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The Chronicle
Volume43,Number4Z WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. THURSDAY, June 30, 2016
NBTF Hall of Fame moving closer?
A building the Arts Council will
purchase could be the future
home of the venue and museum
BY TODD LUCK
THE CHRONICLE
Forsyth County Board of Commissioners approved
funding for SciWorks' move downtown and the Arts
Council purchasing a building that could potentially be a
future home for New Winston Museum and the National
Black Theatre Festival Hall of Fame.
Building a new home for the combined SciWorks and
Children's Museum on the site of the old
Sheriff's Office was among the bond issues the
County Commissioners considered. Instead of putting it
Photo* by Todd Luck
This building on Spruce Street could be the future
home of the New Winston Museum and National
Black Theatre Festival Hall of Fame.
on the ballot, they decided to fund it another way. During
its Monday, June 27, meeting, the commissioners voted 5
2 to approve a capital project ordinance dedicating $17.3
million to the project, with County Commissioners Walter
Marshall and Richard Linville voting against it.
The money largely will come from the sale of surplus
county land. Linville thought the amount was too much
and opposed the sale of land. Marshall also opposed the
sale of county land because the county might need to use
it later.
SciWorks Director Paul Koitenaar said he expects it
to take 18 months for planning and another 30 for con
struction and moving in to the new combined museum.
"We'll move forward with appropriate haste to build
the new museum," he said.
Kortenaar said that $17.3 million will cover the con
struction but another $3 million will be needed for infra
structure costs later in the project. The museums will be
See NBTF on A2
END OF AN ERA
Ebony and Jet
now in hands of a
little known firm
BY ERICK JOHNSON
CHICAGO CRUSADER NNPA
Sitting next to a lake at
Oak Woods Cemetery in
Woodlawn is a stunning
million-dollar marble crypt
that contains the remains of
John H. Johnson, the
founder of his namesake
publishing empire that pro
duces Ebony and Jet maga
zines.
It's been 11 years since
America's first media
mogul moved into his final
resting place. On the well
manicured lawns of Oak
Woods, some of Johnson's
neighbors are Olympic
great Jesse Owens,
Chicago's first black
Mayor Harold Washington
and other famous blacks
who ascended to the pinna
cles of sports, politics and
business.
For Johnson, his fame
and fortune would come
from the media industry.
With little money, he
would become a household
name from an iconic maga
zine that would make him a
millionaire many, many
times over. When he plant
ed his 11-story headquar
ters on the city's tony
Michigan Avenue in 1972,
Johnson established him
self as a fearless Black
entrepreneur who crashed
one of corporate America's
most famous streets. He
found a way to build the
first black-owned sky
scraper in Chicago after a
white owner wouldn't sell
him the land underneath.
Etched in gold leaf
above the ornate doors of
Johnson's crypt is a quote
that gives visitors a
glimpse of a man who
achieved wealth and pres
tige during a period where
there were few oppor
tunities for blacks
"Failure is a word
don't accept."
A decade afte
Johnson's death, thi
empire that for 7
years sat on millions o
coffee tables with col
orful, inspiring storie
about black life am
culture is a shell o
itself. Once a powerfu
symbol of black prid
?MM
minori
ty own- I i
ership, I 1
both
Ebony '?
and dig
ital-only
Jet are
now
owned
by Clear
View
Group,
a little
known
m e n t
firm in H
Austin,
Texas. I
For BH
compa
ny that
refined HHHHI
t h e
Black Press, many
believe the sale is a
sad ending that was
years in the mak
ing. No longer
family-owned,
many believed
Ebony would never
be the same.
The word came
on June 14 . when
Johnson
Publishing CEO Desiree
purchase was finalized at
the end of May.
"For Johnson, his fame and fortune
would come from
the media industry."
Rogers confirmed that the
Rogers said Johnson
J Publishing would retain
the Fashion Fair
Cosmetics business ? a
black venture founded by
Eunice Johnson, John H.
Johnson's wife, who died
in 2010. It was Eunice who
came up with the name
Ebony when her husband
didn't like the original
name, Negro Digest, which
was started in 1942. The
new publishing entity,
See Ebony on A2
Rejected Whole
Man Ministries
continues to
raise funds
BY TODD LUCK
THE CHRONICLE
Whole Man Ministries is continuing its efforts to
expand its program to house homeless veterans after
being denied a grant request in this year's city budget.
Whole Man Ministries, a church located on Lexington
Avenue, made a request for a city grant of $25,000 for its
Gerald Green and Whole Man Pastor Barry
Washington are working to house homeless
veterans.
Homes 4 Our Heroes veterans' efforts. The requested
funds were $15,000 for a part-time housing placement
coordinator and $10,000 for utility and rental assistance to
veterans.
Currently Gerald Green is acting as housing coordina
tor on a volunteer basis. He finds veterans in shelters or
substandard housing and works to get them vouchers from
Veterans Affairs to get them into permanent housing. The
funds would've made his position a paid one and allowed
the program to give additional assistance to those it
places.
See Whole Man on A2
ECSU reinstated as 'discount' UNC school
BY CASH MICHAELS
FOR THE CHRONICLE
When the state Senate originally proposed sev
eral weeks ago to designate struggling Elizabeth
City State University (BCSU) as one of three his
torically black UNC campus schools to introduce
a $500 per semester proposal for in-state students
in order to boost enrollment, many critics suspect
ed closing ECSU to be the true motive of the bill.
There were concerns that the tuition discount
would hit the schools hard, and even though they
were promised at least $70 million in the upcom
ing budget to make up the difference, there were
no guarantees in the years to come. Plus, critics
alleged, the cheapened tuition could tarnish the
image and reputation of the UNC schools
involved.
Protests rang up from black lawmakers, the
N.C. NAACP, students, alums and supporters of
ECSU, in addition to Winston-State University
and Fayetteville State University (the other two
UNC System schools involved), forcing Sen. Tom
Apodaca (R- Hendersonville) to wi thdraw his
bill, complaining that his intentions had been mis
understood, and he only wanted help the three
See Discount on A3
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