The Chronicle i'
617 N. Liberty Street ? /tfy
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WWW.WSCHRONICLE.COM \ I
Ernest H. Pitt
Donna Rogers
Elaine Pitt
Publisher/Co-Founder L
Managing Editor L
Business Manager T
Our Mission
The Chronicle is dedicated to serving the
residents of Winston-Salem and Forsyth County
by giving voice to the voiceless, speaking truth
to power, standing for integrity and
encouraging open communication and
lively debate throughout the community.
Don't confuse !
official talk
with action
Employees with the City-County Planning Board
of Forsyth County and Winston-Salem have been
conducting planning meeting sessions to update the
City-County Planning Board's Legacy 2030
Comprehensive plan, which involves expansion and
improvements on all of Winston-Salem, including
the East-Northeast planning area.
That area has parts of the East Ward and
Northeast Ward. It is 80 percent African-American.
About 14360 people live in the area, according to
the 2010 census report.
Planners met with residents of the East-Northeast
Winston-Salem Planning Area at the Rupert Bell
Neighborhood Center last month. More meetings
are planned for April, May and June.
City material says area plans convey a communi
ty vision and general goals to the Planning Board,
elected officials and other community leaders. Area
plans are simply recommendations developed using
a public process to help guide future planning deci
sions.
This information might be unclear to residents.
The people who attended the meeting at the Rupert
Bell Neighborhood Center last month spent an hour
talking about their communities in the planning area.
They pulled out their wish lists and what they want
to see improved.
Most of the residents' main concerns were the
crime rates, the neglectful landlords and housing,
and how they want businesses they use often to be
closer instead of having to drive miles across town.
They want more sit-in restaurants in their area
instead of fast food places, presumably so they can
sit down with friends and family at nice places and
slow down the pace a bit. They want their areas to
look nice and not "run-down." They want sidewalks
and side streets paved for the safety of elders and
children. And they want jobs.
Legacy 2030 will not bring jobs into the planning
area. All the work the residents did last month at the
meeting will not make their communities any better
just because they want them to be. Did anyone
explain the steps needed to make things happen?
After the Winston-Salem City Council receives
what the residents want in the planning areas, they
look at the list then updSte zoning laws and maybe
other laws that will affect the planning area. Then
they wait for developers or others to come to them
with development plans. The city might go out and
try to attract developers. But this is a large city. We
see that most development is happening in places
other than the East-Northeast Winston-Salem
Planning Area. How are those areas getting that
development?
City Council Member Derwin Montgomery, wno
represents the East Ward, told The Chronicle that
when council members look at area plans, those
plans are "not a statement of what a city is going to
do." And, he said, "Development is driven from the
private sector." The goal is to make areas "attrac
tive" for investors.
So, when are the jobs coming? Montgomery said
the city is trying to attract small businesses with a
special program that includes loan forgiveness. He is
looking to retail to help with the jobs issue.
What about other areas of the city? Why are
retail stores and restaurants opening up in the south
west and northern parts of Winston Salem? Did they
have to wait on development to come to them?
The original East-Northeast Winston-Salem Area
Plan was adopted in 2008, seven years ago. Since
then, the city can only point to a CVS Pharmacy that
was built on Martin Luther King Jr. Drive and the
rehabilitation of the building for Transitional
Housing for Homeless Veterans on Glenn Avenue as
development in the area, along with some housing.
Not sure how many jobs came with those develop
ments, but they are not enough.
Residents should attend all the meetings seeking
input about what they want to see in their neighbor
hoods and tell the planners what they want. Then,
residents should ask council members what are they
doing to make things happen. Seven years is a long
time to wait.
Maybe residents should take up the mantel from
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and tell officials why they
can't wait any longer.
L 1
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
New song n
for new time?
p
To the Editor:
With recent demonstrative ri
protests occurring in Ferguson, NYC ?
and Selma, is it time to retire "We
Shall Overcome" as this country's
pre-eminent Civil Rights Anthem?
Many believe the song derived
from, "I'll Overcome Someday," by c
African-American composer the Rev. (
Dr. Charles Albert Tindley (1851- t
1933), and no peaceful demonstra- >
tion is complete without it.
Although the moderate tempo '
ballad has served the masses well, I
Public i
Enemy's 1
"Fight The 1
Power" i
might be a '?
more '?
appropri- <
ate sound
track to
inform
contempo
r a r y
demon
strations.
Conscious-raising music such as the
above songs are like glue that holds
peaceful protestors together, espe
cially blacks.
The music that we carried with us
from West Africa to the U.S. (accord
ing to Miles Davis) is everything to
our survival as a group and as indi
viduals. In fact, music serves us dur
ing our most compelling moments.
It is widely held that Negro spiri
tuals were sometimes coded to pro
vide communication methods for
escape from slavery according, to
Sam Edwards and Lyvonne
"Chrisman, co-founders of Friends of
Negro Spirituals, an organization
dedicated to preserving the art form.
