Riverview Features - Opinions - Letters to the Editor Page

Step Afrika! dances into Northeast State

2012-02-14T08:20:00.000-08:00

Northeast State Community College will welcome Step Afrika! to campus Feb. 17 for a night of traditional African step dancing.

The free performance begins at 7 p.m. in the Wellmont Regional Center for the Performing Arts on the college’s main campus, 2425 Highway 75, adjacent to Tri-Cities Regional Airport in Blountville.

Step Afrika! is the only professional dance company in the world dedicated to the tradition of stepping. The company is critically acclaimed for its efforts to promote an understanding of and appreciation for stepping and the tradition’s use as an educational tool worldwide.

Founded in 1994 by current Executive Director C. Brian Williams, Step Afrika! began as a cross-cultural exchange program with the Soweto Dance Theatre of Johannesburg, South Africa. As a young graduate of Howard University in 1991, Williams traveled to southern Africa through the late Rev. Leon Sullivan’s International Foundation for Education and SelfHelp.

While in Africa, Williams came across the South African gumboot dance — an art form created by mineworkers which greatly resembled the stepping he had learned at Howard University. He later met three members of the Soweto Dance Theatre. Together, they created the Step Afrika! International Cultural Festival, the first known attempt to link the people who practice stepping in America with Gumboot dance performers in Africa.

The first festival was held in 1994, just six months after the election of Nelson Mandela as president of a free and Democratic Republic of South Africa. Two years later they launched Step Afrika!’s first program in the United States.

Stepping is a unique dance tradition created by African-American college students. In stepping, the body is used as an instrument to create intricate rhythms and sounds through a combination of footsteps, claps and spoken word. The tradition grew out of the song and dance rituals practiced by historically African-American fraternities and sororities in the early 1900s.

Stepping comes from a long and rich tradition in African-based communities using movement, words and sounds to communicate allegiance to a group.

Step Afrika! reaches tens of thousands of Americans each year and has performed on prestigious stages in North and South America, Europe, Africa, Asia and the Caribbean. January of 2000 saw the first production of Step Afrika! at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, as a part of the Imagination Celebration Series. Step Afrika! conducts an annual 50-city tour of American colleges and universities from Maine to Mississippi.

The production is part of Northeast State’s commemoration of Black History Month throughout February.

For more information, call (423) 279-7669 or email jpkelly@NortheastState.edu.

Black Students Score Above the National Average in More than 3,000 Schools

2012-02-10T10:03:00.000-08:00

(Chicago, IL, March 1 2012) - African American students are driving positive academic change in some public schools nationwide, says Dr. Jawanza Kunjufu, national education consultant and author of the newly released There Is Nothing Wrong With Black Students. In fact, Black students in more than 3,000 schools are performing well above the national average.

There are eight million African American students nationwide: 7.5 million attend public schools, 400,000 attend private schools, and 100,000 are homeschooled. Of the 7.5 million public school students, 90 percent (6.75 million) attend regular schools, and ten percent attend accelerated magnet schools. Kunjufu spotlights the great strides being made in some regular public schools because he says, "This marginalized population has been the most neglected. I want all children to succeed, but I focus on the 6.75 million African American children in regular public schools because they lack both choice and a voice."

Kunjufu, who logs several days a week working with schools in some of the most underserved communities nationwide, says educators at the forefront of change are modeling innovative approaches, including:

Culturally relevant curriculum design and Africentric charter schools
Single gender classrooms and schools
Improved teacher quality
Pedagogy adapted to the learning styles of students
Strong academic leadership from principals
Block scheduling and attention to time on task.

Illustrating the goal of academic parity, Kunjufu says there is virtually no racial gap between Black and White homeschooled students. In grades K-12, both groups scored, on average, in the 87th percentile in reading. In math, Whites scored in the 82nd percentile while Blacks scored in the 77th percentile.

Two of the great turnaround stories in African American male education have occurred in single gender schools. Kunjufu says Eagles Academy (New York) and Urban Prep (Chicago) are outstanding schools that bring out the full potential of this population. Eagles students consistently outperform their peers in state-wide exams. Urban Prep has the distinction of all of their graduates being accepted into four-year colleges.

African American charter schools, notable for their use of Africentric curricula, have produced a 1.5 percent or greater annual increase in academic achievement. An 80 percent or higher graduation rate is the norm at these schools.

"When they have the same access to a quality education as their peers in private schools, home schools, and wealthy public schools, Black students are well able to overcome any challenge," says Kunjufu.

There Is Nothing Wrong offers educational models of excellence, resources, best practices, and hope for educators who are dedicated to improving academic outcomes for Black students.

For additional information, contact 1-800-552-1991, Fax# (708) 672-0466. P.O. Box 1799, Chicago Heights, IL 60412. Website: http://www.africanamericanimages.com, Email: customersvc@africanamericanimages.com.

Board Meeting Notification

2012-02-05T08:28:00.001-08:00

Greetings alumni board members,

I hope this note finds all of you doing well. I have called a meeting for February 25, 2012 at the V.O. Dobbins center, Eastman Room. The usual time will be for 1:00 p.m. I hope everyone can make it because your input is important to this organization and greatly appreciated. Let's do a covered dish to start the new year. Mark your calendars.

I am looking forward to seeing you all there.

Thanks,
JennyH.

Thanks, Rev. Collins

2012-01-29T10:16:00.000-08:00

I thank the Rev. Ron Collins and his organization for the great work on the MLK march. It’s always a success. I enjoy marching in it. I like the way he let everyone march no matter their color or religion. We marched to the police station for a fellowship talk, and Mr. Nathan Vaughn did a nice speech. The Rev. Collins is truly a man of equality and love. I do appreciate him and what he does in Kingsport. And many blessings to Ms. Johnnie Mae Swaggerty and the New Vision Youth. She is a shining star to the youth and the seniors and the community. I've watched over nine years the events she does in the community. I don't know how she does it. I've asked around and people say she's in their organizations in Kingsport and keeps going and doing good works. I've never seen a youth group stay together that long and how Ms. Swagerty takes time out with other people and support them. I hope the community and Kingsport gives her thanks and hugs. My name is Doretha Everhart of Elizabethton, Tenn. I just had to write. Keep up the good work.

Doretha Everhart
Elizabethton

Medical tests do reveal problems

2012-01-25T07:35:00.000-08:00

TO THE EDITOR

In response to the article: “Too many Tests?

Routine medical exams get second look.I read this article twice and I am border line on this. Yes, everyone should question medical test being done if you are not “At Risk”. But there are times good Doctors are really concern and want to know what is going on with their patient.

My child was an active child played City Recreation basketball since 5 years old, Jr. and High School basket ball and softball, also was in Pizzazi Ladies and Impact Choir at DB. The fall of 2000 first semester of school, a healthy (Not At Risk) athletic 18 year old VI college student comes into her doctor’s office and says she has blacked out twice, the coach and trainer will not let her come back to practice until they figure out why.

She was not an at risk patient, only health history she had was asthma and severe allergies. With every test she ran came back normal. She referred her to the Heart Center and they ran test and it came back normal.

Both Dr. Susanne Toyne and Dr. Brian Armstrong were not satisfied.

With persistence they continued to find out what was going on. He ordered an Electrophysiology Study and a Right Heart Catheterization on my child. Finally they found she had an anomalous left main coronary artery coming off the right coronary cusp. I was told this was a birth defect! She was also told she would not be able to play sports any more. She was sent to Duke for surgery and they repaired her problem and to this date you cannot tell she had any problems at all except for the scar as a reminder.

I praise those doctors for saving my child's life. She had to redshirt her first year in college from playing both softball and basketball. But her second year she was back on the court and field. There have been a couple college and professional basketball and football players that had the same problem. For them it was too late and they did not discover their problem until an autopsy was done.

Athletic School physicals also don’t catch everything. So to the people in Washington, please be very careful in your decision when you go to vote and make these types of decisions. Weigh all the options, encourage people to ask and question doctors on test being ordered. There are some good doctors out there.

That article really concerns me and I hope that it concerns others as well.

Charlene Hodge, Kingsport

Belated Party: Happy Birthday, Jai-Jai!

2012-01-24T09:29:00.000-08:00

"She touched a lot of people.. she loved being around people."

"Her spirit lives in the people whose lives she was in."

On a cool January day in 2012, Jaleisa Dulaney's friends and family got together to celebrate her 8th birthday. Wishing her "happy birthday" was a ritual every year, because the feisty Jackson School second grader loved parties and getting together with people in the Riverview community.

But this year was different.

This time, "Jai-Jai" as she was known, would not hear the "happy birthday" wishes from her friends.. she would not beam at the presents she received.. she would not taste the birthday cake with her name on it.

Jaleisa would not be here for her 8th birthday.

She celebrated this particular birthday with Jesus.

"Jai-Jai" was tragically taken from her friends and family, in a rollover automobile accident on I-26 on July 14, 2011 near the Meadowview complex south of Kingsport.

Because she was so active as a member of the New Vision Youth Kids, her passing sent waves of shock and grief through the Riverview Community.

"I can talk about it now," says her grandmother Mary Beatty. "I can talk about it now because I know where she is.. she's with the Lord. At times when I think about it, I feel sad, but because she had the ability to make you smile, I try to think about that more. Even when she did something bad and I was angry with her, I would think about something she did earlier and that would make me laugh. How could you scold her when you were laughing? She even had this funny way of laughing, that would make you laugh right along with her."

"Soon, I would forget what I was angry about."

Mary was one of many Riverview residents, who attended a special birthday party held in Jaleisa's honor at the Riverview Community Room of K.H.R.A. at the V.O. Dobbins, Sr. Complex on Saturday, January 21, 2012.

Click here to see a slide show of Jaleisa's 8th birthday party celebration. Thanks to Donna Morrisette for providing pictures of the party.

"It was hard singing 'happy birthday' and her not being there," Mary says, "but it was O.K. because I knew everybody there knew who she was and loved her."

"Everybody has their own memory of 'Jai-Jai.'"

One person considered a special friend was Michael Bell. Michael and Jaleisa were inseparable as friends in New Vision, and no where was that proven more, than at the New Vision proms that Johnnie Mae Swagerty holds every year for the children. Music, food, games, and other activities kept the kids busy.

And then, there was the dancing. For the past 3 years, Jaleisa's date has been Michael.. twirling, swinging, dipping.. they did it all.

We're told, he was devastated by her passing.

"She was the only one he ever wanted to take to the prom," remembers Mary. "He told his mama that he didn't know if he wanted to go to any more proms, because he and his brother miss her very much. They all used to play games together and it's been hard on him. She loved to dance with him, there's no secret about that, and she also loved 'Dancing with the Stars.' In fact, she always wanted to ballroom dance, and one year, I was going to sign her up for ballroom dancing. I actually went to sign her up for it, but I couldn't find the shoes that she needed, so we didn't get to sign up. We still planned to go for it, though."

At her birthday party, friends and family also lit candles in her honor.

"We had four candles," says New Vision Youth director Johnnie Mae Swagerty. "A birthday candle for Jaleisa, and a family candle for her loved ones. Then, we had a candle for her cousin Jalissa Ferguson (who died at the hands of a drug dealer and his stray bullet in the Riverview Apartments in 1995), and a fourth candle for the community."

Swagerty says the candlelight vigil was a moving service.

"No one spoke much during the lighting of the candles," she says, "because words just would not come. The service was very uplifting and afterwards at the party inside the Community Room, Reverend (Ricardo) Dorcean (of the Central Baptist Church) led a prayer, and everyone got to share stories, talking about the good times when she was here. In addition to the birthday cake, we had turkey and dressing, green beans, broccoli casserole, macaroni and cheese, and the local Bojangles Restaurants donated chicken and biscuits. The food was good and everybody had a good time remembering her."

The event ended with the releasing of big, purple balloons into the night air, emblazoned with the words "happy birthday," floating into the sky towards the heavens.

"It was a healing time for the community," Swagerty noted. "For the young people there, her friends, they were kinda happy about the event because it was her birthday and they knoew that if she would have been here, she would have enjoyed it. It took a load off the community's mind about the tragedy of how she left us. A lot of prayers went up and a whole lot of hugs went around that night."

"We'll never forget her, but for that night, closure came a little easier."

That thought is not lost on Grandma.

"I pray for strength every single day," Mary says. "It hits me that she's not here especially in the mornings.. that's when I would take her to the Boys & Girls Club. Then, in the late afternoons whenever I would come home from work, my TV would be on all the time. I knew she was O.K. because the TV would be home. Now when I come home, the TV is not on. It's hard because I look around for her.. I wait to hear her voice, but the air is still. I just ask God for strength, and he comes through with it every time."

"There's just so much about her that you cannot forget," says Mary. "Her smile, her trying to rap.. she enjoyed rapping.. her love of dancing, her curiosity.. she loved to ask questions. She always wanted to know about everything. When she found out what happened to her cousin Jalissa Ferguson, she had so many questions about her.. what happened, how did she get there.. would she ever get to see her? Jai-Jai was curious about everything and she asked about her cousin Jalissa even the week she passed away."

"She doesn't have to ask that question now. She finally got to see her, and Jesus Himself introduced them."

"Happy birthday, Jai-Jai. The two girls are finally together."

OLD PERSON PRIDE

2012-01-20T07:56:00.000-08:00

To an almost old person,

I never really liked the terminology "Old Person" but this makes me feel better about it.

And if you ain't one, I bet ya you know one!

I got this from an "Old Personal friend of mine"!

OLD PERSON PRIDE

I'm passing this on as I did not want to be the only old person receiving it. Actually, it's not a bad thing to be called, as you will see.

•Old People are easy to spot at sporting events; during the playing of the National Anthem. Old People remove their caps and stand at attention and sing without embarrassment. They know the words and believe in them.

•Old People remember World War II, Pearl Harbor , Guadalcanal , Normandy and Hitler. They remember the Atomic Age, the Korean War, The Cold War, the Jet Age and the Moon Landing. They remember the 50 plus Peacekeeping Missions from 1945 to 2005, not to mention Vietnam.

•If you bump into an Old People on the sidewalk he will apologize. If you pass an Old Person on the street, he will nod or tip his cap to a lady. Old People trust strangers and are courtly to women.

•Old People hold the door for the next person and always, when walking, make certain the lady is on the inside for protection.

•Old People get embarrassed if someone curses in front of women and children and they don't like any filth or dirty language on TV or in movies.

•Old People have moral courage and personal integrity. They seldom brag unless it's about their children or grandchildren.

•It's the Old People who know our great country is protected, not by politicians, but by the young men and women in the military serving their country.

This country needs Old People with their work ethic, sense of responsibility, pride in their country and decent values.

We need them now more than ever.

Thank God for Old People.

Pass this on to all of the "Old People" you know.
I was taught to respect my elders. It's just getting harder to find them.

Submitted by Frank Horton

Events in Kingsport pay homage to King’s legacy

2012-01-16T05:12:00.000-08:00

An Editorial from the Kingsport Times-News

Today marks the national observance of the anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday. In a noonday parade in Kingsport, a community luncheon and a candlelight vigil, King’s legacy of nonviolence in the pursuit of justice will be remembered and extolled, as it should.

But if the civil rights leader were alive today, he would surely urge those who seek to honor him and that struggle to make this a day of action, rather than a day of rest and recollection.

That’s not to say there hasn’t been progress, for, of course, there has been. If nothing else, the election of Barack Obama is evidence of that. But there are abundant examples of progress beyond the political and symbolic.

In Dr. King’s time, census statistics revealed that nearly nine of every 10 blacks lived in poverty. Today, more than 40 percent of blacks are solidly middle class. And college attendance rates for blacks are now indistinguishable from whites. Indeed, in many ways, the progress has been so dramatic it tends to obscure the extent of a bigotry that was once a condition of life — and not just in the Jim Crow South.

The world of segregated bathrooms and lunch counters King helped to abolish is as remote in time to the average schoolchild of today as Lincoln’s assassination or the Civil War. It is a world they have seen in pictures, but can never truly know, since they did not live through it. Such is the measure of King’s success in helping to reorder society itself. King’s dream of a world in which people would be defined, “not by the color of their skin but by the content of their character” is now a touchstone of modern American life.

Dr. King did more than any other single figure in American history to give that dream dimension and meaning. The Martin Luther King Jr. remembered and celebrated today is a figure dramatically invoking that dream of racial harmony at the rally on the mall in Washington, D.C., in 1963.

Virtually forgotten are the later years, after the passage of the Voting Rights Acts of 1964 and 1965, when King started to decry the huge income gaps between rich and poor and began to call for radical changes in the structure of society.

“True compassion,” he said, “is more than flinging a coin to a beggar; it comes to see that an edifice which produces beggars needs restructuring.”

All too soon, however, Dr. King’s exhortations would be silenced by an assassin’s bullet in 1968. He was just 39.

From noon until 1 p.m. today, the 12th annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday Parade will be held in downtown Kingsport. The event will begin at the intersection of East Sevier and Center Street (Rikki Rhoton Allstate Insurance Co.’s parking lot) and conclude at Shelby Street at the city parking lot between Kingsport City Hall and the Justice Center.

The theme of the parade is summed up in three words: “Remember! Celebrate! Act!” Parade sponsors include Eastman Chemical Company, Food City, Office Depot, Joshua Generation, My Brother’s Keeper, Putting Babies First, H.O.P.E., and the Upper East Tennessee Human Development Agency.

A community luncheon will be held at 1:30 p.m. in the Riverview Community Room at 301 Louis St. It is sponsored by the New Vision Youth and the Kingsport Parks & Recreation Division of Community Service, in partnership with Friends of Distinction and Riverview Residents Association. In addition to the meal itself, there will be door prizes and gospel singing by Full Gospel Mission Church Gospel Choir.

This evening, beginning at 6 p.m., there will be a candlelight vigil honoring Dr. King in the parking lot of the V. O. Dobbins Sr. Complex, 301 Louis St. The theme is “Let’s Walk in Unity & Love Each Other.”

In these local ceremonies as well as many others, we honor the icon that Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. has become. But hero worship was never King’s interest. Changing society was. His life was all too brief, but the dream he had goes on.

More than four decades after his tragic and untimely death, it’s up to each of us to do our part in making that dream a living reality.

