TCB July 3, 2019 — Up in Arms by Triad City Beat

Greensboro / Winston-Salem / High Point July 3-10, 2019 triad-city-beat.com

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UP IN ARMS Frida Kahlo mural challenges perceptions of art PAGE 6

Reynolds stadium PAGE 8

Forest Chump PAGE 10

Lobster summer PAGE 11

July 3-10, 2019

EDITOR’S NOTEBOOK

Fireworks that don’t go boom

by Brian Clarey

Every summer around the Fourth of July, when I see the fireworks tents pop up in parking lots all over the Triad, I’m reminded just how lame North

Carolina fireworks are. Currently, the only fireworks permitted in the state are what is known in the industry as “sparkling devices” — yep, those hard-to-light angry incense sticks that begin to lose their appeal when the consumer’s age approaches the doubledigits, but also stationary fountains — as long as they don’t spin — and the even more pedestrian snakes, party poppers and smoke bombs. No thank you. I’m here to tell you that you haven’t truly lived until you’ve blown something up with cherry bombs, lit off a whole pack of firecrackers at once or participated in a backyard Roman-candle fight using garbage-can lids as shields. Of course, consumer fireworks of almost every type were illegal on Long Island when I was growing up, but it was illegal in the same way that urinating on the street in Manhattan was illegal — which is to say that everybody did it anyway.

Before I was 14 years old, my friends and I were placing lengthy mail-orders from fireworks catalogs, and when we got a little older some of us would take the train into the Chinatown to load up on the good stuff: M-80s, jumping jacks, mats of Black Cat firecrackers and bottle rockets, those rolling tanks that would pop off a few rounds and then catch fire on the ground, and maybe a couple packs of lady fingers for good measure. We’d prowl around town on our bikes and skateboards, popping off firecrackers and waiting for it to get dark so we could shoot our rockets into the night sky. Sometimes we’d get chased by the local cops, and sometimes they’d catch us; all they’d do, every time, was confiscate our fireworks. We were convinced that they’d just bring them home and light them themselves. A few years ago I drove down to South Carolina in advance of the Fourth. I spent more than $100 on Texas rockets, kingsized jumping jacks, heavy-duty boxed pieces loaded with mortars and shells and the Strobe Spectacular: a 20-shot repeater that reminded me of the helicopter scene in Apocalypse Now when I sparked the fuse and ducked for cover. After lighting up the night sky like that, a sparkler holds about as much excitement for me as lighting a match.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK We are part of the progress of this country, and we want to continue to be part of this country. —Edwin Garcia

BUSINESS PUBLISHER/EXECUTIVE EDITOR Brian Clarey brian@triad-city-beat.com

PUBLISHER EMERITUS Allen Broach allen@triad-city-beat.com

OF COUNSEL Jonathan Jones

ART ART DIRECTOR Robert Paquette

EDITORIAL SENIOR EDITOR Jordan Green

robert@triad-city-beat.com SALES

ASSOCIATE EDITOR Sayaka Matsuoka

gayla@triad-city-beat.com

jordan@triad-city-beat.com

sayaka@triad-city-beat.com

SPECIAL SECTION EDITOR Nikki Miller-Ka niksnacksblog@gmail.com

1451 S. Elm-Eugene St. Box 24, Greensboro, NC 27406 Office: 336-256-9320 COVER: The Frida Kahlo mural STAFF WRITER Lauren Barber in Midtown Greensboro by Brian lauren@triad-city-beat.com Lewis — aka Jeks — brings out STAFF WRITER Savi Ettinger savi@triad-city-beat.com the art critis in all of us. [Photo by EDITORIAL INTERN Cason Ragland Sayaka Matsuoka]

KEY ACCOUNTS Gayla Price CONTRIBUTORS

Carolyn de Berry, Matt Jones

July 3-10, 2019

CITY LIFE July 4-7, 2019 by Cason Ragland

THURSDAY July 4

4 of July Celebration @ Town & Country Pool (W-S), 10:15 a.m. The Town and Country pool in Winston-Salem will host a parade in honor of Independence Day. Follow a fire truck through the streets on your skateboard, your bike or just your feet and feel the thrill of walking down the middle of a road in broad daylight. The event’s page on Facebook has more information.

Up Front

FRIDAY July 5

Tie-dying @ High Point Public Library (HP), 10 a.m.

Fun Fourth street festival @ Downtown Greensboro (GSO), 1 p.m.

SATURDAY July 6

News

Family Friendly Improv Comedy @ the Idiot Box (GSO), 7:30 p.m.

Steel drummer Tracy Thornton will perform at the High Point Public Library during their tie dyeing session this weekend. Bring an old, white t-shirt and make it into a one-of-a-kind garment. For more details, take a look at the Business High Point Chamber of Commerce’s website.

Opinion Culture Shot in the Triad Puzzles

First Friday Twerk Workshop @ Descending Angels (GSO), 7:15 p.m. Shakin’ your butt at the club is all fun and games but nightlifers just don’t have the instinct to bring up constructive critiques on your twerking techniques. The environment simply doesn’t cater to that kind of interaction. However, Descending Angels will cover everything from proper warmups to “booty isolation” in their workshop this weekend. You can reserve a space on Descending Angels’ website.

Celebrate the signing of the Declaration of Independence today and explore downtown Greensboro. Live music will go on at five different stages while food and craft vendors will offer a variety of treats and trinkets. Fun Fourth has its own website where you can learn more about the event.

Times in Twin City Art Gallery Reception @ Coddiwomple Studios (W-S), 7 p.m. Local artist Mary Vecellio will unveil a new series of paintings based on her time in Winston-Salem. This reception will be a part of Gallery Hop, an event that closes the streets of the Twin Cities’ arts district and encourages art enthusiasts to safely bounce between the district’s galleries. Find out more on Facebook.

