TCB June 11, 2020 — No justice, no peace

Greensboro / Winston-Salem / High Point June 11-17, 2020 triad-city-beat.com

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‘NO JUSTICE, NO PEACE’: TRIAD PROTESTERS CONTINUE TO MARCH, MEMORIALZE AND MAKE DEMANDS FOR BLACK LIVES

June 11-17, 2020

EDITOR’S NOTEBOOK

How we cover protests, and why

The recent spate of street protests and other actions has spurred a lot of talk in journalism circles about how

by Brian Clarey to write this first draft of history, both ethically and accurately. And here where the rubber meets the road, there are many points of view.

Legally, of course, newspapers are allowed to photograph, video and otherwise document every single thing that happens in public space, which includes every single person at a public protest.

But ethically, as is so often the case, it’s a different matter.

Demonstrators are worried about losing their jobs after speaking out about injustice — a very real concern in North Carolina, about getting doxed by white supremacists or law enforcement, which some might tell you are one and the same.

The price for expressing our First Amendment right has gotten a lot steeper.

Our policy is the result of serialized deliberation among Triad City Beat editorial staff, research into current practices and more than a decade of experience on the protest beat. And as always, our rules are not hard and fast — we try to look at each

case of anonymity by descending into the particulars.

Exceptions abound. But since we’ve started livestreaming, we needed to make some rules. We’re not focusing on individual protestors, in footage or photographs, in favor of longer crowd shots and lower angles. We won’t put anyone on camera until we get consent, and, while broadcasting, we don’t feel taking names of most of the people we interview is necessary.

Public figures, as always, are a different story.

We’re not interested in catching people committing crimes, except for mass movements of civil actions like shutting down the highway or breaking a curfew. We’re not the police, and we don’t fight crime. That being said, we try to get everything germane to the story in front of our lenses, as best we can.

We’re there to tell the story, not hijack it.

Still there are nuances. Wrinkles. Special circumstances.

And if you like, I could bore you for hours with my thoughts behind our policies, the ethics of storytelling, and the importance of accurate, and timely local news — I’m an extrovert, and this isolation is cramping my style.

I’ll keep harping on that first-draft-ofhistory business, though, because in the end that’s the whole point.

The price for expressing our First Amendment right has gotten a lot steeper.

BUSINESS PUBLISHER/EXECUTIVE EDITOR Brian Clarey brian@triad-city-beat.com

PUBLISHER EMERITUS Allen Broach allen@triad-city-beat.com

EDITORIAL SENIOR EDITOR Jordan Green jordan@triad-city-beat.com

ASSOCIATE EDITOR Sayaka Matsuoka sayaka@triad-city-beat.com

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1451 S. Elm-Eugene St. Box 24, Greensboro, NC 27406 Office: 336-256-9320 Cover: More than 3,000 protesters SPECIAL SECTION EDITOR Nikki Miller-Ka showed up at LeBauer Park on niksnacksblog@gmail.com June 7 for a rally for black lives.

ART Photo by Carolyn de Berry ART DIRECTOR Robert Paquette robert@triad-city-beat.com SALES

KEY ACCOUNTS Gayla Price gayla@triad-city-beat.com

CONTRIBUTORS

Carolyn de Berry, Matt Jones

TCB IN A FLASH @ triad-city-beat.com First copy is free, all additional copies are $1. ©2018 Beat Media Inc.

June 11-17, 2020

CITY LIFE June 11-16, 2020

by Brian Clarey

THURSDAY June 11

Virtual town hall @ Partnership for Children Facebook page (HP) 11 a.m.

Trailer Park Dinner and Drag Show @ Chemistry Nightclub (GSO) 5 and 8 p.m.

SATURDAY June 13

FRIDAY June 12

’90s Kickback Concert @ Greensboro Coliseum (GSO) 8 p.m.

Chemistry’s Trailer Park dinner runs Friday and Saturday night, with shows at 5 and 8 p.m. “Drag meets the campy fun of the trailer park with an interactive drag show for all ages.” Tickets are $5, and food plates start at $5.

Reading and Conversation with Karen Salyer McElmurray & Lee Zacharias @ Scuppernong Books (GSO) 7 p.m. Zoom presentation

All Hands on Deck — Party for Democracy @ Indivisible Guilford County (GSO) 2 p.m.

