TCB March 30, 2023 — Bajito y Suavecito

CITY LIFE

THURSDAY MARCH 30

Belgian Beer Tasting @ The Brewer’s Kettle (HP) 5 p.m.

Join Dave Armstrong for a tasting of Belgian beers including pale ales, strong ales and more. Visit the event page on Facebook for more information.

Free Prom Attire Pop-Up Shop @ Camille’s Closet and Theo’s Threads (GSO) 5:30 p.m.

The Parks and Recreation Department’s Greensboro Youth Council is hosting a pop-up shop with Camille’s Closet and Theo’s Threads for teens to get free prom attire from dresses to shoes. Head to greensboro-nc.gov for more information.

FRIDAY MARCH 31

A Study of Self-Emancipation: Poetry Workshop with Authoring Action @ Reynolda House (W-S) 9 a.m.

In this poetry workshop inspired by “Ona Judge Escapes” in Stephen Towns: Declaration & Resistance currently on display at Reynolda, attendees will explore the theme of self-emancipation with Authoring Action before creating an original work of poetry. Find more information at reynolda.org

by MICHAELA RATLIFF

MARCH 30 - APRIL 1

Foundation for a day of fellowship with free STEM exhibitions, live music, food trucks and more. Proceeds benefit the GEMS in STEM program which helps with STEM camp costs. Register at victorylap5k.com

Triad Anime Convention 2023 @ Benton Convention Center (W-S) 1 p.m.

Experience three days worth of anime-filled fun with discussion panels, an arcade, collectables and more for you to enjoy. Head to triadanimecon. com for more information.

Phenomenal Women Friday @ Stock + Grain Assembly (HP) 5:30 p.m.

Celebrate and close out Women’s History Month during this night of networking, raffles and more with YWCA High Point, Women in Motion High Point and other community groups. Visit the event page on Facebook for more information.

SATURDAY

APRIL 1

29th Annual Human Race @ LeBauer Park (GSO) 9 a.m.

The Volunteer Center of the Triad is hosting the 29th Annual Human Race to benefit local nonprofits. Visit volunteercentertriad.org to view community nonprofits and register.

Victory Lap 5K Walk & Community Day @ Country Park (GSO) 10 a.m.

Be Great Foundation aims to increase representation of minorities and individuals from low-income families towards the development of and participation in STEM careers. Join the Be Great

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10th Annual Customer Appreciation Day @ Northwood Animal Hospital (HP) 11 a.m.

Join Northwood Animal Hospital for its 10th Annual Customer Appreciation Day. This free, family-friendly get-together includes face painting, a bounce house and local vendors. There will even be an on-site adoption fair. Visit the event page on Facebook for more information.

An Evening of New Music @ Elberson Fine Arts Center (W-S) 7:30 p.m.

As part of the Salem College School of Music Sandresky Faculty Artist Series, this concert features new contemporary classical music by Margaret Sandresky, Libby Larsen and other composers. Free and open to the public. Find more information at salem.edu

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BUSINESS

PUBLISHER/EXECUTIVE EDITOR

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Allen Broach allen@triad-city-beat.com

OF COUNSEL

Jonathan Jones

EDITORIAL

MANAGING EDITOR

Sayaka Matsuoka sayaka@triad-city-beat.com

CITYBEAT REPORTER

Gale Melcher gale@triad-city-beat.com

Our trans community isn’t the problem

SALES

KEY ACCOUNTS

Chris Rudd chris@triad-city-beat.com

AD MANAGER

Noah Kirby noah@triad-city-beat.com

CONTRIBUTORS

Carolyn de Berry, John Cole, Owens Daniels, James Douglas, Michelle Everette, Luis

H. Garay, Destiniee Jaram, Kaitlynn Havens, Jordan

Howse, Matt Jones, Autumn

Karen, Michaela Ratliff, Jen

Sorensen, Todd Turner

TCB IN A FLASH @ triad-city-beat.

