Greensboro / Winston-Salem / High Point August 22-28, 2019 triad-city-beat.com
The case for pre-K PAGE 17
Free school supplies PAGE 8
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Better school lunches PAGE 15
August 22-28, 2019
EDITOR’S NOTEBOOK
Back to school, again We took the old, getting on a school bus by herself in oldest back up the hour before sunrise for the long ride the mountain to to her magnet school, never once looking Boone on Friday back. for his sophomore We’ve seen them through kindergarten, year. The transfer spent years hoarding school uniforms, acdidn’t carry the climated to bus schedules and homework same initial sting rituals, joined PTAs, chaperoned the DC by Brian Clarey as it did that first trips, lost our tempers the night before the couple times, but the ache returned as science fair deadline, finally figured out soon as I saw his empty bed back at the what these kids will eat for lunch. house. We’ve cycled through closets full of I remember the first day I khaki pants and polo shirts. dropped him off at kindergarWe’ve burned through 50 ten, the shock of letting go backpacks. We’ve signed a We’ve seen them of his hand and watching him hundred permission slips. Did through kinderwalk away. I mention I chaperoned the garten, spent The middle child posed for fifth-grade trip to Washington years hoarding school uniforms, yearbook photos on Saturday, DC? Twice? acclimated to bus in the waning days before Now, it feels a little bit like schedules and senior year, then returned the endgame. homework promptly to the bedroom and I wish I could effectively rituals... shut the door. This one was so communicate the levels of cute in first grade that older stress associated with getting students in the elementary little kids dressed, fed and off school would stop to give the kid hugs in to school on time; enforcing the discipline the middle of the hallway. of homework on unwilling participants; The youngest, who begins her first year wheeling three kids through after-school of high school next week, seems like she’s activities at three different schools. just biding her time watching YouTubes Alas, I cannot. Just as I can’t quite anuntil she gets her driver’s license and peels ticipate what our lives will look like without off. all that structure, all that regimentation. I still remember watching her at 7 years And all those empty beds.
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
People don’t realize that it takes a lot more than just pens and paper or pens and notebooks to run a classroom.
—Janice Butler Pg. 8
BUSINESS PUBLISHER/EXECUTIVE EDITOR Brian Clarey brian@triad-city-beat.com
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August 22-28, 2019
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August 22-28, 2019
CITY LIFE May 22-25, 2019 by Savi Ettinger
THURSDAY Aug. 22
FRIDAY Aug. 23
Aquaman @ LeBauer Park (GSO), 5 p.m.
SATURDAY Aug. 24
Aggie Fun Fest @ Aggie Stadium (GSO), 9 a.m.
Up Front
ASL Night @ A Special Blend (GSO), 5 p.m.
Opinion
News
Grab some popcorn, a lawn chair or a blanket for a screening of Aquaman, starring Jason Momoa, as part of UNCG’s Spartan Cinema. The film follows the origin story of the DC ocean-themed superhero. Find the event on Facebook.
A Special Blend invites both those fluent in American Sign Language and complete beginners to an evening of learning in its first ASL night. Even if you don’t know anyone hearing imparied, American Sign Language is a valuable skill. Find the event on Facebook.
Avengers: Endgame @ BB&T Ballpark, 6:30 p.m.
This day-long festival in Aggie Stadium includes food trucks, football scrimmage, a vendor market and tons of Aggie Pride. Meet sports team members, grab snacks and merch, or just hang out and enjoy the day’s activities. Learn more at ncataggies. com. Second anniversary @ Fiddlin Fish Brewing Company (W-S), 12 p.m.
Puzzles
Shot in the Triad
Culture
Natty’s Birthday Party @ Natty Greene’s Brewing Company (GSO), 8 p.m.
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Celebrate 15 years of Natty Greene’s with a concert from the Ends. Listen to the band play both rock covers and original music, while GT Fusion provides the party fuel. Find the event on Facebook. Tyler Nail @ Muddy Creek Cafe & Music Hall (W-S), 8 p.m. Winston-Salem based singer-songwriter Tyler Nail takes to the stage with experience in drum, guitar and vocals. Nail pairs his own rugged voice with electric guitar, in a folk-turned-rock performance. Find the event on Facebook.
For those more attuned to the MCU: Head to the ballpark, not for baseball but to catch a free screening of the fourth installment of the Avengers. Watch the team battle in the wake of Thanos’ snap, while the sun heads down for the night. Learn more on Facebook. Whiskey Myers @ the Ramkat (W-S), 7 p.m. Whiskey Myers fills the Ramkat with their country rock sound, blending Southern sounds with classic rock. The Vegabonds join, throwing in a bit of alternative into the mix. Find the event on Facebook.
Throughout the afternoon and into the night, Fiddlin Fish Brewing Company hosts sets by Blue Dogs and Wristband for their second anniversary party. New beer releases, an adoption fair and a cycling meetup fill up the schedule for the birthday bash. Find the event on Facebook. Cosplay night @ Greensboro Ice House, 7:30 p.m. Hit the ice with the likes of Marvel heroes and anime characters during a cosplay night at the Greensboro Ice House skating rink. Wear a costume and get a deal on admission to an evening with prizes and tons of photo ops. Learn more on Facebook.
August 22-28, 2019
Beth McKee & Jeffrey Dean Foster @ Gas Hill Drinking Room (W-S), 8 p.m.
Scavenger Hunt @ Incendiary Brewing (W-S), 2 p.m.
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This show highlights Southern \Americana and folk in a duet performance from Beth McKee and Jeffrey Dean Foster. The duo combine new songs and previous releases to create this collaborative concert. Find the event on Facebook.
