TCB Jan. 20, 2022 — Both/And by Triad City Beat

JAN 20-26, 2022 TRIAD-CITY-BEAT.COM

And

Both

The Weatherspoon’s Lorraine O’Grady exhibit invites curious introspection and analytical extrospection BY SAYAKA MATSUOKA | PG. 8

THE NEWS & RECORD NEEDS A WIN pg. 2

$16 MILLION LESS FOR W-S TEACHERS pg. 4

BLACK GIRL MAGIC ON THE RADIO pg. 7

UP FRONT | JAN 20-26, 2022

Coronavirus in the Triad

(as of Wednesday, Jan 19) Documented COVID-19 diagnoses NC 2,147,777 (+217,067) Forsyth 76,734 (+7,522) Guilford 94,965 (+8,717) NC 20,037 (+274) Forsyth 653 (+16) Guilford 957 (+0)

COVID-19 deaths

Documented recoveries NC 1,748,088 (+127,440) Forsyth *no data* Guilford 78,319 (+4,392) Current cases NC 379,652 (+89,353 Forsyth *no data* Guilford 15,688 (+4,595) Hospitalizations (right now) NC 4,689 (+591) Forsyth *no data* Guilford 262 (+9) Vaccinations NC Partially vaccinated 6,202,425 (+26,629) Fully vaccinated 6,233,972 (59%, +21,652) Forsyth Partially vaccinated 245,651 (+1,009) Fully vaccinated 228,281 (60%, +681) Guilford Partially vaccinated 339,053 (+1,199) Fully vaccinated 317,914 (59%, +855)

BUSINESS PUBLISHER/EXECUTIVE EDITOR

Brian Clarey brian@triad-city-beat.com

PUBLISHER EMERITUS

Allen Broach allen@triad-city-beat.com

OF COUNSEL

Jonathan Jones

Michaela Ratliff michaela@triad-city-beat.com

Chris Rudd chris@triad-city-beat.com

SPECIAL SECTION EDITOR

CONTRIBUTORS

Nikki Miller-Ka niksnacksblog@gmail.com

EDITORIAL ADVISOR

Jordan Green jordan@triad-city-beat.com

EDITORIAL MANAGING EDITOR

ART ART DIRECTOR

STAFF WRITER

SALES SALES EXECUTIVE

Sayaka Matsuoka sayaka@triad-city-beat.com Nicole Zelniker nicole@triad-city-beat.com

1451 S. Elm-Eugene St. Box 24, Greensboro, NC 27406 Office: 336.681.0704 CHIEF CONTRIBUTOR KEY ACCOUNTS

Charlie Marion charlie@triad-city-beat.com

Drew Dix drew@triad-city-beat.com

Carolyn de Berry, James Douglas, Matt Jones, Jordan Howse, Jen Sorensen, Clay Jones

COVER

Lorraine O’Grady (American, born 1934). Announcement Card 1 (BananaPalm with Lance), 2020. Fujiflex print, 60 × 40 in. (152.4 × 101.6 cm). Edition of 10 plus 3 artist’s proofs. Courtesy of Alexander Gray Associates, New York. © Lorraine O’Grady/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York

EDITOR’S NOTEBOOK The N&R needs a win

oday I broke down and subscribed to the Greensboro News & Record. by Brian Clarey Or, at least, I tried to. The online form wouldn’t take my info, bouncing me to a customer-service email account which has yet to reply to my inquiry. Since BH Media bought the N&R from Landmark in 2013, and then subsequently sold it to Lee Enterprises in 2020, editorial staff at the daily newspaper for the third-largest city in North Carolina has dwindled to four full-time reporters. They’re using a lot of wire content, pasting stories from press releases and missing big scoops. Their nightly press time is so early — before sister paper the Journal gets printed — that they can’t get sports scores from the evening games into the morning paper. And its former downtown building, once the nerve center of the entire city, has submitted to graffiti, squatters, rodents and other forms of urban decay. The N&R hasn’t broken a big story in… months? A year? There hasn’t been any serious investigative work in a good long while, and very little enterprise reporting. A glance at today’s home page shows a slew of spot news pieces compiled from the very same city and police press releases I get myself every morning, along with stories from the AP, the Fayetteville Observer, High Point Enterprise, Raleigh News & Observer and Winston-Salem Journal, which

