TCB Jan. 5, 2023 — Rap as Folk

RAP as FOLK

e ran into Carlos Bocanegra at Krankies on Tuesday morning, just one of those random interactions that happens in downtown WinstonSalem all day long. But Gale couldn’t know that, because at that point she had lived in the Camel City for less than a week.

Our new CityBeat reporter, blessedly, chose Winston-Salem as home base for her residence — good for us because the lack of depth in our reporting there needs to be addressed. And a reporter, ideally, needs to live in the city they’re covering.

We benefit from what I call a “low cover charge” in the Triad, but I know my friends at altweeklies across the country are having problems finding housing in their respective cities. Years ago, when my friend Kevin Allmann was still editor of Gambit in New Orleans, he told me that if his rent in Mid City went up one more time he’d have to move to Arabi. Chris Faraone, editor of Dig Boston, told me that the only reason he could live inside city limits was because

he got the crap kicked out of him by officers from the New York Police Department during the Occupy Wall Street days. They broke his arm, but the cash settlement with the department enabled him to buy a house in Boston. On the whole, he says it was a fair trade-off. The rest of his staff lives outside the city, when they’re not crashing at his place.

So it’s a special place she comes to in these early days of her journalism career: a city that’s vibrant, but with plenty of room to grow; a beat that’s underserved, allowing for big news breaks; job security, in that her salary is being covered by a nonprofit grant from the NC Local News Lab Fund. Not every young reporter can say such things.

And sure, she’s green right now — we all were when we first latched on. But she’ll learn soon enough about Monstercade, Bocanegra’s avantgarde temple of high weirdness, that it’s easier to get a table at Krankies than at Camino on Fourth Street, where to find the best free parking spots downtown and everything else the natives know.

There’s no better way to get to know a city than to be a reporter working in it. At least, that’s how it happened for me.

Brian Clarey

JAN. 5-11

by MICHAELA RATLIFF

THURSDAY Jan. 5

Urban Street Grill @ Terminal Tap (GSO) 5 p.m.

SATURDAY Jan. 7

Fur-st Saturdays @ Greensboro Science Center (GSO) 10 a.m.

The Songs of John Prine @ High Point Theatre (HP) 7:30 p.m.

Grab some Korean barbecue from Urban Street Grill before enjoying draft craft beers from Terminal Tap.

FRIDAY Jan. 6

First Friday Jazz Series @ International Civil Rights Museum (GSO) 6:30 p.m.

The International Civil Rights Museum kicks off its 2023 Jazz Series with Lacy Haith & Lite Ice Band. Visit sitinmovement.org for more information.

Join the Greensboro Science Center and Guilford County Animal Services on the first Saturday of each month until May for an on-site pet adoption event in the SAIL Center. The City of Greensboro Waste Reduction and Recycling team will be onsite with information about reducing waste and recycling pet-related items. Visit the event page on Facebook for more information.

John Prine is no longer with us, but his music lives on through his brother Billy. Join Billy as he celebrates John’s life by telling the stories surrounding his songs before leading his band in them. Purchase tickets at highpointtheatre.com/events.

SUNDAY Jan. 8

Innovators and Legends @ Winston-Salem Symphony (W-S) 3 p.m.

The Winston-Salem Symphony presents Innovators and Legends as part of its Classic Series concert cycle. Music Director candidate Stilian Kirov leads the concert with Ruth Crawford Seeger performing Andante for Strings. Terrence Wilson will follow playing Beethoven’s First Piano Concerto, and the concert will end with Rachmaninoff’s Second Symphony. Find more information and purchase tickets at wssymphony.org

Greensboro City Council members decline to extend downtown

Social District, citing concerns about retail, homelessness and

public safety

by Gale Melcher

An item discussed during Greensboro’s City Council meeting on Tuesday sought to make downtown Greensboro a bit more fun than it already is.

Introduced in March 2022, the BORO Social District is a part of town where customers can sip while they stroll, taking alcoholic beverages to and from participating local businesses in downtown Greensboro.

During Tuesday’s city council meeting, members discussed whether to extend the Downtown Social District parameters to include Center City Park and the Tanger Center, areas that had been carved out of the initial map.

