88.5 WFDD - Race: Recent Episodes
Eileen Rodriguez
In this Tuesday, July 2, 2019, photo, volunteers from Baptists On Mission and Home Builders Institute assisting with ongoing repairs due to damage caused by Hurricane Florence, in Spring Lake, N.C. North Carolina. (AP Photo/Gerry Broome)
Piedmont Business Capital has received the first grant by the Black Investments in Greensboro (BIG) Equity Fund. Funds are applied to critical issues in the Black community.
The BIG Equity Fund — the first permanent endowment of its kind in Greensboro — was established in 2019. A quarter million dollars was raised from Black donors early on, and the community-wide campaign is roughly halfway towards reaching its $3 million endowment goal. Current priorities include addressing the digital divide, wealth building, and health care — disparities laid bare by the pandemic. Another is small business development.
That’s the issue covered by Piedmont Business Capital’s grant proposal. They say some Black-owned companies in the Greensboro area are shut out of bidding on projects due to less working capital compared to bigger firms. Piedmont proposes a bonding assistance reimbursement program to cover fees. Additionally, it would provide coaching and financial literacy programs.
On Tuesday, the company received a $100,000 grant from the BIG Equity Fund — $50,000 a year over the next two years. The award coincides with Black Philanthropy Month, a global celebration and campaign for funding equity. The money will be overseen by The Community Foundation of Greater Greensboro.
Story does not include AP content
piedmont business capital #black investments in greensboro equity fund #digital divide #wealth building #small business development
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Martin Majorel, owner of TEM LLC, has been awarded the grant twice in a row, helping his business and many of his clients stay afloat during the pandemic. EILEEN RODRIGUEZ/WFDD
A grant launched at the beginning of the pandemic to support Black and Latinx small business owners in Forsyth County will open applications at the end of August. Past recipients say the funding has helped their businesses survive.
Greater Winston Salem, Inc. raised $1.3 million to launch a Minority Business Enterprise grant fund. Chief Financial Officer Nick Reed says small businesses of color in Forsyth County were suffering major losses during the pandemic.
"Greater Winston Salem, Inc. created a committee, the Entrepreneurial Advisory Committee," explains Reed. "And it's made up of African American and Latin business leaders in our region that are responsible for wading through all the applications that come in and awarding the money."
This past year, Greater Winston Salem, Inc. chose 17 recipients that received anywhere from $75,000 to $25,000.
Martin Majorel is a Latino entrepreneur and owner of an accounting and business consulting service company, TEM LLC, and has received the grant two years in a row.
"When I was looking for some type of economic help during the pandemic," explains Majorel, "I was looking to extend the deadline for payment for my clients. For example, I do the accounting and taxes of painting companies, and they would tell me, 'Martin I don’t have work right now. I can’t pay you.' I needed the money to extend their payment’s deadline for my clients who were struggling."
Majorel received $8,000 from the grant this past year, which he says has helped his business grow, and the majority Latino businesses he works with stay afloat as well. Applications open up on August 26, and the deadline is September 26, 2022.
There will be Spanish and English information sessions in the days before the application process opens up. The grants will be awarded January 2023.
This story was produced by a partnership between WFDD and La Noticia. You can read this story in Spanish at La Noticia.
Eileen Rodriguez is a reporter for both WFDD and La Noticia through Report for America, where she covers COVID-19's impact in the Latino Communities.
Periodista de La Noticia y 88.5 WFDD, Eileen Rodríguez reporta el impacto de COVID-19 en la comunidad Latina en Carolina del Norte. Rodríguez es miembro del cuerpo de periodistas de Report for America 2021-2022
Story does not include AP content
latinx #mbe #greater winston salem inc #minority business owners
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Maya Angelou reading from her work in Reynolda’s reception hall in 1973. Image courtesy of Reynolda House.
A 40-year-old interview between two major Black artists will be shown this month at Reynolda House Museum of American Art.
Romare Bearden, a native of Charlotte, was an influential painter known for his “Black Odyssey” series and many other works.
Poet and author Maya Angelou is one of the country’s best-known Black writers who spent the last decades of her life in Winston-Salem.
In 1982, they both sat on the porch of Reynolda House for an interview by local author Emily Herring Wilson about their lives and the Black experience's influence on their works.
That conversation was captured in a film that will be shown on August 16 as part of the museum’s exhibit "Still I Rise: The Black Experience at Reynolda."
Bari Helms is director of archives and library for Reynolda House. She says the museum is trying to uplift more diverse voices about its past, and the conversation between Angelou and Bearden is part of that story.
“This is a significant moment in Reynolda’s past,” Helms says. “And to be able to revisit it 40 years later, because so much of what Maya Angelou and Romare Bearden are discussing is still relevant today.”
The film screening will be followed by a panel discussion including experts from the Delta Arts Center, Wake Forest University and Reynolda House.
Story does not include AP content
reynolda house #maya angelou #black artists #romare bearden #still i rise #museum #winston salem
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Camila Guzmán, a researcher and licensed therapist based in Winston-Salem, has been wondering for a long time about the mental health resources available for the Spanish-speaking community. EILEEN RODRIGUEZ/WFDD
Finding a mental health provider can be a fairly complicated process. The pandemic has exacerbated the need for many. Yet some people may not have the means or information available to them in their native language to access this information. For this episode of Carolina Curious, we answer this question from listener Camila Guzmán: What does the landscape for mental health aid look like for bilingual Spanish-speaking immigrants in North Carolina?
"I'm an immigrant from Chile. I was born and raised in Chile, but I lived in North Carolina for about 15 years," explains Guzmán.
Guzmán is not a disinterested party regarding the issue. She’s a licensed therapist based in Winston-Salem who works closely with the Latino community. In the field, she often sees a lack of bilingual providers for the rapidly growing community in the state, which she says is worrisome.
"Our community also doesn’t know where to look for them, or they're not accessible to them in way," she says. "Because our community is so isolated, as you probably know, especially here in Winston-Salem, they're very isolated. So it's hard for them sometimes to know where to ask for help."
Various resources for the Latino community show different data on exactly how many Spanish-speaking therapists are in an area. For example, the website Latinx Therapy shows in North Carolina there are 11 therapists who speak Spanish. None of those listed are in Winston-Salem. Guzmán created a list on her own website Salud Mental Health, where she lists 14 Spanish-speaking therapists and mental health resources in the city, some in churches.
In terms of statewide resources, the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services has Hope4NC, a 24/7 hotline that can help Spanish speakers who might be experiencing emotional distress. It also partnered with local organizations, and there are general wellness resources in Spanish available as well on its website.
Deputy Secretary and Chief Health Equity Officer for North Carolina’s Department of Health and Human and Services Debra Farrington says there’s still a lot to be done, especially for young people.
"In the cases of the Latino community, we have a number of organizations who provide these community health workers who are responsible for connecting people to medical care and to social support," Farrington explains. "88% of Latino youth have unmet mental health needs. And that compares to 76% of white youth and 77% of Black youth. So we're seeing a higher percentage of Latino youth who have unmet mental health needs."
Milton Cepeda is the only bilingual school psychologist in the Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools system. He says that there’s an overall lack of mental health providers in the state, and this also includes schools. The National Association of School Psychologists recommends one psychologist per every 500 students, but the reality is that many are without that resource.
"I service three schools during the week, and then the other two days I provide district-wide support to other schools," says Cepeda.
Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools does have multiple language team support and they use interpreters to help with assessments when necessary. The most recent data from the state shows that suicide rates among youth in 2020 were the highest they’ve been in a decade, and according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Latinos have shown high rates of anxiety and depression symptoms.
"We don't only have a shortage of bilingual psychologists, we have a shortage of psychologists in general," says Cepeda. "So bilingual psychology is even more rare in this particular field. And there's a difference between someone who is certified as a bilingual psychologist and just someone who is a psychologist that happens to speak Spanish."
In North Carolina, without insurance, a private practice therapy session can cost usually between $150 to $250. There's also the option of doing a sliding scale, which can lower the cost for patients in need to around $50-$75.
El Futuro, a non-profit organization that provides support for the Latino community in Durham, is an example of one group that does provide low-cost therapy for, primarily, the Spanish-speaking population in the state.
El Futuro’s Communications Manager Mary Hondermann says the organization pays for the patient's therapy thanks to monetary help from counties.
"We don’t ask about immigration status to provide services," Hondermann says. "Depending on that person’s county, we go there, check the funds, and we cover the cost of that person’s treatment."
El Futuro might be able to provide lower-cost mental health treatments, yet as Camila Guzmán — our question-asker explains — not every provider is able to lower their costs.
"So that is, you know, a tricky balance because all of our bilingual providers are very passionate about mental health and about talking about these issues," says Guzmán. "But we also have to pay our bills and we have to eat."
But there are various organizations that are working to provide even more resources. Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools has partnered with a firm to recruit school psychologists, El Futuro is now providing group therapy, which helped decrease the number of people on their waitlist. The new suicide lifeline, 988, also has Spanish-speaking operators and resources available on its website.
This story was produced by a partnership between WFDD and La Noticia. You can read this story in Spanish at La Noticia.
Eileen Rodriguez is a reporter for both WFDD and La Noticia through Report for America, where she covers COVID-19's impact in the Latino Communities.
Periodista de La Noticia y 88.5 WFDD, Eileen Rodríguez reporta el impacto de COVID-19 en la comunidad Latina en Carolina del Norte. Rodríguez es miembro del cuerpo de periodistas de Report for America 2021-2022
Story does not include AP content
immigrant #latinos #mental health #mental health resources
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Greensboro-area licensed therapist Nicole Osborne led a workshop on minority mental health at the Greensboro Public Library on July 20. AMY DIAZ/WFDD
Greensboro-area licensed therapist Nicole Osborne led a minority mental health workshop in a black t-shirt with the phrase, “In my feelings.”
It made sense. Osborne said her goal for the event was to break the stigma around talking about your emotions and seeking help for mental health issues.
The free workshop on July 20 was the second in the “Diving into Diagnosis” series put on by the Greensboro Public Library in partnership with the Kellin Foundation.
For an hour and a half, Osborne, a Black woman herself, spoke about the mental health challenges specific to BIPOC individuals and resources for care.
She started with some reasons why people of color might be depressed, anxious, and/or traumatized.
“The first one is being strong. And so I know in some communities and cultures, being strong is everything and so for you to show weakness is a bad thing,” she said. “You get talked about. People call you crazy if you show emotions.”
When Osborne talked about the stereotype of the “strong Black woman,” the handful of attendees — mostly Black women — nodded and groaned knowingly.
“Doing everything on your own, not asking for help, that leads to burnout very, very quickly,” she said. “And that leads to an array of mental health issues.”
She also named family and social pressures, racism and discrimination, code-switching, and people-pleasing as other factors causing mental health issues.
“If you speak a certain language at home, but you don't speak it with other people, that can get really tiring and exhausting for you mentally,” Osborne said. “Also, for myself personally, being from the Black community, feeling like I have to show up a certain way in white spaces.”
