OP/ED
CJ*bnu%
%$?.)
%*ity
Ernest H. Pitt
Elaine Pitt
T. Kevin Walker
Publisher/Co-Founder
Business Manager
Managing Editor
The Legislature's
Numbers Game
It's sometimes hard to distinguish these days the difference between the governing
body of the state of North Carolina and one of the mafia families of New York City.
After all, North Carolina runs the liquor business and the numbers game. The only
thing left for the state to qualify as a legitimate mob familyis prostitution. We figure
as soon as they lose the last vestiges of morality, prostitution will be added to the list
of vices they control.
According to the Associated Press, the state Legislature is discussing forbidding
people on food stamps from playing the lottery. It's hard to understand their rationale
since most black people have been playing the numbers long before there ever was a
NC Education Lottery. And, by the way, the so-called education lottery is finally being
seen for the scam that it is.
What does the legislature hope to gain by this prohibition? Are they really con
cerned about the health and welfare of North Carolina's poor? Come on! A scam by
any name is a scam! They are espousing a philosophy that poor blacks cannot manage
what the "good folks" of this state are giving them. So, therefore the state needs to
take that privilege or right away from them for their own sake.
The NC Education Lottery never was intended to boost revenue for education and
our schools. It is being used as planned and that is to make cuts in education without
going completely broke. We the people don't really know what they're doing with the
money. All we know is that it is hard as hell to get a winning number and that's
because North Carolina's game is set so tight that it becomes virtually impossible to
pick the right number.
we nave a lottery today basically because legislators saw North Carolinians going
to Virginia and South Carolina to play the lottery and they wanted some of that money.
Now they got it and don't know what to do with it. People were eager to go to Virginia
and South Carolina because they stood a ghost of a chance of hitting the number. Not
so here in North Carolina.
Let's be absolutely clear. The state could care less about its poor and indigent com
munity. The vast majority \>f the money being made off the backs of the poor goes to
the rich, privileged and families with wealth that goes back to the days of slavery.
Shouldn't we do something about poor smokers and alcoholics? What about obese
poor folk on food stamps? Can't leave them out of regulating the lives of the less for
tunate, can we?
Watch out for what the legislature is really up to.
Obama Slights Blacks
Julianne
Malveaux
Guest
jcolumnist
President Barack
Obama has the opportunity,
in this second tenn, to put
his feet on history. He won
an election that his oppo
nent had essentially
claimed, he has been firm
about that which he would
negotiate on, and he has
offered a progressive inau
guration speech that offers
up a liberal agenda,
embracing Social Security
and Medicare, uplifting
immigrants and gay rights,
and embracing ways to
address inequality.
One could not help but
applaud the strong direc
tion of President Obama's
speech. But those of us in
the African American com
munity wonder why we
could not get a shout out
about high unemployment
and poverty rates, inner city
challenges, and income,
economic and unemploy
ment disparities. Failing to
address the community that
offered him 97 percent of
their vote indicates that
there is a reckless disregard
of his strongest supporters.
I understand that
President Obama is the
president of the whole
United States, not the pres
ident of Black America. At
the same time, some of the
evils that affect African
Americans are issues that
any president would
address. To be sure, some
of the gaps that are record
ed and experienced have
not changed since the 60s.
Imagine the impact this
president could have if he
made a minor attempt in
closing the gaps.
The inauguration
speech spoke to all of us
when it offered a progres
sive agenda. It spoke to
I
NewCom photo
President Obama takes
the oath during a sepa
rate Jan. 20 White House
service.
some when it called out
other communities and
offered advancement to
some of them, but it spoke
to none of us in the African
American community
unless we chose to parse
the subtleties, the Bible, the
references to Detroit, and
the acknowledgement of
inequalities.
Hundreds of thousands
of people thronged to the
site of the inauguration
speech. Many of them
were parents and grandpar
ents who were determined
that their children and
grandchildren had the
opportunity to witness his
tory. A second term for
President Obama is actual
ly more exciting than a first
term because now this pres
ident is freed from the
shackles of reelection pos
sibilities and free to do his
thing.