WEBMASTER Sam LeBlanc

ART

ART DIRECTOR

Aiden Siobhan aiden@triad-city-beat.com

COVER:

lmost as soon as the country was rocked by yet another needless mass shooting, the vitriol against the trans community came in. Multiple news outlets including Fox News and the New York Post focused their attention on the fact that the perpetrator of Tennessee’s Covenant School was transgender.

by Sayaka Matsuoka

ALast week, I had the pleasure of lecturing high schoolers at UNCSA over the course of two days. I gave presentations about TCB and taught a few classes about writing opinion pieces. At the end of my first day, a student named Finn came up to me and asked if he could read me a poem he wrote in response to an anti-trans policy that his old school district in Hanover County is considering. He said that he loved to write and that he hoped to do it as a career one day. I said of course, and stood while he recited his work to me.

We got transphobic comments on our social media too. And I’m here to tell those of you who are shifting the blame of this mass shooting onto the trans community that you’re wrong.

Read the full poem on the left.

According to data collected by the Cleveland Clinic, more than half of transgender students who are out in school, experience verbal harassment. One in four experience physical attacks, and more than 1 in 10 are sexually assaulted. Almost half of trans adults report being verbally harassed in the past year. Data from the Trevor Project’s 2022 report shows that even within the LGBTQ+ community, trans kids are some of the most distressed, with more than half of trans boys considering suicide in the last year and about 22 percent who attempted it.

And do you know why?

More than 80 percent of trans and nonbinary youth mentioned in the report that they are concerned about anti-trans legislation, being denied access to bathrooms that match their gender identity and concerned about being able to play sports. They’re concerned for their basic well being and simple existence.

While the piece is short, it’s an incredibly heartbreaking and moving work that speaks to what it’s like to be a trans or nonbinary person existing in the world today.

“I lose more and more of my family each year

We push down who we are, To live amongst you, To survive amongst you, Because we were never safe here”

All he wants — all any person wants, I believe — is to be accepted. To be loved. Finn is 18 years old. He shouldn’t be worried about being attacked or being ridiculed or assaulted because of who he is. He should be allowed to have menial teenage worries like who they have a crush on or whether or not they’ll be able to pass their next exam.

Instead, this week, he’ll have to deal with yet another wave of attacks on his community. But when a tragedy like this happens, one in which innocent nineyear-olds are killed, the answer isn’t to target yet another marginalized community. It’s to stand up to the lawmakers, the gun lobbyists and others who allow acts of violence like this to continue.

Because trans people are not the problem. They never have been.

Design by Sayaka Matsuoka

Photo by Jerry Cooper

Pallet shelter residents in Greensboro move out on March 24, days earlier than postponed date

by Gale Melcher

PHOTOS BY GALE MELCHER

Residents at Greensboro’s Pallet shelter community moved out on March 24.

At approximately 2 p.m. on Friday, TCB visited Pomona Park where the temporary shelters for homeless individuals have been set up for the last three months. According to residents and an onsite security guard, all Pallet residents were told to move out by noon.

After originally scheduling a move-out date for March 15, city officials put out a statement on March 14 stating that the program had been extended until the end of the month, with move-outs starting the week of March 27. Based on the new timeline, the shelters were set to be taken down in phases with the last move-outs scheduled for March 31.

But on Friday, Kristina Singleton, the executive director of the IRC, which operates the Pallet community, confirmed in a statement that all residents had to be out by Friday instead.

“The 27th is when the breakdown of all the Pallets is happening,” she said. “The move-out had to be today for breakdown on Monday morning.”

Singleton said that because residents have to be out by 8 a.m. on Monday, March 27, “[if] they’re being relocated to another program that’s not open on a weekend or open before 8 a.m. on Monday, then they have to leave today.

“Everyone there knows, that’s why they’re already gone,” she added, noting that residents received notice to leave by noon on Friday.

One onsite staff member said that some of the residents had already left prior to Friday.

When asked when the move-out date had been changed, Singleton stated that she wasn’t sure.

“We worked in close partnership with the city and we all agreed on the dates,” Singleton said. “I know at the end there they changed a bunch so they may have put out different dates….

That’s our directives that we’ve had all along and what we agreed on when we accepted it.”

The inconsistent information on when residents would have to move out can be seen in city documentation. According to the memo put out by the city on March 13, residents who had “not found alternate housing solutions” were stated to be able to “remain in the structures through March 27th due to the anticipated colder temperatures in the coming days.”