Put your Winston-Salem navigating skills to the ultimate test with a citywide scavenger hunt. Walk around the area to locations led by only clues and your group’s own wits to collect points at check-in spots. Learn more on Facebook. Food Truck Festival @ Greene Street (GSO), 3 p.m.
SUNDAY Aug. 25
Garage Sale Day @ Cooks Flea Market (W-S), 9 a.m.
Culture Shot in the Triad Puzzles
Find a plethora of mini garage sales going on simultaneously, or grab a spot to host your own. Cooks Flea Market provides a space to declutter, or to find new items to bring home. Find the event on Facebook.
This food truck feast rolls from afternoon snack territory to dinner to dessert. More than 50 food trucks offer up dishes and beer, with live music and a kid’s area to entertain. Learn more at greensborofoodtruckfestivals.com.
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August 22-28, 2019 Opinion
News
Up Front
The Triad’s best college football teams (preseason review) by Brian Clarey
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Culture
Coming off of a bowl win, the Aggies are the best college football team in the Triad right now.
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COURTESY IMAGE
1. NC A&T University Aggies (MEAC) We can talk all day about discrepancies: division sizes, strength of schedule, wins and losses. But the fact remains that the A&T Aggies were the only Triad football team to crack a nationwide poll. A&T made No. 18 on the pre-season College Football Yearbook Top 30 of all NCAA college football programs in the country. They’re the only MEAC team on the list, after winning a bowl game and the national HBCU title last year. Right now they’re at the top of the heap. 2. Wake Forest Demon Deacons (ACC) Wake Forest isn’t exactly setting the world on fire, but this is a big-time Division I program with resources many other (better) teams can’t touch. And they won a bowl game last year — the Birmingham Bowl — to extend a three-year bowl-winning streak. 3. Winston-Salem State Rams (CIAA) The Rams have fielded some excellent teams in years past, but this is probably not going to be their year. The CIAA predicts they’ll finish 6th overall this season, capturing Second Place in the Southern Division but still well out of reach of bowl season. 4. (Tie) Guilford College Fighting Quakers (ODAC) and Greensboro College Pride (USAS) It’s theoretically possible for the Triad’s smallest programs to ascend to the top of this list. Both have fielded some exceptional players over the years — just last year De’Eric Bell capped his career with the Fighting Quakers with 2,879 rushing yards and 32 rushing touchdowns — a school record. But they finished in last place in the ODAC, with an overall record of 3-6. The Pride likewise finished in the basement of the USAS at 1-9, going an astounding 0-7 in conference play. The Pride’s best play all year was in September, when two of the team’s players tackled an armed federal fugitive while watching a high school game in Sylva.
Shot in the Triad Puzzles
What do you hope for the future of Still the Days? I’m hoping that not only do people come and have a good time and think, Wow that was amazing, that has to happen again, but hoping that we have smaller shows that lead to the next big event. All we want to do is promote the next show and do the next thing. Because of the group of people that I’ve been working with, the skillsets we have, we have made this come together really easily. We have a strong group of people that we’ve been working with that makes me think that there will be another event. I’m talking about maybe doing a small event such as going into a coffee shop and it could be any space but that Still the Days is promoting the event and promoting events that you won’t see that often in Greensboro.
Culture
What’s one of the things you’re most looking forward to for this festival? I’m just excited to get all the different bands together. It’s a pretty diverse group as far as style and I’m just excited about people seeing that. I’m excited about the whole thing. I’m still chasing the dream of playing rock and roll and trying to bring people together. I hope to see everyone there. This is a perfect way to experience bands that you’ve never been able to go see that play in your town. I just want to make people aware of great music in North Carolina that they maybe haven’t seen before.
Opinion
What makes Still the Days different from other music festivals? I think what really makes it different is the concise, short sets. It’s kind of crazy to have more than 20 bands in one day. In this case, we have three stages and every 30 minutes there’s a band playing. If you went to Hopscotch, or Phuzz Phest, or I was even part of Greensboro Fest, they’re different. This one, it’s one time, one day from one to midnight and you can come at any time to catch whatever you want to catch. Some people were confused by the model because of how many bands we have, but you can pop in and pop out and a lot of people are excited about it. They think our town needs something like this.
News
How and why did the idea for the festival come together? Eric [Mann] and I kind of came together and put a group together to make this happen. I’ve been in bands since the ’90s in this town. I’ve seen clubs come and go. Honestly, I don’t feel like we have a club that really marries Greensboro bands with the North Carolina music scene that well. We don’t have a venue like the Garage that brings regional acts that help you build audience that way. We’re doing a big event, but this is the start of different events we’re trying to do in different spaces. None of us have the money to afford to buy a club to do what we wanna do but we can put on events like this. Editorial note: The Garage closed in Winston-Salem at the end of 2017.
Up Front
Joe Garrigan is co-founder of the upcoming Still the Days music festival, which takes place at Gibbs Hundred Brewing Co. on Saturday from 1 p.m. to midnight. The festival features more than 20 bands that will play 30-minute sets and will also host vendors, foods trucks and more. Admission is free but organizers will be taking donations at the event and online at stillthedaysfest.com. For more info, visit the website or find the festival on social media.
August 22-28, 2019
4 questions for Still the Days co-founder Joe Garrigan by Sayaka Matsuoka
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Free supply warehouse helps teachers save money on school materials Sayaka Matsuoka
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Up Front
August 22-28, 2019
NEWS
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Shot in the Triad
Christina Daughtry (left) and Jennifer Wilkins (right) work as teachers at Page High School and say they spend hundreds of dollars on school supplies for their classrooms and students each year.
