Parkland High School graduate named
curator at the Smithsonian
BY TEVIN STINSON
THE CHRONICLE
Winston-Salem’s own,
Rev. Teddy R. Reeves, has
been named curator of re
ligion at the Smithsonian’s
National Museum of Afri
can American History and
Culture (NMAAHC).
Reeves, who was
raised on the southside of
the city, said although he
didn’t know it then, his
journey to the nation’s
capital began at St. Ste
phen Missionary Baptist
Church.
“St. Stephen was a piv
otal part of my formation
as a young man, as a min
ister, and now as a scholar
of religion. I pinpoint St.
Stephen and the folks that
were there and still there
as pivotal pieces in my de
velopment,” Reeves con
tinued. “It was a place that
I could be, and be safely.
These people knew that
God had something in me
that needed to come out.”
Although he grew up in
the church, Reeves said he
didn’t find his calling until
years later. Growing up he
wanted to go into journal
ism and become a news
anchor, so after graduat
ing from Parkland High
School, Reeves decided to
attend Hampton Univer
sity, where he majored in
journalism. “I wanted to be
the next Bryant Gumbel,”
Reeves said, laughing.
“So I went to Hampton
University because they
have the Scripps Howard
School of Journalism and
I began to evolve in that
space. Growing up reli-
Submitted photo
Rev. Teddy R. Reeves
gious was a quintessential
part, but it wasn’t some
thing I wanted to do as a
profession.”
Shortly after arriving
on campus, Reeves de
cided to change his major
to English and that’s when
he started to realize his
true passion. “I went to the
English department and it
really began to plant the
seeds of shifting, because
as I was reading, I found
myself reading with a re
ligious lens. I always tried
to find how this connected
to the church, how it con
nected to religion,” Reeves
said.
After undergrad,
Reeves took a teaching po
sition in California before
taking another position at a
private school in Charlotte.
But according to Reeves,
religion was always there.
“I’m teaching sopho
more English, so that’s
Brit-lit, American-lit, but
I’m always pointing out
and talking about reli
gion,” Reeves said. “
One day while teach
ing class, Reeves said he
heard a voice telling him to
go to theological college.
Reeves told The Chronicle
that he ignored that voice
for a while, but it contin
ued to get louder.
“It wasn’t an unfamil
iar voice -1 had heard the
voice of God before - but
it was so clear and audible
that I knew this was some
thing that had to be done,”
Reeves continued. “I go
to church that Sunday and
the pastor announces he’s
about to start the new min
ister-in-training class ...
I was like, this is another
sign.”
Reeves .signed up for
the course led by Bishop
Kenneth Yelverton, com
pleted it, and soon there
after became a licensed
minister. After doing his
research on seminars,
Reeves decided to at
tend Princeton Theologi
cal Seminary, where he
received his master’s in
divinity in 2013 and he is
currently a Ph.D candidate
at Fordham University.
In 2018 Reeves cre
ated a multi-city initiative
and conversation series
called “gOD-Talk,” which
explores ways millennials
are engaging with faith in
the 21st century. The ini
tiative has received sev
eral Telly Awards, which
honors excellence in video
on all platforms, and the
“Audience Honor” award
at the 2020 Shorty Awards,
which recognizes people
and organizations that pro
duce real-time short-form
content on social media.
As curator and co-lead
of religion at the National
Museum of African Amer
ican History and Culture,
Reeves said he will contin
ue research on the digital
aspects of religion, genera
tional theory as it relates to
religion, and the African
American religious expe
riences as a whole from
Christianity to Voodoo.
“My job is to really
chronicle, preserve, and
tell the stories of African
American religion that
moves beyond Christian
spaces that’s one part of
our story,” Reeves contin
ued. “African Americans
in this country are still by
and large Christian, but
there are spaces African
Americans have been in
since our arrival in this
country, whether that’s Is
lam or whether that’s other
forms of African spiritual
religion, or other form of
religious practice or spiri
tual practice, really talking
about that depth that is my
work.”