The same memo states that based on the disassembly schedule, clients living in the specific shelters would be allowed to stay until 8 a.m. the same morning.

“The physical demobilization of buildings will occur in phases to maximize the number of beds available through March 31st and in coordination with the Resident Transition Plan,” the memo states. “On the date of the building(s) scheduled disassembly, the client(s) occupying those buildings need to have all personal

Residents at the Pallet shelter community were told to move out by March 24.

This piece is part of our CityBeat that covers Greensboro and Winston-Salem city council business, 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.

items removed by 8:00 a.m.”

One resident who was still packing said they received the move-out notice a few days ago.

Another resident who was getting on a bus at the stop across from the park also confirmed that March 24 is move-out day.

“It most certainly is,” the resident said. “I was supposed to be out by noon, but it’s okay. I should be getting help Monday.”

Clear plastic bags holding residents’ belongings were scattered across the ballfield, and onsite staff workers were going in and out of the shelters and appeared to be cleaning them.

On March 14, Singleton told TCB that “to date, 57 percent of the people that have exited the program have not gone back to experiencing homelessness and we will not have a final number until the program is completed.”

One of the residents TCB interviewed on March 13 said again on Friday that they still have not secured permanent housing and that they’ll be returning to living under a bridge.

Singleton did not give an updated percentage of Pallet residents who had secured housing as of Friday, saying that the IRC staff is waiting for additional reporting from partner agencies.

As of Friday afternoon, all 30 shelters were still standing.

After the shelters are taken down on Monday, preparations for the baseball field will be made. Between April 1-13, scheduling and completion of any repairs will take place, and on April 14 a coordinated site inspection will occur with parks and recreation staff to confirm that all repairs or preparations are complete.

On April 15, baseball practice will start.

The temporary shelters, which cost approximately $500,000, were purchased by the city in October 2022 to shield people experiencing homelessness from the elements during the winter. Thirty shelters were installed in December and have operated for about three months.

Winston-Salem hopes to solve leaf problem with addition of two new ‘fancy dancy’ machines

by Gale Melcher

Leaf collection in Winston-Salem could run a little smoother this fall, thanks to the city council’s decision to purchase two new automated leaf loaders that will replace older equipment.

The new leaf-collecting devices, dubbed “fancy dancy” by Mayor Allen Joines who congratulated Assistant City Manager Johnnie Taylor after councilmembers approved the item during a March 20 city council meeting, will hopefully speed up leaf collection this fall.

The decision awards a purchase order for two 2024 Freightliner M2 106 trucks with Pac-Mac automated leaf-collection systems from Carolina Environmental Systems, Inc. based in Greensboro. The company has offered a quotation for the vehicles at $256,986 each for a total cost of $513,972. According to a document containing vehicle replacement information, the two vehicles that need to be replaced have been in commission since 2011 and 2014. The vehicles were acquired for nearly $150,000 each and have racked up more than $100,000 each in repair costs.

The city usually operates seven automated leaf loaders, along with about 15 pull-behind vehicles. However, this season they’d been operating at about 50 percent of their equipment force due to vehicle breakdowns, Taylor said.

In an interview with TCB, Taylor said that the delivery of the new vehicles “will take place prior to the next leaf collection,” adding that he is “definitely expecting them in time for this upcoming leaf collection.”

The city experienced setbacks this previous leaf collection season after a trifecta of problems caused by weather, timing of leaf fall and equipment breakdowns created a perfect storm that delayed pickup.

Winston-Salem’s leaf route uses a four-quadrant system, with each quadrant receiving three leaf collections per season. This season, leaf collection began in Quadrant 4 on Nov. 7.

Taylor gave a presentation during a Jan. 17 city council meeting after being called upon by Mayor Joines to give an update on the so-called “leaf situa-

tion.”

Taylor acknowledged councilmembers, saying, “I’m certain that many of you have received calls this year,” referencing complaints from residents: “‘Where are all the trucks?’ ‘When will they be here?’”

