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The Chron
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Vol. XXXVI No. 28
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C.
THURSDAY, March 11, 2010
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Football
takes to
the field
-See Pane BIO
Senate
hopefuls
sound-off
at forum
-See Pafie A 10
Library r ,Vebra "
tries to ~
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WF?h'3??* 01 %?HyV>
Same-sex couples question
YMCA membership policy
While other local health clubs have expanded definition of family,
Y stands by husband/wife policy
I 1
PhoU) by Lavla Farmer
A lark Maxwell, right, with his longtime partner, Timothy Young.
Residents call
for more action
in Rolling Hills
liY LAY l \ FARMER
I HH CHROMIC l.t . . ' . ? ? " . / . / '
Just over a year ago. the City of Winston-Salem and the
Housing Authority of Winston-Salem announced that they
had agreed upon an action plan to address a long list of
health and safety concerns
raised by residents of
Rolling Hills, an apartment
development off of New
Walkertown Road that has
long been labeled a trouble
spot.
The plan was imple
mented by the city's
Neighborhood Services
Department, in conjunction
with City-County
Inspections, the Forsyth
County Health Department
and other pertinent agen
Submitted Photo
A resident shows the danger
ous wear and tear of a Rolling
Hills staircase.
cies. The chief purpose of
the action plan was to identify violations to city codes and
address them, said Neighborhood Services Director Ritchie
Brooks. Brooks says the effort was successful.
See Rolling Hills on A 10
BY LAYLA FARMER
THE CHRONICLE ______
Same-sex couples say that their battle for equal
rights is not just being waged at the ballot box and in
courtrooms and Statehouses.
Mark Maxwell said he was
more than a little disheartened late
last month when his local YMGA
branch told him that he. his partner
of 16 years, Timothy Young, and
their two sons did not qualify for
the Y's family membership plan.
"They explained to me that we
could do a membership for me and
the kids, but we would have to do
something separate for Tim," he
related. "...They told me it was an
IRS issue, that they go by IRS
standards."
Hachman
The YMCA of Northwest NC Offers two member
ship options to families, according to its Web site.
Husbands and wives with dependents may join a facil
ity as a group, and single parents can join as an adult
See YMCA on \2
i 1 ? * ii ?i
Photo b> Latvia Parmer
Ratnona Hambrick stands in front of a boarded-up unit with
her four-year-old great-grandson, Chris Wilborn.
UNCSA student Chriss Barkley.
PhoCo t?> Ji?dd l-uck.
Filmmaker
Goes There!
"Pitch Black Milk" brings issues of dark-skinned
stigma and skin-bleaching into the light
BY TODD tUCk
I HL CHRONIC U
\ local film student tackles the issues of racial identit\ and
skin bleaching 111 her laicsi short film. "Pilch Black Milk."
The film was shot locally last \ear b\ C'hriss Barkley. 22.
a senior film production major at University of North Carolina
School of the Arts. She wrote, directed and produced the 20
minute film through her own production company. Down In
rront mms. llv. At a
screening last month. ->he
said it got a strong emotion
al reaction from the more 40
viewers who attended
"When the lights came
up there wasn't a dry eye in
the house, people were tear
ing up." said Barkley. a
native of Harrishurg. Pa. "It
was amazing."
"Milk" tells the -.tors of
a young African-American
middle schooler named
Bella who is ridiculed by her peers because of ber dark com
plexion and must confront painful memories tit her mother's
attempts to bleach her skin ,
The title of the movie comes from a line in President
Barack Obama's autobiography "Dreams F rom My Father."
which reads "That my lather looked nothing like the people
around me ? that he was black as pitch, my mother white as
milk ? barely registered in my mind '
Barkley said the film was inspired by young girls at her
mother's daycare center. During a trip to the toy store to hu>
dolls, all the girls, including the African Americans, wanted
Sec Film on V5
Grants go to programs that invest in people
BY I.AYI.A PARMER
rHI: CHRONICLE '
Three local organizations received $9 .(XX) "Weed and
Seed" grants from the Center for Community Safety
(CCS) of Winston-Salem State University last Friday
during a brief program at the agency's Winston Tower
headquarters
The Center for Community Safety was designated by
the U.S. Department of Justice as a Weed and Seed
agency in 2(X)7, making it eligible for federal grants over
a five-year period to "weed" out crime and other commu
nity problems in designated high crime areas through
new programs and initiatives, and "seed" the communi
ties. which include the Rolling Hills and Lakeside neigh
borhoods. with new growth through enhanced social
services and economic revitali/ation.
The CCS awarded $27. (XX) in sub-grants through the
Twin City Fast-West Partnership (TCFWP). as the Weed
and Seed initiative is known, to Southside Rides, Union
Baptist Church's Character Football League, and the
Goler Institute's DIVAS (Dreams Initiating Virtuous
Alternative Solutions) program for their work in improv
ing the designated communities.
See (?rants on A 10
VINSTON
WSM Ph?i4?> h> Ciarren < .army
Agency represen
tatives Cheryl
Harry. David
Moore and Dr.
Seth Lartey offi
cially accept the
grants as Rill
\tcClain ( from
left). Gwen
Johnson and
Allan Younger
look on.
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