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THE Cl
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ICLE
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WINSTON-SALEM, N.C.
THURSDAY, February 20,2020
Volume 46, Number 22
Black History event
details local sit-in movement
BY TEVIN STINSON
THE CHRONICLE
Dozens of people re
ceived an impromptu his
tory lesson earlier this
week when they came to
gether to explore the black
history of Winston-Salem
during a cultural fair, film
screening and panel dis
cussion held at the Innova
tion Quarter on Tuesday,
Feb. 18.
The event, hosted by
the Winston-Salem Black
Chamber of Commerce,
Preservation Forsyth,
Triad Cultural Arts, Inter
national Civil Rights Cen
ter & Museum, Winston-
Salem African American
Archive, and Old Salem
Museums & Gardens, be
gan with the local history
and cultural fair where the
public had the opportu
nity to learn about the rich
black history of Winston-
fair, attendees watched the
film “I Am Not My Broth
er’s Keeper: Leadership
and Civil Rights in Win
ston-Salem, North Caro
lina.” The film, which was
written and directed by
Mary M. Dalton and Su
san Faust, tells how Carl
W. Matthews, a student
at Winston-Salem Teach
ers College at that time
(now Winston-Salem State
University), led a protest
by taking seats at a lunch
counter at S.H. Kress De
partment Store in 1960,
starting a three-month-
long action that ended in
the successful desegrega
tion of lunch counters in
the city. The film, which
was released in 2001, uses
interviews with many of
the students involved in
the protest, professors and
others to provide a sense
of what the movement was
to the students and how it
Photos by Tevin Stinson
James Webster, son-in-law of Carl Matthews, the man who started the local sit-it protest, sits down with local
historian Barbara Morris to discuss the movement and the impact it had n the community.
Dozens of people received an impromptu history lesson earlier this week when they
attended the Black History Celebration held in Innovation Quarter.
Salem and organizations in
the area that preserve and
celebrate our local history
and culture.
Following the cultural
shaped their lives.
After the screening of
the film, local historian and
longtime Winston-Salem
residents Barbara Morris
and James Webster, son-
in-law of 'Carl Matthews,
sat down to discuss the
impact of the movement
and answer questions from
the crowd. Before delv
ing into the conversation,
Webster let it be known
that although the Greens
boro Four are recognized
as the first to start the sit-in
movement, the first sit-in
victory came right here in
Winston-Salem.
“Let me tell you this
because they don’t tell you
this, Carl Matthews had
the first victory sit-in. He
was the first to eat,” Morri
son said. “He sat down and
he ate on May 25. What
you must also understand
is that Greensboro people
didn’t eat until July 25;
that’s almost two months
later. We don’t hear that,
but that’s what makes
Winston-Salem so special;
we were not the first, but
we were the first to be suc
cessful.”
To begin the conver
sation, moderator Abrea
Armstrong Morris
what was ^^ for her
during sit-in move
ment. : f ie of ti e
moven rris was
only 16 yea tld, but she
remembers the com
munity, local businesses,
and even churches rallied
around the students from
Winston-Salem Teachers
College and Wake Forest
College (now Wake Forest
University) and marched
through the streets of the
city to show their sup
port. She said, “As a
young teenager, only 16,1
marched every night.
“We marched from ev
ery part of Winston-Salem.
We marched from Happy
Hill Gardens to downtown,
from King Court, Boston,
really from all the black
neighborhoods,” Morris
continued. “The church
also played a major part
in the Civil Rights Move
ment because every night
before we marched, we
went to a church and had
prayer and mapped out our
plan. We were not just run
ning around the'city, we
were a controlled group.”
In honor of the historic
sit-in, on Sunday, Feb. 23,
a community commemo
ration vigil will be held in
downtown Winston-Salem
to mark the 60th anni
versary of the event. The
vigil, which is scheduled
to begin at 3 p.m., will be
gin in front of the Millen
nium Center, 101 West Sth
Street, and end at the cor
ner of Fourth and Liberty
Streets where a historical
marker designates the site
as the location of the “First
sit-in victory in North Car
olina.”
City officials approve funding for DRIVE Program
BY TEVIN STINSON
THE CHRONICLE
Earlier this week
the Winston-Salem City
Council approved a resolu
tion allocating $275,000 in
funding to support the ex
pansion of the driver’s li
cense restoration program,
better known as the DRIVE
(Driver Restoration Initia
tive and Vocational Expan
sion) Program.
The District Attorney’s
Office initially began a
driver’s license restoration
program in 2015 with the
purpose of giving the city’s
financially challenged or
low-to-moderate income
citizens an opportunity to
have their driver’s licenses
restored. Since then, the
program has helped nearly
2,000 people restore their
licenses, but there is still
work to be done.
A 2018 study found
that “clean slate clinic par
ticipants experience sig
nificant increase in aver
age employment rates and
average real earnings.”
It has also been reported
that 1,900 job categories
require a driver’s license.
According to City Coun
cilmember James Taylor,
who is publisher of The
Chronicle, there are 18,000
people in Forsyth County
who don’t have their driv
er’s license because they
can’t afford to pay minor
traffic fines. The DRIVE
Program will not address
charges that involve vio
lence, DWI, school bus
traffic violations, hit and
run violations, and/or sex
www.wschronicle.com
offenders.
“There are 18,000
people here who do not
have their driver’s licens
es for lack of paying fees
and fines. So this will get
people back on the streets
working outside of their
communities,” Taylor
continued. “I posted this
on social media and this
received a groundswell of
support so there’s a lot of
people out here who feel
like they don’t have their
licenses and they need to
get back to work.”
Forsyth County Clerk
of Court Renita Thomp
kins-Linville also spoke
in support of expanding
the program. Thompkins-
Linville said expanding
the program will break
down economic barriers
that can impede one’s abil
ity to be successful. She
said, “I think this project is
going to help many of our
citizens with economic in
come.
“Most of the citizens
who are in this position are
DRIVER LICENSE
'jlMJ-'J)^ 02/20/2017
3001809397
what we call the ‘working
poor’. These are people
who have to make a deci
sion between paying the
rent or paying these ex/
pensive ticket fees that
they have accumulated, or
paying for daycare or buy
ing food. We’re helping
people to get back on their
feet, so I wholeheartedly
support this project.”
When it came time to
vote on the resolution, it
was approved unanimous
ly-
According to city of
ficials, the $275,000 allo
cated to the DRIVE pro
gram will be used to hire
dedicated staff for the pro
gram, operating expenses,
marketing and outreach
over an 18-month period.
Assistance from the city
would support a legal as
sistant, assistant district at
torney, and an administra
tive clerk.
iWlLSOX
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