The fix won’t
be quick
Book Review
BY TERRI SCHLICHENMEYER
FOR THE CHRONICLE
It never is. There’s no
magic wand to change the
things that’ve been on your
mind lately: social issues,
inequality, poverty, poli
tics, apathy, violence.
Those ills didn’t arrive
quick and they won’t leave
quick but, says Kareem
Abdul-Jabbar, they can be
repaired: In his new book
“Writings on the Wall”
(with Raymond Obstfeld),
he explains...
When people ask
Abdul-Jabbar what he
might’ve become, had he
not played NBA basket
ball, his answer often sur
prises them: he would’ve
been a history teacher.
History fascinates him -
especially in the way it
reflects racism, religious
intolerance, and gender
issues. In history, as in cur
rent events, the truth is
sometimes bent.
Take, for instance, poli
tics, which is on every
one’s mind. We rail , and
complain about issues and
promises broken and we
like to think it’s all out of
our hands. The truth is that
we are the problem: we
grow complacent about
things we don’t want, act
ing “like children when it
comes to politics” and hop
ing the government will
“take care of us,” rather
than taking steps to fix the
system ourselves.
White people may deny
that racism exists, says
Abdul-Jabbar, while Black
people know that it does.
Racism didn’t stop with the
election of the nation’s first
Black president. It doesn’t
end with melting-pot cul
tural appropriation. It actu
ally comes in two forms, he
says, and education is the
first step in dealing with it,
not eliminating it, because
racism is always going to
be around.
On religion, we should
never lose sight of the fact
that this “country was
founded by religious out
casts running for their lives
from persecution for their
beliefs.” When it comes to
equality for women, we
must embrace the true
meaning of “feminist” and
adhere to what we tell poll
sters when it comes to gen
der. We need to look at the
media and how to maxi
mize its potential, and we
must take better care of our
seniors.
“We cannot afford to
just wring out hands and
depend on the kindness of
strangers,” Abdul-Jabbar
says. “We have to bring
about change on our own.”
Remember when your
grade school teacher told
you to put on your thinking
cap? You’ll need it again
as you’re reading
“Writings on the Wall.”
Authors Kareem
Abdul-Jabbar and
Raymond Obstfeld don’t
just examine issues that are
on the minds of every
American. They turn them
over and blow them apart,
looking for solutions that
can be accomplished and
chiding us gently for not
already working. That
makes for a thought
demanding, intellectually
heavy book but it’s also a
worthy call to action; you
may be delighted to see
that Abdul-Jabbar doesn’t
miss a chance to add a
touch of the personal here,
which includes unexpected
humor.
Readers with the right
mindset will find this book
to be informative and
entertaining but be pre
pared to take your time get
the most from it. There
aren’t a lot of pages inside
“Writings on the Wall,” but
what’s here is deep and
wide and nowhere near
quick.
writings
OH TUT
WALL
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beyond black and white
karee m
ABDUL
JABBAR
MID ItAYHONO OtSTFCLD
Writings on the Wall: Searching for a New Equality
Beyond Black and White” by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
and Raymond Obstfeld
c.2016, Liberty Street Books
$27.95 / $33.95 Canada
256 pages
The Bookworm is Terri
Schlichenmeyer. Terri has
been reading since she was
3 years old and she never
goes anywhere without a
book.
Housing summit is April 20
SPECIAL TO THE CHRONICLE
The city’s annual observance of Fair Housing Month
began Thursday, April 6, when Mayor Allen Joines reads
a proclamation at noon at the Allegacy Federal Credit
Union, 1691 Westbrook Plaza Drive, Winston-Salem.
The city’s annual Fair and Affordable Housing
Summit for housing professionals will be held Thursday,
April 20, at 11:30 a.m. at the Benton Convention Center,
301 W. Fifth St. During the summit, the New Horizons
Fair Housing Committee will give its annual Breaking
Barriers Fair Housing Award to City with Dwellings, a
partnership of congregations, colleges, civic groups, and
individuals that provides services to the homeless and is
working to end homelessness in Winston-Salem.
This year’s summit is led by the Human Relations
Department and the U.S. Department of Housing and
Urban Development, as well as title sponsors Fairway
Independent Mortgage Company and PNC Bank.
Platinum sponsors are the Winston-Salem Community
Development Department and Piedmont Federal Savings
Bank; gold sponsors are the Forsyth County Housing
Department, the Housing Authority of Winston-Salem,
and Habitat for Humanity of Forsyth County. Silver spon
sors are Financial Pathways/Center for Homeownership,
the Winston-Salem Regional Association of Realtors, and
Neighbors for Better Neighborhoods.
Fair Housing Month promotes the federal Fair
Housing Act and its laws against housing discrimination.
2017 marks the 49th anniversary of the signing of the Fair
Housing Act by President Lyndon B. Johnson in 1968.
Winston-Salem has a fair housing ordinance that mir
rors the Fair Housing Act. The Winston-Salem Human
Relations Commission and Human Relations Department
are responsible for enforcing fair housing laws locally to
ensure fair and equal housing access and treatment for all
people regardless of race, color, national origin, gender,
disability, family status or religion.
Also during Fair Housing Month:
♦Nexus, a quarterly public affairs television program
produced by Human Relations on WSTV Digital Media,
will focus on Fair Housing Month.
♦“A Matter of Place,” a documentary on housing dis
crimination, will be shown during April on WSTV Digital
Media.
For more information about Fair Housing Month
and the Human Relations Department, call CityLink 311.
Submitted photos
Bethesda All Star dancers get in the groove at kick-off event on March 16.
Bethesda Center prepares
for dance competition
SPECIAL TO THE CHRONICLE
Bethesda Center All Stars, formerly
known as Take the Lead Winston-Salem,
officially kicked off this year’s dancer
competition.
Now in its seventh year, the fun-spirit
ed, dancing fundraiser has help to raise
more than $500,000 for Bethesda Center
for the Homeless. It is considered one of
Winston-Salem’s most popular and impor
tant community events,
This year’s event is scheduled for
Thursday, April 27 at Lawrence Joel
Coliseum. Event information, tickets and
dancer voting are all available at
w ww.bchallstars .org.
Event tickets begin at $15.
Dance pairs raise money by recruiting
friends, family and others in the communi
ty to purchase $10 votes — three votes
equal the cost to the Bethesda Center to
provide a person with one day and night’s
shelter and supplies. Fans cast their votes
at bchallstars.org and at the event.
The dancer kick-off event was held on
March 16. Participating dancers and sup
porters were on hand to practice some
early moves on the dance floor and begin
the good-natured competition for votes.
Bethesda Center for the Homeless
Executive Director Derwin Montgomery,
who will reprise his role as a dancer,
addressed the group.
This is Bethesda Center’s 30th
anniversary serving the homeless in the
community.
Participants in the Bethesda All
Stars Dancing Fundraiser include:
Bethesda All Star dancing pair Todd
and Melanie Barbee get close at the
kick-off event on March 16.
Mayor Allen Joines & Suzy McCalley
Leslie Baker & Tim Jewett
Melanie & Todd Barbee
Dr. Nate French & Camille French
Derwin Montgomery
Yuleidy Baldor
Erin Blakely & Jacob Felder
Yong Yi
Rev. Andy Lambert & Rev. Steve
Keaton
Mayor Deborah Stoltz-Thompson
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