Currently the district starts near Gate City Boulevard and runs up South Elm and Greene Streets, tucking in the Cultural Arts Center and LeBauer Park to the east. To the west, the district includes the area around the Marriott Hotel and ends at West Smith Street to the north.

During a council meeting on Dec. 6, Zack Matheny, Downtown Greensboro Inc. president and representative of District 3, which covers part of downtown, vehemently expressed his disapproval of efforts to expand the downtown Social District.

“As the downtown representative, I’m baffled that this would even be considered without a conversation with the representative for District 3, and, by the way, the manager of the downtown Social District,” he said.

Since joining council, Matheny has focused his efforts on Center City Park, an area that is often used by people experiencing homelessness. In October, council passed amendments that heavily regulate the use of public space and storage of personal belongings, measures that advocates said targeted the homeless communi-

ty directly.

In previous council meetings, Matheny expressed concern about adding Center City Park to the Social District because of the homeless population but changed his tune in Tuesday’s session.

“I’d like to reiterate… there’s a specific way that this [original] map was collaboratively drawn with GPD and Downtown Greensboro Incorporated,” Matheny said, gesturing toward himself. “The intent of the Social District… was built upon the fabric of the North Carolina Retail Merchants [Association]…. There is no retail around Center City Park.”

He went on to say, “I have not had one person call me and ask me my opinion.”

Council member Sharon Hightower of District 1 recalled how she voted on the BORO Social District back in December 2021, saying, “I did vote no because I felt it was being very discriminatory when Center City Park was being left out, because a lot of homeless sit in the park…. And so now today I’m just wondering why the argument is so adamant about retail.”

The amendment was denied on Tuesday in an 8-1 vote, with council member Hugh Holston the sole member voting in favor.

During a Dec. 20 city council meeting, a few citizens voiced their concerns over how roving alcohol consumption might affect their businesses, specifically on State Street.

“In speaking to some of the retail owners in downtown Greensboro since the Social District started about nine months ago, they have noticed an increase in their business and they’ve noticed an increase in repeat business,” Mayor Nancy Vaughan said. “…. I think we owe it to the business owners to give them an opportunity if

this is a way to increase their business. And this is done on a voluntary basis; nobody is forced to be a part of the Social District.”

At-large council member Marikay Abuzuaiter called upon Assistant City Manager Trey Davis to confirm.

“This is not anything we can force a business to do, correct Mr. Davis?” she asked.

Davis responded, “Yes, you’re correct…. If a business is in the identified map area, then they can post signage to indicate that they don’t welcome people who are consuming alcohol inside their establishment.”

Council voted 5-3 to approve a Social District for State Street that is set to go into effect on April 1.

Council member Hightower expressed concerns during the Dec. 20 meeting that the Social District expansions might set a precedent in encouraging other areas of town to apply for Social District status, worried that more resources may need to

be spent on public safety.

Greensboro police Chief John Thompson noted that there have been no reported incidents related to the Social District downtown.

Regulations for the Social District are as follows.

Beverage containers sold by locations are required to display the statement “Drink Responsibly — Be 21” in no less than 12-point font and cannot hold more than 16 fluid ounces or be made of glass. They must also clearly identify the permittee from which the alcoholic beverage was purchased and display a logo or some other mark that is unique to the Social District in which it is sold. Alcohol may be consumed while roaming approved areas from 12 p.m. to 9 p.m., and consumers can’t take drinks into another bar or restaurant that serves alcohol.

As the sole member in favor of extending the district, Holston remarked Tuesday evening that he’d still like to see Center City Park added at some point in the future.

“Whether it’s tonight or some other night in the future, I’m really excited about the Social District, really excited about Center City Park being a part of it as a place of respite,” he said. “As a place where our residents can go and relax as they are Social District-ing. So again, if not tonight, some other time in the near future I would love to see the Center City Park as a part of the Social District.”

Sharon Hightower

This piece is part of our new CityBeat that covers Greensboro and Winston-Salem city council business. All CityBeat reporting content is made possible by a grant from the NC Local News Lab Fund, available to republish for free by any news outlet who cares to use it. To learn how, visit triad-city-beat.com/republish.

Screenshots of the current Social District lines.

“I did vote no because I felt it was being very discriminatory when Center City Park was being left out, because a lot of homeless sit in the park.... And so now today I’m just wondering why the argument is so adamant about retail.

