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I HE CHRONICLE
Volume41,Number46 WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. THURSDAY, July 30, 2015
Black theater to take center stage in W-S
60,000 people
are expected
BY DONNA ROGERS
THE CHRONICLE
Winston-Salem is about
to have an explosion, of the
good kind. Next week, the
city can expect 60,000 peo
ple - including 50 celebri
ties of film, television and
stage - to come for the
National Black Theatre
Festival (NBTF).
Over 100 performances
by 30 of the best black the
atre companies from the
United States and places
worldwide will be part of
the festival, says the N.C.
Black Repertory Company,
which produces the festival
every two years. The com
pany is based in Winston
Salem.
The festival runs
Monday through Saturday,
with a private reception for
celebrities on Sunday and a
star-studded gala on
Monday night. The festival
will offer all kinds of plays,
from ones that center on
well-known people to ones
based on history and new
See Expected on A2
Vanessa Bell
Calloway
ready to go
BY NIKKI BALDWIN
FOR THE CHRONICLE
The National Black
Theatre Festival (NBTF)
begins Monday, Aug. 3. It
will feature over 100 per
formances. "Letters from
Zora: In Her Own Words,"
is one of the plays. It stars
stage, screen, television
actress and dancer Vanessa
Bell Calloway.
She will be performing
at NBTF on Aug. 4 and
Aug. 5 at the SECCA
McChesney Scott Dunn
Auditorium in two shows
on both days at 3 p.m. and
8 p.m.
In an interview last
week, Calloway said that
when channeling Zora
Neale Hurston, it was like
singing a beautiful song or
doing a dance, for she just
loves being Hurston. She
said the play, which has
received great feedback, is
a story she tries to tell the
best way she can.
The play "Letters from
See Calloway on A2
NATURAL HAIR ISSUE
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Photo by Erin Mizelk for the Winston-Salem Chronicle
Ayana Hardin, back left, owner of Ayana's Glory
Locs, catches up with client Angel Lee as Hardin
provides her expertise in "sister-locking" Lee's nat
ural hair, interlocking her hair between itself to
tighten and form the desired locks.
Editor's note: This is the first part
of a two-part series.
FELECIA PIGGOTT-LONG, PH. D.
FOR THE CHRONICLE
Hair politics in the workplace has been around as long
as black women have been there.
Some black women have lost their jobs for wearing
their hair in natural styles.
For instance, Shreveport, Louisiana television station
KTBS fired meteorologist Rhonda Lee after she respond
ed to racially charged remarks about her short natural
hairstyle.
The topic has even popped up in panel discussions,
such as the one sponsored by Georgia State University,
which formed a panel discussion titled "Black Women,
Their Hair & The Work Place - A Dialogue."
However, the new millennium has set the stage for a
paradigm shift in hair politics and hair fashion in the
workplace.
Today, it is not surprising to see women sporting kinky
Hardin provides her expertise in "sister-locking"
her client's natural hair, interlocking her hair be
tween itself with the help of a special tool to tighten
and form the desired locks, on Thursday, June 4, at
her specialty salon, Ayana's Glory Locs, located at
307 Thurston Street.
twists, locks, Nubian Knots, braids, afro puffs and even
afros.
The twist now is that many of the black women wear
ing the natural styles are women in charge.
"Naturally kinky hair was viewed as dirty, unkempt
and unattractive into the mid-20th century," Tiya Miles,
See Hair on A9
$40 million
initiative
to boost
young kids
BY DONNA ROGERS
THE CHRONICLE
With those who will gain the help that the Kate B.
Reynolds Charitable Trust will give - young children -
playing in the background, the Trust launched its decade
long, $30 million to $40 million Great Expectations initia
tive on Tuesday, July 28 at the Carver School Road Public
Library branch.
The Kate B. Reynolds Charitable Trust was estab
lished in 1947 and is now one of the largest private trusts
in North Carolina. Its mission is to improve the quality of
life and health for the financially needy of North Carolina.
"For the last several years, we have been working
closely with individuals and organizations to design a
strategy that ensures every child in Forsyth County has the
opportunity to succeed from a young age," said Karen
McNeil-Miller, president of the Trust. "Now it is time to
roll up our sleeves and get to work to help build an effec
tive early childhood system that helps meet the challenges
created when families live in poverty."
Trust officials say they want to ensure that the thou
sands of children in Forsyth County, many from financial
ly disadvantaged families, are meeting age-appropriate
developmental milestones in their first five years, such as
entering kindergarten ready for education and leaving
kindergarten ready for learning and life success.
McNeil-Miller said, "It takes a community, all kinds
See Kids on A2
Photo by Donna Rogers
Children from Winston-Salem State University's
Head Start program enjoy Dylan Rowe as he enter
tains them by making animals from balloons on
Tuesday, July 28, at the Carver School Road Library
branch. The Great Expectations initiative was
launched at the library minutes earlier.
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Lawmakers, BOE director testify on new election practices
BY TODD LUCK
THE CHRONICLE
Lawmakers and the N.C. State Board of
Elections director were among those testifying on
potential disenfranchisement under North
Carolina's controversial voting law in federal
court.
The plaintiffs challenging House Bill 589, an
election reform bill, rested their case last Friday
after calling 40 witnesses to the stand, most of
whom were voters affected by the law or experts
on election law.
The plaintiffs, which include
the N.C. NAACP, League of
Women Voteri and the U.S.
Attorney General, contend that
the law suppresses young and
minority voters. The state made
its case starting Friday and was
expected to rest later this week,
after The Chronicle's press time.
with a verdict to come after the judge has reviewed
the evidence.
Two Democratic lawmakers, N.C. Sen. Josh
Stein, a member of the Senate Rules committee,
and N.C. Rep. Henry "Mickey" Michaux, a mem
ber of the House Elections committee, testified on
the legislative process for the bill. Stein said it was
originally a 16-page voter ID bill that passed the
House and sat for months in the House Rules com
mittee. Then the U.S. Supreme Court struck down
the pre-clearance requirement of the Voting Rights
Act. It was less than a month later that Stein
See Voting on A8
Michaux
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STORAGE
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