To the Family of Lorraine Worley Perry:

2011-12-28T22:48:00.001-08:00

Please accept my deepest and heartfelt comfort about the death of Lorraine. I was saddened to hear about her untimely death. I always remember the years we spent at Douglass with Lorraine and James, especially in English class, and the many high school activities that we all attended. Lorraine was very funny and warm and kind.

With deepest sympathy,
Dr. Rosemary Gray
1964 GraduateDouglass High School
Kingsport, Tennessee

In Defense of Dr. Umar Johnson's Recent Appearance in Riverview

2011-12-11T23:13:00.000-08:00

The letter below is a foreword to the 'Letter to the Editor' below to the Kingsport Times-News, which was rejected for length..

Calvin,

I read Doug's letter.

This is why I responded to Joy's letter. I do not depend on the regional community nor have I for my career as I have found the same climate and atmosphere and environment expressed in Doug's letter, a contradiction of the objective of Joy's letter. Dr. Cathy most likely was looking and left for the same reason-a more welcoming environment for Black professionals or Black people in general. Many Black people in the Southwest Virginia-Northeast Tennessee area are too satisfied with their status quo and appear to not understand that we need the leadership re-born that was provided by Mr. Gill during the time that I attended public schools there, in addition to the many teachers who spoke up and spoke out to keep Black families and Black students focused on the prize: to learn our lessons and become independent. (We have some but not enough.) All of our lessons were not always found in our books. Our Black leaders, ministers, and educators back then, modeled what they "preached" by their actions. For those of us who observed, that is the only reason we are making it through life's journey. To be clear, I appreciate those who are currently working for and in the area for the Black community-we just keep backing up instead of joining the "global community". Nationally, and most likely locally, the Black community has the most unemployed and the most undereducated in most communities, and we are focused on not speaking up until it is too late are disclaiming association with those Black professionals like the invited speaker I address in the attached letter to the editor. You have to work inside community systems and governments and not look for the leadership of those who focus on "show and tell". We can do better than that. For example, how many in the area are working with the public schools for parent education of the current parents and for current student education, including working to recruit and retain minority educators? Our Black students need role models in our school systems. Education is the key to allowing our Black students to rise.

I have attached my letter. If you choose to print it, please include the thoughts above as a foreword. My letter was denied because it was too long. However, I wrote what I wanted to say and would not have shortened it.

Rosemary (Gray)

The following is a "Letter to the Editor" of the Kingsport Times-News, which was rejected for length. It is printed below in its entirety.

Dear Editor,

I read the open letter “TO OUR FELLOW ALUMNI, FRIENDS AND NEIGHBORS IN THE DOUGLASS-RIVERVIEW-SOUTH CENTRAL COMMUNITY” by Virginia Hankins, President of the Sons and Daughters of Douglass” and did some research on Dr. Umar Abdullah-Johnson, a Nationally Certified School Psychologist, a blood relative of Frederick Douglass, a great Black abolitionist and orator and the choice for the name of the local school for African Americans in Kingsport and for all who would attend Douglass from the local towns and cities in the region. Dr. Abdullah-Johnson’s biography is listed below:

Biography:

Umar Abdullah-Johnson is a Nationally Certified School Psychologist who practices privately throughout Pennsylvania and lectures throughout the country. Umar is a blood relative of Frederick Douglass, the great Black abolitionist and orator. As a school psychologist Umar evaluates children ages 3-21 in an effort to determine if they have educational disabilities and a need for special education services. Umar is considered a national expert on learning disabilities and their effect on Black children, as well an expert on helping schools and parents modify challenging behaviors that can ultimately lead to disruptive behavior disorder diagnoses in Black boys.

As a child therapist, Umar specializes in working with at-risk, violent, suicidal and depressed African-American boys and girls. For five years he served as the youngest of five African-American male school psychologists in the 5th largest public school district in America – The School District of Philadelphia. Umar has received commendations for his volunteer work throughout the Pan-African community, and has been a featured guest on various Black talk shows throughout the United States. In addition to his media appearances, Umar is a highly sought after motivational and informational speaker who has presented at workshops, conferences, awards ceremonies, graduations and expert panels throughout the country. As an educator, psychologist, therapist and historian, Umar is considered an authority on the education of African-American children and on mental health in the Black community.

His diverse array of past presentations and keynotes have included such topics as: Special Education Law, Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder and Black Boys, Black-on-Black Violence, Post-Traumatic Slavery Disorder, Classroom Management for Teachers, What’s Wrong with Special Education, Marcus Garvey & Frederick Douglass in Black History, Effective Parenting Practices, The College Application Process, Understanding Depression in Black Children, The Over-identification of Black Children as Mentally Retarded and Learning Disabled, Black Male-Female Relationships, and Preparing Black Teenagers for Success. Umar is founder and Chief Scout Master for the Emmett Till, Hector Peterson and Scottsboro Boys Pan-African Boys Scouts Program and the Queen Nzingah, Harriet Tubman and Birmingham Four Pan-African Girl Scouts Program; both of which are independent African mentorship programs for youth.

Umar is former Minister of Education for the Marcus Garvey Movement, the Universal Negro Improvement Association and African Communities League. Umar is a writer, political scientist, and consultant to families, educators, mental health professionals and charter schools throughout the country. Umar currently hosts a psycho-educational community lecture series at the African-American Museum in Philadelphia. As one of the most popular faces and voices on the east coast focusing upon the proper development of African & African-American children, 33-year-old Umar is a fast rising star in the field of Black psychology and education. With a speaking style many consider reminiscent of his late ancestor, Frederick Douglass, Umar possesses the rare ability to hold an audience spellbound for hours as he unleashes a barrage of facts, statistics and practical information that leaves viewers in awe for weeks after his presentations. Umar has presented before embassies, museums, schools, universities, churches, correctional facilities, stadiums, international audiences and at community centers. As he is known to say after lectures when questioned about his speaking ability, Umar attributes his oratorical talent to the “Almighty Creator, and My African Ancestors who work through me. I simply open my mouth and their message comes out.”

In 2011, I am appalled and amazed that in a society of free speech; 1st Amendment rights; and with American children being number 14, 15, and 25 in the world in reading, science, and math respectively; having 16 per cent unemployment in the Black community; and, with full knowledge and experience with the state of denial about the Black-on-Black racism and in fighting in the Black community, that we are sent a letter apologizing for, distancing ourselves from, a speaker who is a descendant of Frederick Douglass, one who fought for the rights of the African American community to be free to become educated enough to be able to learn reading, writing, science, and mathematics and become a Barack Obama, a Herman Cain, and a Michelle Obama or a Marion Wright Edelman. As one who has worked for inclusion in the community, and specifically with the African American community, and in the communities of Northeast and West Tennessee, Southwest Virginia, and Louisiana, working to give back-the lessons that we should all have taken away from our “Douglass High School, our ‘Center not Complex’ of learning during segregation.

This is the real world. It takes a “village” to raise a child, not “big ‘I’s” and “little ‘You’s’”, as many in the African American community who have benefited from Douglass may have forgotten or become when we do not acknowledge our African American children who are suicidal, depressed, hyperactive, and, to be clear, with mental health problems. To paraphrase the main theme in Bill Cosby’s reflections in his book, Come on People, as he reviews the state of the African American community, we need to give back by our words and deeds for the education of our Black youth and confront the mental health problems in the African American community that continue to plague many young people and adults.

I applaud the sponsor of Dr. Umar Abdullah-Johnson as a step in the right direction to say, “Come on Northeast Tennessee and Southwest Virginia”. Let this speaker be a catalyst to wake up the African American community, especially Douglass Alums who well know that we were more than sports and fashion shows as students of Mr. Dobbins, Mr. Gill, Mr. Young, Coach Deering, Mr. Baylor, Mr. Hendricks, Mrs. Cox, Mrs. Dobbins, Mrs. Ellis, Mr. Thomas, and countless other teachers who instilled in us to give back, and most of all, to learn to read, to think, to write, and do math, including general math, algebra, geometry, and who started us in class wherever we were but, unlike today, took us where we needed to go to learn the lessons from each class.

Come on, people. If we start backing up, we will never go forward. Out of respect for the historical significance and parallel to our alma mater, I urge the citizens, both Black and White to attend the presentation of Dr. Abdullah-Johnson and engage in a dialogue that will help the mental health of our area youth. We are living in an era that needs ideas on how to assist young people with depression and thoughts of suicide because of bullying, both by adults and young people, and we need ideas on how to stop the sexual assaults that are ignored in the African American community because of the state of generational denial in the African American community.

The use of this “gang” mentality to avoid a discussion of the African American psyche needs to stop. We are living in the 21st Century, not the 20th Century. This letter is an insult to Carter G. Woodson, author of The Miseducation of the Negro, the hard work in the community by W.E.B Dubois, and Booker T. Washington. Do we even know statistically how many children, or even care enough, to investigate how many in our African American “Douglass” community youth have considered suicide and depression? Are we afraid to give back by confronting these issues? Have the values that we were taught at Douglass come down to a letter that disrespects our past rather than helps our future? I hope not. Come on, people! We have come too far, still have much further to go, than to start backing up. I applaud this dialogue to help our youth and all youth who are depressed and consider suicide or disruptive behavior as the only options for living. The most abused and neglected citizens in our society, who are often helpless at the hands of their predators, are our children. Expect the best rather than focus on the negative. My hope is for an “open letter” of a call to action to help our youth, schools, and parents with the behaviors of our children that are often the results of mental health issues brought on by the “ills” of our society on our children, specifically the African American children in our community..

Dr. Rosemary Gray
1964 Douglass High School Graduate
Daughter of Late Janie Gray, Gate City; Thurman Gray, Jacksonville, Florida

Superintendent of schools

2011-12-03T15:07:00.000-08:00

Just when you think Kingsport has changed from the norm and is ready to compete with Johnson City, what happens? The Kingsport School Board comes along and slap you in the face.

They went out of their way to name Mr. Arnold the interim Superintendent. I have nothing against Mr. Arnold, but we already have an assistant superintendent by the name of Dr. Cathy.

But I guess because he is a Black man, the school board felt like they did not want a person of color leading our great school system, even if it is only an interim basic.

Kingsport has some industries that are dealing in the global market, but when it comes to leadership abilities in Kingsport, they still want to do things the "good old boys" way.

With all the annexations that Kingsport is doing, I think it is time for a change in the way we elect our Board of Mayor and Aldermen. I think it is time we go to a ward system or a district system.

This will be the only way every community will have a voice.

Douglas S. Releford
Kingsport

Bring Southwest to Tri-Cities Regional

2011-10-04T07:58:00.001-07:00

It is a great thing that Tri-Cities Regional Airport is attempting to add service to Dallas. What would be even better is if they could bring Southwest Airlines to the area. Not only would we get the best-rated carrier, but we would also have the added bonus of flying without those baggage fees. I hope they will pull out all the stops and get even our local elected officials involved to bring Southwest Airlines to the Tri-Cities.

Joseph M. Comage
Mount Carmel

Downtown carbonite plant a bad idea

2011-06-02T08:09:00.000-07:00

In response to the article about Rep. Shipley pushing for a carbonite plant, do we really want the first carbonite plant on Earth to be located in downtown Kingsport? Why would anyone in their right mind want to be a guinea pig for the manufacturing of such a new, uncharted product? It seems ridiculous that Rep. Shipley would even consider Kingsport for a plant that produces a product that is stripped of mercury and other harmful substances. Where will these byproducts go? Into our water? Into the already noxious air that we are forced to breathe downtown? We need another air pollutant in Kingsport like we need another hole.

Without proof that the process of manufacturing carbonite is safe for the environment, I don’t think we should be considering putting it so close to a populated area, let alone our beautiful downtown. Stick it out someplace away from people until we find out what the byproducts are going to do to us. I can just see the headlines in 10 or 20 years: “It seemed like a good idea at the time” or “What were we thinking?”

Patti Lawrence
Kingsport

Who Knew?

2011-05-25T17:49:00.000-07:00

Who knew?

Eliminate ear mites. All it takes is a few drops of Wesson Corn Oil in

your cat's ear. Massage it in, then clean with a cotton ball. Repeat daily

for 3 days. The oil soothes the cat's skin, smothers the mites, and

accelerates healing.

Kills fleas instantly. Dawn Dishwashing Liquid does the trick. Add a few

drops to your dog's bath and shampoo the animal thoroughly. Rinse well to avoid skin irritations. Good-bye fleas.

Rainy day cure for dog odor: Next time your dog comes in from the rain, simply wipe down the animal with Bounce or any dryer sheet, instantly making your dog smell springtime fresh.

Did you know that drinking two glasses of Gatorade can relieve headache pain almost immediately-without the unpleasant side effects caused by traditional pain relievers?

Did you know that Colgate Toothpaste makes an excellent salve for burns?

Before you head to the drugstore for a high-priced inhaler filled with

mysterious chemicals, try chewing on a couple of curiously strong Altoids peppermints. They'll clear up your stuffed nose.

Achy muscles from a bout of the flu? Mix 1 tablespoon horseradish in 1 cup of olive oil. Let the mixture sit for 30 minutes, then apply it as a

massage oil for instant relief for aching muscles.

Sore throat? Just mix 1/4 cup of vinegar with 1/4 cup of honey and take 1 tablespoon six times a day. The vinegar kills the bacteria.

Cure urinary tract infections with Alka-Seltzer. Just dissolve two tablets

in a glass of water and drink it at the onset of the symptoms.

Alka-Seltzer begins eliminating urinary tract infections almost

instantly-even though the product was never been advertised for this use.

Honey remedy for skin blemishes...cover the blemish with a dab of honey and place a Band-Aid over it. Honey kills the bacteria, keeps the skin sterile, and speeds healing. Works overnight.

Listerine therapy for toenail fungus: Get rid of unsightly toenail fungus

by soaking your toes in Listerine Mouthwash. The powerful antiseptic

leaves your toenails looking healthy again.

Easy eyeglass protection...to prevent the screws in eyeglasses from

loosening, apply a small drop of Maybelline Crystal Clear Nail Polish to

the threads of the screws before tightening them.

Cleaning liquid that doubles as bug killer...if menacing bees, wasps,

hornets, or yellow jackets get in your home and you can't find the

insecticide, try a spray of Formula 409. Insects drop to the ground

instantly.

Smart splinter remover: Just pour a drop of Elmer's Glue-All over the

splinter, let dry, and peel the dried glue off the skin. The splinter

sticks to the dried glue.

Hunt's Tomato Paste boil cure...cover the boil with Hunt's Tomato Paste as a compress. The acids from the tomatoes soothe the pain and bring the boil to a head.

Balm for broken blisters...to disinfect a broken blister, dab on a few

drops of Listerine, a powerful antiseptic.

Vinegar to heal bruises...soak a cotton ball in white vinegar and apply it

to the bruise for 1 hour. The vinegar reduces the blueness and speeds up the healing process.

Quaker Oats for fast pain relief...it's not for breakfast any more! Mix 2

cups of Quaker Oats and 1 cup of water in a bowl and warm in the microwave for 1 minute, cool slightly, and apply the mixture to your hands for soothing relief from arthritis pain.

New Douglass School Spirit Online Store Grand Opening!

2011-05-17T12:42:00.000-07:00

Time to show your school spirit. Please check the column to the right.

We have now opened the official Douglass School Apparel and Souvenir Store. It is an online store, and the majority of the profits go to your Douglass Alumni Association, the Sons and Daughters of Douglass, headquartered in our Riverview community in Kingsport.

We offer T-shirts, sweat shirts, hoodies, baseball caps, polo, golf shirts and other clothing for men, women, junior girls, boys and girls... to mugs, travel mugs, water bottles.. even stadium seats, blankets and scarves that you can show off at athletic events you attend. EVEN PAJAMA PANTS. Yes, pajama pants for women (I think men could wear them, too hehe!).

There is no limit to how much you can order, because each item is made when you order. All orders are shipped to U.S. post office addresses, and there is a small shipping fee. Expect your genuine Douglass School merchandise to arrive in 5 to 10 days.

We are working on including many items with our new official name: Sons and Daughters of Douglass. Those items should be in the School Store by Wednesday, May 18th. It's the ultimate way to show off your exclusive Douglass School spirit.

Order now, and strut your new items at the Reunion!

Black history programs were great

2011-03-15T07:44:00.000-07:00

Thank you for the programs everyone had for Black History Month. My thanks to the gospel fest. I really enjoyed the praise dancers, solos, church choirs and of course the prayers. Also thanks to Xavier Hall, emcee. It was just an evening of laughter and praising the Lord. If you have not seen or heard the comedy of Mr. Hall, you are missing a lot of laughter.

This is the same young man that first brought over 500 people together for an evening of recognizing our people and the things they had accomplished.

Again Kingsport Arts, thank you for an evening’s enjoyment. This program was great.

Lillian Leeper
Church Hill

Thanks for support

2011-02-20T08:03:00.001-08:00

I thank the following for their help and support for New Vision Youth MLK Unity Day supper and candlelight vigil events: KHRA, Edna Potts, Julie Douglass, Alvisia Blye-Vista, Joane Jones, Community Care Mary Beatty president of Riverview Association, Riverview Boys and Girls Club, Friends of Distinction: Martha Harper, Mary Jane Treece, Mary Ann Gullette, John Bradford, Shelia Releford, Tina Releford, Barbara Greene, Pam Swagerty, Tina Glover, Carolyn Goodwin, Marsha Patrick, Kandy Davis, Lisa Williamson, City of Kingsport Parks and Recreation Christy Leonard, James (Moore), Henry, Chasity Smiley, Tish Hayes, Pastor Geraldine Swagerty, Chuck Lollar, Dennis Lytle, New Vision Youth Kids and parents Veronica Camp, Ronald Mitchell, Wendy Himmelwright, WJHL, Kingsport Times-News, Jeannie Hodges, the Rev. Lawrence Myrick, Calvin Sneed, Erica Yoon, Stephanie McClellan, South Central Kingsport Weed-n-Seed, Soto family, Bobby Lane, Hope Six, Youth Build, and the community for coming together making these events a success.

Thanks to all and see you all next year.

Johnnie Mae Swagerty
Kingsport

Thanks, volunteers

2011-02-20T08:02:00.000-08:00

Thanks to all the churches, volunteers, businesses, organizations, individuals, schools, youth and everyone for donations and volunteering time to the Kitchen of Hope. Your support and thoughtfulness is very appreciated.

