CityView March 2026

CityView SPECIAL PROMOTIONAL SECTION: 2026 WOMEN IN BUSINESS PROFESSIONAL PROFILES

MARCH 2026

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THE

WOMEN’S ISSUE

TEXTILE ARTIST IN RESIDENCE

PRESERVING BLACK HISTORY

ARABIC TEACHER WINS AWARD

MOVING INTO SECOND CHANCES

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M A R CH 2026

TA B L E OF CO N T E N T S

On the cover and above, textile artist Kia Love is Cumberland County Public Library’s first Artist in Residence. She teaches textile workshops for learners of all ages inside her studio at the Headquarters Library in Fayetteville. Photos by Tony Wooten

COLUMNS Editor’s Take: Valeria Cloës . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 The View From Here: Tim White . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Family Matters: Claire Mullen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 Oye, ¿Cómo Va?: Claudia Zamora . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34 Good Reads: Diane Parfitt . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36 The To-Do List: Your go-to spot for local events . . . . . . . . . 38 Seen @ the Scene: Photos from the Arts XL opening . . . . . 40 SPECIAL PROMOTIONAL SECTION Women In Business Professional Profiles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 4 | MARCH 2026

12 12 A Textile Tradition

Cumberland County Public Library’s first Artist in Residence is reviving textile traditions rooted in family history and sharing the craft with learners of all ages.

24 Preserving History Ammie McRae Jenkins, the first Black student to attend High Point University, spent much of her life protecting the rights of Black landowners.

28 Cultural Connection Cumberland County Schools educator Najoua Ben Ramak discusses her teaching journey, cultural roots, and statewide recognition.

30 A Second Chance D3 Delivery received funding from the city to pilot a program aimed at helping people who were incarcerated or recovering from addiction.

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EDITOR’S TAKE

Impactful Women in Fayetteville

BY VALERIA CLOËS

Just in time for Women’s History Month and International Women’s Day on March 8, CityView’s March magazine highlights the women in our community who make a positive local impact in the arts, culture, education, and more.

Cumberland County Public Library has its first Artist in Residence: Kia Love. The Artist in Residence program was born out of a new library initiative, Creative Collaborations, aimed at improving access to arts education. Through this residency, Love is helping the community reconnect with textile art through workshops, open studio time, and more.

Ammie McRae Jenkins, the first Black student to attend High Point University and a longstanding advocate for Black landowners in the Sandhills, died in October 2025. We take a look back at her life and legacy, and the future of the Sandhills Family Heritage Association, which she founded.

Cumberland County Schools Arabic teacher Najoua Ben Ramak was named the 2025 Foreign Language Association of North Carolina Teacher of the Year, honoring her contributions to her field in the school system, leadership, and community involvement. Ben Ramak, who has taught at Seventy-First High School since 2023, will represent North Carolina this month in Raleigh at the regional event of the Southern Conference on Language Teaching.

D3 Delivery, a local appliance delivery and moving company, is hoping to give formerly incarcerated individuals and people recovering from addiction a second chance through a pilot program aimed at hiring them. The company received a micro-grant in August 2025 that will allow them to pilot the initiative, and the business hopes to go beyond that by coordinating with other local groups who help people with criminal records reenter society.

Our columnists this month explore their connection to the magazine’s theme: The first thinks back on the advances in women’s rights over the past century, but acknowledges how the glass ceiling is still prevalent, 6 | MARCH 2026

Textile artist Kia Love is Cumberland County Public Library's first Artist in Residence. Photo by Tony Wooten

especially in our local elected offices. The next writes about a poignant piece of advice she learned from listening to a podcast. Our bilingual columnist highlights the work of three Latina women in Cumberland County. The last recommends six books celebrating women in history.

Don’t miss our To-Do List for all types of fun events coming up in Fayetteville.

This month’s Seen @ the Scene brings you into the Arts Council of Fayetteville/Cumberland County’s open house of its new facility, ArtsXL, which took place on February 5.

We’re anxiously awaiting our Ladies’ Night Out event next month. Join us on April 9 from 4 to 8 p.m. at The Carolina Barn in Spring Lake for a night of entertainment, shopping, sipping, and more.

Thanks for reading!

Valeria Cloës Magazine Editor For comments, questions, feedback, or to submit story ideas, email vcloes@cityviewnc.com.

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THE VIEW FROM HERE

Breaking the Glass Ceiling Locally

BY TIM WHITE

Every time I’m reminded that March is Women’s History Month, I’m also reminded of my mom. You won’t find her name in anyone’s history book, but she had her own special place nonetheless.

Mom was born in 1910, 10 years before the 19th Amendment gave women the right to vote, and 64 years before the Equal Credit Opportunity Act gave women the right (really, not until 1974!) to have credit cards in their own name, without permission from their husband or some other male.

She was determined to make her own way in the world, regardless of the paternalistic society she grew up in. She graduated from high school in 1928, just one year before the stock market crashed and the Great Depression began.

That didn’t stop her. Not even a little—she was going to see at least a bit of the country beyond her Vermont hometown. She became a secretary (this was long before the age of “administrative assistants”) and found a home with a big oil company, working in Hartford, Connecticut, Syracuse, New York, and Albany, New York—where she met the guy who would become her husband.

The wedding had to wait while my Dad went off to fight the Nazis in World War II, but they married when he got home in 1946. I came along two years later. Mom took a few years off to make sure I got a good start in life, but she returned to work part time when I started school, and then full time when I started high school. She ended up running a college job-placement office, helping undergrads and graduates find careers in corporate America, sharing with young job-seekers a lifetime of knowledge about how the business world really works.

All of that is one of many reasons why I love and respect strong women who chart their own course through life.

It’s why I married a strong woman—without a doubt the best decision of my life.

8 | MARCH 2026

TIM WHITE'S MOTHER Y VONNE LETOURNEAU WHITE IN 1939 IN ELIZABETH PARK IN HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT. PHOTO COURTESY TIM WHITE

And it’s also a reason why I want to see more women rise to the top in corporate and political life. We’re way overdue for a woman president; we need more women in Congress and sitting at governors’ desks. We need more female corporate CEOs (as of the middle of last year, there were 55 women leading Fortune 500 companies—a pitiful 11%). Why? The glass ceiling is still mostly bulletproof. And the aforementioned paternalism is still strong, albeit more quietly flexed now.

It may still be strong in Fayetteville, too. The current city council’s nine members include just two women—Lynne Greene and Brenda McNair. The city’s mayor has always been a man, with one exception, Beth Finch, who served from 1975 to 1981. City council member Kathy Jensen got about 38% of the vote last year when she challenged Mayor Mitch Colvin.

It’s not much different on the county board of commissioners, where Veronica Jones and Jeannette Council are the only women serving.

That’s also long been the case with Fayetteville city managers. I couldn’t find a historic list of all of them, but I know that since the 1990s, they’ve all been men. Women have served as assistant or deputy managers, but the top job has been male-only. Over at the county, former manager Amy Cannon was an excellent exception to the men’s club rule.

In North Carolina’s two biggest cities, the atmosphere is different.

Both Charlotte’s and Raleigh’s mayors are women. In Charlotte, seven of the city’s 11 city council members are women. In Raleigh, four of the city council’s seven members are women.

There are a lot of ways to look at Fayetteville’s political dominance by men. Some of them not so flattering.

But I’m inclined to a kinder view: There’s nothing here but opportunity.

