TCB Feb. 3, 2022 — Happy Lunar New Year! by Triad City Beat

FEB 3-FEB 9, 2022 TRIAD-CITY-BEAT.COM

GUN BUYBACKS: DO THEY WORK?

pg. 5

MARCUS SMITH SUIT REACHES SETTLEMENT pg. 4

COLOR YOUR OWN TIGER! pg. 16

HAPPY LUNAR NEW YEAR!

How families are celebrating the Year of the Water Tiger. BY SAYAKA MATSUOKA | pg. 10

UP FRONT | FEB 3 - 9, 2022

Coronavirus in the Triad

(as of Wednesday, Feb. 2 ) Documented COVID-19 diagnoses

NC 2,442,891 (+119,409) Forsyth 86,895 (+3,906) Guilford106,038 (+4,217) COVID-19 deaths NC 20,904 (+464) Forsyth 697 (+24) Guilford 973 (+6) Documented recoveries NC 2,149,838 (+223,259) Forsyth *no data* Guilford 93,046 (+8,036) Current cases NC 272,149 (-104,324) Forsyth *no data* Guilford 12,018 (-3,825) Hospitalizations (right now) NC 4,725 (-365) Forsyth *no data* Guilford 228 (-80) Vaccinations NC Partially vaccinated 6,288,582 (+66,319*) Fully vaccinated 6,324,814 (60%, +80,521*) Boosted: 2,980,365 (+0, 47% of vaccinated) Forsyth Partially vaccinated 247,040 (+757) Fully vaccinated 230,328 (60%, +1200) Boosted: 106,317 (+0, 34% of vaccinated) Guilford Partially vaccinated 341,603 (+1,467) Fully vaccinated 321,311 (60%, +2,075) Boosted: 149,145 (+0, 43% of vaccinated)

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 DESIGN BY CHARLIE MARION with elements from Freepik.com

EDITOR’S NOTEBOOK She got that drip

hey say cocaine and other snortable drugs. she got After ingestion, the goods would that drip, mingle with sinusoidal juices to slide and I’m like, Hey down the back of the throat. It could man, don’t talk sometimes trigger a gag reflex, but about my daughalso it signified that the process was ter that way. She’s working, a net neutral. by Brian Clarey only 17. But to Oscar, a bar customer of But it turns out she just might have mine back in 1993, the drip was a that drip. Which is a good thing. Now, very bad thing indeed. He told me anyway. he got it in France during WWII, and To have that drip, in modern parrequired several rounds of antibiotics lance, is to have oneself together in to rid himself of it. a sartorial sense, to Come to think of present a spectacit, Oscar had a bit ular pastiche of of that drip to him To have that drip is to as well: He always clothing, make-up, hairstyle, accessohave oneself together wore his antiqued ries. Accessories, leather fighter jacket, in a sartorial sense, to took a fresh shave yes! That’s the drip! To have that drip is present a spectacular every day, smoothed to be fresh, to be fly, through his pastiche of clothing, pomade to be on fleek. But hair before coming make-up, hairstyle, nobody says those in for an afternoon of things anymore. Dewars. accessories. Because now we’ve But Oscar was got that drip. not a drip, in which Cam Newton the word becomes got that drip. Miley Cyrus got that something else entirely as its placed drip. And I suppose my daughter — a with an indefinite article. A drip is promising young goth who’s fessomeone eminently forgettable — the tooned herself with chains, piercings, person whose name always slips homemade patches, gloomy eye your mind, who blends into the walls, makeup and peculiar jewelry — has with a presence like water at room got that drip as well. temperature. A drip could never have In a good way, you understand. the drip, not the good kind and probBack in the last century, drip was ably not the bad kind either. Because used to describe a phenomenon even catching a venereal disease experienced by aficionados of requires a little derring-do.

by Michaela Ratliff

THURSDAY Feb. 3

Rouge: A Cirque & Dance Cabaret @ Carolina Theatre (GSO) 8 p.m.

The Visitors: A Book Conversation with Greg Howard & Bobbie Pyron @ Bookmarks (W-S) 6 p.m.

Circus artists and dancers will perform gravity-defying stunts and more during this thrilling show for mature audiences. Purchase tickets at carolinatheatre.com. Author Greg Howard, whose middle grade and young adult novels focus on LGBTQ characters and issues, is hosting a discussion of his recently published book The Visitors. The suggested age for this event is 11 and up. Free registration is required and can be done at bookmarksnc.org/ GregHoward_Registration.

SATURDAY Feb. 5 Wake Up, Brother Bear! @ Sprinkle Theater (GSO) 10 a.m.

Rent @ Steven Tanger Center for the Performing Arts (GSO) 8 p.m. This long-running Broadway staple is making its way to Greensboro with a three-day performance beginning Friday. Witness lower Manhattan’s misfits and artists struggle with work, love and personal health, backed by songs you know and love. Tickets can be purchased on Ticketmaster.