With so many root causes of mental health issues related to race and culture, Osborne said it was crucial for therapists to demonstrate cultural competency with their clients.
She gave the example of a Black woman who was pulled over by the police for speeding. For that woman, it was a traumatic event. But she said a white therapist, or a therapist without cultural competency, might not understand why.
“If you don't understand the history, and the police brutality and the police violence, you're going to miss that and not understand how traumatic that is,” Osborne said.
That issue is just one example she gave as to why BIPOC representation in therapists is important.
Currently, that representation is lacking.
According to the American Psychological Association, in 2020 nearly 85% of psychologists in the country were white.
Osborne said that if people seeking therapy went online in search of a therapist, they were likely to find pages and pages of white therapists.
“There's nothing wrong with that, but if you scroll and you filter, I want a Mexican therapist or I want an Asian therapist, you're going to see maybe two pages of stuff, as opposed to white therapists, you're going to see 20,” she said.
Though Osborne started her own practice, Milk & Honey Therapy, she originally set out to be a school counselor.
She said she often saw one school counselor for hundreds of students and identified the need for more mental health support in schools as well as BIPOC representation.
“Even doing small things like having the posters you choose be BIPOC-represented or the books that you choose, or the activities that you create. … Those things can go a long way for a child just to be able to see those things on a daily basis to be like, okay, my culture matters, my representation matters,” Osborne said.
She also spoke about the need for teachers to have trauma-informed training. Her husband, also a therapist, worked a lot with younger children in the school system who were diagnosed with Oppositional Defiant Disorder.
“They're like, ‘Oh, that kid is bad. That kid has anger issues,’ but it's like, but why does he have these issues? Nobody's asking those questions,” Osborne said. “So people … misdiagnose them with ODD when in reality, it's PTSD, or it's trauma.”
Another issue Osborne said she’d seen with youth was resistance from the parents with regards to therapy.
She said she had a teen client whose parents stopped her therapy after a month because they didn’t agree with it.
For youth in similar situations, Osborne gave tips for self-help including getting enough sleep, eating three meals a day, staying hydrated, and cutting down on screen time. Some of her younger clients say they spend eight hours or more on their phones (especially on TikTok) a day.
Though she advocates for less time on the phone, Osborne said there were some valuable mental health resources available on the internet for people looking for self-help.
“YouTube has meditation, it has yoga, stretching. They also have just therapists who actually talk about psychoeducation and different things that you can do,” she said. “And so you can get a lot of information from there.”
She also recommended books like “The Unapologetic Guide to Black Mental Health,” podcasts like Therapy for Black Girls and Latinx Therapy, and meditation apps specifically designed for BIPOC individuals like the Shine App.
The library’s mental health series will continue on Aug. 31 from 12 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. with a workshop about managing stress and anxiety.
Amy Diaz covers education for WFDD in partnership with Report For America. You can follow her on Twitter at @amydiaze.
Story does not include AP content
mental health #education #greensboro #therapy
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Rev. Anthony Spearman speaks during a public meeting on redistricting held at Forsyth Technical Community College in September 2021. PAUL GARBER/WFDD
The Rev. T. Anthony Spearman, a civil rights advocate and former president of the North Carolina branch of the NAACP who also served as president of the N.C. Council of Churches, has been found dead, authorities said Wednesday.
Spearman, 71, was found in his home on Tuesday, the Guilford County Sheriff's Office said in a news release. The release indicated that either family or friends found him, but did not provide any further details.
The death was confirmed earlier in the day by Mark Cummings, a Greensboro attorney who said he was representing Spearman. Cummings declined to provide additional details about the death and did not say what he was representing Spearman for.
“In the mold of Dr. King, he truly was a drum major for justice,” Cummings said. “He saw the good in everybody in every situation, even those of his detractors, even those who would criticize him. He always found a way to see the best in them.”
Cummings said he would call on state officials to assist local law enforcement in an investigation.
Spearman's family issued a statement calling him “a man of strong conviction who loved his family with every ounce of his being.” A family member didn't respond on Wednesday to a request for additional comment.
Spearman was elected as North Carolina NAACP president in 2017 and served one four-year term.
Bishop William J. Barber, who preceded Spearman as the North Carolina NAACP president and who is now president of the national, not-for-profit organization Repairers of the Breach, said in a statement, “I have lost a true brother in the struggle.”
“We have lost a scholar, a preacher, a voting rights defender, an advocate for prison reform and for the wrongfully accused and a stalwart soldier in the cause of love and justice for all humankind,” Barber said. “This great man’s efforts and commitment should be cherished.”
Spearman was suspended from the NAACP by the organization's national leadership about five months ago, The News & Observer reported, quoting NAACP President and CEO Derrick Johnson as saying that Spearman repeatedly refused to turn over N.C. NAACP property — which included meeting minutes and financial records — after he lost his bid for reelection in 2021.
Spearman filed a lawsuit in June against several state and national NAACP officials, accusing them of defamation and conspiracy to remove him from the presidency, WRAL reported. He alleged that his support of a woman who said she was sexually harassed by a member of the state conference led to the effort to have him ousted and made him a target of retribution, the story said.
The man who was accused, the Rev. Curtis Gatewood, has in the past denied any kind of sexual assault or intentional sexual harassment, although he told The Associated Press in a 2019 statement that he didn't “deny the feelings of my accusers.”
In a Facebook post on Tuesday, Gatewood added, “I have no other comments regarding the specifics of the matter at the time and believe enough has been said, documented, and presented for God to allow even a blind man to ‘see’ if seeing is truly desired."
Gatewood said in a separate post on Tuesday that while he and Spearman disagreed on issues involving the state NAACP, “I loved the brother.”
“I wanted the news of his demise to be untrue,” Gatewood wrote. “I forgave him.”
Story is all AP content
rev. anthony spearman #naacp #nc council of churches #civil rights
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Journalist Nikole Hannah-Jones poses for a portrait at the headquarters of The Associated Press in New York, on Friday, Dec. 10, 2021. The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill announced Friday, July 15, 2022, that it has reached a settlement with Hannah-Jones, the journalist who ultimately shunned the school in an extended dispute over tenure and joined a historically Black university. (AP Photo/Robert Bumsted, File)
The flagship school of North Carolina's university system announced Friday that it has reached a settlement with the journalist who ultimately shunned the school in an extended dispute over tenure and joined a historically Black university.
David Boliek, chairman of the Board of Trustees at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, said the settlement with Nikole Hannah-Jones was for less than $75,000 and was approved by school Chancellor Kevin Guskiewicz, news outlets reported.
Attorneys representing Hannah-Jones, including the NAACP Legal Defense & Educational Fund, Inc., last year threatened to take legal action, including filing a federal discrimination lawsuit, against UNC-Chapel Hill and its board of trustees over the failure to give her tenure, news outlets reported at the time.
Boliek said the settlement reached by the university was to resolve that “potential legal action,” and that a formal lawsuit was never filed by Hannah-Jones’ attorneys.
Hannah-Jones couldn't immediately be reached for comment Friday.
The dispute over whether UNC grant Hannah-Jones a lifetime faculty appointment prompted weeks of outcry as numerous professors and alumni voiced their frustration, and Black students and faculty questioned during protests whether the predominantly white university values them.
Hannah-Jones — who won the Pulitzer Prize for her work on The New York Times Magazine’s 1619 Project focusing on America’s history of slavery — was hired as UNC’s Knight Chair in Race and Investigative Journalism at the Hussman School of Journalism and Media.
She noted that she hadn’t sought out the job and was recruited by UNC’s journalism dean before her tenure application stalled over objections by a powerful donor and concerns by conservatives about her work.
Hannah-Jones’ tenure application was submitted to UNC’s trustees in 2020, but it was halted after a board member who vets the appointments raised questions about her nonacademic background. Instead, she was initially given a five-year contract, despite the fact that her predecessors were granted tenure when appointed. After weeks of mounting pressure, the trustees finally voted to offer tenure.
While the trustees voted 9-4 to offer her tenure, Hannah-Jones said in an interview with The Associated Press that the unfairness of how she was treated as a Black woman steered her toward turning the offer down. She accepted a chaired professorship at Howard University, a historically Black school in Washington, D.C.
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nikole hannah-jones #unc-chapel hill #the 1619 project #tenure #journalism
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Henry Alberto Araya faced voter fraud charges and was instructed to plead guilty. Now Araya's life is on hold after unknowingly breaking the law. EILEEN RODRIGUEZ/WFDD
Voter fraud has been the rallying cry for Republicans who have been aiming for stricter voter ID laws. While voter fraud represents only a miniscule portion of ballots cast, the consequences can be severe, particularly if you’re not a citizen.
Henry Alberto Araya stands with his wife Maria in the common area of his apartment in Winston-Salem. They’ve lived in the United States for 10 years after leaving their home in Costa Rica. Araya says he’s always been involved in politics. So when he was approached by a volunteer in 2016 to register to vote, he was interested. He couldn’t speak much English but told them he wasn’t a citizen.
"They insisted and asked me if I had a Social Security card and a license, which I said 'yes' to since I do have a Social Security card and license from North Carolina," explained Araya. "After I said this they told me they could register me and fill my ballot themselves. And so I agreed."
Araya didn’t get the name of the person who filled his ballot and put his trust in the knowledge of the volunteer. He signed and dated the document. A few months later, while drinking coffee in a grocery store, a different volunteer approached him about voting.
"Some people around where I was drinking coffee asked me, in Spanish, if I voted. I said no. So they said, 'OK, let’s go vote, did you register?' and I said yes. When I got to the voting site, my name and license number were already on the system, so I assumed everything was OK. So I voted."
A year later, Araya received a call from the police that he was being charged for voter fraud.
Under immigration law, registering to vote or actually voting is considered a false claim to citizenship, which makes somebody permanently inadmissible to the United States.
"That was partly my mistake, but is also a system’s error," Araya says. "How are they registering people who are not allowed to vote? What I’m saying here is that there’s a problem with the system, a problem with the system and a problem with the ballot."
Immigration lawyer Helen Parsonage has taken several cases of voter fraud and says the law is “draconian,” since there’s no way to get out of it. She explains that it doesn't matter how long you've been here. Doesn't matter if you're married to a U.S. citizen. It doesn't matter how many U.S. citizen children you have. There is no waiver.
It wasn’t always this way. In 2020, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security updated its policy on voter fraud to add that even if done without intent, in most cases, there would be no exceptions.
"This was under the prior administration," explains Parsonage. "They decided that they were going to take away the innocent and unknowing defense and make it an absolute, an absolute bar. So when I say it's draconian, it is very severe, the consequences are astronomical and ruin people's lives."
The narrative that undocumented immigrants are the driving force behind voter fraud in the state, or country, has been pushed aggressively for many years. In fact, a 2016 post election audit report shows only .01 percent of voter fraud cases were found in nearly 4.8 million ballots cast in North Carolina, and only 41 are non-citizens.