The Idiot Box recently moved to 503 N. Greene Street and they’ll host the first family orientated show there on Saturday night. Bring the kids down and introduce them to the wonderful, improvisational world of yes/and, zip zap zop and the miming sweeper. Discover more details via Facebook.

SUNDAY July 7

Mel Tomlinson was one of the first black men to be featured in the New York City Ballet. Claudia Foltz, the co-author of his autobiography, will give a talk along with Terpsicorps dancers Keith Reeves and Lydia McRae on ballet from an African-American perspective. More details can be found on Facebook.

Culture

ARTivity Market @ ARTivity on the Green (W-S), 11 a.m. Hosted by the Art For Art’s Sake Group in Winston-Salem, the ARTivity market will exhibit works of up to 20 artists. Collectors can purchase the art on display, if they so choose. The event’s Facebook page has more info.

Opinion

It’s prime watermelon time, what with July 4th being just around the corner. Join the High Point Farmer’s market for their celebration of this wonderful fruit. While you’re there, you can take part in a watermelon seed-spitting competition — just watch where you aim! Find out more through the event’s page on Facebook.

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News

Beyond My Dreams: the African-American Experience in Ballet @ Bookmarks (W-S), 4 p.m.

BAD NEWS

Up Front

Outdoor Concert feat. Claire Holley @ First Baptist Church Greensboro (GSO), 7:30 pm. Singer-songwriter Claire Holley will perform a free concert this Sunday. Take out your picnic blankets and relax before the work week on the front lawn of First Baptist Church Greensboro. If you’d like to know more, check out the Facebook page for this concert.

NO NEWS IS

July 3-10, 2019

Watermelon Mania @ High Point Farmer’s Market (HP), 8:30 a.m.

Shot in the Triad Puzzles

July 3-10, 2019 Up Front News Opinion Culture Shot in the Triad Puzzles

That new Frida Kahlo mural by Sayaka Matsuoka There’s so much to unpack. Just hours after Greensboro muralist Brian Lewis, popularly known as Jeks, posted a picture of his recent creation on social media, people began dissecting the image and its complicated history. The giant mural — which is painted on the back of Heraldry Arms, a gun shop inside a building owned by Greensboro developer Marty Kotis — depicts a scantily clad Frida Kahlo, unibrow and all, holding a revolver with both hands. She stares out intensely at passersby who drive past Pig Pounder or are on their way to RED Cinemas. On social media, it’s been even harder to ignore. Some people like it, others are disgusted. The main issues with the piece lie in the history of its creation. The portrait isn’t actually one of the Mexican artist — not fully anyway. Its origin dates back to 2012 when an American photographer named Robert Toren, aka angrylambie, photoshopped Kahlo’s face onto a white model’s body. The model was apparently Toren’s friend and posed for the shot in the ’80s. On his website, angrylambie.com, Toren writes that he made the image after joking with a friend that “Frida was the cute Communist we leftists most wanted to see nude (she suggested young Trotsky), so you see, it started from a playful place.” And therein lies the first main problem with the piece. It’s fetishizing. For centuries, women of color of all backgrounds have been fetishized by white men for their “exotic” features. “Sexual chocolate,” “yellow fever,” “spicy Latinas.” This is no different. Kotis, who commissioned the piece, said the owner of Heraldry Arms, Jay Bulluck, was the one who picked the image as a symbol of female empowerment. In a statement sent to TCB by email, Bulluck says that “the mural was neither commissioned by me, paid for by me, or painted by me. I’m truly sorry for any pain felt by the Triad community.” When asked whether he chose the image, Bulluck refused to confirm whether or not he selected the image. Still, you have to wonder. Did any of these three men ask women they knew if they felt empowered by the image? Any Latino women? Any queer women of color? Any disabled folks? Probably not. And Kahlo was all of these things. In a Facebook comment, one poster said it best. The image distills the famous Mexican artist and activist down to a single identity as an “NRA pinup.” Kahlo had a complicated relationship with her body. As a child, she contracted polio which made her legs different lengths. When Kahlo was 18, she famously suffered a horrific traffic accident in which the bus she and her boyfriend were riding in collided with a streetcar. An iron handrail impaled Kahlo through her pelvis, fracturing her pelvic bone. Over the next 30 years, Kahlo spent much of her life battling one disease or ailment after another. She suffered multiple miscarriages and was mostly bedridden the last four years before she died. In her self-portraits, Kahlo often depicted herself in lavish settings with her pet monkey and her signature flower

crown, but also conveyed complex feelings about her body and trauma. Graphic paintings of her miscarriages and “The Broken Column” show Kahlo in some of her most traumatic moments. Mexican art historian Nancy Deffebach stated in her work, “Frida Kahlo: Heroism of Private Life” that Kahlo “created herself as a subject who was female, Mexican, modern, and powerful.” This brings us back to the recently painted image of Kahlo. She peers out at the viewer, her gaze strong and full of concentration while a satin-like robe hangs on her voluptuous body, tempting viewers with glimpses of her breasts and fit stomach. To put Kahlo’s face on an able-bodied white woman’s torso is a gross minimalization of what the icon stood for. Kahlo didn’t portray herself to be gawked at or lusted after. In fact, she often painted herself grotesquely and challenged viewers to look at her the way she was. Past the fetishization of Kahlo as a woman of color and the erasure of her personal trauma that affected her for the rest of her life, is the capitalistic nature of this work. The painting, as I noted before, is installed on the side of a gun shop in Greensboro. That’s why she’s holding a gun. While the image might not have been intended as a blatant advertisement for the shop, it’s hard to not see it that way, especially when they picked an altered image that fit their needs. Both Lewis, who painted it, and Kotis, who commissioned it, claim that the work isn’t meant to be an advertisement. And yet it seems too coincidental to be an accident. Kahlo had some things to say about that too. As a political activist and part of the Mexican Communist Party, Kahlo often spoke out, through her work and in journals, against the United States, which she viewed as the embodiment of exploitative industrialization and capitalism. “Self-Portrait on the Borderline Between Mexico and the United States,” painted in 1932, captures some of Kahlo’s feelings on the matter. “So much about the image is the erasure of Frida Kahlo while preserving the cool status,” says Fahiym Hanna, the owner of Sensuous Scents in Greensboro, which boasts another mural by Lewis of Nipsey Hussle. “The hero status that is generally exploited for capitalistic gain.” Hanna cites other figures like Che Guevara who have been used in this same way to sell merchandise. Hanna, who is perfectly happy with how the Nipsey Hussle mural turned out, says that the difference between the two works is how the art came to be. In this instance, he says that he met with other vendors and invited members of the community to talk about what a tribute to the late rapper might look like. Once they settled on an image, they hired Lewis to paint the mural. They made sure that no guns were in the image. They didn’t want to romanticize gang violence. No scantily clad women either. It’s not what Hussle stood for. It’s a vastly different situation with the Kahlo piece. This is an instance where three clueless white men

