Greensboro / Winston-Salem / High Point January 17-23, 2019 triad-city-beat.com
GREENSBORO EDITION
FREE
Strange alliances at
Winner, winner PAGE 16
ICE burns PAGE 10
#TravelingWhileBlack PAGE 17
January 17-23, 2019
EDITOR’S NOTEBOOK
Notes from the [former] head paperboy As I’ve alluded to in this space before, we’ve been making some changes at Triad City Beat — the good kind — in preparation for by Brian Clarey our 5th anniversary at the end of February, and the party to follow in March. We’re printing on a better grade of newsprint so the photos pop; we started making separate editions for Greensboro and Winston-Salem a few months back. We’ve moved around some personnel, too, particularly in the distribution department, which is something we just created. After five years, Jordan Green and my father are no longer delivering papers, ceding the responsibility to our new distribution manager and his team. But I’m keeping my route. I haven’t missed a week since we started in February 2014 — a route that once stretched from the northernmost reaches of Battleground Avenue, through downtown and the universities then into the northeast corner of town. It used to take me all day. Now, my whittled-down route centers
on downtown Greensboro, where you can find me every Thursday morning just after sunrise, hustling through traffic with armloads of City Beat and plastic, yellow strips dangling from my pockets. It only takes me two or three hours these days, and it’s become my favorite part of the week. I’ve had business coaches tell me that this is not the best use of my time. Some days, they’re right. But I pick up a lot of intel on the streets of downtown Greensboro every week, not just how many papers we’re moving and where. I drive around in circles while the city sleeps, giving the two-finger wave to cops, baristas, municipal workers, homeless folks and fellow delivery drivers, Greensboro’s nervous system, the actual grapevine. More than that, putting the newspaper on the street is the whole point of the thing. Distribution is the most essential of the three legs that hold the newspaper aloft — the other two being advertising/revenue, also essential, and content, which, ultimately, is not. There are a few free papers on the street with no content at all. But no matter how good the content is, nobody can pick up the paper if it doesn’t make it to the street.
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
Everything was the worst experience of our lives.
— Aura, pg. 9
BUSINESS PUBLISHER/EXECUTIVE EDITOR Brian Clarey brian@triad-city-beat.com
PUBLISHER EMERITUS Allen Broach allen@triad-city-beat.com
EDITORIAL SENIOR EDITOR Jordan Green jordan@triad-city-beat.com
SALES
KEY ACCOUNTS Gayla Price gayla@triad-city-beat.com
ASSOCIATE EDITOR Sayaka Matsuoka
SALES Johnathan Enoch
STAFF WRITER Lauren Barber
CONTRIBUTORS
sayaka@triad-city-beat.com lauren@triad-city-beat.com
2
1451 S. Elm-Eugene St. Box 24, Greensboro, NC 27406 Office: 336-256-9320 Greensboro Cover: Cosplayers at EDITORIAL INTERN Savi Ettinger Greensboro Comicon. Photo by calendar@triad-city-beat.com Carolyn de Berry ART Photo Illustration by Robert ART DIRECTOR Robert Paquette Paquette robert@triad-city-beat.com
johnathan@triad-city-beat.com Carolyn de Berry, Matt Jones
TCB IN A FLASH @ triad-city-beat.com First copy is free, all additional copies are $1. ©2018 Beat Media Inc.
Winston-Salem Cover: Earl’s in WInston-Salem. Photo by Sayaka Matsuoka
January 17-23, 2019
3
January 17-23, 2019
CITY LIFE Jan. 17-23, 2019 by Savi Ettinger
THURSDAY
Up Front
Ricardo Dominguez @ Weatherspoon Art Museum (GSO), 5:30 p.m.
Beth Macy @ Footnote Coffee & Cocktails (W-S), 7 p.m. Bookmarks and Kilpatrick Townsend hold a reading from Beth Macy, author of Dopesick: Dealers, Doctors, and the Drug Company That Addicted America. The free event will double as a discussion, on topics of the opioid epidemic that the book examines. Learn more on Facebook.
Opinion
News
Starbright @ Greensboro Cultural Center, 8 p.m.
Ricardo Dominguez, co-founder of Electronic Disturbance Theater (EDT), speaks at the Weatherspoon as part of the Falk Visiting Artists program. Dominguez’s recent work with EDT provides both poetry and GPS to immigrants. Find out more at weatherspoon.uncg.edu. The Same Leaving @ SECCA (W-S), 6 p.m.
The weekend run of the 2019 New Play Project winner, Starbright by Sean David Robinson, starts off the Greensboro Fringe Festival. The play follows an astronomer dealing with the death of her daughter. Find performances and more details on Facebook.
FRIDAY
Culture
Inspired by Nature @ Artworks Gallery (W-S), 5 p.m.
Shot in the Triad
This art show highlights local artists with landscapes, scenery or other works revolving around nature. Proceeds go towards programs from the Gateway Nature Preserve. Find the event on Facebook.
Puzzles
Bobaflex @ the Blind Tiger (GSO), 9 p.m.
4
Christine Kirouac visits the Potter Gallery during the opening reception for this exhibition, featuring a trifecta of projects. Graphite pieces and an audio/video installation mingle with one another as parts of The Same Leaving. Learn more at secca.org.
A series of sets from bands Bobaflex, Prowess and Stellar Circuits packs this night of rock-and-roll at the Blind Tiger. Scars Remain and Norm complete the line-up. Learn more on Facebook.
January 17-23, 2019
SATURDAY
The Tall Blond Man with One Black Shoe @ a/peture cinema (W-S), 9:30 a.m.
Nu-Blu and Sideline @ the Carolina Theatre (GSO), 7 p.m. These two award-winning bluegrass groups come together for a concert in Carolina Theatre’s space, the Crown. The duo of NC- based bands shows off soulful string playing. Find out more on Facebook.
Seraph Brass @ UNCSA (W-S), 3 p.m. This ensemble of female brass players offers UNCSA’s Watson Hall a concert. The show features both popular classics and original pieces, displaying the talent that won their debut album, Asteria, a Silver Medal Global Music Award. Find out more at uncsa.edu.
‘Koresh Dance: Inner Sun’ & Other Works @ High Point Theatre, 8 p.m.
J. Timber and Joel Henry @ Little Brother Brewing (GSO), 7 p.m.
This Philadelphia-based group founded by Ronen Koresh takes the stage at the High Point Theater. The display of technical skill showcases unexpected original choreography such as Inner Sun. Buy tickets and learn more at highpointtheatre.com.
This eclectic performance combines the pop-rock style of J. Timber with the country rock of Joel Henry. Both of the locally-based bands bring energy with their skillful vocals. Find the event on Facebook.
Community Arts Day @ Centennial Station Arts Center (HP), 2 p.m. The annual showcase of local arts returns, hosted by the High Point Arts Council. Performances fill the day, ranging from a blackout poetry gallery to a medley of Shakespearean scenes. Find out more on Facebook.
Culture
Dog people and beer lovers meet for the opening weekend of the Barking Deck. The indoor dog park doubles as a pub, complete with beer, wine and cider. Find details and learn more on Facebook.
