WS Chronicle

64-year marriage leads minister to reflect on who he is

To the Editor:

(Rev. and Mrs. Humphrey celebrated 64 years of blissful marriage on Sept. 9, 2015. )

It’s interesting how thoughts occur and just will not let go. This morning was one of those times with me. It could have been because I was thinking of a certain person who was much about the “I Am’s” in a personal way.

Then I thought about the “Real I Am, That I Am.” From that point, the questions and answers flowed about who I am.

I found it amazing. I will try to provide some points of view about Who I Am.

I am Benjamin Franklin Humphrey Jr., initially – the son of a Share-Cropper, Benjamin Humphrey, Sr. and Margaret Humphrey of Richlands, N.C.  The fourth born of nine children; second birth, a child of God. Nationality an African-American. I am unity; body and soul. I am male, straight.

I am a preacher/pastor for 61 years as of July 4, 2015; superannuated itinerant elder of The African Methodist Episcopal Church, with the rights to (A) Preach the Gospel, (B) administer the Holy Communion, (C) Baptize, (D) Perform marriages and eulogize the dead.

A poet and songwriter. See book of poetry and the National Library of Poetry: “View from The Edge,” a hardback book.

I am the author of the book, “Stay Focused.” A master barber and of the N.C. Board of Barbers Examiners of Raleigh, N.C. (Graduate of Harris Barber College, Raleigh, N.C.) A master mason, a member of Omega Lodge No. 292, Richlands, N.C.

A member of the NAACP, making democracy work most of my adult life. An entrepreneur, in the states of N.C. and Florida; owner of The Humphrey’s Quality Barber Shop; a licensed operator of vehicle in the state of N.C.

I am a chaplain/devotional leader of the Ministers’ Conference of Winston-Salem and Vicinity. Graduate of the Theological Department of Kittrell College, Kittrell, N.C. An honored VIP member of Cambridge Who’s Who. I am a certified member of St. James African Methodist Episcopal Church, 1501 N. Patterson Ave., Winston-Salem, N.C., where I finalized my pastorate prior to retirement, now associate to the pastor.

The conclusion of the whole matter, is this: As a man of 81 years old, I acknowledge the fact, that without God, I am nothing. All hail the Power of Jesus’ Name.

Rev. Benjamin F. Humphrey Jr.

As Rev. and Mrs. Humphrey celebrate their anniversary, Rev. Humphrey says he is the husband to Pearlie Pollock Humphrey. He is a father of five, with four offsprings who lived to be adults. He is a grandfather and great-grandfather several times over. He is a father-in-law of three wonderful daughters-in-law. “I am blessed by God through Jesus Christ, Our Savior to be the said owner(s) with Pearlie P. Humphrey of 123 Northwoods Circle, Winston-Salem, N.C.,” he says.

To the Pitts:

Thank you for giving me a chance

To the Editor:

I send both my heartfelt congratulations and thanks to Ernie and Elaine Pitt for more than 40 years of providing this community, and in fact, the whole area with the Winston-Salem Chronicle.

I send congratulations mostly for staying the course and for persevering with a small, family-owned business. That feat alone is commendable over the span of 40+ years. Congratulations on representing Winston-Salem’s black community well and professionally beyond the city limits evidenced by the many, many National Newspaper Publishers Association awards you brought home. Congratulations on sidestepping the sticks and stones no doubt hurled at you as you dared to begin a news agency that challenged the mainstream.

But I also want to send my boundless thanks to you. Thank you for giving a 25-year old eager journalist the opportunity to do something she loved at The Chronicle. Thanks to you, I had the privilege of cutting my journalistic teeth under the tutelage of Allen Johnson and Angela Wright not to mention the added benefit of watching gifted pros like Robin Adams and photographer James Parker at work. In journalism, it just doesn’t come much better.

Thank you for challenging all of us to tell the untold story – to look for so many important stories from the perspective of voices not always heard. I am grateful that my job at The Chronicle allowed me to meet and get to know some of this community’s very best – like Mrs. Louise Wilson, Shedrick Adams, Florence Corpening and Dee Smith and the Revs. Mendez and Eversley – just to name a few. Thank you for the fact that my tennis pal, Julie Perry, and I frequently enjoy reminiscing about our “Chronicle days.”

Thank you Ernie and Elaine for having the guts to start something so important and to see it through. And thank you for giving me a chance to be a part of crucial journalism that helped shaped the Winston-Salem we now know.

Thank you and congratulations. Well done.

Robin Barksdale Ervin