is still doing a pretty good job. In my time in Triad media, which goes back 20 years, the Journal has never been this much better than the N&R. It used to be the other way around. This is not the fault of the N&R newsroom, which is about the same size as mine except they’re a large-city daily media outlet, charged with being the newspaper of record. They have to cover everything — cops and courts, city business, county shenanigans, the schools, the neighborhoods, arts and entertainment, local sports and even the freakin’ weather. Which is impossible. Not with four reporters. And then there’s Alden Capital, a hedge fund with a reputation for crippling newspapers, circling the Lee Enterprises properties like a patient but determined shark. But I’m pulling for the N&R. And you should be, too. Greensboro needs a strong daily newspaper. Cities without them lose transparency and voter participation. Taxes have gone up in cities that have lost their daily papers. And so I’m subscribing, if I can get anyone to email me back. In the meantime, the N&R needs a win. I’m talking a big scoop, seismic, talk-of-the-town kind of stuff. Corruption. A sex scandal. Massive fraud. Something big enough to get people fired or tender their resignations, to change the outcome of an election, to bring some justice to an unjust world. More reporting just might do it this time.

Greensboro needs a strong daily newspaper.

triad-city-beat.com/tcb-first-amendment-society

by Michaela Ratliff

THURSDAY Jan. 20

Valentine’s Dance & Desserts Registration @ Kaleideum North (W-S) Online

Registration is now open for Kaleideum’s Valentine’s Day celebration on Feb. 11. The evening will feature family-friendly games, food and Valentine’s Day activities. Visit Kaleideum’s website to register.

Why Does an Oven Exist: Art Exhibition by Alec Celis @ Elsewhere Museum (GSO) 7 p.m. Alec Celis, a mixed-media artist based in Greensboro, invites you to view his exhibition of 2D and 3D pieces created in the last year that contemplate why we exist. For future times and dates, head to the event page on Facebook. Spongebob The Musical @ Winston-Salem Theatre Alliance (W-S) 8 p.m.

Paddled is partnering with Cycology to bring you bikes and beers for a benefit. Try saying that three times fast. Participate in a 45-minute bike ride followed by a celebratory beer. All proceeds will benefit the Special Olympics. Visit the event page on Facebook for the registration link.

SUNDAY Jan. 23

Mama Crockett’s Cider Donuts @ Goodwill (GSO) 8 a.m.

Stop by the Battleground Goodwill location to catch Mama Crockett’s apple cider donuts from the truck’s chute. You know the drill. Click ‘Going’ on the Facebook event page for your chance to win a free dozen.

Bikes & Beers for a Benefit @ Paddled South Brewing Co. (HP) 11 a.m.

UP FRONT | JAN 20-26, 2022

CITY LIFE Jan. 20 - JAN. 23

Join the Winston-Salem Theatre Alliance for this musical adaptation about your favorite talking sponge featuring an eclectic, upbeat musical score, laughs and a bit of nostalgia for some. While tickets for this date are sold out, head to WSTA’s website to purchase tickets in advance for the Jan. 28-30 shows.

SATURDAY Jan. 22

Plant Pop-Up @ Wildlight Wellness Collective (W-S) 11 a.m. Patiently Rooted is excited to announce this pop-up shop of house plants at Wildlight Wellness. Find a new plant or do some yoga before stopping by Wildlight Wellness’ new boutique and specialty café La Luz & Co. Happy Birthday, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart @ UNCSA (W-S) 3 p.m.

Bread & Butter @ High Point Museum (HP) 10 a.m.

FRIDAY Jan. 21

Grand Re-Re-Re-Opening Anniversary Weekend @ Boxcar Bar + Arcade (GSO) 5 p.m. Boxcar is hosting a Bob’s Burgers-style 5th anniversary celebration. Enjoy burger pizzas and Bob’s Burger’s-inspired drinks, all while rocking a Big Bob mustache and sticker. Find more info on the event page on Facebook.