Parsonage says that "out of maybe two, three dozen individuals who have found themselves in this situation — most of whom didn't actually vote, but registered — only one person has said, 'Yes, I knew I wasn't supposed to do this.' ...All the others voted or registered to vote based on being advised that they could by somebody that they thought knew what they were talking about, either a poll worker or a voter registration."
She assures that in terms of active voter fraud, non-citizen voting isn't it.
Araya’s wife, Maria Seas Mora says this time has been very difficult. They came to this country to work and sustain their family. And now they rely on her income alone. Her visa was sponsored through her job and was supposed to extend to her husband and children.
"One of our goals was to grow as a family, give our children a better education, to both our youngest kids, and to also give my husband the opportunity of U.S. documentation since he automatically gets that through the program," she says.
Araya is no longer eligible for the green card, he isn't able to work, and can’t renew his documents, which are soon set to expire. In the meantime, they wait, hopeful that immigration officials will open a case against them. It could be the last chance for them to fight the charge and stay where they are.
This story was produced by a partnership between WFDD and La Noticia. You can read this story in Spanish at La Noticia.
Eileen Rodriguez is a reporter for both WFDD and La Noticia through Report for America, where she covers COVID-19's impact in the Latino Communities.
Periodista de La Noticia y 88.5 WFDD, Eileen Rodríguez reporta el impacto de COVID-19 en la comunidad Latina en Carolina del Norte. Rodríguez es miembro del cuerpo de periodistas de Report for America 2021-2022
Story does not include AP content
voter fraud #non-citizen voting #immigration law #winston-salem
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Queen Malayia Chanel Iman after winning the first prize of Miss Gay Latina in Asheville, NC. Photo courtesy of Malayia Chanel Iman
Elio González organized Miss Gay Latina for the first time in 2008. He has a background in event planning but had never thought of creating a pageant.
“A friend told me there was a need for a LGBTQ pageant in Asheville since many people wanted to get recognized in the drag community and jumpstart their careers, and the only events for drag available were in clubs,” says González .
The first one was in a local church that sat only 200 people. By the end of the night, the church was full, and many were outside hoping to get in.
Today, Miss Gay Latina is hosted in an Asheville theater that holds approximately 500 people and is open to drag queens of all ethnicities.
Last year’s winner, Malayia Chanel Iman, has won 99 pageantries in his career as a female drag impersonator, and says that Miss Gay Latina Asheville has been one of his biggest wins so far.
As a Black drag queen, he has definitely struggled with acceptance and recognition.
“You do have to go a little bit above and beyond to get that respect that you deserve," Iman says. "There were many times where I would go do a pageant and actually, you know, everybody knew I would win and they would change the scores so that I would not win, and that happens a lot.”
But today, Iman is seen as a mother figure, a “humble queen” he calls it. He explains that although he’s not Latinx he has always been around brown communities, and works directly with Latinx queens. He is working to ensure the success of whom he calls his 20 “children” — drag queens that are fairly new in the community or that he’s taken under his wing as a mentor.
González says that the event is not only open for people from Asheville, and that many travel from other states to participate.
Chanel Iman himself is from Greensboro. He explains that what has kept the event alive in such a small town has been the interest and community support.
“You can see other pageants that they do in the state, most of them are always done in a club, we’ve had so much support that we can do it in a theater,” he says.
When asked if he has ever received pushback from the community, he explained that there’s never been complaints or protests.
The event happens every November and has several categories like folkloric outfits, five-minute talent show, and nightgown.
The competition’s jury are people who have worked in pageants before. The pageant also accepts queens that don’t speak Spanish, as the event provides them with a professional translator.
This story was produced by a partnership between WFDD and La Noticia. You can read this story in Spanish at La Noticia.
Eileen Rodriguez is a reporter for both WFDD and La Noticia through Report for America, where she covers COVID-19's impact in the Latino Communities.
Periodista de La Noticia y 88.5 WFDD, Eileen Rodríguez reporta el impacto de COVID-19 en la comunidad Latina en Carolina del Norte. Rodríguez es miembro del cuerpo de periodistas de Report for America 2021-2022
Story does not include AP content
asheville #drag queens #lgbtq #latino #miss gay latino
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A 1953 photo of North Carolina’s first integrated fire company in Winston-Salem. Photo courtesy of the City of Winston-Salem.
An initiative is underway in Winston-Salem to create a digital archive about African American heritage in the community through capturing oral histories.
Three years ago, Winston-Salem City Council approved a resolution that established the African American Heritage Initiative. The goal is to record and document lived experiences from the perspective of Black residents who lived and worked in the community, and collect information that highlights their contributions in the city’s history.
From churches and family reunions to theater and local businesses in Black neighborhoods, the city wants to preserve these memories through photos, documents, and other items that can be submitted electronically.
City Council Member Annette Scippio spearheaded the initiative and grew up in East Winston.
“We want to document that particularly the 50s, 60s, 70s, and then the period of desegregation and how that impacted our community," says Scippio. "We want people to talk about the neighborhoods that existed before urban renewal came in.”
Scippio says residents can upload materials on the city’s website. The African American Heritage Committee and city staff are also bringing scanners and video equipment to record oral histories at some local festivals and events this year.
This will take place on Saturday, June 18, from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. during the Juneteenth Festival at Bailey Park and Biotech Place in Innovation Quarter.
The city is partnering with DigitalNC for the archive. It’s unclear when that information will be available on the site.
Follow WFDD's Keri Brown on Twitter @kerib_news.
Story does not include AP content
city of winston-salem #african american heritage initiative #oral histories #black neighborhoods #segregation #desegregation #civil rights movement #digital archive #history
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Juniors in the Winston-Salem/Forsyth County school district participate in workshops prior to the Queen Juneteenth Scholarship Pageant. (Photo courtesy of Triad Cultural Arts, Inc.)
Triad Cultural Arts is hosting a Juneteenth cultural and theatrical pageant for high school girls in Forsyth County Friday, June 17.
Thirteen juniors will perform in the pageant in hopes of being named Queen Juneteenth and winning a four-year scholarship to a historically Black college or university.
Winston-Salem/Forsyth County School Board Member Shai Woodbury was involved in the creation of this program. She said she wanted to get more young people involved in Juneteenth activities, but also support high school girls as they prepare to attend an HBCU.
“We felt like it was very necessary for the contestant to be assured that we will support them in college, based on the HBCU legacy and what it brings to this nation as an option to be educated,” Woodbury said.
The scholarship will be funded through a partnership between the Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools and the United Negro College Fund. Woodbury said many of the girls have already expressed interest in attending an HBCU, like Howard University where Vice President Kamala Harris went to school.
To get the girls ready for that experience, Woodbury said the Queen Juneteenth program offered more than just the prize of financial support.
“Once the thirteen were identified, they were expected to participate in workshops,” she said. “And this is where they would, of course, get professional development and just kind of character development along the lines of preparing to go to college, specifically an HBCU.”
They participated in sessions about managing finances, leadership, etiquette, style, self-confidence, socio-emotional needs, and the history of Black women’s contributions in the area.
Throughout this process, the participants also received mentorship from 14 Black women serving on the "Queen’s Council." The council is made up of educators, philanthropists, business owners, elected officials and other women who are committed to serving their community.
Woodbury said she didn’t have access to many of the women she looked up to in the community as a high school student.
“It took me going to college, coming back, being a grown adult before I would meet them and be able to capitalize off their knowledge and expertise,” Woodbury said. “And so as juniors in high school, the girls are very grateful for the opportunity to be able to connect with us.”
In addition to the network with the Queen’s Council, she said the girls participating in the program have built strong friendships with each other.
“We have built a sisterhood of these young women,” Woodbury said. “I know every last one of them wants to be Queen Juneteenth, but whomever is chosen, I 100% guarantee there will be praise and love given to who is selected by the other contestants.”
The pageant will be held at Paisley IB Magnet School located at 1394 Thurmond St. at 7 p.m. on June 17. More information about the event can be found on the Triad Cultural Arts website.
Amy Diaz covers education for WFDD in partnership with Report For America. You can follow her on Twitter at @amydiaze.
Story does not include AP content
wsfcs #juneteenth #scholarship #hbcu #winston-salem/forysth county schools
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FILE - Bayard Rustin, deputy director of the planned march on Washington program, points to a map showing the line of march for the demonstration for civil rights during a news conference in New York on Aug. 24, 1963. (AP Photo, File)
Legendary civil rights leader Bayard Rustin and three other men who were sentenced to work on a chain gang in North Carolina after they launched the first of the “freedom rides” to challenge Jim Crow laws will have their sentences posthumously vacated Friday, more than seven decades later.
“While this judicial action is taking place 75 years after the injustice occurred, never should we falter in examining past wrongs, seeking reparation, and lifting those heavy burdens from our hearts and minds so that future generations may know justice,” Renée Price, chairman of the Orange County Board of Commissioners, said in a statement.
On April 9, 1947, a group of eight white men and eight Black men began the first “freedom ride” to challenge laws that mandated segregation on buses in defiance of the 1946 U.S. Supreme Court Morgan v. Virginia ruling declaring segregation on interstate travel unconstitutional.
The men boarded buses in Washington, D.C., setting out on a two-week route that included stops in Durham, Chapel Hill and Greensboro, North Carolina. As the riders attempted to board the bus in Chapel Hill, several of them were removed by force and attacked by a group of angry cab drivers. Four of the so-called Freedom Riders — Andrew Johnson, James Felmet, Bayard Rustin, and Igal Roodenko — were arrested and charged with disorderly conduct for refusing to move from the front of the bus.
After a trial in Orange County, the four men were convicted and sentenced to serve on a chain gang. Rustin later published writings about being imprisoned and subjected to hard labor for taking part in the first freedom ride, which was also known as the Journey of Reconciliation.
In 1942, five years before the Chapel Hill episode, Rustin was beaten by police officers in Nashville, Tennessee, and taken to jail after refusing to move to the back of a bus he had ridden from Louisville, Kentucky, author Raymond Arsenault wrote in the book “Freedom Riders: 1961 and the Struggle for Racial Justice.” A pioneer of the civil rights movement, Rustin was an adviser to the late Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and was instrumental in organizing the March on Washington in 1963.
Dr. Adriane Lentz-Smith, an associate professor and associate chair in the department of history at Duke University, described Rustin as “a shepherd and a shaper of the 1960s movement.” But Lentz-Smith said his role in the struggle eventually diminished over concerns that his being gay and a former member of the Communist party could hurt the movement.
“He was deliberately moved out of the spotlight,” Lentz-Smith said. “The very things that make him remarkable and admirable to us ... in 2022 made him profoundly vulnerable” then, she said.
Last month, five District Court judges marked the 75th anniversary of the arrests of Rustin and the three other men in Chapel Hill by reading a statement of apology.
“The Orange County Court was on the wrong side of the law in May 1947, and it was on the wrong side of history,” the statement read. “Today, we stand before our community on behalf of all five District Court Judges for Orange and Chatham Counties and accept the responsibility entrusted to us to do our part to eliminate racial disparities in our justice system.”