UP FRONT | FEB 3 - 9, 2022

CITY LIFE FEB. 3-6

SUNDAY Feb. 6 Urban Street Grill @ Oden Brewing Company (GSO) 12 p.m.

Poodle and Doodle Takeover @ Doggos Dog Park & Pub (GSO) 6 p.m.

The North Carolina Theatre for Young People announces multiple productions of Wake Up, Brother Bear!, perfect for children up to age 5. Call the UNCG Theatre Box Office at 336.334.4392 for more information, or purchase tickets online. Head to Doggos with your poodles and doodles for oodles of fun. Let your furry friend find some companions of his own while you enjoy various taps or cocktails. For registration and dog requirements, visit doggosparkandpub.com.

Black Is Beautiful: The Photography of Kwame Brathwaite @ Reynolda House Museum of American Art (W-S) 9:30 a.m.

Urban Street Grill is heading to Oden, serving up their signature Korean BBQ dishes to complement the beverage of your choice. See Urban Street Grill’s menu on their website. FSPW Presents: SuperFIRE- Live Pro Wrestling @ FireStar Arena (GSO) 7 p.m. FireStar Pro Wrestling is hosting a day of events

FRIDAY Feb. 4 SOULiloquies Opening Ceremony @ Gallery on Main (HP) 6 p.m. T. Walker invites you to view SOULiloquies, his exhibition of media that pay homage to Black legends in music, civil rights and other areas, on display for a second time. Find more information at heavyenergyuniversity.com.

In the 1960s, photographer Kwame Brathwaite set out to prove Black is beautiful through a collection of images that challenge white beauty standards. The photos are available for viewing in an exhibition at Reynolda starting Feb. 5 until May 8. Learn more at reynolda.org/museum/ exhibitions.

featuring live matches, meet and greets with the wrestlers, collector’s items and more. Learn more and purchase tickets on Eventbrite.

NEWS | FEB 3 - 9, 2022

NEWS After more than three years, Marcus Smith civil lawsuit settled for $2.57 million by Sayaka Matsuoka

fter more than three years, the fight is finally over. be seen in a On Tuesday evening, Greensboro City Attorney Chuck Watts greater context announced that the city had settled a civil lawsuit with the Mary and for the fight George Smith, parents of Marcus Deon Smith who was hogtied and for equality killed by Greensboro police officers on Sept. 8, 2018. in America,” Since April 2019, the family had been embroiled in a civil lawsuit that involved Holt said. the city of Greensboro and Guilford County, along with eight police officers, a “When looked paramedic and an EMT who were present during Smith’s death. at from that During Tuesday’s city council meeting, Watts noted that the city had reached perspective, a settlement of $2.57 million, the majority of which would be paid by the city of you can see Greensboro and the remainder by Guilford County. The money would “financially how important benefit both the parents of Marcus Deon Smith and his children,” Watts noted. lawsuits are in As part of the settlement, a commemorative plaque will also be erected in this fight and Smith’s honor. Over the weekend, a group of activists constructed their own markhow much FILE PHOTO er at the corner of Market Street and Church Street in downtown Greensboro, just work there is to Marcus Smith died at the hands of Greensboro police in September 2018. yards away from where Smith was hogtied in 2018. The marker was removed less be done.” than 24 hours later. Even before Flint Taylor, one of the principal lawyers who represented the Smith family, the civil suit had been filed, the family saw a huge influx of support from the memechoed the statement read by Watts and stated that, “These parties will soon rebers of the Greensboro community. Shortly after Smith’s death — which impacted quest judicial approval of the settlement and dismissal of the lawsuit, without any members of the homeless community particularly hard because of his involvement findings of wrongdoing or liability. After the settlement is concluded, these parties at the Interactive Resource Center, a day shelter for unhoused people — communiintend to move forward in the spirit of respect and reconcilty members began organizing a weekly event called “Moniation.” days for Marcus” in which they protested outside of city hall, On Wednesday, Mary Smith, who along with her husband calling for justice for the Smith family. George had made numerous trips to Greensboro from their Mary Smith said that without the overwhelming supI don’t think it’ll ever home in South Carolina over the years to fight for justice in port from the Greensboro community, she and her family be closure because the their son’s death, said she was relieved at the outcome. couldn’t have kept up the fight. “Yesterday after I heard what Chuck Watts had said, we “We couldn’t have made it without the community,” pain will always be here were relieved, we were really relieved that it had finally come Smith said. “I’ve got to give all the props to the communiand how he died. It was ty, the organizations, the churches, the leaders. We cannot to an end,” Smith said in a phone call. “But nothing can an unnecessary death, express the gratitude that we feel for the community that did bring him back.” The civil rights lawsuit was filed in 2019 after an interall the footwork, the ‘Mondays for Marcus,’ the rallies, the truly unnecessary. nal review by the Greensboro Police Department found no birthdays; they have been fantastic, they were our leaning Mary Smith, Marcus Smith’s mother violations of policy in the conduct of the officers involved post. They pulled together with us and we will never forget and the Guilford County District Attorney’s office found no what they have done for us.” criminal liability by the officers in November 2018. Despite And although she and her family are glad to see the suit the city’s findings that no policy violations had occurred, the state medical examinsettled, she knows that no amount of money will bring her son back. er classified Smith’s death as a homicide. As time went on, the family and community members called for an independent Over the next few years, the lawyers for the Smith family including Flint Taylor investigation into Smith’s death, which failed due to a lack of votes by city counwith the People’s Law Office of Chicago and Graham Holt, a local attorney, cil, and even projected their efforts to the Department of Justice. In the end, the unveiled that not only had Greensboro officers’ conduct lead directly to Smith’s settlement of the civil suit is what marked the conclusion of the Smith family and death, but that their practice of hogtying victims had harmed multiple other the community’s fight for closure. And even though the settlement is something to people besides Smith, a majority of them Black, many of them female. The city be excited about after three years of fighting, for Smith and her family, they know of Greensboro officially banned the use of the RIPP Hobble, or the practice of that no amount of money can bring their son back. restraining someone by their hands and feet, in November 2020 and banned “I don’t think it’ll ever be closure because the pain will always be here and how hogtying in 2018. he died,” Smith said. “It was an unnecessary death, truly unnecessary. But we’ll On Wednesday, attorney Graham Holt noted how much he admired the Smith continue to go on.” family and the community’s sustained efforts over the years. As for other families who are seeking justice in the wake of police killings, Smith “What I’ve been thinking about this morning is how much I admire Mrs. Smith said that she supports them and wants them to fight. and the courage it has taken to fight this and all the people that have been involved “We hope that what we’ve been through, no other family will have to go in the long haul through this,” Holt said. through,” Smith said. “We just hope that if they feel that something’s not right, And although no charges were brought against the officers involved, Holt noted then continue to fight.” that civil suits like this one are an important part of fighting for justice. “I think lawsuits are really important in the fight for equality and they have to