decided to make a work of art and then after members of the community — mostly women and many who identify as LGBTQ — spoke out against it on social media, their criticisms were ignored or even deleted. Lewis has deleted negative comments on his Instagram and the Heraldry Arms Facebook page MUSEO “The Broken Column” went inactive the by Frida Kahlo DOLORES OLMEDO same day. “Unfortunately, important voices were silenced when a social marketing company for Heraldry Arms deleted the conversation on the Facebook without consulting me,” Bulluck wrote in his emailed statement. “They have since been terminated and subsequently, the FB page rendered unpublished.” Kotis says that he doesn’t mind receiving feedback but that changing the mural goes against his values as a libertarian and a “champion of free speech.” “I’m not a big fan of censorship of art overall or kind of crowdsourcing art,” he said on Monday. Well, deleting feedback seems like censorship to me. This also all went down while Kotis was in Washington, DC for a “research trip” into Mexican culture. And yet he still doesn’t see how minimizing one of the greatest Mexican artists and activists into a pin-up doll isn’t offensive? The blatant cognitive dissonance astounds me. In an email on Tuesday, Casa Azul, a local artistic collective that focuses on Latinx culture and issues said that the portrait “does not honor [Kahlo’s] legacy” and that “the mural is irrelevant and out of context of Frida Kahlo’s life and representation of her body.” Kotis repeatedly said that he doesn’t think any of the members involved — Lewis, himself, or Bulluck — have any particular attachment to the image. So why not change it? Clearly there are multiple people in the community who have voiced how they find the image offensive. They say that art is in the eye of the beholder, and this is public art. We have to look at it. It’s not as if we choose to go to a museum and know what we are getting ourselves into. Critics of this article will say that we’re too sensitive or trying to censor this art. But we have a right to say when we hate something. And we hate it. Take it down or change it to something that doesn’t degrade our identities and distill us into propaganda. We’re past being quiet about it.

July 3-10, 2019 Up Front News

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Shot in the Triad

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Shot in the Triad

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Up Front

July 3-10, 2019

NEWS

W-S school board weighs options for new Reynolds High School stadium by Sayaka Matsuoka Winston-Salem/Forsyth County School Board members continue to weigh their options on whether to provide funds to build a new athletic stadium for Reynolds High School.

In four years, RJ Reynolds High School will celebrate its 100th birthday. And as the oldest and one of the largest high schools in the district, parents and alumni of the school say it’s long past time for Reynolds to have its own athletic stadium. For the past seven years, RJ Reynolds High School Homefield Advantage, a private organization made up of past Reynolds alums and parents, has been working to raise funds to build a brandnew stadium onsite at the high school. Currently, the school’s athletic teams practice and play games at DeatonThompson stadium on Old Salisbury Road. Reynold’s students share the facility with Parkland High School, which also lacks its own stadium. “Because RJ Reynolds doesn’t have a homefield… those teams have to practice and play off campus,” said Laura Burrows, a volunteer for Homefield Advantage and a parent of two Reynolds High School alums. “This creates an access issue. Fifty percent of our students qualify for free or reduced lunch. What that says is that nearly half of our student population faces financial hardship, transportation hardship. [Deaton-Thompson] is miles away from the school.” Google maps indicates that, depending on the route taken, the shared stadium is about five miles away from the Reynolds campus and takes approximately 15 minutes to travel by car. In contrast, the stadium is less than two miles from Parkland High School. The distance, Burrows argued, is a barrier for many students who want to play sports but can’t access the facility. “It’s not just the students,” Burrows said. “It’s the families too. They can’t come to watch that child play sports, and kids can’t try out for sports. We also have trainers trying to get to multiple locations to serve the Reynolds teams.” In addition to football, Burrows said that students who play field hockey, soccer and lacrosse are also disadvantaged by having to use an off-site stadium. According to plans provided by Homefield Advantage, a new stadium for Reynolds High School would be built where a bus parking lot and Wiley

Middle School’s gymnasium are currently located. To achieve their goal, parents and alumni formed Homefield Advantage in 2012 as a way to raise money for a new on-site facility. So far, the nonprofit has raised $1.1 million for the project. About $430,000 of the funds raised was used to create plans for the new stadium, as well as to build a practice field on the high school’s campus. With about $5 million needed to construct the new stadium, Homefield Advantage is still short $4.5 million. Now the organization is asking the school board for public funds to help make its 7-year dream a reality. They say they want about $3 million from the school board for the project. The amount is comparable to what the board has allocated to other high schools in recent years for renovation of their sports facilities. According to Assistant Superintendent Darrell Walker, the school district gave both Mt. Tabor and Glenn High School about $3 million to renovate their stadiums in the 2016 bond referendum. “No high school has ever been asked to raise money for their own facility,” Burrows said. “But we committed to taking it on. We made a commitment to raise funding to make this facility a reality because it’s important.” Malishai Woodbury, the chair of the school board, said she understands the need for a stadium at Reynolds. “All high schools should have a stadium to educate the whole child,” she said. “It keeps children engaged. Most kids won’t get into trouble leading up to Friday games.” As for whether or not the school board will help Homefield Advantage fulfill its goal, Woodbury said board members will listen closely to advice from staff. But Walker noted that the decision ultimately rests with the board. “A lot of it depends on whether the board decides to participate in funding the stadium,” Walker said. And even if the board decides to fund it, he said that building a new stadium will take time. The main issue lies with the location for the new facility. Based on a facility assessment by the county prior to the 2016 bond referendum, the Wiley Middle School gymnasium was found to have multiple issues including access limitations for students