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A free supply warehouse and a new parking citation initiative in Greensboro helps Guilford County School teachers offset the cost of buying materials for their students and classrooms each school year. Four-hundred seventy-nine dollars apiece. That’s how much teachers spend, on average, out of their own pockets on supplies for their classrooms, according to a national survey from 2015. But according to multiple interviews with Guilford County teachers, that number is low. “There’s years where I’ve spent thousands of dollars,” said Jennifer Wilkins, a 9th grade civics and economics teacher at
Page High School. Her friend Christina Daughtry, an 11th and 12th grade psychology teacher at Page High School, said she spends at least $500 per year on supplies for students. Both pushed carts filled with packs of computer paper, glue sticks, tissues, crayons and more at the teacher-supply warehouse off Pomona Road in Greensboro, in preparation for the new school year. The school supply initiative, which is a partnership between Guilford County Schools and the Guilford Education Alliance, has helped public school teachers offset costs by providing free supplies for the last 11 years.
Filled with both new and used materials, the warehouse is open to Guilford County Schools teachers and allows them to pick up supplies four times per year, with 25 spending points allotted each trip. New items in the front half of the warehouse like antibacterial handsanitizer, scissors, pencils, erasers and copy paper cost anywhere from 0.25 to 2 points while all of the supplies in the back portion of the building are free. Everything in the warehouse has either been donated by community members, businesses and closed schools such as the American Hebrew Academy, or has been bought by the alliance. Businesses can also set up supply drives to collect
SAYAKA MATSUOKA
materials or donate a portion of their sales to the alliance. “Teachers don’t make a lot,” said Karen Hornfeck, the strategic communications director for the Guilford Education Alliance. “And we want to make sure that they’re supported and that children have what they need to learn.” Hornfeck said that the alliance believes that teachers spend closer to $900 to $1,000 each school year on supplies, and that 94 percent aren’t reimbursed for the expenses. “It makes good economic sense for the community to support these children and these teachers,” Hornfeck said. “They’re the future workforce.”
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likely bring it back next year. Janice Butler said the warehouse is vital to keeping her classroom running. Butler is a teacher at Florence Elementary who works with special-needs children from the ages of 5 to 10 years old. She’s been a teacher for 13 years and has been shopping at the warehouse for the last five. “Special needs, we don’t always get a lot of the donations,” Butler said as she shopped around the warehouse. “Like they go to the regular teachers, so I buy lots of things for my classroom.” Butler pointed to fabric that she found in the free section of the warehouse that she plans on using to make weighted blankets to help calm kids down when they get anxious. She said she focuses on getting materials to build things she can reuse year after year. “Some years I’ve spent probably $1,000 or more,” she said. “[The warehouse] just helps ease some of the financial burden that teachers have to deal with. People don’t realize that it takes a lot more than just pens and paper or pens and notebooks to run a classroom.”
Up Front
younger kids, and we have to buy things through the end of August. This year, for them too, so you end up not being the warehouse will get additional supable to buy things for your classroom.” plies from a new city initiative that alCartons of crayons, Post-it notes and lows people to pay for parking fines with colorful folders filled her cart. school supplies. “I try not to ever add it up,” Ragusa “Nobody likes to get a parking ticket said about the school expenses. “If you but if we could get a little goodwill, we ever add it all up, you’d be really decould do some good for teachers and pressed. I throw away the receipts really students,” said Stephen Carter, the busifast.” ness and parking In the past manager for the Ragusa said city’s transportashe even started tion department. Learn more about the teacherAmazon wishlists “Every year a lot supply warehouse and the and posted them of teachers have online to ask for a good deal of Guilford Education Alliance at help from the expenses, and guilfordeducationalliance.org. we’re trying to community to buy supplies for help them out.” her classroom. As of mid“What people August, Carter don’t realize is these new teachers are said the city has received $615 worth of coming in, and they’ve got to stock a school supplies that will be donated to classroom,” Hornfeck explained. “That’s the warehouse. everything from a library, a variety of The option to pay for a parking citagames, things for if they have a rainy tion with school supplies goes through day, so a lot of extra things that these the end of the month, and people have new teachers are having to supply.” up to 30 days from the date of the Last year, Hornfeck said the warecitation to bring in school supplies, said house had more than 3,000 visits last Carter. He said that if the program year, from the day it opened in July proves successful, that the city would
August 22-28, 2019
Both Daughtry and Wilkins, who have been working as teachers for 14 and eight years respectively, said that they’ve never been reimbursed for the hundreds of dollars they spend on outfitting their classrooms each year. “I do get paid back, but not financially,” Wilkins said. “I have a lot of relationships with students who come back to say hi and keep up in touch, and I mean it’s worth every penny.” Teachers often pay for things they need to run their classroom like dryerase markers but they also spend money on supplies for students who may not have all of the rudimentary tools for success, like pencils, binders and books. And while it’s understood that paying for supplies is just part of the profession, it can be even harder on new teachers or those who have younger children of their own. Lindsay Ragusa, a kindergarten teacher at Brightwood Elementary, said having two young sons makes it hard for her to buy additional things for her classroom. “A lot of teachers, their kids are grown,” said Ragusa, who brought her 6-year-old son Ryan with her to the warehouse. “But some of us have
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August 22-28, 2019 Up Front News Opinion Culture Shot in the Triad Puzzles