The city and county are filled with strong, educated women who know a whole lot about leadership. But for reasons of their own, they’ve chosen not to run for public office. I hope some will change their minds and give it some electoral effort.

Why? Because I’ve seen—at my kitchen table as a kid, and in a 50-year career as a journalist—the difference women can make when they’re equal partners in the management process.

Management that’s swimming in a pool of testosterone tends to focus on issues in ways that sometimes sound like conversations on the bridge of a Star Trek Klingon ship.

Maybe it’s time for more of Fayetteville’s women to bring a balance to the issues, and to make some new and different history.

I’m betting my mom would approve.

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11 12 1 2 10 3 9 PM 4 8 TIME TO CONSERVE 7 6 5 3 PM to 6 PM Tim White is the former editorial page editor of The Fayetteville Observer.

CITYVIEWNC.COM | 9

FAMILY MATTERS

You Are More than Enough

BY CLAIRE MULLEN

I’m not sure if I should admit in The Women’s Issue of our magazine that one of the most poignant pieces of life advice that I can remember came not from a Nobel Prize winner, political activist, or spiritual advisor, but from a 5’11” socialite supermodel who rose to fame as a child on her family’s infamous reality television series, and now makes her millions strutting runways in her skivvies and selling her brand of tequila.

Kendall Jenner and I probably don’t have an awful lot in common. For starters, I’m not a 5’11” supermodel.

Also, my phone isn’t exactly ringing off the hook with seven-figure offers to publicly display my undergarments.

In all honesty, Kendall Jenner, or any member of the Kardashian-Jenner clan for that matter, is not someone I’d ordinarily ever think twice about garnering wisdom from.

But recently, while I mindlessly scrolled Facebook as I often do before bed, I came across a clip of a Jay Shetty Podcast interview with Kendall Jenner. I’m not sure what it was about that particular segment that gave me pause, but in the clip, Jenner discussed the human tendency to habitually engage in negative self-talk and internal criticism, and a creative tool that she and her therapist came up with to ward off those disparaging thoughts.

Jenner went on to explain that her therapist suggested that she find a favorite photograph of herself as a child and affix it to her bathroom mirror. That way, every time that she looked in the mirror, whether in the morning while brushing her teeth, passing by throughout the day, or getting ready for bed at night, she would remember her therapist’s instructions: Do not “say” anything about yourself that you wouldn’t want to say to the little girl looking back at you from the photograph.

That touched something in my soul. Maybe it’s because I spend an awful lot of time in front of my own bathroom mirror studying the lines on my forehead and wondering if it’s finally time for Botox, thinking about how my grey roots are starting to show and reprimanding myself for not drinking enough water, eating enough protein, or exercising like I should. Worrying in the morning while I put on my makeup about not having enough hours in the 10 | MARCH 2026

Claire Mullen's daughter dressed as Supergirl at her 4th birthday party.

Photo contibuted by Claire Mullen

day to check off everything on my to-do list and feeling like a failure at the end of the day while I wash that makeup off if I haven’t accomplished it all. Beating myself up for losing my temper during the frantic daily rush to get out the door on time for school, letting my kids sit in front of the TV for a little too long, and caving in to their request for Chick-fil-A for a second time this week when we have perfectly good leftover pot roast in the fridge.

I think most of us women would agree that we are hard on ourselves, and oftentimes our own toughest critics.

While we’ve always been pulled in what seems like a million different directions by our families, our careers, and other personal obligations, we are living in an era when it’s so easy to get caught up in social media highlight reels and an AI-enhanced alternate universe that leaves us feeling behind and less-than. The new hyper-focus on the “aesthetic” convinces us that everything from our pantries to our bathroom drawers, our water bottles to our accent pillows, our hairstyles to our skincare routines,

all should look a certain way. It’s no surprise that no matter how hard we try to do it all to the full extent of our abilities, many of us still look in the mirror and tell ourselves, “You’re not doing enough” or, simply, “You’re not enough.” But would we dare say that to the 11-year-old versions of ourselves? Absolutely not.

And so, I took a page out of Kendall Jenner’s … podcast. Well, sort of.

Another thing that she and I don’t have in common is that I have a daughter. Rather than select a photo of myself as a child, the picture that I chose to put by my bathroom mirror is one of my absolute favorites of my now middle-schooler from her superhero-themed 4th birthday party. In it, she is wearing a Supergirl costume, sparkly gold sneakers, and her hair is styled in uneven pigtails with lots of flyaways from running and playing during her backyard party. The photo is a candid that my husband happened to catch as she leapt into the air, one fist forward, pretending to “blast off.” He timed it so perfectly that it appears our daughter is actually flying. It shows a confident, strong, and happy girl, untouched by self-doubt, societal expectations, stress, or demands of the day.

When I look at that little girl in the photograph, and the 11-year-old version of her in person, I want her to know, more than anything else in this world, that she always has been, and always will be more than enough.

As we celebrate International Women’s Day on March 8, maybe we can all take the time to remind the special women in our lives of this very important sentiment. And maybe we can start with ourselves. You are doing more than enough. You are more than enough.

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Textile artist Kia Love, Cumberland County Public Library’s first Artist in Residence, prepares a stencil for a paint transfer to material. She teaches textile workshops for learners of all ages inside her studio at the Headquarters Library in Fayetteville.

A Textile Tradition ART

Cumberland County Public Library’s first Artist in Residence is reviving textile traditions rooted in family history and sharing the craft with learners of all ages.

T

BY DASIA WILLIAMS | PHOTOGRAPHY BY TONY WOOTEN

The yarn moves slowly between Kia Love’s fingers, the way it did for the women whose stories she grew up hearing. Love’s mother—a seamstress—often told her about her grandmother and great-grandmother, who gathered after church to quilt, talk, and build community around their hands.

12 | MARCH 2026

“I’ve always been around textiles,” Love says. “My mom told me stories about how the women in my family used to meet after church and quilt and gossip.”

Those stories stayed with her, especially as she grew older and noticed how little time people now have to keep handmade traditions alive.

CITYVIEWNC.COM || 13 13 CITYVIEWNC.COM

Love is helping people across the region reconnect with textile art—not only through technique, but through community.

“Women today have careers and families,” she says.

“They don’t have time to actually sit down and do those things the way my grandmother’s generation did.”

Love didn’t learn quilting as a child, but she felt drawn to the craft after high school. She learned knitting at 19 and laughs remembering how long her first attempt took.

“It took me eight hours to learn the first step,” she says.

“But after that, I just took off.”

Now, as Cumberland County Public Library’s first Artist in Residence, she is helping people across the region reconnect with textile art—not only through technique, but through community.

Before stepping into the residency, Love created and taught her own textiles-and-sustainability curriculum at the library. It began as a closed-door workshop until curious visitors pushed her to open it up.

“My program was my baby,” she says. “But once I opened the doors, people wandered in—curious about what was happening.”

That experience prepared her for the residency’s public nature, where open studio hours and spontaneous conversations are part of the work.

14 | MARCH 2026

The residency itself grew out of Creative Collaborations, a new library initiative developed to expand access to arts education.

The first year of Creative Collaborations will include more than 320 hours of open studio time across all eight library locations, along with a set of new art programs for children, teens and adults.

The residency also outlines planned collaborations with four Title I high schools, including classroom art supplies, artist visits, mentorship opportunities and enrichment support for art teachers.

