January 9, 2020

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Volume 46, Number 18

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W I N S TO N - S A L E M , N . C .

THURSDAY, January 9, 2020

Trump’s U.S. airstrike sparks tensions

BY ALGENON CASH

Qassem Soleimani, an Iranian major general in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and commander of its Quds Force, was killed in a targeted U.S. drone strike on January 3 in Baghdad, Iraq. President Donald Trump approved the military action under the justification that Soleimani posed an “imminent threat” to American lives and overseas interests.

Soleimani is alleged to have handled clandestine activities outside Iran; led powerful Shiite militias embedded in Iraq and encouraged his allies to attack U.S. targets in the country. The Trump Administration also believes that Soleimani supplied militia commanders with sophisticated new weapons, including Katyusha rockets, shoulder-fired missiles, and a specialized drone capable of eluding radar systems.

Iran’s influence in the region has grown exponentially as the country fought alongside Americans to defeat ISIS, but lately Iraqis have been staging mass protests against the Islamic Republic. Soleimani hoped to reverse the tide by attacking American forces and provoking a military response that would redirect the rising protests toward the United States.

The Pentagon and CIA described Soleimani as “the single most powerful

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U.S. airstrike kills Qassem Soleimani, commander of Iran’s Quds Force. operative in the Middle East today” and the central strategist in Iran’s effort to promote the expansion of Shiite influence throughout the region. Most Iranians regarded Soleimani as the second most powerful official in Iran after Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Former Central Command Commander and CIA Director David Petraeus called the killing of Qassem Soleimani “bigger than the death of Osama bin Laden.”

One crown jewel of the Obama legacy is negotiating the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, more

commonly known as the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran, which required Iranians to cut or eliminate its stockpile of enriched uranium, reduce the number of centrifuges that could be used to further enrich uranium for nuclear weapons, and agree not to construct additional facilities.

Trump withdrew the United States from JCPOA in May 2018.

Later in the same year, Trump imposed a fresh round of sanctions against Iran to cripple the country economically and prevent its support for militant groups in the region. In April 2019, Trump officially designated the Rev-

olutionary Guards a terrorist organization; the group has around 125,000 military personnel engaged in ground, air, and naval activity.

Tensions have continued to rise between Iran and America – Iranian supported Shiite militias launched four rockets at a base near Baghdad International Airport that wounded five members of Iraq’s Counter-Terrorism Service, then Shiite militias attacked the K-1 Air Base in Iraq, killing an American contractor and wounding four Americans. The U.S. responded by launching airstrikes across Iraq and Syria, kill-

ing 25 and wounded 55 Kataib Hezbollah militiamen. Days later the same militia attacked the U.S. embassy in Baghdad.

The latter action resulted in Trump considering a stronger and more extreme response to Iran’s provocations. Ultimately deciding the rewards outweighed the risk of removing a high level figure, a MQ-9 Reaper drone attacked Soleimani’s convoy after shortly arriving at Baghdad International Airport. The operation killed 10 people, including Soleimani and his chief ally Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis.

This was the first time the U.S. killed a ma-

jor military leader since American pilots shot down the plane of Japanese Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto in World War II. Trump’s quick lurch to lethal military action was unexpected. It is anticipated that taking out a high value target could only stoke rising tensions in the region. Trump grew motivated to seek options to severely damage Iran’s enlarging influence campaign.

Administration and Pentagon officials were stunned Trump chose such a strong-handed response to Iranian-led violence in Iraq, with Congress frustrated about POTUS not seeking their approval to conduct a military exercise targeting a top foreign leader.

Trump defended the airstrike by stating the intelligence community gathered data revealing Soleimani was involved in planning imminent attacks targeting Americans in Iraq, Syria, and Lebanon. But little concrete evidence has been shared with Congressional leaders, international partners, media, or the American people.

The Obama Administration designated Soleimani a terrorist in 2011 after accusing the general of a plot to kill the ambassador of Saudi Arabia. Trump compares the military response against Soleimani to actions taken by the Obama administraSee Trump on A2

Large crowd attends annual Emancipation Service Six students receive $1,000 scholarships

More than 100 people brought in the New Year reflecting on the past and looking toward the future during the annual Emancipation Service held last week.

Every year on New Year’s Day, the WinstonSalem/Forsyth County Emancipation Association holds a ceremony to remember the signing of the Emancipation Procla-

mation, which was signed

by President Abraham Lincoln on Jan. 1, 1863.

The service is held at a different church every year and this year it was held at New Bethel Baptist Church where Rev. Dr. Kendall Jones is the pastor. Rev. Jones also delivered the keynote address.

While addressing the congregation on Wednesday morning, Jones discussed slavery and how some are still barred by the “psychological chains” that it created and how it still exists today. He said, “Here on the first day of 2020 we celebrate the emancipation of 3.5 million slaves. While we sit here celebrating emancipation, there are more today who are mentally shackled by the residue of slavery on both sides of See Emancipation on A2

Photo by Tevin Stinson

Last week the Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Emancipation Association continued their tradition of hosting the Emmancipation Service on Jan. 1. This year the service was held at New Bethel Baptist Church.

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BY TEVIN STINSON THE CHRONICLE

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J anuary 9, 2020

Trump From page A2

tion to kill Osama bin Laden and Muammar Gaddafi.

Reactions to the fatal airstrike have been swift – Iran has vowed a “forceful” revenge against U.S. assets in the region, they have withdrawn from JCPOA, and mobilized ballistic missiles across the country. The Iraqi government approved a resolution (170-0) to eject the U.S. military from their country – Shiite lawmakers drafted the language and led the vote with Sunni and Kurdish factions abstaining.

Trump quickly promised to strike 52 sites across Iran if they attack Americans or American interests overseas. He even went one step further, declaring cultural sites would be included on the list, which is a war crime. Around 3,500 soldiers at Fort Bragg have been deployed to the region.

Some pundits argue Trump’s tough response may lead us into a new major conflict in the Middle East and even predictions of another world war have been leisurely thrown around.

T he C hronicle America has invested trillions in Middle Eastern conflicts and most would argue the country is in no position to continue wasting dollars or American lives in the region. The most informed military aides capable of advising Trump on restraint and effective planning no longer work in the administration – Mattis, Kelly, and McMaster – all resigned or have been pushed out.

Trump will need wellinformed expert advice to navigate this mounting crisis while averting further conflict with Iran and

their allies. Any POTUS is justified when they respond to threats against the American people, but the response must be commensurate to the action – no one doubts Trump should have responded, but only time will tell if his response was appropriate.

Algenon Cash is a nationally recognized speaker and the managing director of Wharton Gladden & Company, an investment banking firm. Reach him at acash@algenoncash.com.

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Emancipation From page A1

the equation.”

Jones, who is a native of Little Rock, Ark., said despite lingering effects of slavery, we have the power to overcome. He said race is only the pigment of one’s skin and to overcome those lingering effects, the African American community needs to adopt a new mindset and value system. He also encouraged the crowd to do their part to ensure that the young people in our community know that they can achieve anything they set their minds to.

“Rev. Dr. James Cone, a black liberation leader out of Arkansas, said the oppressed can take the value system of the oppressor or the oppressed can set his or her own value system,” Jones continued. “If we do to others what others have done to us, then

we’re no better than the others. My Bible says do justly and love mercifully, that is the will of God.” Although Jones delivered the keynote address, Judge Denise Hartsfield read the Emancipation Proclamation aloud, and several elected officials spoke and encouraged citizens to exercise their right to vote. The highlight of the service came toward the end when seven students from local high schools received $1,000 scholarships. According to Dan Piggott, longtime member of the Emancipation Association, it was the most scholarships they have awarded since the service was established.

Scholarship recipients were Najashi Belchor, Allen Choyce, LaJada Flowers, Darian Lowe, Taylor Martin, Stephen Minor and Todd Ryan.

Black News Channel Network launch fulfills lifelong dream of J.C. Watts

BY STACY M. BROWN, NNPA NEWSWIRE SENIOR CORRESPONDENT

WASHINGTON, D.C. — On January 6, 2020, the Black News Channel (BNC) became the nation’s only 24-hour news and information television network focused primarily on African Americans.

The historic launch of the BNC fulfilled the business dream and vision of J.C. Watts, Jr., a nationally known entrepreneur and former U.S. Congressman representing Oklahoma’s Fourth District.

Programming includes special news features on topics that most affect the quality of life of communities of color – like Sickle Cell disease and hypertension – that generally aren’t given much attention by other news outlets. The BNC has also established a news-content alliance with the National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA), representing the Black Press of America, via 225 African Americanowned newspapers and digital companies throughout the United States.

The Tallahassee, Florida-based BNC counts as the brainchild of J.C. Watts, Jr., who is described by Tommy Ross, the network’s director of communications, as “a father, husband, grandfather, business owner, entrepreneur, author, elected official at the state and federal level, a pastor, and a rancher who grew up in a small town in Oklahoma.”

In reality, Watts appears as much more, and those who know him, understand that he’s a Republican conservative whose accomplishments cross party lines. Watts is also a former All-Star quarterback who played college football in Oklahoma and pro ball in Canada.

His congressional accomplishments and living legacy are noteworthy, including: *Helped black farmers get some justice on a discrimination suit against the United States Department of Agriculture.

*Helped push through legislation for the African American Museum of History and Culture. *Sponsored HBCU summits to establish relationships and better understanding between students and Republican policymakers. *Sponsored anti-poverty legislation (community renewal/new markets tax credits). *Led Congress in highlighting minority health care disparities. *Led on the Republican side against sentencing disparities between crack/powder cocaine. *Led in getting funding to fight malaria in West Africa. *Sponsored Africa growth and opportunity legislation.

“We’ve done a lot as African Americans,” Watts stated before referencing a recent statue unveiling that took place in Richmond, Va., earlier this month.

“Rumors of War,” a statue by artist Kehinde Wiley, was unveiled on December 10 during a ceremony at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts. The figure depicts an African American man dressed in contemporary clothing riding a horse, echoing the equestrian sculptures of Confederate soldiers.

“Rumors of War” was reportedly Wiley’s response to the Confederate monuments that pepper the U.S. and the South in particular. The new memorial arrived amid an ongoing debate across the country about what do with Confederate imagery. “This was history,” Watts said of the statue. “Because, if we talk about the slave owner, how can we ignore the slave? African Americans contributed mightily to the United States, and you don’t see enough statues of African Americans.

“Think about what Rosa Parks contributed, Harriet Tubman’s sacrifice, Martin Luther King’s sacrifice, and Frederick Douglass. Their contribution was to raise the conscious level of America to

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J.C. Watts say that you know, we are all human and all created by the same God,” Watts emphasized.

He said the BNC would highlight the contributions of African Americans. And, to successfully accomplish that mission, Watts said it was essential to partner with NNPA. “NNPA already has people in the trenches that report on African American life, whether it’s Chicago, Atlanta, Birmingham, Detroit or Oklahoma City, they report on African American life every day,” Watts stated. “I don’t know if I can put into words how important that partnership will be, and that’s just in terms of content. When I was in politics, we used a strategy where you’ve got people knocking on doors and leaving literature, and that’s your ground game,” Watts continued.

“But you also need an air attack to augment that ground game, so with NNPA being on the ground and giving us information and data, and us being able to launch an air attack, it’s critical,” he stated.

Watts believes that a significant component of the BNC is providing knowledge to a community that’s starved for information.

“Our viewers will be able to find out more

about Sickle Cell and black men and black women’s health,” Watts stated. “They will also be reminded that black history isn’t just about Martin Luther King and the Civil Rights Movement, which was extremely important, but it isn’t the only part of our history. We are going to take a deeper dive and have a deeper relationship with our community.”

Watts’s background as a Republican and a conservative has often been a topic of both his supporters and detractors. However, Watts refuses to allow stereotypes and presumptions to define him.

“Conservative means many things to different people. To me, it means living the way my grandmama taught me,” Watts stated. “She taught me to treat people the way that I want to be treated. In a black home, you rarely saw people leaving their lights on at night because grandmama taught that it was a waste of electricity.

If the lights were on, you knew that something pretty serious was happening.”

Watts continued: “The bottom line about being a conservative is that you treat people with respect, and you don’t believe in wasting things. That’s important. And, another primary place that I get my conservative values

is the Bible. I was taught that I shouldn’t just be concerned about Oklahoma University, my alma mater, but I should also be concerned about Morehouse. That’s why I sponsored anti-poverty legislation because sometimes you have to put extra resources into different communities to give them the infrastructure to attract industry and jobs.

“My biblical principles drove me much more than the Republican Party. Look, the National Football League recognized that having successful teams in every market would benefit everyone, and that’s why the team with the worst record gets the top pick in the draft.

They know that if the Cincinnati Bengals perform better, everybody wins because you would have more advertising and a better television contract for everyone. So, I feel the same way about underserved communities.

If we can help them to be stronger and create more opportunities within those communities, then that’s good for all communities.”

Conservative values also sparked Watts’s desire for criminal justice reform, he stated.

“When I talk about conservative principles, you know you don’t waste money,” Watts stated. “So,

why should we spend $28,000 a year to incarcerate someone for a lowlevel, nonviolent drug offense?

“You can spend significantly less on community service. And, when you look at the facts, the sentencing disparities were big. People on Wall Street were using powder cocaine just like people on Main Street, or people in poor communities, but the sentencing disparities were off the charts. I voted my conscience on this when I was in Congress,” Watts stated.

With the launch of the BNC, Watts hopes that viewers will get a similar feeling to what he experienced after recently taking his daughter to dinner to celebrate her birthday.

“My daughter recommended the restaurant, I’d never been there before,” Watts stated, “After dinner, she asked me what did I think of the restaurant? I said, ‘I’d come back to tomorrow.’ And I think that’s our mission with the BNC, not just to grab the imagination and the attention of the nation, but especially our demographic and to have them come back. I think it’ll be a mission accomplished.”

Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis, Jr, a progressive Democrat and president and CEO of the NNPA, without any reservations asserted, “The launch of the Black News Channel (BNC) is very timely at the beginning of 2020. This is good news for all in Black America. The BNC transcends the current partisan divide in the United States.

The interests of African Americans, as well as all other people of color and all of humanity who cry out for freedom, justice and equality, will be more effectively addressed as direct result of the daily 24/7 diverse and newspacked broadcasts of BNC in the U.S. and throughout the world.”

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T he C hronicle

January 9, 2020

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Organizers’ Circle gives public a space to discuss issues

BY TEVIN STINSON THE CHRONICLE

What is the role of our elected officials? That’s the question Neighbors for Better Neighborhoods is asking throughout the month during their Organizers’ Circle held weekly at weekly Malloy/Jordan East Winston Library Branch.

