Greensboro / Winston-Salem / High Point October 24-30, 2019 triad-city-beat.com
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Cold Steel PAGE 13
The fish plates PAGE 11
Generation celebration PAGE 12
October 24-30, 2019
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EDITOR’S NOTEBOOK
Getting worse to get better
by Brian Clarey
UPCOMING EVENTS Friday, October 25th
Friday, November 8th
DJ-L in Japanese Disco and funk music
Viva La Muerte
Saturday, November 9th
Saturday, October 26th Irata w/ Caustic Casanova Zombie Prom 2019: Sunday, November 10th Mightier Than Me, 2nd Today, Vintage Falcons, & ChristiNZakk
Cimorelli (early show)
Thursday, October 31st
Thursday, November 14th
Halloween Party w/ The Velvet Devils, Eno Mtn Boys & Wax Imperials
Whistler & more tba
Tuesday, November 12th Brother hawk
friday, November 15th 2019 GGF Women’s Party
Saturday, November 2nd Saturday, November 16th The Devils Notebook, Zodiac Panthers and Night Terrors
Angie Aparo
The Tremors +TBA Every Wednesday
Open Mic Hosted by DC Carter
221 Summit Ave. Greensboro, NC Across from The Greensboro historical museum
I tell the young writers — and also the young musicians, singers and other artists who are patient enough to listen to me babble on — that this is an important point in their creative development, because it means they’re starting to notice how good they’re not. It means they’re getting better. I’m keeping that in mind during this lull in my own creative flow. When I started, I would sometimes type all night. I filled notebooks with all manner of observed minutiae, half-formed insights, seedlings for stories I never got around to writing. When I was in the meat of it, I’d sometimes put down 10,000 words a week for publication, some of them assembled in such a way that I would still consider them good, though I know well how good I wasn’t, how good I’m still not. Writing is hard, I always remind the young people, one of those endeavors that, like long-distance running or banging one’s head against the wall, feels best when it’s time to stop. And if you’re doing it right, you’ll never be as good as you aspire to be, but you’ll keep getting better at it, even when you think you’re getting worse.
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
So, we said, ‘We are going to defend our house, and we may die in the process’
— Randall Jennings on Pg 10
We Rise To Fall
WEEKLY EVENTS
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as easily as they should. In the beginning, my approach was reverent, almost mystical. I really bought into the moth-and-flame analogy, that I was somehow a mere vessel for the notions that poured forth like fresh wine when I was young and raw. That was before I knew that a real writer doesn’t sit around waiting for inspiration before starting to type. A pro hits deadlines. A pro makes word count without padding. A pro tries to ease a little something more into the story: some subtext, a little allegory, maybe a motif. I tell the young writers under my charge that, in the beginning, there will come times when they will believe that their creative output is actually getting worse. I know this because it’s happened to me so many times, might even be happening right now.
Thursday, November 21st
Thursday, November 7th Saturday, November 22nd Whistler & more tba
I’ve been struggling with my writing lately. That’s nothing new — writing is hard, and all writers go through periods when the words don’t come
BUSINESS PUBLISHER/EXECUTIVE EDITOR Brian Clarey brian@triad-city-beat.com
PUBLISHER EMERITUS Allen Broach allen@triad-city-beat.com
EDITORIAL SENIOR EDITOR Jordan Green
1451 S. Elm-Eugene St. Box 24, Greensboro, NC 27406 Office: 336-256-9320 Greensboro: NC A&T University’s Cold Steel Drum Line, in our STAFF WRITER Savi Ettinger savi@triad-city-beat.com GHOE issue [Photo by Carolyn de Berry] ART ART DIRECTOR Robert Paquette
jordan@triad-city-beat.com
robert@triad-city-beat.com SALES
sayaka@triad-city-beat.com
gayla@triad-city-beat.com
ASSOCIATE EDITOR Sayaka Matsuoka SPECIAL SECTION EDITOR Nikki Miller-Ka niksnacksblog@gmail.com
KEY ACCOUNTS Gayla Price CONTRIBUTORS
Carolyn de Berry, Matt Jones
TCB IN A FLASH @ triad-city-beat.com First copy is free, all additional copies are $1. ©2018 Beat Media Inc.
Winston-Salem: Larry Little and Polly Graham resisting an eviction in Winston-Salem in January 1970 [Photo courtesy of Larry Little]
October 24-30, 2019
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October 24-30, 2019
CITY LIFE Oct. 24-27, 2019 by Savi Ettinger
THURSDAY Oct. 24
Culture
Opinion
News
Up Front
Owens Daniels @ SECCA (W-S), 6 p.m.
Crystal Bright & the Silver Hands @ Doodad Farm (GSO), 7:30 p.m.
The Wolves @ Sprinkle Theatre (GSO), 7:30 p.m. The theater department of UNCG hosts this play about a teen girls’ soccer team as they gossip and tell stories. The play runs through the weekend. Buy tickets and learn more at uncgtheatre.com.
Shot in the Triad
Chick Corea Trilogy @ Wake Forest University (W-S), 7:30 p.m.
Head to Wait Chapel for a concert by Chick Corea. Chick Corea has won more than 20 Grammy awards for his skills in jazz music, piano playing and composing. Find the event on Facebook.
Puzzles
FRIDAY Oct. 25
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Hansel & Gretel @ Van Dyke Performance Space (GSO), 1 p.m. The Greensboro Ballet brings this fairy tale to life, through a dance interpretation of the story. Kids can make their own treats and wear costumes to join in the mythical fun. Learn more at thevandyke.org.