Deputy Library Director Gracey Brandt said staff researched residencies across the country and sought grant funding as they noticed community demand for more creative programming—especially after cuts to fine arts opportunities in schools.

“We realized the library could fill a gap,” Brandt said. “Artists needed places to work and teach, and communities needed access.”

“Arts programs are also one of the first things reduced in schools,” she added. “We wanted to support opportunities for students who might not otherwise get them.”

CITYVIEWNC.COM || 15 15 CITYVIEWNC.COM

Love wears one of her own coats outside the Cumberland County Public Library.

16 16 | | MARCH MARCH2026 2026

There’s something different when people learn together.

It’s not just the craft—it’s the community that forms around it.

Teaching Across Ages: Slowing Down, Opening Up Love’s workshops now draw learners ranging from age 5 to 75.

“Kids don’t overthink it,” she says. “A little girl was knitting in 10 minutes.”

Adults often need reminders to savor the pace: “Adults want to rush to the end,” she says. “I remind them to slow down and enjoy the process.”

Teens, she says, come in guarded but open up with time.

To reach them, Love designs programs rooted in fashion, customization and identity—ways for them to see textile art as something relevant to their daily lives.

“I’m not going to walk in and say, ‘We’re knitting,’” she says. “We customize clothing. We make things they actually wear.”

One of her workshops, “Fit Check,” invited teens to bring clothing to personalize through appliqué, embroidery, and fabric paint.

Another workshop guided teens through designing small fabric patches that reflect their interests, personalities, or future goals.

“You should have seen us trying to come up with the titles,” Love says. “I’m not a teen, so I don’t always know what they’re saying anymore. But “Fit Check” felt right.”

Moments of connection often follow.

“One student told me she wants to be a textile designer or interior designer,” Love says. “That stayed with me.”

Partnership With Cumberland County Schools Love will teach a unit of study in participating high schools during the spring 2026 semester, supported by art teachers and district staff. Planning meetings began in the fall, with curriculum development continuing into winter.

According to Danielle Ellis, the library’s special project liaison, the education component of the residency is still taking shape.

“We’re still in the preliminary stages,” Ellis said. “So right now we’re focused on planning, gathering materials and coordinating with the teachers.”

Ellis said teachers responded enthusiastically when she dropped off early promotional materials.

“When we brought the flyers to the schools, the teachers were really excited,” she said. “There’s already a lot of curiosity about what this program will bring.”

For Love, a graduate of Douglas Byrd High School, the partnership carries personal meaning.

“Working with that school again feels full circle to me,” she says.

She hopes students will see textile art not as an outdated tradition but as a medium for storytelling and self-expression. “Students just need to see that this art belongs to them too,” she says.

Love begins many workshops with conversation—small updates, memories of relatives who sewed or crocheted, or reflections from participants trying textile art for the first time.

“My goal is always the same—get people talking, learning, and creating,” she says.

“There’s something different when people learn together,” she adds. “It’s not just the craft—it’s the community that forms around it.”

Upcoming Programs Love is leading a couple workshops this month.

The first event of the month—“Pom-Poms & Tassels!”— will take place from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. March 7 at West Regional Library. Participants will learn how to make pompoms and tassels using yarn. This event is designed for children ages 6–11; children must be accompanied by an adult to participate. The second event is on March 21 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Hope Mills Community Library and will teach participants the basics of knitting. This event, “Knitting 101: The Absolute Basics,” is geared toward adults.

CityView readers can find registration information and more on the Cumberland County Public Library calendar.

This program is supported by grant funds from the Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA) as administered by the State Library of North Carolina, a division of the NC Department of Natural and Cultural Resources (IMLS grant number LS-259195-OLS-25).

ABOUT THE AUTHOR Education reporter Dasia Williams can be reached at dwilliams@cityviewnc.com.

CITYVIEWNC.COM | 17

P R O FE S S I O N A L P R O FI L E S

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P R O FE S S I O N A L P R O FI L E S

Deanna Holt CRNA DNP SKIN SPECIALISTS OF FAYETTEVILLE Deanna Holt CRNA DNP is the dedicated owner of Skin Specialists of Fayetteville, a trailblazing medical spa committed to redefining skincare since its inception in 2020. Skin Specialists of Fayetteville has been voted the Community Choice Awards number one medical spa in Fayetteville for the last four years. Deanna has been at the forefront, providing unparalleled treatments and services that cater to the diverse needs of every client. With a focus on promoting healthy, radiant skin, Skin Specialists of Fayetteville offers a range of anti-aging and wellness treatments tailored to enhance their clients’ confidence.

In 2024, Deanna opened Skin Specialists School of Esthetics, Fayetteville’s number one esthetics school for aspiring estheticians. Since August of 2024, the school has graduated over 30 estheticians, many of whom have gone on to start their own esthetics businesses.

Deanna’s journey in the medical field began with her licensure as a practical nurse in 2006, followed by completing her associate degree in nursing in 2009. In 2011, she completed her bachelor’s degree in nursing, and by 2013 she was commissioned into the United States Army to complete the anesthesia program, graduating in 2016 with her doctorate in nursing.

In 2025, Deanna began embarking on her next big journey—earning a Master of Business Administration through the University of North Carolina Wilmington. She also continues to work throughout the community in surgery centers, providing anesthesia to surgical patients.

As the owner of the Skin Specialists teams, Deanna takes pride in curating a dedicated and knowledgeable staff equipped with top-notch medical-grade machines and treatments to meet the needs of every client and student.

Beyond her professional achievements, Deanna is a devoted mother who balances her businesses with supporting her daughter’s school and sporting events.

Join Deanna on a journey to vibrant, healthy skin and experience the unmatched expertise and dedication she brings to Skin Specialists of Fayetteville.

910-759-3060 | 209 Fairway Drive, Suite C, Fayetteville NC 28305 | bestskinoffayetteville.com S P EC I A L P R O M OT I O N A L S ECT I O N CITYVIEWNC.COM | 19

P R O FE S S I O N A L P R O FI L E S

Simone Dennison MIDDLE SCHOOL DIRECTOR AT FAYETTEVILLE ACADEMY Simone Dennison, Middle School Director at Fayetteville Academy, has built a career grounded in service, relationships, and a deep commitment to students. Her leadership journey began in 2006 as an Assistant Principal with Cumberland County Schools, where strong mentors inspired her to pursue broader leadership opportunities. While she valued her time in the classroom, she discovered a passion for shaping school culture and educational experiences on a larger scale.

believes leadership is most effective when rooted in empathy, authenticity, and meaningful relationships.

As a female leader, Dennison is dedicated to serving as a role model, especially for young girls. She wants students to see that leadership is defined by character, service, and confidence in one’s voice. She is particularly proud of her advocacy for students with disabilities and the opportunity to support their success.

Dennison’s return to Fayetteville Academy, where she previously taught and coached for eight years, felt like a natural homecoming. Known for her collaborative and student centered leadership style, she prioritizes trust, clear expectations, and a supportive environment where students and educators can thrive. She

Committed to family, faith, and community, Dennison strives to balance professional responsibilities with personal well being. She hopes her legacy will reflect love, respect, and an unwavering focus on what is best for students.