The Organizers’ Circle is a program for residents, local grassroots organizers, and activists who are looking to uplift the community and help bring about change and equality.

According to representatives from Neighbors for Better Neighborhoods, the purpose of the program is to have a space where individuals can come together to brainstorm and have a serious conversation on ways to make Winston-

Salem a better place for everyone.

Every week during the Organizers’ Circle, there will be a speaker who will talk about the topic of the month, which will be followed by a group discussion where residents and others with vested interest in the city can share their thoughts and opinions. This week the guest speaker was County Commissioner Tanya McDaniel who spoke on the role of elected officials. County Commissioner Fleming El Amin was also on hand during the meeting.

McDaniel, who is a representative for District A on the Forsyth County Board of Commissioners, talked about the role of the County Commissioner.

She said “As County Commissioners, we hold the purse strings to the fund-

with your taxes,” McDaniel said.

During the Q and A, attendees raised several questions about how to get funding for non-profit organizations, the recent rise in violent crimes and gun violence, policing in African American neighborhoods, funding for education, and of course, the 2020 election. Although several points were made Photo by Tevin Stinson Throughout the month of Jan. Neighbors for Bettter throughout the open disNeighborhoods is hosting their Organizers’ Circle to cussion, everyone in the create a space where residents can discuss their issues. room seemed to agree the community needs to do a ing in Forsyth County.”

The board is also respon- better job of holding electThe Forsyth County sible for handling finances ed officials accountable.

Board of Commissioners for the Winston-Salem/ When discussing the is responsible for several Forsyth County Schools, success of the first Orgathings, including adopting the Forsyth County Sher- nizers’ Circle, several peothe annual county budget, iffs Office, public librar- ple said they were excited setting the county property ies. to see how the event has tax rate, establishing coun“My role is to ensure grown, including Michael ty policies, and handling the various county entities Banner who is a member zoning and other land is- are funded. How are they of the Neighbors for Betsues within the county. funded? They’re funded ter Neighborhood Board

of Directors.

“It’s amazing to see how the Organizing Circle has grown from its humble beginning,” Banner said.

Neighbors for Better Neighborhoods will host the next Organizers’ Circle on Tuesday, Jan. 14, at the Malloy/Jordan East Winston Library Branch. The guest speaker will be City Councilmember Denise “DD” Adams. On Tuesday, Jan. 21, City Councilmember and Representative for the East Ward Annette Scippio will join the circle, and on Jan. 28, Forsyth County Clerk of Court Renita ThompkinsLinville will be the guest speaker.

For more information on the Organizers’ Circle, visit “Neighbors-For-Better-Neighborhoods” on Facebook.

Defusing anxiety & negativity in 2020: Why gratitude is key

BY FRANK KILPATRICK

We all want to feel happy and productive. But here’s the Catch 22: the things we do to try to feel that way—working long hours, rushing kids from one activity to the other, and meeting all of life’s obligations—can leave us feeling stressed, anxious, and even resentful. (And that’s not counting the complications that spring up.) We may find ourselves thinking: What’s the point of all this hard work if I can’t enjoy my life?

Thankfully, we can feel contentment (and yes, happiness!) even when life is at its most chaotic.

It comes not from trying to control your circumstances (which isn’t always possible) but from shifting how you look at them.

Frank Kilpatrick I love the saying “Gratitude doesn’t change things for you, it changes you for things.” When we can learn to come from a place of gratitude, we see things differently. There’s a mindset shift that brings peace. My new Gratitude Musical/Visual meditation series, (available on YouTube at www.YouTube.com/c/GratitudeVideo) helps listeners tap into that mindset.

In other words, instead of dreading a tough project at work, we feel gratitude for our job. Instead of feeling stressed about taking our aging mother to the doctor, we’re grateful to be able to spend the afternoon with her.

My colleagues— Grammy-winner Alex Wand and composer/vocalist Rayko—and I are on a mission to fill the world with gratitude. Our meditation series—which combines “microtonal” music, vocals, visuals, and on-screen lyrical messages in a unique way that keeps your attention—is designed to help train

the brain for gratitude and peace. This focus stems from our work on the “Stay Alive” video/ podcast documentary and is a central part of our strategy for supporting atrisk populations.

Of course, you can’t just flip a switch and BOOM! you’re grateful.

Gratitude evolves over time. It’s about building some small, daily habits into your routine—and the New Year is the perfect time to start. For example: Make room in your life for gratitude. Often FOMO (Fear of Missing Out) drives us to stretch ourselves too thin. But it’s hard to feel grateful when you are overcommitted.

Know that it’s totally okay to turn down invitations if you don’t feel like being around others, or to spend the weekend re-

®

ORGANIC BREAKFAST with HEALTHY SAVINGS

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charging. In fact, immersing yourself in the “Gratitude” meditation series is a great way to spend the time you free up when you cut back on all the “going and doing.”

The Gratitude program can be an alternative to giving in to the toxic phenomenon of FOMO. When people remove what they’ve been conditioned to see as a “reward,” they may feel empty, like something is lacking. This program is a great replacement. It’s fine to feel grateful for friends and opportunities, but we need to feel grateful for quiet moments and downtime as well.

Prepare your mind. It’s important to make time for meditation or contemplation. Think of this as strength training for your mind. At first it might seem difficult to find the time, but it teaches you to get relaxed and centered, which is a vital life skill. Over time, it will get easier and easier to drop See Anxiety on A5

MAKE YOUR BREAKFAST A HEALTHY ONE!

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J anuary 9, 2020

T he C hronicle

Majority Whip Clyburn hails passage of H.R. 3, landmark legislation to lower prescription drug costs WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. House Majority Whip James E. Clyburn hailed House passage of H.R. 3, the Elijah E. Cummings Lower Drug Costs Now Act. This landmark legislation gives Medicare the power to negotiate directly with drug companies and extend those lower prices to Americans with private insurance too.

“This is an important step toward providing American consumers more accessible and affordable prescription drugs,” Congressman Clyburn said. “In the United States, our drug prices are nearly four times higher than in similar countries, and this legislation will provide real price reductions that will put significant money back in the pocket of consumers.”

Negotiating lower prescription drug prices has the added benefit of cost savings to American taxpayers.

A portion of those savings will be reinvested in the National Institutes of Health to research new cures and treatments. Cost savings will also support an expansion of Medicare benefits to cover dental, vision, and hearing needs and sets a $2,000 outof-pocket limit on prescription drug

Rep. James B. Clyburn

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costs for those on Medicare.

In addition, cost savings will be used to fund provisions of Congressman Clyburn’s H.R. 1943 – Community Health Center and Primary Care Workforce Expansion Act of 2019.

H.R. 3 will provide a $10 billion

funding boost to community health centers, which serve 28 million Americans in communities across the United States, including over 350,000 veterans, 8 million children, and 1.4 million homeless patients.

This $10 billion includes $5 billion for capital improvements and construction to expand the footprint of community health centers and an additional $5 billion in funding over the next five years for community health center grants, allowing them to serve more people, including Americans living in rural areas, where half of the Centers are located.

“Providing robust funding to build on the success of community health centers is critically important to providing quality health care in hard-to-reach communities,” Congressman Clyburn continued. “In my district alone, where three rural hospitals have closed, there are eight federally-funded community health centers working to serve almost 190,000 patients.”

H.R. 3 passed the House on a bipartisan vote, 230-192, and was sent to the Senate for consideration.

N.C. Alliance of YMCAs elects Winston-Salem YMCA leader as new chair RALEIGH – The North Carolina Alliance of YMCAs has elected YMCA of Northwest North Carolina President and CEO Stan Law to chair its board of directors for a two-year term. Law will oversee the implementation of a four-year strategic plan to boost the group’s impact and advance its mission across the state.

A North Carolina native, Law’s professional YMCA career began in 1990. He served in Gaston County and Charlotte, Washington, D.C., Cincinnati, and Birmingham before taking his current position in 2017. Active at the local, regional, and national level with the YMCA, Law has also served on many local community boards and committees.

“It is a true honor and privilege to serve as chair of the state Alliance,” Law said. “Our state is blessed with Ys of all sizes, but working together with one voice, we can strengthen our collective impact for the betterment of all our communities.”

Law succeeds outgoing chair Walter Britt, CEO of the Alamance County Community YMCA. The organization’s new vice chair is Paul Vest, president and CEO of the YMCA of Western North Carolina. Vest is a second-generation YMCA professional who has led the Asheville-based association since 1996.

“We are excited about what the future holds for the YMCA in North Carolina,” said Sherée Vodicka, CEO of the N.C. Alliance of YMCAs. “Working together is the best way to build stronger, healthier communities.”

The Alliance board of directors also includes: *Walter Britt, CEO, Alamance County Community YMCA, Burlington *David Heggie, Executive Director, Bryan Family YMCA, and Interim President, YMCA

of Greensboro; *Lisa Humphreys, Chief Strategy Officer, YMCA of the Triangle, Raleigh *Melissa Bailey Logan, President and CEO, YMCA Blue Ridge Assembly, Black Mountain *Lynn Lomax, CEO, YMCA of High Point *Dean Mattix, Chief Strategy Officer, YMCA of South Hampton Roads, Barco *Trey Oakley, CEO, William YMCA of Avery County, Linville *Sharon Padgett, CEO, Gaston County Family YMCA, Gastonia *Jacquelyn Price, CEO, Harrison Family YMCA, Rocky Mount *Todd Tibbitts, President and CEO, YMCA of Greater Charlotte The YMCA is a nonprofit community benefit organization that collectively serves 1 million statewide. North Carolina Ys provide more than $30 million in annual financial assistance and subsidies to local residents.

The North Carolina Alliance of YMCAs is a coalition of 25 YMCA associations. Its purpose is to build the capacity of all the state’s YMCAs, foster collaboration on statewide initiatives through effective partnerships, advocate on behalf of the YMCA’s mission and cause with elected officials and stakeholders at the local, state, and national levels, and coordinate communication to build consensus that ensures YMCAs are recognized as leaders in youth development, healthy living, and social responsibility. For more information, please visit NCYMCAAlliance.org

The Forsyth County Veterans Treatment Court celebrates its third class of graduates SUBMITTED ARTICLE

The Forsyth County Veterans Treatment Court celebrated the program’s third class of graduates with a holiday commemoration on Dec. 20. This ceremony recognized the veterans’ successful completion of the program and served as an important milestone in their individual paths to recovery.

It also marked the first female veteran to graduate from the program.

Family, friends, and veteran-friendly community members and organizations gathered to support and congratulate the graduates. Most notably, NASCAR driver Brad Keselowski, representing his non-profit organization, the Checkered Flag Foundation, which proudly sup-

ports the Forsyth County VTC, was in attendance.

The Clerk of Superior Court, the Honorable Renita Thompkins Linville, was also present and emphasized the Clerk’s office continued support in staffing the program. The Honorable David E. Sipprell, the presiding VTC Judge, closed out the ceremony with words of encouragement and individualized

citations for the graduates.

This recent class of graduates makes thirteen total veterans who have successfully completed the program. The Veterans Treatment Court has the mission of leaving no veteran behind. The continued support from the community, stakeholders, and criminal justice entities ensures this mission is accomplished.

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Countdown to better finances in 2020

BY DONNA JONES

Just as your waistline and cluttered closets may benefit from a fresh approach, so can your finances. The following are tips to inspire you to make — and keep — your financial resolutions this year: Review your insurance policies *Block out time on the calendar to review your accounts. *Review rates, beneficiaries, insured amounts and more. *Give a trusted family member important access info.

Put a cap on bad spending habits *Target one habit, such as online shopping when you’re bored or eating out. *Set a realistic goal and clear limits. *Identify and avoid triggers.

Build up at least three months of emergency savings *Calculate using essential monthly expenses only. *Make sure it’s easily accessible for emergencies. *Save more if your job is unstable or you’re supporting others.

Make a plan to pay off unwanted debt *Ask for a lower interest rate. *Focus first on the highest interest rate or lowest balance. *Make a larger monthly payment by cutting spending elsewhere.

Prioritize that account you’ve been meaning to open *Think: life insurance policy, IRA, kids’ college savings, vacation fund. *Determine your goal and calculate a savings plan. *Set up even a modest monthly auto-pay.

Commit to a no-spend day (or weekend) monthly *Make a “fun and free” entertainment list. *Use up food in your freezer or pantry. *Make time for crafts, organization or home projects.

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BUSTA’S PERSON OF THE WEEK

Triad actor ‘spills the tea’ about filming The Color Purple

BY BUSTA BROWN FOR THE CHRONICLE

“When I walked on the set of ‘The Color Purple,’ everyone asked, ‘Who are you?’ I didn’t want to appear arrogant or egotistical, so I just shared my movie and theater bio and kept it humble,” said actor Junious Leak. Let your bio and work do the talking, stay humble, and keep it moving.

Junious Leak is a very modest man as well. “I was just a glorified extra on the set of ‘The Color Purple.’ Most of the actors were on a much higher level than me,” he said. It was that kind of modesty that caught the attention of two of the iconic film’s biggest stars.

Leak was a star in his own right. Along with “The Color Purple,” he was the diner owner in the 90’s classic, “The Patron Saint of Liars.” Junious also had a role the 1976 classic “Date with a Kidnapper” and a plethora of theatrical productions. So he’s no stranger to the film and theater industry.

But when he met one of his favorite actors, Danny Glover, it was one his most humbling experiences. “Danny was so down to earth and real. I didn’t know how to approach him; to me, he was bigger than life,” Leak said with a very warm tone.

When most of us think of Danny in “The Color Purple,” it’s in that famous scene when Albert broke Celie’s heart. Nearly every black woman in America was infuriated with Danny Glover, which proved his acting skills to be masterful. According to Junious Leak, Albert and Danny are two totally different men. While on the set of “The Color Purple,” Junious Leak met Danny

Actor Junious L. Leak Glover. “He was the best, one of the kindest and most thoughtful people I’ve met. He and Adolph Caesar didn’t make me feel like I was beneath them, yet they welcomed me with open arms. They introduced me to the cast, which made it easier for me to get to know everyone else,” said the veteran actor. Adolph Caesar was Glover’s father in the film and women were upset with his character as well, which also proved his mastery as an actor.

He also praised Oscar, Tony, Emmy and Grammy winner Whoopie Goldberg. “She was totally down to earth. She wasn’t pretentious at all, on or off the set. There were days we filmed for hours and hours and we’d ask Whoopie to say something funny, and she would do it. She had the entire set laughing out loud daily, Junious related.

