OPINION
James Tavlor Jr
Publisher
Donna Rogers
Timothy Ramsey
Todd Luck
Tevin Stinson
Shayna Smith
Elisha Covington
Paulette L. Moore
Managing Editor
Sports Editor/Religion
Senior Reporter
Specialty Reporter
Advertising Manager
Office Manager
Administrative Assistant
Our Mission
The Chronicle is dedicated to serving the
residents of Winston-Salem and Forsyth County
by giving voice to the voiceless, speaking truth
to power, standing for integrity and
encouraging open communication and
lively debate throughout the community.
GUEST EDITORIAL
Gov. Cooper
should pursue
gun control
A half dozen years ago - although it seems like a
lifetime - Our nation waited to see how leaders in
Washington would respond to the horrifying shoot
ing deaths of 20 children and six educators at Sandy
Hook Elementary. Washington, as we know, did lit
tle - as Washington has continued to do through an
onslaught of gun massacres since. Connecticut,
however, decided to act.
In the aftermath of Sandy Hook, state lawmakers
passed, and Democratic Gov. Dannel Malloy
signed, a package of strong gun measures. The
package expanded a ban on the sale of assault
weapons and required the registration of existing
assault weapons and high-capacity gun magazines.
It launched a registry ol weapons ottenaers ana
mandated background checks for all sales of
firearms.
It worked. As the New York Times reported
Sunday, gun deaths started to drop after the laws
passed. In four years, the number of deaths resulting
from firearms - including homicides, suicides and
accidents - fell from 226 to 164.
Now, with Congress ready for another round of
inactivity in the wake of 17 more students and edu
cators dying in Florida, it will once again be up to
states to protect their citizens from gun violence.
With few exceptions, states with the strictest gun
control measures have the lowest rates of gun
deaths.
North Carolina does not; we're 23rd in the coun
try in firearm deaths per capita, according to the
Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence.
To be more precise; In Connecticut, Nikolas
Cruz could not have legally purchased the AR-15
style rifle and high capacity magazines he used to
mow down the victims in Parkland, Florida. In
North Carolina, he could have.
Changing that - and passing other tough gun
control measures - is harder in our state thanks to
North Carolina's Republican-led General Assembly.
But that doesn't mean Gov. Roy Cooper, a
Democrat, shouldn't try. As North Carolinians grap
ple with the possibility of a Florida mass shooting
happening here, Cooper should call for lawmakers
to address the spiraling toll of gun violence. He
should follow up by working to help legislators
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well as other sensible measures, such as raising the
minimum age for gun purchases. If we don't think
18-year-olds have the maturity to hoist a beer, they
sure shouldn't be able to lift and fire their own semi
automatic weapons.
That legislative package also should include
measures that address the mental health issues that
Republicans often cite as the cause of mass shoot
ings. Confronting gun violence shouldn't be about
choosing one party's preferred approach, and there
is no one law that will prevent gun violence. But a
package of measures that help lessen the chance of
the next deadly day is one worth passing.
Will Cooper succeed? It's a long shot.
Republican leaders Phil Berger and Tim Moore
probably won't even let such bills get to the floor of
their chambers. But the governor - and all North
Carolinians - should force legislators to declare
which gun violence measures they don't support.
Make lawmakers go on the record if they don't think
it's a good idea to protect their constituents in any
reasonable way they can, so that N.C. voters can
know come election time.
The Charlotte Observer
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LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
How being black and
vegan honors my
ancestors’ struggle
To the Editor:
Somewhere along the line, while
getting through this thing called life,
I came across these words by the late,
great Maya Angelou and turned them
into a personal mantra: “I did then
what I knew how to do. Now that I
know better, I do better.”
I've relied heavily on this quote
for personal development. It’s helped
me choose where to spend my money
and how to treat other human beings,
and yes, practicing these words has a
lot to do with why I'm vegan. Once I
understood that just like humans,
chickens, pigs, cows and all other
animals feel pain, experience fear
and value their own lives, I banned
dead animal parts from my life. I
knew better, so - for animals -1 did
better.
However, black vegans certainly
“do better” for more than animals.
No matter if I’m recognizing Black
History Month, an ordinary April or
even National Doughnut Day, I
understand that I'm only here
because of my ancestors and the
struggles they endured - and I owe
every one of them my best, to honor
their legacies.
Right now, America in general,
but African-Americans in particular,
face a health crisis. According to the
American Heart Association, Black
Americans are disproportionately
affected by obesity and more likely
to have diabetes than their white
counterparts. The Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention
states that African-Americans have
nearly double the risk of dying early
from heart disease and strokes as
whites.
These aren't arbitrary statistics.
My own father - who eats a stacked
plate of ribs for a meal - struggles
with diabetes. Most people can hard
ly understand my grandmother when
she speaks due to multiple strokes.