Costumed interpreters invite you to view them make bread and butter in the Hoggatt House during this gathering perfect for children. Visit the event page on Facebook for more information.

In celebration of Mozart’s 266th birthday, UNCSA faculty-artists have created a program of chamber music by Wolfgang Amadeus. For more information and to purchase tickets, head to UNCSA’s website.

NEWS | JAN 20-26, 2022

NEWS

WS/FCS teachers reflect on jobs after $16 million budget miscalculation leads to decreased raises by Nicole Zelinker

hen Michele Jordan heard from the Winston-Salem schools that she would be getting a raise, she was thrilled. “When this phone call came in, I thought I could pay off some of my medical bills,” she said in a school board meeting on Jan. 11. Jordan, a fifth-grade teacher at Brunson Elementary School, has been struggling with cancer on top of the ongoing perils of the pandemic. Unfortunately, the next time she heard from the district was when they called to tell her she would no longer be getting that raise. Because of a calculation error, it was announced on Jan. 6 that the Winston-Salem Forsyth County Schools’ budget was missing $16 million dollars. This meant teachers would not be getting their promised raises, which were supposed to increase salaries an average of 2.5 percent according to reporting by WFDD which would have amounted to approximately $3,800 per teacher. First-year, 10-month teachers were also meant to receive $8,200 in local supplements, which would be a permanent addition to their salaries. The raises would have made Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools teacher salaries among the highest in the state for beginning teachers. In the days since the announcement of the error, the district has vowed to do what they can regarding teacher pay, but the payouts will not be as high as previously promised. Andrea Gillus, Winston-Salem and Forsyth County School’s Chief Finance Officer, closed out the Jan. 11 meeting by presenting the new budget. Teacher annual supplemental increases will now increase by $1,800, effective immediately. The new supplemental pay will also cover the first half of the school year retroactively. And while the increase is about $2,000 less than the initially proposed amount, it is greater than the annual increase from last year which was $1,285. New teachers will now get $6,400 rather than the initially proposed $8,200. The new budget will also include Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief, also known as ESSER bonuses, holiday bonuses and state-funded bonuses. Gillus said the funds were off because the board used the wrong formula to calculate the budget. To avoid this in the future, new compensation practices include additional training on how to review for accuracy, putting more staff on reviewing all compensation estimations and calculating all estimates using multiple methods. “We’re going to look at all of our funding sources and see where we have money,” Gillus said. At the same school board meeting, dozens of people came to talk about the budgetary error and what more the school board can do to fix it. While the teacher salaries vary based on experience and other factors, Forsyth County’s current average teacher salary is $41,500 according to Intuit’s 733 income tax records from the previous year. Guilford County’s average salary is $43,500 based on 988 records and the average teacher salary in the United States is $47,500 based on 506,411 records. Some of teachers mentioned that they had thought about resigning before they were promised a raise, only to have it taken away. Others spoke about colleagues who had planned to refinance their homes and now were not able to, even with the bonuses. More mentioned that they work two or three jobs to make ends meet or that they had to could not spend time with their own children because of all the hours they worked. Some audience members cried as their coworkers addressed the

SCREENSHOT

The school board meeting on Jan. 11 was packed with teachers who voiced their discontent about the miscalculation.