Opinion
Grand opening @ the Barking Deck (GSO), 1 p.m.
News
SUNDAY
Up Front
This film screening kicks off a series of events about comedy in French cinema. The 1972 film lays out a humorous tale about a violinist mistaken for a spy by the leader of the French secret service, and was later remade for American audiences starring Tom Hanks. Find the event on Facebook.
The Freeway Revival @ Wise Man Brewing (W-S), 6 p.m. The Freeway Revival centers their vocal and guitar harmonies during this performance at Wise Man Brewing. The band takes influence from rock-and-roll, folk and psychedelic music and adds saxophone and piano to the mix. Find the event on Facebook.
Shot in the Triad Puzzles
5
January 17-23, 2019 Up Front News Opinion Culture Shot in the Triad Puzzles
6
Steve King treatment for all of them by Brian Clarey The House is a-rocking — the US House, that is — after Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa) used his own petard to hoist himself out of key appointments on the judicial, agriculture and small business committees. What he said: “White nationalist, white supremacist, Western civilization — how did that language become offensive?” It came about during an interview with a New York Times reporter, when discussing immigration. And it surprised exactly no one who knows the rest of King’s catalog of hits, all issued from the reddest district in Iowa: demagoguery of Muslims, a lawsuit against the secretary of state for posting voting instruction in Spanish, a bill requiring public schools to teach Christianity, this weird crack about immigrants who have “calves the size of cantaloupes” from muling marijuana across the border, selfies with extreme far-right leaders and ideologues and retweets for neoNazi and white-supremacist groups. And it’s not just Nancy Pelosi. Even other Republicans are distancing themselves from this former rising star of the party, if not outright condemning him. A lot can happen between
now and his re-election bid in 2020, but from here it looks like he’s an early-onset lame duck with no chance of keeping his seat. The message is clear: Not even the most rabid Republican from the reddest spot in the reddest state can get away with a fullon embrace of white supremacy. So where does that leave us in North Carolina, where white-supremacist policies — some legacies of our shameful past and others, like racial gerrymanders and laws against monument removal, installed by the Republican-controlled General Assembly in the years since 2010? This should put Phil Berger, architect of the black-voter disenfranchisement, state Rep. Dan Bishop, who was revealed to be an investor in the overtly racist social media network Gab, and others of their ilk on notice. If, that is, we can be at least as progressive as the state of Iowa, and the Republicans in Congress.
Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa) just couldn’t keep his mouth shut. COURTESY PHOTO Local white supremacists take note.
GINA
THE MANHATTAN T Raleigh Ringers Jan. 19th, 2019
L
RYTHM OF THE DANCE
News
HAL
THE QUEEN’S Give the Gift of Entertainment! Show Tickets & Gift Certificates Available. CARTOONISTS
Opinion
MARSALIS QUARTET
FOR TICKETS, call 336-887-3001 2018 & 2019 or visit HighPointTheatre.com
Show | 8:00pm / Doors |7:00pm
Founded in 1991 by Israeli-born choreographer and artistic director Ronen (Roni) Koresh, this Philadelphia-based dance company has developed a vast repertoire of work that ranges from explosive and passionate to intimate and restrained. Engaging technically superb dancers, Koresh Dance Company’s original dance pieces EN break through the boundaries of traditional EDchoreograRAexperience. EN A B phy, offering each audience an exciting R LIND BA
BRANFORD PASSPORT To Entertainment
THE HIGHPOINT BALLET veters o L et
Up Front
Acts and dates are subject to change. For tickets and updates, go to HighPointTheatre.com or call (336) 887-3001.
Culture Shot in the Triad Puzzles
In many ways, Jan. 3 was just another Thursday. The weather was unseasonably warm with a light drizzle in the air. The line at Biscuitville spilled out on Battleground Avenue and for students it was the first day back after Christmas break. As they walked begrudgingly back to their classrooms at Grimsley High School, however, one thing was noticeably different. One by one, city workers carefully replaced the street signs that read “Aycock Street,” named after Charles Brantley Aycock, to Josephine Boyd SAYAKA Greensboro’s newest Street, after civil rights figure Josephine MATSUOKA street. Boyd Bradley, that ran parallel to the school’s campus. Just two weeks before the National Guard escorted the Little Rock Nine through the doors of their Arkansas high school in September 1957, Bradley became the first black student to integrate a North Carolina high school by transferring to Grimsley from Dudley High School for her senior year. Greensboro Senior High School, as Grimsley was named back then, was closer to her home. Three years after the passage of the landmark Brown v. Board of Education Supreme Court ruling, which desegregated schools, Bradley became the only black student at Greensboro Senior High School; one in a school of almost 2,000. Throughout the year, Bradley was taunted and terrorized by students who spit insults as well as other things at her and made death threats, according to news reports. Many believe she was the first black student in the state to graduate from an all-white high school. And she did so in the top 10 percent of her class. After graduating, Bradley earned multiple degrees, including a doctorate in African-American studies from Emory University. She went on to teach AfricanAmerican history at Clark Atlanta University. She passed away in 2005 at the age of 75. Josephine Boyd Street, which took over a part of Westover Terrace and all of Aycock Street, now runs from West Wendover Avenue, just past Grimsley, to Florida Street. The street replaced Aycock Street, named after the state’s 50th governor, a vehement white supremacist who actively worked to disenfranchise black Americans during his lifetime. In a 1904 address given before the Democratic State Convention in Greensboro, Aycock said, “Let us cast away all fear of rivalry with the negro, all apprehension that he shall ever overtake us in the race of life. We are the thoroughbreds and should have no fear of winning the race against a commoner stock. An effort to reduce their public schools would send thousands more of them away from us.” We’ve kept this man’s legacy alive for all these years, affixing his name to streets, an auditorium on UNCG’s campus, an entire neighborhood and even a middle school until both were changed last year. Knowing the man’s ideology and active role in crafting lasting legislation that kept black students from attending the same schools, drinking out of the same water fountains and stripped voting rights, we have to ask: How could we have let this happen? A century later, the effects of Aycock’s racism live on through our criminal justice system, the gerrymandering of our voting maps and the way black students continue to be treated in schools. And yet, we mostly ignore how slaves built some of our highest and most “prestigious” academic institutions but weren’t allowed to enroll in them. We don’t talk about the re-segregation of schools going on in our communities or the school-to-prison pipeline that disproportionately affects black and brown students. Renaming a street sign is just the first step. Honoring those who actively work to dismantle decades and centuries of racism, people like Bradley, is not only the right thing to do — at this point, it’s absolutely necessary. And we’ve still got work to do.