910-868-5131 | 3200 Cliffdale Road, Fayetteville, NC 28303 | fayacademy.org

Liza Hondros LIZA HONDROS CREATIVE STUDIOS Liza Hondros is the founder and creative force behind Liza Hondros Creative Studios, a creative studio built to support individuals, brands, and businesses as they grow and evolve. Grounded in the belief that visual storytelling should serve a purpose, her work helps people show up with clarity, confidence, and credibility in images that reflect who they truly are.

Her creative studio brands, Frame That Property and Liza Hondros Photography, unite real estate and property media, professional headshots and branding, and portrait and family photography, with a reach that extends well beyond Fayetteville and the Sandhills region.

What sets Liza’s work apart is not just the imagery, but the way she serves. She listens first, solves real problems, and meets people where they are. The goal is never to impress, but to support and make things better for the people who trust her with their story.

Outside of her work, Liza is married to Deno Hondros and is a proud mom to their son James, a freshman at Terry Sanford High School.

No matter how the studio grows, her focus remains the same: family first, community always, and helping others be seen clearly and confidently.

Liza Hondros Creative Studios | 910-745-7686 | lizahondroscreative.com S P EC I A L P R O M OT I O N A L S ECT I O N 20 | MARCH 2026

CITYVIEWNC.COM | 20

P R O FE S S I O N A L P R O FI L E S

Antonella Giannone Scibilia ANTONELLA’S ITALIAN RISTORANTE

Antonella Giannone Scibilia is from Brooklyn, New York. Her parents are both native Sicilians. They both came over from Sicily in their late 30s and started a small restaurant in Brooklyn. From there, they moved to the South and opened a restaurant in Winston-Salem. Antonella has grown up in the restaurant business and says it’s in her blood. She owned three restaurants prior to her opening Antonella’s.

Her parents put her to work at their Brooklyn restaurant at the young age of 12 and she has worked ever since, inspiring her lifelong love and passion for cooking and bringing people together. After some time they eventually moved south to North Carolina to bring traditional authentic Italian food to a state basically devoid of it. For this reason, Antonella states the restaurant industry basically “runs in her blood” and it shows in all aspects of everything she does.

Growing up in a kitchen where sticking true to her traditions and providing fresh quality scratch-made food and the success that comes with unbeatable quality is something she has always taken pride in.

Taking advantage of recipes handed down through her family for generations and a standard of quality and attention to detail, she set out in 2017 to combine her own original recipes and the blueprint her family created to bring something different and inspiring to the downtown ambiance of Fayetteville, North Carolina.

“I wanted to make my customers feel as if they were dining out in a large city with a warm and inviting atmosphere, with a bit of elegance accompanied by great customer service, fresh ingredients, and traditional and original authentic Italian food,” she said.

Antonella’s Italian restaurant is not her first restaurant but her fourth, after three successful attempts with her family, she decided to take a leap and provide an experience that was truly self-inspired and her own, “saving the best for last” in her own words. Antonella’s has truly become a staple for Fayetteville cuisine and has earned itself a place as a well-loved favorite for Fayetteville locals and travelers alike and made a place for itself as one of the top 40 restaurants in North Carolina.

910-486-0046 | 300 Hay St., Fayetteville, NC 28301 | antonellasitalianristorante.com S P EC I A L P R O M OT I O N A L S ECT I O N CITYVIEWNC.COM | 21

P R O FE S S I O N A L P R O FI L E S

Dinah Goodman BUZZFIT BOOTCAMP Dinah Goodman has always believed in service to others. She has been in the fitness industry in some capacity for over 37 years, as a gymnast in her youth to a bodybuilder, powerlifter, nutritionist and sports enthusiast.

She has played sports in one form or another throughout her life, enjoying the health benefits and ability to change her body. Dinah served in the Army then the Navy, retiring in 2016.

As a fitness enthusiast, Dinah had a box gym at one point but decided to open a boutique studio gym/fitness center. She realized that many people prefer a smaller, more private gym that offers complete accountability and professional services … a gym that one will not get lost in but form a tight connection to. Enter: BuzzFit BootCamp.

Since opening in June of 2019, BuzzFit BootCamp has won a myriad of awards each year such as Best Veteran-Owned Business and Best Fitness Center and Gym and has opened its collective heart to helping the community get healthier, make great friends and enjoy the benefits of having a fit, functional lifestyle to improve quality of life.

When asked what she attributes the success of her gym to, she states, “If I had to choose what the single most important factor is in owning a gym or any other business for that matter, I would have to say it is definitely the people connection … it is the most important factor in success.”

910-889-1155 3039 Boone Trail, Suite 100 Fayetteville, NC 28304 dgoodman@buzzfitbootcamp.com

S P EC I A L P R O M OT I O N A L S ECT I O N 22 | MARCH 2026

BuzzFit BootCamp offers an array of memberships and challenges for anyone’s goals and budget.

Anyone can try BuzzFit BootCamp out for free for a week, no strings attached. Contact them today!

P R O FE S S I O N A L P R O FI L E S

Dinah Goodman BLUE LASER EVENTS Opening up an event space was a no-brainer for Dinah Goodman.

“I always put on events with my gym and community because I got good at it…it is fun”, says Dinah.

“Events are a great way to keep us together and, since I always hold them, why not do it in our own space, but with more pizzaz”.

Enter Blue Laser Events in the Good Homes Bordeaux Complex.

Dinah is no stranger to business.

She owns BuzzFit BootCamp, which is across the street from Blue Laser Events. Blue Laser Events is a 3601 square feet venue and event space with a modern touch. As you walk in, you are surrounded with a bright, well-lit, open and airy facility with white walls and a big lobby with white shiny castle tiles. In the lobby sits a velvet royal blue sitting area and zebra print king and queen chairs, fit for royalty.

A grassy lush wall adorns the left side of the lobby and prince and princess bathrooms with lighted makeup mirrors wait to meet every patron.

As you enter the main room, 2 chandeliers hang above the middle of the room, and a fireplace stands surrounded by mirrors on each side of the back of the room. A kitchenette with a bar awaits in its own room, with lighted palm trees giving off a feeling of rest and surrender.

PHOTO BY ROD’S STUDIO

472-210-3370 1707 Owen Drive, Suite B2 Fayetteville, NC 28304 book@dreamcatcherconsulting.net

The motto of Blue Laser Events is “Memories are made where we gather”. Blue Laser specializes in weddings, baby showers, conferences, birthdays, graduations, and any celebration one can think of. They even provide add-ons and can decorate and help plan anyone’s milestone celebration. “Your celebration is my celebration, so let’s create the best memories!” says Dinah.

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Ammie McRae Jenkins dedicated much of her life to preserving land owned by Black families in the North Carolina Sandhills. She grew up just outside of Spring Lake on land now enveloped by Fort Bragg.

Preserving History CULTURE

Ammie McRae Jenkins, the first Black student to attend High Point University, spent much of her life protecting the rights of Black landowners.

A

BY TREY NEMEC

PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY JANET BROWER / SANDHILLS FAMILY HERITAGE ASSOCIATION

Ammie McRae Jenkins, the first Black student to attend High Point University and an activist who dedicated much of her life to preserving land owned by Black families in the North Carolina Sandhills, died on October 25. She was 84.

“She was a genius,” Larry Dobbins, a member of the Sandhills Family Heritage Association, said of Jenkins, who founded the organization in 2001. Dobbins’ hand rested on a cane as he spoke about Jenkins, who was a few grades ahead of him at Anne Chesnutt High School, which served Black students during segregation.