Our music, whether spirituals,
blues, jazz, gospel, R&B, rock V
roll and sometimes hip-hop have
informed our struggle for equality in
this country and given us hope,
strength, vitality and community.
Put another way, it is how and
why we can overcome. Public
Enemy's near-perfect manifestation
of free speech, "Fight The Power,"
can resonate with anyone who feels
oppressed irrespective of race, creed
or color.
A hip-hop song, it contains an
urgency not found in the slower and
more tepid ballad "We Shall
Overcome." It is ironic that most
buyers of hip-hop are white, which
speaks to the universal appeal of hip
hop.
If you have ever been to a Public
Enemy concert, you can attest to the
diversity of fans present, who sing
along to "Fight The Power" from per
sonal experience.
This diverse group of concert-goers
embrace this song for the stunning
free speech epistle it is, notwithstand
ing rapper Chuck D's stinging cri
tique of John Wayne and Elvis
Presley, which may need to be revis
ited if the song is to be adopted as a
new Civil Rights Anthem.
If the American experience is
about growth and full participation
for everyone, then those on the
receiving end of oppression must
also be open to change and growth.
ft
With Freedom of Speech and the
ght to Life, Liberty and the Pursuit
f Happiness, "it's time to fight the
owers that be"!
Gabrielle Wilson
rhanks for honoring us
To the Editor:
On behalf of the entire staff
>f the Children's Law Center of
lentral North Carolina, I want to
hank you again for honoring us
vith a Special Recognition of the
fear award. The Chronicle's 30th
\nnual Community Service Awards
janquet was a wonderful event! We
in* tnilv
mmbled to h
lave been
included with
such out
standing hon
arees.
Thank you
for your sup
port of the
Children's
Law Center's
mission and
for your commitment to maintaining
a positive impact on the community.
Iris Sunshine,
Executive Director
Children's Law Center of
North Carolina
AARP seeking
legislation to help
caregivers
To the Editor:
Nancy Hall, Dr. Althea Taylor
Jones and Jean Moses-Peree joined
other AARP volunteers recently in
Cary to look for ways to increase
support for family caregivers and for
adults who want to remain in their
own homes as they age.
AARP North Carolina will also
be seeking legislation that will make
saving easier for employees in the
state without access to workplace
retirement saving plans like 401(k)s
or pensions;
AARP volunteers have been
instrumental in conveying the needs
of the state's 1.7 million family care
givers to members of the North
Carolina General Assembly, who will
determine the amount of support
given to services that provide and
enable home and community based
care.
AARP acknowledges that as the
population of our state continues to
grow closer to 10 million, the chang
ing demographics reveal that the
number of older and disabled adults
in need of assistance is growing ever:
faster.
Of the 1.4 million people age 6f
or older in the state, approximately ?
quarter of them have two or more
physical or mental conditions tha
make it difficult to do activities
required to remain independent
Family members across Nortl
Carolina are called on every day.te
help their older and disabled lovee
ones with common tasks.
\
Since family caregiving is largely
uncompensated, AARPwill be seek
ing legislation to:
?Allow employees to use existing
sick leave benefits for caregiving
purposes.
?Allow employees to take short
increments of unpaid leave for a fam
ily member's illness, injury, or med
ical appointments.
i
?Address problems that can arise
Sunshine
WWRP
with interstate guardianships that are
often granted when an adult lacks
capacity to make decisions for him or
herself.
Another area of immediate con
cern in North Carolinians ageS 50
plus is the anxiety over adequate
retirement savings. Currently, over
1.8 million workers in the state do
not have access to workplace savings
accounts?
AARP's commonsense savings
proposal "NC Work and Save"
(www.aaip.org/ncworkandsave) is an
easy way for people to take better
charge of their retirement savings and
to break the reliance many have on
assistance as they age.
AAJIP North Carolina
http :Hstates .aarp .org/regionlnort
h-carolina/
Thank you
To the Editor:
I would like to thank Mr. Ernie
Pitt, The Chronicle staff and the
selection committee for the honor of
being selected as the recipient of The
Chronicle's 2015 Woman of the Year.
I'm humbled.
Thank you for every PSA and
article you have ever published for
the nonprofit and service organiza
tions in the community, for without
you, there
would be a I
void of valu
able informa- I
tion to certain I
segments of I
the city's pop- I
ulation.
I pray that I
those who I
attended the I
30th Annual
C a r 11 i /t a
J L I V 1 V c
Awards Banquet were inspired by
what they saw and heard and will join
; forces with all the recipients recog
l nized, as they continue in their efforts
to make a positive impact in the com
i munity.
i Thank you for over two genera
. tions of professional journalism ded
t icated to keeping our community
} informed.
j Randon Blackmon Pender
i 2015 Woman of the Year
Community Volunteer
>\