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Whistling Dixie no more: Council votes to drop name from fair by Jordan Green Winston-Salem City Council voted 5-2 on Monday night to drop the name Dixie from the city’s annual fair, splitting the Democratic majority. The city of Winston-Salem’s annual fair will no longer carry the name “Dixie.” Winston-Salem City Council members voted 5-2 to make the change on Monday night, and in a separate vote instructed staff to develop a process to come up with a new name. The motion made by Councilwoman DD Adams, a Democrat representing the North Ward, did not specify when the change might be implemented. The difficult vote split the Democratic majority on city council, with only one white Democrat, joining three AfricanAmerican colleagues in supporting the name change, while one black Democrat officially abstained, although his vote counted as a yes. Adams said she hadn’t planned to speak about the motion, but her emotion was evident as she explained her vote, describing what it was like to be barred from attending the then whitesonly Dixie Classic Fair as a black child of working-class parents growing up in Winston-Salem in the 1950s and ’60s. “I couldn’t go to the Dixie Classic Fair, riding by with my dad, picking up my mom cleaning houses in Buena Vista, and we wanted to go because the lights were so bright and pretty as little kids,” Adams recounted. “And we were like, ‘Dad, Mommy, we wanna go.’ They did not have the whatever-you-want-to-callit within themselves to tell their children that they could not go because of the color of their skin. “And for those of you that came here, live here, born here that think that the people in this community that are colored people, that we don’t live under a quiet veil of pain, because you don’t understand our pain by these words that matter, you don’t understand that we couldn’t go downtown,” Adams added. “There was a ‘colored’ part of town and a white part of town, and some of y’all know beyond Church Street we couldn’t go.” Dan Besse, a Democrat who represents the Southwest Ward, was the only white member of council to support the name change. “The name ‘Dixie’ has no special connection to Winston-Salem or Forsyth County,” he said. “It’s widely understood
to refer to the American South generally, with all the associations that raises, from hospitality and sweet tea to Jim Crow and the Confederacy. The meaning of the name shapes itself to the experience of the beholder.” Mayor Pro Tem Vivian Burke, who represents the Northeast Ward, and Annette Scippio, who represents the East Ward, also voted for the change. Voting to oppose the change were Democrats John Larson and Jeff MacIntosh, who represent the South and Northwest wards, respectively. Robert Clark, the sole Republican on council, did not attend the meeting. Mayor Allen Joines said Clark was out of the country. Last week, Clark voted as a member of the General Government Committee to recommend the name change, arguing that it was time for council to make a decision and move on. Larson said the city received 11,000 public comments on the proposal to rename the fair, with 86 percent opposing the name change. “‘Dixie’ is a name that’s deeply embedded as a unique geographical region in this nation that’s synonymous with the South,” Larson said. “The application runs the full spectrum, from paper products to women’s names. Dixie sugar. Dixie cups. We’ve heard it all. Certainly these are not a celebration of slavery. Expunging the name ‘Dixie’ from the masthead of a fair will not remove it from the Southern lexicon, nor will it erase the shameful blot of slavery and the subsequent racism and curse that still holds on to this country and the South in particular.” James Taylor Jr., a black Democrat, said the ward he represents — the Southeast — is the most diverse in the city, with residents roughly split into thirds among African-Americans, Latinx people and whites. Taylor recalled that he floated the idea in 2015 of removing the name “Dixie” from the fair, and then selling the naming rights. At the time, Taylor said, he “received a lot of angry messages, a lot of death threats, a lot of veiled threats.” Because of the overwhelming opposition of his constituents, Taylor said he decided to back off from the proposal. “I don’t believe that allows me to change the word that I gave four years ago, not to move forward with what I believe has become a divisive issue in our city,” Taylor said, explaining his decision to abstain from the vote. “I also stand
Councilwoman DD Adams explains her vote to rename the Dixie Classic Fair.
behind my word, which my father taught me, and I teach to my children. When a man or a woman gives their word, they keep it. I stand by my word at this time but I also stand by my commitment to those constituents to not pursue this issue further.” Burke, who relinquished her position as chair of the Public Safety Committee to Taylor in 2013, implicitly rebuked him without mentioning him by name. “When you’re an elected official, I want you to know sometimes you’ve got to stand up to be counted like a man or a woman,” she said. During the public comment period after the vote, four people spoke in support of the decision, while three spoke against it. Kris McCann, an East Ward resident who has unsuccessfully run for state House, singled out Adams, accusing her of not caring. “Our fair isn’t changing because it’s a racist name,” McCann said. “It’s being changed because we have a group who wants to exercise racism on our council. I think it’s sad.” Then, McCann turned to Besse, who initiated an unsuccessful effort in early 2017 to pass a resolution declaring Winston-Salem to be a “welcoming city.” “I remember when you wanted to make our city a sanctuary city,” McCann said. “You didn’t care about the citizens of Winston-Salem. You would have had the citizens of our community walking in
JORDAN GREEN
the feces of illegal immigrants.” Following his racist comment against immigrants, McCann continued, “And, yes sir, I am entitled to my heritage, even though you don’t think that I am, and I intend to act on it. I intend also to exercise a committee to continuing looking at the possibility of running for mayor of this community.” Other opponents of the name change argued that it was a bad business decision. Richard Miller, a property owner on Trade Street, warned that the midway operator might “back out and go somewhere else.” James Knox, a tow-truck operator and Northeast Ward resident who lost a mayoral challenge to Allen Joines in 2013 after calling an election worker a “n***er,” predicted that the name change will discourage residents from Stokes and Surry counties from attending. Bishop Todd Fulton, the social justice chair of the Ministers Conference of Winston-Salem & Vicinity, applauded the council members for their decision, and then addressed the community at large. “If you want to name your dog ‘Dixie,’ have at it,” he said. “If you want to name your cat ‘Dixie,’ that’s cool with me. If you want to name your goldfish ‘Dixie,’ congratulations. “But no longer will we pay our taxpayer dollars in Winston-Salem to deal with the pain and the hurt.”