SECCA’s Preview Gallery unveils Brown Paper Bag, an exhibit by Owen Daniels, as part of its Southern Idiom series. Daniels focuses on colorism in media and how it affects everyday life for African-Americans. Learn more at secca.org. Mamma Mia! @ a/perture cinema (W-S), 7 p.m. Take a cinematic trip to a Greek island filled with ABBA songs during this screening of Mamma Mia! The film follows Sophie, a young woman, in the days before her wedding, hoping to find her true father so he can walk her down the aisle. Find the event on Facebook.
Fright Light @ Greensboro Science Center, 7 p.m. The Greensboro Science Center dims the lights for a night of colors and spooky sounds. The show offers a lineup of laser illusions set to rock and Halloween-themed music. Find the event on Facebook.
Apple Market @ Historic Bethabara Park (W-S), 10 a.m. This marketplace features food trucks, local apple orchards, and other fall attractions. Explore a petting zoo exhibit, dance to live music, or watch a historical re-enactment. Find the event on Facebook.
Bring a lawn chair or a blanket and sit on the lawn for a concert from Crystal Bright and the Silver Hands. The singersongwriter fuses indie pop with a gothic vibe for an eclectic sound. Find the event on Facebook. Dracula @ Triad Stage (GSO), 8 p.m.
Triad Stage performs a Halloween time terror with a stage adaptation of Dracula. The blood-sucking Bram Stoker classic runs through Nov. 10. Buy tickets and learn more at triadstage.org.
Boo in the Park @ Artivity at the Park (W-S), 6 p.m. The downtown art park in Winston-Salem turns into a haunted festival, filled with jack-o-lanterns, costumed guests and masked figures. Join in on creative activities, or hop in the parade of those dressed up for the spooky holiday. Find out more on Facebook.
SUNDAY Oct. 27
One-year anniversary party @ Chez Genese (GSO), 1 p.m. Chez Genese marks their first year of business with an afternoon of hors d’oeuvres, cake and celebration. The French restaurant aims to make the culinary field more inclusive by hiring those with developmental disabilities. Find the event on Facebook. Halloween trick or treating @ Old Salem (W-S), 5 p.m.
Alasdiar Fraser & Natalie Haas @ Muddy Creek Cafe & Music Hall (W-S), 8 p.m. Alasdiar Fraser and Natalie Haas combine their talents in string instruments for a show that heightens the Scottish fiddle traditions of fiddle with a rhythmic cello. The duo’s intermingling results in a modern perspective on old musical traditions. Find the event on Facebook.
SATURDAY Oct. 26
Halloween Comic Festival @ Acme Comics (GSO), 10 a.m. Head over to this Greensboro comic shop to browse a market full of artists, crafted creations and food vendors. Grab an art print, a new comic or some kettle corn and enjoy a nerdy early-Halloween party. Find the event on Facebook.
Travel around historic Old Salem for a family-friendly night of trick-or-treating. Dress up to stroll along the cobblestone pathways and gather candy at each building. Find the event on Facebook.
October 24-30, 2019 Up Front News
Opinion
Culture
Shot in the Triad
Puzzles
5
October 24-30, 2019 Up Front News Opinion Culture Shot in the Triad Puzzles
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Ethical consumerism by Sayaka Matsuoka It all started about two months ago. most big-box chain stores. That meant no I was talking to my fiancé about some more Walmart, no Target and, for a while, article I read about Jeff Bezos, the no Harris Teeter. Instead, we became founder and CEO of Amazon, when he members at our local co-op with an ocwent off. casional trip to Earth Fare. We started “I hate Jeff Bezos!” he exclaimed. “No frequenting the farmers markets on the one should ever make that much money, weekend. And we signed up for a new ever.” membership — Thrive Market, an online And it’s true. marketplace like Amazon that curates and Earlier this year, Bezos topped Forbes’ sells the kinds of products you might see list of world billionaires for the second year at Whole Foods: organic, cruelty-free, in a row, coming in at a whopping $131 vegan, and the like. They even donate a billion fortune. membership to a family who needs it for A popular tweet recently pointed out every membership they sell. that if “you worked every single day, makAnd it’s been a pain the ass, but it feels ing $5,000/day, from the time Columbus good. sailed to America, to the time you are Ethical consumerism is growing in reading this tweet, you would still not be popularity, especially among my generaa billionaire, and you would still have less tion — the millennials. We check labels for money than Jeff Bezos makes in a week.” ingredients and care if our face wash has I looked into it. It been tested on rabbits. checks out. Things like fair trade And it would be one Ethical consumer- and organic matter to thing if Amazon, which us. ism is growing in we’ve used for years — But it’s not perfect. buying into the Prime Today, I didn’t have popularity, espemembership and an time to go to all the Echo Dot and all — was cially among my way to the international a “good” company. grocery store across generation — the It might even be fine town for seafood, so if it was just a neutral I stopped into Harris millenials. company. Teeter for ingredients But that’s not the for dinner. But at least case. that money isn’t going into Bezos’ pocket. Multiple news reports have revealed I even started a spreadsheet a few the substandard conditions that Amazon weeks ago listing companies and stores factory and warehouse workers face on a by how “ethical” they were. This included daily basis. Things like not feeling like they factors like the number of stores, their could go to the bathroom or being forced Glassdoor rating and reports of how they to work until they passed out. Look it up, treat their employees. it’s all out there. And that doesn’t even With shops like Trader Joes and Aldi it’s take into account the fact that Amazon harder. They’re huge multi-million-dollar continues to put mom-and-pop and indecorporations but with a history of treating pendently owned shops across the country their employees pretty well. out of business, because Americans don’t So like I said, it’s not perfect. mind paying for memberships as long as But we have the means to do better, so we get what we want, fast and cheap. we are. And with everything falling apart A few days ago, we canceled our around us: the government, the climate, Amazon Prime membership. We stopped our mental health, why not try if you’re shopping at Whole Foods. But we took it able to? further. We decided to stop shopping at