Junious hasn’t worked in TV, film or on the stage since 2014. His last roles were in the theatrical productions “A Christmas Carol” in 2012 and “The Member of the Wedding”

Submitted photo

in 2014. I asked him, what does he miss most about acting? “Everything to do with acting. It’s what I love and was born to do. I had a desire to be an actor in elementary school, but I was too shy and that held me back. I used to impersonate cartoon characters and some of my favorite actors, such Sydney Poitier. I realized if I’m going to make this happen, I had to come out of my shyness.”

He attended NC A&T, where he received a degree in professional theater. He credits his professor, NC A&T theater arts founder, Dr John Marshall Kilimanjaro, for breaking him out of his shyness. “He and I butted heads quit often, because he wanted me to be more than I was.

He pushed me to be great and taught me everything I know about theater. He recently passed away,” Leak said with a heavy heart.

I asked Junious Leak what is his dream role and he replied, “To recreate my role in ‘The Color Purple’ and make it bigger.”

You can contact Junious Leak on Facebook.

From page A3

into a space of quiet contentedness where gratitude is abundant. “Mind training” should be a part of your daily health routine, like brushing your teeth or stretching. But also, get into the habit of grabbing opportunities to meditate or watch the Gratitude series—like when you’re getting ready for your day or waiting for your child at soccer practice.

There are very real advantages to this type of mind training. It helps you stay in a state of gratitude, which enables you to feel peace. It keeps you in the present moment, which is an incredibly powerful technique for keeping anxiety and depression at bay.

Make mind training a part of your self-care routine. People tend to think of self-care in terms of diet, exercise, and maybe sleep, but we often ignore what we put into our minds, what we think about and ruminate on. This is a mistake. Getting intentional about what we watch, listen to, and infuse into our consciousness is just as important—what we focus on shapes our mental state, impacts our relationships, and influences every choice we make.

Stop allowing junk food into your consciousness. We should monitor our cognitive input in the same way we regulate our intake of fats, carbs and calories. What you’re doing is intentionally creating the best version of yourself.

Think of it as a gateway to overall happiness. Neuroscience has proven over and over again that a focus on gratitude literally rewires your brain to be happy. When people engage in practices like meditating on gratitude

January 9, 2020 (as the Gratitude series encourages) or by keeping a daily journal of what they are grateful for, they tend to feel more optimistic and positive about their lives.

(That’s happiness!) What’s more, they may sleep better, exercise more, and enjoy better physical health than those who don’t focus on gratitude.

Focus on the small things. There are plenty of things you can (and should) be grateful for in life’s simple moments. A hot cup of coffee. Toasty sheets fresh from the dryer on a cold evening. A catchup phone call from a dear old friend. The smell of a delicious dinner wafting from the kitchen. The look of wonder in your toddler’s eyes when they see the first snowfall of the year. Just start paying attention and let yourself feel the wonderment.

Say “thank you” (and really mean it). When someone does something kind for you, recognize it with a sincere “thank you.” Be specific about why what they did matters.

(This helps you mean it, which is important; mindless “thank yous” don’t count.) Recognition, even in small doses, makes others feel great, but it also gives you a boost of joy.

And it exercises those gratitude muscles.

Manage your expectations. Real life doesn’t look like a Norman Rockwell painting and your home most likely will never look like a spread in “Better Homes and Gardens.” Parents get old. Kids get bad grades. Tempers flare from time to time. Even during a wonderful meal with family and friends, someone might get sick, make a judgmental comment, or burst into tears during the salad course. That’s life.

It’s messy and complicated ... and beautiful.

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It’s hard to be grateful and focused on perfection at the same time. Keep in mind that even best-laid plans seldom go off without a hitch. Remember to savor the good moments and seek out loving feelings toward your friends and families. Find the love in every situation.

The best thing about gratitude is that it’s contagious. If you put it out there, chances are very good you will get it back!

And don’t forget: others are watching you and will see how empowered you have become just by being happy.

Make the effort in the upcoming year to focus on gracious and loving feelings and that peace will find its way to you. You will be amazed at the new and joyful places this attitude of gratitude will lead you.

The “Gratitude Musical/Visual meditation series” is a daily mindfulness engagement tool created by Frank Kilpatrick along with collaborators Grammy Award-winning producer Alex Wand and bilingual composer and performer Rayko. It couples global musical material from eclectic spiritual disciplines and non-religious sources, mystical microtonal arrangements, beautiful vocals, binaural beats and enchanting visuals with affirming onscreen lyrical messages.

Its purpose is to create a synthesis that engages and entrains the brain toward a personal connection with inner peace. Gratitude’s individual audio/video elements are available for viewing and listening at no charge at www.YouTube. com/c/GratitudeVideo and its own site www.GratitudeVideo.com

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J anuary 9, 2020

T he C hronicle

OPINION

James Taylor Jr. Publisher Bridget Elam

Managing Editor

Judie Holcomb-Pack

Associate Editor

Timothy Ramsey

Sports Editor/Religion

Tevin Stinson

Senior Reporter

Shayna Smith

Advertising Manager

Deanna Taylor

Office Manager

Paulette L. Moore

Administrative Assistant

Our Mission The Chronicle is dedicated to serving the residents of Winston-Salem and Forsyth County by giving voice to the voiceless, speaking truth to power, standing for integrity and encouraging open communication and lively debate throughout the community

Guest Editorial

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Bumper sticker messages Derwin Montgomery, To The Editor: candidate for U.S. Congress,

a recent ride into town, I found myself behind response to Attorney General a carOnwith a bumper sticker that read SUPPORT OUR TROOPS. I imagined addressing the driver: “What Josh Stein’s appeal on exactly does your bumper sticker mean? How are you supporting our troops? Do you send them gifts for voter ID: Christmas? Donate to veterans’ causes? Do you vote I am calling on North Carolina Attorney General Josh Stein to reconsider his decision to appeal U.S. District Court Judge Loretta Bigg’s decision, striking down North Carolina’s unjust new voter identification law.

Yes, N.C. voters approved a constitutional amendment to have voter ID. The vote then required the legislature to take action to set the standard for this requirement. The standard set by the General Assembly was rushed through a special session, and fails to meet constitutional scrutiny.

To my fellow colleagues in Raleigh who proclaim that people must have an ID to vote, I am reminded of when Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. was thrown in jail in Birmingham, Ala., on Good Friday 1963. Jailed for marching to protest that city’s racist segregation laws.

During his time in jail, he wrote a letter in which he explained the moral and religious foundation of the law.

King explained that there are two types of laws: There are ‘just’ laws and there are ‘unjust’ laws. I will always be the first to advocate obeying ‘just’ laws. One has not only a legal, but a moral responsibility to obey ‘just’ laws. Conversely, one has a moral responsibility to disobey ‘unjust’ laws. I would agree with St. Augustine that an unjust law is no law at all.

I stand with St. Augustine, Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., and U.S. District Court Judge Loretta Bigg’s decision to block this unjust law.

Have an Opinion?

Let Us Know letters@wschronicle.com

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for candidates who will keep them safe by providing arms for them in battle or for candidates who will keep them safe by staying out of conflicts? Are you implying that I don’t support our troops because my car does not display the same message?”

It’s been decades since I’ve met anyone who does not respect and admire the men and women who put themselves in harm’s way to protect us.

And what about the bumper stickers that say PEACE? “What statement are you making? That you are for peace? As opposed to what? Have you ever met anyone who is against peace?”

The truth is that these bumper stickers have nothing at all to do with our troops or world peace. Rather, their sole purpose is to let others know what side you’re on. They are no different than the colors worn by rival gangs in cities across America.

So, at the dawn of this new decade, perhaps it’s time to begin dismantling the social and political divisions in our country. The bumpers of our cars may be the best place to start. And if you must display something, may I suggest I AM HUMAN – JUST LIKE YOU.

Jeffrey Zalles Southport

Creating more voters To The Editor:

Poverty is mostly self-inflicted. In Capitalist America, even a modest commitment to work and selfdiscipline could almost abolish it. Instead, Democrat politicians make sure to perpetuate poverty, seeing it as a source of many votes. They create even more poor, making them dependent on government subsidies. So, while poverty could be defeated, it is not in the interest of Democrat politicians to do so. In fact, federal and state governments create and extend it by paying those unwilling (not unable) to work, knowing that prolonged charity will produce an endless supply of paupers and more Democrat votes.

Richard Merlo Elkin

A lost decade: Ten ways in which conservative policies have grievously harmed North Carolina ROBERT SCHOFIELD

Guest Columnist At the dawn of the new decade, not everything is worse in North Carolina than it was ten years ago when conservative ideologues assumed power.

For some pockets of the population, the past decade has brought a measure of growth, expanded rights and enhanced prosperity.

For the state as a whole, however, this optimistic assessment clearly does not apply. Thanks to the political Right’s abandonment of the state’s historic commitment to progress via intentional public solutions, North Carolina has wasted a decade that it could have spent making important headway in a raft of important areas at a crucial historical juncture.

Here are ten key missed opportunities and wrong turns: #1 – The failure to address the environmental crisis – As environmental reporter Lisa Sorg’s recent 2020 Review story made clear, an increasingly dire environmental crisis confronts the human species.

Here in North Carolina, this grim reality is apparent in rising seas and disappearing lands, increasingly intense storms and droughts, poisoned water and air, lost open space and an ongoing and rapid decline in biodiversity.

Meanwhile, the state’s conservative political leadership has refused to even acknowledge the existence of the crisis, much less tackle it. #2 – The failure to build an economy that works for all – Today, several years into the economic recovery that began

under President Obama, many North Carolinians are, on average, worse off than they were prior to the Great Recession. Inequality and poverty (particularly for people of color) remain at obscene levels, the safety net is torn and threadbare, middle class jobs are scarce and median family income is down $2,000 since the turn of the century. #3 – The failure to expand Medicaid – When it comes to tangible and specific policy choices that have directly harmed large numbers of North Carolinians, it’s hard to top the ongoing failure to follow the lead of 37 other states by expanding Medicaid.

Thousands of people have lost their lives prematurely and billions of federal dollars that could have bolstered the economy have been refused. #4 – The dramatic worsening of the tax code – North Carolina has always had a regressive tax code in which those at the middle and the bottom pay a greater share of their incomes in state and local taxes than those at the top. Over the past decade, however, this situation has grown dramatically worse thanks to big tax cuts targeting wealthy individuals and profitable corporations. #5 – The assault on public structures and services – The flipside to the decline of the tax code has been the resulting chronic underfunding of essential public services and structures. By the most useful measure – total state income – North Carolina’s investments in state and local government are now at a modern era low and the state is investing billions less per year than it would have had lawmakers merely left taxes where they were in 2013. #6 – The war on public education – After

years of cuts and efforts to privatize what conservatives often derisively refer to as “government schools,” North Carolina’s public education system stands battered, diminished and demoralized.

Overall per pupil spending now trails South Carolina’s by a significant margin. Meanwhile, a cadre of self-serving ideologues on the UNC Board of Governors continues to wage a destructive war on the state’s system of higher education. #7 – Divisive and destructive social crusades – From Amendment One, HB2 and the relentless assaults on reproductive freedom to the repeated efforts to spread and defend religious intolerance, easy access to deadly weapons and the symbols of white supremacy, North Carolina continues to embrace and champion backwardlooking social policies that hearken to the 19th Century. #8 – The embrace of nativism – There are many troubling aspects to the ways in which the state’s conservative leadership has embraced Trumpism, but the deeply cynical and blatantly racist war on immigrants – even families who have lived in North Carolina as productive and tax-paying residents for many years – remains among the most disturbing. #9 – The war on honest and open government – Republicans came to power in North Carolina proclaiming commitments to fighting corruption and promoting open debate.

Instead, they’ve taken the state in precisely the opposite direction – a reality made plain by recent and past corruption convictions and indictments and the constant use of secrecy and procedural trickery to stifle debate and any semblance of real negotiation

and compromise at the General Assembly. #10 – The assault on democracy – While recent state and federal court decisions may, finally, be charting a more hopeful path forward, laughably gerrymandered legislative and congressional maps, repeated efforts to stifle voter turnout by minority and young voters and last year’s blatant attempt to steal a congressional election make voter suppression, rigged elections and corruption the hallmarks of the past decade in state election policy.

The bottom line: North Carolina was far from perfect in the years prior to 2010. Racism, poverty, inequality and unaddressed environmental challenges plagued the state. Tragically, however, the past decade has made virtually all of those problems worse as political leaders have pursued destructive, shortsighted policy changes and abandoned the state’s historic commitment to progress through common good, public solutions.

It will be the great challenge of the coming decade to reverse this destructive pattern.

Robert Schofield, Director of NC Policy Watch, has three decades of experience as a lawyer, lobbyist, writer and commentator. At Policy Watch, Rob writes and edits daily online commentaries and handles numerous public speaking and electronic media appearances. He also delivers a radio commentary that’s broadcast weekdays on WRAL-FM and WCHL and hosts News and Views, a weekly radio news magazine that airs on multiple stations across North Carolina.

T he C hronicle

FORUM

January 9, 2020

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Should college athletes be paid to play?

Dr. James B. Ewers Jr.

Guest Columnist The college football season was exciting. It had a lot of highlights and unbelievable moments. Onehanded catches and defensive stops were served up to us throughout the season. The beauty of college athletics is that today’s athletes are doing some almost impossible things.

Most of us have favorite teams. Whether they are HBCU institutions like North Carolina A&T, Florida A&M, South Carolina State or Johnson C. Smith, we cheer for them non-stop. We are coming to the end of the football

season and the Division I National Championship will pit the Clemson Tigers against the LSU Tigers. Some critics are already saying this will be a classic matchup. All I can say is, get your chicken wings and chips ready.

Throughout the season, at least at the Division I level, if a team wins six games, they become bowl eligible. That’s one more game to play and to showcase their program.

Fans travel and watch their teams bring home the trophy. Some of the bowl games have some interesting names and sponsors.

Take for example, The Famous Idaho Potato Bowl or the Cheez-it Bowl. Wait a minute … don’t forget the Bahamas Bowl.

All these bowls have big money behind them.

Corporations put their name in front of the bowl

for prestige and to sell their product. The Allstate Sugar Bowl will get you to think about both football and insurance. When the last pass is completed and the last tackle made, sponsors will have made a lot of money.

The coaches will probably get a bonus for getting to a bowl game. Their boosters will give more to the programs and the schools will be able to recruit more students. These bowl games are highly incentivized, so everyone is motivated to do their best.

Some fans plan their vacations around bowl games.

You can go to the Pinstripe Bowl in New York and also take in some Broadway shows.

However, there is in the minds of many a downside to these touchdowns and first downs. Athletes at the Division I level don’t

receive any of the benefits from their play. They do receive athletic scholarships which allow many of them to go to school free of charge. When you see a football stadium or an arena packed, you realize that college athletics is a billion-dollar industry.