An elite black prep school in rural Guilford County resurfaced
Up Front News Opinion Culture Shot in the Triad Puzzles
The film opens with Henry Michaux, Class of ’48, reciting “The Palmer Creed”: “I have to live with myself and so/ I want to be fit for myself to know/ I want to be able as days go by/ Always to look myself in the eye/ I don’t want to stand with the setting sun/ And hate myself for the things I’ve done.” Graying, mustachioed and solemn, the retired 15-term NC House member from Durham and first black US attorney in the South since Reconstruction, recites it effortlessly. by Jordan Green Michaux, now 88, is seated near the front of Kimball Hall — previously the dining hall — on the campus of Palmer Memorial Institute in Sedalia for the premiere of The Correct Thing: Palmer Memorial Institute on Aug.17, looking much the same: solemn, intently focused, missing nothing. The title of the film comes from a book written by the school’s founder, Charlotte Hawkins Brown, who provided a roadmap for three generations African-American teenagers through the middle of the 20th Century. The meaning of the title on the little manual for black excellence and success is succinct and unmistakable: The Correct Thing: To Do — To Say — To Wear. As the top African-American college-prep boarding school in the United States, Palmer Memorial played an indispensable role in a racist and segregated society: equipping the upper echelon of black society with the knowledge, etiquette and confidence to take their place in a world that would subject them to intense scrutiny and magnify any flaw. The distinguished African-American prep school in rural Guilford County enhanced the prestige of black Greensboro, but it was also a world apart. It drew black students from across the United States and even from other countries, although some, like Michaux and Kay Brandon — a retired healthcare worker and northeast Greensboro community leader, came from North Carolina. Several of the alumni in the great hall for the premiere attest that they rarely left campus. Palmer Memorial Institute, an elite black prep school, was founded in 1902 by then 19-year-old JORDAN One of the rare exceptions, according to the alumni — onscreen and in person — was Charlotte Hawkins Brown and operated until 1971, when one of its buildings was destroyed by fire. GREEN chaperoned trips to Greensboro to go shopping and attend the movies. But even the movie outings involved special screenings to protect the students from the indignity of A man who has been taking photographs during the event rises and declaims that there’s segregated facilities and second-class seating. a fantastic story about Palmer Memorial Institute that remains untold, referencing founder As one of the alumni in the film recounts, the Palmer students were not completely Charlotte Hawkins Brown’s friendship with First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt, naming a teacher insulated from the world-shifting history unfolding in Greensboro. Witnessing a civil who established a phenomenal arts program at Palmer, and highlighting a visit by poet rights march in downtown Greensboro from their bus in the early 1960s, many of the high Langston Hughes to the school. school students naturally wanted to join the demonstration. But as the alum recounts, their Jamie Jones, the site manager of the Charlotte Hawkins Brown Museum, interrupts bechaperone told them: “There’s a time and place for everything, and this is not the time and fore Winston can respond. All that information is included in the free tours of the museum, place.” which is owned and operated by the NC Division of State Historic During the question-and-answer session, an African-American Sites and Properties, she says. woman who says she attended public schools in Greensboro in The Palmer Memorial Institute produced generations of excelthe 1960s, asks the director about the class background of the For more information about lence up to its final decade, and then it abruptly closed. A devasPalmer students. She says her parents were sharecroppers, noting tating fire in 1971 exposed the school’s precarious financial state. the Charlotte Hawkins Brown that the “not the time and place” comment in the film struck a blow came just at the moment when federal court orders were nerve. Implicit in her question, which goes unanswered, is why the museum, including free tours, The forcing public schools to meaningfully integrate, reducing the destruggle against segregation wasn’t also the struggle of the Palmer mand to fund an all-black prep school. Palmer Memorial Institute’s visit historicsites.nc.gov/chb students. (To give credit where it’s due, The Correct Thing does fate was sealed. note that at least one alum cited her experience being treated Winston’s film is primarily about the alumni and the founder. as a full person at Palmer with her decision to get involved in the Charlotte Hawkins Brown was born in Henderson, NC in 1883 sit-in movement during her college years because she couldn’t adjust to being treated as a and moved with her family to Cambridge, Mass. Alice Freeman Palmer, the president second-class.) of Wellesley College, spotted Brown pushing a baby stroller in her role as a nanny for a The woman in the next seat asks about colorism — whether the lighter skinned students prominent Cambridge family while holding a copy of Virgil in the other hand, and Palmer were treated differently than their darker skinned peers. decided on the spot to fund Brown’s education. Later, in 1901, Brown returned to her na“No,” says director Eric Winston. “There was none of that.” tive North Carolina to teach at a mission school in McLeansville. The school closed, but Winston, a Palmer alum himself and retired vice president for institutional advancement the following year Palmer reorganized it and reopened it, drawing on her New England at Columbia College Chicago, says he wanted to make a different kind of documentary. educational experience and raising funds from contacts in Massachusetts. Brown, who was Not an investigative exercise that shines a light on an unsavory target, but a film that celejust 19 years old at the time, named the school after her original benefactor, Alice Freeman brates its subject. Though respectful, the predominantly African-American audience shows Palmer. It’s a magnificent story. signs of looking for cracks in the façade as the question-and-answer session progresses. One woman asks why the film contains so little information about the faculty. Winston responds that no documentary can tell the entire story.