Up Front News Opinion Culture
Outside of GHOE — NC A&T University’s annual extravaganza — I have very little experience with HBCU homecomings besides a decade or so of working through the Bayou Classic in New Orleans and a passing familiarity with Beyoncé’s recent work. But I know that A&T’s is the greatest homecoming on Earth True, most HBCUs have a homecoming. There are HBCUs older than A&T, more prestigious, with more money, better football teams and more distinguished alumni. But A&T is like the Don Cheadle of HBCU’s — always having fun while doing work of extraordinarily high quality. And like Don Cheadle, A&T grads are everywhere. Sports. Politics. Business. Activism. Space! No HBCU is bigger than A&T, with almost 12,000 students. That alone should give it the title of “greatest,” but there’s also the powerhouse football team, the proliferation of events and the best marching band in the Carolinas, A&T’s Blue & Gold Marching Machine. Show me the lie. And then there are the Aggies themselves, who have written so many chapters in Greensboro’s history. At GHOE events, undercurrents of achievement and impact contribute as much to Aggie Pride as the football team and the Blue & Gold. GHOE is the greatest because it transcends a parade and a weekend of parties. I’ve got Aggie Pride because I know what the university has done for the city where I live, affecting its politics, economy, architecture, culture and so many other areas, all for the better. It’s influence can be seen everywhere in town. But I’m also pulling big for the football team, and angling for admittance to the step show. Because GHOE is as much on the ground as it is in the air.
October 24-30, 2019
Aggie Pride by Brian Clarey
Shot in the Triad Puzzles
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October 24-30, 2019 Up Front News Opinion Culture Shot in the Triad Puzzles
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NEWS
Forsyth school board turns down mandatory black history course by Jordan Green Winston-Salem/Forsyth County School Board members voted 7-1 to reject a request to add a mandatory black studies course to the curriculum. In the end, Barbara Burke stood alone as the only member of the Winston-Salem/Forsyth County School who voted for a mandatory black history class as a requirement for graduation. After Burke’s motion failed by a lopsided 7-1 vote on Tuesday night, the board unanimously voted to approve an “Infusion Program” recommended by Superintendent Angela Hairston. The vote handed a defeat to Hate Out of Winston, a group that has intensively lobbied for a mandatory black-studies class for the past 10 months, along with its ally, the Local Organizing Committee, which has been pushing for the curriculum change for more than three years. The vote was preceded by impassioned comments by at least 20 people in support of the measure. Instead, the school board voted to approve the superintendent’s recommendation to expand and strengthen a program of infusing black studies into the K-8 curriculum, which has been in place since the 1990s. “For over three years, and going on four years now, we have heard from our community,” said Burke, a Democrat who represents District 1. “And we heard from them tonight. And we heard that they made a request for a mandatory African-American course. They did not ask for a recommendation. They did not ask for an option. “They asked for a required, mandatory African-American course,” Burke continued, as applause broke out in the meeting room. “I support the seven recommendations that the superintendent has. But I want to be clear: This is not an either/or. This is not you choose one and the other will die. We can have both. I want to make it very clear. We already have infusion. What we have inserted is confusion.” Malishai Woodbury, chair of the board and also a Democrat elected from District 1, argued against implementing a policy without the new superintendent’s backing. “I would ask us as governing agents that we are prudent,” Woodbury said. “The superintendent has said to us: ‘Listen, I don’t have the budget for another mandatory course. I don’t know
the data that would support it. So, as of students who are interested. And the leader of your district, I need you to all three courses will be offered for a allow me the time to figure out the data full credit instead of a half-credit. Her behind something that’s going to impact recommendations also include creating our children greatly. Because mandatory an African-American studies advisory means that if a black kid doesn’t pass the committee that would meet twice a year course — God forbid — they will not to review standards and enrollment in graduate. elective courses. “As governing agents again, I would Woodbury said in an interview after ask that our board listen to what our the vote that the advisory committee superintendent is suggesting to us,” could potentially develop a recommenWoodbury continued. “Which is why all dation for a mandatory black-studies nine of us raised our hands to support course, with cost estimates and other her to come and lead this school district. supporting data. And sometimes we will not all agree with But Burke indicated that the issue is her. I get that. But if we don’t let her do dead, for the time being. her job, then the first African-American “It would have to come from the comsuperintendent — easy come, easy go.” munity,” she said. “Because if it comes Andrea Bramer, a Democrat elected at from me, it will fail. You see what haplarge, attempted to mollify the crowd. pened. I won’t be able to convince the “She is not killing this idea for all board to do otherwise.” time,” Bramer said. “This is asking for After the meeting, Destiny Blackwell time to get the data said Hate Out of together.” Winston will keep Several people fighting for the in the audience class. ‘We heard that they made interrupted: “How “When it came much time?” up for discussion to a request for a mandatory Elisabeth talk about manMotsinger, another Afridan-American course. datory AfricanDemocrat elected They did not ask for a recom- American studies, at large, made the they didn’t talk mendation. They did not ask about mandatory substitute motion, which received African-American for an option.... -We already unanimous supstudies,” she said. have infusion. What we have “It was a charade. port, including from Burke. The superinteninserted is confusion.’ “My motion is dent is suggesting – Schoolboard member Barbara that we as a board to do what already unanimously supexists. It’s like Siri Burke ported our superingiving you directendent, chose her, tors. They really and that the very displayed that they first major policy are not listening decision she has come up with is the one to us.” that was presented to us in curriculum Burke, who chairs the curriculum committee,” Motsinger said. “It does do committee, announced from the dais in some continuation, and in addition adds June that the committee would consider some very new and critically important a recommendation for a mandatory components.” black-studies course in October, noting Hairston said the Infusion Program that is the month when the committee already incorporates African-American customarily considers additions to the studies into the K-8 curriculum, but uncurriculum. But during the meeting, der her recommendations Latin-AmerBurke appeared surprised when Hairican and Native-American studies will ston did not present information on a also be incorporated into the curricumandatory black-studies course, but lum. African-American studies, Latininstead offered recommendations for American studies and Native-American the infusion program. At that meeting, studies will be offered as an elective at all Burke made a motion to recommend a high schools regardless of the number mandatory black studies course. Deanna
Kaplan, a Democrat elected at large, and Leah Crowley, a Republican elected from District 2, voted in support of the recommendation, they said, so that the matter could be decided by the full board. On Tuesday, when the matter came before the full board, again staff did not submit any materials to support the item on the agenda. Burke asked for an explanation. “There’s not any information associated with the mandatory black history course because her recommendation was for the infusion program, which is what she has preparation to provide us the information,” Woodbury responded. “There’s no information because the superintendent doesn’t have any information to support the African-American history course.” Speakers during the public comments section of the meeting, from teachers, alumni, clergy and other community members, overwhelmingly favored a mandatory black studies course, although some argued that both that and infusion from kindergarten through 12th grade were essential. Those who spoke in support of mandatory black studies included Winston-Salem City Council member DD Adams and Jefferson Middle School teacher Jenny Marshall, who were rivals for the Democratic nomination in the 5th Congressional District race a year ago. Those arguing for both mandatory black studies and infusion included Kellie Easton, who read a statement on behalf of the Action 4 Equity Coalition. The Rev. Alvin Carlisle was among those whose comments leaned in the direction of the superintendent’s alternate proposal. “I want to thank you for hiring someone who has a proven track record of expanding student achievement, who has a proven track record of expanding equity in education,” he said. “I ask you to allow her to do the job you hired her to do.” But the comments of Effrainguan Muhammad of the Local Organizing Committee were more representative the vast majority of speakers. “We have a president who has referred to African countries as S-hole countries — why black history?” he said. “That
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New apartments from 2016 housing bond aim to curtail city’s unaffordable rental problem by Sayaka Matsuoka New, affordable-housing developments funded in part by the 2016 housing bond are aimed at curtailing the problem of unaffordable rentals in the city.
Up Front News Opinion
‘I was stunned at how deep the problem was.’
Culture Shot in the Triad Puzzles
More than a third of housing units in Greensboro were considered unaffordable in 2014, with most of those units categorized as rentals. Recent developments out of the 2016 housing bond are aimed at curtailing the problem. Ryan Ridge Apartments, which opened about a month ago, is the city’s first multi-family housing project funded by the 2016 housing bond and lowincome housing tax credits. Located at 4410-4412 Rehobeth Church Road, the 60-unit complex includes one, two and three-bedroom units. “This is one of the cheapest places I could find,” said Jerome Malloy, a 20year old living in a one-bedroom apartment at Ryan Ridge. “Other places were over $600.” Malloy, who works full-time for a company making airplane parts, says he didn’t have help from family and that this is his first time living on his own. He moved in a few weeks ago and said so far, he likes it. “Everything is new,” he said. “Everything looks nice inside. Everybody seems nice; it’s quaint.” According to the city, the total cost of the project was $8.05 million, with $880,000 coming from the 2016 bond. In addition to Ryan Ridge, two more affordable-housing projects will be completed by the end of 2020 using the $3 million allocated from the housing bond for multi-family affordable-housing development. Printworks Lofts, which will be located at 1700 Fairview St., will convert an old mill into 217 family apartments, while Elmsley Trail, which will be located at 518 Kallamdale Road, will consist of 60 units. As of Oct. 17, 41 of the 60 apartment units at Ryan Ridge had been filled. The rent for a 967-square foot one-bedroom apartment at Ryan Ridge is $525 per month while two-bedroom units range from $545 to $620. The three-bedrooms cost between $615 and $705. The complex operators have also chosen to restrict applicants based on their maximum and minimum income. For example, for a family of one, the maximum income that person can make and be allowed to live there is $25,800