A rendering of the proposed stadium at Reynolds shows its location next to Hanes Park.

with disabilities. For that reason, Walker said there is funding from the 2016 bond package to demolish and rebuild the gymnasium closer to the middle school, which would free up space for the stadium. But first they would need to relocate the HVAC and mechanical system that currently powers the entire school and is housed in the gymnasium before demolishing the building. Walker said that a schematic for the new gym was presented to the school board last Tuesday and that the county will likely start the bidding process for the HVAC project in about four to six months. In reality, Walker said that a newly constructed gymnasium for Wiley probably wouldn’t be completed until 2022, just a year before Reynolds’ centennial. Another obstacle to advocates for a new Reynolds stadium is a neighborhood group, Save Hanes Park, which opposes the construction of the stadium in its currently planned location next to Wiley Middle School and adjacent to Hanes Park. Anna Goodman, a spokesperson for the collective, said she believes that the new stadium is unnecessarily expensive and would disrupt the natural setting of the park. “It’s more expensive than the school system would ever pay for,” Goodman said. Goodman argues that the facility would cost more than a regular stadium because of its location next to Hanes Park and the environmental impact it would have on its surroundings. She also blames the school board for letting Homefield Advantage get as far as they have. “It shouldn’t have even advanced this

HOMEFIELD ADVANTAGE

far,” Goodman said. “No one wants to tell them it’s a bad idea. If it was a good idea, the school system would have done it. It hasn’t been done because it’s environmentally hard.” But school officials indicate a new stadium for Reynolds may be inevitable. Based on findings from the 2016 assessment, the shared Deaton-Thompson stadium will need to be renovated or rebuilt after the 2024 bond. If Reynolds builds its own stadium by then, the newly renovated stadium will be for Parkland High School’s sole use. If not, the two schools will continue to share it. Dana Caudill Jones, one of four school board members who represents District 2, said in a recent Facebook Live video that while the board hears Homefield Advantage’s ask for more money, she noted that the district has other needs, too. “We also have some other needs before I think we can do a stadium,” Jones says in the video. “Part of that is our teacher supplement needs to go up. We need to try to give an increase of at least $15 an hour for our educational support team and so we have a lot of needs around the district.” Woodbury said that prioritizing projects is difficult and urged parents to be patient. “As a board member, I am here to make sure that we provide a great education for all children in our district,” she said. “When we start to talk about what some schools don’t deserve, we start to unfortunately be led by our adult emotions and egos and are not thinking from the needs of a child…. It’s about educating the whole child. One way or another, we have to find a way to have sports. It’s for the children.”

High Point community members turn out in force to support principal at High Point Central High School.

Up Front News Opinion Culture Shot in the Triad Puzzles

High Point community members rallied to support the principal at High Point Central High School, speaking out during the most recent meeting of the Guilford County School Board in response to a campaign by a small group of parents to remove her. Two speakers at the June 11 school board meeting called for Principal Shelley Nixon-Green to be replaced, citing safety concerns, worries about the stability of the International Baccalaureate program and the principal’s communication style. “We have a tragically deteriorating situation at High Point Central High School,” said Anthony Sedberry, a former parent. “We have weak leadership, and we’re putting our school at risk. Communication to the parents is absent. Safety for our teachers and students is not being taken seriously, and we have a frightening rate of teacher departure.” But during the June 27 meeting, 13 speakers, including the Parent-Teacher Organization co-president, educators, former students and a former county commissioner unanimously voiced support, and dozens more stood to show solidarity. Nixon-Green’s supporters comprised a multiracial coalition of black, white and Latinx people. “The issue is not whether Dr. NixonGreen is capable of being the principal of High Point Central; it is really nothing more than a witch hunt,” said Linda Willard, who formerly worked under Nixon-Green at her former assignment as principal of Penn-Griffin School for the Arts. “Unfortunately, some people in High Point are still stuck in the good-old-boy’s mentality,” said Willard, who is white. “The good old boys in High Point cannot deal with a successful and competent and intelligent African-American female.” The Rev. Greg Drumwright and High Point NAACP President James Adams said the movement to remove NixonGreen fits a pattern of interference by board members, who are white, to undermine the leadership of black female administrators. They took umbrage to critical comments by board member Anita Sharpe, a white Republican who represents the district where the school is located, in the High Point Enterprise.