Will this thing improve
the lot of all of us, some of
us, or none of us? In the
African American commu
nity, many think we won't
get a thing but an amazing
and uplifting symbolism.
There are still those who
cheer Simply because we
have an African American
president. Can we put our
?
cheer on for results?
In the next four years.
President Obama has the
opportunity to do whatever
he wants to do. He can tar
get resources and opportu
nities to any community he
choses to embrace his tar
gets. For example, more
than $500 million was
directed to a failed wind
experiment in California.
What about offering the
same opportunity to inner
cities?
The liberal agenda we
heard during the presi
dent's inauguration sug
gested that all of us would
have the opportunity to
benefit from progressive
economic plans. He called
out some communities,
which suggested that some
of us would get special
attention. His apparent fail
ure to give a shout-out to
the African America com
munity suggests that none
of us can count on special
attention.
President Barack
Ohama can. make a differ
ence by targeting the
African American commu
nity, either directly or sub
tly in his choices about
public policy. While this
president has a window of
opportunity, who will gain?
All of us. some of us, or
none of us? Our president
will leave a legacy when he
decides that African
Americans deserve the
same focus that other com
munities do. We need our
President to target disparate
unemployment, unequal
wages and wealth, and dif
ferential access to educa
tion and opportunity.
Immigration and marriage
equality addresses some of
us. Why can't we address
the inequality that faces all
of us?
Julianne Malveaux is a
Washington, D.C.-based
economist and writer. She
is President Emerita of
Bennett College for Women
in Greensboro.
\
A crowd of thousands takes part in last year's rally,
-w ??
NCNAACP Photo
Local bus beaded to HKonJ
CHRONICLE STAFF REPORT
Members of the Winston-Salem
Branch of the NAACP and the Winston
Salem Voting Rights Coalition are spon
soring a bus trip to Raleigh for Historic
Thousands on Jones Street (HKonJ), a
N.C. NAACP-organized annual march
and rally held at the General Assembly.
Members of several local churches,
schools, Greek organizations, clubs and
community organizations are expected to
take part. The local bus will leave from
the Food Lion in East Winston Shopping
Center (near the corner of New
Walkertown Road and Martin Luther
King Jr. Drive) at 7 a.m. on Saturday,
Feb. 9. Activities begin in Raleigh at
9:30 a.m. The bus should be back in
Winston-Salem by 4 p.m., according to
organizers.
This year's HKonJ agenda items
include protecting voting rights and
pushing back against what the NAACP is
calling the General Assembly's "far
right ideologues."
There is limited space on the bus. To
reserve a free space, contact Linda
Sutton at 870-2168 or
ljsutton2000@hotmail.com or Wayne
Patterson at 995-307-2 or
swaynelaw@yahoo.com by Feb. 2 to
RSVP.
Rawat
from page A6
research interests include
colonial and postcolonial
India, racism and social
exclusion, subaltern histo
ries and histories of democ
racy. His research has been
supported by a three-year
Mellon-funded postdoctor
al teaching fellowship at
the University of,
Pennsylvania, a
Rockefeller Foundation
fellowship at the University
of Washington, a Harry
Frank Guggenheim disser
tation fellowship, and a
doctoral fellowship from
the International Institute
of Social History in
Amsterdam.
Rawat is currently
working on a research proj
ect titled. "A New History
of Democracy: Dalit
Spaces, Printing and
Practices in Modem North
India." This project builds
on his first book.
"Reconsidering
Untouchability: Chamars
and Dalit History in North
India," which was awarded
the Joseph W. Elder Prize
in the Indian Social
Sciences by the American
Institute of Indian Studies.
Before joining the
University of Delaware in
2010, Rawat taught in the
Department of South Asia
Studies at the University of
Pennsylvania and in the
History Department at the
University of Notre Dame.
TFA
from page A4
option?it was mandatory." Williams said.
"I think Teach for America gives people
who are passionate about education the
chance to really help out. 1 also think there
is nothing more triumphant than a product
of these targeted communities returning in
order to give back."
Satish will strive to give back as a
social studies teacher in Miami. For this
interdisciplinary studies major, the mission
of TFA falls in line with her aspirations to
become a global health ambassador.