I know all you volunteers have put in countless hours to the Kitchen of Hope, and I appreciate each of you for taking your time to support and help out. And I think all the people who come to the Kitchen of Hope to eat.

If it weren’t for the volunteers who help and the donations that come in, we could not make it. I didn’t want to name everyone because I know I would leave somebody’s name, organization or church out. But a gracious thanks to all volunteers and community donations.

Pastor Geraldine Swagerty
Kingsport

Black History Month offers lessons for all of us

2011-02-01T07:41:00.000-08:00

THIS EDITORIAL FROM THE EDITOR OF THE KINGSPORT TIMES-NEWS, TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 1, 2011

Black history is a subject too interesting and vast to be confined to a single month, much less the shortest one. But brief as the month is, it does represent a chance to bear witness, if only in a small way, to the progress, richness and diversity of African-American achievement.

It was during the 1920s that Carter Woodson, a premier black historian, first put forward his idea of a Negro History Week. Woodson saw the celebration as a way to advance the idea of African history as a form of black cultural empowerment and emancipation.

In his view, the knowledge and dissemination of African history would, “besides building self-esteem among blacks, help eliminate prejudice among whites.”

He aimed, he wrote, both “to inculcate in the mind of the youth of African blood an appreciation of what their race has thought and felt and done” and to publicize the facts of the black among whites, so that “the Negro may enjoy a larger share of the privileges of democracy as a result of the recognition of his worth.”

In a speech at Hampton Institute in 1921, Woodson addressed the issue head on: “We have a wonderful history behind us,” he told his listeners. “(But) ... if you are unable to demonstrate to the world that you have this record, the world will say to you, ‘You are not worthy to enjoy the blessings of democracy or anything else.’ They will say to you, ‘Who are you, anyway? Your ancestors have never controlled empires or kingdoms and most of your race have contributed little or nothing to science and philosophy and mathematics.’

“So far as you know, they have not; but if you will read the history of Africa, the history of your ancestors’ people of whom you should feel proud, you will realize that they have a history that is worthwhile.

“They have traditions ... of which you can boast and upon which you can base a claim for a right to a share in the blessings of democracy.

“Let us, then, study ... this history ... with the understanding that we are not, after all, an inferior people. We are going back to that beautiful history and it is going to inspire us to greater achievements. It is not going to be long before we can sing the story to the outside world as to convince it of the value of our history ... and we are going to be recognized as men.”

Many decades have passed since Woodson spoke those words. But the pride and the passion in them are as fresh today as they were 90 years ago.

The week-long celebration Woodson first envisioned has become a month-long period for Americans of all races to reflect on the history and teachings of African-Americans whose contributions are still too little known and appreciated.

Along those lines, there is an African proverb that seems especially appropriate for this time of year: “Know your history,” it urges, “and you will always be wise.”

Good advice, that. Indeed the collective history of the African-American community contains invaluable lessons for us all.

It’s up to each of us to bring King’s dream to fruition

2011-01-17T06:33:00.000-08:00

EDITORIAL FROM THE KINGSPORT TIMES-NEWS, MONDAY, JANUARY 17, 2011 ON THE OCCASION OF DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR,'S BIRTHDAY

Today marks the national observance of the anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday. In a noonday parade in Kingsport, King’s legacy of nonviolence in the pursuit of justice will be remembered and extolled, as it rightly should.

But if the civil rights leader were alive today, he would surely urge those who seek to honor him and that struggle to make this a day of action, rather than a day of rest and recollection.

That’s not to say there hasn’t been progress, for, of course, there has been. If nothing else, the election of Barack Obama is evidence of that. But there are abundant examples of progress beyond the political and symbolic.

In Dr. King’s time, census statistics revealed that nearly nine of every 10 blacks lived in poverty. Today, more than 40 percent of blacks are solidly middle class. And college attendance rates for blacks are now indistinguishable from whites. Indeed, in many ways, the progress has been so dramatic it tends to obscure the extent of a bigotry that was once a condition of life — and not just in the Jim Crow South.

The world of segregated bathrooms and lunch counters King helped to abolish is as remote in time to the average schoolchild of today as Lincoln’s assassination or the Civil War. It is a world they have seen in pictures, but can never truly know, since they did not live through it. Such is the measure of King’s success in helping to reorder society itself. King’s dream of a world in which people would be defined, “not by the color of their skin but by the content of their character,” is now a touchstone of modern American life.

Dr. King did more than any other single figure in American history to give that dream dimension and meaning. The Martin Luther King remembered and celebrated today is a figure dramatically invoking that dream of racial harmony at the rally on the mall in Washington, D.C. in 1963.

Virtually forgotten are the later years, after the passage of the Voting Rights Acts of 1964 and 1965, when King started to decry the huge income gaps between rich and poor and began to call for radical changes in the structure of society.

“True compassion,” he said, “is more than flinging a coin to a beggar; it comes to see that an edifice which produces beggars needs restructuring.”

All too soon, however, Dr. King’s exhortations would be silenced by an assassin’s bullet in 1968. He was just 39.

From noon until 1 p.m. today, the 11th annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday Parade will be held in downtown Kingsport.

The event will begin at the intersection of East Sevier and Center Street (Rikki Rhoton Allstate Insurance Co.’s parking lot) and conclude at Shelby Street at the city parking lot between Kingsport City Hall and the Justice Center.

The theme of the parade is summed up in three words: “Remember! Celebrate! Act!” Parade sponsors include Eastman Chemical Company, Food City, Office Depot, Joshua Generation, My Brother’s Keeper, Putting Babies First and the Upper East Tennessee Human Development Agency.

In these local ceremonies as well as many others, we honor the icon that Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. has become. But hero worship was never King’s interest. Changing society was. His life was all too brief, but the dream he had goes on. More than four decades after his tragic and untimely death, it’s up to each of us to do our part in making that dream a living reality.

New Year's Challenge from Alumnus Larry Bowditch

2010-12-30T19:58:00.000-08:00

This is how I am challenging myself to "get better".

Are you big enough to take it on, too?

Spend one hour today, just one, totally focused on the wants, needs and interests of others.. and not yours.

Who has done it for One, Full, Hour?

All the Best to you,
~ Larry

Sister's Kidney Donation Condition of Mississippi Parole

2010-12-30T13:05:00.000-08:00

JACKSON, Miss. – For 16 years, sisters Jamie and Gladys Scott have shared a life behind bars for their part in an $11 armed robbery. To share freedom, they must also share a kidney.

Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour suspended the sisters' life sentences on Wednesday, but 36-year-old Gladys Scott's release is contingent on her giving a kidney to Jamie, her 38-year-old sister, who requires daily dialysis.

The sisters were convicted in 1994 of leading two men into an ambush in central Mississippi the year before. Three teenagers hit each man in the head with a shotgun and took their wallets — making off with only $11, court records said. Jamie and Gladys Scott were each convicted of two counts of armed robbery and sentenced to two life sentences.

"I think it's a victory," said the sisters' attorney, Chokwe Lumumba. "I talked to Gladys and she's elated about the news. I'm sure Jamie is, too."

National NAACP President and CEO Benjamin Todd Jealous thanked Barbour in a news conference Thursday at Mississippi's capital, calling the suspension of the sentences "a shining example" of the way a governor should use the power of clemency. Civil rights advocates have for years called for the sisters' release, saying the sentences were excessive. Those demands gained traction when Barbour asked the Mississippi Parole Board to take another look at the case.

The Scott sisters are eligible for parole in 2014, but Barbour said prison officials no longer think they are a threat to society and Jamie's medical condition is costing the state a lot of money — approximately $200,000 a year, according to Mississippi Department of Corrections Spokesman Kent Croker.

Lumumba said he has no problem with the governor requiring Gladys to offer up her organ because "Gladys actually volunteered that as part of her petition." Lumumba said it's not clear what caused the kidney failure, but it's likely a combination of different illnesses over the years.

Barbour spokesman Dan Turner told The Associated Press that Jamie Scott was released because she needs the transplant. He said Gladys Scott will be released if she agrees to donate her kidney because of the significant risk and recovery time. "She wanted to do it," Turner said. "That wasn't something we introduced."

Barbour is a Republican in his second term who has been mentioned as a possible presidential contender in 2012. He said the parole board agreed with the indefinite suspension of their sentences, which is different from a pardon or commutation because it comes with conditions. An "indefinite suspension of sentence" can be reversed if the conditions are not followed, but those requirements are usually things like meeting with a parole officer.

The Scott sisters have received significant public support from advocacy groups, including the NAACP, which called for their release. Hundreds of people marched through downtown Jackson from the state capital to the governor's mansion in September, chanting in unison that the women should be freed.

Still, their release won't be immediate. Mississippi Department of Corrections Commissioner Chris Epps said late Wednesday that he had not received the order. He also said the women want to live with relatives in Florida, which requires approval from officials in that state.

In general, that process takes 45 days.

Mississippi NAACP President Derrick Johnson said the Scott sisters' release will be "a great victory for the state of Mississippi for two individuals who received an excessive sentence" and he has no problem with the kidney donation requirement because Gladys Scott volunteered.

"I think it's encouraging that she's willing to share a kidney so her sister can have a better quality life," Johnson said.

Henderson is wrong about Obama

2010-11-19T08:32:00.000-08:00

Henderson is wrong about Obama

Published November 19th, 2010 in the Times-News

I would suppose that one answer to Cecilia Henderson’s question, “What could President Obama do that would get the approval of the narrow-minded people in Tennessee?” might be to resign. Based on his approval ratings, resigning would get the approval of more voters than those “narrow-minded people” in Tennessee. But that would not appease Ms. Henderson, who by her comments appears to be narrow-minded also. I strongly disagree with Ms. Henderson, who does not speak for anyone but herself, that criticism of President Obama is because he is black.
It seems to me that all of the presidents since 1960 have endured their share of criticism and abuse from the media, the public and the butt of jokes by late night talk show hosts. One major difference among the men elected president prior to Obama is they all had experience in business, leadership in politics or the military, something President Obama does not have. And for the record, President Obama is not black. He is the son of one white parent and one black parent and so mixed black and white ancestry and therefore is a mulatto. Use of the term mulatto varies widely, and a majority of people of mixed white and black ancestry choose not to identify themselves as mulatto, but prefer African-American or another adjective other than white.

Bill Killen
Church Hill

DOUGLASS WEBSITE EDITOR'S NOTE: Many African-Americans do not like the term "mulatto" because of its association to slavery and colonial and racial oppression, according to Wikipedia. We only include it in the above letter because of the historical context.

Letter to the Editor: Bashing of Obama racially motivated

2010-11-17T09:38:00.000-08:00

What could President Obama do that would get the approval of the narrow-minded people in Tennessee? Every move he makes there is someone waiting to criticize him. Why are we so hard on this one president? I know. And the people who are giving him so much grief know, but they don’t have the courage to say it. So I will say it for them. The president is black.

Cecilia Henderson Kingsport

What Happens When a Tower Demolition Goes Way Wrong!

2010-11-11T08:37:00.000-08:00

“Oh no.”

Near Springfield, Ohio, those were some of the last words heard before shouts to get back as the old Mad River Power Plant’s 275-foot tower toppled in the wrong direction about noon Wednesday.

The blasts should have sent the stack onto a cleared area directly to the east, but instead the tower crashed to the southeast.

CHECK OUT THE VIDEO, COURTESY THE A.P.:

No one was injured but the tower knocked down two 12,500-volt power lines and smashed a building housing back-up generators.

The electrical lines came crashing down as a crowd of about 25 media members, FirstEnergy Corp. employees, demolition crews and their family members scattered to avoid the live lines.

“It just started leaning the other way and I thought, ‘Holy cow’ ... It was terrifying for a little bit,” Springfield Twp. Fire Chief John Roeder said.

About 4,000 customers on the west side of the city lost power for more than two hours and traffic lights in at least nine intersections went down.

The explosives detonated correctly, but an undetected crack on south side of the tower pulled it backward, said Lisa Kelly, president/owner of Advanced Explosives Demolition Inc.

“It’s property damage and it’s not life,” she said. “That’s the most important thing — that no one was injured.”

Demolitions are a highly technical process.

“(But) it’s not without some uncertainty,” said Tim Suter, FirstEnergy manager of external affairs.

All of the debris landed on the FirstEnergy property and none of it went into the Mad River or onto the nearby railway tracks. An estimate of the cost of the damage wasn’t available Wednesday.

Suter said he hasn’t seen anything like it before.

“Fortunately no one was injured,” he said.

FirstEnergy has worked with the demolition contractor, Advanced Explosives Demolition Inc., on other jobs, Suter said, and a lot of preparation went into the project.

“They’ve taken other towers twice the size of this one down without anything going on,” he said.

The Idaho-based, family-owned company has been featured in a series on TLC, according to its website. They travel the country with their children doing demolitions.

The AED website says that Eric Kelly has “a perfect safety record of no accidents in 27 years.”

AED President/Owner Lisa Kelly said the crack in the tower pulled it in the wrong direction.

The most important fact is that no one was injured, Kelly said, because property can always be reconstructed.

Cleanup will be handled efficiently, she said.

“Nobody’s happy with things that go wrong in life, and sometimes it’s out of our hands and beyond anybody’s prediction ... We’re all extremely thankful no one was injured or hurt,” she said.

The plant dates to the 1920s and was last used nearly 30 years ago. FirstEnergy began razing it this summer as a company-wide effort to cleanup old sites.

Springfield Twp. Fire Chief John Roeder came to observe the tower demolition Wednesday and had fire trucks nearby if needed.

Once he saw the tower heading the wrong direction, Roeder wanted to clear the area under the wires as quickly as possible, and feared it might strike a substation and start a fire.

“It was definitely a sight to see,” Roeder said.

The power lines nearly fell on several news crews staged in the area.

“We just ran,” said Eric Higgenbotham, a WHIO-TV videographer. “We were standing underneath the power lines, it was like the end of the world. We were running for our lives.”

At least nine intersections on the west side of the city lost power, and officers were dispatched to direct traffic, said Sgt. Brian Radanovich, Springfield Police Division.

One minor crash with no injuries at High Street and Wittenberg Avenue was reported during the outage.

Fewer intersections were disabled in past power outages, he said.

“This is probably the most we’ve had in awhile,” he said.

Americans Sure Have Short Memories

2010-10-28T13:46:00.000-07:00

FROM A NOTE EMAILED TO ROBERTA LANAUZE:

After The 8 Years Of The Bush/Cheney Disaster, Now You Get Mad?

You didn't get mad when the Supreme Court stopped a legal recount and
appointed a President.

You didn't get mad when Cheney allowed Energy company officials to
dictate Energy policy and push us to invade Iraq.

You didn't get mad when a covert CIA operative got outed.

You didn't get mad when the Patriot Act got passed.

You didn't get mad when we illegally invaded a country that posed no
threat to us.

You didn't get mad when we spent over 800 billion (and counting) on said
illegal war.

You didn't get mad when Bush borrowed more money from foreign sources
than the previous 42 Presidents combined.

You didn't get mad when over 10 billion dollars in cash just disappeared
in Iraq.

You didn't get mad when you found out we were torturing people.

You didn't get mad when Bush embraced trade and outsourcing policies
that shipped 6 million American jobs out of the country.

You didn't get mad when the government was illegally wiretapping
Americans.

You didn't get mad when we didn't catch Bin Laden.

You didn't get mad when Bush rang up 10 trillion dollars in combined
budget and current account deficits.

You didn't get mad when you saw the horrible conditions at Walter Reed.

You didn't get mad when we let a major US city, New Orleans, drown.

You didn't get mad when we gave people who had more money than they
could spend, the filthy rich, over a trillion dollars in tax breaks.

You didn't get mad with the worst 8 years of job creations in several
decades.

You didn't get mad when over 200,000 US Citizens lost their lives
because they had no health insurance.

You didn't get mad when lack of oversight and regulations from the Bush
Administration caused US Citizens to lose 12 trillion dollars in
investments, retirement, and home values.

You finally got mad when a black man was elected President and decided
that people in America deserved the right to see a doctor if they are
sick. Yes, illegal wars, lies, corruption, torture, job losses by the
millions, stealing your tax dollars to make the rich richer, and the
worst economic disaster since 1929 are all okay with you, but helping
fellow Americans who are sick...Oh, Hell No!!

Message from former Kingsport Mayor Jeanette Blazier

2010-10-01T08:28:00.000-07:00

"The dedication ceremony (for the V.O. Dobbins, Sr. Complex) was one of the most inspiring we've had in Kingsport! Thanks to you and so many others who have worked tirelessly to make this long time dream a reality. I'm very thankful and 'my cup is running over' a week later. Calvin, you and many others should be on cloud nine! I'm there with you. In 1996 when Jalisa Ferguson was killed, I started working with a wonderful steering team that helped the neighborhood begin to create a vision for Riverview. The highest priority out of those neighborhood sessions was the renovation of V.O. Dobbins and specifically a community room/center. Praise God you have it in 2010! I am filled with joy!"

Jeanette Blazier

V.O. Dobbins Complex Is A Welcome Addition to the Community

2010-09-27T08:07:00.000-07:00

Like Van, watching the slide show of the newly renovated Douglass, I, too, became emotional. For all of us who were taught and cared for at Douglass High School, the social services now located in Riverview and across the city, will now be more understood by those citizens in Riverview and across the city.

Finally, Riverview is a part of the City of Kingsport.

Congratulations to those citizens of the City and County who worked hard to make this happen. Yes, Mr. Dobbins, Mr. Gill, Mr.Young, Coach Deering, Mr. Baylor, Mr. Hendricks, Mrs. Shannon, Mr. Thomas, would be proud; however, let's not forget Mrs. Dobbins, who worked tirelessly to support her husband as she, too, taught and cared for and helped her students and friends and neighbors. I often observed Mrs. Dobbins out and about in the community. Again, congratulations, also, to the Douglass Alumni Association for their part-a job well done.