by James Douglas

n Jan. 15, members of the Winston-Salem Police Department gathered at the Winston-Salem Fairgrounds to hold a gun buyback event in an effort to decrease gun violence in the city. This was the second such event hosted by the city; the first took place in November last year when a total of 367 firearms were purchased from the public. Both events were funded by the Coronavirus Local Fiscal Relief Fund, a part of the $1.9 trillion “American Rescue Plan” that delivered $350 billion to state, local and tribal governments for response and recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. The November event cost $50,000, while the most recent event increased the budget to $99,000, which resulted in 516 firearms bought back from the community. The event was held until the cash fund was depleted. To reduce the number of guns in the community, these events are typically held by local law enforcement, using funds allotted to purchase handguns, rifles and shotguns from citizens with the understanding that the transactions are anonymous. This method allows for people with warrants or records to participate without legal reprisals. People are encouraged to bring handguns, rifles and shotguns to sell, and receive cash on-site. With many buyback programs, firearms do not have to be in working condition, and there is no maximum limit on what can be turned in. One of the main reasons for these events is to curb the issue of rising gun violence within the city. According to CDC data, the United States saw 45,222 gun deaths in 2020, with more than half of those deaths registered as suicides. In Winston-Salem, there were 44 homicides last year, 39 due to gunfire. The total represents a 52 percent increase from 2020, according to data by the WSPD. WSPD Police Chief Catrina Thompson said in a statement: “Our communities are suffering because of a nationwide increase in violence, especially gun violence. We’re dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic, but we are also dealing with a gun violence epidemic that is shattering families. I am pleading with everyone in our community to take a stand.” According to a 2018 study by the Small Arms Survey, there are approximately 121 firearms for every 100 citizens in the United States. When it comes to gun ownership in North Carolina, a report by the RAND Corporation from

NEWS | FEB 3 - 9, 2022

NEWS Winston-Salem police held another gun buyback event; but do they reduce violence?

PIXABAY

April 2020 estimated that more than 45 percent of adults have guns in their homes. Kira Boyd, Public Information Officer for the WSPD, said in an interview that the response to the event was “overwhelming.” “We had quite a variety of firearms turned in, a lot of them usable,” Boyd said. A press release by the WSPD noted that “out of the 329 handguns, 177 long guns and 10 semi-automatic rifles, two of the guns collected were reported to be stolen.” The firearms are checked against a national database and any reported stolen or used in crimes are held as evidence or efforts are made to return them to the owners that reported them missing. The firearms that were not flagged as evidence in the national database are being held in storage and will be, according to the press release, “properly disposed of in accordance with State Laws.” Despite a lack of clear evidence that gun buybacks decrease gun violence, these programs have been used for decades.