Story is all AP content
freedom riders #north carolina #bayard rustin
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A duplicate of the 13th Amendment appears on display at the North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources in Raleigh, N.C. (AP File Photo/Gerry Broome)
Juneteenth, now federally recognized, celebrates the emancipation of African Americans who were enslaved. But the history of this holiday is not as simple as commemorating one singular day in the 19th century.
On paper, Juneteenth marks June 19, 1865. This is the formal day that African American communities in Galveston, Texas, received official word from Major General Gordon Granger of their emancipation and the end of the Civil War.
Corey D.B. Walker, director of Wake Forest University's African American studies program, says that Juneteenth celebrates myriad emancipation moments.
Corey D.B. Walker, director of Wake Forest University's African American studies program. Image courtesy of Wake Forest University.
“This is a really, a complex phenomena that can’t just be reduced to a single day,” says Walker. “Instead, Juneteenth should be seen as a kaleidoscope of how freedom is delayed and denied throughout the Americas.”
Walker cites celebrations in 1808 after the U.S. effectively abolished the transatlantic slave trade, and the 1834 ending of slavery in the British West Indies as part of this tradition of celebrating freedom.
Juneteenth became federally recognized in 2021 when President Joe Biden signed the Juneteenth National Independence Day Act, making it the 11th federal holiday in the United States — and the first since Martin Luther King Jr. Day was established in 1983.
During a time of escalating racially motivated violence, emboldened white supremacist groups, and tragedies like the murder of George Floyd and the fatal shooting of Breonna Taylor, Walker says this designation amplifies the holiday and reminds us that there are issues that must be continually addressed.
“The ensconcing of Juneteenth as a federal holiday, it forces us to confront that tragic history in order that we may build a more democratic and more equal and more just America,” Walker says.
Across the nation, Juneteenth is celebrated with cultural fairs, arts performances, parades, and religious services.
Story does not include AP content
juneteeenth #holiday #african american history #slavery #emancipation
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Left: President Barack Obama awards civil rights activist Sylvia Mendez the 2010 Medal of Freedom during a ceremony in the East Room of the White House in Washington, Tuesday, Feb. 15, 2011. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak) Right: NASA mathematician Katherine Johnson is seen in 2014. (NASA via AP)
Guilford County Schools will name new schools in honor of a civil rights pioneer and a NASA mathematician.
On Tuesday, the Guilford County Schools Board of Education approved the name “Sylvia Mendez Newcomers School” for a future High Point school.
Mendez was a Hispanic-American who as a child was denied entry to a public school in California. Her parents filed a federal lawsuit which paved the way for the historic Brown v. Board of Education Supreme Court decision establishing that racial segregation in public schools is unconstitutional.
Mendez went on to a successful career in health care and was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Barack Obama.
Giselle Mansi is the Latino Family Center Director at the High Point YWCA and was among those advocating for the name change.
"Mendez’s life and mission was to spread a message of tolerance and opportunity to children of all backgrounds and all walks of life," Mansi told the board.
According to a news release, the future newcomers school in High Point will be the first in North Carolina named after a Latino individual.
The board also voted to name a new K-8 school after Katherine Johnson, one of several Black women who played crucial roles as NASA mathematicians. Their lives were chronicled in the book “Hidden Figures,” which was later made into a film.
Johnson’s youngest daughter, Katherine Moore, was among those who spoke before the board, referring to her mother as a “woman of distinction.”
Story does not include AP content
guilford county schools #high point #sylvia mendez #katherine johnson
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Photo courtesy of Adobe Stock/vesperstock
Two Latino candidates, one Democrat and one Republican, are running for a position on the Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools Board of Education, and they’re focusing on the same issue: how to lower the number of Latino school dropouts.
For the 2020-2021 school year, Latino students had the highest dropout rate in Forsyth County at 39 percent.
Jason Lucero and Jennifer Castillo are the only two Latino candidates, out of a pool of 11 candidates running for the board in District 02 for Forsyth County. For Winston Salem/Forsyth County Schools, nine members are elected from two districts in the county.
Lucero is running as a Republican. Originally from California, he now lives as a single parent with his daughter in Forsyth County.
"There's so many people that don't know how to get to the resources or don't have the tenacity to go keep digging until they get the answers they need," says Lucero. "I thought, if I'm dealing with that, how many others are as well? And so for me, I felt like I could be a voice for those people because I don’t give up."
Lucero says that his background in foster care and not having a traditional childhood really opened his eyes to the adversity in the school system. He was not adopted by a Latino family, but he grew up around the community, and as a Latino, he says he is definitely trying to reach out to this group.
"The biggest thing for me is going and knocking on doors. I've gone door to door just talking to people, just listening to what's going on," says Lucero.
Lucero has had some unwelcome attention surrounding his campaign after an article in the Winston-Salem Journal reported on a federal tax lien he owed of over $35,000 from 2017. Lucero says the issue has been resolved and says he wants to refocus the conversation on why he’s running.
He’s noticed that a prominent issue adding to Latino dropout rates is the lack of tutors for kids who need to master English. One of his priorities is to hire more bilingual teachers and personnel in schools. Dropout rates among Latino children are an issue that his opponent, Jennifer Castillo, says is one of her primary concerns as well.
Castillo was born and raised in North Carolina. She’s currently the only candidate running as a Democrat from District 2.
"I believe that we need some kind of Hispanic representation on the Board of Education," says Castillo. "Latinos are going to be the majority demographic group in the Forsyth County school system here in the next few years. And so I believe we need some kind of representation."
Castillo is heavily involved with the Latino community. She’s of Mexican descent and ever since she was a kid she has been involved in politics. Today, she’s the founder and executive director of the Jennifer E. Castillo Foundation, which offers support services for the Latin American community in Winston-Salem.
Castillo graduated from the University of North Carolina Greensboro, and as a kid attended Robert B. Glenn High School.
"I actually came out of Glenn High School. And Glenn High School covers a zip code, which is to 27107, that's got a really high Hispanic population," says Castillo.
Located in Kernersville, only 75 percent of students at Robert B. Glenn High School graduate in four years, and Latinos have the lowest graduation rate, only 66 percent.
"Yeah, so that's actually one of the primary focuses I have is addressing the high school dropout rate in Forsyth county among Hispanic students," says Castillo.
Both Lucero and Castillo agree that there has to be a way to help Latino students finish high school. They have different plans, but the end goal is the same.
Lucero is mainly focusing on lessening the English barrier in schools for bilingual children and earning the trust of the community.
Lucero says he thinks "spending some more time with tutoring and grants somehow to develop learning English better, that can be one source of things. I think another source is being engaged with them and understanding."
Castillo, on the other hand, is currently focusing on the support for staff, not only teachers, and the direct financial support that the school district can provide to the families and students who might be struggling.
"We could try to offer some more supportive type of financial assistance if we can't increase their pay," says Castillo. "I think that we definitely need to have some kind of fund developed so that we can also help people that are struggling to pay their bills, to pay their rent, and things like that."
Both candidates do agree that there needs to be more bilingual representation in Forsyth County schools and that having a member of the Latino community on the school board could create a bridge between the schools and the solution to the problem.
This story was produced by a partnership between WFDD and La Noticia. You can read this story in Spanish at La Noticia.
Eileen Rodriguez is a reporter for both WFDD and La Noticia through Report for America, where she covers COVID-19's impact in the Latino Communities.
Periodista de La Noticia y 88.1 WFDD, Eileen Rodríguez reporta el impacto de COVID-19 en la comunidad Latina en Carolina del Norte. Rodríguez es miembro del cuerpo de periodistas de Report for America 2021-2022
Story does not include AP content
school board of education #elections #district 02 #winston-salem/forsyth county schools #education
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A view of Salem circa 1865. Photo courtesy of Old Salem Museums & Gardens; Collection of Wachovia Historical Society.
Winston-Salem officials are preparing to unveil a historic marker commemorating the country’s first and only African American Moravian Church.
St. Philips Moravian Church was established in 1822 to serve enslaved people living in and around Salem, as the town was known at the time.
According to a news release, the congregation had been meeting at local farms before moving into the log church.
A marker commemorating the church will be unveiled at 3 p.m., Saturday, April 30.
Martha Hartley, director of Moravian Research at Old Salem Museums and Gardens, says the occasion is a necessary reminder that people of African descent have been part of the community’s history since the establishment of the Moravian settlement.
"We have to remember that our history is not always readily visible, and this unveiling is certainly a testament to that, because who would have known that this place in an urban area was once a farm in the early 1800s, and was one of the outlying farms where these early services were held for the enslaved population around Salem," says Hartley.
The gathering will be on the campus of Carolina University at the site where the congregation held its first service.
Story does not include AP content
old salem #salem #st. philips moravian church
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A monument to the A&T Four on the North Carolina A&T campus. Courtesy NC A&T
The Middle College at North Carolina A&T State University will change its name to honor four former students whose sit-in made civil rights history.
The Guilford County Board of Education has unanimously approved a measure renaming the school as “The A&T Four Middle College at North Carolina A&T State University.”
The name honors Ezell Blair, Jr., Franklin McCain, Joseph McNeil, and David Richmond, the A&T students who refused to give up their seats at the segregated Woolworth’s lunch counter in downtown Greensboro. Their 1960 sit-in helped spark the nationwide civil rights movement.
Following the vote at Tuesday night’s meeting, Middle College Principal Travis Seegars thanked the board for approving the name change.
"I was able to bring pretty much a lot of my community ... former parents, current parents, staff members are here tonight just super excited. Thank you so much. We are happy about this name change, just the fact that we now get to submit ourselves even more so in the legacy of the A&T Four," Seegars told the board.
The Middle College is an all-male high school located on the campus of N.C. A&T.
Story includes some AP content
nc a&t #north carolina a&t #a&t four #greensboro
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Director Miller Lucky, Jr. introduces the cast of "Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom." Image courtesy of David Hardy.
The Amplify Black Voices Festival of Greater Greensboro is a new month-long theater celebration that’s bringing seven area schools together.
The festival is being presented by the Greater Greensboro Theater Consortium, a new group spearheaded by Bennett College. Other area schools involved include Elon, High Point and North Carolina A&T State universities, Greensboro and Guilford colleges, and the University of North Carolina at Greensboro.
Bennett is hosting the first show, Mend A City: The Movement. It’s a poetry, dance, and music performance that chronicles the African American experience while confronting white supremacy and racism.
August Wilson’s play Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom will close the festival at NC A&T. Director Miller Lucky, Jr. is associate professor of theatre there. He says a great way to foster understanding is to investigate other cultures.
“Because once you experience some of the happenings in the African American community, it eliminates some of that fear, and that mystery,” he says. “Because then you hear the stories from our narrative, not a politician's narrative."
The festival — originally called Black Lives Matter Theater Festival — was awarded a $20,000 grant from the National Endowment for the Arts, a first for Bennett. Lucky says the name change occurred after deep reflection on the politicization of the phrase Black Lives Matter.
