SPEAK OUT
Tuesday, December 9, 2014
Monday, December 8, 2014
OpEd: Race Relations in the Piedmont Triad ~~ Waiting for Thanksgiving
By Carly Pete
Thanksgiving is my favorite food event not counting family members’ birthdays. This year’s planning was interrupted by an announcement the Monday before that the grand jury in Ferguson did not indict the murderer of Michael Brown, an unarmed local teen.
Bamboozled, duped, hoodwinked. What?
How could this possibly be? There were multiple eyewitness accounts to the killing, one even contemporaneous to the shooting. But the 12-member grand jury – six white men, three white women, two black women and one black man – voted no indictment; nine votes were needed to indict.
Do the math.
I’m troubled about the three-month delay announcing this decision, as well as its timing, choosing to announce during the week of Thanksgiving. Were black people supposed to drown our sorrows in turkey, dressing, gravy, and other comfort foods? Maybe, eat cake and get over it? I can’t swallow.
White policemen are killing black boys.
During their teenage years was when I first noticed a change in the way my sons were treated by white police officers. As they grew, which coincided with them leaving the safety of our yard, they sometimes met with friends on the corner where we lived: Policemen told them they couldn’t “congregate” on the corner. The further they strayed into society – high school, the park, the mall – unaccompanied by my husband or me, the more attention they attracted from police. My sons constantly complained that the police officers harassed the black kids, but seemed oblivious to what the white kids said and did. My sons survived; however, potentially life threatening encounters with local police did occur. My sons now have sons.
Black men are men.
Let’s face it. Generally speaking, it’s not black officers or female officers who are killing young black men, it is white policemen. In fact, many black officers working undercover have themselves been killed by fellow white male officers. Something is deadly wrong here; we need to fix this, for all our sakes.
Waiting for Thanksgiving…
I boycotted Thanksgiving and Black Friday this year. I’m waiting for justice.
About Carly Pete: Carly, a 2013 graduate of Salem College, earned B.A. degrees in Communication and Creative Writing. She resides in Winston-Salem, where she works as a communication consultant, lyricist and writer.
Thanksgiving is my favorite food event not counting family members’ birthdays. This year’s planning was interrupted by an announcement the Monday before that the grand jury in Ferguson did not indict the murderer of Michael Brown, an unarmed local teen.
Bamboozled, duped, hoodwinked. What?
How could this possibly be? There were multiple eyewitness accounts to the killing, one even contemporaneous to the shooting. But the 12-member grand jury – six white men, three white women, two black women and one black man – voted no indictment; nine votes were needed to indict.
Do the math.
I’m troubled about the three-month delay announcing this decision, as well as its timing, choosing to announce during the week of Thanksgiving. Were black people supposed to drown our sorrows in turkey, dressing, gravy, and other comfort foods? Maybe, eat cake and get over it? I can’t swallow.
White policemen are killing black boys.
During their teenage years was when I first noticed a change in the way my sons were treated by white police officers. As they grew, which coincided with them leaving the safety of our yard, they sometimes met with friends on the corner where we lived: Policemen told them they couldn’t “congregate” on the corner. The further they strayed into society – high school, the park, the mall – unaccompanied by my husband or me, the more attention they attracted from police. My sons constantly complained that the police officers harassed the black kids, but seemed oblivious to what the white kids said and did. My sons survived; however, potentially life threatening encounters with local police did occur. My sons now have sons.
Black men are men.
Let’s face it. Generally speaking, it’s not black officers or female officers who are killing young black men, it is white policemen. In fact, many black officers working undercover have themselves been killed by fellow white male officers. Something is deadly wrong here; we need to fix this, for all our sakes.
Waiting for Thanksgiving…
I boycotted Thanksgiving and Black Friday this year. I’m waiting for justice.
About Carly Pete: Carly, a 2013 graduate of Salem College, earned B.A. degrees in Communication and Creative Writing. She resides in Winston-Salem, where she works as a communication consultant, lyricist and writer.
Sunday, December 7, 2014
OpEd: Race Relations in the Piedmont Triad ~~ If We Can Laugh Together
By Stephanie Barclay
When I was first offered the chance to write about race relations, I was excited. After all, I have a somewhat unique perspective, being mixed, and a lot to say--in general and about the current state of things. But after trying all night to approach the subject in an analytical, objective manner, what I wrote seemed... well, it didn't ring true enough. So I scrapped all that. I'm going to speak to you from the heart, and you can take out of it what you will, dear reader.