Do gun buybacks work?

While several studies have been conducted to trace whether or not gun buybacks correlate with decreased gun violence, none have shown a clear connection. A meta-analysis from 2008 in Crime & Delinquency found that there was no “significant changes in gun-related crimes due to these programs.” A 2013 article by Governing suggests that while raising awareness about gun violence, gun buybacks had little effect

NEWS | FEB 3 - 9, 2022

NEWS

Australia’s government reacted with a country-wide gun buyback, enacted new laws in curbing it, with a gun club owner calling it a “publicity stunt” while turning in restricting the types of firearms legally available and required training and registraa nonworking firearm. And that points to a large part of the problem with these tions to acquire and possess one. Since 1996, there is evidence that these changes events, the research notes. Because the events allow people to turn in any kinds of reduced firearm suicides and mass shootings. The new laws also prohibited those guns, often the ones that are brought in either no longer work or are not the kind with histories of domestic violence from owning a firearm, that are used in homicides or suicides. and a reduction in female homicide victimization has been The WSPD advertised that they would pay $200 for assault measured. rifles, $150 for handguns and $100 for long guns. There were We’re dealing with the notably As noted in a previous TCB article, Cure Violence, an inno specifications on whether the guns were still in working COVID-19 pandemic, ternational organization dedicated to stopping gun violence, order. The Winston-Salem Journal reported that during the first gun buyback in November, many of the firearms that were but we are also dealing is partnering with the city of Winston-Salem this year to address the increase in incidents. turned in were rusty, chipped, noticeably antique, nonworking with a gun violence Cure Violence’s policy is to talk to people in each individrevolvers. ual community they work in to find specific needs, whether Evaluations from other municipality’s buyback events epidemic that is it’s housing, jobs, mediation or something else. They work provide additional context about the kinds of guns typically shattering families. with organizations already in the community like H.O.P.E. turned in. While two-thirds of handguns used in homicides Winston-Salem Police Chief Dealers Outreach in Winston-Salem. Frankie Gist foundand 40 percent of handguns used in suicides in Milwaukee Catrina Thompson ed H.O.P.E. in 2012, after Trayvon Martin’s murder. The during 1994-96 were semiautomatics, only one-third of organization combats police brutality and gun violence by buyback handguns were semiautomatic. Most guns turned in offering educational programs, back to school drives and were revolvers. hosting protests in Winston-Salem. The demographics of those who participate in buyback programs is also of note. This kind of multi-pronged approach in which socio-economic factors like While victims of gun violence are disproportionately Black and Brown, studies such as a 2017 National Institute of Health report show that participants of buyback housing and employment are taken into account coupled with the buybacks could events tend to be white and male. Because the event was anonymous, WSPD’s Boyd be what the city of Winston-Salem needs. In a November 2021 TCB article, Forsyth County Sheriff Bobby Kimbrough noted the complicated process of curbing gun noted that they couldn’t reveal the demographics of the participants. violence. While tangentially helpful in the fight against gun violence, there’s evidence that “[Gun violence] is not a school problem. It’s not a sheriff’s problem. It’s a when used in tandem with other violence reducing community programs, these community problem. It’s a ‘we’ problem,” Kimbrough said. “We’ve got to come events can play a part in the broad fight against gun violence. together and fix this problem.” One example of a multi-part approach to curbing gun violence took place in There is currently no information about any upcoming buyback events. Australia. Following a mass shooting in 1996 where 35 people were murdered,

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OPINION | FEB 3 - 9, 2022

EDITORIAL

OPINION

Mark Walker’s gamble

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ark Walker didn’t get to be where he is today — a former US Congressman from a gerrymandered district that was declared illegal in 2019 — by playing it safe. Last week Walker announced that he would run for the Senate seat soon to be vacated by Richard Burr, explicitly against the wishes of Donald Trump, who is backing Rep. Ted Budd. That part went down back in December, at Mar a Lago, where Trump offered Walker an endorsement for the 7th Congressional District, which currently encompasses all of Alamance, Chatham, Lee and Randolph counties, plus a few slices of Wake, Harnett and Davidson, along with a corner of Guilford that includes just a drop of east Greensboro. This is a big risk. Walker’s consistently polled behind Budd and the other GOP candidate, Pat McCrory. And he can’t even touch them in the money game yet — as of December 31 each of his opponents have a couple million in their respective war chests while Walker had raised $1.5 million in total and already spent most of that. There’s very little ideological daylight between Walker and Budd, who both rose to prominence back in the tea party days — Walker as the assistant pastor at Lawndale Baptist Church where the Guilford County Tea Party was founded, Budd a gunshop owner who posted tasteless