board. Nicole Walters, a third-grade teacher at Brunson, said she worried she made a mistake becoming a teacher at all. “Since year one of teaching here, I’ve been hoping for a change in the way society views teachers,” Walters said at the meeting. After hearing about the initial raise, she said, “I felt appreciated. I felt I could scale back on my second job and spend time with my family and friends.” Now, she is waiting for the district to make it up to her. The lack of a substantial raise this year is the most recent of a long line of troubles teachers have dealt with recently. Kristin Kennedy, a high school English teacher at Reynolds High School, has been teaching for eight years and has never seen anything like the mass exodus of teachers happening right now. At the end of the 2021 school year, the RAND Corporation found that one in four teachers were considering leaving the profession. That number jumped to nearly half among Black teachers. Forsyth County currently has 140 vacant teaching positions, which Chief Marketing and Communications Officer Brent Campbell says could be for a number of reasons, including COVID. Kennedy and her coworkers have been covering for colleagues now for the last two years. She says that because Reynolds has few teachers and fewer substitutes, she has been stretched thinner than ever before. “We don’t even feel comfortable staying home if we’re sick because we don’t want our colleagues to have to sub our class,” Kennedy told TCB in an interview. “Now, I only stay out for COVID. I have sick days, and I should be able to use them, but I’m scared to. There’s not enough people in the schools to take care of the kids and there aren’t enough subs to take all the classes. I don’t want to burden my colleagues.” Lauren Stewart, another teacher at Reynolds, mentioned that things only got worse in the aftermath of the Mount Tabor shooting earlier this year. “All the people I work with have all stepped up to do more than is contractually obligated,” she said. “To hear we were going to get such a significant raise, I felt like the district cared. Then we got the call, and I cried. “I live paycheck to paycheck,” Stewart continued. “There are months I sit down with my partner and try to figure out how we’re going to make it to the end of the month. It would have been amazing not to have to do that.”

JAN. 29 - FEB. 13 SUNSET THEATRE 234 SUNSET AVE TICKETS AT RHINOLEAP.COM

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OPINION | JAN 20-26, 2022

OPINION

EDITORIAL

Reassessing NC Promise

efore we were for it, we were against it. The NC Promise program, first introduced in 2016 as SB 873 and then rolled into the House Appropriations Act that passed that year, dropped tuition at five schools in the UNC System to just $500 per semester for in-state and $2,500 for out-of-state students. And we suspected something right off. Let’s remember that the North Carolina Legislature had five extra sessions that year, and had been using these extra sessions to pass unpopular legislation like HB 2— the anti-transgender Bathroom Bill — and shady redistricting plans. And NC Promise seemed racist, coming from a legislature that had espoused white-supremacist values and targeting, as it did, several HBCUs and UNC Pembroke, which serves the large Lumbee population of Robeson County. But at the heart of it was a deep mistrust of the NC Republicans who controlled the legislature and the Governor’s Mansion at the time, their open disdain for the UNC System, penchant for political trickery and racist undertones of their party. Just two years earlier, the legislature had floated the idea of shuttering Elizabeth City State University, a tiny HBCU, altogether. We, and many other progressives, thought they were trying to drown these HBCUs in a bathtub, as the old saying goes. Winston-Salem State University, originally included in the plan, petitioned successfully for removal.

jensorensen.com/subscribe And everyone waited for things to get worse. But that’s not what happened. As a recent piece by the Chronicle of Higher Ed and the Assembly documents, NC Promise has been a success for its three member institutions by any measure, rejuvenating Pembroke and Elizabeth City State, and enabling Western Carolina University to poach bargain shoppers who might otherwise have chosen Appalachian State University or UNC-Asheville. It created 50 scholarships for NC A&T State University. Another HBCU, Fayetteville State University will come on board this year. Hard to believe that this is the same legislature that stacked the UNC Board of Governors with political lackeys which then disrespected 1619 Project creator Nikole Hannah-Jones and gave a white-supremacist group $2.5. million to maintain the Silent Sam statue. And let’s not forget their open hostility to the Leandro decision, which allocates new spending for public schools. Senate Majority Leader Phil Berger called NC Promise “one of the better policy decisions we have made in the last 10 years.” Phil Berger! It’s a big win for the UNC System and for the state. And it’s something concrete that our legislature has done for marginalized communities. And so we must eat our words about NC Promise, penned back in 2016. Our position has changed. Turns out this wasn’t a dirty trick after all. Go figure.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

“To hear we were going to get such a significant raise, I felt like the district cared. Then we got the call, and I cried.”

Jen Sorensen

–Lauren Stewart, pg. 4

John Cole Provided by NC Policy Watch

by Nicole Zelniker

Q A

Why should we listen to your show over any others?

Yona Simons’ 2022 is off to a great start. The LA-native is starting her radio show, “Keeping it Real with Yona,” through the Black-owned, Greensboro-based radio station 105.1live. Simons attended East Carolina University from LA and graduated in 2018. She currently lives in Erwin, NC. The first episode, Black Girl Magic, will premiere on Jan. 22 and will be available for streaming on iTunes, Spotify and more.