The NMAAHC is one
of the Smithsonian’s new
est museums and is the
only national museum de
voted exclusively to the
documentation of African
American culture. When
asked how he wants to be
remembered at the Smith
sonian and for his work in
refigion, Reeves said he
wants to look back 20-30
years from now and see
someone carrying on his
work.
“Things will evolve
and things will change, but
I think the legacy for me
is that we laid the ground
work. I pray I’m living
20, 30, 40 years from now
and someone comes along
and is picking up the work
and doing greater work,”
Reeves said, “As a believ
er, I’ve always believed
that someone greater will
always come ... you might
be the best in your time
and in that season, but
someone greater will come
along and I welcome that.”
County begins disengagement from Cardinal, realignment with Partners
BY TEVIN STINSON
THE CHRONICLE
From now until May 5,
the Forsyth County gov
ernment is seeking public
input on its disengagement
plan from Cardinal Inno
vations Healthcare.
Here’s what we know:
The North Carolina De
partment of Health and
Human Services contracts
LME/MCO (Local Man
agement Entity/Managed
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in
Care Organization) ser
vices to different provid
ers, but individual coun
ties have the final say so
in who provides those ser
vices. Since 2016 Cardinal
Innovations Healthcare
has managed the county’s
behavioral services, but
last November the Forsyth
County Board of Commis
sioners voted to end the
relationship with Cardinal
Innovations Healthcare.
In February, county
staff presented a disen
gagement plan to the board
that recommended that the
county realign with Part
ners Behavioral Health
Management and during
their meeting on March 4,
the Board of Commission
ers voted to approve the
plan and essentially got the
ball rolling on the disen
gagement process.
In order to change
LME/MCOs, there are
www.wschronicle.com
several steps the county
has to take. First, they have
to inform the state health
secretary of the disengage
ment request, who has 90
days to decide whether to
approve. But before that,
the county will accept
public comments on the
disengagement plan for
60 days and after that the
comments will be posted
on the county’s website for
another 30 days.
After the public com
ment period, county staff
will submit a formal re
quest to the state and if
it is approved, the disen
gagement process will be
gin. According to county
attorney Gordon Watkins,
the process should be com
plete around October of
this year.
Partners Behavioral
Health Management was
formed through a merger
of three separate local
PARTNERS
Improving Lives.
Strengthening Communities.
management entities in
2012. Partners’ mission is
to “manage a behavioral
health care system funded
by federal, state, and lo
cal taxpayer dollars. We
ensure all individuals who
are eligible for our pro
grams have access to qual
ity providers and effective
services. We improve lives
and strengthen our com
munities by focusing on
positive outcomes and the
proper use of funds en
trusted to us.”
Currently, Partners
serves nine different coun
ties across the state, in
cluding Burke, Catawba,
Cleveland, Gaston, Iredell,
Lincoln, Rutherford, Sur
ry, and Yadkin Counties.
Along with Forsyth Coun
ty, Partners is also working
on realignment in Cabar
rus County, Union County,
and Stanly County.
To help ease the pro
cess, the county has es
tablished a Transition
Planning Team comprised
of stakeholders, health-
care providers, recipients
of services, and other
members of the commu
nity. During the planning
team’s first meeting on
March 26, Partners’ CEO,
Rhett Melton, said, “Part
ners is very honored and
humbled ... that the coun
ty has elected to pursue
engagement with Partners.
We don’t take that lightly
and we don’t take that as
anything other than a testa
ment to our work and the
value that we try to live
every day.”
The disengagement
plan can be found at
http s ://forsyth. cc/disen-
gagement.aspx. The public
comments will be accepted
until May 5. Comments
can be left on the County’s
website or sent by mail
to the Forsyth County
Manager’s Office, 201 N.
Chestnut Street. For more
information, visit https://
www.co.forsyth.nc.us/.
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