January 17-23, 2019
Josephine Boyd Street by Sayaka Matsuoka
The
nts� a new exciting season! High Point Theatre PreseSAUCE KORESH DANCE ENSEMBLE BOSS INNER SUN & OTHER WORKS
7
January 17-23, 2019 Up Front News Opinion Culture Shot in the Triad Puzzles
8
NEWS
‘That statue is coming down’ — a Confederate monument’s retreat by Jordan Green Antiracist coalition outnumbers neo-Confederate supporters of statue, including a retired Ku Klux Klan leader, in Winston-Salem on Sunday. “We didn’t brave the elements of rain and ice and cold to debate with anyone,” Miranda Jones said, addressing a multiracial crowd gathered along West Fourth Street in downtown Winston-Salem to support removal of the Confederate monument on Sunday. “We came on the side of right to demand that this Confederate statue come down,” Jones said. “We came to demand that the toppling of this statue will also be the toppling of the systems that crush black people.” Across the street, a white group, almost exclusively men, responded by raising their voices to sing “Dixie.” Jones has been calling for the removal of the Confederate monument on the grounds of the Old Forsyth Courthouse since August 2017. In the wake of the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, which resulted in the murder of an antiracist protester, Jones held a small protest at the Winston-Salem monument with a colleague and spoke to city council. The reaction from monument supporters was swift: Her school received a letter stating, “Keep your Democratic hands off our statue, you piece of s***. The statue’s not the reason the schools are failing.” And one commenter said on the WinstonSalem Journal website that Jones needed to “be gutted like a fish.” Upon learning that a neo-Confederate group planned to rally in support on the monument, Jones organized a counter-demonstration, Get Hate Out of Winston-Salem. Democratic Socialists of America, the International Socialist Organization, Revolutionary Action
Movement, Young Democrats of Forsyth County and Fearless Winston-Salem co-hosted the event, which also drew allies from Greensboro and Orange County. Jones and other speakers said antiracists shouldn’t feel like they have to choose between struggling against symbols of the Confederacy and against current manifestations of white supremacy. “It’s tied to a system of white supremacy,” Jones said. “It’s tied to the disparity in wealth and health. This is the beginning of a fight. This is not the end. We don’t want the most marginalized and oppressed people in our society to have to see that statue, and we don’t want the most marginalized and oppressed people in our society to be affected by the systems Antiracists gathered on West Fourth Street in downtown Winston-Salem on Sunday to JORDAN GREEN that put this statue in support removal of the Confederate monument. place.” street in Winston-Salem taunted Rush“I’m here for my heritage,” she said. Across the street, ton about her plans to attend a neo-Nazi “It has nothing to do with hate. I don’t Nancy Rushton, a neo-Confederate and Ku Klux Klan-affiliated rally at think I’m better than anyone. I have activist from South Carolina, mingled Stone Mountain in Georgia next month. ancestors that are Confederate veterans. with members of the Sons of ConfederAccording to the Southern Poverty Law I’m here to honor them. They’re Conate Veterans. Rushton was one of the Center, the Stone Mountain Memorial federate heroes.” organizers of an Heirs to the ConfedAssociation denied a permit to the rally One of those standing with the neoeracy Monument Support Rally. The based on the organizers’ involvement Confederates in Winston-Salem on Facebook event for the rally had called with a previous event co-organized by Sunday was Gorrell Pierce, the former on supporters to appear at the location the neo-Nazi National Socialist Moveleader of the Federated Knights of the of the toppled Silent Sam monument ment, Aryan Nations, Aryan Terror Ku Klux Klan. Pierce’s Klan faction at UNC-Chapel Hill throughout the Brigade and the North Carolina-based clashed with communist antiracists in morning, and then travel to WinstonLoyal White Knights of the Ku Klux the late 1970s. He said they screened Salem to lay flowers at the base of the Klan. The Facebook page for the event Birth of a Nation at the Benton ConvenConfederate monument here at 2 p.m. makes no attempt to hide its ideology, tion Center in Winston-Salem in 1978. Instead, Rushton said she decided to with explicit appeals to white supremacy And in February 1979, the Federated skip Chapel Hill, and come directly to and posts celebrating the late neo-Nazi Knights organized a Klan memorabilia Winston-Salem to stand with the Sons activist Gary Yarborough and the British exhibit at the Forsyth County Library of Confederate Veterans. In Chapel neo-Nazi band Screwdriver.Rushton rethat was disrupted by the Revolutionary Hill, about 35 antiracists gathered in the sponded to a question about her plans to Communist Party. In July 1979, Pierce’s bitter cold to oppose the non-existent attend the event by saying, “I don’t agree group clashed with the Worker Viewneo-Confederate rally. with a lot of things that are said.” point Organization, a rival communist Some of the antiracists across the
Up Front
NCDOT TO HOLD PUBLIC MEETING ON FEBRUARY 5 REGARDING THE PROPOSAL TO WIDEN RANDLEMAN ROAD (S.R. 1007) FROM GLENDALE DRIVE TO WEST ELMSLEY DRIVE IN GUILFORD COUNTY
January 17-23, 2019
STIP PROJECT NO. U-5850 The N.C. Department of Transportation proposes to widen Randleman Road (S.R. 1007) between Glendale Drive and West Elmsley Drive in Guilford County. A public meeting will be held from 4-7 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 5 at New Goshen United Methodist Church located at 3300 Randleman Road in Greensboro.
Opinion
The purpose of this meeting is to inform the public of the project and gather input on the proposed design. As information becomes available, it may be viewed online at the NCDOT public meeting webpage: https://www.ncdot.gov/news/public-meetings.
News
The public may attend at any time during the public meeting hours, as no formal presentation will be made. NCDOT representatives will be available to answer questions and receive comments. The comments and information received will be taken into consideration as work on the project develops. The opportunity to submit written comments will be provided at the meeting or can be done via phone, email, or mail by Feb. 19, 2019.
Culture
For additional information, please contact Brian Ketner, NCDOT Division 7 Project Engineer at P.O. Box 14996, Greensboro, NC 27415-4996, (336) 487-0075 or, bkketner@ncdot.gov. NCDOT will provide auxiliary aids and services under the Americans with Disabilities Act for disabled persons who wish to participate in this workshop. Anyone requiring special services should contact Tony Gallagher, Environmental Analysis Unit, at 1598 Mail Service Center, Raleigh, NC 276991598, at (919) 707-6069 or magallagher@ncdot.gov as early as possible so that arrangements can be made.
Aquellas personas no hablan inglés, o tienen limitaciones para leer, hablar o entender inglés, podrían recibir servicios de interpretación si los solicitan antes de la reunión llamando al 1-800-481-6494.
Puzzles
Persons who do not speak English, or have a limited ability to read, speak or understand English, may receive interpretive services upon request prior to the meeting by calling 1-800-481-6494.