billboards on the interstate. The main difference is that Budd voted to overturn the 2020 election and Walker, who did not hold elected office at the time, did not. And, of course, there’s Trump’s endorsement. Walker is gambling that Trump’s imprimatur won’t mean as much to Republican and unaffiliated voters when the primary comes along in May. Budd is banking on the suspicion that it will. All this leaves McCrory, who has been competitive in polling, hoping to split the difference. Worth mentioning, too, that former NC Supreme Court Chief Justice Cheri Beasley, the prevailing Democrat in the race, has outraised and outspent everyone else who’s left, and still had the most cash on hand at the end of 2021. So there’s no guarantee that a Republican will win this race, especially considering that registered Democrats (2.4795 million) and unaffiliated (2.479 million) North Carolinians outnumber Republicans (2.185 million) by more than 300,000 voters apiece. Going strictly by the math — and the fact that you can’t gerrymander a statewide election — it actually seems unlikely that a Republican will prevail. So unless Walker knows something that the rest of us don’t, it looks like he just gave up an easy Congressional race for an impossible Senate one, alienating Trump and his minions to boot.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK Yesterday after I heard what Chuck Watts had said, we were relieved, we were really relieved that it had finally come to an end. But nothing can bring him back. 8

Jen Sorensen

-Mary Smith, pg. 4

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CULTURE | FEB 3-9, 2022

CULTURE

‘It’s all about family’: How NC families celebrate Lunar New Year by Sayaka Matsuoka

SAYAKA MATSUOKA SAYAKA MATSUOKA

Left photo: Jamie Yi and her family pictured with her brother’s family during their trip to California in December. Right photo: Jamie Yi and her husband Sun and two sons, Brian and Aiden.

right red envelopes full of money, crackling fireworks that fill the night sky, tables covered with homecooked dishes, parades and dances in the streets. Across Asia, more than a billion people will be celebrating the Lunar New Year in big and small ways on Feb. 1 this year. The date, which changes every year according to the lunar or lunisolar calendar, marks one of the largest holidays in the world, despite its relative obscurity in the United States. Thought to have originated in China thousands of years ago, the holiday is celebrated by many Asian cultures including in Vietnam, Korea, Mongolia, Tibet, Singapore and Taiwan. And despite a worldwide pandemic that has lasted more than two years, families in the Triad are finding their own ways to recognize the global holiday.

Jamie Yi — Korean — Seollal “It’s all about family.”

be financially good for the kids.” Yi remembers her house filling up with relatives from all over the country, her aunts and uncles and her cousins. Most of them would come because her father was the eldest son in his family, but it usually meant more work for her mom. “Basically all the work is female work when it comes to Seollal,” Yi says. “It’s about making foods and cleaning the house and making sure the rooms are ready for the relatives, so I still remember my mom was always a little stressed.” Yi fondly remembers the dishes her mom would cook: everything from rice cakes to dumplings to marinated meat to savory pancakes like pajeon, and glass noodles called japchae. Because the holiday is so family-centric, in addition to making food for the visiting family members, food would also be presented to ancestors in a ritual called jesa. The dishes are carefully laid out on a low table with photos of ancestors and a written prayer known as a shinwi. Family members then bow in front of the setup before they eat. Additionally, Yi says they would visit the shrines of deceased family members to pay their respects as well. “It’s all about family,” Yi says. “I think it’s similar to how people celebrate Christmas. It’s important because it’s all about family and gathering and being grateful.” When Yi left South Korea for Michigan with her husband in 2004, she

I think it’s important to teach Lunar New Year because people have no clue when it is or who’s celebrating. Jamie Yi

As a child growing up in South Korea, Jamie Yi would look forward to the Lunar New Year, known as Seollal in Korea, every year because she knew she would receive money from her visiting relatives. “You’re not just getting money from the parents or grandparents, you have to do sebae, it’s a kind of formal bow, and you do it for all of the adults and you get money after that,” Yi explains. “So you know it’s going to

Yuh-Lang Ling — Taiwan — Spring Festival “[E]verything would be done; everyone would go home.”