August 22-28, 2019
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August 22-28, 2019
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Chief Wayne Scott, in context Last week Greensboro police Chief Wayne Scott resigned from the position he’s held since March 2014, and the police force of which he’s been a part since 1991, when he was 21 years old. Five years is a pretty good run for a police chief in the current climate — the days of long-serving chiefs like Sylvester Daughtry, who served from 1987 to ’98, or William Swing, 1975 to ’84, are gone forever. Remember that the 1979 Greensboro Massacre happened on Swing’s watch. Daughtry was the city’s first black police chief, followed by the second, Robert White. And the department’s racial tensions that festered under their administrations surfaced in spectacular fashion during the tenure of David Wray, who came next. It’s impossible to understand Scott’s role as chief without touching upon the David Wray mess. Younger and newer residents of the city might be surprised to learn that a years-long scandal enveloped the GPD, one that saw a white administration investigating black members of the force, a Black Book, the forced resignation of the police chief and, later, the city manager. Later still there would be a show trial that steered the thing into the ground. These were dark times in the department, with public trust lower than it’s been at any time this century. Wray’s successor, Tim Bellamy, was a five-year placeholder, charged with ensuring that all the bad people were gone, and then Ken Miller came in for a restructuring before Scott rose to the position in 2014.
Scott was the safe choice, a 23-year veteran of the force who made sergeant under Chief White, had served in the motorcycle division and bike patrol, got promoted to lieutenant and then captain by Bellamy and became a deputy chief under Miller. Wray was the only chief who never promoted him. Scott, with a couple masters degrees under his belt, was supposed to be the intellectual, rational presence on the force. History had different plans. Scott made the New York Times in 2015, in a piece that noted that black drivers get pulled over more than whites (TCB’s Eric Ginsburg contributed reporting to the story). In 2016 he presided over one of the first releases of body-camera video in the footage that showed a Greensboro officer killing Chieu Di Thi Vo, who was mentally handicapped. He also brought out video of a GPD officer roughing up Dejuan Yourse while Yourse sat on his mother’s porch. In 2017, there was Jose Charles, a 14-year-old who was beaten by Greensboro police during the Fun Fourth Festival the previous year. And then there was the 2018 death of Marcus Smith, who died while hog-tied in police custody, all of it captured in excruciating detail in footage released to the public. A police chief often gets judged by his worst failures. But this much is true: Scott has been the longest-serving chief this century. And compared to his predecessors in that timeframe, he’s the best of the lot.
August 22-28, 2019
Nik Snacks A guide to better school lunches
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Up Front News Opinion Culture
Mini quiches (pancetta, goat cheese from Goat Lady and tomatoes), kale cabbage salad, mixed berries and some no-sugar added vanilla flavored whipped cream.
SAMANTHA ABSHER
Puzzles
“I hate it so much,” she says. “Not that I can’t pack “He used to take peanut-butter sandwiches or apples my favorite convenience food, but because there are with peanut butter to dip them in, but we will just omit children and people out there with such life-threatening that from his lunch this year. Possibly in the future, too. allergies that they can’t even leave their house or invite I plan to tell his teacher that he can always count on his people into their house without the threat of dying.” being nut-free so that he can sit at the nut-free table According to the Food Allergy at lunch. I hate the idea of kids and Research Education organizaWebsites with great lunch ideas: feeling isolated due to a ‘differtion, researchers estimate that ence.’ PaniniHappy.com 32 million Americans have food “Our food preference is not Tablespoon.com allergies, including 5.6 million greater than the safety of anchildren under age 18. That’s one other person. So, we will happily Weelicious.com in 13 children, or roughly two in pack all the other alternatives.” CupcakesAndKaleChips.com every classroom. The diversity of the midJennifer’s son, Jude, is a vegetarday meal in school varies from ian and is somewhat persnickety student to school to region and in his diet. But Fletcher says he is used to taking a expands beyond cultural and taste preferences at every variety of things. turn. This year as students go back to school, hopefully “Sometimes we send leftovers, sometimes macaroni new favorites will emerge from the classic lunchbox. and cheese with peas, little squares of cheese with crackers, veggie dogs, chicken-less fingers,” she says.
Shot in the Triad
he most iconic scenes in movies about school are the those set in the cafeteria. Nerds over here, jocks over there and the “You can’t sit with us” table. The fictional depiction of the lunchroom hierarchy has less to do with what kids are eating and more about social standing. But in today’s lesson, we’re talking to parents about what they’re packing for lunch, how they’re packaging it and if their kids are eating what’s been packed for them. Amy Barton’s 11-year-old son Jay hates sandwiches, which can be a problem. “I have found the website tablespoon.com to be helpful,” she says. “They have great appetizers that I make on the weekend and send all week.” She’s made empanadas, macaroni-and-cheese bites and cheeseburger sliders. “It has worked out really well,” Barton says. “He gets to help choose what we make. If we run across a dud, he has to finish what we made, and we mark that one off the list.” Meal prep on the weekends and at night help for quick packing in the morning, and result in healthier lunches than packaged food. Samantha Absher used to do “fancy” lunches for her teenaged sons. While some parents’ main concern is food allergens, Absher had another detail to contend with. “We were getting my youngest off of processed food in an attempt to get his ADHD under control,” she explains. In a concerted effort to pack diverse and colorful meals that her kids would actually eat, she turned to reusable bento boxes and silicone cupcake liners to make lunch great again. Bento is a home-packed meal common in Japanese cuisine. A traditional bento holds rice, noodles, meat and vegetables, all neatly packed in a box. Containers range from mass-produced disposables to hand-crafted ceramic and melamine-coated boxes. Parents in the Triad use the same techniques, like Absher, to create interesting and creative choices for the kids. One day it could be an egg wrap with prosciutto, greens with sweet balsamic dressing, cherry tomatoes and blackberries with almond-flour shortbread cookies dipped in orange dark chocolate. On another, they might find mini pancetta and goat-cheese quiches with tomatoes, kale-and-cabbage salad with mixed berries and vanilla whipped cream under the lid. “People always say, ‘I wish my kids would eat that stuff!’” she says. “They didn’t at first. And guess what? They were hungry in the afternoon. It’s a natural consequence of choosing not to eat, and they lived. “After about two weeks they were telling me how they’d get so excited to see what was in their lunch boxes each day,” she adds. Jennifer Fletcher just found out that her secondgrader, Jude, is in a nut-free room this year.