It is the NCAA’s cash cow. If you combine attendance, booster contributions and television, that is serious cash. Some years ago, then football coach of South Carolina, Steve Spurrier, suggested that college athletes be paid.

That assertion raised some interesting questions.

First, what about college athletes playing other sports like swimming, tennis and track and field?

How about Division II and III athletes? Would NAIA athletes be included?

There weren’t answers to these questions, so

Spurrier’s comments went to 4th down and they faded away. The NCAA has been unyielding when it comes to paying students to play.

However just a few months ago, the state of California passed legislation saying they would begin paying student athletes in 2023. The Fair Pay to Play Act was signed into law in October. It will give athletes the opportunity to profit off their name, image and likeness. They will be allowed to accept endorsement money and to hire agents.

The NCAA has yet to give a formal response to the California law. It is reported they will make about $891 million alone from its basketball tournaments. Television has provided them with a huge platform. March Madness will be here soon!

So, football and basketball continue to be the revenue streams for the NCAA. Whether they want to share the wealth remains to be seen. The question dribbling down the floor is whether the state of California will force the NCAA to act.

Something will have to give.

James B. Ewers Jr., Ed.D., is a former tennis champion at Atkins High School and played college tennis at Johnson C. Smith University where he was all-conference for four years. He is a retired college administrator and can be reached at ewers. jr56@yahoo.com.

Immigration and the prison industrial complex Andrew Moss Guest Columnist In the past year, the struggle over immigration rights continued along a broad array of fronts. There were significant setbacks, such as the implementation of the “Remain in Mexico” policy that made asylum nearly impossible to attain. But there were also victories, such as a federal judge’s ruling in November that required the government to provide health services to thousands of parents and children traumatized by the family separations carried out in accordance with the Trump administration’s “zerotolerance” policy.

As we head into a new decade, it is useful to map the ongoing struggles in order to see the broader landscape of conflict, and there is one concept of the prison industrial complex (or PIC), that can help provide such a map. The con-

cept of PIC was developed by scholars and activists associated with the prison abolition movement and the abolitionist organization, Critical Resistance, offers this clear definition: “The prison industrial complex is a term we use to describe the overlapping interests of government and industry that use surveillance, policing, and imprisonment as solutions to economic, social, and political problems.”

If we look over some of the major battlefields involved in immigration, the concept of the PIC can help pinpoint major areas where corporate interests and government overlap.

These include detention, surveillance, consulting services, and border wall construction.

With respect to detention, it’s important to note that 52,000 people are currently incarcerated in America’s detention facilities, and that about two-thirds of them are kept in for-profit facilities run by corporations like the GEO Group and CoreCivic. The business of for-profit detention runs to about $3 billion a year and the companies involved

have made substantial campaign contributions ($1.7 million in 2016, $1.9 million in 2018). They have also actively lobbied both federal and local officials for years. The private detention facilities have been cited in numerous grievances and a number of reports for a wide range of abuses, including medical negligence, inedible food, and sexual assault and abuse. Reports have continued to surface about deaths in detention of both migrant adults and children.

With regard to surveillance, there has been a growing awareness in the past year and a half of the role that tech companies have played in identifying and tracking immigrants. Particular attention has focused on the software company Palantir, which has a $38 million contract with ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) to provide data analytics and data case management. It’s likely that these kinds of data services were employed in the kind of workplace raids carried out by ICE last August at companies in Mississippi. More-

over, it should be noted that Palantir’s programs are hosted by Amazon’s web services subsidiary and the ICE connections of both companies have been targeted for protest by both employees and activists. Other tech companies, such as the software developer Github, have also been targeted for protests for their connections to ICE and it’s likely that such protests will continue into the coming year.

Yet another corporate area continuing to exert influence over the implementation of immigration policy involves consulting services. Major companies like Booz Allen Hamilton, Deloitte Consulting, PricewaterhouseCoopers, and McKinsey & Company have contracted with ICE and it is the latter which has gained the most notoriety for its connections. McKinsey concluded a $20 million contract with ICE in July 2018 amidst intense controversy over the family separations and other abuses associated with the Trump administration’s zero tolerance policy. McKinsey consultants, it turned out, had recommended signifi-

cant cuts in detention facilities for food services, medical care, and staffing. It currently has contracts with Customs and Border Protection.

Finally, with many asylum seekers trapped in unsafe conditions in Mexico under the “Remain in Mexico” policy, it’s appropriate to include the construction of Donald Trump’s border wall as part of immigration’s prison industrial complex. Of particular relevance is the recent decision by the Pentagon’s Inspector General to investigate the awarding of a $400 million contract to a North Dakota Company, Fisher Sand and Gravel, that Trump had personally lobbied for, despite the fact that it had never been awarded a construction contract before, and despite the fact that military officials had raised objections about the company’s standards.

Certainly, immigration’s prison industrial complex predates the Trump administration. For-profit detention facilities date back to the early 1980s, and surveillance and the fortification of the border have been

going on for years. But Trump has pushed government/industry relations more sharply into an antiimmigrant direction, using racist messaging to criminalize migrants and shrink asylum and immigration to new lows.

As resistance to his policies continues, it will be helpful to invoke the concept of the prison industrial complex as a way of seeing the big picture. The PIC offers a lens for seeing how any particular protest is related to a broader struggle on behalf of certain values and understandings: that immigration is essential to the continued vitality of the nation, and that inclusion, enfranchisement, and human rights – not fear and criminalization – are keys to a democratic future.

conscience. They should see the messages on signs every day: “Country over Party,” and “You swore an Oath!”

Democrats in Congress need to see both support and encouragement; call them and let them know “We need Trump removed from office before it is too late.” But they also need to hear, “We must avoid the war Trump is starting at all costs.”

Over and over, lie after lie, the tragic story is all too clear. How many people - how many more people - will die to further these lies? The targeted killing does not weaken an enemy, it provokes revenge and inflames ageold antagonisms. As reckless as Trump has been, I cannot think of many moves short of going nuclear more ragingly clumsy than this action.

More than anything, I

hope that Iran seizes the moral high ground that Trump surrendered from the start. If Iran resists the bloodlust and thirst for revenge, it will leave everyone worried, but they could wait for Trump’s replacement—they could change tit-for-tat into a positive opportunity.

Unfortunately, it is hard to imagine Iran ignoring this Pearl Harbor-like act of war. Trump must be removed from office and we must create a pathway to peace. The drums of war are deafening and can only be silenced by mass action.

Andrew Moss, syndicated by PeaceVoice, is an emeritus professor (English, Nonviolence Studies) at the California State Polytechnic University, Pomona.

It’s time Wim Laven Guest Columnist “Remember that I predicted a long time ago that President Obama will attack Iran because of his inability to negotiate properly-not skilled.”

Donald Trump, 11/10/13.

Yeah, not skilled.

It is time to remove this incompetent, blundering oaf. We continue to see new dangerous lows from the White House, and now on Jan. 2, 2020, Donald Trump ordered an act of war—the assassination of Iran’s Gen. Qassem Soleimani, the second most powerful man in Iran— without any consultation.

This is exactly the trajectory Trump has been on

and telegraphed all along.

Trump never should have gotten into office, and now he’s dragging us into war against a major power in the Middle East, a country far bigger and with great reason to despise the U.S.—I doubt any Iranian does not know that the U.S. overthrew their democraticallyelected leader in the early 1950s and installed a dictatorial Shah, all for access to oil profits. For Iranians, this is the America they have learned to fear and hate.

The numerous times Trump tweeted concerns that Obama would use war with Iran to win an election were self-serving reflections of his racism, but they also reflected a truth of American patriotism: Americans tend to rally behind their president in times of war—even if the war is manufactured to di-

vert attention from something embarrassing for the commander-in-chief.

Something like impeachment.

Wag the dog— Trump’s cynical act of war is so blatantly obviously meant to take attention from his historic failure, his impeachment, but all it will do in the end is give enormous reason to senators to remove him. Will those senators—mostly Republican—put country before Trump?

Obama’s tenure produced one of the quintessential pieces of statecraft—the Iran Deal—that secured great increases in safety and security and was a marvel of delicate deal-making. Trump’s assessment of the Iran Deal was the clearest indicator of his supreme incompetence and monumental ignorance. The Iran Deal was an open door to world

peace—steps in the right direction.

Trump blew that deal up against the advice of all of his advisors and, just like so many of his disastrous efforts, it weakened the standing of the U.S. and increased global insecurity. It has persisted, it has festered, and now the abscess has erupted. The time is now—we cannot allow Trump to continue to spiral out of control— life as we know it hangs in the balance.

It is time to place pressure on all elected representatives. Millions of people need to fill the streets with the message: “Danger, Danger, there’s a reckless warmonger in the White House.” Trump needs to get the message: he’s fired.

Republican members of Congress need to hear the message that it is their time to respond with moral

Have an Opinion?

Let us Know

letters@wschronicle.com

Wim Laven, Ph.D., syndicated by PeaceVoice, teaches courses in political science and conflict resolution.

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J anuary 9, 2020

T he C hronicle

U.S. House of Representatives passes legislation to re-open path to employment for the blind SUBMITTED ARTICLE

On Dec. 16, the U.S. House of Representatives passed H.R. 4920, the Dept. of Veterans Affairs Contracting Preference Consistency Act, which grandfathers in VA contracts that predate the Veterans Benefits Act of 2006, to restore eligibility for nonprofits like IFB Solutions that create jobs for people who are blind.

The legislation was sponsored by Rep. Virginia Foxx and supported

by Rep. Mark Walker. It came to the floor after passing unanimously in the House Veterans Affairs Committee on Dec. 5. The bill now moves to the U.S. Senate.

“We are very grateful to Representative Foxx for her leadership in passing H.R. 4920 in today’s session,” said Dan Kelly, IFB executive vice president of Strategy and Programs.

“With this legislation, we can ensure that thousands of people who are blind or have other significant disabilities keep their jobs and continue their path to independence.”

Earlier this fall, IFB Solutions lost all three of its optical contracts with the VA employing more than 137 people at its facility in Winston-Salem.

Two of those three contracts predate the Veterans Benefits Act and would return to IFB if the proposed legislation becomes law.

At the heart of the issue are two federal programs created by Congress – the AbilityOne program es-

tablished in 1938 to help those who are blind or have other significant disabilities find employment, and the Veterans First program established in 2006 to set aside some VA contracts for service-disabled veteran-owned small businesses. Typically, AbilityOne has been exempted when programs like Veterans First are created, but when Congress passed the VBA in 2006, it neglected to specify that exemption, creating the opportunity for conflict.

In 2016, PDS Consultants filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Government, saying that it should receive preference for the VA’s optical contracts over IFB Solutions. IFB went to court to protect its contracts and the 137 jobs supported by that work.

A court decision found in favor of PDS and the VA began transitioning its contracts from IFB in the summer of 2019. Since that time, IFB has maintained a small crew of employees in its optical lab.

“I hope we see this legislation become law very soon because I’m ready to have my colleagues return to work,” said Scott Smith, an IFB employee who is visually impaired and a Navy veteran. “The jobs we have at IFB are life changing. Before coming here, I could not find a job even though I had many years of work and military experience.

We need places like IFB and the contracts that make our jobs possible.”

In addition to pursuing

a legislative solution with the proposed Dept. of Veterans Affairs Contracting Preference Consistency Act, IFB Solutions has petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court to hear its case and potentially overturn the earlier lower court decision. IFB expects to hear whether or not its case will be heard by the end of January.

“We don’t believe it was ever the intention of Congress or of the Courts to keep people who are blind or visually impaired from finding jobs,” said Kelly. “There is enough business with the VA for both groups, which is what this new legislation is designed to address.

“With strong advocacy from nonprofits like IFB, organizations like the Blind Veterans Association and the National Federation for the Blind, and legislative leaders such as U.S. Representative Virginia Foxx and U.S. Representative Mark Walker, I’m very hopeful that the thousands of people like me and Scott Smith who are blind or have other significant disabilities will soon have the employment opportunities Congress intended when it created the AbilityOne program in 1938.”

IFB Solutions is a nonprofit corporation founded in 1936 that provides employment, training and services for people who are blind or visually impaired.

Also Religion, Community News and Classifieds

THURSDAY, January 9, 2020

Timothy Ramsey Sports Columnist

NFC East teams looking for new leadership 2019 was a very down year for the NFC East. As a matter of fact, besides the Eagles, the division has been struggling for the past few seasons. As a sign that things need to change, three NFC head coaches have been let go this year.

First on the chopping block was Jay Gruden, former head coach of the Washington Redskins. After an abysmal 0-5 start to the season, Gruden was let go. This year was preceded by five underwhelming seasons where the Redskins only made the playoffs once. Washington has some good young talent on their roster and did not seem to respond well to Gruden any longer, so a move had to be made.

Next to be fired was New York Giants head coach Pat Shurmur. In his two seasons at the helm, Shurmur led the Giants to a 9-23 record. The Giants never sniffed the playoffs, but all of the blame can’t be put on Shurmur.

An aging and declining Eli Manning, injuries to star players, a depleted roster, the trading of Odell Beckham Jr,, and the pressure of starting a rookie quarterback all contributed to the failures in New York. Shurmur just happened to be the fall guy in this case. I’m not sure in what direction the Giants will go now.

Last, but definitely not least, the Jerry Jones and the Cowboy organization have finally decided to cut ties with Jason Garrett. The team and Garrett had several meetings last week to apparently discuss his tenure with the organization. Everyone could see the writing on the wall with this firing, I just think Jerry Jones was having a tough time letting Garrett go due to their deep bond.

In my years as a football fan, I have never seen the division in such a downward spiral. Traditionally, the NFC East is one of the toughest divisions in all of football. In total, the division has 13 Super Bowl titles combined, so to see the division with only one team with a winning record is sad.

I am used to seeing multiple teams in the division winning double digit games and sending multiple teams to the playoffs. For the last two seasons, it seems like a race to see who will finish at .500.

The owners of the Giants, Skins and Cowboys saw that a change needed to be made to bring this division back to prominence.

The Philadelphia Eagles were not much better than everyone else in the division, but they won the games necessary to make the playoffs. Plus their head coach, Doug Pederson, brought the only Super Bowl championship to See Leadership on B4

Photos by Alphonso Abbott Jr.

BY TIMOTHY RAMSEY THE CHRONICLE

On Saturday, Jan. 4, the fourth annual Hoop Cities Invitational took place at

Winston-Salem Prep. Varsity basketball teams from around the state came together for a great day of hoops action.