Rosemary Gray

Nice event

2010-09-26T06:45:00.001-07:00

I attended the New Vision Youth Grandparents Day luncheon at the Civic Auditorium. This event was real nice. The New Vision youth kids were very mannerable and helpful in helping the grandparents get their lunch and drinks. The homemade soups were very tasty and good — that tea was out of this world.
I have never seen an event free to the public, which I was told they’ve done this for three years with no charge.
Grandparents that didn’t attend missed a tasty event. They even gave out nice door prizes. I admire how has their free events and doesn’t charge. Kingsport needs to attend the New Vision Youth events. Youth came from all over as far as Gate City and Johnson City to be of help to the community. Ms. Johnnie Mae, keep up the good work with these youth. Your blessings are coming.

Mrs. Loretta Collins
Kingsport

Dialysis extending life for many

2010-08-12T08:15:00.000-07:00

THIS ARTICLE COURTESY THE KINGSPORT TIMES-NEWS

By KRISTEN BUCKLES
kbuckles@timesnews.net

Four years ago life was pretty normal for one senior Kingsport resident. Charmie Horton worked with children, attended services at First Baptist Church, Kingsport, and enjoyed time with friends and family.

On a day that began like any other, she was feeling fine and taking care of chores. By afternoon, she began to having breathing difficulties. “I don’t know what happened to me,” she said, still bewildered.
Unable to get enough air to call for help, she motioned for a neighbor who contacted 911. She gazed back at her home as they loaded her into an ambulance. “When I looked back at my gate, I thought I’d never be back,” Horton recalled.
When she did finally see her gate again, it was three weeks later. She returned home from the hospital with two new diagnoses –– diabetes and chronic kidney failure. Without a kidney transplant, dialysis was her only hope.
“I was in Indian Path for three weeks. When I got ready to go home, Dr. (Abrar) Ahmad told me, ‘When you go to dialysis, you treat it as if you’re going to a job every day.’ I’ve learned that is the truth.
“There are days you don’t feel like getting up at five o’clock to get ready to come here. Something says you’ve got to go and you do. You don’t lay out. You don’t miss your treatment. This is your lifeline. You either get your priorities right, you either come, or you die.”
Dr. Steven Butler, a nephrologist with Regional Kidney Care, founded a Kingsport dialysis clinic in 1993 with 30 patients. Today, Horton is one of 152. The majority of these patients have chronic kidney disease, which currently affects 26 million American adults according to the National Kidney Foundation. When the disease limits the function of both kidneys to 10 or 15 percent, dialysis is needed.
There are two forms of dialysis. Peritoneal uses the stomach lining and peritoneal fluid, allowing patients to remain at home. The most common, hemodialysis, directly accesses the bloodstream and is usually done at a professional center.
Although it is not as effective as the kidneys, dialysis helps to replace three important kidney functions: removal of waste from the blood, removal of excess fluid, and keeping electrolytes in balance.
While there is the rare patient who is able to recover kidney function, most will need a kidney transplant or remain on dialysis for the rest of their lives, Butler said. “One of the perceptions out there is that dialysis is a death sentence or that it’s associated with a universally poor quality of life and that you’re there and you’re miserable for a few months and then you die,” he said.
Unfortunately, dialysis does have a high mortality rate. “Nationally, the mortality rate is about 20 percent. A lot of it really does depend on the patient. If you just look statistically, the one-year survival is about 80 percent. ... Out 10 years, there are only about 10 percent still alive,” Butler said.
Nonetheless, these patients are not without hope.
Nurse Practitioner Cindy Butler sees life expectancy misperceptions all too often. That, she said, is when she introduces those with misperceptions to a patient who has been on dialysis for more than 20 years.
“As a rule, when patients first come, they will feel as bad as they have ever felt in their entire lives,” she said, explaining that some do not even want to try dialysis. Once they do, however, things quickly turn around. “Over about a month ... they feel like themselves again.”
“(It is) a miraculous therapy in a lot of ways because when you walk into a dialysis center you’re seeing on that shift of 16 patients, people that would otherwise not be here,” Dr. Butler said.
For three days a week, four hours a day, Charmie Horton is one of the 16 patients who must sit patiently while their blood cycles from an access, into the machine for cleaning, and then back.
“I think about dialysis a lot,” she said.
It is certainly not without its challenges. The process is time-consuming, maintaining proper health difficult and the diet tedious.
“They take everything,” Horton said, voicing a rare complaint. “You have to sneak your cake ... and your lemon pie.”
A dietitian works to create individualized plans for each of the patients, balancing diabetes, kidney failure and economic concerns. “The foods that really they need to minimize or avoid are going to be the less expensive foods,” Cindy Butler said. “When you start telling them what they need to eat, a lot of times they’re people that are just barely making it economically and you’re putting more stress on them.”
Outside of her dietary complaints, Horton remains highly optimistic about her new life, prompting the staff to describe her as “delightful” and “a sweetheart.”
She, in turn, claims the staff as her own children. “We have wonderful doctors that care about you,” she said. “If you ever have to come, you won’t want to come. But once you come, you won’t want to miss. It’s like a social club! I’ve made so many friends here.”
Her optimism endears her to the staff, but they are all aware of how difficult the patients’ lives can be, Cindy Butler said. “Every once in a while, they’ll say something like, ‘You don’t know how hard this is,’ and we have to say, ‘You’re right, we don’t.’ ”
Yet Horton remains as optimistic as ever.
“Nobody told us this would be a rose garden. Just be thankful we have this place to come to and these people to take care of you.”

Race being used to smear Obama

2010-07-23T08:28:00.000-07:00

Eugene Robinson is a columnist for the Washington Post

Eugene Robinson’s e-mail address is eugenerobinson@washpost.com.

WASHINGTON — After the Shirley Sherrod episode, there’s no longer any need to mince words: A cynical right-wing propaganda machine is peddling the poisonous fiction that when African-Americans or other minorities reach positions of power, they seek some kind of revenge against whites.
A few of the purveyors of this bigoted nonsense might actually believe it. Most of them, however, are merely seeking political gain by inviting white voters to question the motives and good faith of the nation’s first African-American president. This is really about tearing Barack Obama down.
Sherrod, until Monday an official with the Department of Agriculture, was supposed to be mere collateral damage. Andrew Breitbart, a smarmy provocateur who often speaks at tea party rallies, posted on his Web site a video snippet of a speech that Sherrod, who is African-American, gave to a NAACP meeting earlier this year. In it, Sherrod seemed to boast of having withheld from a white farmer some measure of aid that she would have given to a black farmer.
It looked like a clear case of black racism in action. Within hours, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack had forced her to resign. The NAACP, under attack from the right for having denounced racism in the tea party movement, issued a statement blasting Sherrod and condemning her attitude as unacceptable.
But Breitbart had overstepped. The full video of Sherrod’s speech showed she wasn’t bragging about being a racist, she was telling what amounted to a parable about prejudice and reconciliation. For one thing, the incident happened in 1986 when she was working for a nonprofit, long before she joined the Obama administration. For another, she helped that white man and his family save their farm, and they became friends. Through him, she said, she learned to look past race toward our common humanity.
In effect, she was telling the story of America’s struggle with race, but with the roles reversed. For hundreds of years, black people were enslaved, oppressed and discriminated against by whites — until the civil rights movement gave us all a path toward redemption.
With the Obama presidency, though, has come a flurry of charges — from the likes of Breitbart but also from more substantial conservative figures — about alleged incidences of racial discrimination against whites by blacks and other minorities. Recall, for example, the way Obama’s critics had a fit when he offered an opinion about the confrontation between Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates Jr. and a white police officer. Remember the over-the-top reaction when it was learned that Justice Sonia Sotomayor had once talked about how being a “wise Latina” might affect her thinking.
Newt Gingrich called Sotomayor a racist. He was lightning-quick to call Sherrod a racist, too. I’d suggest that the former House speaker consider switching to decaf, but I think he knows exactly what he’s doing.
These allegations of anti-white racism are being deliberately hyped and exaggerated because they are designed to make whites fearful. It won’t work with most people, of course, but it works with some — enough, perhaps, to help erode Obama’s political standing and damage his party’s prospects at the polls.
Before Sherrod, the cause celebre of the “You Must Fear Obama” campaign involved something called the New Black Panther Party. Never heard of it? That’s because it’s a tiny group that exists mainly in the fevered imaginations of its few members. Also in the alternate reality of Fox News: One of the network’s hosts has devoted more than three hours of air time in recent weeks to the grave threat posed by the NBPP. Actually, I suspect that this excess is at least partly an attempt by a relatively obscure anchor to boost her own notoriety.
The Sherrod case has fully exposed the right-wing campaign to use racial fear to destroy Obama’s presidency, and I hope the effect is to finally stiffen some spines in the administration.
The way to deal with bullies is to confront them, not run away. Yet Sherrod was fired before even being allowed to tell her side of the story. She said the official who carried out the execution explained that she had to resign immediately because the story was going to be on Glenn Beck’s show that evening. Ironically, Beck was the only Fox host who, upon hearing the rest of Sherrod’s speech, promptly called for her to be reinstated. On Wednesday, Vilsack offered to rehire her.
Shirley Sherrod stuck to her principles and stood her ground. I hope the White House learns a lesson.

Go, Douglass Alums! (and to Calvin, son and grandson of former alums

2010-07-21T17:02:00.000-07:00

FROM: ROSEMARY GRAY
mediadarling@aol.com

Great pictures of your annual even to keep "Douglass" alive! What anyone who reads our website on a consistent basis can see is the leadership developed by the Douglass High School Faculty and Staff. Only leadership can make this happen annually.

Rosemary Gray

55 Years ago !!

2010-07-21T08:46:00.000-07:00

That's only 55 years ago!

Comments made in the
year 1955!

'I'll tell you one thing, if things
keep going the way they are,
it's going to be impossible to
buy a week's groceries for $10.00.

------------------------------------------------

'Have you seen the new cars
coming out next year? It won't
be long before $1, 000.00 will
only buy a used one.

------------------------------------------------

'If cigarettes keep going up in
price, I'm going to quit. 20 cents
a pack is ridiculous.

------------------------------------------------

'Did you hear the post office is
thinking about charging 7 cents
just to mail a letter

------------------------------------------------

'If they raise the minimum wage
to $1.00, nobody will be able to
hire outside help at the store.

------------------------------------------------

'When I first started driving, who
would have thought gas would
someday cost 25 cents a gallon.
Guess we'd be better off leaving
the car in the garage.

------------------------------------------------

'I'm afraid to send my kids to the
movies any more Ever since they
let Clark Gable get by with saying
DAMN in GONE WITH THE WIND,
it seems every new movie has
either HELL or DAMN in it.

------------------------------------------------

'I read the other day where some
scientist thinks it's possible to put
a man on the moon by the end of
the century. They even have some
fellows they call astronauts
preparing for it down in Texas.

------------------------------------------------

'Did you see where some baseball
player just signed a contract for
$50,000 a year just to play ball?
It wouldn't surprise me if someday
they'll be making more than the
President.

------------------------------------------------

'I never thought I'd see the day
all our kitchen appliances would
be electric. They are even making
electric typewriters now.

------------------------------------------------

'It's too bad things are so tough
nowadays. I see where a few
married women are having to
work to make ends meet.

------------------------------------------------

'It won't be long before young
couples are going to have to hire
someone to watch their kids so
they can both work.

------------------------------------------------

'I'm afraid the Volkswagen car
is going to open the door to a
whole lot of foreign business.

------------------------------------------------

'Thank goodness I won't live to
see the day when the Government
takes half our income in taxes. I
sometimes wonder if we are
electing the best people to
government.

------------------------------------------------

'The drive-in restaurant is
convenient in nice weather,
but I seriously doubt they
will ever catch on.

------------------------------------------------

'There is no sense going on short
trips anymore for a weekend, it
costs nearly $2.00 a night to stay
in a hotel.

------------------------------------------------

'No one can afford to be sick
anymore, at $15.00 a day in
the hospital, it's too rich for
my blood.'

------------------------------------------------

'If they think I'll pay 30 cents
for a hair cut, forget it.'

------------------------------------------------

Give Obama a break until 2012

2010-07-18T06:32:00.000-07:00

Clinton grew the economy and had an affair that should have been between him and his wife. We stuck our nose in that. Then Bush started two wars and gave a tax break to the very rich and there was total silence — not a peep. Then come Obama. Auto jobs were in danger; we were headed for a recession and he is trying to dig us out of a hole that is just too deep, and the Republicans and tea party members and birthers are doing everything to defeat him with some help from people who are in the dark about everything, including the Confederate flag. I am so sick of hearing Obama in every newscast, every editorial and most Tennesseans you talk to who happened to vote for him. Please let him rest and wait until 2012 and then voice your opinion.
Cecilia Henderson
Kingsport

From Ben Jealous, NAACP President

2010-07-16T19:47:00.001-07:00

Calvin,

The NAACP is under attack.

This week, we called out the bigoted acts of certain Tea Party members for what they are: racist.

The response was shocking. Our opponents have turned the claim around on us -- calling the NAACP divisive.

If you know anything about the NAACP, you know that there is no need to validate their accusation with a response. We have seen their signs. We have heard their slurs.

All we are asking for is your support. Please sign the pledge and ask the Tea Party to repudiate bigotry among their members:

http://action.naacp.org/AgainstRacism

History has shown what can happen when organizations fail to condemn racism within their ranks. So our opponents' out-of-context sound bites and gross distortion of history do not threaten us, because the NAACP has unwavering faith in what is right.

We have unwavering faith in our mission. We have unwavering faith in the American democracy. And most importantly, we have unwavering faith in you.

What we do not believe in is hatred, ignorance and malice. With your help we can stop it. Tell the Tea Party that you do not support racism:

http://action.naacp.org/AgainstRacism

Thanks for your help,

Ben Jealous
President and CEO
NAACP

Letter was filled with misinformation

2010-07-14T07:24:00.000-07:00

Lena Rogers’ letter was right out of Frederick Wright’s handbook of racism. The only truth in her message of misinformation is “slavery was wrong.”
In the 1830 U.S. Census in Virginia, my home state, there were 3,775 free blacks. Those free blacks owned a “few” black slaves — 12,740 according to census records. Many years earlier, the first slave of record to enter Virginia was named John Casor. His owner was a man named Anthony Johnson of Northampton, Va. He was and still is known as the father of American slavery.
I read a newspaper account from 1864 of a regiment of Richmond blacks, free and slave, who volunteered to fight for the Confederacy. They were shown marching out of Richmond with the Stars and Bars flying in front of them.
I served as an airman in World War II. Probably the best known fighter group was a group of blacks known as Tuskeegee Airmen. Part of their mission was to escort bomber groups to their targets. Most missions lost two or more bombers due to ground fire or enemy fighters. No bombers were lost when those black heroes escorted a bomb group. I’m talking about every group they escorted.
Bernie Kerrick
Kingsport

2010-07-11T07:01:00.000-07:00

Get over it and leave it alone

Re. the Confederate flag flying at South ball games and lady that wrote about South Carolina seceding from the union, the first Confederate flag was called the stars and bars. It had three stripes, two red and one white, and a square of blue with seven stars in a circle. The Confederate flag is not offensive. It’s people that make things offensive. If you get rid of the flag at Sullivan South then we must get rid of the Indian flags that fly at Dobyns-Bennett because people might find that offensive as well. I have some Cherokee in my blood as well as eight relatives that fought in the Civil War — seven with the north and one with the south. Get over it and leave it alone. It is a right as an American citizen to fly that flag or any flag for that matter until we start doing something to these people that desecrate the U.S. flag by burning it and stepping on it. Life is too short to argue over a school waving a flag supporting their team. We have more important problems as a nation to worry about.

Edward Amyx
Kingsport

South should end displays of the Confederate flag at school functions

2010-07-06T06:34:00.000-07:00

Debbie Arrington lives in Kingsport and has earned degrees in history and accounting. You can email her at DebArrington@hotmail.com.

“I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.”
This is the oath that Abraham Lincoln took in 1861 at a moment when our nation was rapidly disintegrating. He considered this to be a vow that he as President would use every tool at his disposal to protect the Union from external and internal threats. I have no doubt that George Bush and Barack Obama who took the same oath would agree with Lincoln. This is a “presidential thing” and transcends political ideology. On a very small scale, President George Washington demonstrated during what’s known as the Whiskey Rebellion that the U.S. government would suppress violent insurrections against federal authority by force if necessary. There still isn’t anything in the U.S. Constitution that prohibits a state from seceding from our republic. But as a practical matter, that was settled in 1865.
I, like most Southerners, deeply respect General Robert E. Lee, his generals and the Confederate soldiers who suffered and died doing what they believed to be their duty. But it still confounds me that many of the leaders of the Confederacy were so willing to dissolve the Republic that their own fathers and grandfathers had risked death by hanging to create. Four signers of the Declaration of Independence were from South Carolina. Monarchists in many European countries gloated at the prospect of the demise of our noble and, to them, liberal experiment in self government.
The seven states which originally seceded from the Union did so in order to preserve a feudal economic system based on slave labor that basically benefited only a small, elite aristocracy. Four days after a group of South Carolina leaders hastily made the decision that their state would leave the Union before cooler heads could prevail, the state government issued a legal proclamation known as the “Declaration of the Immediate Causes Which Induce and Justify the Secession of South Carolina from the Federal Union.” This document explicitly revealed that slavery was the chief issue involved in South Carolina’s decision to secede. Georgia, Mississippi, and Texas issued similar proclamations. Although I had earned a history degree, I’d never heard of these declarations until I ran across a copy displayed at the Edmondston-Alston museum house located in Charleston. General Beauregard had watched the bombing of Fort Sumter from the second floor piazza of this home. My view of the Civil War was never quite the same after I stood reading this astounding declaration in that elegant antebellum mansion.
These hotheaded, privileged southerners put the process in motion that would result in the deaths of close to 620,000 Americans. Federal troops would be stationed over parts of the South until 1877. Former Confederates who wished to hold elected office at any level were required to take a retroactive oath of loyalty to the Union. Poverty was rampant in the South until 1945. Robert E. Lee, despite the assistance of Ulysses S. Grant and others, died without regaining his American citizenship. Congress finally voted to restore full rights of citizenship posthumously to General Lee in 1975 and to Confederate President Jefferson Davis in 1978. These resolutions were signed by Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter respect i v e l y.
Most southern states didn’t celebrate the anniversary of the founding of our nation for years after the Civil War. Per the online Fourth of July Celebrations database created by James R. Heintze, the Nashville Banner newspaper published an editorial in 1866 urging citizens not to celebrate the Fourth. On July 4, 1890, a group of 2000 Confederate veterans marched in a parade in Chattanooga. And they didn’t carry Confederate flags.
I can’t help but notice with satisfaction that the Civil War is becoming largely irrelevant to most Americans other than to academics or armchair historians. But for whatever reason, we still have some southerners, especially in South Carolina, who want to keep the memory of the Civil War in the forefront of our nation’s popular culture. They display the Confederate battle flag at every opportunity to “honor their history” even though the British Union Jack flew over the Palmetto State for nearly a hundred years. I think the famed Unionist attorney James Petigru’s comment regarding his state is still rather appropriate: “South Carolina is too small for a republic and too large for an insane asylum.”
Most Confederate soldiers were by all accounts brave and ferocious fighters. Those are admirable traits and coveted compliments to receive from one’s opponent. But even so, I hope that the administrators at Sullivan South High School end all displays of the Confederate battle flag at school functions. There were news reports that a school or two in our region had informed Sullivan South that its students weren’t welcome if they brought this flag with them. The people who adopted this policy aren’t a bunch of big city liberals. They’re just mainstream, twenty-first century East Tennesseans who’d like to leave the “War of Northern Aggression” and its intense emotions in the past.
When South High School kids display those flags to strangers, they’re often viewed as young people with a chip on their shoulder; people who take pleasure in offending others for no good reason. Most teenagers want to be accepted and respected by other teens. It’s not fair to set those kids up for appearing antisocial or worse to outsiders. Give them a chance to make a good first impression. Because a bad first impression can be difficult if not impossible to overcome.

