Greensboro / Winston-Salem / High Point Sept. 10-16, 2020 triad-city-beat.com
GREENSBORO EDITION
Jumping for
FREE
Joye
Alexandra Joye Warren tackles trauma through dance PAGE 12 Trump hits W-S PAGE 9
Facebook cooking PAGE 13
Barr strikes again PAGE 11
TRUTH IS POWER
Sept. 10-16, 2020
EDITOR’S NOTEBOOK
Atom in the mountains “I’m in Asheville In the ensuing 25 years, we’ve both for four days,” gotten married and started families. Atom Atom texted. “Is went back to New Orleans a few months that close?” after Katrina — people born and raised Close enough, I in that city can rarely find happiness thought. anywhere else. Life has knocked us both What’s a few around pretty good, and our lives are so hours on the road, different now than they were then. by Brian Clarey a hastily conWe see each other maybe every year. structed itinerary and a last-minute, cheap We interact a little on Facebook. We text. motel room for a lifelong friend? It is, of course, not the same. Atom was best man at my wedding. He My hope is that everyone knows the and his wife lived with us after Hurricane comfort and power that comes with seeKatrina. He was there the day my son was ing an old friend, the way we recognize born at Touro Hospital; we each other through the years both stared at the kid in silent and fall so easily into that My hope is that amazement. familiar cadence, how it feels Before that, Atom was my everyone knows like time travel, in a way. running partner throughBut I know that not everythe comfort and out my twenties. We were one is fortunate enough to power that comes bartenders in New Orleans, have friendships that endure with seeing an old decades. Atom and I have which seemed like a very important job at the time seen each other grow from friend. — and, it should be said, green young men into midstill does, even though our dle-aged fathers, mortgagedays of spending long hours in bars is far holders, lawnmower jockeys. behind us. We don’t hang out in bars anymore. We were both young, both single (more We spent a couple days driving the Blue or less), both making enough cash to do Ridge Parkway; we ate a steak dinner; we pretty much whatever we wanted, which at sat on a park bench in downtown Ashethe time really wasn’t very much. We lived ville; we filled in the blanks and shored up hard and fast, like princes in the city; we the foundation. knew everybody; we have no regrets. That’s all it takes.
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
The years that it has been shown, you hope that it becomes less relevant.... Every time I make a piece, things keep happening. I would like it to be retired now.
— Alexandra Joye Warren pg. 12
BUSINESS PUBLISHER/EXECUTIVE EDITOR Brian Clarey brian@triad-city-beat.com
Hard news at no cost to you, and no matter the cost to us.
PUBLISHER EMERITUS Allen Broach allen@triad-city-beat.com
EDITORIAL SENIOR EDITOR Jordan Green jordan@triad-city-beat.com
ASSOCIATE EDITOR Sayaka Matsuoka sayaka@triad-city-beat.com
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1451 S. Elm-Eugene St. Box 24, Greensboro, NC 27406 Office: 336-256-9320 Cover image: SPECIAL SECTION EDITOR Nikki Miller-Ka GREENSBORO: Alexandra Joye niksnacksblog@gmail.com Warren, in motion. [Photo by ART Carolyn de Berry] ART DIRECTOR Robert Paquette robert@triad-city-beat.com SALES
KEY ACCOUNTS Gayla Price gayla@triad-city-beat.com
CONTRIBUTORS
Carolyn de Berry, Matt Jones, Michaela Ratliff
TCB IN A FLASH @ triad-city-beat.com First copy is free, all additional copies are $1. ©2018 Beat Media Inc.
WINSTON-SALEM: Trump, and his people, in Winston-Salem. [Photo by Carolyn de Berry]
Sept. 10-16, 2020
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Sept. 10-16, 2020
Coronavirus in the Triad:
(as of Wednesday, Sept. 9, compared to last week)
Shot in the Triad
Culture
Opinion
News
Up Front
Documented COVID-19 diagnoses
NO NEWS IS
BAD NEWS We need each other. Support FREE, INDEPENDENT PRESS by reading Triad City Beat. OR, support your business and the free press by advertising with us.
NC
179,532 (+8,979)
Forsyth
6,481 (+215)
Guilford County
7,367 (+476)
COVID-19 deaths NC
2,963 (+194)
Forsyth
84 (+8)
Guilford
174 (+4)
Documented recoveries NC
156,652 (+10,768)
Forsyth
5,685 (+224)
Guilford
4,190 (+205)
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Hospitalizations
4
NC
916 (-58)
Forsyth
17 (0)
Guilford
614 (+18)
Sept. 10-16, 2020
CITY LIFE Sept. 10-13 by Michaela Ratliff
THURSDAY Sept. 10
Obstacle Course Playgroup @ City Lake Park (HP) 10:30 a.m.
FRIDAY Sept. 11
NC Folk Festival Virtual Concert Series (Online) 6 p.m.
Black Market @ Sternberger Artist Center (GSO) 12 p.m.
Coronavirus isn’t stopping the NC Folk Festival! It’s going virtual until the 13th this year, featuring a newly recorded two-hour performance each day. This day’s performers include Rissi Palmer, Demeanor Music and Chatham County Line. To view the festival and upcoming performers, visit the festival’s Facebook page. The Doyle and Debbie Show @ Winston Salem Theatre Alliance (W-S) 8:00 p.m.