Shot in the Triad
organization led by Nelson Johnson, in China Grove. Pierce opted not to bring his group to Greensboro for the fateful confrontation in November 1979 which resulted in the deaths of five antiracists. The 68-year-old Pierce said on Sunday that he’s not a member of the Klan anymore, and doesn’t know if the Federated Knights of the Ku Klux Klan still exists. He thinks many of the former members are likely dead. He also said he doesn’t think highly of the current groups that call themselves Ku Klux Klan. “They’re a bunch of idiots that say they are Klan,” Pierce said. “All they do is scream hate. The don’t scream pro-American. They’re just a bunch of hellraisers.” While arguing that people opposed to the statue should be more concerned about crime — he used the racially coded terms “gangbangers” and “drive-bys” — Pierce added, “If everybody would agree to move it to Salem Cemetery, that would be all right.” That very solution has been proposed by the Mayor Allen Joines. The city and the owner of the ground on which the statue stands have both given the United Daughters of the Confederacy a Jan. 31 deadline to remove the statue. Tensions rose around 2 p.m. as antiracists, who had previously kept to the sidewalk, moved into the street, and the two sides exchanged insults. The moderators of the Get Hate Out of Winston Facebook event had cautioned that supporters should not engage in civil disobedience, “cross the planter surrounding the statue,” or engage neoConfederate activists. Protesters chanted, “Money for jobs and education, not for statue preservation,” and, “Freedom must be defended, slavery never ended.” “We live in a world that gives a monument to domestic terrorists who fought for enslavement, and leaves slaves in unmarked graves” said Destiny Blackwell, whose slave ancestors lived in southern Virginia. “That’s racism. We live in a world that builds itself for the glory of white people and for the oppression of black people. That is white supremacy.” The Rev. Carlton Eversley, pastor of Dellabrook Presbyterian Church, noted that the keynote speech for the 1905 dedication of the Confederate statue in WinstonSalem was given by Alfred Waddell, a white supremacist who led a racist coup d’etat against multiracial democracy in Wilmington only seven years earlier. “You can draw a straight line from this statue to Trump calling Mexicans ‘rapists’ and drug dealers,” Eversley said. “You can draw a straight line from this statue to separating children from their families.” The Rev. Paul Robeson Ford, pastor of First Baptist Church on Highland Avenue, followed Eversley. “As difficult as it is for my brothers and sisters — and they are my brothers and sisters — across the street to recognize and acknowledge this fact, there is a fact that needs to be understood,” he said. “The men who died fighting for the Confederate cause, died for the wrong cause. They died to keep black men in chains, black women at the service of white male slaveowners. They died to keep black children never believing they could be anything other than field n***ers or step-and-fetchit house negros. “That statue is coming down,” Ford vowed. “By any non-violent means necessary that statue is not gonna stand there because that statue is an abomination.”
9
January 17-23, 2019 Up Front News Opinion Culture Shot in the Triad Puzzles
10
Guatemalan mother and son detained, seek refuge in the Triad by Sayaka Matsuoka A mother and son from Guatemala who fled their home because of threats of violence are being housed in Winston-Salem as they seek asylum in the United States. One night in late December 2018, Aura, a 37-year-old woman from Guatemala, and Allan, her 16-year-old son, slept outside at a US immigrant detention center with the temperature just above freezing, followed by two days in separate facilities. Now, they’re being housed with a family in Winston-Salem waiting to have their asylum claim reviewed. It’s been about two weeks since the family made it to North Carolina, after fleeing their home in Guatemala, where they say they faced threats of violence from a local gang. On Jan. 12, Aura and Allan, who declined to share their last names out of fear for their safety and because their case is ongoing, helped members of Siembra NC, a project of the American Friends Service Committee, paint a sign for Greensboro’s upcoming MLK Day parade. The two, who don’t speak any English, told City Beat about their experience of leaving their home and family behind through an interpreter. Aura, who is married but separated from her husband and also has an older son, said she and Allan fled Guatemala after he received death threats for refusing to join a local gang. Her son said that the gangs, which are made up of kids from the ages of 13 to 18, run the schools and the surrounding areas and regularly terrorize students to join or face violence. “They cause a lot of chaos and problems,” said Allan, who just finished high school. He said he knows of at least eight other students in his school that have been killed by gang members because they rejected them. “Just yesterday, they killed someone’s mother because her son rejected,” he said. Hearing this from her son, Aura said they had no choice but to leave. Without telling anyone except her brother, the two packed up as much as they could carry and left in the middle of the night. They walked and took buses for 22 days from Guatemala City, where they lived, into Mexico, near the Colorado River, next to the US border. There, they found a hole that had been dug under a section of tall metal wall, one that stretched
about 10 feet high, and crawled through to the US side. “There was nobody else there,” Aura said. “We were in the middle of the desert.” After walking for about 15 minutes on a paved road, they were stopped by an immigration officer, who called another officer, who in turn took them two hours away to a detention center in Arizona. “We were taken in a car with blacked out windows,” Aura recalled. “They just said get in. They didn’t tell us where we were going.” When they got out, they realized they were SAYAKA MATSUOKA Allan (left) and his mom Aura (center) talk to Yamile McBride (right) at Siembra’s meeting on Jan. 12 in Greensboro. inside of a building. There, officials told them “I felt like a convict,” said Aura, tearPatrol officers were not returned for this to strip down to one layer of clothing — ing up. “I felt like I had done something story. they had traveled wearing two because wrong for leaving my country behind After three nights, they were taken by of the cold — and took everything when it was others who made us leave. I bus, one with bars on the windows, to they had brought with them, including heard about other people being there for an office in Phoenix where Aura had a their jewelry and IDs. They watched as seven days and it made me wonder how tracking brace put on her ankle. Clunky everything that wasn’t deemed valuable long we would be there.” and black, the GPS monitors are distribwas thrown away while the rest of their In her room, Aura remembers there uted through Geo Group, a for-profit belongings were bagged up. Then they being about 20 other women who company that owns several prisons and were taken outside to a fenced in area ranged in age from their twenties to their detention centers. According to a 2015 and left there for an entire night. A few forties. report by Homeland Security, ICE has hours in, Aura remembers two young Allan said there were about 55 boys issued thousands of these 5.5-ounce women who looked to be in their twenin his room, with the youngest being ankle monitors since the reversal of an ties, being put outside with them. She 13. He said some of the boys would cry executive order that allowed for immisaid it must have been about 40 degrees while others talked to each other. He, grant families to be separated as part of or colder. Despite being left to sleep out like many in the room, remained quiet. a “zero tolerance” program. For now, in the cold, she said that her and Allan Throughout their journey, even during with the monitor, Aura can only travel weren’t treated as bad as some others she the bus rides, Allan and Aura said they within North Carolina, South Carolina witnessed at the facility. never talked to anyone. Aura said they and Georgia. “There were these guys who had come were scared they would be found and After their visit to the immigration ofin,” she said. “Then the officer pointed sent back to Guatemala. fice, a local Phoenix organization called at them and said in Spanish, ‘You guys During the three days they were held Puente, connected the family to Siembra know each other? You guys are trash. at the facility, Aura and Allan said they NC and Pastor Lia Claire Scholl, who You guys are all trash.’” were given the bare minimum for achelped them find temporary housing in The next morning, the two were commodations. They slept on hard floors Winston-Salem. brought back inside the building and next to toilets that lined the rooms and “They treated us really well,” said separated into two different rooms. Allan ate hamburgers sandwiched between two Aura about their experience at Puente. with other boys and Aura with other pieces of bread in the morning. They “They gave us clothes, a shower, they women. got juice and crackers in the afternoon, gave us food and a cot to sleep on.” “I was super scared and wondered and for dinner they ate instant soup. After Aura’s brother in Guatemala what they were gonna do to him,” Aura They were never given anything to drink paid for them to fly to Greensboro, the said. “I was trying to watch where they except for the juice during lunch, said family met with members of the Wake were taking him.” Allan. Not even water. Forest Baptist Church in Winston-Salem For two more days, Aura and Allan “Everything was the worst experience with whom they are currently living. remained separated and only saw each of our lives,” Aura said. They said they don’t have any family other through windows in their rooms Calls to multiple Customs and Border members in the states. when they were standing up.