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Lash/Chronicle tournament shines again

BY TIMOTHY RAMSEY THE CHRONICLE

Day One Day one of the Lash/ Chronicle Tournament brought a lot of highs and lows for the teams. Some looked to rebound from a loss, while others sought to continue their winning ways in route to a championship.

For day two of the tournament, the brackets were played at separate locations. The Lash Bracket played at Winston-Salem Prep, while the Chronicle Bracket played at Carver High School. All 14 teams were in action for day two.

Day Two Reagan and Parkland started the day off at Prep in the Lash Bracket. With both teams losing on day one, they were looking to get back on track with a win. It was a good start to the game, with both teams playing with a lot of energy. The score was close at 12-9 after one, but it would not stay that way long.

In the second quarter, the Raiders seized control of the game with their defensive intensity. With their press, they forced several turnovers and forced the Mustangs into taking rushed shots. By the half, the Raiders had stretched the lead to 31-15.

The lead continued to balloon for Reagan. Parkland had no answers for the defensive pressure applied by the Raiders. To their credit, Parkland never quit and continued to play hard throughout. In the end, the Raiders triumphed with a 71-46 victory.

“Today’s game was a

Photos by Alphonso Abbott Jr.

The Atkins Camels took home the 2019 Chronicle Bracket championship. perfect storm of our philosophy on defense and their philosophy on offense,” said Reagan head coach Chris McCoy. “Parkland is a drive-and-kick team, so our scheme on defense is to take away the dribble and force the jump shot.

“We were able to relax and play together and actually have fun, which was something my kids needed to have through this stretch of games on our schedule.”

Game two in the Lash Division was another game between two teams that lost in the opening round. Reynolds and West Forsyth played a hardfought game that wasn’t determined until the final minutes.

The Titans came out of the gates in a full court press that confused the Demons initially. West Forsyth forced several turnovers, enabling them to build a double-digit lead in the second quarter. The Titans seemed in command at the half, holding a 31-23 lead.

The Demons made the necessary adjustments at halftime as they made a run right after intermis-

sion. Reynolds quickly closed the deficit to two and by the time the third quarter ended it was a tied ballgame. The Demons caused some turnovers late in the fourth and walked away with the 56-50 victory.

“I got a whole bunch of young guys, they don’t understand about being mentally prepared and it’s just a work in progress,” said Reynolds head coach Breshaun Liles. “We’ve been down like this before, so I told the guys to keep fighting, trust it and let’s play with a lot of energy.”

The battle between Mt. Tabor and Forbush featured two winning teams from the first day of the tournament. Unfortunately for Forbush, the Spartans came with bad intentions and dominated the game, easily winning 81-38.

Mt. Tabor came out of the gate executing well on offense and creating havoc on defense. The Spartans were in control for the entire game. Anything Forbush attempted to turn the tide was quickly squashed by the Spartans. Even when Mt. Tabor eased up

on their pressure, the Falcons could not capitalize.

“This was a typical Mt. Tabor game,” said Kedrick Carpenter, Mt. Tabor head coach. “We played defense, we shared the ball and we started out pretty fast and solid on defense. That is my main focus, along with executing what we do.

“It’s not about making a statement for me; my goal as a coach is to get them ready for Coach Muse at the varsity level. I feel if we play our brand of

effective full court press to force turnovers that turned into easy baskets. That was the story for the entirety of the game. The teams looked to be headed into overtime before Penn hit the game winner.

“We were just blessed to be able to pull out a win,” said Prep head coach Chad Hicks. “These guys fight, sometimes they pull out a win, but anytime we get a win, good, bad or ugly, I’ll take it. I put the pressure on them in prac-

The Mt. Tabor Spartans are the 2019 Lash Bracket champions. basketball, we are going to always have a chance to be in the game.”

The finale of day two in the Lash Bracket was probably the best game of the day. The game featured Winston-Salem Prep and East Forsyth, with the game decided in the final seconds with a clutch three pointer made by Jayden Penn to lift the Phoenix to a 46-43 win.

With both teams being so evenly matched, neither squad could develop any sort of offensive rhythm. They were sort of mirror images of one another, as they both used an

tice, so they can perform in these types of moments and they told me they were good. I am just so proud of these young men; they are growing every day.”

In the Chronicle bracket there were three games on deck for day two. The first game on deck was the consolation game between T. Wingate Andrews and Carver.

Unfortunately for Carver, they only had four players suit up for the game. Andrews took advantage of the situation by going with a full court See Tournament on B2

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January 9, 2020

Tournament From page B1

press the entire game. The Red Raiders jumped out to an early lead and never looked back. Andrews walked away with a 78-43 victory.

Day two was the first day we were able to see top seeded Walkertown on the floor. It was a close ball game. Lexington relied on their outside shooting, while Walkertown used their size to score in the paint.

The Wolfpack eventually got out to a comfortable lead in the second half. Lexington managed to claw and fight to cut the lead a few times behind stellar guard play, but in the end Walkertown’s ability to get second shots off of offensive rebounds proved to be the difference in the game. The Wolfpack strolled into the championship game with a 55-40 win.

The second seeded Atkins Camels also got their first action of the tournament on day two. The Camels matched up with North Forsyth, who was coming off an impressive victory on day one of the tournament.

At the start of the game, it looked to be the best game of the day. The game was tied at 11 after one and the Camels held a threepoint lead at the half. It did not stay tied for long as the Camels came out with the full court press and the Vikings could not figure it out. The game quickly turned into a blowout, with the final score of 81-50 in favor of the Camels.

Day Three The stage was set for the final day of the tournament. Some teams were looking to salvage their tournaments with a win, some were looking to finish on a high note after opening day losses, and some had championship aspirations.

The first consolation game of the day was between West Forsyth and Parkland. Both teams were

winless in the first two rounds of the tournament and were looking to finish with a victory.

West Forsyth came out in a press that resulted in some early turnovers. Parkland quickly adjusted and began to settle down. It was a close game at the half, with the Titans only leading by 10 at 39-29.

The Titans came out of the locker room and quickly put the game out of reach. The Mustangs seemed a bit shell-shocked by the quick swing in favor of the Titans. By the time the third quarter ended, the Titans led by 30 points.

The onslaught continued in the fourth and in the end, West Forsyth won 7152.

Reynolds and Reagan tipped off next. If not for a close opening round loss, the Demons could have been in the championship game.

The game started as a defensive battle due to the pressure applied by both teams. However, Reynolds quickly took the momentum and never relinquished it. Their press was dominating and before the Raiders could blink, they were trailing 48-12 at the half.

The Demons never allowed the Raiders to build a rhythm to attempt a comeback in the game. When it was all said and done, the Demons ended their Lash/Chronicle Tournament with a resounding 69-28 win.

“I just told these guys to come out here and have fun, play hard, play with intensity and whatever you do, don’t back down,” said Coach Liles. “We are preparing for the conference, so everything we’re doing from today was all for conference. We kind of had to send a message early that in the conference we are not playing, and we are coming for everybody.

“I think all 13 of my guys took advantage of their shot today and when we are like that, we are a very tough team to beat. I think that first loss hurt the

The C hronicle guys, knowing they were up by two and then lost by five. It’s kind of a learning thing, so with all freshmen we are just learning and growing together.”

The next game between Andrews and North Forsyth was to decide who would be the third-place finisher in the Chronicle bracket.

To say that both teams came out with a lot of energy would be an understatement. The frenetic pace of the game created an excitement in the game that resonated throughout the crowd.

Andrews seemed to be the superior team on the defensive end of the floor and that enabled them to build a slim lead at the half. North Forsyth chipped away at the lead several times, but never could come all the way back. The Red Raiders held them off in the end to win 62-49.

“It was a great experience, we took a big loss, the first loss the first round, which we should have won, but it’s okay because we bounced back and now we are taking home third place,” said Cory Dumas, Red Raider head coach. “We are more of a second half team and we are working on the first half, trying to get those guys to push hard and move forward, so that’s our goal for now, to start the game like we always finish.”

The third-place game in the Lash Bracket between East Forsyth and Forbush was one of the best of the day.

Forbush held an early lead to start the game, but East Forsyth quickly came roaring back in the second quarter to take a lead of their own by turning up the defensive intensity, which is something Eagles coach Rodney Minor preaches to his team.

Forbush would not fold and continued to fight back throughout the second half. The Eagles withstood the push from the Falcons to end their Lash/Chronicle Tournament with a

third-place finish, after taking home the championship a year ago.

“It’s either hit or miss for these guys, either it’s first place or third place for the last five years,” said Minor. “I’m happy for it, my guys came, they responded well tonight.

We took a tough loss last week and they responded well tonight. I thought they came out a little slow with no energy, but we ended up picking it up in the second quarter and it was kind of hard for Forbush to gain ground after that.

“I stress to the guys to just stay patient. Offensively, what we ran in the first half, we got what we wanted, but we just didn’t capitalize. So, I just told them to stay patient and we could get what we want. I’m fairly young and this is the youngest team I have had in seven years, so it’s still growing pains I am going through as a coach. I take the things we do bad in these games and try to build and teach.”

The top two seeds in the Chronicle Bracket, Atkins and Walkertown, faced off in the championship game.

The opening quarter was a feeling-out process for the teams. Both offenses were executing well in the first half. Every time one team made a small run, the other would quickly answer with one of their own.

In the second half, the Camels began to exert their will on the Wolfpack, building a double digit lead early. Walkertown made some adjustments, but it wasn’t enough to overcome the offensive execution from the Camels. The Wolfpack began to take chances on defense, which did not pay off leading to the 77-67 outcome.

“It feels really good, coming from a player that played in this my sophomore year and actually winning the whole thing when I played for Reynolds and won the MVP. It’s a great feeling to come back as a coach to see my team do the same thing,”

said Desmon Baldwin, Atkins head coach. “Our strategy is that we want to put a lot of pressure on a team the whole time. We have a lot of kids and a lot of bodies to throw at them.

“I think this is a really good catapult into the new year and trying to be the conference champion. In my mind I knew if we played our game and eliminated mistakes, I felt very confident we would be in this position we are in now.”

The championship in the Lash Bracket between Winston-Salem Prep and Mt. Tabor was their third matchup of the season already. With Mt. Tabor winning the previous two games, one of them by more than 20 points, Prep wanted to make a statement.

It was a good defensive game from the tip. Mt. Tabor held a slim lead early, but Prep never allowed them to pull away. The Spartans only led 25-18 at the half. As hard as Mt. Tabor tried, they could not put the Phoenix away. Prep fought until the final horn, but the Spartans were too much and won the game 52-44 to win the Lash Bracket championship.

“My expectations were to just play as a team and to execute our stuff,” said Mt. Tabor head coach Kedrick Carpenter. “My main concern, and me and Coach Muse always talk about this, is to get them ready for when they move up to varsity, but having to play Prep twice prior to this championship game, we knew they weren’t going to lay down.

“We couldn’t really get in a flow with how the fouls were being called, but at the end of the day, we kept telling them to just keep doing what we do. It felt good for the team because a couple of the kids were on the team last year.

I don’t think people realize, but going into the new year, the entire Mt. Tabor program is undefeated, and they didn’t want to be the first team to lose. It felt good for me; I am not

doing this for me, I’m doing this for the group I’m coaching. This isn’t the biggest team, but this is the most skillful team since we won it with the Muse twins.”

With all the great talent on display during the tournament, it was difficult to nail down an All-Tournament team and MVP for both brackets.

The All-Tournament team for the Chronicle Bracket are: Great Shivers (T.W. Andrews), Oakland King (Walkertown), Sterling McIntosh (Walkertown), Jamel Williams (Atkins) and Justin Covington (North Forsyth).

The MVP of the Chronicle Bracket was Rashee Simms (Atkins).

“From the start of the tournament I worked hard and always pushed to do my best,” said Simms. “As we faced different teams, we had to turn up the defense, because defense is our main goal. My coaches really push me to do my best and we were really thirsty for this.

“We just had to have that dog in us, and I always try to tell my teammates before we play any team what their weak points are. I was so happy; last year we lost to Reagan in the first round and I was so devastated after that, so I always worked after the summer to win it all this year.”

The All-Tournament team from the Lash Bracket are: O’Shae Fernanders (Mt. Tabor), Braxton Stewart (East Forsyth), Jordis Broadnax (West Forsyth), Nasir Graham (W-S Prep), and Jahon Foster (W-S Prep). The MVP of the Lash Bracket was Jamerien Peterkin (Mt. Tabor).

“We played together, we played hard, played fast and we shared the ball and I tried to do my part to help the team win,” said Peterkin. “I was shocked to be named MVP and this will allow us to keep playing hard and fast and we shouldn’t lose.”

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T he C hronicle

RELIGION

January 9, 2020

B3

Elder Richard Wayne Wood Sunday School Lesson

Solomon’s Speech Scriptures: 1 Kings 8:14-21 By the end of this lesson, we will: *Examine how Solomon’s building of the Temple fulfills a promise God made to David; *Appreciate that God keeps promises, even if the fulfillment takes many years; *Rejoice wholeheartedly when God’s promises come to pass.

Background: After being told by God that he would not build the Temple he purposed in his heart for the Lord, David was content and intent on instructing Solomon as his natural successor. He taught Solomon about obedience to God and making diplomatic decisions for the welfare of Israel. After David’s death at seventy years of age, Solomon has control of the kingdom. God visits Solomon in a dream where he allows him a single request. As all Bible readers know, Solomon requested wisdom to lead with a discerning heart (1 Kings 3:5, 9).

God grants Solomon’s request and exceeds it, ultimately giving him permission to build the Temple. (For specifics on building the Temple read 1 Kings chapters 5 and 6).

Lesson: We start the lesson after God affirms His habitation of the Temple in a dark cloud, “The Lord has said that He would dwell in thick darkness” (verse 12).

Solomon’s response to God’s presence is as the king chosen by God to bless the people. In so doing, Solomon acts as priest as well as king. Solomon addresses the people acknowledging that the completion and dedication of the Temple fulfilled God’s promises to David, even though David did not witness it. God is true to His word, “The Lord said unto David my father …” (verse 18). God spoke to David and fulfilled through Solomon, “And the Lord hath performed His word that He spake…” (verse 20). David’s successes and Solomon’s succession find their goal in the Temple in Zion.

Solomon’s wisdom is evident in his placement of the Ark in the Temple and the significance of it in deeming the Temple the Lord’s House. Because a person’s name represents that person, God is present where God’s name is; thus God is in the Temple listening to the prayers of the people. (The Jewish Study Bible, the New Interpreter’s Study Bible, the Oxford Bible Commentary and the UMI Annual Commentary 2019-2020).

For Your Consideration: Are there timelines on promise keeping? How do we display to God our wisdom in receipt of His responses to our requests?