per year. With each additional family housing — units in the city. member, that number goes up slightly. “I’ve lived here for 30 years,” he said. Likewise, there is a minimum income as “It really shocked me, and I should have well, which is calculated as 2.5 times the known. I was kind of disappointed in monthly rent times 12 months. These myself.” limits are set by the North Carolina A few months later, in October 2016, Housing Finance Agency, a public the housing bond was passed, allowing agency that finances affordable housing the city to borrow up to $25 million for in the state. housing projects. And while the cost may seem high Of the 60 units at Ryan Ridge, only to some, the starting rent of $525 for a six are one-bedroom apartments. Thirty one-bedroom apartment is significantly of them are two-bedrooms and 24 are lower than the current average cost of a three-bedroom units one-bedroom apartment in Greensboro, According to Kalaczuk, there is a which costs $789 per month according greater need for one-bedroom apartto Rainmaker Insights, a rental market ments in affordable housing communidatabases company. ties. “We want to make sure that the people “There are single elderly people, single moving in don’t have to pick between parents, young single people,” she said. rent and groceries,” said Ally Kalaczuk, “There’s a really, really high demand for the property manager at Ryan Ridge. [one-bedroom apartments] but nowhere Equipped with brand new Energy near the market that they need.” Star appliances, a laundry facility, a Debbage noted that the advantages of playground, fitness center and busiaffordable housing are countless. ness center, Ryan Ridge is “It’s crucial for the indistinguishable from any health of the community,” other apartment complex. he said. “For educational In fact, because they’re new, achievement, for mitigating the apartments look like foreclosures, for creating a they are in better condition vested interest in the comthan some of the older, munity. And then it’s more more costly apartments opportunity for upward – Keith Debbage available in the city. And mobility.” quality housing specifically He also said that the for lower-income families creation of communities and individuals has been a like Ryan Ridge will help need for the city for years, according to fill the gap of affordable rental housing UNCG professor Keith Debbage. in the city but that more apartments Debbage, who teaches in the geare needed to even put a dent in the ography and sustainable tourism and problem. hospitality department at the university, “We’re making some headway in that said he was stunned at the need for afregard,” he said. “But 60 units isn’t gofordable housing when he completed a ing to move the needle drastically. We report on the topic back in 2016. need scale and speed. We have the bond, Asked to put together a paper by the but the sense of urgency is not quite city, Debbage initially didn’t think there what it should be.” was a great need for affordable housing Debbage recommended creating a in the community but was proven wrong community trust fund with money from after digging into data from the Amerithe bond that would be used to continue can Community survey. building affordable housing units like “I was stunned at how deep the Ryan Ridge. problem was,” Debbage said. “Especially “Lots of communities have done in the rental sector. There were far too this,” he said, pointing to cities similar many cost-burdened units in the rental in size and structure to Greensboro, like market and that was growing.” Louisville, Ky. “It sure would be nice to Debbage said that at the time he see the pretty wealthy foundations in the completed his report in April 2016, there community contributing to something were more than 40,000 cost-burdened like this. It all comes down to the money. — categorized as when 30 percent or You’ve got to have a stable investment more of a person’s income is spent on fund.”
October 24-30, 2019
same president has referred to black athletes as SOBs — why black history? Once again, that same black president referred to his impeachment as a ‘lynching’ — why black history? See, there’s a direct link between the thinking in the White House and the Winston-Salem school system and Winston-Salem the city itself. It was just last year that several white students at Reagan High School made a viral video on Snapchat yelling the words ‘n***er, n***er, n***er’ — why black history? Right on this board, one of your former colleagues who you all had lunch with, attended conferences with, voted with and exchanged texts with referred to a black man with a PhD as ‘mush mouth’ Why a mandatory black history class. For the same reason despite having the 13th, 14th and 15th amendments infused into the Constitution, we still need a Voting Rights Act decades later making it mandatory.” Benjamin Spencer, a young, white man who graduated from Reagan, said he also supports a mandatory black history course. “I can attest to a lot of the previous public commenter’s comments in terms of the issues that have plagued Reagan,” he said. “I saw it on a day-in-day-out basis, showing the necessity of why we need an African-American history course. To not have one is a great disservice. I was unfortunately with a bunch of students who did not understand the context of Confederate memorials, and how it is not a memorial per se; it is a symbol of racist heritage.” On the other side of the city at Winston-Salem State University, earlier in the day, during a 50th anniversary celebration of the founding of the Winston-Salem Black Panther Party, Larry Medley explained why he dropped out of high school in High Point and moved to Winston-Salem to join the party. Medley recounted that the principal at High Point Central High School called the police on him and four other students for demanding a black history class. They were suspended and told they couldn’t come back unless they received a psychiatric evaluation. “From what we had learned, it was also our right to learn about our history,” he said. “So we tried to talk the principal into establishing some kind of course or class so we wouldn’t have to be without our history as black people.”
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October 24-30, 2019 Up Front News Opinion Culture Shot in the Triad Puzzles
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CITIZEN GREEN
OPINION
The High Point Four: ‘We are going to defend our house and we may die in the process’
Brad Lilley recalled hiding under a pew as Ku Klux Klan members shot into a church where children were hiding. It was for their safety, as their parents marched for civil rights in rural Gates County in the northeast corner of North Carolina. As a freshman in 1969, he would later drop out of Fayetteville State University to join the Black Panther Party in Winston-Salem. Randall Jennings, a football player, dropped out of high school in Camden, SC at the age of 16 after winning a fight with a man he by Jordan Green later learned was a member of the Klan. He had to leave town, and wound up in Winston-Salem. Angry and full of attitude, he discovered the Black Panther Party. “It just seemed like that was the right place for me.” Larry Medley’s gravitation towards the Black Panther Party came about through his budding consciousness as a high school student looking at the contradiction between the rat-infested housing he saw in High Point and the pristine homes of white people he saw on television. He and his friends