News Opinion
shutdown makes it uncertain as to when the family will get to appear before an immigration judge. For the time being, Aura said she just wants a stable home and a job. Laura Garduño Garcia, an organizing fellow for Siembra NC, said the organization has set up a GoFundMe to help raise money for the family for things like an apartment, transportation and furniture. “They cannot stay in the current place where they are for very long,” Garcia said. “They want to be able to provide for themselves. They don’t want to be a burden on anyone else. They can’t do anything if they don’t have a job.” Aura said she misses her family and is worried about being so far away from people they’ve been with their whole lives. Allan, on the other hand, said he’s happy they’re in the US because the threat of violence was real. Both say they are trying to stay occupied by participating in local events like the sign making with Siembra or Zumba. Allan said he is looking for a local soccer league to join. “In the beginning it was difficult because of the fear,” he said. “But I’m excited to come here and be free from all of that.”
Up Front
that this particular case could be difficult asylum denial rates rose during the initial because gang violence isn’t a regularly months of the Trump administration, recognized form of persecution like reaching over 65 percent in July 2017. those who claim asylum based on race, Data from September 2018 shows the religion, nationality, political opinion or percent had risen to about 68 percent. membership in a particular social group. To compare, during the last two years of In June 2018, then-Attorney General the Obama administration, the highest Jeff Sessions attempted to issue a broad denial rate was about 58 percent. legal decision that would disqualify “A lot of it depends on the judges, and claims of those seeking in general it’s difficult to asylum based on dowin this kind of asylum It’s been about two mestic or gang violence. case because they will say weeks since the famOn Dec. 20, 2018, US it’s general violence that District Court Judge Emaffects lots of people in ily made it to North met Sullivan struck down Carolina, after fleeing society,” Yañez said. “But Sessions’ decision, and sometimes people can win their home in Guateordered the government because there are certain mala, where they say to return to the United social groups that have they faced threats of States any plaintiffs who been recognized.” violence from a local were deported as a result In Aura and Allan’s gang. of the policy, and prevent case, Yañez predicts that further deportations. seeking asylum based on Based on online data family ties — or fear for by the Transactional Records Access their family — would be their best bet. Clearinghouse (TRAC) organization at “The new administration has done Syracuse University, immigration judges everything that they can to decrease the in Charlotte have high rates of denials. number of asylum approvals,” Yañez The average percentage of denials by said. “Asylum cases were already difficult the four judges between 2013 and 2018 but they’ve gotten more difficult.” came out to about 87.9 percent. AcAssuming Aura and Allan pass the cording to additional data from TRAC, credible fear test, the government
January 17-23, 2019
“People need to understand that they would not be here if it wasn’t for their lives,” said Yamile McBride, a volunteer with Siembra. “They don’t know anyone.” On Jan. 9, Aura and Allan had their first attendance check at the immigration office in Charlotte, where Aura was asked questions about her husband and her other child. As undocumented immigrants, they are required to meet with officials regularly. Their next meeting is on Jan. 20 and then they will be scheduled monthly. “The government shutdown is causing a lot of confusion right now,” said Jessica Yañez, an immigration attorney who runs her own practice out of Greensboro. “People have to keep checking in.” According to Yañez, because the family was apprehended when they first entered the country, they will likely be placed into “expedited removal,” or deportation, proceedings. There, they will be required to pass a threshold “credible fear” screening or be given a removal order before they are able to even meet with a judge. If they pass the hearing because they have credible fear, they’ll be able to meet with an immigration judge and make a case for asylum. She said
Culture Shot in the Triad Puzzles
11
January 17-23, 2019 Up Front News Opinion Culture Shot in the Triad Puzzles
12
CITIZEN GREEN
OPINION
Chancellor Folt’s last act – Silent Sam comes down
When she was growing up in Chapel Hill in the 1960s, Paula Craige didn’t give much thought to Silent Sam. As the chief of the division of cardiology at the UNC School of Medicine, her father was a prominent member of the university community. The Conby Jordan Green federate monument was just part of the furniture of the campus, a focal point for student and Workers remove the final slab of the Silent Sam DANIEL townie gatherings. monument at UNC-Chapel Hill early Tuesday morning. HOSTERMAN On Tuesday night, Craige joined a crowd at Peace and Justice Plaza to celebrate the removal of the pedestal, a ficalled an “incendiary” symbol means that many students, nal remnant of the statue toppled by antiracists last August. alumni and Chapel Hill community members can again “It’s such a relief, as if a cancerous node had been claim the institution with pride, for others the chancellor’s removed,” Craige reflected. She said she had told fundraisaction represents a profound loss. ers she wouldn’t donate a dime to the university as long as Gary Williamson, the founder of the neo-Confederate Silent Sam was still standing; now, it’s time for her to make group Alamance County Taking Back Alamance County, a contribution. or ACTBAC, was arrested early Tuesday morning after Students and community allies mingled and conversed at attempting to shiv a tire in the heavy machinery used to lift the gathering. They ate pizza, danced to the Coup’s “The the pedestal from its base. Guillotine” and listened to a couple speeches. It was a conThe next day he reflected on Facebook about how the vivial gathering free of the tension that attended previous events at UNC-Chapel Hill repeated a humiliation he exevents marred by conflict with police and neo-Confederate perienced when he watched workers remove the Jefferson monument supporters. Not that they were far away: From Davis statue overnight in New Orleans in May 2017. inside Graham Memorial Hall, officers monitored the patch “Only the few that want to destroy our country and hisof dirt and concrete underneath the vanished monument, tory are pleased to see evil carried out,” Williamson wrote. and three neo-Confederate activists briefly circulated “How do we stop it? We stand up and get fed up. Stop through the crowd at Peace and Justice Plaza handing out letting the few control the majority.” a flier emphasizing the connection between the Carolina For some white North Carolinians like Williamson, the nickname “Tar Heel” and Confederate removal of Confederate symbols represoldiers. sents the first step in a more sinister effort But for the antiracists celebrating on to “erase us completely,” as he wrote in And Chancellor Folt, another recent Facebook post. While Franklin Street, the term simply refers to students, faculty and staff at UNC-Chapel you took a long time, ACTBAC avoids overt racial appeals, Hill. it’s not hard to read between the lines in but damn, girl, you “It’s a damn good day to be a Tar Heel,” statements such as, “We, true Southern said Michelle Brown, a member of the can accept defeat, but giving up is did it. – Michelle Brown, people, Class of 2018. “It took a long time to be never an option.” UNC-Chapel Hill, Class able to say that, and it just felt good to For another kind of white North Caroof ’18 say it. It kind of sucks to graduate before I linian, the removal of Silent Sam is a long could say that. Class of 2019: Congratulaoverdue correction. tions, you can be proud to graduate as Tar “It’s emblematic of the sweep across the Heels.” country of consciousness about race and sex and class,” Brown and others pointed out the obvious: Student Paula Craige said. “It’s the kids toppling the old farts my activists made it happen; Chancellor Carol Folt’s order to dad’s age. And toppling me. They’re saying, ‘It’s time for remove the pedestal in the early morning hours of Tuesday you to get out of the way.’” while also announcing her resignation came only after she Raul Jimenez, 28, one of five people charged with miswas backed into a corner by an increasingly disgruntled demeanor riot for allegedly pulling Silent Sam from its base board of governors and continuing threats to student last August, stood outside the metal barricades surveying safety. the bare ground with a sense of satisfaction. He’ll be in “The only reason that the chancellor buckled is because court in Hillsborough on Friday, as part of a group of about we put the pressure on her,” Brown said. “That’s what makes 20 antiracists who face a litany of charges related to the change happen. This was a community effort. And the TA struggle over Silent Sam. strike, despite all the negative comments, it friggin’ worked, “This is a vindication for all those who have been y’all. For everyone who supported us, keep supporting us. charged,” Jimenez said. “It’s a vindication for the comAnd Chancellor Folt, you took a long time, but damn, girl, munity that came together and took an action and altered you did it.” everything around it. It shows people are saying no to white If Folt’s belated decision to remove what one local judge supremacy.”