Blacks forced to fight in Civil War

2010-06-30T07:53:00.001-07:00

Those who think African-Americans fought for the Confederacy in the Civil War because they wanted to are so wrong. Why would a black man want to fight a war to keep him in slavery? They were made to be there. They were slaves put out there to do all the dirty work that soldiers did not want to do. What do you think would happen to them if they had refused to fight in a war they didn’t believe in? Was the Confederate soldier fighting for everyone to be free?
I can’t see why so many people are so proud of the fact they wanted to keep people slaves for the rest of their lives. They had no rights and had no life. Slavery was wrong. Blacks were killed, raped, burned alive, homes burned down, children raped and taken from their family to work in your fields. They didn’t even want slaves to know how to read, and if they were seen reading they were killed or beaten. There were masters raping our women and having babies and selling their own children.
Yes, when the slaves were free some stayed because they knew no other life. Some were old and stayed because they were born slaves and had nowhere to go. Some had no names, no education. That was the only life they knew. But thank God for the ones that did. Even after many, many years when we were free, we still were treated like we were not human. Our men and women and children were killed just because of the color of their skin, and to this day we are mistreated because of the color of our skin. So keep on being proud of your Confederate flag, and we will still see no good in it. We have fought for every right we have as a race and will keep fighting.

Lena Rogers
Kingsport

Most wavers of That Flag are just having fun, but it’s time for it to go

2010-06-23T17:51:00.000-07:00

THIS EDITORIAL REPRINTED COURTESY THE KINGSPORT TIMES-NEWS, 6/22/10

Jim Welch, a Kingsport resident, works in advancing biosafety and biosecurity. E-mail him at jmwelch2@yahoo.com.

That Flag. To read some responses about That Flag, one would think Creation and/or the existence of America itself depended upon some local high school being able or not being able to use it.
I weighed in years ago about That Flag. I’m proud of my Southern heritage even though mine is mixed. I had relatives from the same state fight on opposite sides. I like to think the Confederate ones weren’t fighting over slavery and the Union ones were. Being a history guy, I can even make a pretty good argument either way. Being a human being, I would more than likely choose the facts that support my beliefs and ignore the others.
I harbor neither ill feelings nor great devotion toward That Flag, but as I wrote in another column several years ago, That Flag was stolen. It was stolen by people who used it to express their hates and prejudices. We let them have it. We let them wave it without a whisper of objection. We didn’t fight them over it, and we certainly failed to publicly scold them. They flew it when they wore their white robes, and they flew it when they wished they had white robes to wear. As a result, many people associate one with the other, and perception is 90 percent of reality.
I think a Rebel is a good thing. That said, I must ask if That Flag is what is so very important about being a Rebel. The Sons of Liberty, America’s original Rebels, had a flag that had nine vertical stripes, alternating red and white ones. The stripes represented the nine colonies that attended the Stamp Act Congress in 1765. Later versions would hold the nine stripes for different reasons, but it’s a cool looking flag.
And what could be cooler than the “Don’t Tread On Me” rattlesnake flag or the Texas independence flag that had a cannon and a lone star on a white background with the taunting words “Come And Take It”?
If we’re Hades-bent on Rebels being the War Between the States kind, then why not fly either the Stars and Bars or the Bonnie Blue? Both are indicative of the same movement without the overtones associated with That Flag. Many — and I dare even say most — of those who sing the “Southern heritage” song in their arguments probably wouldn’t know either the Stars and Bars or the Bonnie Blue if either were flying in front of their face.
What’s more, That Flag was widely regarded as a “battle flag” in that it was troop-carried and very often square in shape. The star-studded St. Andrews cross was often relegated to corners of state flags or unit flags. That said, its use in rallying athletic teams becomes somewhat demeaning to those who fought for it. With the exception of national teams, we don’t go running across fields snapping the flag of the United States because a football team is coming on the field or a volleyball team is coming on the court. The American flag gets its deserved reverence, so those who wish to protect the heritage of That Flag should consider doing likewise if they love it as they say they do.
The real problem is that the use or non-use of That Flag strikes as an argument of political correctness or as another example of the overreaching power of the government. That situation continues to give That Flag new life — especially among those who despise either. They reach for any straw to fly it that much higher and that much more often. The more others lecture them about what they see as the evil the flag represents, the more inclined they are to fly it.
I now look at That Flag in the same way I see those horns people are blowing at the World Cup games. Each is irritating in its own way, but most people are just having a good time. Eventually, the students at the school who fly That Flag will grow tired of it and realize that the time has come to give That Flag the proper burial it deserves.

Funny!

2010-06-23T09:40:00.000-07:00

A new Publix supermarket opened in Morristown, TN. It has an automatic water mister to keep the produce fresh. Just before it goes on, you hear the distant sound of thunder and the smell of fresh rain.

When you pass the milk cases, you hear cows mooing and you experience the scent of fresh cut hay.

In the meat department there is the aroma of charcoal grilled steaks and brats.

In the liquor department, the fresh, clean, crisp smell of tapped Miller Lite.

When you approach the egg case, you hear hens cluck and cackle and the air is filled with the pleasing aroma of bacon and eggs frying.

The bread department features the tantalizing smell of fresh baked bread & cookies.

I don't buy toilet paper there anymore!

2010-06-23T09:34:00.001-07:00

Financial Educators
Dee Lee

THEY ARE STILL OUR SLAVES
We can continue to reap profits from the Blacks without the effort of physical slavery. Look at the current methods of containment that they use on themselves: IGNORANCE, GREED, and SELFISHNESS.

Their IGNORANCE is the primary weapon of containment. A great man once said, 'The best way to hide something from Black people is to put it in a book..' We now live in the Information Age. They have gained the opportunity to read any book on any subject through the efforts of their fight for freedom, yet they refuse to read. There are numerous books readily available at Borders, Barnes &Noble, and Amazon.com , not to mention their own Black Bookstores that provide solid blueprints to reach economic equality (which should have been their fight all along), but few read consistently, if at all.

GREED is another powerful weapon of containment. Blacks, since the abolition of slavery, have had large amounts of money at their disposal. Last year they spent 10 billion dollars during Christmas, out of their 450 billion dollars in total yearly income (2.22%).

Any of us can use them as our target market, for any business venture we care to dream up, no matter how outlandish, they will buy into it.. Being primarily a consumer people, they function totally by greed. They continually want more, with little thought for saving or investing.

They would rather buy some new sneaker than invest in starting a business. Some even neglect their children to have the latest Tommy or FUBU, and they still think that having a Mercedes, and a big house gives them 'Status' or that they have achieved their Dream.

They are fools! The vast majority of their people are still in poverty because their greed holds them back from collectively making better communities.

With the help of BET, and the rest of their black media that often broadcasts destructive images into their own homes, we will continue to see huge profits like those of Tommy and Nike. (Tommy Hilfiger has even jeered them, saying he doesn't want their money, and look at how the fools spend more with him than ever before!). They'll continue to show off to each other while we build solid communities with the profits from our businesses that we market to them.

SELFISHNESS, ingrained in their minds through slavery, is one of the major ways we can continue to contain them. One of their own, Dubois said that there was an innate division in their culture. A 'Talented Tenth' he called it. He was correct in his deduction that there are segments of their culture that has achieved some 'form' of success.

However, that segment missed the fullness of his work. They didn't read that the 'Talented Tenth' was then responsible to aid The Non-Talented Ninety Percent in achieving a better life. Instead, that segment has created another class, a Buppie class that looks down on their people or aids them in a condescending manner. They will never achieve what we have. Their selfishness does not allow them to be able to work together on any project or endeavor of substance. When they do get together, their selfishness lets their egos get in the way of their goal Their so-called help organizations seem to only want to promote their name without making any real change in their community.

They are content to sit in conferences and conventions in our hotels, and talk about what they will do, while they award plaques to the best speakers, not to the best doers. Is there no end to their selfishness? They steadfastly refuse to see that T ogether E ach A chieves M ore (TEAM)..

They do not understand that they are no better than each other because of what they own, as a matter of fact, most of those Buppies are but one or two pay checks away from poverty. All of which is under the control of our pens in our offices and our rooms.

Yes, we will continue to contain them as long as they refuse to read, continue to buy anything they want, and keep thinking they are 'helping' their communities by paying dues to organizations which do little other than hold lavish conventions in our hotels. By the way, don't worry about any of them reading this letter, remember, 'THEY DON'T READ!!!!

(Prove them wrong. Please pass this on! After Reading )

2010-06-18T08:20:00.001-07:00

Truth behind rebel flag isn’t pretty

The rebel flag was created in a time that denigrated many; it symbolized the acceptance of slavery. My personal experience with the rebel flag as a former D-B student and parent to both a past and present D-B student is negative. Some that attend ball games and those who ride past the front of D-B waving the rebel flag are not displaying pride in their “heritage” or school. They are insulting black students with harmful words (as well as any friends that are with them) and actions. Two years ago, on a D-B, South game day, I witnessed a South student drive slowly in front of D-B waving the rebel flag from his vehicle. When the South student saw a black D-B student ride by, he threw trash at his vehicle. Heritage? Yes, one of continued hatred and ignorance.
The rebel flag is a symbol of a past I would never want to take pride in. I would hope parents, teachers and authority figures would be more open to teaching their children and opening their eyes to the value of all life, no matter the color of one’s skin, economic status, or worldly possessions.
Amy McAtee
Kingsport

2010-06-11T08:30:00.000-07:00

Flag inspires mixed emotions

I have been following the letters pertaining to the use of the Confederate flag at South High School with interest. As a 63-year-old white male growing up in the South, I came to have conflicting opinions about displaying the flag. While it serves as reminder of the heroism and sacrifice of both Union and Confederate soldiers at Bull Run, Chancellorsville, Chickamauga, Gettysburg and other Civil War battles, it also brings to mind some despicable actions: the 1958 Clinton High School bombing, the 1963 Birmingham church bombing that killed four young girls, George Wallace blocking the schoolhouse door in Tuscaloosa in 1963, Lester Maddox and his axe handles at the Pickrick Restaurant in 1964, the 1968 assassination of Martin Luther King and decades of discrimination.
As a citizen, you have the absolute First Amendment right to display the Confederate flag if you so desire. However, I am not so sure that the mixed reactions to the flag make it a fit symbol to be displayed at a high school event.
James Lee
Rogersville

This one is for you my Brother: Happy Brother's Day!

2010-06-10T23:02:00.001-07:00

FROM EDDIE CHARLES:

Be the kind of man that when your feet hit the floor each morning the devil says "Oh Crap, he's up!" Brother, life is too short to wake up with regrets. So love the people who treat you right. Love the ones who don't just because you can. Believe everything happens for a reason. If you get a second chance, grab it with both hands. If it changes your life, let it. Kiss slowly. Forgive quickly. God never said life would be easy. He just promised it would be worth it. Today is Brother's day, send this to all your brothers, fathers, sons. If you get back 7, you are loved. Happy Brothers Day! I LOVE YA BROTHA'!!! To the cool men that have touched my life. Here's to you!! A real Brother walks with you when the rest of the world walks on.
Send this to all your Brothers because the fake ones won't.

2010-06-10T07:41:00.001-07:00

Rebel flag doesn’t inspire everyone

What is it with school officials at South allowing the display of the Confederate flag and mascot for so long? When some of us were more complacent than we should have been, there were lots of incidents involving the display of what some now are claiming is their Southern heritage. Just the other day, I had the glorious opportunity to travel behind an old pickup truck with an over-sized Confederate flag flown from the back and smaller flags on bumper as well. Needless to say I was thrilled when I had to turn the opposite way of that display of Southern “pride.” Would there be a person of German descent waving a flag bearing a swastika? Both are failed ideas from eras past. They certainly cannot think of themselves as patriotic Americans waving a flag of the government that lost in one of our most vile and deadly wars. The federal government does not allow the Confederate flag to fly on federal buildings, and the same should apply to schools.
No one denies anyone the right to personally fly the flag of your choice in your home or on your property. I don’t have a problem with the Confederate flags I’ve seen in official places — carefully placed as part of Civil War memorials, for instance. I’ve even seen them flying in some states at city halls and statehouses and on the lawns where there’s a plaque about the Civil War. I can live with that. That acknowledges history while not expressing explicit state support of the Confederacy. The Confederate flag is not a symbol of Southern heritage. A flag should be a symbol that everyone looks upon with the same stirring feelings of shared beliefs and shared commitment. Clearly, not all the students can look upon the Confederate flag with the same shared feelings.
Linda C. Bly
Kingsport

2010-06-09T08:11:00.000-07:00

Celebrate the South’s heritage

Whether or not the Confederate flag is racist is perception. Everything in the world is based on perception: right and wrong, truth and deception, good and evil. If you take the flag offensively, maybe you’re just self-conscious about your heritage. Heritage is to be embraced and, more importantly, understood. There were approximately 50,000 African-Americans who served willingly as Confederate soldiers during the Civil War. Almost four million blacks stayed on plantations by their free will. They supported the Confederate Army by providing them with food and supplies.
The Confederate flag stands for anyone in favor of the Southern states. America can’t go around catering to every single person’s opinion. So let’s just stick to the South’s heritage. Let the Stars and Bars fly high with rebel pride.
Heather Johnson
Kingsport

2010-06-06T10:14:00.001-07:00

Flag a positive and negative symbol

I think it’s important to note the rebel flag elicits strong negative and positive emotions. The folks on the positive side are often Caucasian from the South and see the flag as a symbol of their right to assert themselves in the name of their heritage. It is a regional symbol of pride for many people. The flag represents a memorial to the many people that died fighting honorably in the South for their country. Unfortunately, folks on the negative side are often in shock when they see it because it elicits an intense, strong, paralyzing sense of dread and instantaneous fear. I don’t think oftentimes those on the side of promoting the rebel flag as a symbol of our Southern heritage understand what the rebel flag represents to a significant number of people of all races in the rest of the country. It’s a symbol of terror for some people that has been passed down for generations just as much as any other symbol of terror like a satanic symbol or skull and cross bones. Obviously some symbols are going to represent different things to different people. So the question becomes if for one set of people it represents a heritage that they love and adore and to another set of people it is a terrorist symbol, whose rights are going to be denied? No one’s rights are going to be denied (hopefully) in this country because of free speech. But let’s ask ourselves, what would Jesus do?

Tracy White Kingsport

2010-06-06T10:12:00.000-07:00

Don’t use flag for frivolous purposes

As a native Virginian, a student of the Civil War, a descendant of three Confederate great-great-grandfathers, a rebel re-enactor for 10 years, and someone whose last request is to be buried in a grey wool uniform, I have been troubled by the battle flag being used at football games and flaunted in the beds of pickup trucks. Compared to the bloody horrors of a Civil War battlefield, a football game is an insignificant and frivolous event. Using the same flag that flew over our gallant, brave, and heroic ancestors as they were being killed by the thousands to urge on a football team only trivializes that flag. Our flag certainly should never be used by those who would substitute it for their clenched fist in the faces of our African-American brethren. Both actions denigrate our colors.
All Confederate flags should be treated with reverence and flown only in historical settings: Civil War battlefields and re-enactments, Sons of Confederate Veterans programs and meetings, on graves, in museums and individual homes, etc. We should do this not because we are forced to do so, but because I believe our ancestors, who loved that flag and who suffered and died while following it, would want us to treat it with the utmost honor, dignity, and respect. If we don’t treat and think about our flag in this manner, how can we expect others to do so? Robert Vanover Kingsport

Everyone is a rebel from time to time

In view of the recent comments about the rebel flag, people will complain about anything because they are never satisfied. (I know a few who are like that.) I don’t see anything wrong about the flag. It is the name of teams at school. The rebel flag represents rebellion, mostly from young people. Whether it be from teachers or parents, or even people we work with, we all rebel against something from time to time. Parents that are strict will tell their teenage children not to drink. But nine out of 10 kids will do it anyway. This is a form of rebellion just to spite their strict parents. Teachers will tell people not to talk or throw things in class. They will do it anyway just to spite the teachers. When people go against other people’s wishes, it is rebellion just like the school; they are called rebels, so the rebel flag represents the teachers and the student body. Eddie Holdway Big Stone Gap, Va.

2010-06-03T08:37:00.000-07:00

Flag backers should not be insensitive

Every year there is a discussion in this paper regarding use of the song “Dixie” or public displaying of the Confederate flag. If this behavior causes people to feel unhappy and insulted, then there is a problem. The main cause of the Civil War was to preserve the Union. There were many reasons people entered that war. The existence of slavery was one of the biggest. It is embarrassing that people assert symbols that are known to hurt others unnecessarily. The United States was preserved and has become a great nation. All 50 states play a role in the function of government responsibilities. This is a great country with many serious problems. It is important to put our intelligence into solving those problems and stop entertaining ourselves with insensitive incidences and behaviors related to holding human beings in slavery because of the color of their skin whether it was the cause or a side effect of a horrible war. The Civil War has been over for almost 150 years. My great-grandfather was in the Union Army. We don’t feel the urge to fly a flag or sing a particular song if to do so would hurt others’ feelings. We do feel the urge to make ourselves informed about what is happening in the world and do what we can to help.
Sue Ella Kobak
Pennington Gap, Va.

