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MARCH 13 - MARCH 19, 2019
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‘Building Dreams and Leaving a Legacy’ MADRAS STUDENTS PROVIDE WORDS, MUSIC AND DANCE FOR BLACK HISTORY PROGRAM
BY REBECCA LEFTWICH becky@newnan.com
Aretha Franklin didn’t just sing about respect – she also lived it. “The Queen of Soul once said, ‘We all require and want respect, man or woman, black or white. It's our basic human right,’” said Tori Domineck, one of several Madras Middle School students who read from their “My Legacy” essays at the school’s annual Black History Program Monday. The theme of the program was “Building Drea ms a nd Leaving a Legacy,” and Domineck talked about making the principle of respect part of her everyday life, especially at school. “In a world so divided but still con nected you should never take someone’s respect for granted,” she said. “Showing everyone respect can cause a positive butterfly effect.” Madras students took the lead on the program, from the Eagle Ambassadors who passed out programs and showed visitors to their seats to speakers and musicians who presented portions of the annual assembly. It’s the kind of leadership Eduardo Sanchez said he and his fellow students are expected to demonstrate. “Demonstrating leadership
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PHOTO BY REBECCA LEFTWICH
Actors in Madras’ Black History Program skit, “Legends of Legacy,” include front, from left, Jordan Tandy, Nolan Smith, Karsten Favors, Aareon Walker, Yalena Alford, Arlethia Daniel and Du’Nya Lewis; back, TJ Ware, DeAnna Stewart, Isabel Robinson, Kenedi Nelson, Radaesia Williams and Kristen Searcy.
King: There is ‘one human race’ BY JEFFREY CULLEN-DEAN
his meth habit. In a town the size of Summerville, Buckley said his eventual descent into the Klan in 2015 was “a natural progression.” Along with the rampant availability of drugs like meth and watching a society seemingly more politically polarized than ever, the former soldier said he felt forced to choose a side. "I was a force for good once until I came home and was forgotten about,” Buckley said. "I immersed myself in drugs, self-pity, and shame. A soldier with PTSD and drug
jeffrey@newnan.com Dr. Alveda King visited Newnan to speak about racial unity at an event hosted by Ave Maria Academy held at The Newnan Centre. King is the daughter of Alfred Daniel Williams King, a former pastor of Mt. Vernon First Baptist Church in Newnan. He served from 1959 until the early 1960s, before moving to Birmingham. He died in 1969. When she was a child during the civil rights movement, King’s Birmingham home was bombed. She said after both the bombing and the death of her uncle, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., she wanted to hate someone – but her family told her to forgive. “I was taught not to blame everything on skin color but not say I’m color blind,” she said. “Because if you are color blind, then you can’t see the injustices done.” King began her talk with a video titled, “We’re Not Color Blind,” which featured still images of herself, her father and her uncle. “We’re not separate races. We’re not defined by our skin color, our eye color, how tall we are or how sharp we are,” King said. “It’s the blood, one blood. We are human, we are human beings.” King is an evangelist and the director for Civil Rights for the Unborn, an anti-abortion organization. “Having a baby doesn’t keep a lady from accomplishing things,” King said. “It’s an incredible power to birth another human being.” From 1979-1983, King served as a representative for the 28th District in the Georgia House of Representatives. She wrote several books and is a singer, having released an album in 2005. “Everything we do should be Godinspired. I was reading in the Bible about God giving the gifts to the carpenters, artists and artisans,” King said. “See, the gifts are going to come to us. What we do with them is on us. So a lot of these folks who are doing
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PHOTO BY PAIGE GRADISHAR FOR CLARKSTON FILM
Heval Mohamed Kelli and Chris Buckley share an embrace at a recent speaking event. The two will share the Wadsworth stage on Sunday, March 10, to speak about their experiences in recognizing and overcoming prejudice and finding unity in the midst of division.
‘An American Story’ highlights understanding, overcoming racism BY CLAY NEELY
clay@newnan.com A lmost a yea r a fter Newnan hosted a standoff between neo-Nazis and counter-protestors, representatives from two different cultures will square off again, but under entirely different circumstances. On Sunday, March 10, at 3 p.m., Army veteran and former K K K member Ch r is Buckley will share the stage at the Wadsworth Auditorium with Heval Mohamed Kelli – a Kurdish refugee from Syria who arrived in America days after 9/11 and ultimately graduated from the Morehouse
School of Medicine. These two friends will speak about their personal experiences in recognizing and overcoming prejudice and finding unity in the midst of division. Buckley's journey began in Cleveland, Ohio. As a child, he said he was prone to routine beatings from his father, who suffered from substance abuse issues. He eventually joined the military as a high school junior. During his tour of the Middle East, he covered himself with a multitude of tattoos, including one of the most
prominent images on his forearm – the word “Infidel” in Arabic. It was there he developed a long-running distrust and hatred of all things Muslim. After three deployments to Afghanistan and Iraq, he returned home following a Humvee accident that left him with a broken back and an addiction to painkillers. When the doctors eventually cut him off, he started buying drugs on the street to help himself cope. His addiction deepened, and soon he was spending hundreds of dollars a week on