atkins Allen is a
retired music teacher and one of the
founding members of the Delta Arts
Center.
"I've been involved with it through
out its history and I'm still involved with
it," she said of the center. "I'm not
involved on a day-to-day basis, but I'm
very pleased with it."
0 Florence Corpening, chief executive (
officer of the YWCA of Winston-Salem,
was also honored at the event held at the
Brookstown Inn; as were Beverly
Graham, owner of Medicap Pharmacy;
Rev. Yvonn? Hines-of the Mount Sinai
Full Gospel Deliverance Center; Susan
Sec Women on A4
Photos by Jeffrey Tbomer^Oty of W-S
Simona Allen accepts her award from Vivian Burke, left, and Jennifer
Norwood of Visit, Winston -Salem.
In Memory of
Charlene
Russell Brown
"Growing and Still Dedicated to Serve You Better"
jRuasell fflwneral ffiomg
Wishes to Thank Everyone For Their Support
822 Carl Russell Ave.
Cat Martin Luther King ?>ry)
Winston-Salem, NC 27101
036) T22-34S9
Fax (336) 631-8268
rusfhoiii<(<{>bellsouth.net
*