“Each one of those [quadrants] affect many of you,” Taylor mentioned to councilmembers, “as opposed to thinking that perhaps one elected official deals with one quadrant.

“Everybody is impacted,” Taylor said.

Taylor noted that when the next leaf collection season begins, they will start by operating some of the automated equipment in all four quadrants.

“We’ll use data, we will look at the tree canopies, we’ll try to determine where best to utilize those vehicles,” Taylor added.

He added that the city is working on improving the process to be more effective in the future and that the leaf map will be redesigned.

Taylor told TCB that the new plan has not been finalized yet, however, he confirmed that next collection season they should be able to “move to problem areas” more quickly.

As for the current state of this season’s leaf collection efforts, Taylor said that the city is in their third and final round of collection.

“We’re in Quad 4, and we’re going to work ourselves around to Quad 1, 2, and 3,” he said.

New and improved

According to Taylor during a March 14 committee meeting, the two new leaf loaders are a different type compared to the ones the city has been purchasing for the last decade. He added that because the leaf loaders are manufactured differently, “they should be less labor-intensive” for fleet technicians.

A CityBeat story

This piece is part of our CityBeat that covers Greensboro and Winston-Salem city council business, 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.

“They appear to be a very good choice,” Taylor concluded, to which Mayor Joines added, “Hallelujah.”

Taylor told TCB that next collection season, the city will be utilizing eight automatic leaf loaders

“There are several types of vehicles involved in leaf collection, and the automated leaf loaders are just one part,” said Taylor, who added that the city has between 20-30 pull-behind vehicles as well.

During the Jan. 17 meeting, Taylor discussed how weather disruptions had affected the city’s efforts to collect leaves.

“There are some things that we are able to control, and then there are some things that we are not able to control,” Taylor said.

In November, the area received nearly five more inches of precipitation than in November 2021, and in December a couple more inches of precipitation compared to December 2021.

Greensboro also started their leaf collection season on Nov. 7 and experienced many of the same issues

“So what’s happened this year is that we’ve basically had all three rounds of leaf collection to fall at one time,” Taylor said. “When that happens, you can only collect so many leaves per day.”

Taylor said that the large piles had delayed the city’s efforts and prevented them from moving as quickly as they had in the past.

“I will probably be coming back to you with permission to request more flexibility,” Taylor said, noting that because the climate is changing, he might request to “collect earlier or maybe even later to have a more efficient and more effective program.”

De-annexation of Smith Reynolds Airport makes economic sense

When it comes to matters that pit city against county, we are nearly always on the side of the city. Cities exist as collectives for economic activity, cultural development and progress, while the rural areas outside them, and the people who live there, are largely dependent on our urban centers for employment, entertainment, shopping and more. There is no Costco in Rural Hall.

But the proposal to de-annex Smith Reynolds Airport from the city of Winston-Salem, a bill proposed in the North Carolina House, deserves a dive into the particulars before we exercise our prejudice.

The question becomes: Do we want Smith Reynolds Airport to grow?

Currently, the airport exists inside city limits, subjecting it to city taxation that totals about $500,000, much of which comes from privately owned aircraft stored at the facility that are subject to property tax. Mark Davidson, director of Smith Reynolds, told the Winston-Salem Journal that being inside city limits adds about $17,000 in city taxes to the cost of storing a $4.2 million corporate jet.

Again, we are not in the habit of defending large, jet-owning corporations. But that same corporation could store their jet down the road at Piedmont Triad International Airport, which has been de-annexed from Greensboro, without taking that five-figure, city-tax hit.

Add to this that most public airports in the state do not exist within a city’s borders, giving them a competitive advantage in attracting high-dollar clients.

So the question becomes: Do we want Smith Reynolds to grow? Both the state of North Carolina and Forsyth County seem to want this, as evidenced by a $10 million budget item approved by the county to add two new hangars at Smith Reynolds, and an ask from the NC Legislature for another $40 million for infrastructure improvements. State and federal investments in the airport over the last five years total more than $50 million. In return, the airport has an economic impact of more than $800 million and is responsible for creating upwards of 3,500 jobs.