This one’s virtual too — a virtual Zoom party where the political active can find out what they can do for the cause. There will also be prizes. The event page has more.

TUESDAY June 16

Triad Stage’s Onward Telethon @ Triad Stage (GSO) 6 p.m.

Triad Stage needs to raise $15,000 to get through the next phase of the coronavirus epidemic. There will be performances by Laurelyn Dossett, Lisa Dames & Shawn Patch and Riley Baugus, a cocktail hour and trivia, all streaming live. Find tickets through the Triad Stage website.

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The coliseum has a whole weekend of livestreams set up. This one features Jagged Edge, Avant, Ginuwine, H-Town, Adina Howard and Michelle Ie. Find the details at their website, greensborocoliseum.com.

Pride IG Live @ Young Democrats of Forsyth County (W-S) 8 p.m.

A virtual Pride event with DJ Diesel and a call to all LGBTQ+ and allies, with DJ Diesel from 102 Jamz and an emphasis on voter registration and census drives. Find it on the Young Dems’ Instagram.

SUNDAY June 14

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The authors of Wanting Radiance and Across the Great Lake join for a virtual reading via Zoom, hosted by your friends at Scuppernong. Check the Facebook page for info on the Zoom meeting.

Battle of the Community Theater Stars @ Little Theatre of Winston-Salem (WS) 7 p.m.

A quick, virtual game show featuring community theater actors unable to perform because of the epidemic. It’s a livestream from their Facebook page.

Culture

Live tea @Replacements Ltd. Facebook page (GSO) 2 p.m.

In-house tea expert John Griffith talks about the afternoon tea custom, and displays some of the more extravagant tea sets in Replacements’ collection. “Tea will be poured at 2 p.m. ET sharp — don’t be late.”

Hosted in part by the Greensboro Anime and Graphic Novel Club, the con goes online this year, with virtual trivia, a virtual cosplay contest and more. There’s info on the event page.

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The Guilford County Partnership for Children partners with the High Point YMCA, NC Works, Goodwill Industries and the Welfare Reform Project for a virtual town hall to discuss services during the pandemic.

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Gamga Con 2020 Online @ Greensboro Public Library (GSO) noon

Up Front

Virtual town hall with Democratic candidates for NC Supreme Court @ Guilford County Democratic Party (GSO) 2 p.m.

Zoom meeting NC Supreme Court Chief Justice Cheri Beasley, Justice Mark Davis, and Judge Lucy Inman discuss law and justice during both the coronavirus pandemic and the Black Lives Matter protests. Questions can be submitted on the Guilford Democrats’ Facebook page, where there is also info on admission to the Zoom meeting.

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June 11-17, 2020

Coronavirus in the Triad: The Numbers (As of Wednesday, June 10) Documented COVID-19 diagnoses

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Up Front

NC

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NC 1,087 (+118)

Forsyth 1,925 (+460)

Forsyth 18 (+5)

Guilford County

Guilford 87 (+17)

1,352 1,779 (+427)

Documented recoveries NC

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38,171 (+8,171 since last week)

COVID-19 deaths

Hospitalizations 18,860 23,653 (+4,793)

NC 780 (+96)

Forsyth 95 (+0)

Forsyth n/a

Guilford 928 (+199)

Guilford 263 (+33)

Up Front

So you want to be anti-racist. As a wave of protests for black lives sweeps the nation and swells locally, the term “anti-racist” has become the signaling phrase for how white folks and allies should strive to be. Rather than simply being “not racist,” organizers urge folks to be “anti-racist” because the idea is that everyone is racist because we are part of a racist society, a racist world.