The perception that so many of you white people have about the subjugation, harassment, disenfranchisement and marginalization of the black American ending almost two hundred years ago with the Emancipation Proclamation and that no one alive today having anything to do with it, well it's false. Ask a Southerner in their 60's about the segregated water fountains, lunch counters, swimming pools, hospitals, etc ad nauseum that still existed when the Beatles came to America. It was American apartheid. So "almost two hundred" is really more like 50 years ago... or less. It's been a scant 45 years since the last schools in the country were desegregated, just three years before I was born. 14 years since the state of Alabama struck its (albeit unenforceable since 1967) ban of interracial marriage from its law books, the last state in the US to do so. 34 years since the last known lynching of a black man by the KKK.
And whether or not you were personally responsible for any of this, and many other injustices meted out against black Americans before and since Lincoln freed the slaves, you should at least give black Americans the courtesy of recognizing it's not ancient history, and it's not all in their heads.
At the same time, you black people who look at all white Americans with mistrust, as being part of a system that's keeping you down, are just plain blind. If you're teaching your children to mistrust whitey you're as bad as white Americans who teach their children all the worst stereotypes about people of color. There are many good white Americans and you're alienating them with your attitude. And those of you who look down on getting an education and using proper English at all because you think it's a "white" thing and therefore beneath you, (well you probably can't/won't read this article anyway but...) do you not understand that a proper education and ability to speak, read and write proper English doesn't make you "white", it makes you EDUCATED.
Slaves would be put to death if it was found out they could read or write. I'm sure if any one of them could be brought forward in time, they would be mighty confused, sad and angry that with all the freedoms you do have, you choose to deny yourself that which was denied them by deadly force. Because the powers back then knew an educated slave was a danger to the whole system of slavery. Yet, here you are, willingly treating yourself like a slave, wrapping yourself in shackles of ignorance.
I could go on in this vein but I'm done scolding. What it all boils down to is this: we are all the same species. We all need the same basic things to survive: shelter from the elements, food to eat, medicine to heal us when we're sick, and beneficial relationships with other human beings to sustain and enrich our souls.
The difference in how we achieve these goals, as long as the process doesn't involve criminal activity, is chump change compared to the four basic ways in which we are all alike. This "racial divide" is an artificial construct and it CAN be breached and destroyed, just like the Berlin Wall.
The air these days is full of ugly comments, sprung from the incidents in Ferguson, New York City, and other places, flung from both sides of the "racial divide". This may scare the Bejeezus out of some people, but I think it's a good thing. The subject of race, and racism, has been covered up by so many political and metaphorical band aids that it's become a festering wound. All this recent ugliness in the air is just the buildup of nasty rotten goo releasing itself. And the wound is back open.
Dear reader, we have an opportunity while the band aids are off to do some real cleaning of the wound. Maybe some real bandaging too. We should just go ahead and ask our ignorant questions, because let's face it, ignorance abounds on both sides of our own racial version of the Berlin Wall. And let's answer those questions, with patience and kindness, no harm no foul, laugh together at the most ridiculous ones, and work to fix the painful ones that hit the bullseye.
And if we can laugh together, maybe we can all start to finally see each other as what we truly are: fellow Americans. If we can work together, maybe we can finally heal this festering wound and tear down that wall.
It all starts with you.
About Stephanie Barclay: Born in Upstate New York, Stephanie Barclay has lived in the Piedmont Triad since 1979. From early childhood on, she has always been most in her element when involved in one creative process or another. Today she is an artist/singer/writer, and lives for cheap or free stuff to do.
Thursday, December 4, 2014
OpEd: Eric Garner's Death Should Not Have Happened
By Jessica Thomas Lewis
I am enraged about Michael Brown and Ferguson. I am enraged about Eric Garner. I am enraged that a 63-year-old white man stood on the the streets in Kalamazoo, MI with a rifle and had a 40 minute encounter with the police, was not arrested and got his gun back the next day. I'm enraged about the 12-year-old boy, Tamir Rice, shot point blank in Cleveland, within two seconds of police arriving because he was holding a toy gun. I am enraged about white privilege. I am enraged and saddened by the plethora of black men being shot in the streets by police officers, and in Eric Garner's case, choked to death. I am a white woman, 40 years old. And I will not stay quiet about this.
I want you to see this. Watch this video of Eric Garner, dead or nearly dead, on the street. Listen to the words of the man taking the video. Eric Garner was killed by a police officer and it Should. Not. Have. Happened. It's happening everywhere, it's happening frequently and it is unacceptable.
I cannot believe this happened.
It should not have happened. Eric Garner had stopped a fight on the streets. And then he was killed on the streets. Trial, judge and jury right there on the streets of Staten Island.
The chokehold is prohibited by the NYPD. Eric Garner was held in a choke hold until he stopped breathing, right there on the streets. In front of everybody and on video. The man is dead. The medical examiner has declared it a homicide. And there is no indictment. There are no repercussions.
The police officer is above the law.
It breaks my heart.
When is this going to stop?