Flag will fly for next 100 years

I defend the right to fly the Confederate flag at Sullivan South High School and anywhere throughout the South.
Tennessee fought for the South in the Civil War, and this is still Southern land. They have no right to take down any rebel flag below the Mason-Dixon Line. This flag has flown over the South for over 100 years and will fly for the next 100. I have a rebel flag flying at my house.
Johnny D. Bowen
Nickelsville, Va.

Ban rebel flag? Then ban U.S. flag too

It is incredible that at a time when we have elected an African-American to the presidency, we are still mired in this issue over symbolism and racism at Sullivan South. If someone actually complained about the rebel flag, perhaps it was white supremacy and not so much the flag itself. Are we still the same people who came from England and uprooted a whole society just to serve our own selfish need? If we are, ban the flag. If not, then counsel the students or whoever caused the complaint and be done with it. Address the real issue. We have already taken the Pledge of Allegiance, God, and everything else from schools. Take all the symbolism too. Why not? I believe that all of us would agree (unless we are KKK or neo-Nazi) that slavery was wrong. When the first settlers came to America, America already had residents. The First Nations, the Native Americans, were basically taken over by these intruders.
I am a proud American; much of my family has served or is actively serving in the armed forces. If we are going to ban flying that flag, we might as well ban our own American flag. The Confederate flag was a symbol of white supremacy. The American flag is a symbol of superiority. I refuse to put such a weight on something that is but a symbol of people’s ideals. South should not ban its athletic symbol if it does not ban the American flag too.
Tracy Boggs
Pound, Va.

2010-05-31T08:00:00.001-07:00

THIS EDITORIAL FROM THE KINGSPORT TIMES-NEWS

Without slavery, there never would have been a rebel flag

John Gripentrog is an assistant professor of history at Mars Hill College.

The recent uproar at Sullivan South over the Confederate flag, the most popular symbol of the Civil War, reminds us of the importance of understanding our own past. The “flag issue” invariably raises blood pressures, rouses righteous rhetoric, and all too often misses the deeper historical significance. It’s time we get it right. Only by facing the past with integrity and courage will we as a nation progress toward a more perfect union. To this end, what’s needed is an honest appraisal of the core issue — one that gets beyond hackneyed justifications and goes to the heart of the matter.
The Confederate flag emerged out of civil war, so the crucial question remains: What was the principal cause of violence between the states? Was the war fought over states’ rights? Yes, but states’ rights for what? Over Fifth Amendment property rights? Sure, but property rights regarding what? Over regional economics? Of course, but what was the foundation of the South’s economy? No matter how one cuts it, the unequivocal answer to each question is slavery (or, more precisely, its expansion into the western territories). There is no war between North and South, and, thus, no rebel flag, without slavery — period.
A preferred explanation among pro-flag backers is that the flag is about “heritage” and not hate. But civil war did not come between North and South because of Northern disdain for Southern heritage. President Lincoln never denounced Southern architecture, folk music, religiosity, or diet. A better insight into the flag’s heritage can be found in the Confederate constitution, which guaranteed the right to own slaves no less than nine times. Or on various Confederate currencies, which often depicted laboring slaves. Moreover, the notion of “heritage” begs the question: whose heritage? Most of the Deep South states had a slave population that outnumbered white residents.
Not only must we recognize that the war was fundamentally premised on slavery, it is also important to reflect soberly on the nature of slavery. It is all too easy to let the word “slavery” pass between one’s lips without appreciating the consequences of that profound imbalance of power — the violence, the prevalence of sexual abuse and rape, and the routine selling of human beings as one would sell a mule. Imagine if you will a knock at your door this evening by someone who has come to take away forever your spouse, a child, siblings, or parents. That was the reality of the Civil War’s fundamental cause.
Still, it is also important to distinguish between why Southern men eagerly signed up to fight for the Confederacy, as opposed to the war’s fundamental cause of slavery. Despite a single great cause, myriad reasons drove men to the battlefield (75 percent of Southerners did not own slaves). All we know for certain is that hundreds of thousands of men fought and died. As such, it is entirely appropriate to memorialize the Confederate dead by flying the battle flag at Civil War cemeteries. Beyond that, however, publicly displaying the flag remains historically naïve and deeply offensive.
In light of this contentious issue, it may be instructive for Americans to return to Lincoln’s words in his 1863 Gettysburg Address. By beginning his memorial speech, “Four score and seven years ago,” Lincoln returned not to the U.S. Constitution (whose compromises allowed for slavery’s continuation), but rather to the Declaration of Independence, which boldly declared that all men are created equal. The president concluded by solemnly urging the nation to dedicate itself to “a new birth of freedom.” The point was unmistakable: a civil war brought on by slavery necessitated a new birth of freedom.
The Confederate flag — a singular creation of the Civil War — remains first and foremost a symbol of the ambitions to preserve slavery and prevent a new birth of freedom in America. For Americans who have ignored this undeniable historical truth, may they be guided in the future by the better angels of their nature.

2010-05-31T07:58:00.000-07:00

Removing flag would offend many

Margaret Murray wrote that the rebel flag represents bigotry, racism and hate and that it needs to be eradicated. I would assume she says this because it offends people. What about the people that are offended by removing this flag? No one seems to care what we like or don’t like. The flag represents history, not hate or racism. She moved to New Jersey for a reason, so let the ones still in town worry about what flag is flying above our schools.

Aaron Pierson Church Hill

Confederate flag was an inspiration

The Confederate flag seems to have always stirred controversy, especially among those who do not understand what it has always meant to the South. My great-great-grandfather, a Confederate soldier, did not own slaves. He and his family worked their land, and he fought to keep his land and Southern heritage intact. The Confederate flag was an inspiration to those soldiers to keep fighting, usually against all odds, much as the America flag does for our soldiers in Iraq today. It was not created as a symbol of bigotry or hatred, and I’m sure it is not meant as that at South High School. Jack Barnes, how does the opinion of one person outweigh that of the many? Doesn’t the majority rule, even in the South?

Diann Callahan Kingsport

2010-05-30T06:27:00.000-07:00

Why I choose to fly three flags

I am tired of the slurs against flying the rebel flag. Flying the rebel flag isn’t necessarily a sign of bigotry or racism. If one is looking for bigotry and racism, that is exactly what they will find. I have an American flag, a Texas flag, and a rebel flag waving above my yard to commemorate and show respect for our servicemen and women, alive and deceased. The American flag is for all the men and women who have given their lives for American freedom and for all those still serving or have retired. I fly the Texas flag to commemorate and remember all the brave who gave their life so selflessly at the Alamo for our freedom. I fly the rebel flag to commemorate and remember all of the Americans who fought so gallantly on the Confederate side during the Civil War.
This includes the approximately 30,000 to 100,000 black men — the exact number will never be known due to so many records having been destroyed. I have spent 30 years active duty in the U.S. Army and 15 years civil service with the U.S. Navy. This service was beside and for some of America’s most worthy African-American men and women.
Jimmy R. Hensley
Church Hill

Ban rap music before banning flag

Ban the rebel flag from public display only after banning rap music from the airwaves.
Shane Miller
Gate City

People are too quick to take offense

I hope Sullivan South will not allow a few complaints about personal sensitivities to lead them to require students to give up their traditional athletic symbol. I don’t think it is possible to please all of the people all of the time, and efforts by the school to do just that would displease far more than the few who are quick to complain. Personal sensitivities and prejudices are sometimes given far too much importance by individuals and sometimes by groups and even societies. Some of us have individual dislikes that if taken seriously by society or government would impact the freedom and liberty of others. There are always some that dislike things or choices that others have the right to own or choose.
There have been complaints about owners of wooded property cutting down their own trees, the colors that some homeowners choose to paint their exteriors, satellite antennas and even pink flamingos on private property and countless others. I have my own personal sensitivities, but I do not expect others to be forced to accommodate them if they do not limit my personal freedom. The Confederate battle flag may remind some of slavery, but to school athletes it represents their team on the field of competitive sports and does not limit the freedom of those who are uncomfortable when they see it. We should try to not take offense when no offense is intended.
H. Herren Floyd
Kingsport

South alum is embarrassed by flag

Clayton, I couldn’t get past your first sentence. The actual Stars and Bars is the first national flag, which is an entirely different design. Maybe next time, Bigsby. James, stay on point, this article is about the display of the Confederate flag, not a god. You still have plenty of Christian schools and a church for each day of the year in this area. Joe, I attended Sullivan South High School. I was and I am still embarrassed by “our” flag. You can’t go out on a Thursday night without feeling like you’re in a scene from “A Time To Kill.” Jim, I agree. We almost rid the nation of the Native American race, I’m sure we can get rid of a mascot. Racist groups such as the Neo-Nazis and the Ku Klux Klan use the Southern Cross as their symbol. That’s enough to keep me Dixie-free. I’m not telling you to get rid of your preciouses. You’ve got your right to free speech. There will probably be heaps more of these flags waving because of this debate. I’m just not a fan.
Craig Douglas Moody II
Kingsport

We shouldn’t try to please everyone

My oldest and middle child attended South High School; my youngest will be there in two years. I am very disappointed that the school system is considering losing the rebel flag from South. It is part of our history — all of us, no matter the color of our skin. How can anyone say that what our country has been through in the past is not important? If the rebel flag goes, does the Indian go from Dobyns-Bennett High School? It is in the same category. Do we ban this also?
How about the Cougars of Central High? Should we never have an animal as a mascot because it may offend someone? We cannot please everyone, and we should not try to. It would be a world of total chaos. There are other schools these people can attend, and they need to as far as I am concerned.
Angela Brown
Kingsport

2010-05-28T21:11:00.000-07:00

Use of flag is students’ decision

To Richard H. Blair’s letter May 26, a huge amen. I agree with him that Sullivan South’s use of the rebel flag is not the issue. If the students want to use it, they have every right to do so. This nation has much bigger fish to fry.
Rosemary T. Johnston
Fall Branch

Why bow to one person’s opinion?

Regarding rebel flag days at South may be numbered, I am a graduate of South as well as several other family members. In my years at South, the rebel flag was and still is regarded as a symbol of school spirit and Southern heritage. Are we going to allow one person’s view to wipe away a symbol of our school pride? Look back at what the prayer at the Gate City football game did. One person took offense at kids praying and called the ACLU on that. We do live in the South, where most of the Civil War was fought. This flay is just a symbol of our heritage and histor y.
Would this person take offense at a Civil War re-enactment, or the singing of the national anthem? Maybe we should ban that too. I am one-fourth Cherokee Indian, so if I find the Indian mascot at D-B offensive, can I suggest we have it banned also?
Shannon Barrett
Church Hill

Rebel flag is a positive symbol

The rebel flag belongs at South. It is a part of South High School. Thank God there is still a school with students who embrace the rebel flag as a positive symbol of courage, tenacity and spirit. If you don’t like their flag, then stay home. If students can’t stand for something, they will fall for anything. We live in America. Our freedom was bought by the blood of our soldiers. Stand up, South.
Georgia Russell
Kingsport

2010-05-27T07:57:00.000-07:00

African-Americans should speak out

There is no place for the rebel flag on any public school property in Kingsport. The African-American community should be outraged over this issue. This flag represents an example of bigotry, racism and hate that needs to be eradicated once and for all. There are the good old boys and rednecks that will never let go of their past, and like it or not they are in all levels of our government. Kingsport has a very small population of African-Americans, but they need to stand together on this issue and let their voices be heard.
Kingsport is my hometown, but I would never come back there to live. I visit often because my family is there. When I am there, I feel and see the racism. It cannot be denied. It is not alright to fly that flag on a public, taxpayer-supported building.
Margaret Murray
Winslow Township, N.J.

Forget the panel, keep the flag

Re. Rosemary Gray’s letter, no discussion panel is needed for the South High flag issue. Keep the flag — end of discussion. Ole Miss University gave in to all the politically correct garbage, and it should not happen here. Enough is enough. As for G.E. Rogers’ letter, Southern folks do not need him to tell us we lost the war and that we are obese. If fat Southerners waving the Stars and Bars offends him, maybe his profession could take him back to one of those other states.
We in the South surely do not wish to offend anyone, although sometimes the way we are criticized may urge us to keep fighting the war we lost.
Steve Falin
Kingsport

Let South students decide about flag

We know that society changes, yet in the South (secession being the primary cause of the Civil War, not slavery) there will always be noise in the background when it comes to the rebel flag or Confederate battle flag. History is unclear that it ever officially represented the CSA as a nation. It is often incorrectly referred to as the Stars and Bars.
The individual who finds display of the flag as part of a school-sponsored activity at Sullivan South High School offensive is within his or her rights. But the flag that matters in public schools is the U.S. flag that won the Civil War, to which Tennessee teaches the students to pledge allegiance. The noise is unfounded because there is no CSA anymore. The students’ display of the flag is a rallying cry because the football coach says they are going into battle. SSHS, since 1981, has never officially adopted the rebel flag’s use. But school officials have condoned it. Some would say looking the other way is the same thing.
I think the appointed committee should look at this as a teachable moment and let the juniors and seniors decide every two years if they want to change the mascot and flag. That way all students get to vote before they graduate. Replacing the rebel flag with the school flag or the Bonnie Blue flag, which would somewhat match the school colors, would be appeasement. I say keep the rebel flag. In fact, put one on each student’s desk to instill a pride for learning and watch those home team test scores light up the scoreboard.
Earl Johnson
Eidson, Tenn.

Rebel Flag Flap at Sullivan South: An Editorial

2010-05-26T07:25:00.001-07:00

FOR THE DOUGLASS ALUMNI ASSOCIATION - KINGSPORT
DOUG RELEFORD, PRESIDENT

You've come a long way, baby.

We're not talking about cigarettes.

Relations between Black America and White America has come a long way. We've all been through a lot.

It has only been a year since our wonderful city was shocked by racial graffiti scrawled on the I-26 Meadowview overpass, some of it directed at President Obama. At this writing, the young man accused in the case is requesting judicial diversion. The incident was embarrassing to both blacks and whites in Kingsport, and was promptly and properly denounced by both.

And now, once again, racial intolerance rears its ugly head just outside our doors. This time, in the form of the rebel flag, waved by our neighbors who may not really understand what it means.

At a public institution of learning, of all places.

There probably is not an African-American in this country that can look at the rebel flag, and not have disdain for what it represents in our history. We will not debate the emotional controversy evoked by the rebel flag. It was carried by Confederates during the Civil War, and later waved by hate groups like the Ku Klux Klan.

Period. 'Nuff said.

Unfortunately, now, the rebel flag is being waved by a whole new generation. A generation that may not understand why it is offensive to many people. And not just a few hundred people. More like... several MILLION.

This new generation says, the rebel flag is all about heritage, not hate. They say, their forefathers fought and died for the rebel flag. They will tell you that, to respect their ancestors, means respect for the rebel flag.

Should ancestral respect be more important, than respect for millions of people who find the rebel flag offensive? Perhaps in their own homes on their own property.. but not on public school grounds paid for by public tax dollars, or school-sponsored public events.

It was just recently that a young 18-year-old aspiring Marine candidate was rejected by the U.S. Marine Corps, because he has the tatoo of a rebel flag on his shoulder.
Click here to read the article from World Net Daily.

The issue of the rebel flag on public school property has also come up before. The
6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati dismissed a lawsuit filed over the ban of the rebel flag at Maryville (Tennessee) High School in 2008.
Click here to read the Wikipedia article where the ban was upheld at Maryville High School.

A case from William Blount High School in Blount County was also upheld to ban the rebel flag from public school property. The case from William Blount eventually went to the U.S. Supreme Court, which upheld the 6th Circuit Court's decision to ban the flag.
Click here to read the article on the Blount High School case.

These are legal precedents that cannot be ignored in Sullivan South's case.

Whether Sullivan South has ever named the rebel flag as its "official flag" does not matter. The Sullivan County School Board and its superintendent have jurisdiction over whether the flag can be brought onto school property and to school-sponsored events.

It is unfortunate that Sullivan South High School, an institution of excellent learning, where children take steps into adulthood, is dragged into the views of a few, which adversely affect everyone's learning opportunity. This is obviously not good publicity for the school. We would rather hear how well the students did on their statewide test scores, and more on their wonderful achievements in band and theatrical prowess. Instead, we are hearing a age-old battle that adults are waging for them.. a battle that has no winners. The Sullivan South students are innocent victims, manipulated into a stayed viewpoint, without the chance to research both sides and decide for themselves.

We are sad for them.

We do not object to the waving of the rebel flag. What a person does on private property is their own business. We object to the rebel flag being waved on public property, be it a public school, public park, or other city, county, state or federal property for which public tax dollars pay for.

We know that, in the end, the Sullivan County School Superintendent will do the right thing. We know that the Superintendent will make the decision that countless other school boards, superintendents and jurisdictions in Tennessee, and federal courts in this wonderful nation, have made before them.

A decision that bans the presence of the rebel flag on all public school grounds, and at any public school-sponsored events.

It is the right decision. It is the only decision.

2010-05-26T07:21:00.000-07:00

Flag panel should be a diverse group

My former high school, Douglass High School in Kingsport, was a few miles from Sullivan South. Unlike a former resident from Gate City featured in a story in the local news, I have a very broad view of diversity, but do respect his First Amendment, free speech, rights and his views on the mascot of Sullivan South. I found some additional information online about the date Sullivan South was established (1981) and reviewed again the definition of the mascot and the history of this word, long associated with the past, yet having very similar connotations to the complexities that we see exhibited and at the root of many mental and physical challenges of community members who take sides on many community issues, not really for the sake of resolving an issue, but merely just jumping into the fray. I also am aware that school faculty and administrators are meeting to begin discussions about the mascot, as there are complaints, including from area schools.
I encourage this group to include current and former students as well as local community leaders in this discussion — a diverse group — and to develop a resolution that allows the local and regional community to see Sullivan South High School as the academic leader that it apparently is and not as the definition of the word “rebel.” A rebel is one who rebels or is in rebellion: “He is the perfect recruit for fascist movements: a rebel not a revolutionary, contemptuous yet envious of the rich and involved with them” (Stanley Hoffman). A rebel also can mean a Confederate soldier.