So instead, we must actively combat racism, be anti-racist. Here are just a few tools to get you started. Some required reading, watching and ways to support local organizations that are doing the work. tory of Racist Ideas In America by Ibram X. Kendi • Yo, Is This Racist by Earwolf • Fatal Invention: How Science, Politics, and Big Busi• Throughline by NPR ness Re-create Race in the Twenty-First Century by • Still Processing by New York Times Dorothy Roberts • Lynching in America by Equal Justice Institute • Ain’t I a Woman: Black Women and Feminism by • Intersectionality Matters! by Kimberlé Crenshaw Bell Hooks • The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander

June 11-17, 2020

Ways to be anti-racist in this moment

by Sayaka Matsuoka

WATCH

13th (Netflix, Youtube) When They See Us (Netflix) I Am Not Your Negro (Amazon) LA 92 (Netflix)

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• • • •

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BLACK ORGS/BUSINESSES Greensboro/Guilford • • •

• The Color of Us by Karen Katz • The Skin I’m In by Pat Thomas • Let’s Talk About Race by Julius Lester

• •

Winston-Salem/Forsyth • •

READ

• • •

Equity Forsyth’s anti-racist resource guide Forsyth County Bail Fund — a fund to people who are unable to afford bail gain their release from pretrial detention through community donations Action4Equity — a community organization fighting for racial justice in schools Hate Out of Winston — Grassroots, anti-racist organization Forsyth Freedom Federation — Grassroots, antiracist organization

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(Support local bookstores and libraries if you can!)

• White Fragility by Robin DiAngelo • Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates • How to Be an Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi • So You Want to Talk about Race by Ijeoma Oluo • Stamped From the Beginning: The Definitive His-

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Kid friendly texts:

Black Dollar Blog — list of NC-based black businesses Greensboro Rising — a local group of black activists who have been organizing protests and action Anti-racist white folks Facebook group — a Greensboro-based group specifically for white people to get involved and learn more about how to be anti-racist Guilford For All — a multiethnic advocacy group that fights for racial equality, schools and more Greensboro Black Lives Matter — a Facebook group and organization that works to develop action locally

● Want more? Visit bit.ly/3cOVNZv for a more comprehensive anti-racist guide.

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LISTEN

• 1619 Project by Nikole Hannah Jones • Code Switch by NPR

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June 11-17, 2020

NEWS

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Surprising resilience: Early numbers indicate the response to COVID-19 hasn’t driven up fatalities in other categories

by Jordan Green The shutdown of the restaurant industry as COVID-19 surged through the Triad hit Paul Magee, a 50-year-old chef and musician in Winston-Salem, hard.

“He was actually cooking that day — St. Patrick’s Day,” his friend, Tristan Matthews, recalled. “We both got laid off the same day. He texted me and said, ‘What are we going to do?’ I said, ‘I don’t know.’”

Magee died at hom on April 4. Although his death is currently classified as “pending,” his friend, Tristan Matthews said he believes Magee died from a drug overdose.

The COVID-19 pandemic has stressed North Carolinians in ways that would have seemed unimaginable before schools shut down and stay-at-home orders went into effect in mid-March.

In addition to the toll taken by the virus itself, the sudden shutdown has plunged the United States into the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression and marooned people in their homes, trapping some in abusive relationships and isolating others from vital support.

The collateral damage of the pandemic response has given rise to claims among many in the conservative reopen movement that so-called “deaths of despair” are worse than the virus itself.

And some analysts have argued that the stress of financial stress and exposure to COVID-19 among communities of color set the stage for an explosion of rage and protest that has swept the country since George Floyd was killed by the Minneapolis police on May 25.

“Safety is a top priority,” State Insurance Commissioner Mike Causey told Triad City Beat during a May 22 interview as North Carolina was moving into Phase 2 of reopening. “I have traveled the state. I’ve been to different regions of the state. For the past couple weeks, speaking to county commissioners, elected officials, fire chiefs, what I’m hearing from the public, lately people are more concerned about their personal financial situation and the economy than COVID-19 and the coronavirus.”

But if mortality is the most acute measure of collective well-being, local data and the observations of people who work in public safety and mental health suggest that Triad residents have weath-

ered the pandemic so far with remarkable resiliency.

Beyond the toll in human life exacted by COVID-19 itself, a TCB review found that the number unnatural deaths from accident, suicide or homicide — what might be considered indicators of collateral damage — in Guilford and Forsyth counties remain more or less even with the time before the pandemic. Those findings are consistent with the observations of people who work in the fields of public safety and mental health.

“We aren’t seeing a sudden spike in suicides,” said Alex Espita, director of community education for Mental Health Greensboro.

“What we have seen is an increase in people seeking support services. As to suicide rate, we haven’t seen that spike. It wouldn’t surprise me if a couple months later we did.

“I would have expected to see more suicides,” she added. “It’s surprising, yes, but in a good way.”