also wanted the opportunity to study black history at the newly desegregated High Point Central High School. After he was suspended for demanding a black history course during a meeting in the principal’s office, Medley dropped out and moved to Winston-Salem to join the party. The three young men would soon start an offshoot of the Winston-Salem Black Panther Party in High Point, where they set up a free breakfast program in a rental house on Hulda Street. During a panel discussion at Winston-Salem State University on Tuesday, Lilley, Jennings and Medley recalled the day in February 1971 when they engaged in a shootout with the High Point police. Entitled “Armed Self-Defense,” the panel was part of a series of events this week to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the founding of the Winston-Salem Black Panther Party. The three men, along with George DeWitt, have come to be known as the High Point Four. DeWitt died in 1985 during an encounter with a police officer in Winston-Salem. The stage was set for the Klan shootout when their landlord refused to continue accepting their rent money — under pressure from the FBI, the Panthers believe — and attempted to evict them. Jennings said the Panthers believed the eviction effort violated their constitutional rights. They anticipated a raid, having witnessed the deaths of Panther leaders at the hands of the police, including Bobby Hutton in April 1968 and Fred Hampton in December 1969. To prepare for an assault, they stacked sandbags against the front wall on the first and second stories of the house. “So, we said, ‘We are going to defend our house, and we may die in the process,’” Jennings recalled on Tuesday. “So, we came to an agreement on that. “The reason why we came into an agreement upon defending the house is because we knew we were doing the right thing — we were fighting for our people,” he said. “We were so revolutionary-loving, proletarian-intoxicated to where we could not be astronomically intimidated.” Medley echoed Jennings. “We knew that we were gonna die, but we also felt in our hearts that, Okay, for the cause of the revolution, maybe our lives would make a difference, bring about a change in society, if it took our lives,” Medley said. “If we died, we were at least going to take one with us. That was the mentality. That was the revolutionary process.” Medley and DeWitt were on the second floor when the knock from the police came at 5:30 a.m.. Lying behind the sandbags, Medley held a .30-30 rifle that he aimed through a porthole. “I had a bead on one of the officer’s head, just waiting for them to fire on us, so that we could start defending ourselves,” he recalled. A fateful series of events would conspire to prevent Medley from shooting the officer. The young men had strung wire over the upstairs window, and when the police fired a teargas cannister at it, the device bounced off, and rolled back into the street. That was when a volley of gunfire opened up. Medley and DeWitt had leaned a mattress against the sandbags, and the mattress fell, causing Medley to lean in front of the porthole. A shotgun slug struck his shoulder bone and ricocheted behind his lungs. Downstairs, Lilley held an M-1 bolt-action carbine.
Brad Lilley, a former Black Panther and now a pastor in High Point, recounts a 1971 shootout with High Point police, along with comrades Larry Medley (left) and Randolph Jennings.
JORDAN GREEN
“When everything broke loose behind those sandbags, I sighted a police officer, and he was hiding behind a tree,” Lilley recalled. “And he had his gun pointed up at that top window. And I knew Larry and George were up there. And I didn’t know if he had an aim on them or not. So, everything broke loose. And in me, that was a pig that I was going to kill.” Twice, with a bead on the officer’s head, Lilley’s rifle misfired. “But see, I was determined: I was going to take that man’s life before he killed me,” Lilley said. He waited, but by then the officer was moving around, and the Lilley said he saw the officer shooting. “And so, I aimed for his heart,” Lilley said. “And I took aim, and I pulled the trigger. And I saw that bullet lift that police officer up in the air and whip his body around.” The four young men decided to surrender because Medley was injured and bleeding profusely. Three police officers were shot, according to Lilley. A 1972 New York Times article said a police lieutenant was critically wounded. Lilley, Jennings and Medley were all charged and convicted with assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill, and served prison time. The three men, now in their sixties, have grown since the shootout. Jennings is now committed to mentoring and counseling people struggling with drug and alcohol abuse. “Today, I look at things much differently,” he said in an interview after the panel. “I think it’s a different direction that we could achieve what we want to achieve. Armed confrontation is just not necessary today. People are much more educated.” Medley experienced a religious conversion in the mid-1970s, and is now a pastor. “My mission now in life is to help continue the struggle of change, but understanding now that the change has to be from the inside out, because unless a person’s heart is changed, what do you have?” he said. “It’s a continuous vicious cycle. No love, no forgiveness — no change.” Lilley, also a pastor, founded High Point Peacemakers — to try to persuade people to put down guns. “We move to stop the gun violence and stop the killings in our communities,” he said. “It’s not the police who are killing us, so much as it is, we’re killing ourselves. So, we’re trying to reach young people and trying to reach those who are picking up guns and turning it on themselves, have that expression of self-hate.” Young people often come up to Lilley and ask him how they can join the Black Panthers, or ask him to restart the organization. It happened as recently as Monday. “Well, nah bruh, because our time is passing and the circumstances are different,” Lilley told the young man. “But you’re young. And if you got a passion and you want to do something, we have the experience and we’re able to help you.” Sitting with his comrades in an assembly hall at Winston-Salem State University on Tuesday, Lilley reflected, “Today, we’re living in an age when your cell phone can be the most powerful weapon you have. It’s because of those cell phone recordings that we have captured police brutality, and the rights of people being violated. It’s because of that cell phone that you have that instant contact.”