“It suffices to say that High Point Central is not a happy place right now, and it hasn’t been for a while,” Sharpe said in the newspaper. “It doesn’t appear to be a team.” During the June 27, Blake Odum, executive of the Motivational Foundation, chided Sharpe without mentioning her by name. “I’d like to remind those in positions of power on this board that administrative personnel and the appointment of personnel is at the purview of the superintendent,” he said. “We have an expert superintendent. We shouldn’t even have things come out in the media against someone who is so profound for High Point Central.” Nixon-Green’s critics have also charged that she hasn’t adequately responded to safety concerns following a December 2017 incident in which an intruder fired shots inside the school. “Concerned parents have a hard JORDAN More than a dozen High Point community members spoke in support of GREEN High Point Central High School Principal Shelley Nixon-Green. time finding tangible policies or actions that have been implemented since the and parents,” said Withers, as her codid not comment on the school leadershooting incident in December 2017,” president Joanie Ratchford stood at her ship controversy during the June 27 charged Stuart Nunn, a parent of a risside. “And when the principal decides to meeting. ing senior, during the June 11 meeting. do what’s best for all students, she is met Khem Irby, a black Democrat whose Claudia Eldridge, whose daughter with resistance.” district covers the north end of High graduated from High Point Central High Nixon-Green also received an enPoint, had previously read a letter of School in 1997 and who now works as dorsement from Christine Joyner support for Nixon-Green during the June a counselor under Nixon-Green, said Greene, a leadership facilitator who is 11 meeting. during the June 27 meeting that Nunn’s the namesake of a school in Jamestown. On June 27, Dianne Bellamy-Small, comment was “hurtful.” Greene said she has been working with a black Democrat who also represents “Because Dr. Nixon-Green had Nixon-Green at High High Point, thanked supporters for trained our staff on lockPoint Central High showing up. down procedures, because School for the past “I want to take a moment to remind our administrative team ‘The issue is not four months. us we have some very well-trained staff,” had trained our student whether Dr. Nixon“She is an excepshe said. “Conversations have been had support staff and stationed tional, bright, caring about the safety of our schools. I feel it’s them at the entrances to Green is capable of and knowledgeable important to have folk understand that the cafeteria and because being the principal... leader,” Greene said. we’ve had police have to be called to our one of the support staff “She is intimately schools for various situations, but not one recognized that this it is really nothing involved with the time has the superintendent or staff had student was an intruder more than a witch curriculum and every to report to us that there was a tragedy and was not allowed into other aspect of the at those schools, whether it was fights, the building, a few shots hunt.’ school program. She whether it was an intruder, because of were fired but no one was – Linda Willard has personal qualities the well-trained staff.” hurt,” she said. that others follow, and Winston McGregor, a white DemoTonya Withers, cotogether great growth crat who was elected to the countywide president of the High Point Central is achieved by our students.” at-large seat on the board, also thanked High School Parent/Teacher OrganizaOther speakers, including former community members for sharing their tion, said she was disheartened to hear Guilford County Commissioner Bruce concerns with the board. negative comments made about NixonDavis, noted that High Point Central “I really support that this is in the Green at the previous board meeting ranked first for most improved high superintendent’s purview as the CEO and in the media. school in Guilford County during the of this $700 million-dollar-, 10,000-em“While being in this space, I have 2018-19 school year, and ninth for most ployee organization,” McGregor said. “I seen and heard parents attempt to make improved across the state. think she’s up to the task to make princidecisions for the school and question Despite being quoted in the High pal assignments, and I have confidence the decisions of the principal simply for Point newspaper, board member Sharpe in her and her choices.” the benefit of a select group of students

July 3-10, 2019

High Point community rallies behind high school principal by Jordan Green

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July 3-10, 2019

OPINION

EDITORIAL

CITIZEN GREEN

Like most lieutenant governors, North Carolina Lt. Gov. Dan Forest’s main job is waiting around for something terrible to happen to the governor so he can swoop in and claim his rightful position. Forest announced back in March his intention to run for Gov. Roy Cooper’s job in 2020, and he’s been using his post to stake out a far-right position with a platform that relies on fear, xenophobia, ignorance and everything else Forest has come to stand for since he first won election in 2012. Last week, while speaking to a conservative group at Cornerstone Church in Salisbury, Forest gave incontrovertible evidence that he is unfit to govern… anything, really, let alone one of the most multicultural states in the South. The nut quote: “God doesn’t want us to divide our state. He doesn’t want us to divide our nation…. And yet no other nation, my friends, has ever survived the diversity and multiculturalism that America faces today, because of a lack of assimilation, because of this division, and because of this identity politics. ‘God doesn’t want us “No other nation has ever to divide our state. He survived this,” doesn’t want us to dihe continued. “But no other vide our nation…. And nation has ever yet no other nation, been founded on the principles my friends, has ever of Jesus Christ, survived the diversity that begin the redemption and and multiculturalism reconciliation through the that America faces atoning blood of today.’ our savior.” – NC Lt. Gov. Dan Forest It’s important to remember that Forest is running for governor of North Carolina, and not head pastor at one of those churches where people handle snakes. Forest’s un-Americanism is self-evident: The entire American experiment is predicated upon multiculturalism, and freedom both of and from religion. He might as well have told the assembled crowd that he planned to quarter troops in their homes. But his Bible scholarship falls short as well. Forest cites Acts 2 in his ill-advised rant, the story of the Pentecostal gathering in Jerusalem where the tribes of Israel miraculously understood each others’ languages after being filled with the holy spirit. It’s one of the Bible passages that emphasizes the message of tolerance and understanding that is a pretty central theme to the New Testament. This makes Forest’s citation of it even more perverse.