Espita said her agency has noted an increase in hospitalizations for mental-health issues and an increased demand for resources.

“I’ve seen a lot of people talking about an increase in depression and hopelessness,” she said. “It’s putting more pressure on services that are already stretched to the max.”

But Ron Glenn, public information officer for A portrait of Paul Magee the Greensboro Police Department, said mental the state closed by the order of Gov. Roy health-related calls such as Cooper, to May 21, just before Phase 2 requests for involuntary commitments of reopening, death certificates on file at have remained relatively consistent the Guilford County Register of Deeds during the pandemic, compared to the recorded 11 suicides, while there were period before. seven on file at the register of deeds in From March 16, when schools across

WILLIAM PAUL THOMAS @WILLART4FOOD ON INSTAGRAM

neighboring Forsyth County. During the same period the previous year — March 16-May 21, 2019 — Guilford County recorded 13 suicides while Forsyth County saw nine.

The presence of major hospital sys-

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cause only a small number of overdoses are initially classified as such. Most are initially classified as “pending” and only determined to be overdoses months later.

But extrapolating from the percentage of “pending” deaths ultimately determined to be overdoses in 2019, an estimated 34 people died from overdoses in Forsyth County during the shutdown, compared to 33 during the same period in 2019. In Guilford County, an estimated 25 people died from overdoses during the shutdown, compared to 32 during the same period in 2019.

Tristan Matthews said he believes the COVID-19 pandemic contributed indirectly to his friend, Paul Magee’s death.

Matthews died at home, apparently as a result of a drug overdose.

Matthews said Magee carried some frustration from experiencing setbacks in the music industry, but he loved to cook and to be around people. Matthews said he believes his friend’s layoff set off a chain of events that led to his death.

“I think that did take a toll on him, because the last time I spoke to him he had a confusion in his tone about the whole thing,” Matthews said. “Besides music, that was all he had was working — cooking. He’s a people person. To not be able to do that was isolating.”

Among the food-service workers, musicians and artists in downtown WinstonSalem, Magee was a beloved figure and his death sent ripples of grief through the community.

“Literally everybody that I spoke with after he passed had more or less the same story about how great he was and everything he did for them,” Matthews said. “If you were a genuine spirit, he genuinely gave his all to you.”

Before Magee died, he and Matthews had talked about starting a catering company together.

“He just wanted that one more string of hope, that one thing that would have kept him going,” Matthews said. “I really believe the whole COVID thing pushed him over the edge. He was a great friend. If you talk to any of his other friends, they would tell you the exact same thing. When we met each other, we didn’t know how many webs of connection there were between us with people that we both knew. That was a dark day in downtown Winston-Salem when we found out he passed.”

Up Front

response. don’t get counted as incidents.

One silver lining of the shutdown is a “I think during the pandemic we saw reduction in traffic deaths: Fewer people more calls for domestic violence,” he driving means fewer accidents. The said. “Our reports on domestic violence numbers bear it out, with traffic deaths remained the same…. There may have roughly cut in half in both Guilford and been more people who called because Forsyth counties during the shutdown. they were in the house together, but By the same logic, it could be prewhen the officer arrives, there’s not an dicted that more people staying home incident.” and cooking would mean an increase in Kimbrough said he believes the worst fatalities from house fires. repercussions are yet to come as a result “I think if we looked at the number of the loss of educational time due to the of fire calls for cooking-related fires schools shutting down. He noted that the [statewide], those numbers would be Winston-Salem/Forsyth County School up,” Causey said, “but thankfully the fire District reported that about 5,000 deaths have not gone up.” students had not logged on to the online The local numbers align with Causey’s learning platform as of mid-May. observation: In Guilford County, death “That’s 5,000 kids that are going to certificates show only one housefire be falling behind,” Kimbrough said. death during the shutdown, compared to “As a result, that’s 5,000 kids that are two during the same period in the previgoing to be showing up next year with ous year. And in Forsyth County, the a deficiency. We’re going to have to number of housefire deaths was down to figure out what we are going to do with three, from four. them. That’s a social issue that’s become The trends an education could be a result issue that has of safety prothe potential gram underway to become a COVID-19 itself remains a bigprior to the criminal-justice ger killer than suicides: For the pandemic. issue.”