January 17-23, 2019
EDITORIAL
Trump as Russian asset?
News Opinion
The meetings between Russian agents and oligarchs and Trump’s son, Trump’s campaign manager, Trump’s lawyer. Trump said, out loud on TV, that he wanted to fire Comey because of “this Russia thing.” Trump appeared to side with Russia against our European Union allies. Trump has pulled troops out of Syria and then shut down the government, leaving the region vulnerable to Russian interests. There’s actually quite a bit more. When taken all at once it’s a preponderance of evidence, enough that, were this a movie script about a Russian asset who managed to get himself elected president of the United States, it would get spiked for being way too obvious. In reality and in retrospect, it would have been tantamount to negligence on the part of the FBI not to consider the possibility that Donald Trump might not be telling us all the facts when it comes to his ties with Russia. The FBI’s initial investigation has been rolled into the broader Mueller inquiry. Meanwhile the rest of us are now grappling with the genuine possibility that our government and military has been infiltrated at the very highest level. Another first for President Trump.
Up Front
The Trump presidency has thus far been marked by many, many firsts: The first president to be elected at 70 years old. The first president with no military or political experience. The first with three wives, with children attributed to each. The first to meet with North Korea. The first who had his own TV show. And he’s definitely the first American president we’ve all heard use the P-word when referring to a woman’s genitalia. Now, our president is in possession of another remarkable first: He’s the first that has ever officially been suspected to be a Russian spy. The New York Times broke the story on Friday: Around May 17, 2017, surrounding the firing of James Comey, the FBI actually opened an official counterintelligence investigation into the possibility that Trump was a Russian agent, or — perhaps even worse — unwittingly acting in their best interests against those of the American people. The reasons given for the investigation were things that everybody already knew: Trump’s praise of Putin on the campaign trail and his invitation to Russia to find Hillary’s missing emails. Trump’s secretive meeting with Putin at the G20 Summit. Trump’s reluctance to acknowledge Russian meddling in the election that he ultimately won.
Culture Shot in the Triad Puzzles
13
by Savi Ettinger
Culture
Opinion
News
Up Front
January 17-23, 2019
CULTURE Alter egos shine at Greensboro Comicon
Puzzles
Shot in the Triad
Cosplayer Paul Nguyen showcases a rendition of the robotic Marvel character Brain Drain.
14
A
quaman stood casually on one side of the lobby, his trident slanted beside him in a relaxed grip while the Joker and his notorious posse of clowns sauntered down a staircase to plop down onto a set of nearby recliners. Atop the stairs, Darth Vader slinked down a side hallway, his dark cape trailing behind him. On Saturday, Greensboro Comicon brought out hundreds of comic-book, video-game and science-fiction fans to the Greensboro Marriott Downtown. Artist and vendor booths along with a slew of panel discussions beckoned the nerds, but the best part of the event took place within the halls, where cosplayers showed off their own personalities while in the guise of their heroes or
villains. Michael Cortes transformed into the Xenomorph from the Alien films for the day. The elongated head of the skeletal creature towered over con-goers, even while hunched over. Cortes worked three months on the ensemble to satisfy a want to create and to make others happy. People repeatedly stopped Cortes for photos like star-struck fans meeting a celebrity. Cosplayers Chelsea Block and Paul Nyugen found similar motivation. Block dressed as the Marvel Comics heroine Squirrel Girl, complete with utility belt and tiny round ears. Nyugen matched with a suit, robotics and a brain suspended in a dome as a character called Brain Drain from the same series. Other people used cosplay to not only connect during the con, but to help others outside of the hotel halls. Brad Mikulskis wandered around with his friends as Stormtroopers from Star Wars. Mikulskis and the Carolina Garrison bring their costumes to both conventions like these and to charity events. Though he sometimes works with the Make-A-Wish founda-
CAROLYN DE BERRY
tion, Mikulskis added that getting to be a favorite character is a bonus. “I had the action figure,” Mikulskis said. “Why not make it life-size?” Damaris Griffith sported pastel pink for a rendition of Princess Peach from the “Super Mario” franchise, in a homemade ballgown fashioned from a thrifted bedsheet, with petals laced around the bottom of the skirt made from Dollar Store flowers. “There’s beauty in everything,” she said. Griffith portrays what she calls “overlooked princesses” for panels about how media depicts women. The con as a whole drives fans to craft their own representation. A large ballroom became a lecture hall with panelists Matt Conner, Siena Fallon and Kayt Stewart in an open conversation with moderator David McDonald about LGBTQ comics. Topics shifted from the relatable themes of found family and alienation in the X-Men, to older characters coming out as members of the LGBTQ community in new or revamped
January 17-23, 2019 Up Front News
CAROLYN DE BERRY
Micheal Cortes stands out in the hotel lobby as the Xenomorph from Alien.
CAROLYN DE BERRY
Alan Mota, Courtni Maynard and Wyatt Rada cosplay Joker’s crew of clowns.
CAROLYN DE BERRY
Ashley Haris reads exerpts from her poetry chapbook, “If the Hero of Time was Black,” during a panel.
CAROLYN DE BERRY
Opinion
Cosplayer Damaris Griffith perfects a Princess Peach costume.
Culture Shot in the Triad
lines between fantasy and life. “The Ganondorf of ‘The Wind Waker’ is a poet,” she said to the audience. The reading took guests through Hyrule’s digital universe, the stories interspersed with perspective and hypotheticals. She transformed the Hylian Shield into a backpack, an aged Gamecube game into a story of loss, and “The Wind Waker” prologue into an erasure poem. “Let’s talk about if the hero was black for real,” she said.
