WS Chronicle

Condolences for UNCC alumus killed in train wreck

To the Editor:

The Amtrak tragedy that occurred Tuesday evening [in Philadelphia] claimed the lives of at least eight people and injured hundreds of passengers and crew members. Dr. Derrick E. Griffith, a dean at Medgar Evers College and a UNC Charlotte alum, was one of those lost during that tragic event.

During his time at UNCC, Derrick was a leader for students here at home and took that with him as he worked to touch the lives of students in New York throughout his academic career. His contributions to education are truly admirable.
My heart goes out to his family and friends and my thoughts and prayers will remain with them during this difficult time.
 
U.S. Rep. Alma S. Adams (NC12) Washington, D.C.

Thank God for the Salvation Army

To the Editor:

Pockets of despair within a landscape buttressed with hope and prosperity — this is what I see in our beloved Winston-Salem.

Why can’t people who say they care about all of God’s children see what I see?

To the South – From U.S. 150/Peters Creek Parkway/Baseball Stadium Area all the way to the Davidson County line, there are signs of growth and new life. North University Parkway past Wake Forest University and beyond, opportunity abounds bustling with new businesses, housing, services, etc.

Ah! The West – Highest socioeconomic area within the boundaries of the entire county, theirs represents the best of what balanced growth and development looks like. Of course they pay the highest taxes. No mystery, simply economics of segregation.

The East? – Where is this? Who wants to live here? Median family income somewhere below $30,000s, unemployment rate double that of broader community, demographic profile – on life support.

You go figure why a Homeless Shelter is just another nail in this coffin.

Thank God for the Salvation Army. It does a great service here and all throughout this country.

In times such as these the model must review itself in view of the requirements necessary to be licensed to fish … not simply to teach one how to fish.

Evelyn Terry

Winston-Salem:
Be there!

To the Editor:

The historic trial of our lawsuit [N.C. NAACP v. McCrory] against the McCrory-Tillis-Berger law designed to disenfranchise African-American and other anti-racism voters has been postponed a week. The federal judge notified us that he wants the trial to begin on July 13 in his court in Winston-Salem.

It gives us a week more to spread the word. Tell everyone. Monday, July 13, Winston-Salem! We march across our Edmund Pettus Bridge in Winston-Salem to expose and reverse the Tea Party’s unconstitutional attack on the voting rights our parents and grandparents won with their lives and blood. North Carolina is our Selma!

Also, the N.C. NAACP and Forward Together Moral Movement handed a request for emails between the Governor, Dr. Wos, who runs the Department of Health and Human Services, and the 100 county DSS Directors, trying to get evidence about why the voter registrations of people applying for public assistance had dropped 66 percent from the day Gov. McCrory took office in January 2013. We asked Governor McCrory for an immediate public statement about this suspicious drop off in registration of welfare recipients, which is required by the 1993 National Voter Registration Act. Dr. Wos’ staff has said we can get some emails, but we have to pay for them. Stay tuned.

On Thursday, May 7, the Daily Kos published a troubling report that showed a substantial drop in voter registrations submitted from public assistance agencies since the beginning of 2013. According to the State Board of Elections, in 2012, 41,162 registration applications were submitted from pubic assistance agencies. In 2013, this number dropped to 18,758 and in 2014, it dropped even further to 13,340.

Ten more witnesses for justice were arrested as they tried to exercise their constitutional duty to instruct Sen. Phil Berger about raising the minimum wage to a livable wage. The General Assembly seems afraid to let the people vote on a Constitutional Amendment about a livable wage.

Rev. Dr. William J. Barber, II, President
North Carolina NAACP, Durham