Hustle culture Entrepreneurial ‘university’ aims to help businesses get to next level

by Sayaka Matsuoka

hante Woody is no stranger to the hustle.

In 2015, after being turned down for a job yet again, she looked around her home for items to pawn just to make ends meet. In the kitchen, she laid her eyes upon basic ingredients in the cabinets and fridge: sugar, eggs, flour and butter.

“All I knew was that I had a really good poundcake recipe,” Woody said. Soon afterwards Woody began selling baked goods at the People’s Market in Greensboro. The extra income became a lifeline, a way to pay for expenses like recurring bills or glasses for her kids.

“I was considered low or moderate income,” she said. “It felt great to be able to be sustainable.”

Cut to seven years later, and Woody is now the manager for the People’s Market and part of an initiative to help others sustain their businesses. Side Hustle University is a joint venture between the People’s Market, the Corner Market, Glenwood Together and CoMetta that aims to help small-scale businesses gain the business skills necessary to succeed. Starting on Jan. 10, Side Hustle University will offer various sessions focused on cultivating skills in marketing, networking, identifying local resources and more. While the Corner Market is still operating, the People’s Market is only open from April to October, so in the off-season, Woody still wants vendors to be able to thrive and Side Hustle University is a way to do that.

“We want people to know that we’re not just a pop-up market,” Woody said. “Yes, we do that, but how are we going to help create connection and community with our vendors and help them with resources that they need to succeed?”

For her, joining the People’s Market years ago changed her life’s trajectory.

Woody, who is a mother to seven children, had a hard time finding stable work because of a misdemeanor charge for possession of paraphernalia on her record from when she was 18. Then in 2017, she said she was wrongfully arrested for child abuse when she had to restrain her teenage daughter, who had behavioral health problems. The charges were ultimately dismissed, she said, but the repercussions of

the event follow her to this day.

“It still puts a label on me,” Woody said. “That’s a hardship right there.”

In the midst of the darkness, she turned to old recipes she learned from her grandmother, Jesse, whom she helped in the kitchen as a child.

“It was our thing,” Woody recalled. “It was a chore to do. My grandmother always had me in the kitchen sifting, measuring out; those were my responsibilities.”

After finding success at a church fundraiser, Woody took cake-decorating classes at Michaels and started selling at the People’s Market.

“It was history,” Woody said. “I’ve tried other markets and done other pop-ups, but know that come April through October, that is home for me. There is a sense of community. It’s not just a place where you go; everybody thrives.”

She’s seen several other vendors find success through the market, too. Nunu of Nunu’s Lemonade started selling drinks at the market out of plastic cups when she was 11 years old. Now she’s in high school, and sells her lemonade out of bottles, complete with a logo.

“It has all of the aesthetics of a real entrepreneur,” Woody said. “We want to see you grow, make money and take it to the next level.”

After three years of a pandemic, increasing rent and inflation combined with a recent scare from the county health department, Woody said that giving vendors every opportunity to succeed is important.

“Food businesses are not going anywhere,” Woody said. “They are popping up everyday…. People need something to supplement their income so what are they going to do? They’re going to create a craft or food or something that is easy to do. That’s how it was for me, and I think Side Hustle University will help them better prepare for the next steps in their business.”

Side Hustle University starts on Jan. 10 and runs through March. All classes will take place at Glenwood Together. Learn more and register at thepeoplesmarketgso.com.

Vendor Sacred Bath and Body at the People’s Market

COURTESY PHOTO

OPINION

EDITORIAL Jen Sorensen

jensorensen.com

Assumptions about the news

We’re applying a more disciplined approach to business at Triad City Beat these days, as we’re looking to ramp up news coverage, reach and overall relevancy in 2023.

Our new CityBeat is part of it — reporter Gale Melcher’s work debuted this week, and will expand and develop as she learns the beat.

We created it on the assumption that people would be interested in it — a gamble, to be sure. Not everyone is interested in city government.

Consider that just 32,960 people voted in the last Greensboro City Council election, held this past July. That’s just 16.2 percent of registered voters, which themselves only make up a shade more than half of the city’s population.

But we know that there isn’t much city council coverage coming from either city — the only regular attendee in Greensboro writes from a right-wing angle for a billionaire’s newspaper. And we don’t think his should be the prevailing voice.