Like the state, county and city, we see the Smith Reynolds Airport as an important part of the Triad’s business portfolio. Besides corporate jets, the airport houses charter services, cargo services, aircraft manufacturing and repair facilities, a flight school and Forsyth Tech’s Aviation Technology Lab, among other concerns. And we think it could do even more without the encumbrance associated with existing inside city limits.

True, it would blow a half-million-dollar hole in Winston-Salem’s revenue stream. But cities have ways of making up revenue that airports do not. And Winston-Salem would still benefit from the airport in other ways, just as Lexington benefits from Davidson County Airport, which was decoupled from the city by state legislation last year — and which, incidentally, stands to gain if Smith Reynolds does not catch up.

John Cole

Courtesy of NC Policy Watch

Bajito y suavecito: North Carolina’s lowriders motor through Greensboro

by Kaitlynn Havens

The turquoise blue sky and balmy heat of Southern California is a distant memory. Dark skies that both threaten and deliver rain, compete with the beginning of North Carolina spring: clouds of yellow pollen and red-clay mud seep into every sidewalk. But inside of Hester Park, pouring out of shelters 5 and 6, is a rainbow of chrome, canary yellows and candy-apple reds. The sounds of soul-pops, Brenton Wood, in harmony with the bouncing beats of several hydraulic systems testing their limits. Thickly lined eyes, impossibly white shoes and blue work shirts with gold lettering group up under pop-up tents. The Real Carolina Lowriders are having their first picnic, and a little weather can’t stop this party.

The Real Carolina Lowriders, a Facebook group with more than 800 members, is a North Carolina-based organization composed of lowrider car clubs like the Majestics, Pura Clase or Greensboro’s own Orginales. In addition to the clubs, solo riders and the group members’ families and friends also take part.

Customized vehicles with shortened springs and modified hydraulics that allow the car’s chassis to sit close to the ground, the term “lowrider” also describes the drivers and their participation in car culture. Although several origin stories exist, the most widely accepted are those dating back to the 1940s in the Mexican-American barrios of Los Angeles. A then vivid expression of Chicano culture, these cars and their elaborate paint jobs and complicated aesthetics were a response to the Anglo-American hot rod. Low and slow, bajito y suavecito are the themes that echo through today’s lowrider

culture.

Jose Silva, known in lowrider communities as El Chema, is the president of the Eastern North Carolina club, Pura Clase.

“We’ve been planning this picnic for the last few years,” Silva explains, “It’s with the help of the lowrider community that it’s happened. This is the first one, and we want it to just get bigger and better.”

Silva’s club, Pura Clase, is made up of Silva, Johnnie Marcano and Ted Egusquiza. The three met when Silva was president of another car club, the Majestics, and Marcano and Egusquiza were club prospects.

Oftentimes, though, the introductions aren’t that formal.

Egusquiza and Marcano met while passing each other on the road.

“I’m on my bike and he’s in this Lincoln, hitting switches,” Egusquiza recalls, “I pull up next to him. I’m like, ‘Hey, nice Lincoln, I got one too;’ We link up.”

These chance encounters are how many of the Lowriders connect. Egusquiza explains the day immediately after meeting Marcano, he met Dino Matallana, a member of the Majestics.

“I drove my car to work one day and I’m meeting my wife at a restaurant after,” says Egusquiza. “I get there early, sitting in the parking lot by myself, the car is idling. This Durango pulls up and starts circling the car. I mean, we’re in Fayetteville, is this going to be good or bad? Next thing you know, dude pops up, comes walking over; the rest is history.”

Dino Matallana moved to Fayetteville with his wife and kids after taking part in the height of the Majestics California chapter.

The Real Carolina Lowriders has more than 800 members, many of whom gathered in Greensboro last weekend.

PHOTO BY JERRY COOPER

It’s this music, this car culture. It’s for everyone. Luis Zarate “ “

“We came here from California. I hadn’t seen a lowrider since moving here. So right off, we hooked up,” Matallana says.

Lowrider culture and its California roots are often surrounded in an incorrect rhetoric of violence and gang involvement, stereotypes that mirrored the racist images of Mexican-Americans in the ’40s and ’50s.

For members of the Real Carolina Lowriders, these stories couldn’t be further from the truth.