The Amplify Black Voices Festival of Greater Greensboro will feature four plays from April 8 – May 1.
Editor's note: This story has been updated with a list of all seven schools participating in the Greater Greensboro Theater Consortium.
Story does not include AP content
theater #bennett college #amplify black voices #racial equity #race #nc a&t #hpu #elon #plays #african american #black lives matter
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(AP Photo, File)
Wake Forest School of Medicine will receive a grant to study and develop non-pharmaceutical pain management interventions for the Latino community.
The app is called PainTRAINER and will include an eight-step pain management program. It’s basically an in-person therapy simulation for cancer survivors.
There is already an English version, but researchers say there is lack of support for the Latino community due to language barriers. North Carolina reported a 40% increase in drug overdose-related deaths in 2020 compared to the previous year and it is disproportionately impacting marginalized communities.
Wake Forest School of Medicine professor Megan Bennett Irby is working with local organizations to develop PainTRAINER fully in Spanish with a $580,000 grant from the National Institutes of Health.
"It started as this larger parent grant, and recognizing that we were unable to address really important concerns in our community because we were limited by language barriers," says Bennett Irby. "So we quickly put together this application working with community organizations — a lot of community groups — brought them to the table to find out if they would be supportive of developing a Spanish language program that is linguistically and culturally appropriate."
She says so far the team is working with organizations like the Hispanic League and similar groups.
It’s expected that the app will be fully developed in Spanish by the end of 2024.
This story was produced by a partnership between WFDD and La Noticia. You can read this story in Spanish at La Noticia.
Eileen Rodriguez is a reporter for both WFDD and La Noticia through Report for America, where she covers COVID-19's impact in the Latino Communities.
Periodista de La Noticia y 88.1 WFDD, Eileen Rodríguez reporta el impacto de COVID-19 en la comunidad Latina en Carolina del Norte. Rodríguez es miembro del cuerpo de periodistas de Report for America 2021-2022
href="https://www.reportforamerica.org/members/erlin-rodriguez/" target="_blank">Report for America 2021-2022
Story does not include AP content
wake forest school of medicine #chronic pain #latino
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Darryl Hunt. Image credit: Andrew Dye © 2014 Winston-Salem Journal
In 2003, journalist Phoebe Zerwick wrote an eight-part investigative series in The Winston-Salem Journal about the case of Darryl Hunt, a Black man who had been wrongfully convicted of murder and had served 19 years in prison. Many close to the case believe her work was crucial in his exoneration which occurred just months later. After years of pivotal advocacy upon his release, Hunt died by suicide in 2016.
Now, Zerwick has written a book about Darryl Hunt and his story — one that she hopes makes cultural conversations about systemic racism, justice, prison reform, and mercy more accessible. She spoke about Beyond Innocence: The Life Sentence of Darryl Hunt with WFDD's Bethany Chafin.
Interview Highlights On Zerwick's goal with this book as opposed to her 2003 reporting:
I wanted to write a story that went beyond the case, which had been pretty fully explored, and really understand the impact of the kind of injustice Darryl Hunt suffered, beginning with just the impact of the wrongful conviction itself — what that does to somebody psychologically, what that does to their sense of self and their being and their soul.
Author Phoebe Zerwick. Image credit: Christine Rucker, Image courtesy: Grove Atlantic
And then I wanted to understand what happened to him in prison, and the trauma of that experience. And also understand all the defeats that he faced in prison. Until he was exonerated in 2004, it was 19 years of defeat, and what that would have been like for him. And then I really mostly wanted the book to explore his life after prison and the difficulty of that experience. He accomplished a remarkable amount as an advocate, but he paid a high price for it. The burden of being a public figure like that was really difficult for him. And also, the advocacy work that he did was on the strength of his personal story. So, in effect, his job came to be retelling this traumatic experience that he went through.
On what we know today about how trauma can affect someone like Darryl Hunt who is wrongfully accused or convicted:
Yeah, so the book draws both on what he said about that experience, and what he wrote about that experience in letters to lawyers and other friends and also what he wrote about that experience while he was keeping journals. And then he did a kind of audio recording of his memoir for a time. So it draws on all of that. But the book also draws on the study of trauma. And what psychologists and scientists have found is that the effects of trauma live on in your body, so this kind of flight or fight response that we have, that builds up and gets stored in your body. And so that explains the kind of flashbacks that people have who've been through trauma or the anxiety attacks that people have or the panic attacks. And all levels of the experience Darryl had were traumatic.
On reforms that have resulted from Darryl Hunt's case:
Darryl Hunt left a remarkable legacy. So because of his advocacy, there have been changes in the way police departments conduct eyewitness photo lineups. And in the way many police departments interrogate suspects. There's also been changes in the way courts think about forensic evidence. And there are also a lot more prosecutors now who have been been to law schools where they teach about innocence cases. So there are more prosecutors who see their role as being something other than always just prosecuting whatever cases the police bring to them. So these are really important reforms that are aimed at preventing wrongful conviction.
One area that he was really passionate about, which people are just beginning to talk about in this country, is really how to reform our entire way, our entire carceral state essentially. So we have two million people locked up in this country, which is more than any other country in the world. And what Darryl Hunt recognized is, once you have a criminal record, and once you have been sentenced to a term in prison, it's really a life sentence. That's what the subtitle of the book comes from, that anybody with a criminal record is essentially carrying a life sentence, because that criminal record bars you from so many of the privileges that most of us share ... he really understood that it was overwhelming because it was almost impossible really to help somebody start their life anew which is what the expectation is — that you will go to prison, serve your sentence and come home and begin anew. And that's almost impossible for for many.
*This transcript has been lightly edited for clarity.
Story does not include AP content
darryl hunt #phoebe zerwick #wrongful conviction #winston-salem police department #prison #exoneration #innocence #beyond innocence
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Business card of Daniel Brooks. Photograph courtesy of High Point Historical Society.
Hundreds of citizens have signed a petition to keep the name Daniel Brooks attached to a new housing complex in High Point. The African American minister who saw High Point in its infancy was a pillar in the community.
He was memorialized by the creation of the Daniel Brooks Homes, a middle-class development built for Blacks in 1942. The aging buildings were recently demolished to make way for a new mixed-income housing development to be named Legacy Ridge.
Pastor Angela Roberson asked the High Point Housing Authority to retain Daniel Brooks’ name three years ago, after voters approved a $6.5-million bond for the new development. Questioning the lack of community involvement in this public/private partnership after years without response, she launched the “Daniel Brooks Keepers of the Name” petition.
“If I — little old me who’s not sitting on anybody’s board, not in any type of governmental agency — I can do a petition and get 390 people to say ‘Yes, keep the man’s name,’ how is it that you all just decide in a room that you’re going to change it to Legacy Ridge,” asks Roberson.
Roberson will speak before the city council at its next meeting.
*Editor's Note: A previously published version of this story indicated there would be 246 multifamily rental units in the redevelopment plan. Only 100 of those are slated for the Daniel Brooks site. The remaining 146 will be at a different location.
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daniel brooks #hpha #high point #high point city council #legacy ridge #apartments
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The Historic Magnolia House in Greensboro, North Carolina. Image courtesy: Historic Magnolia House
During the Jim Crow era, the Historic Magnolia House was a Green Book site and hosted Black writers, athletes, and musicians, from James Brown and Tina Turner to Jackie Robinson and James Baldwin. It's currently a living museum and recently reopened as a bed and breakfast. WFDD’s Bethany Chafin spoke with owner Natalie Pass-Miller about welcoming new patrons to this historic space.
Interview Highlights On Natalie Pass-Miller's family's relationship to the Magnolia House:
My dad and I, we both grew up in the same neighborhood as the Historic Magnolia House. And my dad, Samuel Pass, he was one of the knuckleheads that would be running up and down the street, you know, looking to see what that fancy car that's pulling up, or who's getting out of the car ... and I think it was Joe Tex he got an autograph on the front porch from. And so that's, you know, that's how he resonated with the house. That's how he experienced it as a young kid. And so growing up, when the house came up for sale, he jumped right at the opportunity to purchase it with the intent to be able to restore and preserve its history and what it represented. So it being a bed and breakfast has always been a part of the overall goal.
On historical documents or primary sources they consulted in their renovations:
So I would say it was a mix of some documentation research, we had a really good partnership with the North Carolina African American Heritage Commission. We worked with them to help in terms of identifying some information and background. Oral stories have been a big component for us. When we think about Black history, and uncovering of that history, documenting, it wasn't a big thing for us to do, historically. And so sometimes, having to rely on the oral histories, is quite critical. And we're finding that more and more today as we go through not just with Magnolia House, but in general, having to pull into that oral component because the documents are hard to come by.
On what a visitor today will see as compared to a visitor in the 50s and 60s:
Today, when they walk through the house as of December of this past 2021, they would actually be walking through a 100 percent replica of the functioning Green Book hotel, from the 50s and 60s, which is our overall goal when we think about creating that immersive learning experience. So walking through the same doors, you know, when James Baldwin and James Brown would come stay, we've opened up the guest rooms where they would say. So it is truly an authentic Green Book traveling experience all the way from dining to staying overnight. That's what they would experience today when they walk through the doors.
On other things happening at the Magnolia House:
We've reopened our Sunday brunches. So every Sunday between 11 and 3, we are super excited to open our doors to the community and they just come in and you know, they can spend the day with us and the house. And we miss that a lot. Because a lot of our brunchers had those oral stories and they were able to relive those moments and we could share that with them.
During COVID we also worked with the UNCG students around our STEM program and launched that with our virtual reality preservation technology and the programming with that. So there's going to be more work going on in that space in terms of telling these stories. So we've got quite a bit going on. But we're just really excited to be back in business, and we just ask the community to come on back and join us in this movement that we've got. It's just getting started.
*Editor's Note: This transcript has been lightly edited for clarity.
Story does not include AP content
the historic magnolia house #greensboro #green book #jim crow era #hotel #bed and breakfast #black history month
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Photograph courtesy of Winston Salem Transit Authority.
During segregation, bus routes in Winston-Salem that brought workers to the city’s major employers did not extend into Black neighborhoods. That often meant long walks to the main routes or trolley lines, until Safe Bus. The state’s first African American-owned transportation company was formed in the mid-1920s to service the East Winston community, and it continued operating until 1972 when it became part of the Winston Salem Transit Authority.
On a sunny day in downtown Winston-Salem, the morning rush at the city’s main bus terminal is over — passengers form short lines; drivers meander in and out with partially filled cabins; the rhythm of the place, like a slow shuffle. Winston-Salem Transit Authority Marketing Manager Tina Carson-Wilkins says there is a lot of history here at the Clark Campbell Transportation Center — beginning with the facility’s namesake.
“People put Mr. Campbell on a pedestal because he was literally someone that everybody knew who drove or worked in public transportation in Winston-Salem for 63 years,” says Carson-Wilkins.
