http://nnpa.org/elected-black-republicans-not-expected-to-be-a-plus-for-the-community-by-freddie-allen/
TRICE WIRE STORIES -
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CASH IN THE
APPLE - 1-8-15
By Cash Michaels
“A
GENERATION OF CHANGE” – One of the projects I was very proud to be part of last
year was the production of a new UNC-TV documentary titled, “ A Generation of
Change: Bill Friday, Terry Sanford and North Carolina from 1920 – 1972.” The
one-hour program, produced by Steve
Channing and Rebecca Cerese,
tells the story of North Carolina’s political history during that critical period,
and is a must see.
Yours truly
is the narrator.
The program
airs tonight (Thursday) at 10 p.m. on your local UNC Public Television station.
I think you’ll find it worth watching.
STUART SCOTT – Last Sunday, a
sports broadcasting legend passed away, Stuart
Scott of ESPN. The news hurt, because I knew Stuart during the early days
of his remarkable career, and he had grown into a professional, and a man I was
very proud of.
Scott was
49.
It was April 1987, when a young man in a suit carrying an
attache' case, came to the old WLLE-AM radio
station on East Martin Street in Raleigh where I was the program director,
seeking his first radio job. He was graduating from UNC - Chapel Hill the
following month, and wanted his first break in broadcasting.
The young man was Stuart Scott.
I remember the day well because we had just had Mrs. Coretta Scott King visit our
station to say her first words of thanks to North Carolina for passing the
state paid holiday honoring her late husband, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and I had forgotten that I had made the
appointment to see Stuart . I had no job for the young man, but I figured the
least I could after I met him was listen to his audition tape, critique it, and
give him some advice for his career.
Stuart and I spent at least an hour talking about his
future, and how he could get into the business. I remember Stuart being a very
eager listener, and I wished him well when he left.
A few years later, I saw Stuart on the air at WRAL-TV as a reporter. The news
director at the time was a black woman named Connie Howard, and she had hired a number of black males for the
news team.
The next time we saw each other was a few years after
that was in Atlanta, June 1990. South
African leader Nelson Mandela had
been released from prison, and had come
to the US on a speaking tour. I went to
cover it from Raleigh, traveling with a bus to Dowd Stadium on the campus of
Georgia Tech. I was surprised to see Stuart there, working for a local Atlanta TV
station. We talked, and he told me that he was up for a job at ESPN2, which was
just being created. Stuart was excited
because he wanted to leave straight news to finally do what he really loved,
sportscasting. I wished him luck.
Sure enough when I did tune in to ESPN2, which was a
bit laid back from it’s bigger brother, ESPN, there was Stuart, leading the
charge with style and ease. I couldn’t believe this young man once came to my
radio station, looking for a job.
In the intervening years, Stuart graduated to the big
show on ESPN. He had honed his unique style into an art, and was getting major
play during all of the major broadcasts.
It was October 1997 when Stuart Scott and I last saw
and spoke to one another. After 36 years, UNC
Tar Heel Coach Dean Smith was announcing his retirement from coaching at
UNC, and the entire sports world descended on campus for the historic
announcement. It was huge national news, and because Coach Smith was a man of
integrity who ran a clean, championship program which produced such greats such
as Michael Jordan, James Worthy and Sam Perkins.
When I walked into the gym, I was surprised to see Stuart
was there, surrounded by local sports reporters, giving them advice and telling
stories. When he saw me, he smiled, pointed and said, "There's Cash
Michaels. He's the one that gave me advice on how to get into this business.”
Stuart and I embraced, spoke, and I told him how proud
I was of him. For the rest of that time, I watched many of Coach Smith’s former
players, now top NBA stars, go to Stuart to shake his hand and take pictures.
I had to shake my head. Talk about a star.
Over the years, Stuart has been back to the Triangle
area many times to take part in various activities, including the Jimmy V
Classic charity golf tournament, which raised thousands of dollars for cancer
research in memory of the late NC State basketball coach Jimmy Valvano.
I never did speak with Stuart again, not because I
didn’t want to, but because I didn’t cover any more sports related stories. I
wish I did, just to be able to say hello again.
That pride of mine burst broadly when I saw Stuart
take the top spot at ESPN, and truly revolutionize sports reporting with his
unique hip-hop style. But the pride was multiplied in recent years when I
witnessed Stuart's tremendous courage in fighting cancer, and then the love he
had for his daughters and family.