Luis Zarate, known as TOONEZ, spends the picnic spinning vinyl records of Roy Ayers, William DeVaughn and Leon Haywood.

“I’m from Orange County, California,” Zarate says, “Hanging out with car clubs is what kept me off the streets; they kept me out of trouble. We used to take cars apart, put them back together, whatever kept us away from gangbanging.”

For TOONEZ, these events are a form of community, and the music synonymous with lowriding, his therapy.

“This was my way to cope. It was such a personal thing, but everyone loved it. I started just collecting the vinyl and from vinyl I went to DJ-ing,” he says. “It’s this music, this car culture. It’s for everyone.”

The inclusion of family in lowrider culture is important to each lowrider, and a way to see traditions continue.

“I drive my son to school every day in the car,” Egusquiza says. “He’s sitting there, strapped in, and I see him eyeball the switches and he asks, ‘Hey Dad, can I hit the switches?’ And I’ll teach him.”

Greensboro’s Hester Park was a central location that each car owner and family had access to. The middle of the state offered a location where car clubs from Charlotte, Raleigh, Wilmington and Fayetteville, as well as those from surrounding states could join.

Families and friends surround each of the club tents and help polish rain off the cars when needed, or bring bags of food filled with ceviche and tortas from the food truck. Young enthusiasts drive powder-blue, remote-control lowriders, or showcase their own customized electric riding car, complete with hydraulic switches and chrome-chain steering wheels.

“Seeing how I was when I was that young, and now seeing these kids out here with lowrider bikes, or the little remote control cars, wearing T-shirts, it just grows and grows. You can’t go wrong with a lowrider,” Marcano says, taking it all in.

The picnic ends with a group photo, members of the different clubs kneeling next to one another, holding each other’s children. A line of handshakes and daps turn into embraces.

Each driver, with at least one passenger, rolls down their windows as they turn onto Gate City Boulevard. Smokey Robinson’s “Cruisin” spills out of the speakers of a ‘64 Impala.

“It gets in your blood,” Egusquiza says, wiping down his lowrider one last time.

For more information on North Carolina lowrider car clubs and events, check out The

Real Carolina Lowriders on Facebook.

Music. Moments. Memories.

Sheraldton Chavis poses in front of a lowrider at the picnic at Hester Park in Greensboro, while making the West Coast hand sign.

PHOTO BY JERRY COOOPER

Common Roots, Many Branches at NC A&T emphasizes student-professor connection through art

by Michaela Ratliff

Artist Shameka Manson gained more than an education during her time at NC A&T State University.

“[He] has become like a second father to me over the past 10 years,” she says of Willie F. Hooker, professor and art education coordinator at A&T. “I love learning from and working with him.”

The close relationships between college students and their professors is explored in Common Roots, Many Branches, an art show that opened in the University Galleries at NC A&T on March 20 and runs until April 14. The showing features more than 60 works by current and former visual-art faculty members and students representing the National Alliance of Artists from Historically Black Colleges and Universities, a nonprofit that educates and promotes artists and art programs at HBCUs. Fourteen universities are represented in the exhibition, including Winston-Salem State University. Its stop at A&T is just one of many for the touring exhibition, first displaying at theArtWorks in Wilmington in January 2022.

The walls of the gallery and free-standing columns are decorated with pieces ranging in size, from painted portraits to mixed-media sculptures. Next to each piece is a label with its title, the name of the artist, the professor involved with collaboration or supervision on the piece and the university they represent.

Manson received her bachelor’s in art education from NC A&T in May 2018. She first met Hooker when he became her academic advisor; he asked her to

appear under his branch of former students in the exhibition. Together, they chose Manson’s mixed-media piece, The “Timeline of Pan-Africanism, ” to appear in the exhibition.

In the piece, Manson combines bits of her heritage — kente-cloth patterns, a Mesopotamian necklace and Hebrew earrings — to depict her identity as an African-American and Garifuna woman. The subject of the painting stares at the viewer with piercing eyes. Her multi-textile turban, dangling tassel earrings and powerful facial expression exude royalty. At first glance, the subject’s eyes appear to reflect light, but a closer look reveals a message from Manson.