October 24-30, 2019
Nik Snacks Fish plates and high steaks take over GHOE tailgates
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fter announcing my engagement to my first husband, I found my family planning a fish fry for the next night. Aunts, uncles, cousins and family friends descended upon my childhood home to welcome my fiancé to by Nikki Miller-Ka the fold. Overnight, dozens of pounds of fish were procured, cabbage was shredded for coleslaw and lemons sliced for adding to sweet tea and squeezing over the cornmeal-crusted vertebrates. It was a homecoming to celebrate the joining of our families. The Greatest Homecoming on Earth — or GHOE, for alumni, students, friends and family of NC A&T University — encompasses the same feeling. Almost overnight, the population of east Greensboro grows exponentially, as cookouts, fish-frys and tailgate setups dot the campus — indeed, the entire neighborhood — before the big game. While the fish fry is not a uniquely black experience, the tradition of the fish plate took on a new meanNIKKI MILLER-KA Fried flounder filet with coleslaw ing during the Reconstruction and Jim Crow eras. Fish and French fries, a fish-fry staple. was easy to obtain, cook and utilize as a fundraiser for GHOE. churches, schools, civic organizations and other small “It’s an intangible feeling,” he says. “The amount of enterprises. pride present and the fact that it’s an HBCU. That expeOn the surface, the fish fry is a simple gathering exrience alone cannot be matched anywhere else.” alting the joy of fried fish. Doused with hot sauce, next The village starts setting up around 5:30 the morning to slices of white bread alongside various side dishes, of the homecoming game. Shaw and 15 of his friends the tradition has deep roots, and special meaning at and other alums hail from Georgia, Virginia, WashingGHOE. ton DC, Houston and other parts of North Carolina. When black kids go to college, the first three things Their tailgate moniker: “The Aggnificent Tailgate.” The they need to find after moving into the dorm are a day’s menu reads like a course catalog: fried chicken church, a beauty salon or barbershop, and a fish house. wings, French fries, fried shrimp, grits, pork shoulder, These social constructs serve a higher purpose, to shredded brisket, mac and cheese, cole slaw, potato connect family from the African diaspora and to offer salad, baked beans, green beans with smoked turkey, a thread of continuity during a life change. All three dirty rice, fried ribs, and hot dogs and hamburgers. And places are integral to melding home life with a new colthe fish? Flounder filets, fried hard with cornmeal and legiate life and fostering community within a microflour-meal crusts. cosm of the world. “And more,” Shaw adds. A “For me it’s all about the nosfinite number of wristbands will talgia,” says NC A&T alum NataFind your GHOE fish plate be distributed to friends, family sha Gore (Class of ’00). “Not only where you can get it. Tailgate and other tailgate participants does eating at GHOE remind me etiquette dictates that greetin order to control the flow of of my time in college, but it also food. The plate turns into a tailreminds me of family reunions, ing, “Hey, that smells good,” gate that everyone will rememchurch events, summers spent can be passable for entry. ber and none will soon forget. with my grandparents in South Gore approaches GHOE eats Carolina.” differently. She says it evokes everything “The tailgate for me is unpredictable, since I didn’t that is amazing and uplifting that comes along with have a dedicated crew in college,” she says. “Mostly, I being black in South. avoid the tailgate, unless I run into someone who has Setting up tents, grills, fryers, tables, chairs and coolthe hookup.” ers full of food, ice, and beverages takes a village. Alum She says the best places to grab a fish plate are popAlfred Shaw (Class of ’98) knows firsthand about how ups which are not necessarily repeats. all-encompassing the experience can be. His village is “Some of what you eat is novelty, much of what you a group of friends from his days on campus who have eat is unhealthy, and all of what you eat invokes the kept in touch over the years. Most are like brothers and sweetest of memories.” sisters, with a bond that is only strengthened during
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CULTURE GHOE, through the generations by Sayaka Matsuoka
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hey say it’s bigger than Christmas or Thanksgiving. Every year, when October rolls around, thousands of Aggies from years past and present descend upon the campus of NC A&T University and beyond to celebrate what they say is the most wonderful time of the year. “It would take two weeks just to prepare for homecoming,” says Marcus Brandon, a former state lawmaker who attended A&T as a freshman in 1993. “The food, the house. The food you had to cook a week or two weeks out. You would cook chitlins two weeks out and freeze them. Every day there would be something being cooked and frozen.” Brandon’s family has been celebrating A&T Homecoming, also known as the Greatest Homecoming on Earth, or GHOE, for generations. Lewis Brandon III, Marcus’ uncle and a veteran of the civil rights movement, remembers attending homecoming celebrations when he came to A&T in 1957. “When I was in school, things were segregated so the concerts and things took place on campus,” Lewis says. “We couldn’t go anywhere. This was before the sit-ins. We couldn’t go to no clubs or hotels.” He remembers that despite being contained on campus, the homecoming festivities were as lively as they are now, perhaps even more so. “When I was in school, there was a bonfire every year,” Lewis says. “We would have a rally and then march over to where the stadium is now. We did that a number of years.” And while the bonfire may not take place anymore, some of the traditions remain the same decades later. The parties, the parade, the game, the concerts, the coronation, the tailgating. “At the football game, it was a fashion show,” Lewis says. “People would dress for the occasion. People would save up for the entire year to parade around the stadium. They would wear things like long fur coats.” For the Brandon family, homecoming has meant a gathering of more than just family and close friends. Old roommates or college classmates would come through to celebrate once a year. Really, the entire community takes part. “Compared to other holidays, it’s huge,” Lewis says. “Christmas is a small and religious event for families. Same with Thanksgiving. Homecoming is
Marcus Brandon, far right, with father Kenneth Brandon, center, and uncle Lewis Brandon III, left, celebrate GHOE as a family affair.
broader than just family. It has all your friends around you.” Marcus Brandon remembers celebrating homecoming even as a child. “After the game, everyone would descend upon [the house],” he says, referring to his childhood home in southwest Greensboro. “There would be cars all around the block.” According to Kenneth Brandon, Marcus’ father and Lewis’ brother, their family has at least four generations that have taken part in homecoming. The most notable get-together took place after the game when friends, family and more would come to their house for food and entertainment. “I’ve lived in this house for 44 years,” Kenneth says. “And each year, we would get together. My wife would cook about 150 pounds of chitlins and pigs feet. We would have ham, turkey, ribs, collard greens, everything you can think of. Soul food. Pinto beans, casseroles. We would play games like cards and spades and a lot of people would watch TV.” One year, Marcus recalls how he and his sister threw a party a week before homecoming. At one point, their kitchen table got broken and the two managed to cobble it back together with glue and tape. “And then mama made all that food for homecoming and all the food collapsed,” Marcus recalls. “It was quite tragic. It was a bad day for us.” In 1995, Kenneth, his wife Delores and their two friends Henry and Eleanor Dalton, came up with the idea to move their afternoon gathering to the stadium. “We would go to the games cause our kids were freshmen,” Kenneth recalls. “Henry would go to Winn-Dixie and I would go to the Chinese place and get wings. We’d sit around and the kids would come after the game. The next year 10 people would come, then 20, and now there are about 200 people out there.”