This week, when I heard during the many tributes how
Stuart would make time for young people, mentor up-and-coming broadcasters to
be themselves, and display the kind of courage needed in the face of a deadly
disease, I was awestruck. Stuart Scott had risen to the very top of his
profession, having met just about every major sports star, having interviewed
two sitting presidents (Clinton and Obama), and creating trademarked sayings
like “booyah” and “cool as the other side of the pillow.”
Stuart gave sports reporting soul and art, but he did
so with tremendous writing skills and a unique sense of style. He informed us,
but also made us laugh and enjoy.
I wish I
could have stayed in touch with Stuart during all of those years. I wish I
could have spoken with him at least once during his bout with cancer. But I am
proud of the times I did have with him, and tremendously proud of the fine
young professional he grew into being.
Thank you,
Stuart. It was an honor to meet …a legend.
Make sure you tune in every Thursday afternoon at 4 p.m. for my talk
radio show, ''Make It Happen'' on Power 750 WAUG-AM, or online
at www.waug-network.com. And read more about my thoughts and opinions
exclusively at my blog, ‘The Cash Roc” (http://thecashroc.blogspot.com/2011/01/cash-roc-begins.html).
Cash in the Apple - honored as the
Best Column Writing of 2006 by the National Newspaper Publishers Association.
Columnist Cash Michaels was also honored by the NNPA for Best Feature Story
Journalist of 2009, and was the recipient of the Raleigh-Apex NAACP’s
President’s Award for Media Excellence in Sept. 2011.
Until
next week, keep a smile on your face, GOD in your heart, and The Carolinian in
your life. Bye, bye.
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TRIANGLE NEWS BRIEFS 1-8-15
TRIANGLE NEWS BRIEFS 1-8-15
RWCA HOSTS RECEPTION
FOR NEWLY-ELECTED OFFICIALS
The
Raleigh-Wake Citizens Association is inviting Raleigh and Wake County residents
to a community reception to recognize newly elected officials and community
leaders on Monday, Jan. 12, 6 p.m. at the Martin Street Baptist Church Family
Life Center on the corner of East Martin Street and Rock Quarry Road. The
public is invited and admission is free.
WAKE SCHOOL BOARD
SEEKS 95% GRADUATION RATE IN NEW PLAN
A proposed
five-year plan by the Wake County Public School System would seek a 95%
graduation rate of students “prepared for a complex and changing world.” A
draft of the plan, discussed Tuesday during the school board’s work session, is
the result of various focus groups and town hall meetings, in addition to an
online survey. This is not the first attempt on the part of WCPSS to achieve a
95% proficiency rate. In 2003, the system fell short at 91.7 percent vying for
the number of students at or above state reading and math test results per
grade level.
UNC-CHAPEL HILL
MOURNS PASSING OF ALUM STUART SCOTT
This week,
the sports and broadcasting worlds mourned the passing of ESPN broadcaster Stuart
Scott, who did Sunday of cancer at age 49. Scott’s alma mater, UNC – Chapel
Hill, honored Scott for his pioneering television journalism, and contributions
to the school. President Obama, LeBron James, and even UNC-Chapel Hill alum
Michael Jordan, all issued statements of condolences in memory of Scott. Scott
attended high school in Winston-Salem, and graduated UNC- Chapel Hill in 1987
before starting his broadcast career. He joined ESPN2 in 1993.
-30-
LOCAL CIVIL RIGHTS ACTIVIST TURNS 103 FRIDAY
by Pauline Goza
Special to The Carolinian
Mrs. Pauline Holden Latta, a native Raleigh-ite, will celebrate her 103rd birthday on Friday, January 9, 2015. She was born at 813 South Blount Street where her birth and that of her siblings was documented in the family Bible by her father, Charles Holden. “In those days we didn’t get birth certificates.” Mrs. Latta said as she reminisced about her early life.
“We heard stories of slavery from our great-Aunt Lena Thomas who moved North after Emancipation. Back then, South Blount Street was still integrated. I used to throw the ball to the little white girl who lived across the street and we would play at a distance until the little girl's mother would catch her and make her come inside.” She continued.