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August 22-28, 2019 Up Front News Opinion Culture Shot in the Triad Puzzles
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CULTURE Moms Demand Action founder visits W-S, advocates for gun control by Sayaka Matsuoka
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treams of women and men wearing bright red T-shirts trickled into the Footnotes café attached to Bookmarks in Winston-Salem on Friday afternoon. Each held a hardback titled, Fight Like a Mother: How a Grassroots Movement Took on the Gun Lobby and Why Women Will Change the World. A few minutes later, the author herself graced the stage. “The day that the tragedy happened, I was folding laundry,” Shannon Watts said to the crowd. “I can remember being in my bedroom watching the news come in… that there was an active shooter in Newton, Conn. And I can remember thinking…, Please don’t let this be as bad as it seems… and even now, six and a half years later, it is hard for me to fathom that 20 first graders and six educators were gunned down inside an American elementary school.” Watts founded Moms Demand Action — a grassroots movement made up mostly of mothers who stand against gun violence. She spoke with Liz Noland, the co-lead of the local Moms Demand Action chapter, during the event. A crowd of close to 100 people gathered to hear the author and activist speak, many of whom were wearing the movement’s signature red shirts. A mother of five from Zionsville, Ind., Watts explained that she began Moms Demand Action after grieving for the children killed at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut in 2012. “I started getting really angry,” Watts said. “A, that this had happened, but B, that I was seeing pundits and politicians on television telling me that the solution was more guns.” A little more than six years later and the movement that Watts started through a Facebook group has grown to more than 6 million supporters and a chapter in every state in the country. Fight Like a Mother, Watts’ recent book, covers the founder’s journey from the beginning of the movement and what she hopes the future looks like. Watts mentioned the many victories, including legislation that supports background checks and red flag laws in dozens of states, fighting thousands of bills backed by the NRA and helping get what Watts calls “gun sense” politicians into office. During the Q&A, Watts encouraged attendees to get involved by talking to school board members and looking up
Moms Demand Action founder Shannon Watts speaking at Footnotes Café in Winston-Salem last Friday.
SAYAKA MATSUOKA
politicians’ gun stances online while Noland spoke about the she was inspired to attend the event to learn more about how efficacy of canvassing door to door. to become a stronger proponent for gun safety. Malishai Woodbury, the chair of the Winston-Salem/For“I’m very concerned about gun violence in our country,” syth County School Board, attended the event and said that Valentine said. “This is an epidemic and it just seems like we she hopes that the new partnership with the sheriff’s departare at an impasse.” ment to have at least two school resource officers in each high While she considers herself an introvert, Valentine said she school with more than 1,000 students will help keep schools would try to email legislators and cavass through texting for safer. the upcoming elections. “I’m taking the recommendation on the lead law enforce“It seems like when we talk about gun control, it equals ment agency to secure our children,” said Woodbury. “The in many minds gun confiscation and the conversation shuts sheriff has been very intentional about proposing to us that down,” Valentine said. “There’s a lot built upon that fear in our the SROs will look different than in society about taking guns away. We the past. That this person will be very have a problem in this country that proactive about building relationships no other country comes even close to For more info about Shannon authentically with our students and and so are there things that we can helping them to make better decido like background checks or talking Watts and Moms Demand Action sions.” about how we keep guns safe, magavisit momsdemandaction.org. Woodbury also brought up a point zine capacities that make it harder made by Watts that active-shooter for somebody to mow down 20 first drills in schools do more harm than graders?... What I hear sometimes good. Watts noted that according to data, the drills can cause is, ‘Well the bad guys are still gonna get guns.’ Well does that anxiety and depression in children and often don’t help in situmean we can’t even try? I mean we have more regulations for ations of actual violence. our cars or for our allergy medicine than we do for guns and Woodbury said that she’s interested in learning more about it’s just out of control.” the issue and that she would be open to bringing a motion to In the wake of mass shootings in Dayton and El Paso, and as the school board to change the current active-shooter drill the school year gets started this week, Watts urged attendees procedures. to be patient and to keep working for gun safety. “I wouldn’t want to put [students] in any phycological harm “This is like any social movement,” she said. “It takes time. because of the need to see how to act in a bad situation,” she It’s hard work. It takes grassroots effort on the ground that said. eventually points the president and the Congress in the right After the event, mothers and volunteers with Moms Dedirection… and if it [doesn’t], that momentum isn’t gonna dismand Action lagged behind to recap the event. Laurie Valensipate and there will be hell to pay in the 2020 elections.” tine, a mother of two rising seventh-grade twin daughters said
by Savi Ettinger
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Up Front News Opinion Culture
A screenshot from the film shows a group of kids learning in a classroom.