Back to School Bonanza @ Code Ninjas (HP) 12:30 p.m.
Computer programming can be boring but not at Code Ninjas. They’re teaching kids how to code in a curriculum full of fun games and activities. The new badges program gives children the chance to learn STEM skills while aiming to collect as many completion badges as they can. Registration is free, but space is limited so register now to reserve your space.
Artsy People of Color and Sabrina McGowens art gallery are teaming up to bring you their end of summer Sunday fun day pop up market. This market includes products touched by Afrocentrism, including candles, body care products and jewelry. Visit the event page to view participating vendors and to learn more. Duck Donuts Food Truck @ Midway Town Center (W-S) 3 p.m.
Duck Donuts Food Truck will be at Midway Town Center in case you get a sweet tooth while you’re shopping. Preordering isn’t required, but can be done on Duck Donuts’ website.
Puzzles
Join Gray Smith and Jaye Pierce as they star in The Doyle and Debbie Show, the story of Doyle Mayfield who attempts to regain his former stardom after reputation ruining scandals. The Houston Press calls it a “kick-up-your-heels, don’t-be-afraidto-laugh, toe-tapping good time….” To purchase your ticket for only $25 and to view future show dates, visit the theatre’s website.
GSO Black Wallstreet is hosting a market featuring Black-owned businesses that specialize in clothing, handmade jewelry and more. There will be prizes to win, food trucks in attendance and a free screening of Black Panther.
Shot in the Triad
Yaa Gyasi is back at Bookmarks for a virtual discussion of her sophomore novel Transcendent Kingdom, the story of a Ghanian woman from Alabama named Gifty who strives to find the scientific reasons for the misfortunes happening around her. This event will take place on Crowdcast. Visit the event page to view different ways to register.
Pop-Up Market @ 112 S. Main St. (HP) 1 p.m.
Culture
Yaa Gyasi @ Bookmarks (W-S) 7 p.m.
Hosted in partnership with Guilford Urban Farming Initiative, the Bountiful Land Farmers Market aims to bring fresh affordable food to local food deserts by selling fertilizer-free, pesticide-free and herbicide-free produce. Helping hands are welcome! To register for the day you want to volunteer, visit the event page.
Jazz Shoebox Brunch @ the Historic Magnolia House (GSO) 11 a.m. Each Sunday this month, the Historic Magnolia House will be hosting a jazz brunch to celebrate the launch of their new Magnolia Shoebox Meal program to benefit local schools and communities. The event will be outdoors, but tours of the house will be available. To register, visit the event page.
Opinion
Library Links: Plugging into our Local Libraries in Guilford! @ Facebook Live 11 a.m. Guilford County Partnership for Children welcomes Tanika Martin from the Greensboro Public Library and Jim Zola from the High Point Public Library as they give information about free resources the libraries have to offer kids while they attend school virtually. The livestream will be available on GCPC’s Facebook page.
SUNDAY Sept. 13
Food Justice for All Farmers Market @ 1901 McConnell Road (GSO) 9 a.m.
News
Fit4Mom specializes in hosting activities moms can enjoy with their children while staying in shape. This week’s playgroup features an obstacle course perfect for toddlers up to preschool age. Registration is free and can be done on Fit4Mom’s website.
SATURDAY Sept. 12
Up Front
Rockin Moroccan Food Truck @ Cellar 23 (GSO) 5:30 p.m. Rockin Moroccan will be at Cellar 23 on the second and fourth Friday of every month! Stop by Cellar 23 to get your fix of Moroccan cuisine and to enjoy live music by Dave Moran. Rockin Moroccan’s full menu can be found on their website.
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Senate District 24 race in Alamance gets rough by Jordan Green
Opinion
News
Up Front
Sept. 10-16, 2020
NEWS
Puzzles
Shot in the Triad
Culture
Republican Amy Galey, Alamance County Commission chair, faces Air Force veteran JD Wooten for the open seat in NC Senate District 24, which covers Alamance County and a swath of eastern Guilford County.