A lot of my show, you never know what you’re gonna get. We’re talking about entrepreneurs, sports, what it’s like to be a minority. We’re not just focusing on African Americans, but we’re really tapping into POC. I’m talking to Latinos, African Americans, mixed people, Asians, everyone out there. Living in that minority community, we’re everything. I want to give them a platform to share ideas and promote businesses. What you’re gonna get with me is real. You’re going to get honesty and an unbiased opinion. Traveling all over the world being a military brat, I’m not judgmental. You’re going to get openness. I’m not talking about things I haven’t been through or that I’m not going through. You’re going to get guests who are out there in the community, who look like you and me. We’re giving you that guarantee that this can happen for you. I want people to feel empowered when they listen to my show. I want them to feel inspired.

To start, tell us about you and how your radio show came about.

CULTURE | JAN 20-26, 2022

CULTURE New radio show covers topics like minority businesses, Black Girl Magic

I was interviewed on another show promoting an event with my catering company and I showed the recording to my staff. They were like, Yo, you’d be great on the radio, something about keeping it real. That’s just how I am. I tend to keep it honest all the time. Your first episode is titled “Black Girl I’m an entrepreneur, a realtor, I teach Spanish lessons and swim lessons, Magic”. What does Black Girl Magic and adding on the radio show came COURTESY PHOTO mean to you? about when working with my staff at YOna Simons is the new host of “Keeping it Real with Yona,” a radio show that plays KinderCare. My staff encouraged me on Greensboro’s 105.1. Black Girl Magic is everything in the world. I mean, and said this was something I needed Black Girl Magic to me is the resilience that all to get into as a young Afro Latina. of us naturally possess. The tenacity that we were born with to succeed I really wanted to provide that platform to other Afro-Latinas and and make a mark in the world, so the ability and the god-given right to be show them they can do anything. Radio is a platform to really showsuccessful is what Black Girl Magic is. case that the sky is the limit. Also, I wanted to have a platform for someone who looks like me or talks like me on the radio.

Q A

How does that work, logistically? What are the steps to getting your own radio show? Nothing but teamwork. I met the studio owner Derrick, and we had a one-on-one conversation. Anyone can have a show on 105.1 if you have a great idea. You just have to have the vision and the motivation to get your show and keep it running for the producer to invest in you. My show is weekly, so every Saturday. It’s a live show. I’m having a media photo shoot on Sat. and then after each show, we go live on the radio station and then on Twitter, Instagram.

Q A

You do so much already. How do you find the time to run your own radio show? By the grace of god. Let’s be real, if you want something this much, you make it work. There is nothing I will not do to make sure this show is successful.

Q A

What do you envision for the future of this show? Will there be multiple seasons? Multiple seasons for sure. I already have a full roster for February. Stuff for Black History Month. I have a chef coming on my show. He used to work for the Charlotte Bobcats. We have people from everywhere. The sky is the limit. I want everybody on my show.

CULTURE | JAN 20-26, 2022

CULTURE Both/And: Contemporary artist Lorraine O’Grady invites self-reflection in new retrospective at Weatherspoon by Sayaka Matsuoka

COURTESY PHOTO

Lorraine O’Grady (American, born 1934). Mlle Bourgeoise Noire celebrates with her friends, from Mlle Bourgeoise Noire Goes to the New Museum,1980–83/2009. Silver gelatin fiber photograph, 7 × 9.31 in. (17.78 × 23.65 cm). Edition of 8 plus 2 artist’s proofs. Courtesy of Alexander Gray Associates, New York. © Lorraine O’Grady/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York COURTESY PHOTO