My uncle Harrison prided himself on
his signature mustard and collard
greens with ham hock, and he also
died of heart disease. These are all
links in my ancestral lineage ravaged
by an unhealthy diet,
It's a shame when folks mistake
slave food for soul food. “Foods”
like chitlins (animal intestines) or
hog maw (pig stomach), lard and
pigs’ feet harm our bodies. Our
enslaved ancestors had to consume
these disgusting body parts to sur
vive horrifying atrocities and in no
way could they “do better.” Here in
the 21st century, however, there's -
zero excuse. Consuming sickness
and filth is not our true heritage and
should not represent blackness.
These types of culinary dishes -
which were given to us as scraps by
our oppressors and later hijacked
African-American culture - kill us.
So I do better. A vegan diet reduces
the risks of heart disease, obesity,
strokes and diabetes. And trust me,
vegan soul food is alive and well. I
.still eat greens, fried "chicken,"
gumbo and sweet potato pie just like
I did growing up. We can still have
all the flavors we crave without the
death, suffering and disease that
come with eating animals.
Living as a black vegan is a prac
tice in "sankofa" - a traditional West
African term that reminds us to learn
from our roots in order to move for
ward. If we really want, to honor our
brothers and sisters, we must strive to
be our healthiest, greatest, most com
passionate selves.
Zachary Toliver
Online News Content
Producer
People for the Ethical
Treatment of Animals (PETA)
Norfolk, Virginia
Embrace dismption in
the state of the economy
Photo provided by Algenon Cash
(Below) The Winston
Salem Chamber of
Commerce hosted its
annual “State of the
Economy” luncheon at
the Benton Convention
Center in downtown on
Feb. 22.
Algenon
Cash
Guest
Columnist
The Winston-Salem
Chamber of Commerce
hosted its annual “State of
the Economy” luncheon at
the Benton Convention
Center in Downtown on
Feb. 22. The event attract
ed over 1,000 business and
community leaders from
companies, nonprofits,
government and education
al institutions that all have
a deeply vested interest in
the local economy.
The keynote speaker
was Tim Lowe, president
of Lowes Foods, and
unlike most economic pre
sentations that may be lit
tered with statistical analy
sis, numbers, and predic
tions - Mr. Lowe spent a
half hour highlighting
shifting consumers’ habits
and the impact those
changes are having on the
retail industry. Not a week
goes by without a retailer
announcing major layoffs
and shuttering units in
response to consumers
migrating to buying online.
Lowe has an extensive
background in the retail
industry with over 26 years
in various executive roles
at Supervalu, Walmart and
Meijer. He delivered an
informative presentation
that centered on the disrup
tion in the macro economy
from companies that don’t
produce anything or have
any physical infrastructure.
Amazon is the coun
try’s largest retailer, but it
owns no stores; Uber is the
country’s largest taxi com
pany, but owns no vehi
cles; Airbnb is the coun
try’s largest hotel chain,
but owns no real estate;
and Facebook, the coun
try’s most popular media
owner, creates no content.
Disruption innovation
is a term in the field of
business that refers to an
innovation that creates a
new market and eventually
disrupts an existing mar
ket, displacing established
market leading firms, prod
ucts, and strategic
alliances.
The practice has exist
ed since the dawn of time,
but revealed itself more
pronouncedly in business
during the early 20th cen
tury’s Industrial
Revolution. Henry Ford’s
Model T disrupted the mar
ket for transportation in
1908 because the mass
produced automobile low
ered costs, reduced barriers
to entry for ordinaiy fami
lies and eventually altered
the way cities were devel
oped.
Historically disruptive
innovation was produced
by market outsiders and
serial entrepreneurs, rather
than existing market lead
ing companies. Well per
forming companies strug
gle to be innovative
because they are focused
on maintaining current
market share.
Railroad companies
were the first leaders in
transportation,but failed to
predict the impact personal
vehicles or airlines would
have on passenger volume.
IBM was a driver in tech
nology long before Apple,
Google and Facebook -
but lacked the ability to see
around the comer like
some of the later startups.
Amazon, however, is
on a different pathway. The
company generates
$200,000 in gross sales
daily, so it is clearly a mar
ket leader - but the compa
ny refuses to be disrupted
and remains concentrated
on being the disruptor.
President and CEO Jeff
Bezos says, “The outside
world can push you info
Day 2 if you won’t or can’t
embrace powerful trends
quickly. If you fight them,
you’re probably fighting
the future. Embrace them
and you have a tailwind.”
Bezos’ corporate phi
losophy simply means that
every company must focus
on being excited about the
business and constantly
A
seek out unmet needs in
the marketplace. Not to
mention Bezos shares that
entrepreneurs need to
focus on results and not
process, make decisions
quickly, look outside the
company and do less cus
tomer focused market
research.
Small businesses are
driving the U.S. economy
- with over 70 percent of
the new jobs created by
this sector. My advice to
rising entrepreneurs is
don’t fear change, embrace
it, and then use changing
attitudes, habits, and
desires to build a great
business that delivers value
to the marketplace.. Our
nation would not be the
most advanced country on
the planet without disrup
tion innovation.
My grandfather used to
say, “All we know about
change is that it’s coming.”
Algenon Cash is a
nationally recognized
speaker and the managing
director of Wharton
Gladden & Company, an
investment banking firm.
Reach him at
acash@algenoncash.com
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