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Republican Amy Galey, a lawyer in Burlington, won a seat on the Alamance County Commission in 2016, and chairs the local legislative board. When she learned that Rick Gunn, who represents Senate District 24, wasn’t running for reelection, she decided to run for the seat. JD Wooten, an Air Force veteran and lawyer in Greensboro, ran for the seat in 2018, but lost to Gunn by more than 7 points. Last year, he decided to give the race another try. Senate District 24 covers the entirety of Alamance County, along with the rural, eastern swath of Guilford County. The Civitas Partisan Index rates it as a Republican-leaning district, but Galey has been going on the offensive against her Democratic opponent by leveling charges of fraud against him related to the house he bought in Greensboro with backing from the Veterans Administration. A mailer with Wooten’s likeness that was paid for by the Republican-backed NC Senate Majority Fund in August
declares: “State Senate candidate JD Wooten committed fraud on his VA mortgage loan,” and then concludes, “JD Wooten is corrupt. He doesn’t belong in the state Senate.” Wooten noted in an interview with Triad City Beat that the lender is First Bank, and the Veterans Administration is only the guarantor — roughly the equivalent of a parent cosigning a child’s student loan to obtain a more favorable interest rate. He said he met the terms of the agreement by living in the house on Lindell Road in Greensboro for seven months from March through October 2019, and then waiting until July 2020 to start renting it out. Chris Justice, the closing attorney, wrote in a July 24 email that Wooten provided to TCB: “Based on the facts of this situation, JD has complied with the terms of the loan and has not in any way breached the terms of his agreement with his lender. Any suggestion otherwise is not based in fact and is patently false.” A fact-check of the Republican claims
against Wooten by the News & Observer Fact-Checking Project found, “There is no evidence that the lender has objected, or claimed to have been defrauded by Wooten.” Galey told TCB she views the campaign attacks against Wooten as “absolutely fair.” “I have serious questions about his truthfulness when he took out that loan,” she said. “The evidence points to him not intending for that to be his primary residence.” While the fraud claims have proven to be unsubstantiated, the controversy has helped the Galey campaign paint Wooten as an outsider shopping for a district. The Lindell Road house, on which he closed March 19, 2019, is in District 28, a Democratic stronghold currently represented by Gladys Robinson. Wooten has previously lived in Whitsett and McLeansville, which are in District 24. In October 2019, after announcing plans to run for the Senate seat, Wooten moved to another rental
COURTESY IMAGES
house in McLeansville, in District 24. In comments to TCB, Galey argued that Wooten fully intended to run for the Senate District 24 seat during the period when he bought the house in Greensboro, noting a post on a Facebook page for the Wooten campaign dated March 29 — just 10 days after he closed on the house — that shows Wooten in a campaign shirt standing in front of what appears to be a moving van, with the accompanying text: “Team Wooten is always moving NC forward — sometimes literally! And we have to stay in shape in the ‘off season.’ — never know what 2020 will bring.” Galey also pointed to campaign finance records, which show Wooten made bimonthly payments to his campaign manager from February through May 2019, and made in-kind contributions to his campaign through monthly payments on a phone subscription. Wooten told TCB that after enduring a similar smear campaign from the Gunn campaign in 2018, he was at first
Culture Shot in the Triad Puzzles
Both candidates say they support investments in public education. Galey
Opinion
Education, healthcare and other issues
On the national protests
The candidates have responded in different ways to the protests that have erupted across the county, including in Graham and Greensboro, in response to the death of George Floyd. “We need to have better access to police body-camera video,” Wooten said. “I’m in support of banning chokeholds. I’m in favor of limiting participation in the 1033 program, which allows police to buy military-grade surplus equipment. As a veteran, I understand and am familiar with some of that equipment. It’s designed for war. Having a domestic police force that is militarized sends the wrong message to our communities about the kind of police we want to have. It’s a harmful message.” Galey said the death of George Floyd and the ensuing protests prompted her to “think about systemic racism in a more urgent way and become educated in the
experiences of people of color and how it’s ingrained in American culture and business. I’ve been learning a lot about that.” The candidate said she would be reluctant to impose additional state restrictions on law enforcement, instead arguing that local agencies need additional funding so they’re able to retain “police officers and sheriff’s deputies who are mature and have self-control.” She also spoke in favor of local governments investing in mental health as a way of preventing negative encounters with law enforcement. If there’s a state policy where she would apply her concern about systemic racism, Galey said it would be expanding Medicaid to address African-American infant mortality. “It’s twice for African-American babies what it is for Caucasian babies, and that’s a problem,” Galey said. “I understand that access to healthcare prenatally and postnatally is part of that puzzle. I would be in support of expanding Medicaid in such a way that it is intended to reach that policy goal of reducing African-American mortality.” The two candidates also take markedly different positions on gun safety. Wooten said he supports banning bump-stocks, such as was used by the Las Vegas shooter to maximize casualties at a 2017 country-music concert. He also supports “more robust background checks.” “I would call it common-sense reforms,” he said. “I would support red-flag laws, anything that can help responsible ownership of these dangerous tools.” Galey said the gun laws that are in place need to be enforced. “With the mass shootings and other acts of violence we’ve seen, there was a law that was broken in each of those,” she said. “It’s against the law to murder people…. When it comes to red-flag laws, with a 50B domestic violence protective order, the petitioner, who is usually a woman, has the opportunity to have the defendant’s firearms taken away. When he’s taken into custody, his firearms are dealt with appropriately. There are important structures already in place to address those things. They need to be enforced and used to the fullest extent possible.”