Over and over again, black men. Dead on the streets. At a much higher rate than any other race.
When is this going to stop?
The above video is difficult to watch. It is 7:35 of watching Mr. Garner take his last breaths.
It should not have happened.
The below clip is 8:45. If you have the time, you should watch the whole thing. If you're pressed for time, you can start the video below at 2:06 and see the impetus for Eric Garner's death. You can see the reason why he's dead. It. Should. Not. Have. Happened.
The below clip is 8:45. If you have the time, you should watch the whole thing. If you're pressed for time, you can start the video below at 2:06 and see the impetus for Eric Garner's death. You can see the reason why he's dead. It. Should. Not. Have. Happened.
This is not a one-time incident of police brutality (especially in this area of Staten Island). There is a pattern, every day in cities all across America, of black men being tried on the streets. Being pulled over and ticketed at a higher rate, being harassed when they have done nothing wrong. I've seen it with my own eyes, in person. I don't buy into media hype. I do buy into right and wrong, fairness and unfairness. What was the law being enforced with Eric Garner? What was he resisting? On the video, (above), what evidence do you see that the police had any reason to question him, to harass him, to kill him? The police have a difficult job. Police, very often, have a thankless job. I am a supporter of the police and pray for their safety. I do not, however, have tolerance of obvious harassment based on skin color. I am not going to accept it or keep quiet about it. Ever. Silence is acceptance and this is not acceptable. Eric Garner was killed on the streets of Staten Island. It could have been stopped and it should have been stopped.
Click here to see 11 important facts.
No matter what the cops were supposedly restraining him for, he didn't do anything that deserved for him to die on the street. Eric Garner was in no way, shape or form resisting and there was no just cause whatsoever. The coroner declared a homicide. There. Now I've played judge and jury. I saw it with my own eyes and Eric Garner's death Should. Not. Have. Happened.
There are protests across the country.
There are protests here locally, in the Piedmont Triad.
Silence is acceptance. When you see a wrong, speak out.
Speak out.
Click here to see 11 important facts.
No matter what the cops were supposedly restraining him for, he didn't do anything that deserved for him to die on the street. Eric Garner was in no way, shape or form resisting and there was no just cause whatsoever. The coroner declared a homicide. There. Now I've played judge and jury. I saw it with my own eyes and Eric Garner's death Should. Not. Have. Happened.
There are protests across the country.
There are protests here locally, in the Piedmont Triad.
Silence is acceptance. When you see a wrong, speak out.
Speak out.
Monday, December 1, 2014
Review: The Tyler Nail Trio at Jamestown's Turntable
By: Abebi Stafford
A visit to Turntable, located in Jamestown near High Point, was quite an unexpected and pleasant surprise. It is an intimate setting where musicians and audience members can really connect with each other; a band playing to a full viewing house is about 30 individuals. Walls are decorated with historic and iconic album covers from artist such as John Coltrane, and Steely Dan for texture and soft lighting for ambiance. Turntable is reminiscent of a high school, or college house party with a live band for entertainment. The bar is stocked with wine and beer, coffee and tea, as well as light snacks to enjoy while listening to music if you have the taste for it. If you want to hear good music and have a homey feel while doing so then Turntable is your spot.
The Tyler Nail trio also consists of Quique Rodriguez-Pastor -bass, and Johnathan Loos-guitar. All the musicians are solid players and each individual has an album as a leader. Original, inspired, gritty at times, folk music filled the building for a few hours. Tyler and Johnathan’s smooth voices work well together harmonizing with one another while they play and Quique lays out the low tones underneath it all. One feels as if they are driving the road with one’s own thoughts for a couple of the nostalgic inspired tunes. Tyler Nail loves his guitar and it is absolutely apparent to the audience.
Addendum (January 3, 2015), from the Facebook page of Turntable: We're sad to announce that this message comes with the unfortunate news that as of January 1st, 2015, Turntable has officially closed its doors.
Original music, art, and the creative spirit; these were the threads that intertwined a community that has continued to grow over these past two years. Our goal was to create a space for musicians and listeners alike, where all were respected and had the opportunity to truly be heard.
We cannot thank you, our community, enough for your continued patronage, support, and belief in all that is Turntable. Although the business will no longer be open, the spirit of Turntable will most definitely live on contributing to the music community that exists around us. So be on the look out in the coming months. We love you all!
About Abebi Stafford: Abebi is a local jazz pianist and composer. Born in Minnesota, Abebi relocated to Winston-Salem two years ago. Abebi has headlined two major jazz festivals, performed in such cities as Berlin, Munich, Nuremburg, Frankfurt, Paris and Prague and has toured the Southeast United States as a performer. Abebi has produced three albums compiled of mostly original works. He is currently working as a solo artist and featured artist at such local venues as Crown and Cork, Tate's, Krankie's WS Shuffle, Arts on Sunday, Kernersville's Spring Folly and the Wayne County Jazz Showcase. Abebi is working on his fourth album. You can purchase any of Abebi's albums on cdbaby.