We made a similar assumption back in the spring about elections. Technically, it was an assump-

tion made a long time ago by the founders of this newspaper, namely that it is our responsibility to cover elections as closely and completely as we are able to. We’ve been doing it this whole time. But in spring of 2022, as we filed more and more stories about the upcoming primary — which, we’ve argued, is often more meaningful than the general election — we noticed that no one was following suit.

We created more election coverage for the 2022 primary than any other news outlet in the Triad. Confirming our assumption, the 2022 Primary Election Guide was the most-visited story on our website for the entire year, though it was only useful for a few weeks.

Our other election coverage made big numbers as well: Half of the year’s Top 10 were candidate stories and election results, reaffirming the assumptions behind those decisions made so long ago.

We believe this interest will dovetail nicely with our new initiative to own city council coverage in our cities. This, too, is an assumption, which means we will be watching the results closely.

John Cole

Courtesy of NC Policy Watch

We created more election coverage for the 2022 primary than any other news outlet in the Triad.

CULTURE

Greensboro’s

Demeanor defies boxes, genres to marry folk and rap

by Sayaka Matsuoka

This is what Justin Harrigton has been waiting for.

The Greensboro-based musician who performs as Demeanor has been working the local folk-rap scene for years, and it’s finally starting to pay off.

“It feels like there’s a renaissance in the Black folk scene,” he says.

Harrington kind of does it all. He can strum, he can pick, he can rap, he can spin. In the past few years, he’s released both an EP and an album and played a bunch of local shows, including a concert at the Magnolia House. In 2020, he received a OneBeat Accelerator Fund to boost his nonprofit, Haus of Lacks, a multicultural artist collective. The following year, he organized a set for the NC Folk Festival titled “Rap is Folk,” a message that has become inextricably intertwined with his musical ideology.

“Rappers are the grios of modern society,” Harrington says. “Oral traditions are really important, and rap is just a really cool twist on an oral tradition.”

And as busy as he has been, 2022 may have been Harrington’s biggest year of growth. During the summer, he spent three weeks in South Africa to shoot a season of “Underground Everywhere,” a documentary-type show in which artists collaborate to make a new record from scratch. Then, just a few months later, Harrington was asked by folk artist Jake Blount to rap on his new album, The New Faith.

“[Blount] was with my aunt, and they were driving in a car,” Harrington says. “She was playing records that I had played on, and he said he wanted a rapper on the album.”

Harrington’s no stranger to the music industry. His aunt, Rhiannon Giddens, is one of the most accomplished musicians to have emerged from this little corner of the country. And when Harrington heard the afro-futuristic concept for Blount’s album, he felt it was serendipitous.

“It’s this idea that at the end of the world, there’s no more technology and all that’s leftover is folk music,” he says.

Of the 12 songs on the album, Harrington is featured on three. And that led him to be invited by Blount to perform on an NPR Tiny Desk concert in December.

“A week out, he asked me, ‘Can you be in DC on Dec. 7,’ and I just kissed my girlfriend, hopped on a train and did the Tiny Desk with him,” Harrington says.

That was a moment that Harrington says was a culmination of the passion he has held for Black folk music for years.

“It’s one thing to be on a Tiny Desk in general, but doing it while making rap music with an upright bass, banjo and fiddle — it’s everything I work for,” Harrington says. “This community is just getting stronger and stronger every year.”

This year, Harrington is refocusing his efforts to create his own music. HIs album, titled Inhale, will be the first of a trio and is set to drop in March at the Fort Worth African American Roots Festival. It’s what Harrington calls “the most Demeanor record that has ever come out.”

Using banjo, synth and rap, Harrington says Inhale will offer a “colorful palette of sounds.”

The first single comes out later this month and will be performed by Harrington at the Flat Iron on Jan. 25.

“I think that for a while, I’ve been beating around the bush of the legacy that I want to leave behind,” he says. “I’m balancing between two worlds — folk and rap. I don’t care about genre at all; the only thing I care about is culture.”

The reason why the two musical traditions work, Harrington says, is because they are both rooted in storytelling.

“The point that I’m going for is the subtext behind these genres,” he says. “I think there is a shared history about people who fight back.”