“Three years Data from same period in which 11 people ago, in 2018, death certifidied by suicide in Guilford Coun- cates from the we had 138 fire deaths in North two counties ty during the first nine weeks Carolina,” shows that of the pandemic, 69 people Causey said. homicides are “We started a up in Guilford died from COVID-19. In Forsyth program called County and County, the seven suicides dur- down in Forsyth Smoke Alarm Saturday, where County, suging that period compare to 17 we tried to gesting little deaths from COVID-19. educate people. correlation with I went across the the pandemic. state with fireHomicides have fighters to install remained a sigsmoke alarms in nificant issue in low-income housing. About a fourth of both Greensboro and Winston-Salem for the smoke alarms we checked were not at least the past three years, with the city working. They didn’t have a battery. Last of Greensboro approving funding for the year, those numbers came down a bit.”

Cure Violence program in October 2019 Forsyth County Sheriff Bobby Kimand grassroots groups like Rally Up brough told TCB he sees the pandemic Winston-Salem working on deescalating and its repercussions putting a strain on violence in that city. families.

There’s some evidence of a rise in “We’re responding to more social drug overdoses in Forsyth County durissues — calls from people needing intering the shutdown. The Forsyth County ventions, people needing help with what Sheriff’s Office counted 40 overdoses, I call social issues,” he said. “Son and both fatal and nonfatal, from March 16 mother not getting along. Unruly kids through May 26, 2020, compared to that should probably be at school and only 27 for the same period in 2019. The letting that energy go.” sheriff’s office’s jurisdiction includes all Ron Glenn, the spokesperson for the areas of the county with the exclusion of Greensboro Police Department, said his Winston-Salem and Kernersville. agency has seen an increase in calls for It’s difficult to track a change in drug domestic violence, but those calls often overdoses through death certificates be-

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tems in Guilford and Forsyth counties, including Wake Forest Medical Center, Cone Health and Novant Health, means that deaths on record for the two counties cover residents of a much larger geographic footprint. Among the hundreds of deaths in Guilford and Forsyth counties in which the manner was classified as something other than natural, the sample includes residents of 31 counties. The vast majority of the decedents in the sample were residents of the Guilford and Forsyth or the surrounding counties of Rockingham, Alamance, Randolph, Davidson, Davie, Yadkin and Stokes.

Andrew Brod, an economist at UNCG, cautioned that a review of mortality data for only two counties is likely to yield only limited insight.

Another limitation of the TCB review is that it only includes accidental deaths, homicides, suicides and “pending” — a classification for those in which a medical examination is requested and a final determination typically takes months.

Accidents, homicides, suicides and “pending” deaths account for a relatively small share of overall deaths, while the vast majority of people die of natural causes. This review then does not take into consideration the leading causes of death in both counties — cancer and heart disease — which could be aggravated by the economic and social stresses surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic.

Nor does it provide any insight into whether more people in the two counties are dying prematurely from natural causes, which could be an indicator of heightened stress. Some reports also indicate that fewer people are reporting to hospitals for heart attacks, strokes and other serious conditions, raising the question of whether people are dying at higher rates because of justifiable fear of exposure to coronavirus if they come to a hospital for treatment.

COVID-19 itself remains a bigger killer than suicides: For the same period in which 11 people died by suicide in Guilford County during the first nine weeks of the pandemic, 69 people died from COVID-19. In Forsyth County, the seven suicides during that period compare to 17 deaths from COVID-19.

The leading cause of accidental deaths in both counties, both during and before the pandemic, is falls. The vast majority of people who die from falls — more than 8 in 10 — in the two combined counties are 65 years or older. Those numbers are up in Forsyth County and down in Guilford County, but it’s hard to draw a correlation with the pandemic

Rachel Spinella contributed to this story.

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June 11-17, 2020 Puzzles

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Thousands of protesters continue to march, mobilize and make demands for blacks lives in GSO and W-S over the weekend

by Sayaka Matsuoka, photos by Carolyn de Berry

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More than 3,000 people showed up for the rally for black lives in LeBauer Park on Sunday.

More than 3,000 people showed up for the rally for black lives in LeBauer Park on Sunday.