WSTA GM Donna Woodson (left) and Marketing Manager Tina Carson-Wilkins stand in front of WSTA glass history wall. DAVID FORD/WFDD
Many of those years were spent behind the wheel of a Safe Bus. The Black-owned transportation company was formed in 1926 to serve the African American community, getting people to and from work, at a time when trolleys ruled the roads extending into white neighborhoods only.
“So, people in East Winston needed to either walk to where the trolleys were, get on the trolleys and go to the back of those vehicles, or they would have to get a ride to where they could pick up a trolley,” says Carson-Wilkins.
For years those rides were provided by jitneys — small buses and other passenger cars. Some two dozen independent jitney drivers fiercely competed for nickel fares in vehicles that were often dangerous to operate. Rivalries, altercations, and complaints to city hall officials eventually led to an ultimatum: work together or don’t work at all.
In April of 1926, 21 of them met, agreed to merge services, and form a company that would meet the needs of the underserved East Winston community. Safe Bus Company stocks were sold, $100,000 dollars was raised, fares were set at five cents a ride, and the service began one month later.
Ninety-seven-year-old Jamie Morrison was born and raised in Winston-Salem. She remembers those early years well. Her older siblings — like many African Americans in the community then — worked for R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company.
“A lot of people back then as I was growing up was walking,” says Morrison. “And then when the weather were bad, like during the wintertime and the cold weather and everything, they relied on the buses for transportation.”
Morrison says Safe Bus was embraced by the community for other reasons as well: the drivers were friendly, wore nice uniforms, and the riders knew one another. Another contributing factor rose to the top.
“We didn’t have to sit in the back of the bus riding Safe Bus because it was owned by Blacks,” she says.
By the time Rosa Parks helped ignite the Civil Rights Movement, Safe Bus had been in operation for nearly 30 years. Demand for the service was strong, the short-haul routes to densely populated East Winston — roughly 20% of the city — were highly profitable, and Safe Bus was hiring.
Priscilla Stephens (l) and Clark Campbell (far right). Courtesy Winston-Salem Transit Authority
At 21 years old, Priscilla Stephens became the company’s first female driver, instructed by none other than Clark Campbell himself.
“And he trained me one day, like on a Friday, and I had to go to the Department of Motor Vehicles,” says Stephens. “That Sunday I had a route of my own. I worked from 5:15 that morning to 11:40 that night — two shifts [laughs]!”
Stephens says she enjoyed the work, always loved to drive — 32 years accident-free — but she says being with Safe Bus was more than just a job.
Priscilla Stephens today at 77. DAVID FORD/WFDD
“You become family once you get to know everybody,” says Stephens. “So, I was with them in the morning when they’d get on the bus and go to work. In the afternoon they’d look for me when they got ready to go home. So, they got to the point where they would bring me gifts during Christmas and this kind of stuff. So, we got along just fine.”
Safe Bus continued to grow its fleet, acquired Camel City Cab, and the Black community took pride in the company’s success.
In 1968, after Winston-Salem’s contracted bus carrier left town, Safe Bus was told by the city to fill that void and provide transportation to all residents. This made it the largest African American-owned and operated transportation business in the country.
Its history is preserved at the Winston-Salem African American Archive — boxes and boxes of articles, documents, and photos dating back to the 19th century. Vice President Chenita Johnson was born and raised in this city. She says at that particular time in history there was not one other company like Safe Bus anywhere, and yet, she says, its history, like many other contributions made by the Black community here is rarely taught in schools and entirely under-represented.
“We have deep roots in Winston-Salem — African Americans have deep roots here,” says Johnson. “And it’s not just from the factories. It’s from the people who helped create these businesses. It’s people who helped create schools. So, to me it just feels as if they believe that there’s just nothing that we have that’s attached here. And because of that I think this archive is important.”
Safe Bus formed out of the practice of segregation, and eventually ended due to integration. Forced to cover the entire city — including non-productive routes — lack of equipment, competition from rising automobile ownership, and a majority population not as willing to ride Black-operated buses, meant the end of Safe Bus. In 1972 the city purchased the company’s assets, retained its staff, and it became — what it remains today, fifty years later — part of the Winston Salem Transit Authority.
Story does not include AP content
safe bus company #winston-salem #black-owned business #winston-salem african american archive #wsta #clark campbell transportation center
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Health officials say challenges related to taking time off of work might contribute to the spike in omicron cases in the Latino community. (AP File Photo/Ted Shaffrey)
Cases of COVID-19 in the Latino community in North Carolina skyrocketed in December, and only recently have declined. For hourly workers, taking time off means making really hard choices and financial strain.
Martina Espino Trejo has been working as a server in a coffee shop for five years. She got COVID in January and had to take some days off of work. Her first concern was how difficult it would be to take the time off and pay for living expenses.
"I got a fever and my throat was aching," explained Trejo. "I spoke to my boss in person and explained my situation and he gave me a letter saying that since I have the vaccine I could stay at home three to five days according to my symptoms."
Everyone in her house got sick, including her boyfriend with whom she splits expenses. Her boss told her he would check if she was eligible for paid sick leave, but then notified her that they couldn’t pay for those days. He told her the company decided they would no longer pay for COVID-related leave this year.
"Me and my boyfriend weren’t earning anything that week and my two sons were also staying at home because they have been exposed to the virus and we didn’t know if they had it or not. So that week we had no money influx."
Trejo decided to take the time off for her own safety and to avoid getting other people sick. But she knows of people and coworkers who can’t afford missing a week of work. Since their symptoms were mild, they decided to not say anything and go to work.
Cynthia Snider, an infectious disease doctor at Cone Health, says this might contribute to the huge spike in omicron cases in the community.
"Before the five days you can be pretty infectious to others, and the key things are again, masking, and can you do your work from home. You know, that’s optimal," says Snider. "Or being in a setting where you don’t have to interact with others. Working while being positive within those five days is still considered very high risk."
Many are struggling to battle the financial strain from taking time off while being sick, and this is a pattern that has been prevalent since the beginning of the pandemic.
Yazmin García Rico is the director of Hispanic/Latinx policy and strategy at the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services. She says that right now there are no resources to compensate people for missing work even if they want to get vaccinated. She's also not aware of agencies that have any support for people who have to take time off.
"We have a lot of guidance for employers where it's recommended to keep that in mind, right? If if they're able to support workers when they go and get vaccinated. But, there are no federal or state programs that I know to support with that," she says.
The job sectors with the highest concentration of Hispanic workers include farming, fishing and forestry, cleaning and maintenance, construction, and food preparation.
Winston-Salem State University Professor of Economics Craig Richardson says these industries have been heavily impacted by COVID. He says hourly workers are already at a disadvantage by not getting the paid time off that salaried workers do.
"Low-wage workers, a vast majority of them have less than $400 in the bank, according to a Federal Reserve study several years ago. And so you’re going to burn right through that emergency savings."
For workers like Trejo, she had to go back to work as soon as she could, only missing five days. She still hasn’t fully gotten her sense of smell back and gets migraines often.
She says it’s been hard, and her family is still recovering from missing that week of work.
But ultimately, her health was more important.
This story was produced by a partnership between WFDD and La Noticia. You can read this story in Spanish at La Noticia.
Eileen Rodriguez is a reporter for both WFDD and La Noticia through Report for America, where she covers COVID-19's impact in the Latino Communities.
Periodista de La Noticia y 88.1 WFDD, Eileen Rodríguez reporta el impacto de COVID-19 en la comunidad Latina en Carolina del Norte. Rodríguez es miembro del cuerpo de periodistas de Report for America 2021-2022
Story does not include AP content
omicron #covid19 #coronavirusnc #latino #labor #latinx #covid #sick leave
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This photo, taken around 1870, highlights a since-destroyed building that once housed enslaved people in Salem. As part of the Hidden Town Project, researchers have determined 35 separate dwelling places for enslaved people once existed in Salem. Photo courtesy of Old Salem Museums & Gardens.
Like thousands of North Carolinians, anti-racism educator Lucretia Berry took a field trip to Old Salem Museums & Gardens as a child. She learned about the Moravians, about how they were staunch pacifists and valued peace. But it wasn’t until well into her 30s that she learned that slavery was even a part of Old Salem’s story.
“I think it still didn't hit me that — wait a minute, the Moravians are celebrated. But they weren't supposed to enslave people," said Berry. "Like, that was a part of who they were.”
Her shock turned into amazement when she then learned that she was descended from enslaved people who lived and worked in Salem.
“You know, the next time I visited Old Salem I started touching the buildings in a different way," said Berry. "It gives me chills just to tell you the story.”
She says that experience of connecting with ancestral history is one that many Black children miss out on.
“Many Americans whose ancestors were enslaved don't have a connection to their history, or to their family. And so to then have such a concrete, documented, tangible connection still feels overwhelming."
Text panels telling the stories of enslaved people who lived and worked in Salem. APRIL LAISSLE/WFDD
It’s one reason Old Salem has moved in recent years to incorporate the stories of enslaved people into every part of the museum.
For example, when visitors enter the pottery studio — one of many living history exhibits at the museum— an interpreter explains they’re making clay pipes in homage to Peter Oliver, an enslaved person who worked in the shop.
Jacob Chilton is an Old Salem interpreter.
“Peter Oliver stands out among a lot of the enslaved individuals who are living here in Salem," says Chilton. "In part because his is a story where he's able to purchase this freedom within his lifetime, in part through selling pipe stems.”
Peter’s story is one element of the Hidden Town Project, the museum’s effort to showcase the contributions of enslaved people and freedmen.
Frank Vagnone, CEO of Old Salem, says the goal is to make sure visitors leave knowing a truth that had been overlooked for years:
“Moravians could not have done what they did without enslaved labor.”
He says for decades that aspect of the town’s history was either siloed or entirely absent. When the museum first opened in the early 1950s, the focus was on the white male Moravians who worked as tradesmen. Gradually, stories about white women were incorporated. But it wasn’t until the 1980s that the museum publicly turned its attention to the enslaved people and freedmen that lived and worked in the town.
That began with the restoration of St. Philips Moravian Church, a brick building built in 1861 that served people of African descent. The museum focused on using that space, and a replica of the original log church to tell the stories of enslaved people in Salem.
“But if you didn't go up Church Street, to the fringe of the district, you really didn't get that narrative," said Vagnone. "Because the story of the enslaved was placed in this church, which is on the fringe, it remained on the fringe.”
Vagnone says the first step in changing that was digging into new research. Eventually, archeologists and archivists discovered records confirming 35 separate dwelling places for enslaved people once existed in Salem, a kind of "hidden town" — hence the name.
Some of what they found countered a prevailing narrative that had been circulating — that the Moravians had been benevolent enslavers.
“We have writings of the Moravians that state, for instance, where a Moravian beat a runaway slave so badly that the Moravian had to go home and take a nap," said Vagnone. "I'm not making that up. It's in there.”
A centerpiece of the project was the text panels placed in each Old Salem building that explain how people of African descent were connected to it. Then, staff had to be trained to incorporate the new research into their historical interpretations for the public.
But not everyone was on board.