t’s all too much. Twenty-two months of a global pandemic that has claimed the lives of more than 5 million people worldwide. The exacerbated racial, social and economic inequalities that have bared their ugly teeth in the midst of it all. The ongoing crisis of a warming and steadily degrading environment at the hands of humankind’s manipulations. And yet, in the quiet stillness of the Weatherspoon Art Museum’s upper galleries, artist Lorraine O’Grady offers space for curious introspection and analytical extrospection in her retrospective, Both/And. On loan from the Brooklyn Museum, the show is the first comprehensive overview of the work of O’Grady, who is considered to be one of the most significant figures in contemporary art. Born in Boston to Jamaican parents, O’Grady led various lives prior to becoming an artist, including work as an intelligence analyst for the US government and a rock critic for the Village Voice and Rolling Stone. The show, which opened at the Weatherspoon on Saturday and runs through April 30, includes much of O’Grady’s prominent visual works including photographs of her performance art, collages and a short film, all which result from four decades of her artistic career which she began as a 45-year-old. In the first section of the main gallery, photographs capturing O’Grady’s “Rivers, First Draft,” performance in Central Park in 1982 span the walls.

Lorraine O’Grady (American, born 1934). Announcement Card 3 (Seated Palmate), 2020. Fujiflex print, 60 × 40 in. (152.4 × 101.6 cm). Edition of 10 plus 3 artist’s proofs. Courtesy of Alexander Gray Associates, New York. © Lorraine O’Grady/Artists

Figures clothed in bright primary colors, including the artist in red, prance and dance within the wooded pockets of the park, telling a vague autobiography. The work, as exhibited by the title, was meant to be a first in a series of three performances, two of which never took place. And while the performance itself happened in 1982, the still images capturing the scenes weren’t processed and displayed in an exhibition until in 2015. This act of returning to her older works is a quintessential part of O’Grady’s process as an artist. “What Lorraine O’Grady really presents to all of us is that there isn’t one answer, there isn’t one way of being and even your work itself is never a final statement,” explains Juliette Bianco, the museum’s new director. “You can go back to it. You can revise it and you can learn, and I feel that all of her practice helps us open our minds to the possibility of ways of being that’s more inclusive of the possibility of, What if it’s not just this?” Throughout the exhibit, this idea of returning to, revising and recreating plays a recurring theme throughout O’Grady’s work. In fact, one of the set pieces used in “Rivers, First Draft” makes an appearance more than 30 years later in one of the artist’s most recent works, “Announcement of a New Persona.” The towering, dramatic photographs of O’Grady donning a shiny suit of armor in front of a stark black background draw the eye’s attention to the

CULTURE | JAN 20-26, 2022 COURTESY PHOTO

COURTESY PHOTO

Lorraine O’Grady (American, born 1934). Art Is . . . (Girl Pointing), 1983/2009. Chromogenic photograph in 40 parts, 20 × 16 in. (50.8 × 40.64 cm). Edition of 8 plus 1 artist’s proof. Courtesy of Alexander Gray Associates, New York. © Lorraine O’Grady/ Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York

Lorraine O’Grady (American, born 1934). Rivers, First Draft: The Woman in Red starts painting the stove her own color, 1982/2015. Digital chromogenic print from Kodachrome 35mm slides in 48 parts, 16 × 20 in. (40.64 × 50.8 cm). Edition of 8 plus 2 artist’s proofs. Courtesy of Alexander Gray Associates, New York. © Lorraine O’Grady/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York