Thousands of people across all three Triad cities organized, protested and marched in the streets over the weekend in continuation with action that started last Saturday after the killing of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police.

testers stopped traffic and held a brief impromptu street party. Organizers had planned to continue marching but because of an incoming storm, decided to turn around and walk back towards downtown where they disbanded and went home before curfew.

Watch video footage from the day’s rally and march on TCB’s Facebook page.

FRIDAY On June 5, organizers with Greensboro Rising, a local advocacy group, held a memorial event in the governmental plaza in downtown Greensboro where they erected a memorial for black lives, including Breonna Taylor, a black EMT worker in Louisville, Ky. who was shot and killed on March 13 when police barged into her home without warning.

“Today is Breonna Taylor’s birthday,” said one of the organizers to the crowd.

“She should have been 27 today, and she’s not 27 today because the police came into her house with an illegal noknock warrant and shot her while she slept. That’s something that we cannot forget. That’s why we asked you to wear white and yellow today. Yellow was apparently her favorite color. And we’re going to say her name.”

Organizers lifted up Taylor’s name among others who have been killed

at the hands of police including Tony McDade — a black transperson who was killed by police in Tallahassee, Fla. on May 27 — as well as Greensboro’s Marcus Deon Smith.

Protesters sang, chanted and listened to organizers as they repeated demands of the Greensboro city council, including making amends to the Smith family, defunding police and ending the curfew which began on June 1 and ended on June 8.

About 20 minutes into the event, a commotion ensued when protesters identified and proceeded to follow News & Record photographer Woody Marshall off of the premises. Organizers stated at the beginning of the memorial event that staff associated with Greensboro’s daily newspaper was not welcome after they posted an online video publicizing a black protester’s phone number.

After almost an hour and a half of speaking and rallying at the Governmental Plaza, organizers and protesters took to the streets where they walked through downtown to Gate City Boulevard. They stopped for a while at the corner of Gate City and Freeman Mill Road, where the group of more than a hundred pro-

SATURDAY In Winston-Salem, close to 1,000 people gathered in downtown on June 6 for the eighth consecutive day of action for black lives. People of all ages and races marched together, promoting unity and bringing light to systemic racism and police violence.

The protest, which started near the Ward Federal Building, included elected officials as well as members of the Forsyth County Association of Educators.

“Whoever said they wanted their child to grow up in a racist society?” asked Tandice Jeanbaptiste, a teacher in Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools, during a speakout at Winston Square Park. “But when it’s time to stand up, no one wants to stand up. We are the educators. They can train us on Canvas? They

can train us on computer technology?

They can educate us on anything. But they will not train us on how to teach a bunch of students how to go against racism. Why won’t they teach us about talking about racism? Oh, I’m sorry.

Does talking about racism make you uncomfortable? Well, you know what?

Racism is uncomfortable.”

Protests in Winston-Salem have been different from the ones in Greensboro in that almost no vandalism or destruction of property has taken place.

At the beginning of the event, one of the organizers, Frankie Gist, spoke about the unity he’s seen at Winston-Salem’s protests.

He mentioned the unique cooperation between protesters and police — in stark contrast to Charlotte and other cities across the country where police violently attacked protesters.

“Not many people can see the bigger vision,” he said in an interview. “It’s beyond George Floyd. You know, we have crime happen every day in our city. But in order for us to be able to decrease that crime, all these people that’s here today need to come together.”

In Greensboro, while there wasn’t as large of a protest like the day before, one

Up Front CAROLYN DE BERRY

Protester and organizer Brandi Collins-Calhoun at the rally on Sunday.

CAROLYN DE BERRY

Opinion

Protesters hold signs at the Sunday rally.

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“I came because it’s important that our children and our children’s children don’t have to see the same injustices that we have,” they said. “I remember my great-grandmother and my grandmother telling me stories about what happened to them in the ’60s so it’s always something that continues to happen unless we say enough is enough and stand up for what’s right. I think it’s important for me as a black woman to stand up and say, ‘Enough is enough.’ We won’t have it anymore.”

Throughout the afternoon and early evening on Sunday, a separate group

dubbed “Operation West” shut down Walmart, Sam’s Club and Target and West Wendover Avenue, culminating with a shutdown of Interstate 40 in defiance of the curfew.

Watch video footage from the day’s rally and march in Greensboro on TCB’s Facebook page.