Application: In Solomon’s speech as it is called, 1 Kings 8:14-21, he connects historical events to present time in thanking God. He recognizes God’s protection, God’s deliverance, and His abundant grace to Israel in his peaceful reign – beginning with the Exodus from Egypt to the building of the Temple signifying that God had intended to reside in Jerusalem.

We too must view history and cultural victories or milestones as a continuation of the progressive work of a promise-keeping and praiseworthy God. (UMI) “God is not a man, that He should lie, nor a son of man, that He should repent. He has said, and will He not do it? Or has He spoken and will He not make it good and fulfill it? (Numbers 23:19)

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My most important resolution this year

BY TIMOTHY RAMSEY THE CHRONICLE

When I thought about my next topic for my opinion piece, I decided to write something inspirational and relatable for the new year.

Every year, millions of people make New Year’s resolutions and I am no different. Over the years, I have made resolutions to get back in shape, to be a better person and parent, and even to read more books, just to name a few.

This year, the most important resolution I could think of was to be more committed to my relationship to God and more specifically, to make sure I give him thanks no matter what circumstances I am in.

What I have noticed about myself is when things are going well, I tend to stray away from giving God his praise as often as I should. But when things are going wrong, or I am going through a crisis, I am constantly talking to God, try-

ing to find a way to get out of the issue or problem I am going through.

This is not the way I was raised and more importantly, not the way I should treat my heavenly father. I must make sure that I am thanking God when I am at the highest of highs, as well as when I am at my lowest of lows.

The most recent example I can think of is when I was going through a tough situation a little over a year ago, I was constantly praying to God to help me out of the turmoil I was in. I continued to pray and as He always does, God brought me out of the situation and I was in a better place in the end than I could have ever conceived.

Following that blessing, I began to fall off with my prayers and thanking the Lord for what he has done for me. It was not something I was doing consciously; it was more of me forgetting how great God has been to me, and that is wrong. I would think about how I went an

entire week without praying to God before I went to bed, but when I was in trouble, I prayed every night. I must be more consistent than that.

Another example is when my car broke down many years ago. I really had no idea how I was going to buy another car.

I was still making payments on this car and did not have the money to purchase a new one. I went to several dealerships and finally found a car that was in my price range, but I could not get approved due to dumb decisions I had made in my youth that affected my credit.

I almost gave up, but something told me to try one more dealership. I prayed about this situation as well and when I went to the dealership, I walked away with a new, not used, car that was better than the car I wanted initially, and I only have God to thank for that. After that situation, I remember falling off with my prayers as well.

I can’t continue to treat the man upstairs that

way. I know the Lord will never forsake me, but I need to have enough integrity to make sure I do what I know is right.

Before writing this article, I spoke with other people about this topic and all of them have admitted to doing this in some way, shape or form in their lives. I knew I wasn’t the only person that has gone through this, so it made me feel less like a heathen when others stated they had done the same thing.

Since things are still going well in my life, I have made the conscious effort to make sure I thank God for the blessings I can see and can’t see. I know he has delivered me from things that I have no idea about, so I want to make sure I thank Him for that.

I am always a constant work in progress to be a better person, so what better way to be a better person than to be better connected with God. The only outcome that could result from this is me being blessed.

A sharp tongue cuts from the inside out

BY JAMES A. WASHINGTON

Growing up, I was never a student of the Bible even though I grew up surrounded by the best kind of Christians there were: the love-filled family kind.

I believe I am now being constantly moved by the Holy Spirit (I hope) to see the simplicity in the scripture I now study.

As such, I am finding myself gravitating to ministers, pastors and saints as they dissect in sermon and prayer the incredible power of the tongue; yes, that small but dangerously lethal weapon housed in one’s mouth.

Without any biblical perspective, history confirms the ability of deceitfilled eloquence to entice weak men to murder, married women to stray, pride-

ful men to war and socalled peace-loving folk to slaughter.

On a daily basis, a reckless tongue can sear forever the spirit of an innocent child, a wanting spouse, a true friend or a caring co-worker. Evil oratory moves men and women to do evil things.

But oh, how powerful, how wonderful is a wellintentioned ‘thank you,’ sincere ‘I’m sorry’ or a genuine ‘I believe in you.’

James 3:10 tells us that the tongue wields the power of life and death.

Having been the target of ill-intended criticism, and out of momentary anger or hurt having tried to destroy the souls of many I held dear, I know firsthand that James is so right.

I have been trying to correct this character flaw by being as deliber-

ately uplifting as possible, thinking of myself as a vessel of the living God first before I speak and remembering that man was made in God’s own image and cursing any man is tantamount to cursing God. Could it be that James 1:26 holds a key to salvation? “…If anyone considers himself religious and yet does not keep a rein on his tongue, he deceives himself and his religion is worthless…”

I submit to you that if you compare the words of Jesus Christ to any demagogue, you will find that Jesus’ words repulse with great power all hatred, gossip, rumor and even innuendo. It is impossible to claim to love God without loving Jesus as the living Word of God. Saying so merely confirms the truth

in this case that the spoken Word will indeed set one free.

“Reckless words pierce like a sword but the tongue of the wise brings healing.” Proverbs 12:14. I’m told God hates a liar and loves the truth. Remember there is no cure for hurt feelings except an honest spoken apology. Hurt feelings fester and infect a person.

Think before you speak. And please don’t take my word for it. “He who guards his lips, guards his life, but he who speaks rashly will come to ruin.”

Proverbs 12:3.

May God bless and keep you always.

James A. Washington is a father, husband, Christian, writer, entrepreneur and the owner/publisher of the Dallas Weekly.

RELIGION CALENDAR TODAY, Jan. 9 Prayer vigil St. Anne’s Episcopal Church will hold an interfaith candlelight vigil for peace for the community of Winston-Salem as participants light candles as a symbol of hope in this dark time. The event will be held on Jan. 9 from 6 – 7 p.m. at St. Anne’s, 2690 Fairlawn Dr. All are welcome. In the event of rain, the vigil will be moved indoors.

TODAY, Jan. 9 Pastors on Patrol The Winston-Salem Police Department is inviting pastors, ministers, priests, rabbis, imams and other ordained religious leaders to attend an informational lunch Jan. 9 to learn about a new initiative called “Pastors on Patrol.” Participating religious leaders would receive training and then be encouraged to ride along with patrol officers in the hope that they could de-escalate confrontations, especially in their neighborhoods. The luncheon will be held at noon at BB&T Ballpark, 951 Ballpark Way. To register, call 336-773-7716 or send an email to patrol@wspd.org.

Jan. 11 “Grief Care” St. Paul United Methodist Church sponsors “Grief

Care,” a support group for persons experiencing grief due to the death of someone close to them. The sessions feature biblical teaching on grief and recovery topics.

The sessions are designed to give encouragement and support to persons on their journey from “Mourning to Joy.” Sessions are free, each is self-contained, meaning one does not have to attend the sessions in sequence.

“Heaven” is the topic on Saturday, Jan. 11, at 10 a.m. at St. Paul United Methodist Church, 2400 Dellabrook Road. For additional information, call 336-723-4531 or 336-815-1554.

Jan. 12 Worship services The Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, 4055 Robinhood Road, will have a single service at 11 a.m. Sunday.

Rev. Lisa Schwartz will speak her farewell as the Fellowship’s Settled Minister. A reception will follow the service. At the Forum, 9:15 a.m., Charles Freeman, a certified financial adviser, will speak on “Investing in Your Beliefs: An Overview of Socially Responsible Investing.” For more information, see UUFWS.org.

Jan. 19 Twin City Choristers concert Grace Presbyterian Church, 3901 Carver School Road, will host the Twin City Choristers 24th Annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Birthday Concert at 4 p.m.

on Sunday, Jan. 19. The event is free, although an offering will be received during the intermission. A reception will follow. For more information, call 336-725-4105.

Jan. 19 Family and Friends Day St. James AME Church will celebrate its annual Family and Friends Day Jan. 19. The day begins with Church School at 8:45 a.m. At 10 a.m., the celebration begins. The speaker is The Rev. Dr. Nancy F. Reese Crews, Lieutenant, United States Navy, Chaplain Corps. St. James is located at 1501 N. Patterson at the corner of 15th Street (across from the US Postal Office).

The Pastor is the Rev. Shelton T. Miles, Sr. Ongoing Monday, Wednesday and Friday Food pantry, clothes closet Every Monday, Wednesday and Friday, from 1-4 p.m., Love Community Development Corporation, at 3980 N. Liberty St., will serve those in need of food and clothes. JobLink is also available Monday through Friday, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. for those needing assistance with resumes or seeking employment. For more information, call 336-306-8119.

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January 9, 2020

Leadership From page B1

the city two years ago, so he has a lot of leeway. The Eagles dealt with some devastating injuries to their offense this year, so to make the playoffs was a success for them.

The Redskins are the first of the three to hire a new head coach. Ron Rivera, former head coach of the Carolina Panthers, was signed to a five-year deal to be the new head coach of Washington. Many fans and analysts are applauding the hire due to Rivera’s leadership qualities and the strong bonds he builds with his players.

Rivera has also hired former head coach Jack Del Rio to be his defensive coordinator, so the Redskins coaching staff looks

to be on the rise. Now let’s see if owner Dan Snyder can stay out of the way and let the football people make the proper decisions as far as the draft, free agency and the depth chart. If he just signs the checks and stops trying to emulate Jerry Jones, the team will be successful under Rivera. The Redskins also have the second pick in the draft, so an impact player could be on the way to help next season.

The Giants have a lot of work to do to fix their issues. Their defense is porous, the skill positions need serious upgrading, and they need to find the right head coach that can not only fit the team, but also the city of New York as well. They seem to have their franchise quarterback in Daniel Jones; now the

The C hronicle object is to surround him with enough talent to win games. The Giants have the fourth pick in the draft, so who knows what direction they will take.

The Cowboys are an interesting case. They are loaded with talent on offense and defense, they just need the right coach to bring it all together. Their biggest problem has been consistency. One week they look like Super Bowl contenders and the next they look like a last place team.

One thing is for sure, the division has nowhere to go but up. With a little luck and the right coaches in place, the NFC East will be back as one of the best divisions in football, sooner rather than later.

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Community Calendar Today, Jan. 9 – Peace vigil A candlelight vigil for peace will be held at 6 p.m. this evening at St. Anne’s Episcopal Church, 2690 Fairlawn Drive, on the front lawn.

This is an inter-faith vigil and the community is invited to come out to pray for peace, not only in our community, but throughout the world during these troubling times.

Jan. 10 – Holiday Pop-Up Show The Arts Council of Winston-Salem & Forsyth County is presenting “Pop” - A Holiday Pop-Up Show, in the Arboreal Gallery of The Milton Rhodes Center for the Arts, featuring artwork from instructors and participants in Enrichment Center programs.

The show will hang until January 13 with a closing reception on Friday, Jan. 10, 1 - 2:30 p.m. The Milton Rhodes Center for the Arts is located at 251 N. Spruce Street in downtown Winston-Salem. The exhibition is open during normal center hours.

Jan. 10 – Application deadline Mayor Pro Tempore Vivian H. Burke is accepting applications from citizens interested in filling a vacancy on the WinstonSalem/Forsyth County Community Appearance Commission. Any citizen with an interest in the commission and its work may apply. All applicants must be Winston-Salem residents. Interested candidates should contact the City Secretary’s office at 336-727-2224 or send an email to sandrark@cityofws.org. The application deadline is Jan. 10.

Jan. 13 – Quarterly Community Forum Come out to the Quarterly Community Forum and find out what Sheriff Kimbrough has planned for 2020! Bring your questions and come prepared to interact with Sheriff Kimbrough and the Forsyth County Sheriff’s Office Command Staff. The

Quarterly Community Forum will be held Monday, Jan. 13 from 6 – 7 p.m. in the Storytime Room of the Paddison Memorial Branch Library located at 248 Harmon Lane, Kernersville.

Jan. 15 – Martin Luther King celebration The NC Black Repertory Company will host its 35th annual MLK birthday celebration on Jan. 15 at 6 p.m. For admission into the event, bring three non-perishable and nonexpired food items. All contributions will be donated to the Second Harvest Food Bank of Northwest NC. The event will be held at Hanesbrands Theatre, 209 North Spruce St. Jan. 15 – Volunteer orientation The Shepherd’s Center of Greater WinstonSalem will hold a volunteer orientation session on Wednesday, Jan. 15, from 10 - 11:15 a.m. at the center located at 1700 Ebert St. Older adults in the community need help with supportive services such as transportation, minor home repairs, visits or caregiver respite. Mileage reimbursement is offered.

For a list of all of our volunteer opportunities visit our website, www.shepherdscenter.org. For more information or to register for the session, call The Shepherd’s Center at 336-748-0217 or email vpoore@shepherdscenter. org.

Jan. 19 – Writers workshop Murder We Write presents “Writers Workshop: Tax Considerations Before and After Your Books are Published” on Jan. 19 beginning at 1:45 p.m. at the High Point Library. The event will be presented

by Diane Kelly, CPA, retired business attorney and author of Death & Taxes romantic suspense series; and Becke Turner, retired RN, author of romantic humor, and IRS audit survivor who fought the agency and won on ap-

peal. The workshop is free and open to the public until 5 p.m. to chat with our authors about your own writing.

Jan. 23 – Medicare workshop The Shepherd’s Center of Greater Winston-Salem and the Forsyth County Library is offering a workshop for individuals turning 65. The session will be held on Thursday, Jan. 23, from 5:30 - 7:30 p.m. at the Shepherd’s Center of Greater Winston-Salem, 1700 Ebert St. The session is provided at no cost.

Because space is limited, reservations are required.

Contact the Shepherd’s Center at 336-748-0217 for more information or to reserve a seat.

Jan. 21 – Workshop for equine owners Equine owners are invited to join the N.C. Cooperative Extension, Forsyth County Center at 1450 Fairchild Road, on Monday, Jan. 27, at 6 p.m. to learn about forage/hay testing, nutrition/feed tag information, and balancing rations. The cost for this workshop is $10 and includes a meal. Registration and payments are due

by Tuesday, Jan. 21. Register at go.ncsu.edu/January2020Equine. Contact April Bowman, Extension Agent, Livestock, Forages, and 4-H Youth Development at 336-703-2855 or awbowman@ncsu.edu for more information or to be added to their email list for free equine information.

Feb. 8-9 – Moveable Feast Bookmarks and Salemtowne Retirement Community are proud to present the eighth annual Movable Feast, which will take place on Saturday, Feb. 8 and Sunday, Feb. 9.

Tickets range from $45 per person to opportunities to purchase a table for eight and are available for purchase at bpt.me/4415172.