The American Dream and Promise Act of 2019, which passed the Democrat-controlled House on June 10, establishes a pathway to permanent-resident status and protection from deportation for certain immigrants, including those previously eligible for Deferred by Jordan Green Action for Childhood Arrivals before President Trump canceled their status, and those with temporary protected status. With the backdrop of Republican lawmakers and a White House callous to horrifying conditions in detention camps at the border, it’s hard to imagine the Republicancontrolled Senate taking action on the bill. It’s hard to imagine North Carolina Sen. Thom Tillis, running scared from charges of “supporting open borders” in his upcoming primary, signing on. If that miracle were to transpire, it’s even harder to imagine a president who launched his reelection campaign with a warning that Democrats “would strip Americans of their Constitutional rights while flooding the country with illegal immigrants” signing such a bill. But on [a recent] Saturday morning, about 60 Latinx leaders, including pastors, business owners, at least one union activist and at least one student, met in the fellowship hall of Methodist church on the north side of WinstonSalem to plan a lobbying trip to request Tillis’ and fellow Republican Sen. Richard Burr’s support for the American Dream and Promise Act. “We are part of this society,” Pastor Sonya Vaca Zuniga told me. “We know that we have different levels, and we need to work on all levels and with all people, organizations, churches, business, unions because all of us are living here, and we have the same goal: to live with dignity, and to have peace and justice for our families.” The coalition of Latinx leaders, who get together once a month and organize under the banner of NC Latino Power, has already met with Winston-Salem police Chief Catrina Thompson and reached an agreement to honor protections granted under the U-Visa, which allows non-immigrants residents who have been victims of mental or physical abuse to stay in the country if they provide assistance to the police. They’ve held productive discussions with Forsyth County Sheriff Bobby Kimbrough. And they have a meeting scheduled with NC Attorney General Josh Stein on July 9. As one member of the coalition said, “We don’t go and yell in front of the Governor’s Mansion; we want a dialogue and a conversation.” Reyna Rodriguez, a Salvadoran immigrant, is among those who stand to benefit from the passage of the American Dream and Promise Act. She paid $1,200 to apply for temporary protected status when she came to the United States in 2001, and has paid $500 to reapply every 18 months. “Every single time they are checking my records, my background and they check my fingerprints,” Rodriguez said. “If everything is okay with my case, they renew my card. “I came to this country with my daughter when she was six months old,” Rodriguez continued. “She applied for

Forest chump

Latinx in NC, on a dream and a promise

Members of NC Latino Power gathered at Marvin United Methodist Church in Winston-Salem on June 29.

JORDAN GREEN

DACA. She is working and she is taking classes. Because she has DACA she can do that. Because I have [temporary protected status] I can have a driver’s license. I can work. I’m working in this country as a health educator. I am a single mom. Because I have TPS, I can work and provide for my kids, and I can do something good for my kids, plus the community. Because I love to help the community. This is my passion. I’m trying to do my best. Because I have TPS, I can do everything that is possible. We are asking the senators if they can help us with this to continue being good persons and continue doing everything legally.” Dr. Edwin Garcia added, “We are part of this country. We have been part of the progress of this country. In fact, there are many areas that really depend on the Hispanic labor. We are close to 50 percent of the labor force in construction in this state. In the tourism, food, many other areas we are part of the progress of this country. So, it’s not only 2.5 million Dreamers, but recipients of TPS are going to benefit from this…. We are part of the progress of this country, and we want to continue to be part of this country.” It’s hard to know what goes through Tillis’ and Burr’s minds, and whether they will hear the heartfelt petition of these Latinx residents of North Carolina when they go to Washington on July 26. It’s hard to know whether the people’s voice will reach the governing class in any meaningful way. It’s hard to know whether they will see their Latinx constituents from Forsyth County as actual people, as opposed to pawns in a larger political game. What is clear is that the Latinx residents of Forsyth pleading their case to the two senators from North Carolina embody the American ideal of participation and process, rights and responsibilities far more than those whose fearful and cramped identity is premised on whom they can exclude.

Up Front News

Maine lobster roll on buttered toasted bun from Lobster Dogs Food Truck

NIKKI MILLER-KA

Culture Shot in the Triad Puzzles

counterpart. Stumble Stilskins owner and New England native Chris Flathers has been selling Maine-style lobster rolls for over 5 years. Available for a limited time during the summer, customers flock to the bar for the generous portions of chilled lobster. Piled on a perfectly toasted split-top bun with a hint of mayonnaise and a lettuce leaf, it’s a seasonal favorite. King’s lobster roll is described as “traditional” on the menu. Served on an untoasted hoagie bun and stuffed with a modest amount of meat, the lobster is heavily seasoned, served with Cholula hot sauce and piping hot. Tossed with an addition of cooked onions casually on the bread, it’s anything but traditional. Served with the side of your choice (the crispy, battered French fries are excellent) and a ramekin of coleis anything but standard. Pier’s roll is described as “lobster salad on a buttered split-top brioche roll.” There seems to be more bread than salad, but the lobster is tossed in a heavy mayonnaise dressing and lightly seasoned. Also served with French fries, try the house grits as a more untraditional side to make this Northeastern-style sandwich placate a more Southern palate. Katharine Brasserie’s lobster roll has a prominent spot on its bar and lunch menus. A buttered and toasted brioche-style bun is layered with warm lobster meat tossed with lemon, dill, fennel and celery root remoulade garnished with a fresh watercress salad. And while I probably wouldn’t eat lobster from a gas station, I would absolutely eat one from a food truck. A light swipe of heavy mayonnaise on a buttery toasted New England split-top style bun and stuffed with claw and knuckle meat, the lobster roll from Lobster Dogs is a new favorite. Salt, pepper, a secret blend of seasonings and drizzled with melted butter, this simple preparation seems to be the way to go. Nearly six years ago, Chris Yelton of Mooresville started the Lobster Dogs food truck. Now he’s selling more than 300 lobster, crab and shrimp rolls out of two trucks each day, and is in the process of franchising his business to include two more trucks in North Carolina. People are in to it. “It’s been overwhelming in the Winston-Salem market,” said Yelton. “I’m not a TV show. I feel like people can relate to me. I’m hoping I can grow this thing as big as I can.” Yelton is referring to the Los Angeles-based Cousin’s Maine Lobster Truck, which made headlines on the NBC TV show “Shark Tank” and has franchises all over the country, including North Carolina. “There’s got to be a Pepsi to a Coke and being that I’m the local one, the popularity of the trucks is amazing,” he said.