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building as they chanted, “Who’s streets?

Our streets!”

Then, the group sat in silence for close to nine minutes in honor of George Floyd, who died after a Minneapolis police officer kneeled on his neck for the same amount of time.

Afterwards, organizers admonished Greensboro mayor Nancy Vaughan for enacting the 8 p.m. curfew and cried out for her to reverse her rule.

Towards the end of the event, one of the protesters, who said they were born and raised in the city, said they joined the action to fight for their rights.

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SUNDAY On Sunday, a rally that had been organized by Greensboro Rising mobilized the largest group of protesters since the start of the protests on May 30.

More than a thousand people wearing all black and holding signs that read “I Can’t Breathe” and “Am I Next?” filled LeBauer Park in downtown Greensboro starting around 2 p.m.

Organizers with Greensboro Rising spoke on stage for more than two hours, listing demands, and highlighting a number of individuals who had been directly affected during the last week of protests.

Among the speakers was a group of young black men who call themselves the Protest 5, who were arrested on June 2 for bringing weapons to a protest. In contrast, an armed white militia activist who has a history of conducing firearms training with open white supremacists, came to downtown Greensboro two nights in a row, has so far evaded any criminal charges by police.

After they and several others spoke at the rally, the enormous group began to march from the park to governmental plaza where a spiritual event was underway. Briefly taking over the space, protesters filled the rows of steps in front of the stage and chanted along with organizers. After about 20 minutes, the group moved again, and decided to march throughout downtown, eventually ending up in front of the News & Record building on Market Street.

Organizers asked the hundreds of protesters to fill the street in front of the

June 11-17, 2020

of organizers with Greensboro Rising, spoke with Triad City Beat in a Facebook Live video about their demands for city leadership.

“When you hear people say defund the police, that’s what people are talking about,” said Casey Thomas. “We want the money that goes to making it true that in Greensboro four out of five people who are searched are black.

Marijuana is basically legal for white people here. Eighty percent of arrests for marijuana are black; we’re only 44 percent of the city. We want all of the money that goes into harassing people, profiling people…. we want to be put into a real 311 number.”

A few dozen protesters also gathered in front of the International Civil Rights Museum in downtown to chant and lift up the names of those killed by police.

Watch footage of the interview with Casey Thomas as well as the protest at the museum on TCB’s Facebook page.

Follow TCB on Facebook and Twitter for more protest coverage and to watch video footage of past protests.

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photos by Carolyn de Berry

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June 11-17, 2020

Hundreds of protesters trade marching for driving and chanting for honking in processional for black lives in Greensboro on Monday

Hundreds of cars parked in the Union Square Campus parking lot to join the processional on Monday.

Conchetta Perry and Embree Smith at the processional event.

Cars drove through downtown on Monday during the mourning processional.

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Organizer April Parker speaking at the beginning of the event.

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OPINION Marcus Smith, and defunding police

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progress and murder, there are a dozen domestic-disturbances, overdoses, homeless situations and other non-criminal offenses, not to mention straight-up nuisance calls about black people having picnics in parks, which denigrates a police force to security valets for paranoid, white citizens.

Would it work? Let’s apply the model to the case of Marcus Smith.

Smith was distressed, police video shows — walking through slow-moving traffic on Market Street and saying, “I’m gonna kill myself.” Smith voluntarily sat in the back of a police car, but then tried to break the windows to get out. That’s when they hogtied him.

Yet Smith was clearly in the throes of a mental-health crisis. He was disoriented, suicidal. He needed help, and the blunt instrument of law enforcement was incapable of administering it.

And why should it be? Cops are supposed to enforce laws, not provide psychotherapy.

Imagine, instead, that a mental-health response unit came to Smith’s aid, were able to calm him using words and medication, brought him somewhere that’s not a jail so that he might have some chance at recovery.

Would Marcus Smith still be alive, under those circumstances? Who’s to say.

But his chances were a lot better than they were when he was hogtied in the street.

by Clay Jones

Up Front

t’s a wonder to those of us who lived through it that the case of Marcus Smith didn’t incite national protests.