24 | MARCH 2026

After high school, Jenkins in 1962 became the first Black student admitted to High Point, a private university in Guilford County. In a 2023 short documentary, Jenkins recalled how people pelted her with spitballs and called her racial slurs as she walked through campus. But she kept going. “You’re not going to bother me by just calling me a name,” Jenkins said. “So I wasn’t afraid.”

But things changed for her when President John F. Kennedy, a strong advocate for the Civil Rights Movement, was assassinated in 1963.

Jenkins was an activist who dedicated much of her life to preserving land owned by Black families in the North Carolina Sandhills.

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Ammie McRae Jenkins (left) at the Spring Lake Farmers Market, which is operated by the Sandhills Family Heritage Association. Jenkins founded the organization in 2001.

“We were in the classroom, and an announcement had come through that Kennedy had been shot,” Jenkins recalled. She said some students cheered, and she was shocked that anyone would “rejoice in the death” of a president.

“That is the first time I felt fear,” Jenkins said.

She left school and built a successful career as a computer programmer and businesswoman.

But her High Point University story wasn’t over yet. The school awarded Jenkins an honorary degree in 2019, five decades after she first enrolled.

Stolen Land Jenkins, whose great-grandfather was an enslaved person, grew up on a farm in Harnett County, just outside of Spring Lake on land now enveloped by Fort Bragg.

“Everything grew wild. Everything grew in abundance,” Jenkins recalled of her family home in a 2008 interview with The News & Observer.

26 | MARCH 2026

Following the death of her father in 1954, Jenkins’ family endured intimidation and fear tactics from local white people—a story all too familiar during that time.

Following the end of the Civil War, Black Americans quickly began acquiring land. By 1910, Black farmers owned more than 16 million acres, according to the American Bar Association. But 90% of that land was lost by 1997, taken from families through violence and discriminatory practices by banks and the government.

“We didn’t leave because we wanted to,” Jenkins said in a 2007 interview with Under-told Stories, an international journalism project. “My mother didn’t know that people were working behind the scenes to take the land. So, we lost all of that.”

Jenkins said her family was never paid for the property.

“Lost by whatever means,” Dobbins said. “By hook or by crook, as we say in the country.”

The loss of her family’s property spurred Jenkins’ mission to protect Black-owned land.

The nonprofit Sandhills Family Heritage Association runs on a mission of H.O.P.E.—heritage, outreach, preservation of land, and economic empowerment. The group has worked with local law students in the past to host estate planning clinics, and it has expanded programming to include historical tourism opportunities, financial literacy, and health and wellness programs, and a theater group called the Sankofa Players.

Preserving the Past The organization also operates the Spring Lake Farmers Market, a key part of its mission to promote entrepreneurship in the area, board member Janet Brower told CityView.

The organization acquired the Spring Lake Civic Center—a once-dilapidated building on Chapel Hill Road that once served as a key meeting place for Civil Rights activists in the 1960s—in a 2009 handshake deal, Brower said. Bringing new life to the building would be a tremendous task.

Repairs are still underway, and the goal is to transform the space into a community center and museum that will house historical artifacts and stories collected by Jenkins.

The Sandhills Family Heritage Association has spent about $330,000 on the project so far, and remaining renovations are expected to cost about $150,000.

The association is the protector of several historical sites, including a brush arbor in Spring Lake. Brush arbors are small wooden structures, usually deep in the woods, where people who were enslaved gathered to practice their faith.

“It was a place they felt safe to worship,” Brower said.

The group maintains a portion of the Fayetteville and Western Plank Road, a stretch of flattened wooden posts that served as a roadway spanning almost 130 miles from the Market House in downtown Fayetteville to Forsyth County.

The organization also cares for the Deerfield Cemetery in Spring Lake. Myron Jones, who serves on the association’s board, said the cemetery was once part of a nearby plantation. Though the process is slow and painstaking, the association is working to clean up and maintain the cemetery and identify the people who rest there. Board members say the goal is to remove over 100 tree stumps from the area.

In November, the Sandhills Family Heritage Association and Sankofa Players presented The Chair, a one-act play written by board member Tonya Brinkley. The play reflects on the concepts of truth, healing, heritage, and the power in everyday stories.

The troupe dedicated the performance to Jenkins.

“Without her vision, determination, and faith,” the glossy page of the program read, “the Sandhills Family Heritage Association would not exist.”

Brower recalled visiting the land Jenkins once called home, where only a chimney remains of the house. Even then, Jenkins was determined to preserve history.

“She was saying, ‘See if you can find something that we can take back,’” Brower said. They left that day with a pile of rocks and an old shoe.

“She wanted to preserve the stories of the elders,” Brower said. “Those stories needed to be recorded, and they needed to be preserved for future generations.”

With the stories she collected, Jenkins independently published her book Healing From the Land in May 2021, adding the title “author” to a lifelong list of accomplishments and legacy.

White-Washed History Some members of the Sandhills Family Heritage Association say the history of the region has been whitewashed. They say the sanitization of historical accounts—and erasure of Black narratives—paints an inaccurate picture of the area and skews the lens from which we view the past.

“It has a snowball effect because you’re starting out with a small lie, which grows to a big lie,” Jones said. “You’re going to have people that will never change their minds once they hear it. So at that point, it’s distorted.”

Board member Debra Clyde said she read a book about the history of Spring Lake and was shocked that it failed to mention the name of any Black people until the section about the 1970s. “It wasn’t just washed over,” she said. “It was buried.”

Dobbins said that when inaccuracies in history come from people in power, they become almost “gospel for folks.”

“You can destroy it, white-wash it, and then the attempt is to start all over again,” he said. “I pray to God that never happens.”

A Legacy Continued Members of the Sandhills Family Heritage Association say they will take their time to find a new executive director.

The group’s members gathered around a table in early December, reflecting on what it means to continue Jenkins’ work and legacy as a mother, grandmother, author, historian, trailblazer, and fierce protector of Black voices.

“She laid a great foundation. She’s gone now, at no fault of anybody. That’s just God’s way of doing things, you know?”

Jones said. “But if we don’t continue, her dream dies.”

ABOUT THE AUTHOR Trey Nemec is a contributing writer for CityView. He is a Fayetteville State University alumnus, and holds a bachelor’s degree in communication and media studies.

CITYVIEWNC.COM | 27

Cumberland County Schools Superintendent Dr. Eric Bracy with Arabic teacher Najoua Ben Ramak, who was named the 2025 Foreign Language Association of North Carolina (FLANC) Teacher of the Year. Photo courtesy Cumberland County Schools

EDUCATION

Cultural Connection Cumberland County Schools educator Najoua Ben Ramak discusses her teaching journey, cultural roots, and statewide recognition.

S

BY DASIA WILLIAMS

Since joining Seventy-First High School in 2023, teacher Najoua Ben Ramak has built an Arabic program that students describe as welcoming, challenging, and rooted in cultural connection.

She has also become known in the school community for incorporating Moroccan traditions, cooking activities, and virtual exchanges that help students engage with the language in meaningful ways.

She came to Cumberland County through Educational Partners International, a teacher exchange program that

28 | MARCH 2026

recruits educators from around the world to teach in U.S. public schools.

In the fall, Ben Ramak was named the 2025 Foreign Language Association of North Carolina (FLANC) Teacher of the Year, an honor recognizing her instructional leadership, community involvement, and contributions to world language education in Cumberland County Schools.

