eniors 75 cents See Sports on page Bl See Opinion/Forum pages on A4 & A5 Inside THURSDAY, June 24, 2021 WINSTON-SALEM, N.C Volume 47, Number 35 V-J Larry Little delivers powerful message during Juneteenth Freedom Ceremony BY TEVIN STINSON THE CHRONICLE Juneteenth commemo rates the day those enslaved in Galveston, Texas, the last geo graphic area in the United States to receive word of their free dom on June 19, 1865. About a month earlier, on Sunday, May 21, 1865, those enslaved in Salem (now Winston-Salem), found out about their freedom when a Union Cavalry chaplain read the orders at the African Moravian Church (now St. Phil ips Moravian Church). General Order #32 proclaimed that “All persons held as slaves are free.” In recognition of Juneteenth, for the past 17 years Triad Cultural Arts, Inc., has hosted a festival and this year the celebration be gan with a ceremony in the same space African descendants oc cupied that Sunday morning in 1865. The opening ceremony dubbed “Freedom Ceremony” featured several speakers and was headlined by local legend Dr. Larry Little, co-founder of the Winston-Salem Chapter of the Black Panther Party, the first chapter of the Black Panther Party to be established in the South. Little, who is an attorney and professor at Winston-Salem State University, said we have come a long way, but there is still work to be done and history has taught us that the journey won’t be easy. He said when we look back at the history of Black Photo by Alphonso Abbott Jr. Young performers at the Juneteenth Festival hosted by Triad Cultural Arts, Inc. on Saturday, June 19. Triad Cultural Arts, Inc. has hosted the local Juneteenth celebratoin for the past 17years. people in this country’s history, at every juncture of the fight for freedom and progress, there has been backlash. “After the 13th Amendment was passed, what did the South ern states do? They enacted Black Codes making it a criminal act to do plain, simple things,” Little continued. “Thel4th Amendment that supposedly makes us citizens of this country if we’re born here ... they comp up with Jim Crow laws. We get the 15th Amendment that gives Black males the right to vote and they come up with gerrymander ing, literacy tests, poll taxes. Ev ery step when we make progress, there is backlash.” To further his point, Little went on to discuss the backlash from the civil rights movement in the form of President Richard Nixon and the response of Don ald Trump to the election of the first Black president in 2008. Despite the continued back lash and reverberations through out history, Little said for those who believe in change, we have to keep pushing. “As Curtis Mayfield and the Impressions used to say, we have to keep on pushing,” Little said. He said although Trump is no longer in the White House, the fight against “Trumpism” continues. “We have withstood four years of Trump, but we have not defeated Trumpsim. He’s not in the White House, but his followers are in the state legis latures throughout this country and they’re passing in droves at breakneck speed voter sup pression laws, laws designed to frustrate us in our efforts to use the ballots,” Little continued. “Finally, I say this: Fredrick Douglass was asked, how do you make progress? And he said, you have to fight for it. He said Black people don’t get all they fight for but we must fight for all that we get in this country. “...So brothers and sisters we are not where we used to be. We’re not where we want to be, but Lord knows we’re going to get there. We’re going to get See Juneteenth on A5 Local organization seeks to help end violence in the city BY TIMOTHY RAMSEY THE CHRONICLE For the 20th anniver sary of the Million Man March, Minister Louis Farrakhan, leader of the nation of Islam (NOI), called for an action agenda which included 10,000 men to go into the com munity to stand between the guns, the gangs and the violence by setting up conflict resolution centers to mediate issues before they resulted in some sort of negative action. Efftainguan Muham mad, representative of Far rakhan for the Winston- Salem Local Organizing Committee, has led this action named lOKFear- less and they have been putting in the necessary work to affect change in Submitted photo Members of the lOKFearless clean up trash in the com munity. the city over the last few years. They have been trained not only in conflict resolution, but also with de-escalation techniques, physical conditioning, ba sic self-defense, and first aid. They offer these train ing programs to the com munity as well. “Minister Farrakhan called for an action agenda and one of the things he called for is 10,000 fear less men who would be willing to come back into the community to set up conflict resolution centers, so we could mediate some of the beefs before they re sult in violence and blood ¬ www.wschronicle.com shed,” said Muhammad. “Sometimes we have actu ally broken up fights and violent engagements in the community in real time.” Earlier this month, the lOKFearless initiated a na tional day of service in the same spirit to encourage the brothers to go back to the communities, especial ly since there has been an uptick in gun violence in Winston-Salem and other cities around the country. This was a relaunch to the initiative that was halted due to the pandemic. Also included in the See Violence on A2

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