• See Sports on page Bl*
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THURSDAY, July 22, 2021
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C
Volume 47, Number 38
THE CHRONICLE
History I Heritage I Culture
• See Opinion/Forum pages on A4 & A5 •
W-S faces lawsuit and discrimination
claims over canceled concert
BY TEVIN STINSON
THE CHRONICLE
A lawsuit has been
filed against the City of
Winston-Salem by a local
promoter for their decision
to cancel a concert that
was scheduled to be held
at the Winston-Salem Fair
grounds later this month.
Representatives from Starr
Entertainment say the can
cellation cost them nearly
a quarter million dollars.
Here’s what we know:
the Carolina Summer Mu
sic Festival, headlined by
hip-hop artist Pooh Shi-
esty, Mulatto, and Money-
bagg Yo was scheduled to
be held at the fairgrounds
on July 31. In the lawsuit
filed on May 6 by Starr
Entertainment, a local
promotion company, rep
resentatives met with the
city to discuss the avail-
ability of the fairgrounds
to hold the event and by
June 9, both parties agreed
that the event would be
held on July 31.
But all that changed
just nine days later.
On June 18, Starr En
tertainment received a
call from the city who ex
pressed concerns about the
artists who were scheduled
to perform. And on July 21
they received a letter from
the city canceling the con
cert. In the letter the city
wrote, “The city’s Police
Department investigated
each performer’s back
ground and believes, based
on publicly available in
formation, that there exists
the chance of violence and
gang activity at the City’s
property in connection
with the planned concert.
“The city will not host
an event, nor will it allow
a private entity to use City
property to host an event,
if there is risk of violence
to the attendees or to mem
bers of the general public.”
Starr Entertainment
has been promoting the
Carolina Summer Music
Festival since the date was
confirmed on social media
and the lawsuit alleges that
because of the cancellation
they have lost more than
$200,000 in non-refund-
able deposits. Attorney
Jessie Fontenot Jr. who is
representing Starr Enter
tainment said now that it
is evident that the concert
won’t be held, they just
want all the money back
they have lost. Fontenot
said when Starr met with
the city on June 18 they
raised concerns about
Moneybagg Yo and an in
cident that happened in an
other state in 2016. In re
sponse Fontenot noted that
Moneybagg Yo performed
in Winston-Salem in 2017
without any issues.
“I thinks it’s clear the
city is treating this show
and unfortunately the peo
ple who are most likely to
be at the show differently
than any other shows,”
Fontenot continued. “It’s
not as if the city has any
valid concerns that the
headliners were going to
be jumping down from the
stage and injuring people;
so instead they’re saying
something specific about
the people who are going
to be at the show that gives
rise to a threat of gang vio
lence and activity and they
have yet to show any evi
dence that that was going
to occur.”
When word of the can
cellation was made public,
many people took to so
cial media to share their
thoughts about the deci
sion made by the WSPD.
Several members of Hate
Out of Winston, a local
grassroots organization,
shared their frustrations on
Facebook. In a letter writ
ten by several members of
the organization and ad
dressed to the city, they
say canceling the only
hip-hop or rap concert
scheduled this year is dis
crimination.
In the letter Wes Fes-
ler wrote, “...The City of
Winston-Salem has cried
wolf. The city has used
the hackneyed, banal, and
quite frankly threadbare
stereotypes of associat
ing hip-hop with concert
violence. The fact of the
matter is there is little to
no data suggesting that
hip-hop concerts or its as
sociated acts are more vio
lent than any other form of
music.”
Fesler went on to raise
questions about the city’s
willingness to regularly
allow gun shows and rock
concerts to be held on city
property.
“This city which prides
itself on being small but
progressive is starting to
look like a throwback to
the ‘60s as in just a few
weeks it is allowing C&E
Gun Show to come to the
same fairgrounds on Au
gust 7th and Sth that it
denied to the Black artists
of Starr Entertainment. Is
it because this is a largely
white crowd? Have the
vendors had their back
grounds checked? Has
there been any connec
tion made between them
and violent supremacist
groups? Does their white
ness alone mean that they
are safe?”
Job Corps Scholars Program at WSSU offers free college courses
and career certifications
BY TEVIN STINSON
THE CHRONICLE
Winston-Salem State
University (WSSU) is now
offering a new program
1 £
= N
that allows participants
to complete free college
courses and earn career
preparedness certification
in the field of their choice.
WSSU’s Job Corps
Scholars Program is de
signed to eliminate some
of the barriers to educa
tion and employment. The
program is funded by a
grant awarded by the U.S.
Department of Labor’s
Employment and Training
Administration and is un
like anything else offered
by a four-year college or
university.
Although similar pro
grams are popular through
out the country and at com ¬
www.wschronicie.com
munity colleges, WSSU is
the first four-year college
or university in the state to
offer ajob corps program.
After completing the
two-year program, partici
pants will earn a certifica
tion in one of eight differ
ent areas: cybersecurity,
computer programming,
entrepreneurship, health-
care, law enforcement,
legal services, manage
ment, or web applications.
Participants will also have
access to tutoring, career
counseling, career place
ment, the opportunity to
attend several different
See Job on A2