Thursday, November 27, 2014
Feed the City; An Annual Thanksgiving Outreach in Winston-Salem
By Jessica Thomas Lewis
By 11:30am, we had packed more than 800 meals for shut-ins, the indigent and homeless.
These were hot meals; turkey, stuffing, green beans, mashed potatoes, gravy, cranberry sauce, and a roll. Packed by volunteers in hopes of touching the lives of those who wouldn't otherwise have a Thanksgiving meal.
Organized by Flow Automotive and St. Paul UMC, this initiative brings Flow employees, church members and others together to quickly prepare and deliver the meals to such places as Crystal Towers and Healy Towers on Thanksgiving Day. The group of volunteers included young men from Winston-Salem Preparatory Academy. I was there with my daughters, ages 6 and 10. Everyone had a specific duty. I carried two trays at a time down the line and each food item was ladled in as I went. My daughters were at the end of the line with another young girl, placing a sheet of parchment across the food, and added a roll and packaged utensils. A piece of pie went out with each meal.
It does this Mama's heart proud that my children thanked me for bringing them today to pack those meals.
Be grateful, give back and be blessed. Happy Thanksgiving, y'all.
Wednesday, November 26, 2014
La Casa Lopez Mexican Grill
By Denton Gerow
I got spoiled in California with fresh, family made Mexican food. I found some okay places around but none of them could match up in flavor or that 'you're home' kind of hospitality I had come to enjoy.
Then I found La Casa Lopez Mexican Grill, 3028 Healy Dr. Winston Salem. The Lopez family runs this corner restaurant in the strip plaza just off of Stratford Rd. They make you feel like you are a long lost friend the first time you walk in the door and it only gets better from there. They respect when you need some quiet time and they make a large group feel like they each are important to them.
Their menu has something for everyone. From the best ChoriQueso dip to vegetarian options, to seafood and a wide range of classic dishes, everything here that I have tasted has been delicious.
Among of my favorites to order are the Lunch Special Nachos, a pile of chips, with the meat of your choice, covered in cheese dip, homemade guacamole, salsa and creme fresh with lettuce and tomatoes.
If you are hungry, can't make up your mind, or want to split something, try the Special Dinner. It takes up to three plates to be delivered, You get a burrito, chalupa, chili relleno, beef enchillada, beef taco, refried beas, and rice All for $10.49.
On a quest for trying different flavors I once ordered the Burrito a la Roqueta. Two burritos filled with tender delicious carnitas (pork), covered in verde sauce and served with pico de gallo and rice. This dish is awesome and I highly suggest it.
On a warm day or nice night, be sure to ask to sit on the patio, smoking allowed. Oh and don't forget they have inexpensive draft beers.
I don't miss those spots in California anymore.
Welcome New Contributor Denton Gerow!
Denton was born in Charlotte, but has lived all over the eastern seaboard and in California. An avid Foodie, he prefers to eat at local joints, hole in the walls and the oft missed. Denton loves to cook and share his passions for food, cigars, beer and more.
I got spoiled in California with fresh, family made Mexican food. I found some okay places around but none of them could match up in flavor or that 'you're home' kind of hospitality I had come to enjoy.
Then I found La Casa Lopez Mexican Grill, 3028 Healy Dr. Winston Salem. The Lopez family runs this corner restaurant in the strip plaza just off of Stratford Rd. They make you feel like you are a long lost friend the first time you walk in the door and it only gets better from there. They respect when you need some quiet time and they make a large group feel like they each are important to them.Their menu has something for everyone. From the best ChoriQueso dip to vegetarian options, to seafood and a wide range of classic dishes, everything here that I have tasted has been delicious.
Among of my favorites to order are the Lunch Special Nachos, a pile of chips, with the meat of your choice, covered in cheese dip, homemade guacamole, salsa and creme fresh with lettuce and tomatoes.
If you are hungry, can't make up your mind, or want to split something, try the Special Dinner. It takes up to three plates to be delivered, You get a burrito, chalupa, chili relleno, beef enchillada, beef taco, refried beas, and rice All for $10.49.
On a quest for trying different flavors I once ordered the Burrito a la Roqueta. Two burritos filled with tender delicious carnitas (pork), covered in verde sauce and served with pico de gallo and rice. This dish is awesome and I highly suggest it.
On a warm day or nice night, be sure to ask to sit on the patio, smoking allowed. Oh and don't forget they have inexpensive draft beers.
I don't miss those spots in California anymore.
Welcome New Contributor Denton Gerow!
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