“They say the eyes are the windows to the soul, so I painted an African continent within the eyes,” she says. “At heart, we are all African regardless of where we got displaced.”

The subject is painted on black paper, and resting behind her are racial slurs painted in black letters. With the exception of “black-eyed pea,” none of the slurs are completely spelled out. Manson originally wanted to spell “African” multiple ways, but came across more slurs than positive translations.

“This made me think about how, as Black people, we can beautify ourselves as much as possible and be strong, but no matter how much we try to ignore the words, we always take a mental note in our subconscious about what we get called on a daily basis,” she says.

While Manson completed the piece alone, she consulted Hooker for advice

Common Roots, Many Branches opened at NCA&T State University on March 20 and explores the relationship between students and their mentors.

PHOTO BY MICHAELA RATLIFF

“ “ CULTURE | MARCH 30APRIL 5, 2023

throughout its creation.

“He’s one of the first people I send my artwork to for feedback,” she says.

Maya Stewart, a freshman bioengineering student at A&T, visited the gallery after a morning of classes. She was drawn to “Attack on Sitting Pose,” a black-and-white charcoal on paper by James Pate and accompanying professor Willis “Bing” Davis from Central State University in Wilberforce, Ohio. In the work, a nude Black woman rests in a chair as a plane heads in her direction. According to Stewart, this represents criticism Black women face just for existing.

“We’re constantly being attacked for being still and we have to be the bigger person and turn the other cheek,” she says.

Stewart also hypothesized the subject’s nakedness represents the forcing of the Jezebel stereotype on Black women.

“It represents us being vulnerable but being looked at as property and constantly being sexualized,” she says.

While the exhibition represents professors and their protégés sharing a common root of art, Common Roots also presents the many branches of Black history stemming from one common place: enslavement in the United States.

In mixed media sculpture “Four Hundred Years of Slavery,” Hooker portrays a pair of Black feet enclosed in gold shackles against a multicolored, textured background. In “Divine Nine, ” Sam. D Burston and accompanying professor Dr. Lee Ransaw from Morris Brown College in Atlanta pay homage to the nine historically-Black Greek letter organizations. In the painting, nine faceless figures are dressed in their Sunday best, wearing their organization’s colors and standing in order by the year each organization was founded.

Though she’s no longer his student, Manson still appreciates her mentor Hooker’s encouragement of free-thinking.

“He’s definitely the best professor I’ve ever had because his teaching style is so broad, and he leaves the subject matter to the student,” she says.

Common Roots, Many Branches is on display in the University Galleries until April 14. A second viewing will be available in the galleries May 12 through July 28.

The University Galleries are open Monday-Friday, 10 a.m-5 p.m. and Saturdays by appointment. Exhibitions are free and open to the public. Learn more about the National Alliance of Artists from Historically Black Colleges and Universities at naahbcu.com. Visit Shameka Manson’s website at shamekamanson.square.site.

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‘Attack on Sitting Pose’ by James Pate, Willis Bing Davis, Central State University

PHOTO BY MICHAELA RATLIFF

‘Divine Nine’ by Sam D. Burston and Dr. Lee Ransaw, Morris Brown College

PHOTO BY MICHAELA RATLIFF

SHOT IN THE TRIAD

BY CAROLYN DE BERRY

Spring Garden Street, Greensboro

CROSSWORD SUDOKU

by Matt Jones

Across

1. Absorbed

5. Emu or ostrich, e.g.

11. “The Ultimate Driving Machine”

14. ___ error

15. Bluegrass artist Krauss

16. Late July birth sign

17. Scientific group that includes limes and kumquats

19. Musician Yoko

20. Locale of a notable zoo

21. Icelandic electronic group with albums “Polydistortion” and “Lies Are More Flexible”

23. Put a stop to

24. “Beg pardon”

25. Aquarium buildup

28. “Best in Show” org.