News
Issues of growth and cultural change have placed Galey at the center of a growing controversy over the fate of the Confederate monument that towers in front of the Alamance County Historic Courthouse, where the county commission holds meetings. A multiracial coalition of Black, Latinx and white residents has become increasingly vocal in demands to remove the monument, and when UPS announced plans to invest in Alamance County, activists sought to link the two issues. Speaking on behalf of a coalition of groups opposed to the monument, Meg Williams of Alamance County attempted to address two UPS representatives about the issue during a public hearing of the county commission’s Aug. 17 meeting. Galey told Williams her comments needed to be directed toward the board and then accused her of “disorderly conduct” when Williams continued to speak to the UPS representatives. Galey ordered Williams to return to her seat, and then asked Sheriff Terry Johnson to remove Williams from the chamber, prompting a deputy to tear her away from the podium. A week later, UPS announced support for the call to remove the monument. In an interview with TCB, Galey defended her handling of the incident, reiterating that speakers are supposed to address their remarks to the commissioners. She noted that “she didn’t say anything to her about her content,” but later
said she supported increased funding for a teacher pay supplement in Alamance County as a commissioner, and that she wants to see the General Assembly approve a 5 percent average raise in teacher pay across the state. Wooten said the next General Assembly will be challenged to meet the funding needs of public schools, considering that the economic downturn is expected to hurt state revenues. He said he would consider voting to increase the corporate tax rate. “The corporate tax rate needs to be commensurate or on par with the personal tax rate, at a minimum,” he said. “We want to be careful that we don’t tax corporations and businesses so much that we drive them away. I’m not familiar with the tax rates of surrounding states. I don’t want to be anti-competitive.” North Carolina has the lowest corporate tax rate in the nation, according to a recent ranking by the Tax Foundation. Wooten said the Republican majority’s refusal to “fully fund” education and expand Medicaid were major reasons he decided to make a second run for the seat. Galey said she opposes expanding Medicaid by accepting federal funds to close the coverage gap through the Affordable Care Act. “I believe North Carolina should look at expanding Medicaid to meet targeted and identifiable policy goals, not just throw open the spigot of money without direction,” she said. “I think we should have programs and initiatives that are reasonably tailored to achieve a result.”
Up Front
Relocating the Confederate monument
declined to say whether she would have stopped Williams from speaking about the Confederate monument had she addressed her comments to the board, brushing it aside as a “hypothetical.” “I am a free-speech zealot,” Galey said. “I believe so strongly in our freedom of speech. We have protesters outside the county commission meetings, and I say, “Good for them.’ I love that people are passionate and go out and voice their opinions.” Wooten supports relocating the monument in front of the Alamance County Historic Courthouse. “I don’t want us to forget our past; these symbols are of such a dark and repressive time that today we understand is abominable,” the candidate said. “This is a human rights violation at a gross scale. We don’t need celebrations of that in front of the courthouse. That’s supposed to be a hall of justice. “As a veteran, these statues trigger me for a different reason,” Wooten continued. “The vast majority of Confederate officers were US military officers first. They turned their back on the oath they took. They literally committed treason. In addition to how horrible slavery was, these are also monuments that are in support of or otherwise condoning treason against our country.” The General Assembly passed a law in 2015 restricting local municipalities and counties from removing monuments, but local governments in Winston-Salem, Chatham County, Salisbury, Wilmington, Vance County, Anson County, Pitt County and Warren County have bypassed the law to relocate Confederate monuments based on safety concerns. The Alamance County manager recommended that the monument in front of the historic courthouse in Graham be relocated, but the county commission has not heeded his call. Galey said she supports local control over the issue — a position that is less remarkable than it would have been two years ago, considering that the state law has essentially been rendered moot. “Having worked in local government, I believe strongly that local government should have more say in what goes on in their community,” Galey told TCB. “Local city council and county commissioners should have a say in what their communities look like, and not have it dictated by a central authority.”
Sept. 10-16, 2020
reluctant to run again. “Friends and family convinced me that perhaps I would regret not trying again,” he said. “A little over a month after I purchased a house, Joe Biden announced his candidacy for the presidency. It was a very moving speech about the fight for the soul of the nation. I feel like we’re in the same thing in North Carolina: We’re in a fight for the soul of North Carolina.” Galey said her run for state Senate is an extension of the desire to retain the existing character of Alamance County that also motivated her run for county commission four years ago. “I was concerned about the issues with growth in Alamance County, with all the people we have moving here from other places,” she said. “We had issues of land use, school capacity and transportation. It seemed like people weren’t talking about it. As I’ve served on the county commission, I’ve seen that those issues are regional.”
Find more election reporting at triad-city-beat.com/category/election-2020.