Smith was apprehended by Greensboro police after experiencing a mental health crisis on a downtown street after the NC Folk Festival in 2018. Smith was subdued and eventually hogtied by police in a technique known as Ripp-Hobble: hands and feet bound together behind his back. He was left face down — against guidelines for that particular technique, which no other law enforcement agency in the Triad used. And as police stood there chatting with EMTs, Smith died on the ground of asphyxiation.

Like George Floyd and Eric Garner, he, too, could not breathe.

Now, after a nation watched Floyd strangle under a cop’s knee, we’re talking about defunding police — the issue is already well underway in Minneapolis, where Floyd died.

Defunding police means different things to different people. There are strict abolitionists, who feel that police departments should be dissolved entirely, the fund used to create more services that address some of the root causes of crime.

The mainstream view is more of a compromise, positing that defunding a police department allows it to do what it is supposed to do: fight crime.

Currently, our police and sheriffs’ departments act as a catchall for an awful lot of social ills. For every burglary in

Claytoonz

June 11-17, 2020

EDITORIAL

Shot in the Triad Puzzles

13

South Elm Street, Greensboro

June 11-17, 2020 Shot in the Triad

Culture

Opinion

News

Up Front

SHOT IN THE TRIAD

Puzzles

The Mourning Drive vehicle procession, honoring the lives of black victims of violence, makes its way down South Elm Street on Monday afternoon.

14

CAROLYN DE BERRY

by Matt Jones

Across

Open for Takeout

Thank you for your business

Up Front

©2020 Jonesin’ Crosswords

(editor@jonesincrosswords.com)

News

602 S Elam Ave • Greensboro

Answers from previous publication.

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Opinion Culture Shot in the Triad Puzzles

1 How karaoke singing might go 7 Org. advocating pet adoption 11 CIO merger partner 14 Singer Watkins (aka T-Boz) of TLC 15 Early TV host Jack 16 Sprawl 17 Someone who just likes the sky levels in the Mario series?

19 Car grille protector 20 Rock suffix, in NYC 21 Auckland Zoo animals 22 It may cause inflation 23 Shows pride 25 Work-at-home wear 27 Machine that inspired separate ©2020 Jonesin’ Crosswords (editor@jonesincrosswords.com) rewinding machines 29 Aussie hoppers 31 Disk memory acronym 32 Ishmael’s captain 34 “Simpsons” character who was on Homer’s bowling team 36 “The Unity of India” author 40 Accepts emergency funds?

43 Fire off some letters?

44 Alternative to watercolors Answers from last issue 45 ___ Cat (pet food brand) 46 Dandyish dresser 13 Balletic maneuvers 48 Minor bones to pick 18 Country completely surrounded by South Africa 50 “I finally got it!”

22 Creator/star/director Adlon of FX’s “Better Things” 51 Interpret inaccurately 24 Beside the point 55 2022 World Cup host country 26 “Both Sides Now” songwriter Mitchell 57 None other than 27 Brewery fixtures 58 In ___ of (rather than) 28 Mate from Manchester, e.g.

60 Actor Fulcher of “The Mighty Boosh” 30 Kimmel’s onetime game show cohost 62 USPS driver’s assignment 33 Proverbial place for bats 63 Spoken sign from the rafters?

35 Like some references 66 “We ___ Never Ever Getting Back Together” 37 Options for cereal, sandwiches, etc.

67 Like some lattes 38 The “R” of RBG 68 Verdi opera based on a Shakespeare play 39 Arches National Park locale 69 Area full of used cars 41 Gin flavoring fruit 70 Canadians’ last letters 42 Dog created by Dashiell Hammett 71 Walk like a duck 47 Glitzy estate 49 Geologist’s layers Down 51 Aesop fable’s lesson 1 How most aspirin is sold, for short 52 Opening 2 PC document 53 Hard rain 3 One way to stop a bike 54 Enjoyed a meal 4 First name in Notre Dame football 56 Had discomfort 5 Make beloved 59 Bread heels, really 6 “You betcha” 61 Barnacle’s spot 7 A lot of it is filtered 63 Ending for some commerce URLs 8 Settle a bill 64 Sudoku section 9 Salad with romaine lettuce 65 “Unknown” surname 10 Part of ETA 11 Wedding souvenir 12 Terra ___ (solid ground)

EVENTS

June 11-17, 2020

CROSSWORD ‘Reed All About It’—at least one famous Reed. SUDOKU

15