30. Add, as a vocal track

34. Repeated marks after “F” that jokingly denote a really bad grade

37. ___ Chico (beverage brand)

38. “I love,” in Latin

39. Aware of, with “to”

40. “Who Are You” was its opening theme

41. Video game humanoids since 1989

43. 1993 Halloween film with a 2022 sequel

46. Prepare, as mussels

48. Islands instrument

49. Opponent in Risk

50. It may be checked at the door

52. Special someone, slangily

53. Version of a North African semolina dish in Turkish cuisine (it sounds the same)

56. “Say hello to my little friend” movie

61. Landing guess at LAX

62. Hit HBO show (adapted from a video game) that illustrates the six theme answers

64. Thanksgiving starch

65. Gasoline hydrocarbon with six carbon atoms

66. Mineral sources

67. “___ sells seashells ...”

68. Came down softly?

69. Errands list heading

Down

1. Floor coverings

2. Sailing on the ocean

3. Teller’s partner

4. Canadian Prime Minister Justin

5. Sped along

6. Character before Borat

7. One-fifth of the Jackson 5

8. Neighbor of Syr.

9. Not easy to crack

10. Happened next

11. Online journal

12. Item in a restaurant takeout bag

13. Courts

18. Certain trig functions

22. Blue material

24. Contact lens brand

25. Accumulate

26. “The ___ does not exist” (“Mean Girls” line)

27. Bearded garden figurine

28. Dry on a line, perhaps

29. New York NBA player

31. Lawn bowling game

32. Lorem ___ (placeholder text)

33. Raucous

35. Abbr. on a speeding ticket

36. Part of DOS

42. Bag for potatoes

44. Legendary Rush drummer Neil

45. Twelve inches

47. Ends of rivers

51. Pale with fear

52. “___ on a true story”

53. Piano row

54. Arches National Park state

55. Unvarying

56. BBQ side dish

57. Mr. Peanut prop

58. Style with a pick

59. Prompted in a play

60. Gas brand still found in Canada

63. Prefix with skeleton

LAST WEEK’S ANSWERS:

‘We Made It to the Finish Line’ — just you and me.

© 2023 Matt Jones

© 2022 Jonesin’ Crosswords (editor@jonesincrosswords.com)

Here For Small Businesses in the Triad triadlocalfirst.org

Emerge Skin + Soul

Relax, release and let go. Connect with a deeper understanding of your own skincare and self-care needs with a holistic spa experience at Emerge Skin + Soul, offering facial, massage and reiki experiences that go beyond the boring treatments you may be used to.

Emerge’s holistic approach means they look at the whole person, mind, body, skin and soul when developing advanced treatment plans and at-home skincare rituals.

You’re more than just your skin or your body. You’re an energetic being. And energy can be shifted for wellbeing. As spa service providers who are also reiki practitioners, Emerge sets pure intention for your highest good to support deeper soul connection, wellbeing and renewal.

The retail boutique includes professional skincare items that range from oncology-safe lines for extremely sensitive or compromised skin to corrective lines with a focus on chronobiology and circadian rhythm, along with holistic and botanical based lines that appeal to your senses. They also carry a wide range of self-care and ritual gift items for your overall wellbeing.

If you are thinking of leveling up your self care, consider a facial, massage or reiki experience at Emerge skin + soul.

Trellis Travel

Trellis Travel delivers their clients meaningful experiences, curated to a seamless finish, with every detail wrapped neatly inside… all based on their clients’ visions, from all-inclusive getaways to treks across exotic landscapes, and everything in between. Trellis Travel has established relationships with the industry’s finest destinations and service providers, and this translates into exclusive amenities and custom journeys for their clients. Your dream itinerary is here at Trellis Travel. Connect with them today and get started on those travel dreams of yours! 336.343.1505 | info@trellistravel.com |

Proactive Therapy & Wellness

Michele Walker is a one-woman, mobile physical-therapy studio with plans for a brick-and-mortar coming soon. She provides private sessions in her client’s home or office, as well as group sessions for all manner of physical-therapy needs, particularly for aging clients. She specializes in the multidisciplinary treatment of Parkinson’s disease, with which she has extensive experience. Her methodology includes traditional physical therapy along with LSVT Big therapy, Rock Steady boxing and tai chi, with proven results. Call or email to book an appointment, or visit the website for more information. ptaw.net | 304.602.7336 | michele.walker@ptaw.net