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Up Front
Sept. 10-16, 2020
Sept. 10-16, 2020
Trump brings his roadshow to Winston-Salem by Jordan Green
Up Front News Opinion
summer,” he said. “I missed $50,000 to $100,000 because of COVID. I think that’s all because of the Democrats shutting things down.” He has a baby coming in December, his first, and with it, additional pressure to earn money. Baysinger said his outward enthusiasm for Trump isn’t just about making the sale, but he increasingly leans more Republican, saying that he finds antiTrump protesters more abrasive than their counterparts who protest against Democratic candidates. He thinks Democratic supporters are more guided by emotion than reason. And he doesn’t like the assumption that just because you’re Black you should vote Democrat. He said he debates whether to wear a Trump shirt. On one hand, Black people antagonize him for it. On the other hand, it engenders goodwill among white Trump supporters. “It’s a fairly tough balance,” Baysinger
said. Trump’s 76-minute speech in Winston-Salem on Tuesday was peppered with COVID skepticism and shutdown resentment, with barbs tossed at Gov. Roy Cooper and other Democratic politicians. “But you just take a look at what’s going on in North Carolina,” he said soon after taking the stage. “They want to open. They want to open in Michigan so badly…. They want to have football. They want to have their schools open. And it’s a shame what’s going on. And I’ll tell you what: On November 4th, every one of those states will be open. They’re doing it for political reasons.” Later, he promised: “Next year will be the single greatest economic year in the history of our country, and probably in the history of this state, if your governor ever opens up.” North Carolina has taken a more cautious approach than other southeastern
Puzzles
Baysinger about his Trump shirt, and he replied, “I’m making money. I’m making a thousand dollars a day. You a broke n*****.” (Zeal responded in kind, yelling across the street to another Black man wearing Trump gear: “You’re about a dumb n*****. Police are shooting Black men in the street. But you’re a dumb piece of shit and you’re going to wear that hat.”) Later, in an interview, Baysinger acknowledged that $1,000 a night was more like what he would like to be earning. He started following campaigns in 2016, selling Bernie Sanders merch, but this year he switched to the Republican circuit to hawk Trump pins. Before the COVID pandemic, he was making $1,000 or $2,000 a night, he said, but with the smaller crowds at sociallyspaced events now, he’s only getting $300 or $400. “This was supposed to be a good
Shot in the Triad
Ryan Baysinger cut a striking figure: a Black man dressed in a Trump shirt skateboarding down North Liberty Street as charter buses, tractor trailers and gleaming new pickups flying Trump flags trundled alongside him. As someone selling pins, he held an advantage over the vendors selling flags and T-shirts in that he could take his wares up and down the line outside Smith Reynolds Airport, where people waited to get inside. After most of the crowd had settled into the hangar, but before the president touched down in Air Force One and a second wave of supporters filled a parking lot where a Jumbotron was set up, business slowed down and Baysinger wandered over to look at a small protest. Patrice Zeal and Ladybug Williams, two Black women, held a banner reading, “Lying Trump is a racist fraud.” Baysinger pulled out a camera and took a photo of the women. Zeal asked
CAROLYN DE BERRY
Culture
More than 200 people came out for President Donald Trump’s re-election rally, held at Smith Reynolds airport on Tuesday.
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Sept. 10-16, 2020 Up Front News Opinion Culture Shot in the Triad Puzzles
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states like South Carolina, Georgia and Florida. Under Phase 2.5, which began on Sept. 4, gyms, bowling alleys and skating rinks can open at 30 percent capacity, but theaters, indoor music venues and bars remain closed. The Trump campaign performed temperature checks and handed out masks at the gate, but many supporters refrained from wearing them inside the venue. Dennis Hodges, another vendor, who wore a “God, Guns and Trump” shirt, went even further than Baysinger, saying, “COVID is nothing but a scam by the Democrats to scare us. They couldn’t impeach this president. Democrats are selling fear so they can control us.” The COVID pandemic is a verified phenomenon tracked by the US Centers for Disease Control and World Health Organization. By 6:35 p.m., when Trump’s plane touched down on the tarmac, the protest started by Zeal and Williams had grown to 17. When Trump’s name was announced from the stage, they banged on pots and pans and yelled, “Liar!” “We feel so strongly about the things he’s saying,” Williams said. “If it’s not white and rich, then you’re considered an outcast. If you’re Black and Brown, you don’t get no points. Everything Trump says, the factfinders prove him a liar.” Zeal added, “I have a fear about the Post Office and [Postmaster General] Louis DeJoy, and suppressing the vote. I’m losing confidence in our democratic system, and that’s not good. It makes me angry. It makes me worried.” Trump’s speech, which was amplified loud enough to carry to the protesters on North Liberty Street, sought to undermine confidence in the outcome of the election, particularly in North Carolina, only recasting the villains as Democrats. “They’re gonna send out millions of ballots to you, people that never really thought of it,” Trump said. “Sending out millions of unsolicited ballots. Make sure you send it in, and then go to your polling place and make sure it counts…. Because the only way they can win is by doing very bad things.” The state and local election offices do not mail out unsolicited absentee ballots. Voters must fill out an application — which includes a warning that fraudulently or falsely completing the form is a Class I felony — in order to receive an absentee ballot from their local board of election. Trump carried North Carolina by almost 4 points in 2016. Only twice in
Johnny Amos (left) and William Rike (right) hold a Trump flag at the rally on Tuesday.
