BOOK REVIEW
Book's stories offer ideas for
ending violence and injustice
BYTERR1
SCHUCHENMEYER
FOR THE CHRONln F
Bang.
That's all it takes to
snuff out a life. One bang,
though there are usually
. more before someone is
dead: Freddie Gray,
Michael Brown, Tamar
Rice, Jonathan Ferrell, how
did we get to this point?
Better yet, as D. Watkins
ponders in his new book
"The Beast Side," how do
we get out of it?
The list of the dead lit
erally grows every day: sta
tistically, an African
American citizen is mur
1 dered by white cops, black
cops, or neighbors every 28
hours. It's war out there for
Black America, says D.
Watkins, and he's tired of
it.
His idea for ending vio
lence and injustice is
unique, but meaningful.
Watkins says that read
ing absolutely changed his
life by teaching him to
think critically, and it saved
him. Literacy, he says,
opens lines of communica
tion, while sharing individ
ual stories can educate and
can make people eager to
read. "The Beast Side" is,
therefore, a book of stories.
How does it happen, for
example, that a black
writer from Baltimore - a
city that's sixty percent
black - finds himself
speaking at a large event
where there are few black
people? The reason: there
are two Baltimores and the
split is sharp. Before col
lege, Watkins had little
contact with whites. Do
white people know what's
happening in east
Baltimore? Not many do,
he says and when folks
learn, they're usually sur
prised.
It's almost hard to grasp
how many of Watkins'
friends and family have
died by violence. He was
only a boy when he wit
nessed a murder; crime was
that common. He watched
people on his street do any
thing to make a buck
(they're the hardest work
ing people in the nation, he
says); he sold drugs, hus
tled, and carried a gun
(mandatory, he claims), but
his brother wanted him off
the streets.
Watkins went to college
to become a professor and
a teacher. His stories help
black men understand why
they should respect black
women more; they explain
why Watkins doesn't recite
the Pledge of Allegiance,
how black people are left
out of pop culture, why
reading is essential, and
how eating poorly could be
Black America's worst
habit. And they show how,
deeply and despite the rift
in this country, we really
aren't so different after all.
Is that such a surprise?
At the risk of sounding
Pollyanna-ish, no. But can
that hope change the way
things are, as reported in
"The Beast Side"?
That, I think, will
depend on your point of
view: author D. Watkins
says things that many peo
ple don't want to hear and
his words fairly seethe with
anger - yet, pages later,
those stories seem almost
warm before abruptly turn
ing to outrage and anger
again. Hope followed by
persistent reality is what
you get, then, along with a
lingering sense of rightful
unease, inability to stop
pondering, and a need to
become much, much more
educated.
Though its subject mat
ter can be harsh, I think
"The Beast Side" is appro
priate for older-teens-to
adults, particularly if recent
news stories disturb you
greatly. If that's the case,
then aim to read it.
Photo by Tevin Sanson
The remains of Army PFC Frank Worley arrive at Russell Funeral Home on
Friday, Nov. 4. Worley was a Korean War veteran.
Korean War
from page A1
Worley
currently resides. Jack
Worley of Chula Vista,
California, is another sur
viving brother of the war
veteran.
When Russell Funeral
home director and general
manager Cedric L. Russell
got the word that Worley's
remains would be delivered
to his establishment, he
was at a loss of for words.
"When I first got the
news I was amazed," he
continued. "I'm 62 years
old and this war happened
before I was even born.
That in its self was pretty
amazing."
Members of the Patriot
Guard Riders (PGR), a
motorcycle club of only
military veterans, ushered
the hearse carrying Worley
through the busy streets of
the city. The group of veter
ans got word of PFC
Worley's return home from
the casualty assistance offi
cer in Fort Bragg.
The club's state cap
tain, Rick Rohme, said
coming out to honor
Worley is the least they
could do.
"PFC Worley made the
ultimate sacrifice," he said.
"Because of his sacrifice,
me and you are free to do
what we want today."
First Class Arin Van
Denmark was assigned the
duty of escorting Worley
back home to the
Carolinas. He said it was an
honor.
"This is my first time
escorting a fallen solider
home," he continued.
"When 1 first got the news,
I felt honored that I was
chosen to carry out such a
important mission."
Van Denmark is sta
tioned in Hawaii and said
he volunteered to be
Worley's personal escort.
"I felt like it was my
duty to see that Private
First Class Worley made it
home to his final resting
place safely."
Winston-Salem Again Ranked
as a Top 10 Digital City
SPECIAL TO
THE CHRONICLE
For the 14th year in a
row Winston-Salem has
been ranked as one of the
top 10 most technology
advanced cities of its size
in America by the
e.Republic Center for
Digital Government.
Winston-Salem tied
with Salt Lake City for
fifth in the center's 2015
Digital Cities Survey of
, cities with a population of
125000 to 249099. The
annual study ranks the use
of information technology
by local governments.
The 2015 survey
ranked cities for their use
of digital technology in the
areas of citizen engage
ment, policy, operations,
and technology and data,
said Todd Sander, the cen
ter's executive director.
"The top-ranked digital
city governments in this
year's survey are using
cloud services, data analyt
ics and mobile apps?
among other technolo
gies?to help citizens inter
act with government more
easily than ever before,"
Sander said.
V I
The city's wide-ranging
use of digital technology
includes a webpage that
allows citizens to track the
progress of bond projects; a
mobile application for
Utilities that uses GIS for
locating infrastructure,
receiving service requests,
and accessing data in the
field; a Transportation
mobile application that
allows employees to use
GIS to grade street surfaces
while performing other
duties in the field; automat
ic vehicle locator technolo
gy to track the location and
operation of all city vehi
cles; a mobile CityLink
311 application; and
NextBus, a mobile applica
tion that allows bus riders
to determine when the bus
will arrive at their stop.
Other initiatives
' 1
include recently combining
city and county GIS opera
tions into a single depart
ment to serve both agen
cies, and city participation
in the N.C. Next
Generation Network, a
consortium of cities and
universities that resulted in
AT&T installing an all
fiber gigabit network in
Winston-Salem.
Winston-Salem has
ranked in the top 10 of the
center's annual survey
every year since 2002, the
first year the city partici
pated. This includes a first
place ranking in 2014 and
second-place rankings in
2003,2008 and 2011.
The rankings were
compiled by the e .Republic
Center for Digital
Government, a national
research and advisory insti
tute. Four other North
Carolina cities were also
ranked: Fayetteville tied
for fourth and Durham for
eighth among cities with a
population of 125,000 to
249,999, and Charlotte and
Greensboro tied for ninth
among cities with a popula
tion of 250,000 or more.
A
I
.
"The Beast Side: Living (and Dying) While Black
in America" by D. Watkinsc.2015, Hot Books $21.99 /
$27.99 Canada 176 pages
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