From Free Dan Besse! To Free Winston-Salem!

By |

When I read last Friday’s paper, I was hoping that April Fool’s Day came a few days early this year. But that wasn’t the case. State lawmakers Donny Lambeth and Debra Conrad have arrogantly introduced a bill to reconfigure Winston’s wards, without any input from the residents of Winston. They plan to reduce the City’s eight wards to six, with two councilmembers elected at large. This is another legislative power grab by North Carolina Republicans who resent cities like … Read the rest

The Highway That Divides Winston

By |

Updated 3/6/2019

A couple of days ago I stumbled upon a 2011 master’s thesis online that is must reading for anyone in Winston that cares about fighting racism. Reynoldstown: Race, Blight, Disease, Highway Construction and the Transformation of Winston-Salem, North Carolina, by Shane Cruise is a revelation.

Through exhaustive research into the city council’s records, the Winston-Salem Journal’s pages, as well as mining Robert Korstad’s work on Local 22, and conducting interviews, Shane Cruise has done a service to … Read the rest

$30.5 Million Kaleideum Funding Approved By Forsyth County, Another Giveaway To DTWS

By |

Kaleideum: say hello to higher taxes in Forsyth County. Say goodbye to any county-wide education or anti-poverty initiatives that could have been funded with $30.5 million.

The Forsyth County Commissioners just approved an extremely generous subsidy to Kaleideum, by a 5-2 vote. This outcome was not surprising. But it was disappointing, and it will limit Forsyth County’s budgetary options for years to come.

I blame the Confederate statue that for the moment, still resides at Liberty and Fourth. The County … Read the rest

Giving $30 Million To Kaleideum Would Be A Catastrophe For Children In Forsyth County

By |

The word Kaleideum is a combination of kaleidoscope and museum. The name is still growing on me. The Children’s Museum of Winston-Salem and SciWorks, merged in 2016 to form Kaleideum. Since that time they have been working with Forsyth County to build a new, combined facility in Downtown Winston. The public-private partnership is getting more public and less private with each passing month. A $30.5 million Kaleideum bond is on this Thursday’s Forsyth County Commissioners’ agenda.

I don’t mind saying … Read the rest

Chronicle Is Publishing Forsyth County Press Releases Without Revealing That They’re Written By Forsyth County

By |

Todd Luck worked as a journalist for The Chronicle for several years. I crossed paths with Luck on a couple of occasions at community events and local government meetings. According to his public LinkedIn page, Luck began working for The Chronicle in 2005.

Search for Todd Luck on The Chronicle’s website, and you will find 88 pages of content going back to August 2012. The last article credited to Todd Luck was published in November of last year.… Read the rest

Winston-Salem City Council Merry-Go-Round: February 18, 2019, Robert Clark Is Right!

By |

Monday night’s meeting of the Winston-Salem City Council started out as expected. A moment of silence was observed, then the pledge of allegiance was recited, members of the community were honored before the council addressed the business of the city.

A recently announced, city wide hiring freeze due to a projected budget shortfall was not mentioned, neither was the loss of another corporate headquarters, as BB&T’s bigwigs make their way to Charlotte.

But City Hall certainly heated up 11 … Read the rest

The Journal Gets Kernersville’s Library Wrong

By |

It rained the day that the new Kernersville Library opened less than a week before Christmas. That might have been mother nature’s way of tempering expectations. But the Journal didn’t take the hint.

The Kernersville library pales in comparison to the Central Library, but a recent Winston-Salem Journal editorial offers nothing but uncritical praise for a boring building that it took eight years to build, and is still missing some finishing pieces.*

Before I launch into the many deficiencies of … Read the rest

Undemocratic Alliances And Backroom Deals: Winston We Have A Problem

By |

There is little question which local Winston-Salem/Forsyth County political body is currently home to the most compelling political debates. It’s not the Winston-Salem City Council, though the Confederate statue controversy has heated things up at City Hall recently.

It’s certainly not the rather dull mid-afternoon Forsyth County Commissioners’ meetings. The epicenter of political debate and activism right now in our community is the Winston-Salem/Forsyth County School Board.

In 2018, the WS/FC School Board was home to contentious debates regarding the … Read the rest

Winston-Salem’s Rebel Statue Wranglings; Time To Move The Statue Or Put A Plaque Up Denouncing Jim Crow

By |

The Winston-Salem Journal has reported that an attorney for the United Daughters of the Confederacy has asked the City of Winston-Salem to delay its plans to move the Confederate statue that stands at Fourth and Liberty:

The United Daughters of the Confederacy is asking Winston-Salem for a 60-day delay in filing any legal action to force removal of the Confederate statue at the corner of Fourth and Liberty streets on the grounds of the former Forsyth County Courthouse.

James Davis,

… Read the rest

MLK Day And Urban Renewal In Winston

By |

Last Monday the Ministers’ Conference and local NAACP led a procession of supporters from the convention center, through Downtown Winston, through the former Pond neighborhood, concluding at Union Baptist Church.

The presence of majority African American marchers going through downtown reminded me of how African Americans have been systematically pushed out of Downtown Winston over several decades. As the rhythms of Carver’s Marching Band reverberated through Trade Street, I couldn’t help thinking about all the property that was … Read the rest