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Since then, the Brandons have been celebrating a majority of homecoming by tailgating next to the stadium. They rent two spaces and haul all kinds of equipment to their designated parking lots. Using grills, a stove and more, they feast like old times, just on paper plates surrounded by cars rather than at a dining table. “We have to get a U-Haul truck to get everything out there,” Marcus says. “It’s the most unorganized chaos you’ve ever seen.” “But it always works,” Kenneth says. These days, Marcus and a few other members of the next generation have taken charge of the tailgate. “We’re not as good at it,” Marcus admits. “We’ve only done it for two years. They had it down pat for 20. But we are trying to bring in new flavor and spice to it. Our problem is that we are trying to control chaos and we’re learning that that’s impossible.” “You’ve got to go with the flow,” his dad says. According to Kenneth, a few years back, because of the long line of hundreds of people that had gathered at their tent for a plate of food — homecoming is a sharing kind of event — they hadn’t noticed a woman who had set up at the end of the line who was charging $10 per plate of food. “She done made like $50,” chuckles Kenneth. “We had to run her off.” But that’s kind of the magic of homecoming. You don’t know who you might see or reconnect with. “People come in from out of town,” Kenneth says. “Family and friends, Aggies and non-Aggies.” And when asked if he considers it the greatest homecoming on earth he replied with a single word. “Unquestionably.”
October 24-30, 2019
CULTURE A&T’s Cold Steel Drumline stays in cadence by Savi Ettinger
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NC A&T University’s Cold Steel Drumline provides a backbeat that lasts throughout GHOE weekend.
initiation of new members to the drumline. Rogers insists that no matter what, the cadences remain a requirement. “The one thing that links every Cold Steel member all together,” he says, “are the cadences.” Rogers, a graduate of A&T himself, played in Cold Steel during his time at the university. Though the drumline has evolved during his time from drummer to director of percussion, Rogers revels in the fact the rhythms never change. He says Homecoming weekend brings back generations of Cold Steel members, who can all unite under the same beats. “When these guys come back for Homecoming, the first thing they want to do is grab a drum and say, ‘Man, let’s run down the cadences.’” Rogers said. “And, boy, when we run those cadences down, the smile, the happiness on everyone’s faces, the feeling that you feel when you’re out there playing those cadences — that can’t be beat by anything.”
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devotion to drumming has earned Cold Steel spots in multiple prestigious performance lineups, including several years of the Honda Battle of the Bands, an invitational showcase of marching bands from various HBCUs. One such event stands out in both Lawhorn and Bethea’s minds: The 2019 Tournament of Roses Parade. For the occasion, 10 A&T students, including Bethea, traveled to California during winter break, where they joined students from seven other HBCUs from across the country to perform a collective set on the opening float. With Lawhorn himself composing the music, the parade became especially noteworthy. “I graduated from an HBCU,” Lawhorn says, “so to be able to do something to celebrate these universities was a great, great honor.” Even with the accolades, Rogers sees the main sign of Cold Steel’s legacy as their cadences. Learning these routines that keep the beat while marching serve as the final step for the
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he sounds reverberate through the walls. The University Band Center at NC A&T University buzzes as students warm up with their instruments. Brass notes flow through the rooms, and hints of woodwind exercises sneak in alongside them. The drums share no such subtlety. Even after being out of town for the weekend, A&T’s Cold Steel Drumline continues to work. With Homecoming weekend approaching, the decades-old group refuses to let up. For decades, these drummers turned Cold Steel into its own percussive spectacle. The drumline, which began as a portion of A&T’s marching band, formed into its own entity under the last twenty years. Co-captain of the drumline Martyo Bethea sees Cold Steel as a legacy. Like many members of the drumline, he remembers admiring the now-graduated members of Cold Steel as a highschooler. He mentions going so far as to learn and study some of the drumline’s cadences during his junior year at his Atlanta high school in preparation for his audition. “It feels good to be one of these voices that people younger than me can look up to,” Bethea says. Bryan Myles, a snare player in his third year of marching, shared the experience of looking up to the band as a highschooler. He recalls studying videos of the drumline’s past performances during his junior and senior years in order to craft his own audition tape. “I went from being a fan,” he says, “to be a part of what I was a fan of.” Assistant Director of Bands Lamon Lawhorn finds the process of narrowing down candidates to continue the drumline difficult. “We turn away a lot of talent,” he says. Both Lawhorn and Director of Percussion Ron Rogers believe the rigorous process shapes the best team. Rogers mentions a boot camp for the drummers, consisting of daylong sessions where drummers practice running miles with their instruments strapped to them. “If you make it through band camp,” Rogers says, “you can probably make it through anything.” Rogers and Lawhorn attribute Cold Steel’s success to their training. The
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October 24-30, 2019
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October 24-30, 2019
CROSSWORD ‘Letter Imperfect’—I’ll try to spell it out.
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