Puzzles
series. As the audience spoke to the panelists, the room focused on LGBTQ writers and the general state of nerd culture. The group agreed that finding one’s self on the page holds importance. “As queer folk we’re always trying to find ourselves represented,” Stewart said. In a cozy panel room tucked behind a row of vendors, Ashley Harris read excerpts from her chapbook “If the Hero of Time was Black.” Her poetry uses a game Harris had played since age 12, “Legend of Zelda,” as a motif to explore complex issues about race. Images of hair compared to the Great Deku Tree and rupees being exchanged for cab rides packed the collection. She pulled inspiration from both the Hero of Time, Link, and the recurring antagonist, Ganondorf. In a green tunic and hat as Link, she drew the
15
January 17-23, 2019 Up Front News Opinion Culture Shot in the Triad Puzzles
16
CULTURE Earl’s in Winston-Salem pours on Southern charm by Sayaka Matsuoka
I
love fried chicken. It’s my second favorite food after sushi. I even own a fried chicken map of North Carolina that lists the best places in the state to get your fix. It’s the sole reason I’m not a pescatarian. So, when I went to Earl’s in Winston-Salem for the first time last weekend, ordering the chicken and waffles was a no brainer. My fiancé and I visited Earl’s on a Sunday afternoon, right around lunchtime. The ice storm had transformed the city into another winter wonderland, and there were just a few other customers who sat at the bar. The restaurant opened a few months ago in a portion of an old food distribution building in the Industry Hill area, next to the Ramkat and across from Wise Man Brewing. The only real indication that the restaurant is open is a lit-up cowboy boot tacked onto the side of the structure. There’s not even a designated parking lot yet. Inside, dark, hardwood floors and high ceilings give the space an elevated feel while the exposed brick and two bare trees, planted directly into the floor and lit up with string lights, set a rustic tone. Shades of emerald green and teal coat portions of the walls and giant marquee letters that spell out “Earl’s” backwards sits on top of the almost floor-to-ceiling bar. The whole scene is comforting and stunning. Herbie Gimmel, who co-owns the restaurant with Joel Ornstein and Wade Robinson, says the goal was to open a country Americana restaurant bar that showcases country and folk music. In the background, the twang of bluegrass can be heard over the bustle of the kitchen and the murmur of conversation. Gimmel, who grew up in High Point, says he was inspired by the food scene in places like Nashville and Austin. “I thought the concept would be a hit in Winston-Salem,” he said. “We felt there was a need here for eating in a space that you felt like the service was on point and the actual space itself was interesting wherever you looked. We put a lot of attention into that.” Robinson, who designed the restaurant’s aesthetic, has planned living spaces for musicians like members of the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Ben Harper. In a press release, he said, “Imagine yourself as a young child running through the Southern hollers of yesteryear. Earl’s is at once inviting, vintage, Southern, sexy,
The chicken and waffles from Earl’s brunch menu is pretty good. Don’t skimp on the Texas Pete honey.
SAYAKA MATSUOKA
contemporary, easy, comforting and familial.” the brunch plate, which comes with two decently sized waffles In the back corner of the restaurant is a stage where live sets and a single fried chicken breast costs $14 at Earl’s. It’s a bit featuring country and folk musicians play on weekend nights. pricey in my opinion for the portion but let’s get on to the The menu, which was planned by Matt Pleasants, who grew meat of it. The chicken itself was cooked pretty well. Juicy up in Winston-Salem, has also been carefully curated. but not rubbery. On the outside, the breading boasted a nice Snacks like pork rinds and pimento cheese round out meals golden brown color but lacked in seasoning. It also wasn’t as of fried chicken, burgers and sandwiches, like the black bean crispy as I’d hoped it’d be. For me, you can pretty much tell burger my fiancé opted for. He said the patty was cooked how good the chicken is gonna be from the first bite. It’s not perfectly and didn’t fall apart like even that much about the flavor similar renditions and described at that point, it’s about the sound. the whole as “having the right How much crackle do you get from Earl’s is located at 121 W. 9th St. Find amount of everything” including breaking the crispy, fried barrier? shredded lettuce, patty, sauce, In my opinion, this one didn’t have out more at earlsws.com. caramelized onions and pickles. enough. What the chicken lacked Still, at nine dollars, it’s kind of in texture and flavor however, disappointing that it doesn’t the house-made Texas Pete honey come with a side. We went for some classic tater tots that more than made up for. Sweet and tangy with a spicy kick were what you’d expect. Crispy and delicious. that lingers, the condiment is a must for both the bird and the For dinner, you can order a roasted vegetable pie or a waffles. And oh, the waffles. chicken fried steak. And on the weekends, specials like huevos These were probably the best I’ve ever had. They had a rancheros, biscuits and gravy and grit bowls make an appearperfectly crunchy outer layer that gave way to a soft, almost ance. gooey layer on the inside and didn’t fall apart or sink under the “It’s Southern, centered around chicken,” says Gimmel weight of the honey or syrup. The consistency and satisfaction about the menu. “We wanted to do comfort food that tastes gleaned was almost like eating a donut. I would drive the 40 great.” minutes just for those waffles. I have a list of things I run through to score my fried chicken. “There’s something for everyone at Earl’s,” Pleasants said. How crunchy the breading is, how juicy the meat is, how well “Earl’s isn’t a person,” Gimmel continued. “It’s a concept.” it’s spiced, the price. My favorites so far are the drumsticks Pleasants chimed back in. from Dame’s and my mom’s Japanese karaage. For starters, “It’s a way of life.”
January 17-23, 2019
CULTURE #TravelingWhileBlack in the pre-internet era by Lauren Barber
E
Up Front News
The Negro Motorist Green Book helped generations of black families travel through rural and urban areas alike, identifying safe ports of call in the American landscape.
PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY MICHAEL BOEHNLEIN.