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have changed,” Marceron explains, “so more women are in sity, lays out an idea of what the ideal learning environment the workforce, more families have two working parents, and for a child under 6 would look like. the blessing of child-rearing is shared “You don’t see a bunch of kids sitwith childcare providers.” ting in desks,” Phillips says. The film lays out a wide array of Giannini leads a group of children To learn more about No Small issues that contribute to the larger outside and kneels down beside a gap in both at-home and professional gardening box. Armed with some Matter, visit nosmallmatter.com. education for children under six. Low nonfiction picture books and dirtFor more information on Kaplan pay for childcare professionals often covered hands, the children dig for Early Learning Company, visit leads hard-working educators to bugs to learn about. A child yells that leave the field. Parents may work a they found a rock-looking object. kaplanco.com. job or two each to fund both housing They guess it might be an egg sac. and childcare. Poverty leaves families Giannini perches a picture book on at a harsh disadvantage. the wooden planter and opens it up, Aside from the personal anecdotes and peeks into the displaying the pages to the group to see if they can match up personal struggles of everyday parents, the film consults a what it is. Later, she asks the small group to share what type great deal of experts, balancing emotional stories with expert of egg they found with the class. opinion. Deborah Phillips, a professor at Georgetown Univer“A praying mantis!” a child shouts out.
Shot in the Triad
o one’s going to love your child the way you do,” Wahnika Johnson says. “No one’s going to care for your child the way you do. But I’m looking for the closest thing to it.” Johnson’s daughter pouts in the backseat of her car as she drives her to her first day of preschool. Like thousands of parents do each day, Johnson must place her child in the care of another so she can work. “If I could stay at home,” Johnson says, “I’d stay at home in a heartbeat.” Eleven million children under the age of 5 find themselves in the care of a person besides their parents for half of their waking hours, according to No Small Matter, a film that chronicles the hurdles that Johnson and other parents face to balance life with raising children. The documentary hosted by Kaplan Early Learning Company screened at a/perture cinema on a recent Saturday afternoon. The film itself, made by Kindling Group and Siskel Jacobs Productions, was created to organize information about the need for something called “the early childhood movement.” The campaign aims to raise awareness of the importance of a child’s pre-kindergarten years, and to advocate for a society that allows children and families to thrive. Matthew Marceron, president and CEO of Kaplan, says the screening functions as a tool to build awareness for the issue and to market for Kaplan’s business.. “There is a common misconception that school begins at kindergarten or first grade,” he says after the film. “The early years are of paramount importance to ensuring the success of children as they enter traditional school and embark on their education journey.” Rachel Giannini, a preschool teacher, gathers a group of more than a dozen children onto the large mat in her classroom. She asks for a problem that the group can solve. One child, hand held high, mentions a fight. Giannini mimes getting into a preschool-level argument with another teacher, the two bantering back and forth, while the children brainstorm how to handle conflict resolution. Unlike Giannini’s aptly named Yellow Room, the vast majority of childcare fails to provide quality curriculum according to the film. No Small Matter places the share of high-quality childcare facilities in the country at 10 percent. “Of course, our economy and society
August 22-28, 2019
CULTURE Documentary stresses importance of early childhood development
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August 22-28, 2019
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1 “The Liberator of Italy” 10 REO Speedwagon lead guitarist Dave 15 1995 hit for Tripping Daisy 16 “Skip to ___” 17 Final stage, often 18 Apportion 19 Doesn’t lose money or turn a profit 21 Isn’t 100% 22 Greek New Age keyboardist 23 Smart remark 25 “Uncle” of early TV 26 Universal plan in Japan, for short 27 Currency where the “soberano” variety replaced the “fuerte” in 2018 ©2017 Jonesin’ Crosswords (editor@jonesincrosswords.com) 32 Detective, often 34 Simian 35 It followed “and” in the “Gilligan’s Island” theme song, early on 36 Back out 37 Puts up a fight 38 “R.I.P.” singer Rita 39 Editorial writer 42 Indian princess, once 44 “Downsizing” star 49 Team obstacles Answers from last issue 50 Unprocessed video 14 Periphery 52 Mates of vacas 20 Choice word 54 Insufficient 24 Dwarf planet named for a Greek goddess 55 Of the kidney 25 Do well on a hole, maybe 56 Coincidental 27 Collection of air pressure data 57 Northern California town that once had a 28 Mozart fan, perhaps palindromic bakery 29 She played Glinda in “The Wiz” 58 A bridge from Philadelphia is named for her 30 Land in a riviere 31 Bounce Down 33 Former shipping nickname 35 Wooden hideout in more wood 1 Lead singer Haynes on the 1996 hit “Pepper” 40 Nursery rhyme trio’s place 2 Prefix with phobia 41 “That’s a ___ on me!” 3 Dolphins QB Josh nicknamed “The Chosen One” 43 Saturated 4 “___ honor” 44 Ornamental mat 5 “Perfect Strangers” cousin 45 Rose petal extract 6 Long stretch 46 Cibo ___ (trip-hop group that split in 2017) 7 Fireball 47 Gazes extremely rudely 8 Villain whose real name is revealed to be 48 Requisites Dougie Powers 51 World Cup cheers 9 Most sickly 53 Infamous 1974 bank-robbing gp. 10 Reddit Q&A session
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August 22-28, 2019
CROSSWORD ‘Some More Words’—this time, themeless.
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