"I think my real interest comes from
my passion for social justice, which is at
the heart of what Teach for America does.
We're providing quality and adequate edu
cation for students who are being hindered
because of the way the system is set up.
This isn't just a teaching job for me; it's
ultimately about social justice.'1 she added
White is confident that TFA will
enhance her future goals as well. A jour
nalism and media studies major, she hopes
to utilize her communication studies to
enhance her own "entrepreneurial and
social change venture."
"Education is a great start to use my
skills and still have social impact. I am not
putting my career goals on hold, but I am
finding non-traditional ways to utilize my
degree and skill set, and still simultaneous
ly change lives and ultimately communi
ties and the world for the betterment of all
people," White said.
White will be stationed in Miami as
well as an elementary education teacher
? 1
Gardens
from page AT
tion, which has more than doubled since
Brennan came on the scene less than three
years ago. Brennan said that food shortage
in the area and First Lady Michelle
Obama's focus on community gardening
and promoting healthy eating have both
aided the Extension in its efforts to pro
mote the gardens, which are tended by
volunteers and provide free, healthy food
to volunteers, nearby residents and virtual
ly anyone who needs it. But the gardens
meet far more than just a physical need.
Brennan said.
One ot the things that really excites
me about community gardening is it really
does cut across racial lines, across gender
lines, across socio-economic lines," she
remarked. "I think it's something that we
really ought to promote and be proud of'
for our community and use it as a unifying
thing. It's a way to come together and cel
ebrate something really good."
Longtime city resident Virginia
Cooper serves as a mentor for both the
Bethania community garden and the com
munity garden at her church. Lloyd
Presbyterian. The retired Salem College
registrar has been working with the Lloyd
garden since its inception in 2009 and
completed the mentoring program last
year.
"I couldn't physically work in the gar
den anymore and I thought it was a way I
could help," said the great-grandmother of
two, who suffers from back problems. "...
It's very satisfying. I get to meet a lot of
people who are interested in gardening
like I am."
The historic church sports 11 beds in
its grassy backyard, which last year yield
ed nearly 40 pounds of vegetables, which
were donated to Samaritan Ministries.
Crisis Control and members of the sur
rounding community.
The garden at Lloyd has been tended
by a parade of local volunteers, many of
whom were residents at the church's
homeless shelter, and Greensboro native
Rachel Jackson, who has faithfully toiled
at Cooper's side in the garden for the past
four years. For Jackson, a retired library
cataloguer, gardening is second nature.
"My dad was a railroad man. but he
was the kind of person that always thought
you ought to grow something." related
S
Rtom by LaybOarm
Virginia Cooper and Rachel Jackson
prepare the beds for spring planting.
Jackson, the fourth of 10 children. "He
would go to work and come back every
evening in the spring and plant this won
derful garden and we (children) would all
be a part of it. He really thought nobody
should even think about eating without
planting something."
Jackson's childhood garden yielded a
wide variety of crops and there was
always food to spare The garden at Lloyd
is a cheerful place, just as her father's gar
den was all those years ago. said the 74
year-old.
"It's kind of a little oasis." remarked
the great-grandmother of one. "It's a nice,
peaceful place back there."
Both Jackson and Cooper, a native of
Memphis. Tenn.. say the garden holds
spiritual significance for them.
"I think the most important thing for
me is to know that a human being can be a
part of creation to the point where we can
extend the teach of earth and sky and rain
- we're a part of that. I think it's akin to
being close to God himself," she declared.
"I just hope people will realize how
important it is that we stay in touch with
our environment and our earth. I just think
as long as we do that, we are recreating
and giving some value to life, in more
ways than one."
The Extension is currently recruiting
for its upcoming daytime mentoring
courses, which will he held February 6,13
and 20 from 9 am. until 3 pm. Lunch is
provided. For more information, contact
Brennan at 336-703-2850 or
brennamj@forsyth.cc. The Lloyd garden
is in need of volunteers to help out during
its spring growing season, which is slated
to start in March. For more information,
contact Rev. Laura Spongier at 336-784
1293.
V