She was nominated by her supervisor and selected through a statewide review process evaluating her classroom practices, professional contributions, and

previous recognitions. Born and raised in Morocco, Ben Ramak often tells her students that “language opens doors”—a belief shaped by her own experience learning English and later immigrating to the United States.

Her selection means she will go on to represent North Carolina at the Southern Conference on Language Teaching when the regional event comes to Raleigh from March 19–21. In a conversation with CityView, she discussed her teaching philosophy, her cultural background, and what the statewide award means to her.

Q: Can you start by sharing your role and what you aim to create in your classroom?

Ben Ramak: I teach Arabic at Seventy-First High School.

My goal is to create a positive and welcoming environment where students feel confident, curious, and open to learning about other cultures. I focus on diversity, giving students choices and building a space where they feel peaceful and supported.

Q: What inspired you to become a world language teacher, and how has your background in Morocco shaped your approach?

Ben Ramak: I grew up in Morocco and started by studying English as a foreign language. I believe that language opens doors, and that is what happened to me. Learning English opened opportunities for me and eventually allowed me to come to the United States.

Teaching Arabic lets me share my heritage, build global awareness, and help students grow into confident communicators. One of my students even won first place in an international writing competition through Qatar Foundation International. Moments like that inspire me.

Q: Which values or cultural practices from Morocco show up most in your teaching?

Ben Ramak: Gratitude, empathy, and sharing are important in my culture. I bring those values into my classroom through cooking activities, cultural events, and family involvement. I focus not only on language skills but on personal growth—confidence, empathy, and gratitude.

My students also participate in community activities, like giving food to staff. Sharing and caring are big parts of how I grew up.

Q: Students often describe your class as a place where they feel challenged and seen.

What practices guide your teaching style?

Ben Ramak: I always start by helping students love the language. When they feel welcomed and confident, they’re more willing to learn. I give students choices—how they prefer to learn and whether they want to work in teams or individually. I use games, interactive activities, and constant encouragement, and I remind them that mistakes are part of the process.

Arabic has a different alphabet and different sounds, so it can feel intimidating, but I teach it in a way that makes it accessible. I also create virtual connections between my students and students in Morocco. It motivates them and makes learning meaningful.

Q: What was your reaction when you learned you had been named FLANC Teacher of the Year?

Ben Ramak: I felt very honored and grateful. It was a full-circle moment that motivated me to keep doing my best to meet my students’ needs. It reminded me that even when you do something small in the classroom, it can be rewarded later. This recognition isn’t just for me—it’s for my students. It feels like a team achievement.

Q: How did the selection process work?

Were you nominated?

Ben Ramak: Yes, I was nominated by my supervisor.

After that, the association contacted me and I went through several steps—I wrote two essays, shared classroom reviews, submitted photos of activities, and sent documentation of other recognitions I’ve received like Teacher of the Month (December 2023) and International Spotlight (March 2024). I also shared the grants I’ve earned to support my class.

Q: What message do you hope to share with other world language educators across North Carolina?

Ben Ramak: Love what you do. When you love teaching, you become more creative and committed. Teaching is a chance to change a student’s future. Give your students confidence, stay motivated, and inspire them every day.

Q: Is there anything else you want people to know about your journey?

Ben Ramak: When I arrived in the U.S. in August 2023, my father had just passed away less than a month earlier.

I found love and family in my classroom, and my students helped me heal. I also designed the Arabic curriculum for the county because there was nothing to follow when I arrived.

I had to be creative, and now Cumberland County Schools has a full curriculum based on what I built. I’m grateful for my students—they are miracles in my life. And for anyone who has a goal, nothing is impossible. If you truly love something, it will open doors for you.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR Education reporter Dasia Williams can be reached at dwilliams@cityviewnc.com.

CITYVIEWNC.COM | 29

Donnell McAllister, who works for D3 Delivery, moves boxes and furniture in Fayetteville.

A Second Chance BUSINESS & ECONOMY

D3 Delivery received funding from the city to pilot a program aimed at helping people who were incarcerated or recovering from addiction.

D

STORY AND PHOTOGRAPHY BY MORGAN CASEY

Donnell McAllister stood in the back of a U-Haul and mentally pieced together how dozens of boxes and pieces of furniture would fit together like a jigsaw puzzle in the 26-foot truck.

“You never know what someone is going to bring out for you to try and put in a spot,” McAllister said. “It’s basically a test, and I like being tested.”

McAllister, 26, works for D3 Delivery, a Fayettevillebased appliance delivery and moving company that serves customers in Scotland, Robeson, Cumberland, and

30 | MARCH 2026

Hoke counties.

Jelissa Thomas, founder and chief executive of D3 Delivery, started the company in 2021 with a goal of hiring workers who have been incarcerated or are recovering from addiction. She said she knew many people in Laurinburg, where she grew up, who struggled to find jobs because of their checkered pasts.

The company is small, and Thomas hasn’t hired anyone yet with a criminal record or drug addiction. But she’s hoping that will change.

In August, D3 Delivery received $1,500 from Fayetteville’s Empowering Community Safety Micro-Grant Program to pilot an initiative to hire workers, particularly Black men, who might be deemed unemployable by other companies. D3 Delivery was among 20 businesses and organizations to receive a total of $84,500 from the city’s economic and community development department.

“Once you get labeled as a felon, it prevents certain doors from being opened,” Thomas said. “Especially in Laurinburg, once you get in trouble, you don’t have access but to so many jobs, so I wanted to be able to give people who did something in their past an opportunity.”

The program hopes to offer more than a paycheck. D3 Delivery wants to coordinate with NCWorks Career Center and local groups dedicated to helping inmates reenter society.

Once she completes her master’s degree in clinical mental health counseling at UNC Pembroke, Thomas wants to provide mental health services to the employees.

About 25% of North Carolinians have a criminal history, according to the N.C. Department of Adult Correction. In 2022, Black men in the state were arrested at a rate 3.7 times higher than white men, according to a report from the Criminal Justice Analysis Center under the N.C. Department of Public Safety.

Black people accounted for 46% of arrests in North Carolina in 2024 but only about 20% of the population, state data shows. In Cumberland County, Black people accounted for 67% of arrests while making up 37% of the population.

The region served by D3 Delivery struggles with substance misuse.

Although the number of fatal drug overdose rates fell significantly in 2024, Robeson, Scotland, and Cumberland counties still had the highest rates in the state that year, according to the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services.

Robeson and Scotland counties

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Finding a job can be extremely challenging for people with criminal records. Thirtythree percent of incarcerated people didn’t find employment within four years after their release from federal prison in 2010, according to a study published in 2022 by the federal Bureau of Justice Statistics. Those who found work had to wait more than six months to land their first job and held an average of 3.4 jobs across the study period.

32 | MARCH 2026

Jelissa Thomas, founder and CEO of D3 Delivery, was on the job in Fayetteville on December 12, 2025. She started the company in hopes of hiring workers who often struggle to find employment.

also had among the highest rates of overdose emergency department visits in the state.

Thomas’ work hits close to home. She said she spent a lot of time as a child visiting her father in prison and recovery centers. When her dad wasn’t behind bars, she said, he worked in construction.

Finding a job can be extremely challenging for people with criminal records. Thirty-three percent of incarcerated people didn’t find employment within four years after their release from federal prison in 2010, according to a study published in 2022 by the federal Bureau of Justice Statistics. Those who found work had to wait more than six months to land their first job and held an average of 3.4 jobs across the study period.

