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WINSTON-SALEM, N.C.
THURSDAY, December 10, 2009
( J. Harris
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60 West Fifth Street
HAWS begins long process
of changing East Winston
Photos by Todd Luck
A planner shows a resident a map of the proposed redevelopment area.
BY TODD LUCK
THE CHRONICLE
*
East Winston residents gave officials
from the Housing Authority of Winston
Salem (HAWS) their two cents last week
at a meeting at Bethlehem Missionary
Baptist Church to dis
cuss redevelopment
possibilities in the
area.
Bethlehem Baptist
is on North Claremont
Avenue - next to the
130 acres that HAWS
wants to revitalize.
HAWS has con
tracted with the
Washington, D.C.
based firm Wiencek
Rev. Hash
and Associates to study the many possi
ble improvements that could be made in
the area, which runs along Martin Luther
See HAWS on A2
UNCG Pholo by Chris English
Kewku Atta places clothes into one of the barrels that he regularly ships to Africa.
From Greensboro to Ghana With Love
BY LAYLA FARMER
THE CHONICLE
One could safely say that Kewku
Atta's philanthropy knows no bounds
or borders.
Since 2006, Atta, a housekeeper at
UNC Greensboro, has sent clothes
galore to the smallest residents of
Tema, a city in his native Ghana.
It's a one-man mission of love. Atta
travels around the Gate City picking up
inexpensive items at yard sales to send
to the children, who he says -are in des
perate need of basic clothing items.
He ships them by the barrel to the
town's only school, where the clothes
are distributed to the students. The
cost of shipping one barrel is $150.
Atta has sent more than six so far, and
has no plans of stopping.
"I love helping; I love doing that
kind of service," he said. "I want the
people (of Tema) to see that though I'm
not with them... if I have the chance, I
will still help them."
See Atta on A9
Upbeat seven-year-old fights for his life
Fundraiser for Mason LaVack set for Saturday
BY LAYLA FARMER
THE CHRONICLE
Winston-Salem resident Dave
LaVack never thought he'd see the day
when he would allow his seven year
old son to shave his head. But LaVack
says the last few months have changed
his perspective on a lot of things.
The web communications specialist
at Winston-Salem State University,
LaVack's world crumbled in
September, when his youngest son.
Mason, was diagnosed with a rare form
of brain cancer.
"I've been a basket case for the past
Family Photos
Mason LaVack was a typical elemen
tary school kid before cancer struck.
several months worrying about it,"
admitted the father of three. "The
prognosis is not good."
Mason underwent two brain surger
ies to remove the cancer, and recently
completed a 42-day cycle of
chemotherapy and radiation.
Despite the serious nature of his
disease, LaVack says Mason, a second
grader at Lewisville Elementary, has
taken it all in stride.
"He's very resilient; he just does
what kids do," LaVack commented.
"...Thanksgiving Day was just eight
Sec Mason on All
Photos courtesy of Batik -Cochrane
Carolyn Battle-Cochrane, right, with her mother.
Gray Area
Local woman challenges conventional
ideas of race in documentary series
BY LAYLA FARMER
THE CHRONICLE ? - ; ? :
Winston-Salem resident Carolyn Battle-Cochrane says it
took a long time to find her place in the world.
Born in Queens, N.Y. to a Caucasian mother and an
African-American tather,
Battle-Cochrane says she
never felt she truly fit in any
where.
After years of struggling to
find her own identity as a bira
cial woman, Battle-Cochrane
is giving voice to the millions
of other biracial people across
the globe who find themselves
trapped between the stark lines
that define race as we know it.
Battle-Cochrane is on the
cusp of completing a 10-part
documentary series about bira
cial people and the unique
challenges they face.
The first installments of the
"Bi-Racial ... Not Black,
Damnit" series have garnered
Battle-Cochrane
considerable attention, landing
Battle-Cochrane interviews with CNN's Campbell Brown:
Michael Baisden and Tyra Banks. The newly-married mother
of two adult daughters and grandmother of three moved to
Winston-Salem to be with her husband, a childhood friend.
Tim.
Battle-Cochrane, who said that growing up she was often
mistreated by her peers and even endured violence, says she
once rejected her mother out of what she felt was necessity.
"I used to never tell people I had a white mother - never,"
she related. "You don't grow up in New York in a black neigh
borhood with a white mother and not get in fights."
As a young adult. Battle-Cochrane self-identified as a black
woman. Only her closest friends knew her varied background
- that is until one day when a client in the successful New York
salon she owned made a comment that set her on another
See Bi-racial on A5
And the Loser is...
Family Photo Photo by / B Pnrtt
The Rev. Paul Hart has dropped more than 40 pounds in
the last four months - thanks to a friendly weight loss
competition that pits him against members of his family.
Read more on Page AH.
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