75 cents
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THURSDAY, February 8, 2018
Dodge chided fir using King
voiceover in Super Bowl ad
BY LAUREN VICTORIA
BURKE
NNPA NEWSWIRE
There were ads with
Morgan Freeman rapping
and ads with babies from
around the world and fast
cars with singer Steven
Tyler. There were ads with
medieval themes, magic
and song.
Then there was the ad
using the words and voice
of Dr. Martin Luther King
Jr. to sell Dodge Ram sell
trucks.
"Everybody can be
great," Dr. King said in a
speech in 1968, two
months before he was mur
dered. "You only need a
heart full of grace; soul
generated by love."
The' advertisement fea
tured images of football
players, cowboys, U.S.
troops and first responders
as a backdrop to King’s
voiceover. The advertise
ment ended with an image
of a soldier, a Dodge truck,
and the words “Built to
Serve.”
The commercial for
Dodge trucks provoked
protest on social media
shortly after it aired from
many Super Bowl LII
viewers. It also induced a
reaction tweet from the The
King Center and Bernice
King, the daughter of the
late civil rights leader.
“Neither @TheKingCe
nter nor @BemiceKing is
See Ad on A10
T
Official Ram "rucks Super Bo’a
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Dr Va” ~ Ll"9* <—g ^r ” to St? 0
1
YoliTube.com screen shots
Some Super Bowl watchers were dismayed by the use of a Martin Luther King Jr. voiceover in the Dodge
truck commercial.
■’ ■;/ fftoto by Timothy Ramsey
The award recipients hold their awards. They are, left to right, Nora Jones, Ben Piggott, Precious Quire
McCloud and Phyllis Ann Bridges.
Legend Ben Piggott gets
Lifetime Achievement Award
BY TIMOTHY RAMSEY
THE CHRONICLE _.
Over the years; Ben Piggott has been honored many
times for his work in the community. Now that he is
retired from the Winston-Salem Recreation and Parks
Department, the honors have not stopped. Piggott was
honored with the Rhythms of Triumph Lifetime
Achievement Award for his years of service Friday, Feb.
2 at the Greensboro Coliseum.
The Rhythms of Triumph, a celebration of Black
History Month, has held this annual event for 18 years. It
is sponsored by McDonald's and 97.1 WQMG in order to
merge the concepts of music and community but more
importantly to honor the unsung heroes in the communi
ty.
See Award on A10
Photos by Timothy Ramsey
Ben Piggott was hon
ored with the lifetime
achievement award at
this year’s Rhythm of
Triumph awards cere
mony.
With candidate
filing Monday,
court decisions
loom large
BY CASH MICHAELS
FOR THE CHRONICLE_I_._
Monday, Feb. 12, is the beginning of the filing period
for candidates for public office in North Carolina.
Technically, that’s when Democrats and Republicans,
hoping to compete in their
respective party primaries
for a chance to be ultimate
ly selected to run in the fall
20,18 ! midterm elections,
commit themselves for
either statewide or congres
sional office.
But thanks to an
unceasing plethora of
court cases involving leg
islative, congressional and
judicial redistricting, con
fusion has been the buzz
word as to whether even
the filing period would be
allowed to commence.
At press time Tuesday,
there was no official word
of any delays that would
disrupt the filing period.
In fact, at least one court
ruling last week cleared
the way for several.judicial
candidates who originally were off the ballot.
U.S. District Court Judge Catherine Eagles partially
granted a preliminary injunction against Senate Bill 656,
which, when passed by the Republican-led N.C. General
Assembly last year, eliminated judicial primary races. In
her order, Judge Eagles said it made no sense to do away
with primaries for statewide races for the state Court of
Appeals and the N.C. Supreme Court (currently there are
races for both) because neither post are depended on vot
ing districts.
Eagles
CAMPAIGN
See Decisions on A10
■tf660 W5THST
Program invites business pros to encourage young men
BY TEVIN STINSON
THE CHRONICLE
Earlier this week, AAMPED (African
American Males Pursing Educational Dreams), a
program offered by the local Crosby Scholars
Community Partnership, invited young men from
schools across the district to sit down with local
business professionals’ to discuss their futures,
and the importance of setting goals during the first
Tipping Point Series, a two-part event designed to
prepare students and parents for the future.
Following a trial run in 2016, this school year
AAMPED hit the ground running, looking to
make a difference in the Winston-Salem/Forsyth
County School District. Richard Watts, retired
principal and AAMPED coordinator said that
after seeing the number of African-American
males enrolled in Crosby Scholars as high school
seniors decline, they adopted AAMPED to
increase those numbers and encourage young men
to continue their education after high school.
Watts, who retired from Winston-Salem
Preparatory Academy following the 2016-2017
school year, said helping African-American males
reach their full potential is work he has been doing
for years and AAMPED is a continuation of that
work.
See Program on A10
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of Winston-Salem, LLC
(336) 924-7000
www.assuredstoragews.com