back of the gallery. The pieces, like much of the artist’s work, take place So much of it is about her personal story so her body becomes the anchor over several scenes with O’Grady posing in her outfit, with a voluminous for how she talks about that.” palm frond sticking out of the top of her helmet. According to WeatherThroughout the show, it becomes evident that one of the lasting imspoon Curator Emily Stanley, the frond is a call back to “Rivers, First Draft,” pressions of O’Grady’s creative mind — which undulates between the past and signifies O’Grady’s Caribbean heritage juxtaposed with the armor and present, Black and white, the personal and external — is its ability to which symbolizes European conquest and colonialism. be self-reflective and self-aware, even to the point of The work is also a new persona that O’Grady has creatto work that she created decades ago for ‘What Lorraine O’Grady returning ed to spread her message, the most famous persona of reconsideration. really presents to all of hers being “Mlle Bourgeoise Noire.” And in our current world in which society has beDebuted in 1980, O’Grady donned the character of us is that there isn’t one come so fractured into factions of us versus them, Mademoiselle Bourgeoise Noire, or “Miss Black MidI versus the whole, wrong versus right, O’Grady’s answer, there isn’t one dle-Class” to disrupt significant spaces within the art open-ended interpretation of both herself and the way of being and even world. Dressed in a costume made up of 180 pairs world around her offers spaces of awareness and of white gloves while carrying a white cat-o-nine-tails your work itself is never compassion. whip, Mlle Bourgeoise Noire would crash locations like “We need to as humans living with each other in the a final statement.’ the New Museum, a largely white institution, to protest world, be able to think and see and feel beyond limited racial segregation in the art world. In 1983, she pereither/or categories,” Stanley says. “And [O’Grady] does — Juliette Bianco formed as Mlle Bourgeoise Noire in the annual African that in every single work. She pushes you to see things American Day Parade in Harlem, where she and other as not just this or that, but both of those things and artists dressed all in white rode a parade float adorning a large, wooden then something more.” picture frame. At the same time, she and the other artists carried around empty frames which they held up to members of the crowd, casting them To view the exhibit, visit the museum on Tuesdays through Saturdays as works of art. from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. On Thursdays, the museum is open until 8 p.m. A “There’s that act of flipping it around,” Stanley explains. “But then also virtual conversation between Lorraine O’Grady and poet Alexis Pauline the flipping on herself I think is just as equally important. The works are Gumbs will take place on March 24 at 5:30 p.m. Learn more and register deeply, deeply personal and it is her figuring out, reflecting upon and sharat weatherspoonart.org. ing with others what it means for her to be a Black woman in the world….

CULTURE | JAN 20-26, 2022

IN THE WEEDS

The Server’s Guide to Covid

he timer on my phone runs down from the allotted 10 minutes as I busy myself. I find it’s easier by James Douglas to set it and go about some other business, as opposed to staring at the test as it slowly soaks up the litmus paper. Despite the high demand for rapid tests, I was able to find some quite easily. I happen to live near a small town that has been particularly vocal about public health mandates concerning COVID-19, posts religious displays on public property and cheers for someone they absolutely adore named “Brandon.” The restaurant beside the drug store I went to has a county militia gathering once a month. The shelves of rapid tests were full. Go figure. We’re all familiar by now with the procedure and once-novel experience of a home COVID-19 test. It’s as normal as flossing now, and I confess, happens about as often. My phone starts to screech as the timer hits zero and I go to see that the little red “positive” line glaring back accusingly. It turns out that the hangover that lasted lonCOURTESY PHOTO ger than it should have wasn’t a hangover at all. Despite the high demand for rapid tests, I was able to find some quite easily. Two years. Two years of dodging this shit, and it got me. I had plenty of opportunity to catch of wanting to “get high and play Xbox” on Facebook. No, we were trying it before. I work at a dive bar. In a career that involves working with the to figure out how to navigate finances in a very uncertain time without intoxicated public, it’s only a matter of time. But I wear masks, I’m naturalgetting sick. Now, rumors abound of infected workers being threatened or ly standoffish and, aside from work, I don’t get near crowds. My customer fired if they don’t come to work at some establishments. The utter disbase is also largely self-contained and mostly cautious. But we’ve all had connect that we see now is infuriating, precisely because that disconnect scares. We’ve all seen outbreaks where six friends, a customer you served exists. This is “normal” now. last week, a coworker, or a family member sends those not-so-vague texts Don’t expect another shutdown. reminiscent of college: “Hey, you ought to get tested.” We’re finding out that acceptable casualties do Now it’s my turn to contact every single person I’ve exist, and just like a battle, the price is being paid by We’re finding out that spent time with since the day before my symptoms ones who are on the frontlines. The small busiacceptable casualties do the showed up. nesses who can’t take hit after hit, the employees who exist, and just a battle, We all know about Omicron and about how fast it’s are forced to choose work while sick and contagious, spreading. It seems inevitable that everyone is bound and the customer base made up of people in similar the price is being paid to catch it. Multiple establishments have taken a break straits is a disaster already in progress. We’re seeing by the ones who are on since the holidays, citing repairs and staff shortages. the apathy of the elite in real-time. People are falling the frontlines. It’s natural; it’s slow. January is the time of rebirth, through the place where the safety net should have resolutions and a particular recidivist virus. been. What is lacking this time around is the alarm of the As I contact colleagues, bosses, family and friends, past year and that, in itself, is alarming. Are we acceptI try to assess the responsibilities that I must abandon for the next week. ing this now? Is this just a, “Tough break kid, don’t fuck up the economy” That means sorting caretaking duties for immunocompromised family situation? What happens to these front-line workers, virtually all of whom members, work coverage, bill coverage, insurance (if you even have it, are paid hourly with no benefits, when they catch COVID and are forced to most servers do not), food for the next five days, missed appointments, take time off with no safety net? and yes, whether I can even afford it. I guess I’ll have to. Imagine every “Here’s a 5-day vacation, whether you want it or not. Good luck paying frontline worker having to do that when they, inevitably, get what’s going that gas bill.” around. Imagine everyone they meet having to do the same. During the initial shutdown that resulted in hard-won benefits for What if they can’t? frontline service workers, a prominent restaurant owner accused workers

