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Vol. XXXVII No. 33
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C.
THURSDAY, April 14, 2011
wssu
runners
give their
all at meet
?
-See Page B12
Twins
cited for >
service
to others
-See Page All
Play used
to tackle
anti-Islam
movement
-See Page A2
Ball Park
to honor
blacks of
West End
BY LAYLA FARMER
THE CHRONICLE
The BB&T Ballpark will pay homage
to the storied and little known past of its
locale Saturday, with the unveiling of a
historical marker for the African American
West End on its grounds.
Hrown
Lassister
The African
American West End
was an insulated
community situated
within the larger
Caucasian populace
that is most often
associated with the
West End moniker.
Seventy five
year-old Julia Page
Brown, who was
horn on the street
where the stadium
now sits, remembers
the black West End
community fondly.
"We had a lot of
unity there." she
said. "Everybody
knew everybody and
we just did things
together."
The ballpark was
not the first large
scale construction project to change the
landscape of her former home. Brown said.
"1-40 (Business) came through there
and it took a lot of our community," she
said. "A lot of my friends and family had
to move."
Together with the more than 35 mem
bers of the West End Reunion
Association. Brown has staged an annual
gathering to bring her old neighbors
together since 2(X)5. She said the con
struction of the ballpark was bittersweet
jffor many former residents.
"We hated to see our land go. but we
are proud that something's out there for
everyone to see," she said. "We were very
proud that something positive was being
done with our land."
Brown says the marker is a great way
to remember her childhood home.
"I went for it all the way. I said. This
will be nice,'" she related. "People that
stop at the stoplight can read it and we're
going to be proud of that. I wish my par
ents and all of the other members whose
parents are deceased could see it. They
would be proud."
The Forsyth County Historic
Resources Commission was responsible
See West End on A9
Photo by Lay la Farmer
Clarence Watson
stands in front of
CG Watson &
Associates , Inc. at
3309 North Liberty
St. The veteran
accountant is set
to retire in June
after more than 40
years of service.
' 1 1 tax season last for Watson
BY LAYLA FARMER
THE CHRONICLE
Clarence Watson still has the records of
the taxes he prepared in 1968, and he still has
many of his clients from that era. too.
But the 2011 tax season will be the last
for Watson, owner of CG Watson &
Associates, Inc. on Liberty Street. He is
retiring in June, after 45 years of service to
the community.
Watson, a native of Clemmons and grad
uate of Winston-Salem State University, said
he kind of fell into tax preparation.
"When I first got married. 1 went to have
my taxes filled out and he charged me to fill c
them out and then I had to pay Internal n
Revenue, so I said, 'If I have to pay for this, d
I'll do them myself,'" he said with a grin. C
Watson didn't go into taxes immediately, t
at least not full time. He used his education
degree and took a job teaching seventh grade t
in Virginia for several years before returning
to the Twin City, where he worked for R.J. v
Reynolds and later Goodwill Industries as s
director of Student Services. For years, he h
juggled his full time career and his passion
for working with numbers.
"I started out on my own; it was a small
lientele. 1 still have some of them with
ne," he stated. "...I'd go to Goodwill in the
ay and work eight hours and after I went to
joodwill, I'd work in the tax office, some
imes until midnight."
Finally. Watson had made the transition
o doing taxes full time.
"It was a switch, but you're still dealing
kith people and you try to help them," he
aid. "...During that time, it wasn't a real
ig challenge (to start a business) because if
See Watson on All
Ex-inmates get job interviewing tips
BY LAYLA FARMER
THE CHRONICLE
Michelle Johnson was educat
ed with a good job and a nice
house to raise her two sons in.
But one mistake changed every
thing.
Johnson, a native of
Washington, DC, said she was
arguing with her son's father one
evening when things escalated
and she accidentally shot him in
the leg. Johnson said it was six
months before the charges
against her were dropped. By that
time, she had been dismissed
from her job as a customer serv
ice supervisor because of the
case. Since the charges were
dropped in 2007, Johnson says
she has struggled to find perma
nent employment. Although she
was never convicted, the charges
Photo by Lay la Farmer
Brent Bailey addresses participants.
she once faced still appear on her
record when potential employers
run a criminal background check.
"It's frustrating because my
financial situation has plummet
ed," Johnson related. "I've gone
from a 780 (credit) score to bank
ruptcy. It really has been rough
because I'm the sole provider for
my kids."
The 47 year-old Morgan State
alumna said she has been piecing
together temp jobs to make ends
meet, but the prolonged nature of
her situation has been a heavy
burden to bear.
"I've had to use all of my
401k; I've depleted every asset
that I have, even my oldest son's
college account, trying to hold
onto my house," she said. "I feel
like everything on the news
applies to me, and it's not that I
don't want to work, it's because I
can't find a job."
Earlier this week, Johnson
took a different approach, by
enrolling in a three-hour work
See Interview on A10
Artistic Achievement
Photo by Todd Luck
Jayleen Mack receives a certificate of achievement
from Diggs Gallery's Belinda Tate. He is one of many
high school seniors whose art is now on display at
Diggs. To read more, see HI .
Hard-Knock Life
Exercise shows students how hard it is in the real world
BY TODD LUCK
THEJTHRONICLE
Childcare or cable? Dropping the cell phone or
getting a second job?
Those are the kinds of questions adults ask them
selves everyday when caught between an economic
rock and hard place. Students at Philo Middle School
were put into adult shoes and faced with similar
dilemmas last week. The United Way of Forsyth
County's Women's Leadership Council (WLC)
brought the "School of Hard Knocks" to Philo on
Friday.
Eighth graders got a taste of adulthood as volun
teers from the Council helped them figure out if the
income generated from specific careers would be
See Hard Knocks on AS
nwiu oy iimu i.uu
Christopher Littlejohn at one of the tables at
"School of Hard Kfaocks."
Spend it here.
Keep it here.
BUY LOCAL FIRST!
CHAMBER
A Mind For Business.