the past 50 years has the Democratic nominee for president put North Carolina in the column — Jimmy Carter in 1976 and Barack Obama in 2008. If Trump loses North Carolina, his firewall, this year, it likely means he will also lose critical battleground states like Michigan and Wisconsin, making his path to reelection all but impossible. “Got to be careful with those ballots,” he riffed conspiratorially during his rally in Winston-Salem on Tuesday. “I don’t like it. You know, you have a Democrat governor. You have all those Democrats watching that stuff. I don’t like it. I look at these crowds. And if they’re going to cheat, crowds are meaningless. Really. If they’re going to cheat, these big, beautiful crowds — you can have 15,000; you can have 50,000. Watch it. Be poll watchers when you go there. Watch all the thieving and stealing and robbing they do.” Around 7 p.m., about 40 people — part of a coalition that included many who have protested against police brutality since the death of George Floyd
— enlarged the small protest across the street from the airport. They chanted, “No Trump, no KKK, no fascist USA,” and, “This is what democracy looks like.” Some of the chants ridiculed Trump, such as, “Hands too small, can’t build a wall.” They threw back the words that Trump reportedly used to describe members of the armed services who have died in combat by yelling, “Losers” and “Suckers” at his supporters as they streamed out of the rally. Trump’s supporters responded by chanting, “Four more years.” Some yelled, “Go home and find a job,” and, “Quit living off the government.” Trump continued a theme from the Republican National Convention by pledging support for law enforcement. “We will hire more police, increase penalties for assaults on law enforcement, surge federal prosecutors into high-crime communities and ban all sanctuary cities,” he promised. But the president drew some of the loudest cheers of the evening in remarks about school curriculum and heritage
CAROLYN DE BERRY
that promoted a sanitized view of American history while conflating the Confederacy with patriotism. “We will restore patriotic education in our schools,” Trump said, apparently referencing his threat to have the US Department of Education investigate the use of the New York Times 1619 Project in schools. When the crowd erupted in applause, Trump told Sen. Thom Tillis: “This is a very sophisticated group, Thom. You know what I’m talking about. Patriotic education.” “USA, USA, USA,” Trump’s supporters chanted. “The first thing they want to do is take your history away,” Trump said. “That’s why the monuments and statues — they want to knock them down. “They take away your guns,” he continued. “They take away your heroes. They take away your great generals. They take away your past. “We’ll teach our children to love our country and honor our history,” Trump concluded, “and always respect our great American flag.”
by Clay Jones
Barr creates another layer of protection for his client
News Opinion Culture
The latest outrage from the White yers to defend him for rape — yes, on House — the latest as of Tuesday mornthe taxpayer dime — and that Carroll’s ing, anyway, because a new affront to road to justice has come up against a decency and liberty is always underway major obstacle: the full force and power — comes in the form of a move from of the federal government, which rarely the Justice Department to further proloses judgements against civilians and tect the president from accountability. has wide leeway to quash investigations Donald Trump, the man, has been against itself. embroiled in a lawsuit against reporter For anyone familiar with how all this is E. Jean Carroll, who says he raped her supposed to work, it’s an astonishing act more than 20 years ago in a Bergdorf of legal brazenness. Goodman dressing If this motion is alroom. When he denied lowed to go through it, Carroll initiated a — a federal judge will suit for defamation in make that decision — it This has got to be federal court. Just as establish the the most perverted would Carroll’s legal team won president as the living a small victory, setting thing Barr has done embodiment of our the stage for a DNA country, an unassailable since he ascended icon, not unlike a montest and testimony from Trump, the man, Atto Attorney General. arch or a despotic dictatorney General Bill Barr tor. It means that the filed paperwork moving president is untouchthe case from Manable, that to besmirch hattan to Washington DC, effectively him is to go against all the institutions changing the defendant from Trump the of our nation, against the very soil upon man to Trump the president. which we stand. Barr’s move asserts that Carroll’s lawThis has got to be the most perverted suit is actually against the federal govthing Barr has done with the Justice Deernment. Trump was president when he partment since he ascended to Attorney denied these rape claims in 2019, which, General in February 2019. From the according to Barr’s Justice Department, beginning he has sounded like Trump’s means that Carroll’s accusations are personal lawyer. Now, it seems that he actually against the United States of has completely foregone the task of America and not Trump, the man. representing the laws of this nation, inIt means that the president will be stead using his post to create favorable entitled to use Justice Department lawconditions for his lone client.
Up Front
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Sept. 10-16, 2020
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Sept. 10-16, 2020 Up Front News Opinion Culture Shot in the Triad Puzzles
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CULTURE Founder of Joyemovement works through trauma with dance by Sayaka Matsuoka
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lexandra Joye Warren got into a lot of trouble in elementary school. “I was very energetic and talkative,” says the Greensboro dancer and founder of Joyemovement dance company. “It would be like on my report card, everything good, but when it came to behavior: unsatisfactory.” Eventually, Warren’s parents enrolled her in a dance school as a way for her to work through her energy. There, she remembers being inspired by an older Black female dancer and wanting to grow up to be just like her. A few years later, when she got to her performing arts middle school, Warren continued to dance and play the violin but eventually switched her major to dance as her sole focus. “I just fell in love with movement,” Warren says. As an adult, Warren still uses the artistic form to express herself, tackling traumatic issues like racism and sexism. In 2014, she started her own company — Joyemovement — to be able to tell the stories she wanted to tell. But that was never really her