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Vol. XXXVII No. 40 WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. THURSDAY, June 2, 2011
Carver
senior
signs
with NSU
?See Page B8
Students
to spend
summer
at Duke
-See Page A9
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From
Africa to
America
Women overcome challenges to earn
Salem College degrees
BY LAYLA FARMER
THE CHRONICLE
Many of the new alumnae at Salem College's May 21
commencement ceremonies had come a long way to make it
to their graduation day, but few had traveled as far as Ama
Serwaa Frimpong and Belinde Swenson, both natives of
Africa.
Frimpong, 21, came to the U.S. in 2003 from Accra,
Ghana to be with her father, an accountant and her brother,
who had emigrated the year before to attend school in
s \ I ^ \1 CO | II C. I
Photo by Jaeson Pitt
New Salem College alumna
Henilde Swenson.
America. narmea
by the campy
images of the
"Home Alone" and
Disney movies she
had grown up on,
Frimpong says she
was thrilled to
make the move.
"Growing up, I
really thought
America was the
place to be," she
related. "(My par
ents) made the deci
sion but I didn't
protest. To me, it
was like 'Oh my
gosh, life couldn't
get any better -
I'm going to
America.'"
Finding her
way in the U.S.
proved to be far
more challenging
than Frimpong had
anticipated.
"Being the new
face and not just
being the new face
but being someone who was trom elsewhere was not the
most pleasant experience," she commented. "It was very dif
ficult for me the first couple of years, just trying to adjust."
Frimpong's mother would come to visit her in the US,
but Frimpong didn't return to her native land for four years.
When she did finally make it back to Ghana for a visit,
Frimpong found she had become more American than perhaps
even she realized.
"I definitely experienced a culture shock when I went
back, but oh my gosh, I loved it," she said of her first trip
home. "I can't wait to go back; it's just so free. It is home
for me and that's really where a huge part of my heart is.
That really makes all the difference in the world to be sur
rounded by people who love you and whom you love."
That same year, Frimpong made another defining step in
her life's journey: she enrolled in Salem College as a recipi
ent of the coveted Lucy Hanes Chatham Scholarship, which
See Graduates on A2
Photo by Tanja/ Billie Holiday
Theatre
Actors Nathan
Purdee and
Patrick
Mitchell in the
acclaimed play,
"The Legend of
Buster Neal,"
which will be
staged at the
2011 NBTF.
Stellar line-up
for '11 NBTF
BY LAYLA FARMER
1 m CHRONICLE
Amid much anticipation from members of the
local community and theater
lovers nationwide, the North
Carolina Black Reparatory
Company has announced its slate
of plays for the upcoming 11th
Biennial National Black Theatre
Festival, slated for August 1-6,
2011 in Winston-Salem.
The Black Rep is bringing 35
plays to the Mainstage this year
and staging 123 performances in
Robinson
17 venues across the city throughout the six-day
See NBTF on A 10
Photos by Layla Farmer
HARRY Founder Ciat Shabazz ( third from right ) poses with HARRY volunteers and cookout attendees.
Pride & Patriotism
Black vets recall service, honor the fallen at low-key Memorial Day event
BY LAYLA FARMER
THE CHRONICLE
Veterans from Winston-Salem and the sur
rounding areas paid homage to their fallen
comrades during the second annual HARRY
VCOS (Helping 2 Advocate 2 Research 2
Respond 4 You Veteran Community Outreach
Service) Memorial Day Picnic at Granville
Park Monday.
"It gives the vets an opportunity to share
camaraderie of different branches of the mili
tary and see that people still recognize their
service," said Ciat Shabazz. who founded the
organization in honor of her brother, the late
Harry Smith.
For Vietnam era veteran Reginald Fullard,
the picnic was right on time to cure his blues.
Fullard. who was disabled by severe injuries
he suffered during the four years he was enlist
ed in the Army, says he happened upon the cel
ebration by accident. He said he was hopeful
the HARRY organization could help him
obtain some assistance from the government,
and the picnic helped to lift his spirits.
"I actually went to the store to get a pack
of cigarettes and something just told me to
come out here," related the father of two.
"...It got me out of the house and put me in a
Sec Veterans on A5
Local teacher earns national honor
Photo by Layla Farmer
VIF Teacher of the Year Jessica Bendeck Yanez
poses outside Ashley IB Magnet Elementary.
BY LAYLA FARMER
THE CHRONICLE
Ever since she was a child teaching language arts and areth
matic to her stuffed animals in her home, Bogota, Colombia
native Jessica Bendeck Yariez has dreamed of doing two things:
becoming a teacher and "conquering the world" as an interna
tional traveler.
For the last three years, the 27 year-old has brought her
two loves together for the benefit of the students in her class
room at Ashley IB Magnet Elementary School. Bendeck
Yafiez, one of a handful of internationally-born educators at
Ashley, teaches first grade in the school's [DIME! (Dual
Immersion: Inglls mis Espafiol) program. Through the pro
gram, native English speaking and native Spanish speaking
students come together in an educational environment where
instruction time is split between the two languages.
"I love it; it's fascinating," she said of DIME. "1 teach
them not just to read and write but about the world around
them."
For Bendeck Yafiez, who graduated from Wake Forest
See Tetcher on AS
Reginald Fullard
Remembering
Photo by Todd Luck
Wayne Falls, a member of the American Legion
Honor Guard of Lewisville, was one of manywho
took part in the City's Memorial Day ceremony
Monday. Read more on A3.
Spend it here.
Keep it here.
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