“There were people who didn't want to fully embed these narratives, because they felt uncomfortable talking about it, or considered it difficult history," said Vagnone. "And of course the response is, well, it's difficult for you, you know, but the Black population that's coming to visit us, they want to hear these stories.”
For Lucretia Berry, the long-standing omission of those stories has been frustrating. She says shortly after she learned about her connection to Old Salem, she came across an old PBS documentary about the town and started watching.
“And I kept waiting for them to talk about the free labor that they had," said Berry. "And they didn't, and I burst out crying. That was painful.”
She says the Hidden Town Project is one step in the right direction.
“I hate to say going above and beyond, because the standard is pretty low. So I will say, you know, setting a precedent, being a model, kind of leading the way for restoring stories, value, and dignity."
COVID-19 has stalled her plans to view the Hidden Town exhibitions in person; the museum closed for months and is now operating fewer buildings with a fraction of its staff.
But Berry says soon it will be her daughter’s turn to take a field trip to Old Salem, and she’s looking forward to being a chaperone.
Story does not include AP content
old salem museums & gardens #hidden town project #race #history
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The city of High Point is appointing a commission that will study potential slavery reparations for Black residents.
The City Council on Monday approved a resolution that establishes the “One High Point Commission.”
The 13-member committee will explore what some refer to as High Point’s historical support of slavery and complicity in racial discrimination.
Potential outcomes may include a formal apology and financial compensation.
The High Point Enterprise reports the resolution was requested by the High Point chapter of the NAACP and approved by a 5-4 vote.
Supporters say the resolution is non-committal, and that the commission will only be charged with making recommendations. Any further action would have to be approved by City Council.
Mayor Jay Wagner came down against the proposal, citing the need for additional public input and questioning the city’s legal authority in the matter.
The commission will have one year to study the issue and make its recommendations. All of its meetings will be open to the public.
Story does not include AP content
high point #high point city council #slavery #reparations #one high point commission
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Smoke billows from the Winston Weaver fertilizer plant. Screenshot courtesy of the City of Winston-Salem.
In the early hours of the Winston Weaver Fertilizer Plant fire, city officials began sending notifications to the public to evacuate a one-mile radius around the site, but little of that information was available in Spanish.
Just a little over 25 percent of the people in the area surrounding the Winston Weaver fertilizer plant are Hispanic residents. Vivian Perez Chandler is executive director of Asset Building Coalition of Forsyth County and found the lack of early information in Spanish alarming.
Perez Chandler immediately began to think about the community that lives within that one-mile radius. Perez Chandler explained her concern about the situation after "there was no information being shared in a language that they understood and spoke, knowing the gravity of a potential explosion."
She immediately contacted local Spanish-speaking organizations such as Mia magazine, Radio Onda de Amor, Qué Pasa, and Hola Carolina to get the message across. She also emailed the city and began to shadow as a volunteer reporter and interpreter. Perez Chandler says many in the community are worried about their health and there have been few recent updates. For now, Perez Chandler will continue translating items related to the fire, and the city plans to hire a bilingual contractor to translate information for future issues.
This story was produced by a partnership between WFDD and La Noticia. You can read this story in Spanish at La Noticia.
Eileen Rodriguez is a reporter for both WFDD and La Noticia through Report for America, where she covers COVID-19's impact in the Latino Communities.
Periodista de La Noticia y 88.1 WFDD, Eileen Rodríguez reporta el impacto de COVID-19 en la comunidad Latina en Carolina del Norte. Rodríguez es miembro del cuerpo de periodistas de Report for America 2021-2022
Story does not include AP content
winston weaver fertilizer plant fire
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ESTEBAN FELIX/AP
The number of COVID-19 cases in the Latino community spiked from about 3,000 cases in mid-December to over 21,000 in early January. Although the community is the state’s frontrunner in vaccination rates, they have the lowest percentage of people to have received the booster.
Director of Hispanic/Latinx Policy and Strategy at the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services, Yazmin García Rico, explains that most of the department’s efforts are going towards getting the Latinx community boosted. Just over 30 percent have gotten the booster.
"The best protection against COVID-19 and its variant is to get vaccinated and boosted so that is sort of the focus that we have right now," García Rico explained. "We have seen that the Hispanic population is not getting boosters at the same rate as their white counterparts."
One reason this group might have lower rates, García Rico says, is that many Latinos got vaccinated in the fall and must wait to get the booster. The latest data shows just over 8,000 cases of COVID-19 in the Hispanic community, with 56 percent of Latinos having been vaccinated with at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine.
Story does not include AP content
coronavirusnc #latino community #covid-19 vaccine #booster
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The Smith family in downtown Greensboro in 2015. From left to right: Marcus Smith, Mary Smith, George Smith, and Marcus’ brother Leonard Butler. Photo courtesy of Kim Smith.
The city of Greensboro has settled a wrongful death lawsuit brought by the family of Marcus Smith.
The city announced Tuesday it has settled the lawsuit for $2.57 million, with the money going to Smith’s parents and his children.
Smith was picked up by Greensboro police in September 2018. He later died after being immobilized by officers using a controversial restraining method similar to a hogtie. Activists have compared his death to the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis, and the case shone a spotlight on Greensboro police protocols.
Smith’s family filed a federal lawsuit against the city after an autopsy report determined the method of restraint was in part responsible for his death, which was labeled a homicide.
City Attorney Chuck Watts read a statement at this week’s City Council meeting saying that in addition to the financial payment, the settlement will also formally acknowledge the agreement with a commemorative plaque stating that "Marcus Deon Smith’s life mattered."
Most of the money will be paid by the city of Greensboro, with the remainder by Guilford County.
Watts said that because legal details have not been finalized, there will be no further immediate public comment.
Story does not include AP content
marcus smith #city of greensboro #greensboro
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Carolyn Q. Coleman. Photograph courtesy of Guilford County
Guilford County Commissioner Carolyn Coleman has died. The community leader and civil rights champion represented the Pleasant Garden community and eastern Greensboro for nearly two decades.
Coleman’s lifetime of activism and civic engagement traces back to Savannah, Georgia, where she was one of the first students arrested in the sit-in demonstrations there. She later received a Master of Science degree from North Carolina A&T University, served as a member of the NAACP’s national staff for more than 28 years, and was appointed Special Assistant to Governor Jim Hunt. In 2005 Coleman became Guilford County’s first Black Chairwoman.
Current Chairman Melvin “Skip” Alston, a close friend, says she championed the poor, organized food drives, fought for a livable wage, and never wavered in her advocacy for equity.
“Ms. Coleman was very astute. She was a hard fighter," he says. "And she was one of those that didn’t take ‘no’ for an answer. And she would fight for what she believed in, and always was true and honest to the efforts of bringing about civil rights and desegregation I would say.”
On Wednesday Alston received a phone call to join Coleman’s family at the hospital so that he could spend time with her during her last hours.
“I’ll miss her guidance and her advocacy for the poor," says Alston. "And her always thinking about civil rights and making sure that we address those issues head-on. She would do that.”
Last year, Coleman received the North Carolina Association of Black County Officials’ Frederick Douglass Award for her work throughout the pandemic. She was 79 years old.
Story does not include AP content
carolyn coleman #civil rights #guilford county commissioner #naacp #melvin #activist
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The Supreme Court on Monday agreed to review a challenge to the consideration of race in college admission decisions, often known as affirmative action. The justices are taking up a pair of lawsuits alleging that Harvard University and the University of North Carolina discriminate against Asian American applicants. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky, File)
The Supreme Court has agreed to review a challenge to the consideration of race in college admission decisions, often known as affirmative action. With three new conservative justices on the court since its last review, the practice may be facing its greatest threat yet.
The court said Monday it would consider a pair of lawsuits alleging that Harvard University and the University of North Carolina discriminate against Asian American applicants. The practice has been reviewed by the court several times over the past 40 years and has generally been upheld, but with limits.
A look at the case:
What are race-conscious admissions policies? When colleges sort through their applicants deciding which ones to admit, some consider race along with grades and a host of other factors like athletics and community service. Some schools have used the practice for decades as a way to address racial discrimination against Black students and others who were long excluded from America's colleges. Today, supporters say it's an important tool that helps bring a diverse mix of students to campus, while opponents say it amounts to its own form of discrimination.
Most colleges don't disclose whether they consider race, but the practice is believed to be limited to a small fraction of schools. Some estimates put it at a few hundred of the nation's 6,000 colleges, mostly at more selective colleges.
Most states allow affirmative action but nine have outlawed it, including California, Florida and, most recently, Idaho, which banned it in 2020.
What's the latest challenge? The Supreme Court is taking up two lawsuits filed by Students for Fair Admissions, a Virginia-based group that says race should play no part in the admission process. The group is led by Edward Blum, a legal strategist who has spent years working to rid racial considerations from college admissions.
In its lawsuits, the group argues that Harvard and UNC intentionally discriminate against Asian American applicants. Examining six years of data at Harvard, the group found that Asian American applicants had the strongest academics but were admitted at the lowest rates compared to students of other races.
It also found that Harvard's admissions officers gave Asian Americans lower scores on a subjective "personal" rating designed to measure attributes such as likeability and kindness.
A federal judge in 2019 upheld Harvard's admissions practices, saying it was "not perfect" but passed constitutional muster. The judge said race-conscious practices always penalize groups that don't get an advantage, but they're justified "by the compelling interest in diversity" on college campuses.
An appeals court upheld the ruling in 2020.
The group brought similar claims against UNC, saying its process disadvantages white and Asian American students. A federal judge sided with the university last year.
In its appeal to the Supreme Court, the group asked the panel to review both cases and also to overturn the court's 2003 decision in Grutter v. Bollinger, which upheld admissions policies at the University of Michigan's law school. That decision cleared colleges to consider race if it's done in a "narrowly tailored" way to serve a "compelling interest."
The group's appeal argued that the Grutter decision "endorsed racial objectives that are amorphous and unmeasurable and thus incapable of narrow tailoring."
What has the Supreme Court said about affirmative action? Race-conscious policies have gone before the Supreme Court several times dating to the 1970s and have generally been upheld, with some limits.
Racial quotas that reserve a certain number of seats for minority students have been deemed unconstitutional, but the court has said colleges can consider race as long as it's one of many factors in the decision.
Students' race can be used as a "plus factor" to give them an edge, but it can't be the defining factor, the court has said. Schools must be able to show they consider race in a "narrowly tailored" way, and that there is no race-neutral approach that would meet the same objective of increasing student diversity.
The court last examined affirmative action in 2016, when it upheld the admissions process at the University of Texas. That suit, also orchestrated by Blum, was filed by a white Texan who was denied admission to the university.
What are the politics? The Trump administration sided with Blum in the Harvard case, saying in 2018 that the school's process "may be infected with racial bias." The administration also rescinded an Obama-era policy encouraging schools to consider race, and it filed its own lawsuit accusing Yale University of discriminating against Asian American and white applicants.
The Biden administration later dropped the Yale lawsuit and supported Harvard against Blum, urging the Supreme Court not to take up the case.