This popular event sells out each year and is an exciting opportunity for readers to interact with 21

authors, get books signed, and enjoy food and drinks.

Movable Feast can be likened to “speed dating with authors,” with each table of guests having the opportunity to hear from authors, ask questions, and enjoy conversation as the authors move around the room in a timed rotation.

Ongoing Every 1st Tuesday – Triad NOW meeting The Triad NOW chapter meets the first Tuesday of every month at 7 p.m. at the Parkway United Church of Christ, 2151 Silas Creek Parkway (entrance off Irving Street) Winston-Salem.

Every 1st Tuesday – Open Mic Winston-Salem Writers presents Open Mic, an opportunity for writers at any level to read up to five minutes of their work to a friendly audience. Sign up to read at 6:45 p.m. and readings begin at 7 p.m. at Coffee Park inside the Milton Rhodes Center for the Arts, 251 N. Spruce St. For more information, visit www.wswriters.org.

Every 2nd Tuesday – Alumni membership Albert H. Anderson High School Alumni Association would like for each graduating member of Albert H. Anderson Senior High School to become a member of the Association. For more information, call Clyde A. Moore at 336-971-6196 or email at cmpreacher48@ yahoo.com. Meetings are held at New Light Baptist Church, 1535 15th St., every 2nd Tuesday in each month at 7 p.m.

Every 2nd Tuesday – Black Chamber of Commerce monthly meeting The Black Chamber of Commerce will meet every 2nd Tuesday at The Enterprise Conference and Banquet Center, 1922 S. Martin Luther King Jr. Drive. The meetings start at 6 p.m. All are welcome to attend.

NOW – Volunteers needed R e a d • Wr i t e • S p e l l needs volunteers to serve as tutors to public school students and to help with Reading Parties. For more information, email emily@readws.org or call (336) 723-4391 ext. 1509.

Every 1st & 3rd Tuesday – Pinochle fun and fellowship Pinochle sessions will be held on 1st and 3rd Tuesday from 10 a.m.12:30 p.m. at Sims Recreation Center, 1201 Alder St. Persons wanting to learn the game are welcome and can call ahead to get a guideline sheet. Call Maurice Johnson at 336815-8417 or the center at 336-727-2837 for more information.

NOW – Cultural Arts directory Triad Cultural Arts Inc. is compiling an online Triad Cultural Arts Directory.

We would like to promote regional artistic organizations and independent artists, using our website and Coming Eventz e-newsletter. Post your event in our community news section of the Coming Eventz Eblast for free. To have a graphic/flier posted there is a fee. For more information, visit www.triadculture.org or email info@ triadculturalarts.org Every third Thursday of each month – Anti-Gun & Gang Violence Meeting Winston-Salem has had numerous recent acts of senseless gun/gang violence, becoming progressively worse. We need to unify and bring peace to our neighborhoods. There will be a meeting every 3rd Thursday to address these issues. The meetings will be held at Hanes Hosiery Recreation Center, 501 Reynolds Blvd. If you have any questions, comments or concerns, please contact Corey McCann at 336-602-9844 or email at cmccann1985@gmail. com.

www.wschronicle.com

Every day – Donations of blankets, caps & gloves needed The Downtown Bicycle Patrol is soliciting donations of gently used or new blankets, gloves and knit caps to help the homeless this winter. The donation boxes will be placed in the lobby of the Public Safety Center, 725 N. Cherry St., in City Hall outside the Human Relations Department, 109 N. Main St., and outside the Bicycle Patrol Office at 414 N. Cherry St. across from the Marriott Hotel.

The donations go toward assisting homeless people.

How to submit items to the community calendar: We appreciate your community news. Here’s how you can help us to process your news more efficiently: *Please give us complete information about the event, such as the sponsor and address, date, time and place of the event and contact information so that the public can contact someone for more information if needed. *Please submit items in document form in an email or Word or PDF attachment. *Submit photos as attachments to emails as jpegs at least 4 inches wide by 6 inches deep rather than sent on documents. Please send captions with photos. *Please do not send jpeg fliers only, since we cannot transfer the information on them into documents.

The deadline is Sunday at 11:59 p.m. to have all calendar items submitted for that week’s paper.

Send your calendar items to news@wschronicle.com. You can also drop them off, Monday through Friday before 5 p.m., or mail your items to Winston-Salem Chronicle, 1300 E. Fifth St., Winston-Salem, NC 27101; or send them via our website, www. wschronicle.com.

T he C hronicle

J anuary 9, 2020

B5

Red H.E.A.R.R.T. partners with Mayor Allen Joines and the community to bring warmth to those in need SPECIAL TO THE CHRONICLE

On Tuesday, Jan. 7, Red H.E.A.R.R.T. (Help Educate And Reduce Risk Today), Mayor Allen Joines and the Winston-Salem community kicked off a new Warm For Winter Holidays Coat Collection and giveaway initiative. The giveaway is meant to be a broadreaching act of kindness from willing hearts to give warmth (coats, hats and gloves) to those who are in need, warming hearts and helping those who don’t have coats to keep warm.

Coats will be accessible to those who need them throughout the week as long as they are available or until Jan. 14. The donated items will be hung on the fence of the Beaty Center’s Public Safety Office on 1200 Patterson

Avenue. We encourage anyone who wants to donate to come any day up until Jan. 14 and between the times of 8 a.m. – 4 p.m. and hang a coat up on the fence (underneath the protective plastic). Then, if an individual needs a coat, he or she can pick one up any day and time, as long as they are available.

This initiative is not to replace any apparel efforts already in place; instead, the goal is to enhance and complement what’s already in place.

Furthermore, it is to meet the needs of keeping individuals warm right where they may need it, within a mile and a half radius of four homeless shelters (Bethesda Center, Samaritan Ministries, The Salvation Army and The Rescue Mission).

We would like to thank

Beaty Center’s Public Safety Office for allowing us this opportunity to utilize their fence and for assisting us with the plastic covering for the coats for this coat giveaway. We also want to thank the following shelters for spreading the word about this event and attending the coat drive kick-off: Bethesda Center, Samaritan Ministries, Rescue Mission and Salvation Army.

This event would not be possible without donations that have been coming in from churches (Union Baptist Church, Great Commission Community Church) and the community at large. Additional coats left over after the drive will be shared among the four homeless shelters.

Economically, what should we look for in 2020? between the two countries. Although details are currently incomplete, the agree2020 looks to be a big year. Of ment puts a halt on new trade tariffs becourse, politics will be front and center, tween the two countries, rolls back some with national and presidential elections existing tariffs, and includes promises by and – here in North Carolina – guberna- China to purchase additional U.S. made torial, council of state and all seats in the products, especially farm products.

General Assembly up for grabs. I doubt While the phase-one handshake does there will be a day in the year when we not address the sticky issues of China’s won’t see a political ad of some kind. heavy subsidies to their companies and Of course, my focus is the economy, tactics China uses to access U.S. technoso what kind of economic news should logical secrets, it still is viewed as a step we be watching as the year progresses? forward. If the phase-one accord continJust as with the political scene, let me di- ues to hold in 2020, it should promote vide my ideas between the national level additional U.S. economic growth and and then here at home in North Carolina. jobs. Even better, if phase-one leads to Front and center in the national econ- subsequent phases, the positive impacts omy will be the question of whether a will be better. recession will be avoided. The national But if the U.S.-China phase-one deal economy is now in record territory for falls apart - particularly if one or both the current economic expansion that be- countries accuse the other of cheating gan after the Great Recession of 2007- then this would be a negative for the U.S. 2009. This alone has made many people economy that could significantly weaken worried that we are “due” for a recession. economic growth. So keep your eyes on I don’t agree. I don’t think there’s the trade talk between the number one anything natural about a recession oc- (U.S.) and number two (China) econocurring every “X” number of years. I am mies in the world. on record as not predicting a recession Turning now to North Carolina, rein 2020. I don’t see any of the pre-con- alize that everything I said about the ditions of a recession, such as relatively national economy also applies to North high private debt and rampant specula- Carolina. North Carolina’s overall ecotion, existing now. nomic growth rate will rise and fall with Still, what should you look for dur- the national growth rate. ing the year to indicate the economy conNevertheless, there are some distinct tinues to be on steady ground? First and differences between the national and our foremost, watch the job market. If the state’s economies. More of North Caronational economy generates job growth lina’s economy is tied to manufacturing, between 120,000 and 150,000 net new and manufacturing has been hard hit by jobs each month, then that should inject the trade wars, particularly between the enough new earnings into workers’ pock- U.S. and China. Hence, if the trade wars ets for them to sustain spending. head toward resolution in 2020, this Remember – consumers account for should be a big plus for North Carolina.

70% of all spending in the economy. Also, if the USMCA does indeed take efIf job growth holds up, that should be fect in 2020, North Carolina’s auto parts enough to support consumers’ confidence industry and the state’s farmers should be in the economy and willingness to spend. winners.

Regarding jobs, something you North Carolina had a good year for should not necessarily focus on is the un- job growth in 2019, but I look for that employment rate. Nationally, the jobless progress to slacken slightly in 2020. If rate is now at a 50-year low, at 3.5%. I the state generates an average of 5,000 wouldn’t be surprised if that rate edged net new payroll jobs monthly in 2020, up slightly in 2020.

North Carolina should be on track for anBut that’s not always bad. As long other growth year. as jobs are being created, a rising jobThen, of course, there’s always the less rate can occur because individuals anticipation of a major “mega announcewho had stopped looking for work – and ment” of a new game-changing firm therefore aren’t counted as officially un- coming to our state. Maybe 2020 might employed – restart their job search. Until finally be the year for North Carolina they find work, they are not counted as to land an auto assembly plant. I don’t unemployed. So a rising unemployment know, but I’ll certainly be watching. rate together with more jobs should not Hopefully, keeping your eyes on alarm you. these headlines will help you decide Another important economic factor to where our collective and personal econowatch nationally is the status of the coun- mies are headed in 2020. And, as always, try’s trade disputes. There was optimism Happy New Year! about these disputes at the end of 2019.

First, Congressional leaders announced Dr. Mike Walden is a William Neal they would push for approval of the new Reynolds Distinguished Professor and NAFTA, now called the USMCA (U.S., extension economist in the Department Mexico, Canada Agreement). We should of Agricultural and Resource Economics know if this happens early in 2020. If at North Carolina State University who it does, it should boost both broad eco- teaches and writes on personal finance, nomic growth in the country as well as economic outlook and public policy. job growth.

Second, in mid-December the U.S. and China indicated they had reached an agreement on a “phase-one” trade deal

Visons

BY LB THE POET

It’s only in your mind right, that place where you can create your own limelight, Design a life like the Millers, Empire State of mind, that high life.

The flames behind this shooting star help it to shine bright It’s best to sit in quiet sometimes to get your mind right Darkness provides the blueprint, In the sky, if you can decipher it right Melinated crew sent in disguise This cypher is right ... on time To free ya mind and show and prove What righteous looks like Look at some of the ones who said I couldn’t do it to see what I might’ve looked like, Had I believed in the vision only as far as they could see it, crazy how it went left when things starting going right, Some are perceived to walk into it ... well I control the glowing light, if life is a game ... your mind is the controller right?

I hear people talk about Joy, sticking to this code in life ... without, cheating ... just enjoying the game as it plays out aka living ... ‘cause it’s only in ya, mind right.... now envision it ... For once free yourself from mental imprisonment ...

SHINE BRIGHT!

BY DR. MIKE WALDEN

POET OF THE WEEK

LB The Poet

YOU BELONG HERE $0 Joining Fee. JOIN TODAY.

When you join the Y, you are not joining a gym. You become part of a organization that strengthens our communities in spirit, mind and body. Join in-branch or online today and enjoy membership benefits across the country.

Visit www.ymcanwnc.org/join for more details.

Financial scholarships are available. No one is turned away because of an inability to pay.

Have a story idea?

Let us Know News@wschronicle.com

B6

January 9, 2020

The C hronicle

Book Review

In MeMorIaM

Wanda Merchel

neIghborhood

a d v o c at e

and cIty councIl MeMber, spearheaded downtown r e v I ta l I z at I o n

“Overground Railroad: The Green Book and the Roots of Black Travel in America”

by Candacy Taylor c.2020, Abrams Press

$35.00 / $44.00 Canada

BY TERRI SCHLICHENMEYER

Wanda Merschel left her family on January 3, 2020 after a prolonged illness.

In 1989, John and Wanda Merschel moved to the city’s West End neighborhood and began refurbishing their early 1900s home. Interest and involvement in preserving the historic nature of the West End -along with its gateway proximity to downtown -- spurred two decades of public service for Wanda who would serve as President of the West End Association and become the longest serving female chair of the City Council’s Finance Committee.

Born Wanda Sink in 1950, she was the daughter of the late Edith Russell and graduated from West Forsyth High School. Upon graduation she began a long and distinguished career in banking – retiring from Piedmont Federal Savings Bank in 2015 as its senior vice-president and chief marketing officer.

Drawing on her love of classic movies and desire to expose more people to downtown, Wanda and her team created Piedmont Federal’s “It’s a Wonderful Life” campaign in 2012. Those who visited downtown during that holiday season were wowed by elaborate window displays on Fourth Street and free screenings of the holiday favorite at a/perture cinema. In return, moviegoers were asked to support local charities. The campaign just completed its 7th year with free screenings and charity support in Wilkes and Watauga Counties.

As President of the West End Association, the city’s oldest neighborhood association, Wanda guided the organization as it established the city’s first Historic Overlay District – a designation that allows for appropriate development and stabilizes and enhances property values for homeowners.

In 1997, Wanda was successful in her election to what was then the Winston-Salem Board of Aldermen. In 2001, she became chair of the Board’s (the Board of Aldermen became City Council in 2003) Finance Committee – navigating through some of the city’s most financially difficult years, while still maintaining its AAA bond rating.

Along with the mayor and key members of city staff, Wanda was instrumental in creating innovative, yet fiscally responsible, economic assistance packages that created jobs and grew the city’s tax base.

During her 16 years on City Council, Wanda was known as a consensus builder and a straight shooter who viewed issues through the lens of the city’s citizens – always asking what would be the impact on neighbors? She frequently guided new council members through the complex machinations of committee meetings and council sessions, while forging respectful bonds with more seasoned colleagues and city staff.

A walk through downtown will highlight many of Wanda’s greatest achievements. She often called downtown “a living room for the community,” adding “you can’t have a vibrant city without a vibrant downtown.” Tapping into her finance background and her sense of aesthetics, she pushed for initiatives that allowed for a more vibrant downtown ranging from redesigning walkways and planting trees to the construction of BB&T Ballpark. She initiated “Restaurant Row,” which breathed life into downtown, making it a top destination for new businesses and culinary entrepreneurs. Through the use of tax credits, she worked to help finance the residential conversion of the historic Nissen Building and infrastructure improvements in the Wake Forest Innovation Quarter.