CULTURE | FEB 3-9, 2022

says they had to find ways to celebrate Seollal on their own. They lived in apartments with other Korean students, so they hosted potlucks and had a more informal version of the holiday. After she and her husband moved to North Carolina in 2010 and they had their sons, keeping up the traditions became even harder because of the smaller Korean community here. Yi says that she and her family, despite not being religious, joined a local Korean church just so they would continue to have a place to celebrate. However, in the last few years because of the pandemic, they have had to scale back. Fortunately, this past December, her family visited California, where her brother lives, and they all celebrated Seollal a month early together. They ate the same kinds of foods and played the familiar games they enjoyed when they were kids. For Yi, it was the closest thing to being back in South Korea. “As an immigrant family, you are grateful to have another family in this country and to do this kind of celebration together,” Yi says. “I was really thankful for that. But we still miss our parents, who live in South Korea. That’s the whole issue for any kind of immigrants in this country. It’s every immigrant family.” This year, Yi says they’ll FaceTime her parents in Korea and hang out as a family. But because the holiday isn’t officially recognized by the school district, Yi says it can be hard to fully celebrate. As a special education teacher at Grimsley High School, she wishes that the county would make Lunar New Year a teacher workday every year. “I think it’s important to teach Lunar New Year because people have no clue when it is or who’s celebrating,” Yi says. “They don’t know what it is about but that’s who you live with and work with. You are living with people from all different cultures.”

COURTESY PHOTO

The Eckarts during a family trip.

an Solar Holiday New Year, where it’s only one or two days, this one you normally have one week off. Everyone would come home and stay for at least five days.” In Korean culture, because most families gathered at the husband or father’s house, Ling explains that the second day of the Lunar New Year week is called the “Homecoming Day” for women, in which the female family members would go home to visit their parents. During the week, families would feast on fish, meat and vegetables and set out food for their ancestors. A poem would be written on a banner and hung on the front door to encourage good health, fortune and happiness for the coming year. After Ling came to North Carolina in 1987, he says he discovered the local Taiwanese Association and began taking his kids to their celebrations every year. He taught his daughters, who now live in Kansas City and Los Angeles, Taiwanese and he and other families would host a potluck and play games. Since the pandemic, the celebrations have moved online; he and his wife have been recognizing the holiday by having a home-cooked meal together. Because he has to work during this year’s holiday, he says it’ll be a small celebration, if any. “Probably my wife will buy some takeout or she’ll cook at home,” Ling says. “It’s not as much as when I was in Taiwan because we don’t have big celebrations of the holiday here.”

It’s the biggest holiday in Taiwan. It’s not like the Gregorian Solar Holiday New Year, where it’s only one or two days...’

Yuh-Lang Ling is a like a walking talking Taiwanese history book. Despite being a professor of meteorology at NC A&T State University, Ling speaks passionately about the history of his country when prompted. He explains that the Lunar New Year started in China and subsequently spread to the different countries in Asia, including Taiwan. Ling says that thousands of years ago, farmers used Yuh-Lang Ling the lunisolar calendar for their crops and rarely took breaks. It’s possible the Lunar New Year came about as a way to give workers some days off. “It was a 5-to-10 day period where almost everything would be done,” Ling says. “Everyone would go home.” Similar to how other countries celebrate Lunar New Year, in Taiwan, Ling says that it’s a time of gathering and spending time with family. “It’s the biggest holiday in Taiwan,” Ling says. “It’s not like the Gregori-

Kristin Eckart — Vietnam — Tet

“The older he got, the more important it became to him.”

When Kristin Eckart adopted his son Thomas more than a decade ago, she never could have guessed how much she would learn about the Lunar New Year. Eckart and her husband George, who are white, have two sons, Thomas Tung Eckart and John Toan Eckart, who are both from Vietnam. When they were deciding where to adopt from all those years ago, Kristin says that they chose Vietnam because it seemed like a country they could visit, and they had heard how complicated the domestic adoption process could be. But as the years went on, she realized that she needed to immerse her sons in their native culture so they wouldn’t feel disconnected from it later in life. That’s when she started learning about Tet, or the Vietnamese Lunar New Year.

CULTURE | FEB 3-9, 2022

brate it.” The most impactful part of the holiday for Thomas was getting to be in the presence of so many other Asian kids, Kristin says. “The older he got, the more important it became to him,” she says. “He got to be in a huge room with other Asian kids where they’re not asking him where he’s from. “He is surrounded day in and day out by American culture, which is fine. But I need him, when he goes out into the world, to have a foundational understanding of these things,” she added. Thomas, who is now 14 and has been thinking more about his identity, says that celebrating Tet is weird sometimes because his parents are white but that it’s fun because he gets to hang out with his friends. Her younger son, John, 10, says he appreciates that he gets to celebrate a part of his culture. Plus, he likes getting candy. The hope for Eckart is that one day, her sons will be able to fully celebrate the holiday the way it is in their home country. “I think it’s just part of who they are,” Eckart says. “One day I hope they can really experience it in a city that has a sizeable Vietnamese population or go back and experience it in Vietnam.” COURTESY PHOTO

Kristin Eckart’s son John in traditional Vietnamese celebration attire.