Rosemary Gray
Lake Charles, La.

Fight fat instead of a lost war

My profession has allowed me to live, work, and travel in all but a handful states. I have lived in the South for a number of years. I have also resided in the Northwest, Midwest, Southwest, and Mountain States. The one thing that is more evident every day I live in the South is the overweight grade school children, overweight middle school children, overweight high school children, overweight young adults and overweight older adults. From the looks of people, the South is a stroke or heart attack waiting to happen.
And it is just not me. When I have friends who come to visit from other parts of the U.S., they see and comment on the same thing I see. It is about time Southern folks gave up fighting the Civil War (you lost) and started fighting the war on fat. You can win this one if you try.
G.E. Rogers
Kingsport

Rebel flag isn’t the real issue

Who really believes there are those who are deeply hurt or have to seek psychiatric treatment when South High students run across the football field waving a rebel flag? The rebel flag isn’t the issue. It’s a matter of a few wanting to exert control over the freedoms long enjoyed by all Americans — their right to choose. If we are to put the rebel flag under the microscope, let’s do the same for others. Does calling D-B “the Indians” really glorify those of Indian descent? My grandchildren are part Cherokee. If one of them complains, is D-B ready to get a new nickname? And those Hilltoppers? Some might live in the desert with no hills to be seen. Aren’t we rubbing their sensitive nose in it by talking about “Hilltoppers” — whatever they are? Let’s call the schools the A’s, the B’s, the C’s, the D’s — that should end any controversy. I know, I’m getting ridiculous — but no more so than with the rebel flag being an issue. Once it’s gone, that’s not the end. There will always be a few more things for those in power to gain control of to remind you that they are in charge and that you are subservient to their wishes.
Americans are beginning to say enough. Whatever your office, you weren’t crowned king, and we can vote you out. And that’s the message we need to send about the rebel flag. Mind your own business, or we will vote you out. Our individual freedoms are important to us. Good Americans have fought and died to protect them. We don’t intend to let others trample on those rights. Keep it up and we will show you who has the power. It’s time to say enough, starting with the rebel flag issue.
Richard H. Blair
Kingsport

Others shouldn’t decide for South

We as graduates of Sullivan South High School have used the rebel flag as our school pride for years. There is always going to be someone not happy in any situation. Why let them get the best of the situation? In that case every school should not use their mascots for school pride. We are proud to be Rebels and show it by our school spirt, the flag being part of that. I graduated in 2002 and still show South’s pride. Everyone who enrolls in Sullivan County schools knows Sullivan South High School as the Rebels, and it has been since 1980. Why change it because people are offended by our flag? I am offended by them having more rights in this country than the people that started it. In that case there should be no flags, mascots or any symbols of school in the entire world.
So what if people were offended. Move on. The world needs God in school, and if people don’t start showing that He is our creator, we are in a world of trouble. I think having a mascot in school shows interest in school activities and helps keep kids out of trouble. They should not be able to choose for Sullivan South by being offended. Take a vote and let’s see what the public decides.
Regina Robinson
Kingsport

Once Again, the Rebel Flag Comes Up

2010-05-25T15:35:00.000-07:00

I can't believe that we are back here with this issue of the Rebel Flag. I am outraged that there is even a discussion on this issue. That flag represents such hatred and bigotry. The clan flies it proudly and you see it on the good old boy red necks trucks. It does not belong on public school property. Where are the good people of Kingsport, why aren't you protesting this outrageous decision.

Kingsport is a beautiful city, my place of birth, but this is why I can never live in this town again. I find it to be the most racist place I know and I am well traveled, lived and visited many states. I have never been called the N word any where else but Kingsport, Tennessee. I will continue to visit because my family is there but as for me, I will never live there. Say NO WAY to the Rebel Flag.

Margaret Leeper Murray

2010-05-25T08:38:00.000-07:00

There’s nothing sinister about use of flag

For the past 30 years, Sullivan South students and alumni have proudly displayed the Confederate battle flag during sports contests involving their school. They are and always have been the Sullivan South Rebels, so carrying the Southern Cross to support their team has always been the natural and logical thing to do. They do it to support their team, not because they are racists, not because they support the institution of slavery, not because they despise people of color, but just because they support their team. They have no hidden agendas, no sinister plots, no secret pacts with any outside hate organization. The only thing they hate is to lose on the field of athletics. It is not their fault the Confederate battle flag has been hijacked in years past by those who have twisted and corrupted its true meaning. Hate organizations such as the Ku Klux Klan, Neo-Nazis, and others have stolen the flag owned by the common Confederate soldier, the vast majority of which never owned any slaves and only fought in the Civil War because their homeland was being invaded and trampled under the boot heels of Yankee aggressors.
If the battle flag offends you, you need a history lesson. Just because there has been one single complaint about Sullivan South’s use of the common Confederate soldiers’ flag at sporting events, Jack Barnes proposes to hold trial on its right to even exist. With such politically correct knee-jerk reactions, it’s no wonder Barnes finds himself a lame duck. Support South before it’s too late.
Robert R. Wilhelm
Kingsport

Rebel flag belongs at South

It amazes me that one person or group can be disturbed about something and people fall apart. Just like taking prayer out of schools. The rebel flag should be at South along with the U.S. flag. It is a symbol of our heritage. Lots of people lost lives fighting for their rights. If someone doesn’t like it, they can go home or look the other way. They probably have something in their lives everyone else might not appreciate. I’m 67, born and raised in Ohio. My mother is from Rogersville, and I’ve been here 44 years. I love the rebel flag and what it stands for. I also love the American flag and Christian flag. I agree with your editorial about the fans who embrace the rebel flag as a positive symbol. This is my feeling about the rebel flag as well.
Sandra Martin
Rogersville

‘Pride’ is used to mask prejudice

The rebel flag does not represent pride. It tells me that there are still a lot of things going on that some folks don’t want to admit, but it still exists, and we use words like “pride” to cover for it. Let’s call it what it is: prejudice. I would not like to see a black child exposed to the rebel flag because to them it represents a time when they were in bondage without a voice. Why can’t we live our lives in a way that the Almighty intended and forget who is at the top? For one day, we will all be as one — in one place or the other.
Cecilia Henderson
Kingsport

2010-05-25T07:56:00.000-07:00

Diversity excludes Southern heritage

The controversy about the Sullivan South mascot and the Confederate flag is political correctness gone amok. Today, one or two (or a very significant minority) can become offended at anything they dislike and get their will imposed on us. I am sick and tired of manufactured extortion in a time when our public officials seem to have no common sense or backbone. The perceived issue about Sullivan South should be relegated to the trash, and let’s get on with something important in our school system like improving education. Prior writers have addressed in an excellent manner the true nature of the Civil War and the ending of slavery. A few parallels: Germany, Italy, and Japan were responsible for many millions of dead in the world wars, but their flags fly today all over the world. Insensitive, and should these be banned? There’s Sherman’s march across the South burning homes and crops. How many more can you add?
If these parallels in history are not exactly the same, they are extremely similar to the current issue. Are they also possibly “an unacceptable example of bigotry that needs to be eradicated?” to quote from your editorial? Hopefully, sane minds within the Sullivan County school system will prevail. However, with no students or parents on Mr. Barnes’ committee, one wonders. If not, then beware D-B Indians and others, as you are next on the racially insensitive symbol list. Too bad our Southern heritage does not count in the culturally diverse society and is not worthy of a place alongside others. I am offended.
L.B. Lawson
Kingsport

Offensive mascot undercuts equality

Americans take public school systems very seriously. Undoubtedly, one reason is that in this country, education has generally been seen as the road to social and economic advancement. It is almost an article of faith that American children should get more education than their parents and achieve higher social and economic status. Throughout the U.S. there is unequal access to high-quality schooling, and administrations are under pressure to raise standards and increase performance, especially in underachieving schools. Institutional discrimination may be an unconscious result of the structure and functioning of the public institutions and policies themselves.
Discrimination is overt behavior. Although it may be sometimes difficult to observe, it does exist. If a school mascot is found to be offensive, that school is defeating the purpose of what our forefathers fought for: equality for all.
Thelma Watterson
Kingsport

Rebel flag should be left alone

In reference to the rebel flag at South High School, I am greatly concerned that one individual found the flag offensive after all these years. I was in the graduating class of 1986, and it was always an exciting time when football season rolled around. It was a chance for the proud parents and students to show their pride, by coming out to support their team. All schools have mascots, figures of people or things that represent a part of our history, culture, and backgrounds. Rebels, Pirates, Raiders, Indians, Blue Devils, just to name a few. Pirates raped and robbed people of their most precious assets, Indians scalped people, and what is a Blue Devil, or better yet, a Yankee? Whether it is a symbol or a name, they all represent something that people associate with strength and anticipation of fear. They want the schools’ team names to stand out with remembrance of past occurrences, so the opposition will feel intimidated just a little. It is a competition thing, and all schools participate in one way or another.
The rebel flag is a positive symbol of courage, tenacity, and spirit and should be left alone, as it a harmless representation of Southern pride. Remember where you are standing when you say it is offensive and try to take away something that has been here long before you moved to this area. Otherwise it would have offended you long before now. Some say the flag is a racially insensitive symbol with no place in a modern and culturally diverse society. If it is such a culturally diverse society, shouldn’t we all try to understand and respect others’ beliefs and traditions?
Lori Holt
Kingsport

2010-05-23T08:35:00.000-07:00

Don’t politicize our history

I think it is sad that two minority groups may end a school spirit tradition. The first is the white-supremacy racist bigots who commandeered the flag for their racist purposes in the 1960s. The other is an overly sensitive propagandized group who don’t know their history. The South was not and is not a monolithic racist region; the North was not and is not an enlightened non-racist society. During the 1860s, the vast majority of Americans did not see African-descended folks as equals, including Lincoln. Black troops in the Union Army were treated as inferiors. Northerners owned slaves including U.S. Grant, who didn’t free his until Reconstruction. The first abolitionist newspaper was in the South, here at Jonesboro. The war was primarily to preserve the Union, not to free slaves. The Confederate flag in context connotes the states that seceded from the Union as they understood the Constitution allowed. Don’t politicize our history.
C. Phillip Kestner
Kingsport

Flag’s foes should just grow up

Re. the rebel flag at South, here we go again with the political correctness thing. I can’t for the life of me figure out why every time one person cries about an issue that the whole system has to change. Last time it was prayer at a ball game, now it’s flying a flag. Does anyone other than me notice a harmless trend? Grow up, people. Learn that others have beliefs and pride in them too. The flag that is flown at South isn’t there for hate, it’s there for support of their school. The world would be a better place if everyone would leave the simple issues like this alone and deal with the big problems. I see it as a bunch of harmless kids having fun and building memories during their school years. That is all it is. If we are going to take away this school’s pride, then why not just do away with their whole sports program because you can’t have one without the other. What about the D-B Indians? If my ancestors were cowboys I might find that name offensive. So should they rename every offensive team worldwide?
Jeff Roberts
Rogersville

2010-05-21T07:59:00.000-07:00

FROM THE KINGSPORT TIMES-NEWS (5/21/10)

Flag is a symbol of heritage and pride

Re. the complaint about Sullivan South’s mascot, the Confederate Battle Flag is not a hate flag; it’s a Southern flag. It is a symbol of Southern pride and heritage. The complainer in this incident would do well to read a history book. Some claim the flag as a symbol of racism or slavery, but they do not consider the 96,000 Southern black men who volunteered for service in the Confederate Army, or the 23,000 Jewish Confederates, or the thousands of Catholics, Irish, Native Americans, and Hispanics who served in the Southern army. After the war, approximately 200 former black Confederate soldiers drew pensions here in Tennessee. Many more applied, but as records were lost, altered, or destroyed, oftentimes by the Union military itself, they could not prove their service.
Kingsport has a particularly interesting history during the war, as it was strongly pro-Southern in the midst of the more pro-Union sentiment of Upper East Tennessee, so much so that the Kingsport area was referred to as the “Little Confederacy.” Sullivan South and its students and alumni have been well satisfied and proud of their flag, mascot, and school for many years, and they should be. These individuals and organizations who demand removal of symbols of Southern pride and heritage commit wanton and hateful acts against dead people who are unable to defend themselves and against us, their descendents. Our citizens and officials who bow to political correctness are ignorant at best and cowards at worst.
Joe Adkins
Jonesborough

Someone is offended. So what!

Sullivan South High School has the right to use the rebel flag as their symbol. It is a way to show their Southern pride and school pride. Jack Barnes says, “We’ve had a complaint.” So what! Do you think that everyone who is offended by something should immediately get their way? I am offended by the fact that prayer was taken out of our schools, millions of babies are murdered every year by an abortion, liberals trying to take God out of government, not having assembly services in schools where a preacher can tell the boys and girls about Christ. They took God out of schools and replaced Him with the resource officers, they teach children sex education and hand out condoms. The schools in this country are out of control, and that is the price you pay for taking God out of schools. Put God back in the schools, and you will see a big change for the better.
James Hartley
Church Hill

No Native Americans as mascots

Re. removing the Confederate flag as Sullivan South’s flag. If the flag is removed or not allowed to be displayed on the school property, I think it only fair that Dobyns-Bennett be forced to immediately cease using the image of a Native American as their mascot. It is not fair to pick and choose who is the most offended. For years some have been offended by the use of Native Americans as mascots. Considering the plight of African-Americans and Native Americans, it’s safe to say that Native Americans have consistently received the short end of the stick.
Jim Hicks
Kingsport

Slaves were kept in North after war

In response to questions about the Confederate Battle Flag, the Stars and Bars, which is a symbol of Southern pride, not one of hate, never once flew over a slave ship, while the same cannot be said for the Union flag. Slavery was not only an institution in the South, because there were over a quarter of a million slaves held in the North’s 19 states where slavery was still legal until Dec. 6, 1865, well after the war had ended, although Lincoln’s proclamation made Jan. 1, 1863 freed the slaves in the South, it left those in the North still in bondage.
If the North was so interested with ending slavery, why did they not free their slaves at the beginning of the war, in lieu of not doing so until well after it was over? Ninety-nine percent of the soldiers that fought under the Stars and Bars never owned any slaves, but fought for states’ rights, against Northern aggression, and the North never raised the issue of slavery until the war was well under way, and they used it to establish some justification for their aggression. It is sad when a few people believe they have the power to change history, and we just give in to them, in lieu of telling them to just grow up and get over it.
Clayton Upchurch
Kingsport

Times-News Wants Readers' Input on Rebel Flags at South High

2010-05-20T08:13:00.000-07:00

THE TIMES-NEWS NEEDS OUR OPINIONS ON THE USE OF THE REBEL FLAG AT SULLIVAN SOUTH HIGH SCHOOL. SULLIVAN SOUTH IS LOCATED ABOUT 2 MILES FROM RIVERVIEW. SCIENCE HILL HIGH SCHOOL HAS ALREADY ASKED THEM NOT TO BRING THE FLAG TO GAMES PLAYED IN JOHNSON CITY. WE NEED TO RESPOND ACCORDINGLY TO THE USE OF THE FLAG AT SULLIVAN SOUTH. PLEASE SEND YOUR OPINIONS TO THE NEWSPAPER AT THE ADDRESS BELOW:

FROM THE EDITORIAL PAGE OF THE KINGSPORT TIMES-NEWS, MAY 20, 2010

In schools here and elsewhere, mascots are beloved symbols that are used to identify and rally support for various sports teams.
But what if the choice of a sports mascot is more divisive than unifying? Should it be changed?
That, in essence, is the question outgoing Sullivan County Director of Schools Jack Barnes says a special committee at Sullivan South High School will be examining over the summer.
Sullivan South’s nickname of longstanding is the Rebels, and its mascot is known as Col. Reb, a caricature of a gray-uniformed colonel with a mustache and goatee in the Confederate Army. Although the school has never officially adopted the rebel flag’s use, fans commonly wave them at home football games and display them on vehicles outside the school on game days. Barnes says the school system has received a complaint from at least one individual who finds display of the flag as part of a school-sponsored activity offensive.
That’s why, Barnes says, that a committee consisting of South faculty, South administrators, a Board of Education member as well as a Central Office representative has been tasked to address the issue.
“Our whole point is to try to have an environment people don’t consider hostile or harassing,” Barnes explains, adding that applies to South students, the community, and students and community members who visit the school for football and other events.
One possible option, Barnes says, would be to substitute the school’s official flag for the rebel flag at football games.
No matter what the Sullivan South committee eventually decides, it’s a sure bet the choice will be an emotional and controversial one.
On one side are students and other longtime fans who embrace the rebel flag as a positive symbol of courage, tenacity and spirit. On the other side are those who regard the rebel flag as a painful reminder of slavery, or at least as a racially insensitive symbol that has no place in a modern and culturally diverse society.
In the interests of beginning a public discussion, we’d like to know what readers have to say about this controversial subject.
Is display of the rebel flag at South High School a harmless, even positive example of school spirit or an unacceptable example of bigotry that needs to be eradicated?
We believe this issue, like all public issues, is best served by a rigorous, respectful dialogue where everyone’s views and concerns are given a chance to compete in the marketplace of ideas.
We’re eager to hear from you.
Send us your letter (less than 300 words) to the editor to 701 Lynn Garden Dr., Kingsport, TN. 37660 or contact Managing Editor Ted Como at tcomo@timesnews.net. Please be sure to include your address and phone number. We call to verify all letters to the editor.

AFRICAN AMERICAN STUDENTS ARE NOT APPLYING FOR SCHOLARSHIPS

2010-05-02T19:10:00.000-07:00

Even if you do not have a college-aged child at home, please share this with someone who does, and to anyone and everyone that comes to mind.

Though there are a number of companies and organizations that have donated money for scholarships to African Americans, a great deal of the money is being returned because of a lack of interest or awareness.

No one is going to knock on our doors and ask if we can use a scholarship. Take the initiative to get your children involved. Money shouldn't be returned to donating companies because we fail to apply for it.

Please pass this information on to family members, nieces, nephews, friends with children etc. We must get the word out that money is available.