Meanwhile, the court has shifted further to the right, with three new conservative justices appointed by Trump.
What is the possible impact? Affirmative action backers hope the court leaves things as they are, giving colleges flexibility to consider race within certain bounds. Opponents hope for a sweeping decision that would remove race from the admission process entirely.
Eliminating the practice would send shockwaves across American higher education and leave many schools scrambling to find other ways to promote diversity. Some colleges say that, without considering race, they would expect to see a decrease in their Black student populations.
Opponents say ending affirmative action would make the process fairer, and some say colleges could preserve racial diversity by giving an advantage to low-income students.
Between both extremes are a wide range of possible options. The court could add further restrictions on the practice, for example, or it could raise the standard of proof colleges must meet to show they're within constitutional bounds.
What are people saying? Blum welcomed the court's announcement, saying he hopes the justices will end racial considerations at all colleges. In a statement, he added that Harvard and UNC have "have racially gerrymandered their freshman classes in order to achieve prescribed racial quotas."
Harvard President Lawrence Bacow vowed to defend the school's use of race as one of many factors, saying it "produces a more diverse student body which strengthens the learning environment for all."
Several groups representing students of color denounced the court's decision to get involved. NAACP Legal and Educational Defense Fund director Sherrilyn Ifill said it "threatens the nation's ideals of equality."
In a statement, she said holistic, race-conscious admissions processes "mitigate systemic barriers to educational opportunities faced by many Black students and other students of color, ensuring that all hard-working and qualified applicants receive due consideration."
Some other groups applauded the news. Mike Zhao, president of the Asian American Coalition for Education, said Americans should have equal opportunity to achieve success "through hard work, determination and initiative."
"It's time for the U.S. Supreme Court to step up to protect our constitutional rights," he said in a statement.
Story is all AP content
supreme court #unc #race #lawsuits #college admission
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William Hill (left) and his mentor High Point Community Against Violence Executive Director Jim Summey at HPCAV headquarters on North Main Street. DAVID FORD/WDFDD
Many on the front lines working to address violence in our area say one path forward is listening to better understand how people find themselves in a cycle of crime. Today, we’ll hear from William Hill who was formerly incarcerated. Released from jail, struggling to find employment, he joined the High Point Community Against Violence job training program where he became a skilled carpenter and construction worker. In October, Hill received his commercial driver’s license. Today he’s fully employed as a certified truck driver. Hill says a decade ago his life looked very different. He shared his story with WFDD’s David Ford.
Interview Highlights: On crime’s early begins: “They’ve got to get it themselves.”
Ain’t nobody showing you nothing, so you’re left with what you got. And all you got is the guns and whatever that’s in the community from the people that was tired of suffering, so they went to go get something, so they done got arrested, and they’re off the street. But their weapons are still there. Their kids have their weapons. Ain’t nobody there now. Now these kids is growing up with nobody providing anything because nobody’s there and they getting it by theyselves. They’ve got to get it theyself. That’s why. Everybody wakes up with a chance and a choice. Everybody don’t get the same chance, and everybody don’t make the same choice and you just trying to make the best of your situation. So, I got this chance, I can take this. Or we’re going to be hungry the next two weeks.
On hopelessness: “People get tired of nothing from nothing.”
In a lot of communities, in a lot of places, a lot of people really don’t have opportunities to better themselves, to live comfortably, to have nice things. And so, for me, like, I ended up doing illegal stuff because I didn’t have any opportunities. I got tired of being the butt of people’s jokes. I got tired of people saying "No." I got tired of being laughed at. I got tired of every door closing. So, if I wanted to have a certain type of life, then I had to take it. No one was giving me anything, and that’s where the violence comes in at. People get tired of nothing from nothing. Ain’t nobody trying to get me no job. I have a record. No one’s hiring me. Places say they give equal opportunities. They’re not hiring me. They’re not giving me no job. I’ve got to eat. I need clothes. I need shelter. And if y’all want me to stop taking stuff, I need to have an opportunity. Because you’re tired. Everything is falling on deaf ears so now you’ve got to touch somebody, so they can feel you.
On High Point Community Against Violence: “I’ve learned that patience is a valuable tool.”
When I first started dealing with Community Against Violence I was more not sure what I was getting into. I wasn’t sure how I was going to make it, and it wasn’t easy, and it was scary. But I looked at it like "here’s an opportunity. They’re saying that they have some things that they’re offering. Let me see what it’s like." And as I began to grow and deal with Community Against Violence, they offered some pretty good skills and training, and I was able to take that and take it to the next level. You know, I’ve come to learn that patience is a valuable tool. You know you can use that, because when you’re doing this type of work, everything is a process ... And it feels pretty good to make progress and come a long way, you know. It was rough at first. Then I got the skills, and I was able to work and go out and do my own thing. But I’m a Christian and I really involve God with every step of the process, and I’ve been holding on. If you quit, you’ll never finish anything. And so, that’s been my drive.
EDITOR'S NOTE: This transcript was lightly edited for clarity.
Story does not include AP content
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Prisi Hernandez, left, and Laura Hernandez, both with the organization Siembra NC, help Nery Ocampo, 19, center, to register to vote, as Irvin Bahena, 10, stops to watch from his bicycle, in a largely Latino trailer community in Burlington, N.C. (AP file photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
A new report on 2010 to 2020 census data shows tremendous growth in North Carolina’s Latino population. Advocacy groups say this has implications for voting rights.
Over the past decade, North Carolina’s Latino population grew by nearly 40% — roughly five times that of its non-Latino population — to 1.1 million. More than half live in the state’s largest counties.
Among Carolina’s cities, Winston-Salem tops the list in terms of population share, where it’s grown to just over 17%, followed closely by Charlotte and Durham.
The report was released by the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials, a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that advocates for full Latino participation in the American political process. Researcher Dorian Caal says he hopes the newly proposed redistricting maps by the General Assembly comply with the Voting Rights Act of 1965 as well as state and federal constitutions.
“Ultimately, it’s really about ensuring that underrepresented groups have a fair opportunity to elect candidates who are responsive and accountable to their needs,” says Caal. “So, that’s really where our focus is in looking at this.”
In 2020, over one-third of North Carolina’s Latinos were under the age of 18. Caal says the continued growth among the younger demographic will soon be reflected in the electorate as they come of age and are able to cast a vote.
Story does not include AP content
latino #population #census #voting rights #north carolina
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Hundreds of people gathered Thursday night in front of Mount Tabor United Methodist Church in Winston-Salem on Thursday, September 2, 2021 to pray for peace and healing after a fatal shooting at a local high school. KERI BROWN/WFDD FILE
2021 was a year marked by violence in the Triad. Winston-Salem saw a 50% rise in homicides from the year before. It was a 35% jump in High Point. And while Greensboro saw some slight declines, it comes after a record number of homicides the previous year. Reducing violent crime is a top priority for law enforcement, policymakers, and community members, but it’s a daunting challenge that cuts across issues of poverty, guns, and race.
This week, we’ll look at the work going on behind the scenes to address this trend. WFDD’s David Ford spoke with Erica Payton Foh with the University of North Carolina - Greensboro who researches violent crime and its impact on communities.
Interview Highlights On the lesser-known consequences of violence:
If we're talking to maybe city officials, there's less opportunities for economic advancement. If my city is considered to be violent, how does that impact folks willing to move here or our job opportunities, future companies coming to a community if it's riddled with violent crime? And then also you have to think about the individual. Something that I don't think we always think about or is at the forefront is that there's the injury, and there's the death that's right out in front of you. But there's these long-lasting consequences of having experienced a loved one die from violence that stays with us for a very long time. How do we promote healing for individuals that have been victims of violence?
On the frequency of violent attacks and healing:
If you have throughout your childhood and adulthood, these different occurrences of losing a loved one to violence or yourself being a victim of violence, that accumulates. And so again, if we're not addressing the mental health of an individual that lives in that environment, or has experienced that, then we have these other consequences that we may not outwardly connect to, this person is dealing with trauma — or actually — this person is not dealing with trauma. And so, the outcomes are these negative behaviors. And we're talking about youth that might be not going to school. And they're not going to school, so that means that they might be doing other things that they shouldn't be doing. Coping mechanisms — there's good coping mechanisms, there's bad coping mechanisms. A good one: practicing resiliency skills, grounding techniques, meditation, having positive peer to peer relationships, or adult mentorship. Negative coping mechanisms, you know, smoking, drinking, not knowing how to properly engage in a conversation without it escalating and being something that's a violent incident. That's the aftermath of not dealing with trauma adequately from being exposed to violence or being a victim of violence.
On what good violence prevention strategies look like:
I fully believe in a comprehensive approach to addressing violence. And this public health approach is comprehensive. And it starts off defining and monitoring the problem. So, that’s talking to people, being aware of what's happening in your community, but also being aware of the statistics. So, what are the statistical trends? Is violence really that big of an issue now? Has it grown? Is it less of an issue? So, having those statistics and being aware of what's happening in your community. You also want to hear the stories of individuals that may have been impacted in violence, because those voices, in my opinion, should be elevated and also add to and provide a little bit of context around those statistics.
Then the second step is really thinking about what are some of those risk factors that may contribute to those statistics and those stories that we're hearing from the community. They're not just at the individual level. I think sometimes we stop right there as to why someone chooses to become a gang member, or why someone is always aggressive and angry, right, we focus on the individual level. But there are community level factors. There's things that happen in the home, there's also the societal issues that contribute to violence. Individual level? You know, not having a parent in the home all the time, so that not having a lot of supervision, that's a risk factor for youth violence. Not having a lot of — you know, people keep an eye on you — not having positive mentorship. But also there's community level factors. So limited resources or access to those resources. And then there are societal issues. So, the question though, is how do these systems work together? Or how do they not work together to collectively address this issue comprehensively? So, a preventative approach to violence should include public health, but it should include social work, law enforcement, criminal justice, school systems, we all have to come together to address this issue because the issue is multifaceted and is also very complex.
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gun violence #homicides #mental health #coping skills #guns #death #public health
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Winston-Salem State University is one of three HBCUs receiving funding from HanesBrands. (AP Photo/Skip Foreman)
HanesBrands is making a $2 million investment in historically black colleges and universities. The money is going to three schools — two that are right here in the Triad.
North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University and Winston-Salem State University are the local recipients, with the third being Pensole Lewis College of Business & Design in Detroit, Michigan.
The money will be used for research and student financial support — particularly in the areas of sustainability, fashion design and supply chain management.
The partnership also extends to scholarships, internships, mentorships and research grants.
According to a press release, HanesBrands’ goal is to support at least ten million people by 2030. The company says it will do this via diversity initiatives, health and wellness programs, workplace improvements and community-focused philanthropic efforts.
Chancellor Elwood L. Robinson of Winston-Salem State University says the real-world industry experience and network building that results from this investment will be valuable as WSSU students prepare for their careers.
Story does not include AP content
hbcu #hanesbrands #wssu #nc a&t #investment #students #triad
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