Culture Shot in the Triad Puzzles
Book.” memorabilia from their own experiences with these cultural While all 18 sites listed in Forsyth County have been demolinstitutions. ished, five of the 17 sites in Guilford Country remain, one of “It’s so important that we’re able to connect with communiwhich is the Magnolia House on Gorrell Street, which Williams ty members… so we won’t forget not only the businesses and remembers from her childhood in Greensboro. the roles they played in making our cities and even rural areas “I passed by regularly, walking to Girl Scouts meetings or safe to travel in, but also that… people built lives on these downtown back in the days when transportation was either businesses — the Green Book also documents livelihoods,” your feet or the city bus,” she says. Withers says. Williams’ recollection is exactly the type of memory reAccording to her, many African-American-owned busisearch historian Lisa Withers wishes to hear from fellow North nesses were demolished during “urban renewal” periods such Carolinians. as the development of Highway 147 in Durham or Highway 52 “To my knowledge, what makes our project unique is its in Winston-Salem. attempt to connect the human At the end of the evening, an austories,” Withers says. “Projects in dience member asks Withers what other states are more on the hisshe sees as the biggest challenge of Submit stories, information or images toric preservation side of our field, this project. to greenbooknc@ncdcr.gov. identifying whether these buildings “My belief is that the biggest are still standing or not. We’re addhistory books are in the graveyard,” ing the human element.” he says. “You all see how tiny it is, how In a way, she says, he’s alluded to small it is, how flimsy it is?” Thorpe says, showing the audithe problem, exacerbated by the passage of time. ence a copy from the stage. “But inside of it, it was filled with “Unfortunately, due to the nature of our society during the so much. If you open up that Green Book, you know what you’ll time when a lot of archiving was happening… we really do find? Oasis. Oasis spaces. A tagline that often appeared in have to connect with community members to help fill in those and on the Green Book was: ‘Carry your Green Book with you. gaps,” Withers says. You may need it.’ And there was a reason for that; in the era Research intern Bria Johnson — a graduate student earning of legal segregation, protecting your body and your humanity her master’s in history at NC Central University — is doing that as an African-American in this country was critical and that work, partly with recording equipment in the homes of elders teeny little book had the ability to do that. When you opened like JoAnn Stevens. According to Thorpe, it’s no coincidence that book, you were able to find spaces that could provide that Johnson, like each intern affiliated with the NC Green you refuge, protection, comfort as you traveled through the Book Project, studies at an HBCU. United States.” “A major project goal is building and developing the next Withers invites the public to connect her with locals who generation of African-American heritage practitioners, the may be able to offer contacts, stories, pictures and other next generation of people who will be doing this work.”
Opinion
ven as a little girl, I can remember that we didn’t need to be on the highways at night,” says JoAnn Stevens of Snow Hill. Her voice, along with those of a few other elder black North Carolinians’, resounded through the Greensboro History Museum’s auditorium speakers on Jan. 9 as dozens learned about the North Carolina Green Book Project. Angela Thorpe, acting director of North Carolina’s African American Heritage Commission, detailed the statewide effort to document community stories in connection to the 327 North Carolina historic sites listed in The Negro Motorist Green Book during its publication from 1936 to 1966. From hair salons and diners to motels and nightclubs, the sites listed in the annual catalog chartered safe course through the constraints of formal segregation. The project — which situates memory as artifact and recognizes sidelined communities as loci of knowledge — will culminate in an interactive web portal, two identical traveling exhibits and related community programming in March 2020. “We wanted to understand what it was like for African-American families, businesspeople and individuals to travel in North Carolina in the Jim Crow era,” Thorpe says, noting that black people continue to document discrimination while traveling with hashtags like #TravelingWhileBlack and #AirbnbWhileBlack. “There are still things African-Americans in this state and across the world, really, are still experiencing as it relates to segregation and discrimination as we try to move our bodies around the world. We hope some of the programs we can do will explore that reality.” Cassandra Williams, education coordinator at the International Civil Rights Center & Museum in downtown Greensboro, spoke to the packed auditorium about her own connections with the publication. “Imagine my surprise one day as I was giving a tour to a group of visitors and I was looking at the pages from the Green Book — which is a part of our exhibit in our Travel and Accommodations Gallery — and my eyes fell upon Traveler’s Inn in Bloomfield, West Virginia,” Williams says. “I explained that’s my Great Uncle Charlie’s hotel where my mother her sisters and brothers used to visit in the summer, listed right there in the Green
17
January 17-23, 2019
North O’Henry Boulevard
Shot in the Triad
Culture
Opinion
News
Up Front
SHOT IN THE TRIAD
Weekends only.
CAROLYN DE BERRY
PIZZERIA
Puzzles
L’ITALIANO
18
Large 1-topping pizza
11
$
99
Good through 2/4/19
Monday – Thursday
4-cheese pizza
10
$
WE ! DELIVER
99
Order online at pizzerialitaliano.net
every Tuesday, all day
219 S Elm Street, Greensboro • 336-274-4810
Across
EVENTS
by Matt Jones
602 S Elam Ave • Greensboro
Answers from previous publication.
(336) 698-3888
Culture Shot in the Triad Puzzles
JFK flier, once Take some time at the library Dehumidifier’s target It may be listed before or after “per” Krispy ___ K-Cup maker Fading flame feature “Birdman” actress Watts Pigpen dweller “Bohemian Rhapsody” star Malek Denny’s rival British weapon of WWII Ancient Greek harp Pirate spoils Phoenix court team “Wow!” in texts “The buck stops here” presidential monogram
(editor@jonesincrosswords.com)
Opinion
1 Comic book explosion sound 2 “The Amazing ___” 3 “Johnny’s Theme” composer Paul 4 Gabe of “Welcome Back, Kotter” 5 1040 info 6 Owns, archaically 7 Has a yearning (for) 8 “___ Off the Boat” 9 Road repair stuff 10 Sudan’s capital 11 Pasta ___ (boxed dinner) 12 Bunches 13 Mercedes-___ 18 Acronym on a record label 22 Yard component 24 Baton master 26 Venn diagram feature
37 38 40 44 45 49 51 52 54 55 56 58 60 61 62 64 65
©2018 Jonesin’ Crosswords
News
Down
Every Thursday Open Mic Night Fri. January 25th Second today, Glow, Burnt Biscuits Sat. January 26th MTROKNWN
Up Front
1 “Space Ghost Coast to Coast” character with a spinoff series 5 Isaac Hayes soundtrack 10 The Krusty ___ (“SpongeBob SquarePants” locale) 14 “Archer” character Kane 15 Pelvic bones 16 Minigolf segment 17 2018 movie about Cathy being startled by a big cat? 19 Unknown quote source, for short 20 Blue Apron offering 21 “___ dead, Jim” (“Star Trek” line) 22 “Metropolis” director Lang 23 Play division 25 Inject 27 “That’s amazing!” 31 Type of doll for the vengeful ©2017 Jonesin’ Crosswords (editor@jonesincrosswords.com) 35 Palindromic parent 36 2018 movie about bowling lanes? 39 British baby carriage 41 Stair part 42 “Morning Joe” cohost Brzezinski 43 2018 movie about a cinematic alien’s voice? 46 Brain activity diagnostic test, for short 47 Amino acid that helps treat cold sores 48 Deli bread option, maybe 50 Fire engine feature 53 “___-wee’s Big Adventure” 54 ___ Reid (The Green Hornet’s true identity) 57 More, in Mexico 59 Considers carefully 63 Mt. Ka’ala is its highest point Answers from last issue 64 2018 movie about an annoying Irishman? 27 Drive forward 66 Cicero’s love 28 Rick’s grandson, on TV 67 They may be dank on the Internet 29 Apple desktops from a while back 68 Steel ingredient 30 Oklahoma city 69 Bright and evenly colored, for dragon fruit 32 More desertlike 70 He played one of the Weasleys 33 In tune 71 Figures out 34 “August: ___ County” (Meryl Streep movie)
January 17-23, 2019
CROSSWORD ‘Late to the Movie’— what did I miss? SUDOKU
19