plan, says Warren. After graduating from UNCG’s graduate dance program in 2006, she spent years in New York, investing in other people’s visions and focusing on performing rather than creating. It wasn’t until Warren moved back to Greensboro in 2013 that she realized that in order to continue the work she was doing in New York, she’d have to start her own company. “I wasn’t seeing work that was focused on activism,” Warren says of the dance scene in Greensboro. “Work that was telling untold stories, work that was trying to be more meaningful in choreography. For me, I was missing the work that I had done that was about connecting things.” That summer, the George Zimmerman trial took over the news as he faced the jury over his shooting of Trayvon Martin; Zimmerman was acquitted of all charges. “That was a really tough time,” Warren recalls. “I remember having my daughter and being in the store and these trials are going on and I’m trying to process what’s going on and feeling frustrated with how the case was being handled. I’m holding [my daughter] in the store and people are like, ‘Let me touch her hair,’ and I’m like Noooo! It was just so much. I started thinking
about Trayvon and I wanted to make a piece that was going to let me process how I was feeling. There were no words to describe how that had happened.” Shortly after, Joyemovement’s first piece as a company, “Stand Your Ground,” debuted. As a former DJ, Warren pieced together radio interviews and snippets of news reel to create the soundscape for the work. She remixed gospel and a part of a reading of the Constitution and a portion of a TED talk explaining implicit bias. “The sound takes you through some of the thoughts that are happening,” Warren says. Her dancers go through repetitive movements, one after the other like an echo as they clasp their necks or fall gracefully to the floor. Ever since then, Warren’s pieces have worked to seek understanding of the world through movement. Her 2017 piece “For Love of Country” explored what it means to live in a country that elected President Trump while being a descendant of slaves. A year prior, Warren created a work drawn from her own family’s personal experiAlexandra Joye Warren started her own dance company to CAROLYN DE BERRY ences with racism. tell untold stories. “One time my husband was working in downtown Greensboro,” Warren says. “He decided to ever done,” Warren says. “But I think it’s important because walk to Jimmy John’s for lunch when a police car pulled him lots of people still don’t know that this happened.” over. They accused him of a crime. They put him in handcuffs During the pandemic, Warren says she’s been researchand put him in the police car. They said, ‘You look like this guy ing the history of forced sterilization in the Triad through old that just robbed this bank. We’re going to take you to this newspaper articles and has even started looking for survivors bank and ask if you’re the guy.’” to interview. In the end, the police let her husband go. “I want to make sure their stories are told in a respectful “That was a heartbreaking experience,” Warren continues. way,” she says. “He was like, ‘I could have died.’ He could have easily been shot Warren says the history of forced sterilization affected her because it was a miscommunication. Going through that, he particularly when she visited Senegal and stood at the Door started opening up about the other times he’s been harassed of No Return, a memorial to the Atlantic slave trade which by police and I was like, ‘I’m making a piece about this.’” functioned as the final exit point of slaves from Africa. Warren’s 2016 “Fit the Description,” “I thought I would cry and be was the result. devastated,” she says. “But I felt She says she’s saddened that the this enormous strength. They work continues to be so relevant thought some people didn’t mattoday. ter so they wouldn’t allow them to “The years that it has been shown, procreate or allow them to have you hope that it becomes less reldescendants, but my ancestors evant,” Warren says. “Every time I went through this horrible thing make a piece, things keep happening. I and they had enough hope to conwould like it to be retired now.” tinue on to eventually get to me. I She’s gotten requests to show it can’t find the words which is why I virtually over the summer and says she’s thankful that her art have to move through it.” can bring awareness to systemic forms of oppression. Most Warren says she wants people to invest in dance like they do recently, she’s been working on another story that she says visual art or music. isn’t as well known but needs to be talked about. “I think a lot of times people go see dance and they’re like, “Wicked Silence” deals with the forced sterilization of I don’t understand what this means,” Warren says. “It’s okay women, particularly Black women, Warren says. Last summer to sit with your discomfort and not know what it means, but she received a regional arts grant and decided that she wanted just to value whatever it makes you feel whether it’s curious, to shed light on North Carolina’s eugenics program that lasted worried or unsure. Those are all real and valid ways to feel and until the 1970s. She envisions it as a three-part piece, spanning that’s an okay way to leave a performance…. Dance makes me about three hours in length and hopes to debut it next year. feel all the feelings that I need to stir up in me; it makes me “It will be the biggest and most expensive project that we’ve cry.”
Learn more about Joyemovement and watch excerpts from past work at joyemovement.com.
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Korean style beef tacos by Lawrence Feir.
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Find both groups on Facebook: Chefs cooking during quarantine and Quarantine Cooking Club
and their families.” Recently, local sculptor and artist Lawrence Feir joined the group and posted that he battled throat cancer and lost his sense of taste for two years. “The radiation and chemotherapy were really devastating to my taste,” Feir explains. “Everything tasted like poison. Rice Krispies were too spicy. A sip of wine or beer tasted like battery acid.” Today, Feir is two years cancer-free and enjoys sharing his renewed sense of taste with photos of dishes he’s created like fresh spring rolls, grilled lobster tails and Korean style beef tacos sprinkled with sesame seeds. “I really enjoy it,” he says. “It’s just a way to connect with like-minded people who enjoy cooking and enjoy sharing with others.” And despite being social media-driven, these downto-earth groups aren’t here for the likes or the follows; it’s just about the connection. And now if you’ll excuse me, I have some photos from my camera roll that I need to post on Facebook.