Dale Thomas, D3 Delivery’s crew lead and a relative of the company’s founder, said he has friends who have struggled to find a job due to stigma.

“People are quick to judge their next man for their past,” he said, “Instead of actually sitting and having a conversation with them, seeing their goals and the things they’ve achieved since then.”

McAllister has never been in jail or in recovery. But he said he recognizes the importance of the pilot program. He said he was fired by another moving company because he missed a day of work to handle a traffic ticket.

“At D3, I don’t have those problems,” McAllister said. “I can communicate with them and tell them, ‘I have a court date, or I have an appointment,’ and they’ll be like ‘Okay, if we can’t do the job, we’ll reschedule.’”

Fayetteville hopes the grant program will reduce crime.

Cumberland County has seen a 45% decrease in criminal offenses since 2015, data shows. But the Fayetteville Police Department saw a 68% increase in homicides between January and September 2025 compared to the same period in 2024: 34, up from 19.

Neighboring Robeson County had one of the highest overall crime rates in the state in 2024, according to state data.

“When I look around my community, there are more people, more men, who have issues with their background than not,” said Jelissa Thomas, who lives in Raeford.

Jelissa Thomas still remembers when a judge at the 2025 Future Rich Aunties Business Summit & Pitch Competition in Fayetteville asked her, “Why would I let a criminal move me?”

“To me, as long as we keep providing great service to the people that do give us a chance to move them, that is

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how we combat that stigma of people that have [criminal] backgrounds or that are in recovery,” Jelissa Thomas said.

She also said she thoroughly screens employees and said the state has an insurance program for companies that employ workers with criminal histories.

Jelissa Thomas said she ultimately hopes to open an addiction recovery center that would steer participants into jobs at D3 Delivery. Triangle Residential Options for Substance Abusers, or TROSA, operates a similar program in Durham and Winston-Salem.

“My goal—my very huge goal—is for it to become a model for recovery and reentry,” she said.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR Border Belt Independent Reporter Morgan Casey is a corps member with Report for America, a national service program that places journalists into local newsrooms. Morgan’s reporting focuses on health care issues in the Border Belt and can be supported through a donation to the Border Belt Reporting Center, Inc.

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CITYVIEWNC.COM | 33

OYE, ¿CÓMO VA?

Latina Women Who Hold the Invisible

BY CLAUDIA ZAMORA

March arrives quietly, almost without announcing itself.

And with it, a truth our community knows well begins to surface: many of the things that work, that endure, and that remain alive do so thanks to women who are not seeking to be seen.

Latina women of Fayetteville and Cumberland County who work, care, listen, organize, and accompany without fanfare, yet with a presence that leaves a lasting mark.

They are the ones who keep the daily pulse of life moving, even when no one names them.

Valerie Adissi is one of them. A stylist and entrepreneur, she opens the doors each day of Head to Toe Styling Salon, a space that is far more than a place of beauty.

Between scissors, laughter, and shared silences, conversations unfold that soothe, bring clarity, and sustain. Women arrive tired, hopeful, confused, and leave feeling a little lighter. “Sometimes people come in for the outside,” Adissi said simply, “but something always happens on the inside.” Through her daily work, Adissi creates refuge. She creates belonging.

Junia Cedano offers her care from the classroom. In the hallways and classrooms of Alger B. Wilkins High School, where she teaches Spanish, she knows that education goes far beyond following a curriculum. It is about meeting students where they are. Listening to what is not said. Holding space where students can be who they are without fear. For many young people, Cedano is the first adult who truly sees them as whole, honoring their stories, their language, their contradictions, and their potential.

“When someone feels seen, they can learn,” she often says.

And in that way, her classroom becomes a place where the future slowly begins to take shape.

Carla West accompanies life from its very beginning.

Through her work with Central Carolina Doulas, she walks alongside women and families during one of the most 34 | MARCH 2026

PHOTO BY FILIPP ROMANOVSKI ON UNSPL ASH

profound and vulnerable moments there is. Her presence is calm, respectful, a body attentively supporting another body. She does not direct or impose. She does not rush time or interfere with the process. Her presence honors, accompanies, and sustains without intrusion. “My work is to be present,” she said with conviction. To be there when fear appears. To be there when pain transforms. To be there when a new life enters the world. In that quiet presence, West leaves a mark that carries forward from generation to generation.

In Adissi, Cedano, and West, strength takes different forms, yet it rises from the same source. A business that becomes a home. A classroom that becomes a safe space.

An accompaniment that honors the beginning of life.

Three ways of sustaining community through everyday acts. This Women’s History Month is not only about remembering names from the past. It is about paying close attention to the present being built right here, in our streets, in our schools, in the spaces where life unfolds without applause.

Women who may not call themselves leaders, yet who lead with consistency, care, and a quiet strength that supports far more people than we might imagine. When one of these women is truly heard, when her story is given room to breathe, something gentle settles within all of us. Their strength does not stand alone. It lives among us, silently woven into the living fabric of the community.

Claudia Zamora is an Argentinian author, mental health and wellness coach, and passionate community advocate. Since 2011, she has made Fayetteville, North Carolina, her home, uplifting the Hispanic community.

Demetria Davis at Cape Fear Valley Health presents CityView Magazine's Ladies' Night Out at the Carolina Barn in Spring Lake on April 10, 2025.

Photo by Tony Wooten Don't miss this year's event on April 9. Get your tickets!

CITYVIEWNC.COM || 35 35 CITYVIEWNC.COM

GOOD READS

Celebrating Women in History

BY DIANE PARFITT

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We may not recognize a world where some of the best stories ever written were nearly lost, not because they lacked brilliance, but because women authored them.

For centuries, women writers were discouraged from writing because they were thought to be intellectually inferior, and society expected them to focus on domestic pursuits. Fortunately, they persisted, writing novels and poetry, often hiding behind male pen names just to get published. During the 19th century, some of these women did become famous: the Brontë sisters, Jane Austen, and a few others. But many were not recognized. Fortunately, Austen filled her own bookshelf with works by other women who were often overlooked during this period. Rebecca Romney wrote Jane Austen’s Bookshelf to recognize many of these women authors.

As we celebrate Women’s History Month, it’s time to focus on these remarkable women, both the famous and the forgotten—whose words have shaped our literary heritage. Readers today have a chance to learn about some of these women in history who challenged the norms in both literature and other professions and who have become legends through history.

1. Women Who Read Are Dangerous

by Stefan Bollmann It’s interesting that women were not only discouraged from writing books, but in certain societies women were also discouraged from reading books. Given that women had limited access to education, it is interesting that women readers are overrepresented in the visual arts. But here we have a beautiful book featuring over 70 works of art highlighting women reading throughout history. Author Stefan Bollmann gives an excellent overview of each painting about the woman and often what she is reading.

2. Warrior Queens & Quiet Revolutionaries: How Women (Also) Built the World

by Kate Mosse Inspired by her great-grandmother Lily Watson, a oncefamous novelist in her day, Kate Mosse wants to share her history and other well-known and lesser-known women who were trailblazers for women today. She tells the story of women who were unsung heroes in many fields, from medicine, literature, stage, screen, and warrior queens and pirate commanders.