In the new album, Harrington combines banjo, upright bass and traditional folk combinations with 808 lines and Arabic scales. He makes the argument that these seemingly dissimilar, disparate sounds are actually interconnected, which is the message of the album as a whole.

“I want to use it to inspire people,” he says. “It’s not a self-serving mission. It’s about being a part of something, about being a part of a global community that we all share.”

PHOTO BY ALEXIA WEBSTER

Follow Harrington on social media at @demxmusic on Instagram and on streaming platforms. Inhale drops Jan. 25 on streaming platforms.

CULTURE

In the Weeds True Stories (and unused TV show concepts)

by James Douglas

When I was fresh out of high school, I wanted to go and learn how to make movies. I was lucky enough to get a part-time job at our local arts school, when it was still just called just “NCSA.” I figured that would be the best way to see if I really wanted to go to film school. While there, I became acquainted with many of the faculty and students and naturally, asked their advice. The resounding answer I received from many was, “See the world. You’re just a kid and don’t know shit yet.” They told me to come back when I had some stories to tell.

by James Douglas

The How-To Show:

Orders. Some semblance of a routine. Deal-making. Counts. Rent. Late nights. Clopenings. Antiquated online systems staffed by crews built to handle a tenth of the capacity. Scheduling. SALES. Salespeople of all stripes dropping in unannounced. Responding to bands, DJs, and crusty guitarists you’ve never heard of wanting to play at a dive they’ve never been to. Employees. Off-time. Repairs. Days with lists so long that you barely make it in time to actually work. Dismantling a toilet to find a vape or a pair of glasses has stopped up the works, again. Multiple right ways to mix a drink. Multiple liquors not to carry. Code-switching to avoid scaring older white people.

The Sitcom/Drama:

Regulars asking to be employees. Employees asking to be regulars. Every personality type from the quiet loner to Everybody’s Best Friend. The same faces, day after day, interspersed with weekly “guest stars” who may be asked to become series regulars provided they have the chops. The ones who evaporate into the void after finding love or a job in Philly. The ones who return to make appearances on the Christmas episode or the season finale. Guy with unleashed ancient dog. A Very Special After School Drug Awareness episode. The attractive and mysterious stranger who shows up, alone, night after night, inspiring speculation until a courageous stumbler finally uses some cheap come-on. They’ll be living together in a week, and

the stranger becomes a regular by rights, with a backstory just as mundane as anyone else’s. The bad guy who really isn’t. The good one who really isn’t. Random famous people who appear in episodes like a Where’s Waldo puzzle. Destination episodes (The Gang goes to DollyWood). Bad nights. The occasional glance into someone’s life outside of the bar. Crying in the car before a shift (and after). Personal loss. Crushes. Lost loves. Infidelity. The “will they or won’t they” friendships. A secret from someone’s past.

Trade Street’s West Wing:

Afternoon opinions from the after-workers. Occasional guest spots from local movers and shakers. City business, city news and city scandals. Crime dockets with juicy details (probably false) not mentioned in the papers. Real Estate Hour. Rent speculation. Discussions on mental health and social safety nets after daily visits from a homeless person who has been on the street longer than anyone can remember. Getting to know your new property owners. Car Talk. Parking-fine Fridays. Hot takes from the quiet guy who might be racist. Hot takes from the person who lived in Brooklyn for a year. Hot takes from the oldest regular who voted for McGovern. The most popular topic on Mondays is “Who’s open right now?”

Reality TV:

Real Pranks. Fake pranks. Bad acting. A line of women sitting together at the bar taking separate selfies upon arrival. The guy who is FaceTiming the whole time. Bluetooth speaker guy. The influencers who cross the street to avoid the bar but imply that Reynolda Village is a quaint English countryside town, tweed and all. Mural photo shoots. Dude wearing butterfly wings on a brightly lit one wheel. The guy who still calls a cab. Hearing, “Do you guys have Apple Pay?” multiple times a night. Drone guy. The guy who asks if we take crypto. The “let me move some money around” person after their card is declined.

Storytellers should do a residency at a dive bar.

SHOT IN THE TRIAD

BY CAROLYN DE BERRY

North Church Street, Greensboro

Fallen trees at Lake Townsend after days of record cold temperatures.

by Matt Jones by Matt Jones