“White children went to the elementary school that was located where Raleigh Memorial Auditorium is now, while we had to walk to Crosby Garfield Elementary School on Lenoir Street. You see, while the neighborhood was mixed, we were still segregated.” Mrs. Latta explained.
“On some Sundays, my father took us to the Governor’s Mansion and we would walk all around the grounds. It wasn’t fenced in back then.”
She remembers when the street cars were replaced by city buses. “You could ride all over Raleigh for five cents.” She said and then laughed. “Of course, there wasn’t as much to see in those days and Hargett Street was the hub of Black-owned businesses.”
She marched in the Civil Rights protests on Fayetteville Street in the 60s and is looking forward to revisiting those years as she and her 90-year old sister, Mrs. Mary Holden Poole, view the movie, Selma, this week.
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Butterfield Takes Helm of the
Congressional Black Caucus
Special to The Carolinian Newspaper
WASHINGTON, DC – On Tuesday,
Congressman G. K. Butterfield (NC-01) was sworn in as the 24th
Chair of the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) during a ceremony hosted by the
Congressional Black Caucus Foundation (CBCF) at the U.S. Capitol. The
historic ceremony marked the induction of the largest class in the CBC’s
44-year history, which includes five new members of which 20 are women.
During the event, Chairman Butterfield
recognized Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi, Democratic Whip Steny Hoyer, and
Assistant Democratic Leader Jim Clyburn, who were all in attendance, and
welcomed Representatives Alma Adams (NC-12), Bonnie Watson Coleman (NJ-12),
Brenda Lawrence (MI-14), Mia Love (UT-04), and Stacey Plaskett (USVI) to the
Caucus.
Over the next two years, Chairman
Butterfield will lead the Caucus, also known as the “Conscience of the
Congress” in carrying out its mission of empowering the African American
community and addressing its legislative concerns.
In his remarks, Butterfield outlined the
CBC’s focus for the 114th
Congress to include:
·
Criminal
justice reform;
·
Reducing
poverty;
·
Safeguarding
social safety net programs;
·
Creating
educational opportunities;
·
Strengthening
Historically Black Colleges and Universities;
·
Restoring
section 5 of the Voting Rights Act; and
·
Ensuring
corporate diversity.
Butterfield said, “We are ready for
these fights. The fight for the future is not a black fight, a Democratic
or Republican fight; it is a fight that all fair minded Americans should
promote. We need to use political means, policy and legal means, to
reduce racial disparities and move closer to the day when all African Americans
will benefit from fairness and justice and realize the American dream.”
-30-
FUNERAL FOR ESPN'S STUART SCOTT IN RALEIGH - Funeral services for Stuart Scott, the pioneering ESPN sports broadcaster who helped changed the craft, will be held this weekend in Raleigh. The wake for Scott will be held Friday, 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. at Providence Baptist Church on Glenwood Avenue in Raleigh. His funeral will be held Saturday morning at the church at 11 a.m., with burial at Raleigh Memorial Park. Scott, who worked for WRAL-TV as a reporter before going to ESPN in the mid-1990's, died after a seven-year battle with cancer on Jan. 4th. He as 49. He leaves behind two teenage daughters.
STONE'S WAREHOUSE ON EAST DAVIE STREET
CONCERN ABOUT STONE’S
WAREHOUSE PROJECT
By Cash Michaels
Staff writer
The likely
high-end redevelopment of the vacant Stone’s Warehouse property at East Davie,
East streets and Chavis Way in Southeast Raleigh promises exciting new
businesses for the chic millennial downtown crowd, which has moved into area
condos and home rehabs, but does precious little to reflect the history and
character of the traditional black community there, say concerned Southeast
Raleigh leaders.
Indeed,
with the prospect of much-needed affordable housing off the table there, and
the threat of forcing the adjacent Rex Senior Health Center to move, leaders
say they don’t see anything to cheer about this latest gentrification of their
community, and everything to fear.
City officials
counter that the Stone’s redevelopment proposal, once finalized, offers at
least $2 million in funding that could be reinvested into building affordable
housing elsewhere in predominately black Southeast Raleigh. But critics say the
deal ensures that black businesses and residents will be further moved out of
downtown Raleigh, an area once known as the center of African-American civic,
cultural and economic activity.