“I wanted to recognize that if my children had stayed in Vietnam, that this is a huge deal there,” she says. “We don’t have anything equivalent to what they celebrate as far as a holiday. We wanted to honor that part of their background.” When the Eckarts adopted Thomas, Kristin says there were several other families in the area who had adopted children from Vietnam; they ended up gathering together to celebrate the holiday with input from local Vietnamese people. “We had to do a lot of learning and talking to people,” Eckart says. “We knew that growing up in a white family was going to be weird.” Before the pandemic, Kristin says they would host potlucks with other families around the new year date. One year, they had a Vietnamese exchange student stay with them and she expressed the importance of fireworks during the holiday. After that, they startKristin Eckart ed incorporating little firecrackers each year. Another year they hired professional dancers to do dragon dancers to teach the kids some basic moves. The kids learned to cook dumplings and they got presents each year, too. “I don’t ever want to claim that I know everything about Vietnam because I don’t,” Eckart says. “It’s just really important to our family that we cele-

We knew growing up in a white family was going to be weird.

by Sayaka Matsuoka

Q A

Tell me about your background in the arts. I understand that you first started out playing violin? That’s right. My background was primarily in violin, but I started off doing dancing, ballet and tap and jazz. But I realized that I was too fleshy to do ballet as a boy. At the time I was identifying as a boy and finding out my truth came a little later. And I was trying to figure out why it was not working for me. It got to a point where I was not starving myself, but I was trying not to gain weight, and as a teenager it was a difficult time. I later found music through a teacher in Manassas, Va. They were trying to find kids to do orchestra or band in the fifth grade and around that time I went to the Kennedy Center and they did a production of Peter and the Wolf. It was one of those shows where they will show musicians from each section and as soon as heard the violin, I knew I wanted to be just like him. I rented my first violin from Music & Arts and started taking orchestra the next year. I was around 9 or 10 years old.

CULTURE | FEB 3-9, 2022

Transgender musician Tona Brown shares how music CULTURE and the arts saved her from self-harm

Q A

You’re also known as an opera singer. Tell me about how you got into singing. Growing up I would sing in choir at church, but it wasn’t something I was passionate about; but violin was. With violin, I could escape poverty of my childhood. With violin, I could play in the bathroom for hours and even if we were homeless. It wasn’t until college when I was around some friends who were opera singers that I started singing. That’s why art programs are so important to me because without them I don’t think I would be here. I probably would have harmed myself if I didn’t have music as a focus instead of worrying about who I was or what about transitioning.

Q A

I’m so sorry to hear that. When did you realize that you were transgender?

COURTESY PHOTO

inger, violinist, teacher and transgender activist Tona (from her nickname “Tenacious”) Brown will be speaking at UNC School of the Arts this week as part of her college-campus tour. Brown attended the Virginia Governor’s School for the Arts and subsequently attended the Shenandoah Conservatory of Music. Brown became the first transgender woman of color to perform the national anthem for a sitting president in 2011 when she sang for then-President Barack Obama at the LGBT Leadership Gala Dinner. Brown is also the first trans woman to headline at Carnegie Hall. TCB had the pleasure of speaking with Brown over Microsoft Teams where she showed up in a comfy outfit consisting of a magenta shawl, bright purple nails and long flowing hair a la Jameela Jamil. Follow Brown on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter to learn more about her future projects including her memoir which should be out by the end of the year. She also has a podcast called “Conversations with Tona Brown.” Her website is tonabrown.com.

Well my mother knew since I was 3. She just wanted me to experience life and didn’t want me to put labels on myself. I had a brilliant mom and two aunts who knew what was going on. They tried their best to give me really good self-esteem. Around the time I was 16 or 17, I came out to my mom as bisexual and she said, “You know sweetie, I don’t think that’s what it is; I think you’re going to go through some changes.” It wasn’t until college where I started to naturally transition. I started experimenting with different looks. Just being around visual artists, fashion designers and so many different types of people, I started to question myself more like, Why am I not happy in the body that I was born in? I had a family of quirky friends who were accepting of who I was. There was no judgment, so I was able to slowly figure it out.

Q A

How did music help you during those darker moments? For a trans person, you can’t visually see that this is going on within them. You don’t think that there is anyone else like you out there. There were no transgender models that were out there when I was growing up. But when you go to these art programs, you’re around people who are different. We would constantly meet people who would tell us never

CULTURE | FEB 3-9, 2022

to give up. You’re exposed to all these things and you develop a certain amount of discipline because you always have something to do. I was so busy constantly doing the next thing. That’s why I’m going to start a nonprofit organization, hopefully this year called Music Saving Lives or Music Saves Lives because as a young person, when you’re trying to figure so many things about yourself but it seems like the world is against you or you’re alone, that’s not always the reality, but for a transgender person, it is a reality.