SHOT IN THE TRIAD | JAN 20-26, 2022

SHOT IN THE TRIAD East Fisher Avenue, Greensboro

CAROLYN DE BERRY

Sledding challenges in downtown Greensboro.

PUZZLES | JAN 20-26, 2022

CROSSWORD

by Matt Jones

Across

1 Rootless aquatic plant 5 “Don’t make me laugh!” 8 Steve Irwin exclamation 14 Mario Kart character 15 Modern prefix with tourism 16 Emu or ostrich, e.g. 17 “The $64,000 Question” emcee born one month too late? 19 “The Audacity of Hope” family 20 Have ___ of mystery 21 Hanna-Barbera feline 23 Ready to leave the queue 25 One of many during 2021 for “Jeopardy!” 26 Mike the Tiger’s sch. 29 Like some ciders 30 “Green Acres” costar Eva 32 Godparent, sometimes 33 “Fences” playwright born four months too soon? 36 Tennis variation 39 2018 Hannah Gadsby stand-up special with quite a few serious moments 40 “Mad Men” actress born ... in exactly the right month? 42 Take ___ (lose money) 43 Purchasing agent 44 Onyx or opal 47 College maj. for instrumentalists 48 Tabletop gamer, stereotypically 50 Unlikely to fall over 52 Girl with a flock 54 “___ Rock ‘n’ Roll” (Joan Jett & the Blackhearts song) 55 Leo’s home? 58 Queen guitarist/astrophysicist born two months too late? 60 Mission to the moon 61 French dressing ingredient no longer regulated by the FDA 62 Frigid finish 63 Most bleached out 64 T-shirt size that may cost slightly more 65 SFO listings

Down

“The Birthday Game”--not the right calendar section.

1 Convenient 2 Ride while you wait for repairs 3 Andromeda, for one 4 Fess up 5 “I’m with ___” (2016 campaign slogan) 6 Bank holding, briefly 7 Sounds from mall Santas 8 Holey footwear 9 Morocco’s capital 10 “Let’s just leave ___ that” 11 Family that runs the “Convenience” store in a Canadian sitcom 12 Greek vowel 13 “That’s pretty much it”

LAST WEEK’S ANSWERS

18 Rocket, in the U.S. 22 Surname of Roth’s complainer 24 Alerter of the 2000s 26 Deadly sin 27 Little twerp 28 “Reader” whose last print edition was in 2019 31 Industrious sort 32 Taproom orders 33 Push up against 34 Decreases 35 Newtonian topic 36 Late performer who once dated Nicole Richie and Mandy Moore 37 “Hawaii Five-O” setting 38 Les Etats-___ 41 Bar fixture 44 Wallace’s dog 45 Composer Grieg 46 “Aaagh! That’s way too bright!” 48 Count for MLS or NHL games 49 Disney World attraction 51 Arm bones 52 Liver secretion 53 Grand ___ (auto race) 55 Anti-mosquito device sound 56 ___-Locka, Florida 57 U.S. currency 59 Not feeling so good

SUDOKU

LAST WEEK’S ANSWERS