The city
currently owns the historic 2.02-acre property, which it purchased through imminent
domain in 2001 for the purpose of
“community development.” Built in 1936, the warehouse used to be the
Carolina Coach Garage and Shops – a regional inter-city bus company - and was
later a storage facility for repossessed vehicles.
According
to its 2014 Request for Proposal to redevelop the Stone’s Warehouse site, the
city's community Development Dept. notes that its “…original intent for this redevelopment project was to
benefit low and moderate-income households.” The city went on to say that the
federal Community Development Block Grant funds secured to purchase the
property included “…restrictions for residential and commercial development
on-site.
That’s the
path the city was originally taking.
In January
2013, the Raleigh City Council approved a 99-year lease with the Historic
Preservation Foundation of North Carolina, assuring that the site would be
dedicated to 49 units of affordable housing. The plan was to have developers
Vann Jones and Landmark Asset Services turn the warehouse into affordable
housing for area artists primarily, though legally, it could not be restricted
to just that group.
Rex Senior
Health Center, adjacent to the Stone’s property, would have remained untouched.
However,
the developers were unable to get the 30-year federal affordable housing
credits needed to finalize the deal, so it fell apart. Subsequently, the city
issued its Request for Proposals, and other developers who submitted bids could
not, or would not, make affordable housing part of their plans, forcing the
city ultimately to reconsider its position, and ultimately, according to its
own documents, “…remove the CDBG requirements” and restrictions.
At
Tuesday’s City Council meeting, the council accepted it’s Budget and Economic
Development Committee’s recommendation to accept city staff’s direction to select
Transfer Company, LLC “…for the redevelopment of the Stone’s Warehouse site,
authorizing Community Development to coordinate preparation of a purchase
agreement, and authorizing staff to amend zoning application Z-25-14 to include
split zoning, with conditions to accommodate the proposed uses as proposed by
Transfer Company, LLC.
And exactly what are those
“proposed uses” by Transfer Company, LLC?
According to an October 8, 2014 RFP
response from Transfer to the city, the developers see the need for “Olde East
Raleigh” to re-establish a “community anchor and gathering place…using food as
a new vehicle to unite residents of the neighborhood and reconnect the City and
Downtown to Olde East Raleigh.”
Problem is, critics say, the
“residents of the neighborhood” Transfer is referring to are high-income occupiers of nearby
expensive condominiums and owners of chic businesses, not the black low-income
residents whose families have traditionally lived in that Southeast Raleigh
community for generations.
Indeed, in the city’s own Request for
Proposals for redeveloping that area last year, it stated that “The poverty and
unemployment rates in these neighborhoods…remain higher than Citywide
averages.”
A Dec. 12, 2014 News and Observer article reported that
Transfer was planning “…a neighborhood grocery store and café, a community hall
and space for a handful of small food producers”…among which would be Videri
Chocolate Factory, Locals Seafood, Jubala Coffee, Boulted Bread and an
“incubator kitchen” run by HQ Raleigh.
No affordable housing.
In its Oct. 8 RFP response, Transfer Co., LLC
addressed the affordable housing issue, stating, “DHIC Inc., our development partner and regional affordable housing
expert, has determined that the revised appraisal in combination with the other
development restrictions
placed on the property precludes an affordable housing
option. Based on the current project parameters, we are proposing 16
townhouses. The three-story designs with ground floor garages and flex space
will provide for a variety of anticipated family structures and lifestyle
needs, with the flex space serving as an additional bedroom for growing
families, an in-law suite for multigenerational families, or a home office for
urban entrepreneurs.”
In
otherwise, Transfer wants to maximize its space for maximum dollars, according
to their response, and allowing space for several low-income affordable housing units
would require too much space, and too much loss in revenues.
Danny Coleman, chairman of the South Central Raleigh
Citizens Advisory Committee, says Southeast Raleigh is being gentrified because
there is no community leadership to strongly advocate for community inclusion and consideration when these proposals are brought forward and discussed.
Indeed, some leaders have told The Carolinian they aren't up on the details of the Stone Warehouse
controversy, or haven’t responded at all when asked.
The result
– lost opportunities for black families and businesses.