Opinion

Warm or chilled. Butter or mayonnaise. Celery or salt and pepper. We are declaring 2019 as the Summer of the Lobster Roll. Not to be confused with by Nikki Miller-Ka a sushi roll filled with lobster meat and its accoutrements, we’re talking about the sandwich. Claw, knuckle, tail and leg meat of the most luxurious crustacean of the sea has found its way onto the plates and into the hands of food trucks, taverns and restaurants across the Triad. While there are a number of species of lobsters, the Maine lobster yields more meat and is known for its distinct sweet, succulent taste and almost buttery and creamy texture. Its origins are very modest. In Colonial times and up until World War II, the bug-like shellfish was considered so common that it was often derided as food for the poor. Lobsters were so plentiful on New England’s shores that they were often fed to prisoners. And when push came to shove, the crustaceans were crushed and tilled into the soil, used as fertilizer rather than consumed. The 10-legged animal eventually became a delicacy, found in the best dining clubs and in the kitchens of the elite — a story in itself. Lobster wasn’t rationed like other commodities so demand grew as did prices. Today, tied with caviar, shrimp and oysters, the lobster is one of the most expensive creatures of the sea. Some balk the price of lobster rolls, which can creep up to as much as $20 a pop. But it’s worth it. A handheld vessel that can take the labor out of cracking the tough exoskeleton and time-consuming preparation is an ideal meal option. It’s a palatable vehicle to get the sweet meat into your belly. You can find lobster rolls on a few menus here and there, but year-round area eats include Pier Oyster Bar and Grille in Greensboro; King’s Crab Shack, Katharine Brasserie in Winston-Salem; and Lobster Dogs food truck, which parks all over the Triad. And this summer, it seems they’re everywhere. The traditional lobster roll has a few variations. A Maine lobster roll is served on a buttered and toasted hot dog roll, filled with big chunks of chilled lobster meat that’s been tossed with mayo, giving it a blush hue and a creaminess. Sometimes, there may be small pieces of celery mixed in for added crunch. Connecticut-style rolls start with a warm, toasted New England-style bun, split from the top with white bread-like sides instead of a crust. Stuffed with warm lobster meat and dressed with warm butter, that is all there is to it, though lettuce may make an appearance to keep the bun from getting soggy. Connecticut lobster is also typically redder than its Maine

July 3-10, 2019

Nik Snacks The Summer of the Lobster Roll

July 3-10, 2019 Up Front News Opinion Culture Shot in the Triad Puzzles

CULTURE Ember Audio + Design brings back collaborative listening by Sayaka Matsuoka

t’s actually kind of weird. this thing.” A little more than a dozen Ember hosts the event on the last Friday of every month. people gather in the back room Several of the listeners in the audio-treated room have bags at Ember Audio + Design, sitting that lean against their chairs, filled with stacks of old vinyls. A in a semi-circle as they stare into space. sleeve featuring Jeff Buckley sits propped up next to a record Some watch as the black record, with by Winston-Salem’s Must Be the Holy Ghost in front of the finely-carved rings like a centenarian stereo set up at the head of the room. Slim, black tubular oak tree, spins on the player, the needle speakers flank the system as attendees listen to “Melt Down,” carefully transmitting the sounds etched nodding their heads as Jared Draughon’s tenor circulates into its skin. Others close their eyes and through the living room-like space. An intricate and deep red, sway. Persian carpet warms the concrete floor The group of strangwhile soft rectangular panels on the walls ers has gathered at the trap the sounds. Ember Audio + Design newly reopened audio The Friday evening rolls on with listener is located at 151 W. shop on West Ninth after listener presenting a new song for the Ninth St. in WinstonStreet, across from group to take in. Some visitors stop in for Wise Man Brewing, for a track or two while others sit patiently, Salem. Visit their its public vinyl demo absorbing each new genre, each new artist website at emberauevent — a long-beloved mindfully as the hours pass. diodesign.com to learn activity that the shop Gilbert Young, a local Winston-Salem artmore. Follow them on used to host at its ist who has been coming to Ember’s public old location on North vinyl demos for years, unveiled a collection Facebook for updates. Trade Street in Winof tracks by acclaimed jazz musician Kamasi ston-Salem. Washington, who has collaborated with “It’s kind of like hip-hop artists such as Lauryn Hill, Nas and karaoke meets show-and-tell,” explains Kendrick Lamar. Chris Livengood, one of the owners of Livengood picks the track “The Planet” from the case and Ember. “You sign up to play a record, and lays it on the player. on your turn, you say why you picked Young moves to the center of the room and takes the best seat in the house, situated perfectly to experience optimal sound, according to Jamie Livengood, Chris’s wife and business partner. Furious notes from a piano dance from the speakers, producing vivid imagery both chaotic and poetic, not unlike the splashes on a Jackson Pollock painting. The sharp sounds of a lone saxophone cut through the noise while the bassist plucks strings in the background. The storm of sound permeates the space, taking up every inch of the room, corner to corner. An apocalyptic choir harmonizes and ups the turmoil, casting an even more frantic feeling to the music. It’s a challenging

The set-up for the demo is pretty awesome.

SAYAKA MATSUOKA

piece to sit through and one that many might not listen to by choice. But that’s the point, says Livengood. “It’s about sharing music,” he says. “Different genres. It runs the gamut. It’s the most bizarre shuffled playlist. It helps people experience music in a way they haven’t before.” Livengood, who has worked in the audio business for the last decade, is a sound nerd. When selling equipment to customers, he asks them what they want to listen to and then tries to build a customized system for their exact needs. “In a world driven by online reviews, nothing is catered towards you,” he says. Unlike Amazon, the shop has a smaller selection but is filled with what Livengood says are the best products for listening to sound whether it be music or movies or podcasts. He’s got a range of systems at every price point and encourages customers to use the back room to test out the equipment when it’s not being used for events. “A high-end stereo shop is seen as something that appeals to 50-year-old golfers with deep pockets,” Livengood says. “But everybody has a right to a good listening experience. Everyone has the same right to music. We’re trying to make sure that there is something available for anyone who walks in.” The vinyl demo events further that collaborative, community-oriented spirit that they’re trying to achieve at Ember, says Livengood, who grew up poor. “You can share your enthusiasm for music and storytelling and connect with people,” he says. “We used to get excited about music. We would listen to music on a Walkman and shove the earbuds in our friend’s ear. That’s the enthusiasm we’re trying to capture. It’s still there, but there’s not a forum for it. We’re just trying to create that forum.” And that’s what keeps bringing people like Young back. “It’s the only place where you might listen to something new,” Young said. “You should always expand your ear.”

by Cason Ragland

Up Front News Opinion

The movie poster for the documentary, The Death and Life of Marsha P. Johnson.