In 2013 after she announced she would not seek re-election, the City Council voted to rename the long-planned Civic Plaza to Merschel Plaza to honor Wanda’s dedication and contribution to the citizens of Winston-Salem. Now envisioned as Merschel Park, it will be a central gathering place that includes green spaces, areas for outdoor dining and, at the request of Wanda, features that honor the contribution of women to the city’s civic life. “I have been fortunate to learn from women of all walks of life who taught me that calmness, patience and serenity will always yield a better outcome,” she said. It was her hope that, when completed later this year, the namesake park will be a place where people can reflect on the inspiring roles and qualities that women have brought to public service.

In public and in private life Wanda was tenacious and gracious.

Her positive attitude and belief that all things were possible guided her professionally and personally. After her years of tireless service to the city, Wanda was happiest surrounded by friends and family at a Wake Forest basketball game, a Winston-Salem Dash baseball game, traveling to see a favorite musician, camping in the North Carolina mountains or the South Carolina coast and enjoying any downtown restaurant.

She is survived by her husband John Merschel (and beloved dog Rudy) and children Karen Johnson, Wendy Johnson, Lisa Merschel, Jeff Merschel, John Merschel and Kate Merschel Dailey.

A visitation will be held Friday, January 10 from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. at Salem Funeral and Cremation Services, 2951 Reynolda Road, Winston Salem.

Donations in Wanda’s memory can be made to the Downtown Winston -Salem Foundation in of support Merschel Park. Donations can be made online at http://www.downtownws.com/downtownstrong/ Or by mail. Downtown Winston-Salem Foundation. 305 West Fourth Street, Suite 2E, Winston -Salem, NC 27101.

Online condolences may be made through www.salemfh.com.

Your tickets have been purchased.

Reservations were made in your name and all that’s left is packing. Yep, you’re heading out for the weekend, a week, a month, gone on the trip of

Candacy Taylor

360 pages

Harlem-centric. Subsequent editions of The Green Book led African American travelers to safe restaurants, hotels, and gas stations across the country.

Says Taylor, Green never made much money from his project, but “his reward was much more valuable … for

Submitted photo

a lifetime and as you’ll see in “Overground Railroad” by Candacy Taylor, it’s a trip your grandparents might’ve been denied.

Ron was just seven years old when he was told to sit still and be quiet in the backseat of his parents’ car, where he listened as a police officer questioned

every business he listed, he may have saved a life.”

As a history of African American travel in the Twentieth Century, “Overground Railroad” is incredible, filled with great continuity and plenty of side-stories to make it come alive.

Author Candacy Taylor makes it exqui-

his father by a country road. Even when he was an old man and stepdad to Candacy Taylor, he remembered the tension coming from the front seat of that car.

Her stepfather’s stories helped Taylor understand many things, including why he and black folks his age preferred to travel at night, on side roads.

At about this same time, Taylor’s white friends began expressing outrage over white supremacists and she replied with facts about incarceration of black men.

To her, the three histories were one: black people have always been denied equality.

In the twentieth century, that inequality largely resulted from Jim Crow laws which, among other humiliations, allowed restaurants, hotels, and gas stations to refuse service to black travelers. On the road, brave or desperate African Americans risked violence or even death by testing the laws; in years following the Depression, those laws gave Victor Green an idea.

Green lived in Harlem, worked as a mailman, and saw a future where black people owned cars (rare, in the 1930s) they could insure (also rare). With help from other mailmen, information on black-owned businesses that black travelers could visit was gathered and published in a book that was initially

sitely personal with tales from her stepfather and her deep appreciation for all he’d endured, leading to other stories of DWB; how the travel industry foolishly thwarted African American travel and its buying power; how things changed; and the constant reassurance of The Green Book.

That history makes this book incredibly fascinating.

It could’ve been even better, had Taylor stuck with the topic.

Instead, occasionally and from the beginning, mass incarceration and institutional racism are inserted into this narrative on travel. One could perhaps argue that they’re peripherally relevant but, though it’s not overwhelming, that feels like a discussion for a different book.

Still, ignore the distraction. Don’t let it chase you away from this stellar tale, told with detail and an abundance of photos. If you’re looking for a lively, well-rounded history book, “Overground Railroad” is just the ticket.

The Bookworm is Terri Schlichenmeyer. Terri has been reading since she was 3 years old and she never goes anywhere without a book. She lives on a prairie in Wisconsin with one man, two dogs, and 16,000 books.

CLAS SIFIE DS

T he T HCE hronicle C H R ON I C LE

J anuary 9,A2020 JANU R Y 9 , 2 0 2 0 B7 B7

DEADLINE: MONDAY 5:30 PM • CALL CLASSIFIEDS AT (336) 722-8624

We accept major credit card payment on all classfied Ads. Email us your ad by Monday...see it on Thursday: adv@wschronicle.com M/WBE BID NOTICES M/WBE BID NOTICES INVITATION BID A single prime combined bid for all work will be received for General, Civil, Plumbing, Mechanical, and Electrical prime contracts for the upfit of an existing building to become the Davie County Government Center by Davie County in the 2nd floor Commissioners Meeting Room, Tuesday, January 28th, 2020 at 3:00 P.M. , located at 123 South Main Street, Mocksville NC 27028, at which time the bids will be opened. All proposals shall be lumpsum.

The extent of the work is shown on the drawings & specified in the project manual.

The Project consists of approx. 68,000 sf renovation of an existing furniture showroom/warehouse to be used for governmental offices. Also as part of the project is a 4,254 sf fleet maintenance pre-engineered metal building and a carport structure.

Bidding documents, drawings and specifications may be examined in the office of Fuller Architecture.

Pdf’s of the drawings and specifications will be made available to all bidders via a shared Dropbox folder.

Each proposal must be accompanied by a Bid Deposit of cash, certified check or a fully executed Bid Bond payable to the Davie County in an amount of five percent (5%) of the gross amount of the proposal executed in accordance with and conditioned as prescribed by North Carolina General Statute 143-129 as amended.

If the successful bidder fails to execute the contract within 60 days after the award or fails to give satisfactory surety as required by law, the above deposit will be retained by the Davie County. All contractors are hereby notified that they must be properly licensed under the laws of North Carolina governing their trades.

A Payment and Performance Bond will be required each in the sum equal to 100% of the Contract Sum. No Bidder may withdraw his bid within 60 days after the scheduled closing time for receipt of bids.

Bidders shall use complete sets of Bidding Documents in preparing Bids. Neither the Owner or the Architect assumes responsibility for errors or misinterpretations resulting from the use of incomplete sets of Bidding Documents.

A Pre-Bid meeting will be held for all interested bidders and vendors at 1:30 on Thursday, the 9th day of January, 2020 at the site of the former Boyles Furniture showroom located at 182 Farmington Rd., Mocksville, North Carolina, 27028.

Contractors are hereby notified that Davie County has a verifiable ten (10) percent goal for the participation by minority businesses in the total value of work for which the contract is awarded in order to follow North Carolina G.S. 143-128. Minority percentages will not be the basis for selecting the low bidder. All minority businesses are encouraged to participate in bidding this project.

Davie County reserves the right to reject any or all bids and to waive informalities.

The Chronicle January 2, 9, 2020

LEGAL NOTICES

REAL ESTATE

HEALTH SERVICES

ADVERTISEMENT FOR BIDS

NOTICE TO CREDITORS

CHERRY HILL APARTMENTS

Call today to connect with a

Sealed bids will be received by the Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Board of Education at the Winston Salem/Forsyth County Schools Maintenance Office at 4897 Lansing Drive, Winston Salem, NC 27105, up to 2:00 p.m., January 30, 2020, and immediately thereafter publicly opened and read for the modifications at Piney Grove Elementary School. Work shall include furnishing of labor, material and equipment entering into the replacement of water source heat pumps, loop pumps, boiler and new corridor lighting.

Having qualified as Fiduciary of the Estate of Richard Dixon (19 E 1249), deceased October 13, 2018, Forsyth County, North Carolina, this is to Notify all persons, firms, and corporation having claims against the Estate of said deceased to present them to the undersigned on or before March 20, 2020 this Notice will be pleaded in bar of recovery. All persons indebted to the said decedent or estate shall please make immediate payment to the undersigned.

Bids will be received for single-prime, mechanical contractor. All proposals shall be lump sum.

A mandatory pre-bid meeting will be held for all interested bidders and vendors on January 16, 2020 at 3:30 pm at the site.

Project specific questions, bidding procedures, preferred brand alternates, performance specifications and HUB information will be addressed for this project.

Complete plans, specifications and contract documents will be open for inspection in the office of Consultant Engineering Service, Inc. at 811 West 5 th Street, Suite 101, Winston Salem, NC 27101. Questions should be directed to the Engineer or WS/FCS Operations Department.

Prime contractors may obtain electronic copies of the Bidding Documents after January 8, 2020 from the office of the Engineer at carol@ceseng.net.

Bidders shall use complete sets of Bidding Documents in preparing bids; neither the Owner nor Engineer assumes responsibility for errors or misinterpretations resulting from the use of incomplete sets of Bidding Documents.

All contractors are hereby notified that they must have proper license as required under the state laws governing their respective trades.

NOTE: The bidder shall identify on its bid proposal the minority business participation it will use on the project. Forms are included within the Proposal Form in the bid documents. Failure to complete these forms is grounds for rejection of the bid. (GS143-128.2c Effective 1/1/2002.)

Each proposal shall be accompanied by a cash deposit or a certified check drawn on a bank or trust company, insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, of an amount equal to not less than five percent (5%) of the proposal, or in lieu thereof a bidder may offer a bid bond of five percent (5%) of the bid executed by a surety company licensed under the laws of North Carolina to execute the contract in accordance with the bid bond.

Said deposit shall be retained by the owner as liquidated damages in event of failure of the successful bidder to execute the contract within ten days after the award or to give satisfactory surety as required by law.

A performance bond and a payment bond will be required for one hundred percent (100%) of the contract price.

Payment will be made based on ninety five percent (95%) of monthly estimates and final payment made upon completion and acceptance of work.

No bid may be withdrawn after the scheduled closing time for the receipt of bids for a period of sixty (60) days.

The owner reserves the right to reject any or all bids and to waive informalities.

Designer: Consultant Engineering Service, Inc. 811 West 5th Street Suite 101 Winston Salem, NC 27101 (336) 724 0139 Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Board of Education Dr. Angela P. Hairston Superintendent The Chronicle January 9, 2020

The Chronicle

Call 722-8624 to Subscribe

This the 26th day of September, 2019.

Carolyn Denise Burns-Spiller Fiduciary for Richard Dixon, deceased 3913 Cottington Drive Winston-Salem, NC 27105 The Chronicle December 19, 26, 2019 and January 2, 9, 2020

NOTICE TO CREDITORS Having qualified as Executor of the Estate of William H. Love (19 E 1795), also known as William Love, William Henry Love, deceased July 22, 2019 Forsyth County, North Carolina, this is to Notify all persons, firms, and corporation having claims against the Estate of said deceased to present them to the undersigned on or before March 20, 2020 this Notice will be pleaded in bar of recovery. All persons indebted to the said decedent or estate shall please make immediate payment to the undersigned.

This the 16th day of December, 2019.

Billy Ward Miller Executor for William Love, deceased 106 Wolf Hill Drive Mooresville, NC 28117 The Chronicle December 19, 26, 2019 and January 2, 9, 2020 NOTICE TO CREDITORS Having qualified as Administrator of the Estate of Rebecca Elise Edwards (19 E 2521), also known as Becky Edwards, deceased November 2, 2019, Forsyth County, North Carolina, this is to Notify all persons, firms, and corporation having claims against the Estate of said deceased to present them to the undersigned on or before April 10, 2020 this Notice will be pleaded in bar of recovery. All persons indebted to the said decedent or estate shall please make immediate payment to the undersigned.

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NOTICE TO CREDITORS Having qualified as Fiduciary of the Estate of Joesph Sterling Wolfe (19 E 2131), deceased September 14, 2019, Forsyth County, North Carolina, this is to Notify all persons, firms, and corporation having claims against the Estate of said deceased to present them to the undersigned on or before April 10, 2020 this Notice will be pleaded in bar of recovery. All persons indebted to the said decedent or estate shall please make immediate payment to the undersigned.

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January 2, 2020

The C hronicle

KHEAA offers financial tips for students SUBMITTED ARTICLE

there when they really need something.

The difference Avoid these between a want common student financial aid and a need mistakes

A big step to financial security is learning the difference between a need and a want, according to KHEAA. Students who learn that difference will find that their bank accounts grow more quickly.

Needs include clothes, food and, for many students, transportation.

With clothes, a want may mean wearing only designer items that cost more than clothes that last just as long and look just as good.

Students might want to eat a deluxe cheeseburger at a fast food restaurant every day, even though they can save money by making their own sandwich and brown-bagging it.

If a student needs a car, a want would be a new sports convertible instead of a reliable, used car with good gas mileage and less flash.

Before making a purchase, students should ask themselves if they can get by with a less expensive item — or without that item completely. They should save the money they don’t spend so it’s

Many students spend more for college than they should by making some common mistakes when seeking financial aid.

Follow these tips from KHEAA to make sure you get the help you need.

Some people don’t bother to apply for financial aid because they don’t think they’ll qualify. But they should submit the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) to find out if they’re eligible for state and federal student aid programs.

Not filing may hurt their chances of getting more free money for college.

Another common mistake is waiting until the last minute to apply for financial aid. Some programs have deadlines, while others have limited funds.

Colleges send each student who has applied for student aid a financial aid package. Students and their families should look it over carefully. They should compare offers if they have received packages from more than one

school to see which is the best deal. Of course, students should also consider other factors, such as whether a school offers the academic program a student wants or if it meets other expectations.

Students who need loans to help pay for college must be good consumers. Not all lenders offer the same rates and benefits. Borrowers should pay close attention to what lenders call the back-end benefits: the interest rate and principal reductions offered when repaying the loan.

KHEAA is a public, non-profit agency established in 1966 to improve students’ access to college.

It provides information about financial aid and financial literacy at no cost to students and parents.

KHEAA also helps colleges manage their student loan default rates and verify information submitted on the FAFSA. For more information about those services, visit www. kheaa.com.

In addition, KHEAA disburses private Advantage Education Loans for its sister agency, KHESLC. For more information about Advantage Education Loans, visit www.advantageeducationloan.com.

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