The city sees abandoned or
underused properties as new sources of tax revenues. Developers from outside of
Southeast Raleigh see golden opportunities to obtain cheap properties from the
city, turning them into cash cows that attract more outsiders to live and work
in Southeast Raleigh, cutting black residents and business owners who have been
asking the city and state for years for neighborhood upgrades out of the mix,
with no opportunity for investment in the new improvements.
It is the classic case of wealth in
the African-American community being owned and developed by others once again,
and Coleman says without vigilant and aggressive black community leadership to
challenge the process, and insist that there be opportunities for community
input, if not investment, Southeast Raleigh residents may find themselves moved
completely out of their communities because they will be priced far beyond their
means.
There’s currency to Coleman’s view of black community
input and investment. In the City’s 2014 RFP to potential developers, it
states, “In addition to providing
goods and services to the nearby neighborhood, the City has outlined a number
of goals for the development of this site. Successful developers will present
proposals that preserve the Stone’s Warehouse structure and include a mixed use
site with a housing element as well as promoting minority participation,
helping to build economic capacity of the residents and the minority business
enterprises of the surrounding neighborhoods.”
Its not clear why the “minority
participation” and “minority business enterprises” aspects are seemingly not included
in the Transfer Co., LLC proposal, even though city staff, and now the council has signed off on it..
Frances L. Williams, chair of the Central
Citizens Advisory Council in Southeast Raleigh says the city has not yet “officially” notified her about the status
of Stone’s Warehouse, and what she’s hearing “is a far cry” from the
redevelopment she and other concerned citizens in the area were expecting.
As virtual proof that the reported
redevelopment of Stone’s is not geared towards the area’s traditional
residents, Williams said there would be no mixed income housing, but rather
market rate rentals, priced well beyond what working families could afford.
“I’m very concerned about the lack
of housing in the downtown area now,” Williams, a resident of South Park, said.
“ [Based on the prices]…I know now that African-Americans will not be my
neighbors.”
Williams also raised grave concern about the future
of the Rex Senior Health Center at 400 Chavis Way. According to city’s RFP, the
Rex facility is part of the three-parcel, 2.02 acre proposed sale, and thus
far, there is no indication as to where it can move.
In the Transfer Co., LLC proposal it states, “At a
minimum, we will assist Rex Senior Center in relocating.”
At least one prominent Southeast Raleigh resident
told The Carolinian in an email, “I am a patient of Dr. [Leroy] Darkes [at the
Rex Center] and have been real satisfied with the care and convenience. I would
hate to lose that. I believe this is a critical location and it could be an
important development if we want to maintain the character of the neighborhood
and not turn it over entirely to the new vision of East Raleigh.”
Central CAC
Chair Williams says city policies and practices regarding the redevelopment of
low-income areas must be reviewed in order to gauge how they “impact” the people
in those communities.
So what does
Southeast Raleigh’s elected City Council representative have to say about all
of this?
In a response to The Carolinian’s request for a
statement, District C Councilman Eugene Weeks said, “The “Transfer Company, LLC) RFP that was selected by city
staff only had 20 townhouses in the proposal with no affordable houses. I
made a suggestion that the sale of the property funds be allocated to building
affordable housing in SE Raleigh. This suggestion was accepted by the Mayor and
the City Manager. The amount of the sale of this land to this company could
increase the building of affordable houses tremendously in SE Raleigh.
Remember, this RFP was approved by the Business and Economic Development
Committee and has not been presented to the City Council yet because I put a
hold on the vote for 2 weeks for this company to provide additional information
on another issue I had with this RFP.”
Councilman
Weeks continued, “We will have additional affordable housing, but not at the
Stones Warehouse, but in the surrounding area where the city already owns some
of the vacant lots. I am for affordable housing and will make sure that
this item continue to be a priority for the City of Raleigh.”
A Dec. 30, 2014 article in the North Raleigh News titled.
“Look Ahead to 2015: Growth, Transit Will Likely Be Among Top Issues in
Raleigh” states, “Downtown’s development boom has meant less affordable housing,”
with “rents at many new apartment complexes …out of reach for families with low
or moderate incomes, and older buildings are being demolished to make way for
the latest and greatest”
The article goes on to state that
“Mayor Nancy McFarlane has said affordable housing throughout the city will be
an issue elected officials will consider in the new year (2015).” But, regarding
Stone’s Warehouse, affordable housing there, according to city officials “…now looks
less feasible.”
-30-
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