36 | MARCH 2026

3. The Secret Book Society by Madeline Martin Women have been in book clubs for years. But in the late 1800s in Victorian England’s upper society, women were discouraged from reading. They were even limited in their educational opportunities.

In this novel, a widowed countess decides to invite some other society women to join a mysterious book club where they have the freedom to read books and have a safe place to discuss them, as well as develop friendships with other women who have also been oppressed by their husbands and society’s repressive expectations.

During this period, some husbands even convinced doctors to put their wives in asylums if they strayed from the expected society norm for women.

4. Rad American Women A-Z by Kate Schatz We don’t want to forget our younger readers. This A-Z book uses the alphabet to introduce them to some well-known women in history. “A is for Angela—as in Angela Davis, the iconic political activist. B is for Billie Jean King, who shattered the glass ceiling of sports; C is for Carol Burnett, who defied assumptions about women in comedy; D is for Dolores Huerta, who organized farmworkers; and E is for Ella Baker, who mentored Dr. Martin Luther King and helped shape the Civil Rights Movement,” and on down the alphabet with many of the great women in history. There are only 26 women in this list, but a great start to learn about female artists and abolitionists, scientists and suffragettes, rock stars and rabble-rousers, and women of all professions who changed our history.

5. The Genius of Women: From Overlooked to Changing the World by Janice Kaplan Have you ever told your daughter or other girls that they can be anything?

And fortunately, we are seeing more and more women in all careers. But

did you know that 90% of Americans think that geniuses are almost always men? Author Janice Kaplan carefully explores how the system has been rigged over history to leave us believing this misconception. She shows us women geniuses throughout history who have achieved greatness anyway. She introduces us to women geniuses in fields from music to robotics and proves that genius is not just about talent, but it’s also about having that talent recognized, nurtured, and celebrated.

6. Normal Women 900 Years of Making History by Philippa Gregory We may think we know what women in the 11th century were like—or not. Author Philippa Gregory does an amazing job of sharing some of the real stories of ordinary women who achieved extraordinary accomplishments. We learn that women propelled the Peasants’

Revolt of 1381 because they were protesting a tax on women. Charles Darwin, famous English naturalist, geologist, and biologist, believed that women were naturally inferior to men, and that they would evolve to become even more inferior. In spite of this and other barriers women faced, and in some cases still do, Gregory shares centuries of history of the extraordinary roles women played throughout British history.

Included are illustrations throughout the book that attest to the various roles of everyday women.

Diane Parfitt owns City Center Gallery & Books in downtown Fayetteville. She can be reached at citycentergallerybooks@gmail.com.

FUTURE READY.

Career & Community Enrichment Programs Feed your passion!

• Art • Business Management • Certified Personal Trainer • Computer Education • Event Planning • Financial Planning • Real Estate • Teacher Renewal & more!

QUESTIONS? Contact haganm@faytechcc.edu

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Corporate & Continuing Education CITYVIEWNC.COM | 37

MARCH 2026

THE TO-DO LIST Here are just some of the things happening in and around Fayetteville this month. Scan the code with your phone for more events, additional information, and to post your event on our website. Events are subject to change. Check before attending.

March 6

March 15

Fayetteville Liberty Inaugural Home Opener vs. Raleigh Firebirds Crown Arena Crown Complex 1960 Coliseum Drive faylibertync.com

Cameo Collective Red Carpet Gala 226 The Warehouse 226 Donaldson St. cameoarthouse.com

March 6 The 3rd Annual Ville City Blues Festival Crown Theatre Crown Complex 1960 Coliseum Drive crowncomplexnc.com

March 13 Anne Wilson: The Stars Tour Crown Theatre Crown Complex 1960 Coliseum Drive crowncomplexnc.com

March 13 Kids Night Out: Twilight Predators Cape Fear Botanical Garden 536 N. Eastern Blvd. capefearbg.org

March 15 Fayetteville Symphony & Fayetteville Youth Symphony Side by Side Concert Huff Concert Hall Methodist University 5400 Ramsey St. fayettevillesymphony.org

38 | MARCH 2026

March 16–21 St. Patrick’s Day Leprechaun Hunt J. Bayard Clark Park & Nature Center 631 Sherman Drive fayettevillenc.gov

March 18 Gardening Basics Seminar Cape Fear Botanical Garden 536 N. Eastern Blvd. capefearbg.org

March 19–April 4 Driving Miss Daisy Cape Fear Regional Theatre 1707 Owen Drive cfrt.org

March 19 Art After Hours: CCHS Juried Art Show The Arts Center The Arts Council of Fayetteville/ Cumberland County 301 Hay St. wearethearts.com

March 20 Harlem Globetrotters: The 100 Year Tour Crown Coliseum Crown Complex 1960 Coliseum Drive crowncomplexnc.com

March 20–April 5 On Golden Pond The Gilbert Theatre 116 Green St. gilberttheater.com

March 21 Fayetteville Roller Derby Crown Expo Crown Complex 1960 Coliseum Drive crowncomplexnc.com

March 21 Fayetteville Liberty vs. DMV Soldiers Crown Arena Crown Complex 1960 Coliseum Drive faylibertync.com

March 22 Family Symphony Day in the Garden Cape Fear Botanical Garden 536 N. Eastern Blvd. capefearbg.org

March 26 Fayetteville Area Habitat for Humanity Home is Where the Heart Is fundraiser Cape Fear Botanical Garden 536 N. Eastern Blvd. fayettevillenchabitat.charityproud. org

March 28 Adult Fishing Workshop Pechmann Center Lake Rim Park 2214 Tar Kiln Drive fayettevillenc.gov

March 28 Ali Siddiq: In the Shadows Tour Crown Theatre Crown Complex 1960 Coliseum Drive crowncomplexnc.com

March 28 Heritage Garden Spring Family Day Cape Fear Botanical Garden 536 N. Eastern Blvd. capefearbg.org

CityView’s 2026

LADIES’ NIGHT OUT presented by

Thursday, April 9, 4 - 8 pm at The Carolina Barn, Spring Lake NC Join us as Cape Fear Valley Health presents CityView Media’s sixth annual Ladies Night Out April 9 at the Carolina Barn at McCormick Farms. You and your besties are invited for a fun evening of food, wine, and entertainment. We’ll have vendors for shopping, music, and demonstrations.

SIP. SHOP. SAMPLE. REPEAT! YOUR $30 EARLY BIRD TICKET INCLUDES: • Entry into the event • Food samplings from local eateries • Two drink tickets

SCAN FOR TICKETS

• One raffle ticket into our prize drawing

PROCEEDS BENEFITTING NEWS FOUNDATION OF GREATER FAYETTEVILLE

GOLD SPONSOR

PHOTO BOOTH SPONSOR

AUDIO/VISUAL SPONSOR

TICKETS: CITYVIEWNC.COM/EVENTS/LADIESNIGHTOUT

CITYVIEWNC.COM || 39 39 CITYVIEWNC.COM

SEEN @ THE SCENE Arts Council Celebrates Opening of ArtsXL Building The Arts Council of Fayetteville/Cumberland County threw open the doors of ArtsXL, a multi-use facility that supporters hope creates a hub for creatives and nonprofits.

Photography by James Throssel Want CityView at your event for Seen @ the Scene?

Email us at cmalson@cityviewnc.com.

40 40 | | MARCH MARCH2026 2026

CITYVIEWNC.COM | | III 41 CITYVIEWNC.COM

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