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Shot in the Triad Puzzles

ary House with prominent activist Sylvia Rivera. The “house” Before Arroin got into lobbying, she had to get her life in functioned as a shelter for transgender sex workers and other order. outcast LGBTQ+ youth. Nothing like it had existed before in “I [once] went to Chemistry and ran into a man named the United States. She’s famously cited as one of the instigaDrew Wofford, he’s now the owner there, and we talked for a tors of the Stonewall rebellion in 1969, which celebrated its while.” she said. 50th anniversary this year, where LGBTQ+ community memWofford noticed Arroin’s struggle. She had just moved to an bers protested against the New York law-enforcement who apartment but she had no income. Wofford payed Arroin to policed their bodies. mow his grass and he later hired her to work the front door at “I was one of the queens [who] helped feed the queens that the club. were hungry,” said Johnson in 1992 during Arroin went back to school for nursing her final interview. She went missing four while she worked at Chemistry. The club days later and the NYPD eventually found was a safe haven, a place where her identity her body in the Hudson River. felt welcomed. In this environment, Arroin Pay It No Mind: The Life Johnson and Arroin share many things didn’t have to hide her dress under a leather and Times of Marsha P. in common. They each struggled with their jacket — she could express herself to the homelives, moved out of their parent’s place fullest extent. The cultural translucence she Johnson is available to with little to no money and worked as sex suffered for so long lifted like a veil and she stream on YouTube. workers. The most significant similarity, could finally achieve a successful life. though, is the role they played in the activist “Our movement began before Stonecircles of their respective communities. wall,” said Rev. Liam Hooper, one of the “It’s gonna be the first year that we’re other panelists. Hooper founded Ministries marching down 5th Avenue,” said Johnson in her 1992 interBeyond Welcome, an organization that aims to improve the view, referring New York’s gay pride parade for that year. “I lives of trans and queer people through public education, think that as long as there are people with AIDS and as long as advocacy, activism and general support activities. “There were gay people don’t have their rights, all across America, there’s bars burning; people died in them. The oppression queer folks no reason for celebration…. ’cause you never completely have experienced at that time happened every weekend…. And your rights until [we] all have your rights.” who stood up? The people who were least protected and least Arroin now carries the same torch that Johnson did all those able…. Black trans women, Latinx trans women…. Until we, years ago. the queer community, stand up collectively and those of us “As an activist, I’ve been involved in protests and lobbying,” with the privilege of white skin, or regular employment, are said Arroin. “I’ve gone down to State Street in Raleigh and I’ve willing to put the same amount of work [as] the most marginlobbied in the legislature’s office. I’ve talked to a lot of legislaalized groups put in, then we’ll never get free.” tors about Medicaid expansion in North Carolina so that it would include people living with HIV or AIDS.”

Culture

arsha P. Johnson, a transgender activist during the late ’60s and ’70s, lived for a time in a Hoboken, NJ high-rise apartment with a man named Randolfe Wicker. He largely tolerated her odd behavior but asked her not to wear drag when coming and going from the apartment. Instead, she wore bulky clothing, following Wicker’s request, and got on the train to New York. Her dress would peek out of the bottom of her leather jacket and by the time she got to Christopher Street in Manhattan, she’d take off the layers to reveal her authentic self. The International Civil Rights Center and Museum in Greensboro hosted a screening of Pay it No Mind: The Life and Times of Marsha P. Johnson, a feature documentary on Johnson’s life in New York as an activist. Afterwards, a panel of local activists held a discussion on the film and the LGBTQ+ rights movement. “[Johnson] had a glow about her,” said Roselynn Arroin, a trans woman of color who spoke as a panelist at the event. “Something others don’t understand. Her glow gave her strength and, ultimately, gave her respect in the LGBTQ+ community.” Johnson was like a lighthouse that stood tall in the ceaseless tempest of bigotry towards queer and trans folks. She’s inspired people like Arroin to become activists for the LGBTQ+ movement. “There was a corporate man who told me that I could sell myself to him in secret but that I couldn’t have a job at his company,” said Arroin, talking about her struggles to live genuinely with her gender identity. “Being at the bottom for so long — it challenged me to become an indestructible woman who built herself from the ground up and when white corporate America said, ‘No,’ she would say, ‘Yes.’” Arroin first came to Greensboro in 2010. She now works in home healthcare and takes care of two dogs with her boyfriend. For a while, though, things weren’t so idyllic. “I was homeless,” she said. “I had to depend on sex work…. I didn’t have [things] together was because I wanted to be my authentic self. The doors closed in my face every time, even though I had credentials and a degree. The only way I could survive was to sell my body.” Johnson moved to New York from Elizabeth, NJ after graduating from high school. Her life at home wasn’t pleasant; her mother knew nothing of the LGBTQ+ community and referred to homosexuals as “lower than dogs.” In 1970, Johnson helped to create the Street Transvestite Action Revolution-

July 3-10, 2019

CULTURE Documentary honors life of trans activist Marsha P. Johnson

July 3-10, 2019

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July 3-10, 2019

CROSSWORD ‘The Secret Ingredient’—time to rack your brain. SUDOKU