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Others have simple descriptions. There’s no pretense, no glamour shots, no begging for likes or entries into contests. There’s no hierarchy between chefs and home cooks. To scroll through the group’s feed is like a modest yet intimate look into the kitchens and plates of people who love to cook and eat food. Matthew French cooked for 30 years in Greensboro kitchens like Painted Plate, Café Pasta, Lucky 32, Café Europa and Undercurrent. Since November 2018 he’s been a product stylist. He started the “Chefs Cooking During Quarantine” group to help lift up friends and former colleagues still in the business. “Once the industry shut down,” says French, “I knew there would be a lot of really sad people. And I knew that what they needed was to commiserate and share what their comforts are while cooking for themselves
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by Nikki Miller-Ka n March, as everyone in the world started to rediscover long-forgotten cookbooks, babysit sourdough starters and become amateur farmers, I decided it might be a good time to cook the food that I’ve always by Nikki Miller-Ka wanted to cook for myself and not worry about how the photos were going to look on Instagram. I made tons of cole slaw and fermented cabbage relish, butchered pork shoulders, brined chicken tenders… and all of my labor needed a home without judgement. After a little online searching, I landed on the Quarantine Chefs and Quarantine Cooking Club groups on Facebook. Both groups are Triad-based with members from all over the country and boast nearly 500 members between them. Both groups are similar in that they offer support for people to share stories, recipes and photos of home cooking. Admission is determined by only one thing: an interest in food. What I found was a utopia of supportive, eager-toshare food lovers. Each post in each group is unlike the last: overflowing baskets of produce; noodles tossed in cream sauces followed by frittatas studded with diced ham and pickles; step-by-step montages of bubbling pots of oil and baked foccacia; stacked sandwiches interspersed with non-gratuitous shots of favorite bottled hot sauces, smoothies and non-alcoholic seltzers; even the occasional bowl of cereal or bag of chips from a vending machine. Members are encouraged to share their food photography and favorite recipes, and to interact with others adapting to coronavirus quarantine lifestyle. The groups’ tones are positive and inspirational instead of aspirational. Each group has become a place for strangers to get to know each other a bit, and marvel at homemade meals that don’t have to be fancy. The honesty is refreshing; seeing posts of people taking pictures of their cheese puff and chocolate pudding cup dinners is not uncommon. Others post photos of their vending machine meals. “My favorite posts are the ones where it’s like, ‘Here’s some stuff I’ve scrounged from my fridge or bought from a vending machine and this is my dinner,’” says Quarantine Cooking Club founder and Greensboro artist Harry Turfle. “And you’re like, ‘I’ve been there, I appreciate you sharing.’ That’s so good. “Since lockdown started it was clear to me that dinner parties were suspended, having people over, going out for dinner, drinking with friends, sharing meals was not gonna happen for a long time,” he adds. Some photos are presented without explanation.
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1 It may be fatal 5 Disease contracted by Seal at an early age 10 Brand that pops up frequently in crosswords? 14 Sitar master Shankar 15 ___ ear and out the other 16 Get ready for surgery 17 Couturier Cassini 18 British pottery manufacturer known for bone china 19 City that represents a county 20 Helgenberger of “Erin Brockovich” 21 Less polluted 22 Rowboat need 23 ___-country (Drive-By Truckers’ genre) ©2008, 2020 Jonesin’ Crosswords (editor@jonesincrosswords.com) 25 “Damn, it’s cold out!” 26 “Ty Murray’s Celebrity Bull Riding Challenge” network 27 The Hulk’s catalyst 29 Food vendor’s requirement (abbr.) 30 Resource 33 Last name in riding lawnmowers 34 “___ bin ein Berliner” (famous JFK quote) 35 Desert landscape features 36 Spicy spread Answers from last issue 37 ___ Na Na (group that preceded Jimi Hendrix at Woodstock) 13 Makes a decision 38 It’s said coming and going 24 Hot concept 39 Kiddie lit web spinner who gets a B? 26 Chocolate necessity 42 Fashion line? 27 Sum up 43 Cartoonist who created Tintin 28 It comes straight from the horse’s mouth 44 Insignia on Cardinals caps 31 Fred’s wife, on “I Love Lucy” 45 Hathor or Hera, e.g. 32 ___ Maria (liqueur) 47 Won back 40 Get all emotional and teary-eyed 51 John’s 2008 adversary 41 Part of GLAAD 56 Gave high honors 45 Fade out, like a light 58 “Out of Africa” author Isak 46 “We ___ song of sorrow ...” (lyric from 59 Element taken in supplements Saves the Day’s “What Went Wrong”) 60 Flea market event 47 Beat too fast, like a heart 61 Sets up tents 48 McGregor of “Angels & Demons” 62 Brand with the discontinued flavor 49 Mineral that’s the softest on the Grape Watermelon Mohs scale 50 Killer whale Down 52 Bodily system that includes the lungs 1 “You’ll hear ___ my lawyer!” (abbr.) 2 “Ooh ___!” 53 Acronym that sometimes means 3 Singer Cocker who gets a C? “right now” 4 Leeway 54 Word after blood or fuel 5 Cindy Brady’s impediment 55 Place to play horsey 6 Like private phone numbers 57 Dungeons & Dragons game runners, 7 Billionaire Branson who gets an F? for short 8 Price at a dime a dozen, perhaps? 58 Withdrawal symptoms 9 Fortune teller 10 They’re added to foot baths 11 “Dilbert” cartoonist Adams who gets an A? 12 Equipment
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