I probably would have harmed myself if I didn’t have music as a focus instead of worrying about who I was or what about transitioning.

Q A

If you read

then you know...

. Who the new owner of Acme Comics is . Why Roar in Winston-Salem is able to hire 100 employees . When the Hiatt Street residents have to be out by

Triad City Beat — If you know, you know

What would you like young trans musicians to know that you didn’t when you were their age? That it’s gonna get better. I have so much faith in the youth. WorKing with the youth has been the biggest blessing for me. As an advocate or activist you hear so many horrible things but working with young people, I know, everything is going to be okay. We have to get out of the way of what these young people are building in our society. They are more educated on issues than I was at their age. It just makes me feel really, really confident that we’re gonna be okay. We’re in a troubling time right now, but were gonna be okay.

Get in front of the best readers in the triad, contact Chris.

chris@triad-city-beat.com

How would you like to see classical music change? I want to see the classical music sphere showcase its LGBTQ people in a positive light. One thing I think would be revolutionary is if in the month of Pride, they would showcase LGBTQ artists in their symphonies or bring in people like myself. Not just that month, but you know how society is. It seems to the world that we just got here while we’ve been here since the beginning of time. The more we integrate and uplift people who are different then we’re going to have a better world. The opera world is struggling to get people into seats so it’s smart business to have diversity and inclusion in your programming. These symphonies are struggling to stay open. Well if you only see type of person on the stage and one type of genre, that is the problem. You have to change with the times.

WE BELIEVE REPORTING CAN SAVE THE WORLD. 14

SHOT IN THE TRIAD | FEB 3-9, 2022

SHOT IN THE TRIAD North Church and West Market streets, Greensboro

CAROLYN DE BERRY

The site of last weekend’s birthday celebration for Marcus Smith, who was hogtied and killed by Greensboro police officers on Sept. 8, 2018. The Greensboro Justice Coalition constructed their own historical marker and placed it at this site for the celebration. The marker was removed less than 24 hours later. On Tuesday the city announced they had reached a settlement of $2.57 million for the civil lawsuit brought by Smith’s parents against the city. As part of the settlement, a commemorative plaque will also be erected in Smith’s honor.

PUZZLES | FEB 3-9, 2022

CROSSWORD

SUDOKU

by Matt Jones

Across

1. Air marshal’s org. 4. Hilarity, on the Interwebs 8. West ___ (Long Island locale) 13. “Believe” singer 14. Opera showstopper 15. See 22-Across 16. Flag position in remembrance 18. Go inside 19. Holiday visitor, maybe 20. “Along with all the rest” abbr. 22. With 15-Across, “A Change Is Gonna Come” singer 23. Robbie who was Cousin Oliver on “The Brady Bunch” 26. “Famous Potatoes” state 28. Meat and mushroom dish originally made with a mustard and sour cream sauce 33. Notable time division 34. Appear 35. Column style simpler than ionic 37. Bits of work 39. Prepares, as kiwifruit 42. Prefix before “plasmosis” 43. Ancient artifact 45. First-timer, slangily 47. Yes, in France 48. German-born NBA player who appeared multiple times on “Parks & Recreation” 52. “You ___ not pass!” 53. Gang leader? 54. Mo. for most of Sagittarius 56. Promotional bit 58. Skewered dish 62. Knock for ___ 64. 1986 Fabulous Thunderbirds song (or the album it was on) 67. Neutral brownish color 68. Singer Fitzgerald 69. Low quartet? 70. Adjust to fit 71. Archetype for one of “The Odd Couple” 72. Miss Piggy, for one

Down

“Fenders”--failing to see the significance here.

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 17. 21. 24.

“Easier said ___ done” Put on the marketplace Pound sound Back muscle, in the gym “Kia ___” (Maori greeting) Subject of many toasts Rubenesque Country with fjords “Sanford and ___” What uncramped areas have Furniture store with meatballs Salon do Sox home, on scoreboards Reuben ingredient Org. recommending regular checkups Instruction part

25. 27. 28. 29. 30. 31. 32. 36. 38. 40. 41. 44. 46. 49. 50. 51. two 54. 55. 57. 59. 60. 61. 63. 65. 66.

Word after family or phone Owl sound Pub pour Miscalculated Earner of 21 merit badges “Good ___” (Gaiman/Pratchett novel) Repair Salon do “Revenge of the ___” (“Star Wars” subtitle) Key’s partner “Last Night in ___” (2021 film) Sound-activated infomercial gadget Out of money Joint with a 90-degree bend Grade school orchestra section Justice Kagan and forward Delle Donne, for Numbers to be crunched Airline with Hebrew letters in the logo Beach bird Osso ___ (Italian dish) Not too many Some partners, for short Unlock, in poetry “Low” rapper ___ Rida Beatles adjective

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