If you are a college student or getting ready to become one, you probably already know how useful additional money can be. (If clicking on the link doesn't work, then copy and paste the http in your browser). DO IT NOW!

2) Student Inventors Scholarships http://www.invent.org/collegiate/

5) Ayn Rand Essay Scholarships http://www.aynrand.org/contests/

6) Brand Essay Competition http://www.instituteforbrandleadership.org/IBLEssayContest-2002Rules.htm

10) Saul T. Wilson Scholarships (Veterinary) http://www.aphis.usda.gov/mb/mrphr%20/jobs/stw.HTML

12) FinAid: The Smart Students Guide to Financial Aid scholarships) http://www.finaid.org/

13) Presidential Freedom Scholarships http://www.nationalservice.org/scholarships

14) Microsoft Scholarship Program http://www.microsoft.com/college/scholarships/minority.asp

15) Hope Scholarships &Lifetime Credits http://www.ed.gov/inits/hope

16) William Randolph Hearst Endowed Scholarship for Minority Students http://www.apsanet.org/PS/grants/aspen3.cfm

17) Guaranteed Scholarships http://www.guaranteed-scholarships.com/

23) Siemens Westinghouse Competition http://www.siemens-foundation.org/

25) CollegeNets Scholarship Database http://mach25.collegenet.com/cgi-bin/M25/index

27) Federal Scholarships &Aid Gateways 25 Scholarship Gateways from Black Excel http://www.blackexcel.org/25scholarships.htm

28) Scholarship &Financial Aid Help http://www.blackexcel.org/fin-sch.htm

29) FAFSA On The Web (Your Key Aid Form &Info) http://www.fafsa.ed.gov/

30) Aid &Resources For Re-Entry Students http://www.back2college.com/

33) INROADS internships http://www.inroads.org/

33) INROADS internships http://www.inroads.org/

35) ScienceNet Scholarship Listing http://www.sciencenet.emory.edu/undergrad/scholarships.html

She's Notre Dame's first black valedictorian

2010-04-25T12:59:00.002-07:00

(WBBM) -- History is being made at the University of Notre Dame this
spring

In the 161 years the University of Notre Dame has been awarding degrees, never had there been an African-American as valedictorian. Until this year.

She's Katie Washington of Gary , Indiana . She carries a 4.0 GPA majoring in biology and minoring in Catholic social teaching.

According to the Northwest Indiana Times, Washington plans to continue her studies at Johns Hopkins University and follow in her father's footsteps into medicine.

Washington says she's humbled by the honor of being named valedictorian.

More information from Notre Dame University:

Katie Washington, a biological sciences major from Gary , Ind. , has been named valedictorian of the 2010 University of Notre Dame graduating class and will present the valedictory address during Commencement exercises May 16 (Sunday) in Notre Dame stadium.

Washington, who earned a 4.0 grade point average, has a minor in Catholic Social Teaching. She has conducted research on lung cancer at the Cold Spring Harbor labs and performed genetic studies in the University's Eck Institute for Global Health on the mosquito that carries dengue and yellow fever. She is the co-author of a research
paper with David Severson, professor of biological sciences.

Washington directs the Voices of Faith Gospel Choir at Notre Dame, is a mentor/tutor for the Sister-to-Sister program at South Bend's Washington High School and serves as the student coordinator of the Center for Social Concerns' "Lives in the Balance: Youth Violence and Society Seminar."

Upon graduation, Washington plans to pursue a joint M.D./Ph.D program at Johns Hopkins University.

Rogers and Drain

2010-04-25T09:25:00.000-07:00

Mr. and Mrs. Stanley Rogers of Gate City, Va., joyfully announce the engagement of their daughter, Jasmine Stanetta Rogers to Harold Marcus Drain, son of Mr. and Mrs. Harold Drain of Midland, Ga.

The bride-elect is the granddaughter of Julia B. Wolfe of Gate City, the late Rufus Wolfe Jr., Ola B. Rogers of Gate City, and the late George “Dottie” Rogers. Jasmine, a graduate of the University of Virginia and the University of Tennessee College of Law, is employed as an attorney with the law firm of Childs & Halligan, P.A., Columbia, S.C.
The bridegroom-to-be is the grandson of the late Comer and Iona Drain, and the late James and Willie Pearl Schley. Marcus is a graduate of Auburn University and the Kennesaw State University Coles College of Business. He is employed as a staff engineer with Shaw Industries Inc., Dalton, Ga.
The couple will unite in holy matrimony in an open-church ceremony Aug. 7, 2010, at First Baptist Church, Kingsport.

Message from the NAACP President

2010-04-16T08:56:00.000-07:00

Dear Calvin,

Yesterday, America lost a hero.

Dr. Benjamin L. Hooks was among the greatest Americans of the 20th century. A crusading lawyer who fought against oppression and a courageous, committed organizer who used communication to move mountains -- Dr. Hooks lifted the Civil Rights movement, breaking down racial barriers.

But above all else, he was a believer -- a believer in righteousness, justice and truth.

I'll never forget being a young organizer, watching Dr. Hooks address the '93 March on Washington. He stood there in front of the Washington Monument in his blue blazer and starched white shirt. In my eyes, Dr. Hooks was Superman. For those of us who came of age in the '70s and '80s, he was the most visible advocate for civil and human rights, the man who dared to push corporate America to opens doors to people who looked like us.

My thoughts and prayers are with the Hooks family in this tragic time. Will you take a moment to share your stories or sympathies with them?

Click here to visit the NAACP website and share your stories or sympathies with the Hooks family.

As we grieve over the loss of this incredible individual, we must remember to be thankful for the legacy he leaves behind and continue to honor Dr. Hooks by fighting with 'truth, justice and righteousness on our side.'

Yesterday, we lost a hero, a patriot and above all a friend. But in Dr. Hooks' passing his legacy remains -- a legacy that will improve the lives of generations to come.

Sincerely,

Benjamin Todd Jealous
President and CEO
NAACP

Awesome Site

2010-03-27T18:46:00.000-07:00

TO THE EDITOR:

I had to let you know how much I enjoyed reading the interviews on your site. I am a 49-year-old, who grew up in Bristol, Va. and moved to Colorado in 1970. Currently, my husband, Rex and I own and operate the Scott County Virginia Star in Gate City. I found your site when I was trying to find something about Doretha Ross and I read her story.

I love that you have preserved your history but it breaks my heart to read the about injustice and suffering that you all have to live with.

It is my hope that maybe someday racism, sexism, and all the other "isms" will be wiped out of our vocabulary.

Good luck and I look forward to the unveiling of your state historic sign.

Thanks for keeping history alive,

Lisa Watson McCarty
Scott County Virginia Star
PO Box 218
Gate City, VA 24251
276.386.6300
Fax 276.386.2354

Answers to "Can You Identify These Folks?"

2010-03-27T08:41:00.001-07:00

CLICK ON THE PICTURE TO MAKE IT LARGER AND TO READ THE CAPTION

The picture is from 1954, and this is the staff of the Douglass High School Newsletter and the Annual Staff.

Thanks to everybody who offered guesses, and congratulations to those, including Helen Bunting who named just about everybody.

More to come!

Move Over Law

2010-03-25T07:43:00.000-07:00

FLOYD PERRY RECEIVED THIS FROM A FRIEND, AND FORWARDED IT ON TO US:

A Driving Law that some may not be aware of...

New Law: If a patrol car is pulled over to the side of the road with their
lights flashing, you have to move to the next lane (away from the stopped
vehicle) or slow down to 20 mph.. Every state except Hawaii and Maryland
and the D.C. has this law. In California, the "Move-over" law become
operative on January 1, 2010.

My son got a ticket on Pleasant Hill coming back from Wal-Mart. A Duluth
police car (turned out it was 2 police cars) was on the side of the road
giving a ticket to someone else. My son slowed down to pass but did not move
into the other lane. The second police car immediately pulled him over and
gave him a ticket.

My son and I had never heard of the law. It is a fairly new law that
states if any emergency vehicle is on the side of the road with its lights
flashing, if you are able, you are to move into the next lane. The cost of
the ticket was $754 (in Georgia , that is), with 3 points on your license and
a mandatory court appearance.

Click here to go to the "Move Over America" website.

Please let everyone you know who drives about this new law.

Every Urban Prep senior is college-bound

2010-03-23T08:29:00.000-07:00

100 percent of first senior class at all male, all African-American Englewood academy is accepted to universities

Urban Prep Academy senior Keith Greer, along with his classmates, celebrates the news they will receive a free prom in Chicago because 100 percent of the graduating class was accepted into 4-year colleges or universities. (Chicago Tribune photo by Heather Charles / March 5, 2010)

Four years ago, Bryant Alexander watched his mother weep.

She stared down at a muddle of D's and F's on his eighth-grade report card and threatened to kick him out. He had barely passed elementary school, and high school wasn't even on his radar.

"Something just clicked," Alexander, now 18, said. "I knew I had to do something."

On Friday, Alexander proudly swapped his high school's red uniform tie for a striped red and gold one — the ritual at Englewood's Urban Prep Academy for Young Men that signifies a student has been accepted into college.

As the Roseland resident and 12 others tied their knots, Chicago's only public all-male, all-African-American high school fulfilled its mission: 100 percent of its first senior class had been accepted to four-year colleges.

Mayor Richard Daley and city schools chief Ron Huberman surprised students at the all-school assembly Friday morning with congratulations, and school leaders announced that as a reward, prom would be free.

The achievement might not merit a visit from top brass if it happened at one of the city's elite, selective enrollment high schools. But Urban Prep, a charter school that enrolls all comers in one of Chicago's most beleaguered neighborhoods, faced much more difficult odds.

Only 4 percent of this year's senior class read at grade level as freshmen, said Tim King, the school's founder and CEO.

"There were those who told me that you can't defy the data," King said. "Black boys are killed. Black boys drop out of high school. Black boys go to jail. Black boys don't go to college. Black boys don't graduate from college.

"They were wrong," he said.

Every day, before attending advanced placement biology classes and lectures on changing the world, students must first pass through the neighborhood, then metal detectors.

"Poverty, gangs, drugs, crime, low graduation rates, teen pregnancy — you name it, Englewood has it," said Kenneth Hutchinson, the school's director of college counseling, who was born and raised in Englewood.

He met the students the summer before they began their freshman year during a field trip to Northwestern University, the first time many of them had ever stepped foot on a college campus. At the time, Hutchinson was Northwestern's assistant director of undergraduate admissions. Inspired by what he'd seen, he started working for Urban Prep two months later.

"I'm them," he said Friday as he fought back tears. "Being accepted to college is the first step to changing their lives and their communities."

Hutchinson plays a major role in the school, where college is omnipresent. Students are assigned college counselors from day one. To prepare students for the next level, the school offers a longer than typical day — about 170,000 minutes longer, over four years, than other city schools — and more than double the usual number of English credits, King said

Even the school's voice-mail system has a student declaring "I am college-bound" before asking callers to dial an extension.

The rigorous academic environment and strict uniform policy of black blazers, red ties and khakis isn't for everyone. The first senior class began with 150 students. Of those who left, many moved out of the area and some moved into neighborhoods that were too dangerous to cross to get to the school, King said. Fewer than 10 were expelled or dropped out, he said.

At last count, the 107 seniors gained acceptance to a total of 72 different colleges, including Northwestern University, Morehouse College, Howard University, Rutgers University and University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana. Alexander was accepted to DePaul University.

While college acceptance is an enormous hurdle to jump, school leaders said they know their job isn't done; they want to make sure the students actually attend.

To that aim, King said, staff made sure that every student has completed the dreaded Free Application for Federal Student Aid, lest the red tape deter them.

Later in the year, the school plans to hold a college signing day where every student is to sign a promise to go to college, he said. Staff will stay in touch through the summer and hopefully in the first years of school.

"We don't want to send them off and say, ‘Call us when you're ready to make a donation to your alma mater,' " King said. "If we fulfill our mission, that means they not only are accepted to college, but graduate from it."

For now, students are enjoying the glow of reaching their immediate goal.

Normally, it takes 18-year-old Jerry Hinds two buses and 45 minutes to get home from school. On the day the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana was to post his admission decision online at 5 p.m., he asked a friend to drive him to his home in the Auburn Gresham neighborhood.

He went into his bedroom, told his well-wishing mother this was something he had to do alone, closed the door and logged in.

"Yes! Yes! Yes!" he remembers screaming. His mother burst in and began crying.

That night he made more than 30 phone calls, at times shouting "I got in" on his cell phone and home phone at the same time.

"We're breaking barriers," he said. "And that feels great."

deldeib@tribune.com
Copyright © 2010, Chicago Tribune

Caring for Daddy

2010-03-21T08:58:00.000-07:00

Kingsport man has spent last 31 years in nursing home

THIS STORY COURTESY THE KINGSPORT TIMES-NEWS

By MARCI GORE
mgore@timesnews.net

Willard Robinson was only in his early 50s when a stroke robbed him of the ability to use his right side. Following the stroke, Willard’s three children, Susan Robinson, Kathy Robinson and Donald Robinson Sr., each tried, at some point in time, to keep him at their homes.

Thirty-one years ago, the children of Willard Robinson (center) made the difficult decision to have their father live in a Kingsport nursing home, after a stroke he suffered required such care. Now 85, Robinson is often visited by his children Kathy Robinson (left), Donald Robinson Sr., and Susan Robinson. Photo by David Grace —dgrace@timesnews.net

But with his many physical impairments, the task of caring for their dad at home just became too daunting.
“We just weren’t able to take care of Daddy like he needed to be taken care of. So, we chose, as a family together, to put him in a nursing facility,” Susan said.
And though Susan admits it was a very difficult decision to make — most residents are much older than just 53 when they are admitted into a nursing home — the family knew from the beginning it was the right one.
“We knew if he was in a facility we would know he was getting the care he needed,” she said.
Willard just celebrated his 85th birthday this month and has been a resident of Kingsport’s Holston Manor for the past 31 years, making him not only one of the oldest residents there, but also one of the residents who has lived there the longest.
“I really wanted to bring Daddy out at one time and have him try to come live with me again. But he didn’t want to come out. He’s been here for so long, and it’s a big world out there now,” said Kathy. “Everything’s changed. It’s not like it was when he was younger. It’s different now.”
Susan said she also tried more than once to bring her dad home to live with her.
“I took him out to try to take care of him. He lived with me for a few weeks. It was difficult. I had children, and it was hard to take care of kids and him, too. So, I chose to bring him back. I knew because of his situation, it would be best for him,” she said.
Although Willard’s physical capabilities are somewhat limited and his speech is just a bit slurred, his children say he still loves to tell stories and make those around him laugh.
“It’s just such a blessing that he’s still with us and his mind is so sharp,” said Susan. Willard doesn’t complain about his situation. He’s accepted the hand he’s been dealt. “I like it here. I guess I had to like it because when I had a stroke, I had to come here. But it’s best for me,” Willard said. He does point out, though, that his positive outlook comes from a higher power. “It’s the good Lord. He keeps me positive,” he said. But a person can’t spend more than 30 years in a nursing home and not think about the things of his former life. “The hardest part about being here is worrying and wanting to go anywhere I want to go and knowing I can’t. When I get to thinking about things I used to do before and I can’t do now, that’s hard,” Willard said. “I watch the birds at the bird feeder and it makes me wonder about the world out there.” Outdoor activities were a big part of Willard’s younger years. “I used to play ball. I loved to play ball. I used to hunt in the wintertime. I loved to fish and I see people fishing on TV. I think about stuff I can’t do anymore and that’s what hurts so bad,” he said. He said he also thinks a lot about the people in his life he’s had to say goodbye to. “Except for my children, everybody’s gone. I lost my mother and my dad when I was 20 years old,” Willard said. “I’ve been on my own a long time.” Prior to his stroke, Willard says he worked at a tire and recapping store on Center Street and then at Eastman, which he says was where he was employed when he had his stroke. “I worked out there a good little while and made it pretty good,” he said. And though it is a different world out there today than what Willard once knew, he says all of the changes haven’t been so bad. Willard, an African-American born in 1925, says he never thought he’d live to see the day that a black man was elected president of the United States. “I never thought it would happen. Never did,” he said. “But I feel so proud to have lived to see it happen. And I know there’ll be another one again some day.” Kathy says her dad was “overwhelmed” with the outcome of the 2008 election. “I bought him an Obama shirt that he’d wear around. He loved his shirt,” she said. Willard jokes with his children and tells them he’s going to run in the next presidential election. “It’d sure be nice to have all that money the president gets,” he tells them. Willard does realize, however, that not everyone shares his excitement over President Obama. But, like with a lot of things, he uses his sense of humor to deal with it. “One day there was a white lady in here from Mississippi. She said she didn’t like the president. I asked her why. She said, ‘Because he’s black.’ “I said, ‘What? What’s wrong with black? Ain’t that pretty?’ he laughs as he points to the skin on his own arm. “She just didn’t know what to say.” Even though their dad has been in a nursing facility most of their adult lives, Donald, Kathy and Susan all have fond memories of their dad and stories to share about him that still make the four of them laugh togethe r.
“When Daddy was younger some man got his eye knocked out and Daddy whittled a piece of wood and made it look like an eye and tried to put it in that man’s head. That’s what Daddy’s nickname was when he was growing up — Wood Eye — because he tried to stick a wood eye in that man’s head,” Kathy said.
Coming to visit their father at Holston Manor for more than three decades has become “the norm” for the Robinsons. They’ve accepted that this is his home and they’re OK with that.
“It’s been a peace of mind for all of us, knowing he’s been well-taken care of all these years in this facility,” Susan said. “They’ve taken real good care of him. We appreciate the care that they’ve given to Daddy and all their hard work. And we know we can get up and come here anytime, day and night and check on him and he’s OK.”
Kathy agrees.
“We can go to sleep at night knowing Daddy’s OK,” she said.

Can You Identity These Folks?

2010-03-17T11:02:00.001-07:00

CLICK ON THE PICTURE TO MAKE IT LARGER

We had so much fun with the last one, so here's another picture from our past.. Do you know these Douglass folks?

HINTS:

These guys were in charge of school news letters, and also the layout for the school annual, I believe.
This picture was taken in the historic Douglass High School Gym.
If you're in the picture, you're disqualified LOL!

I know who they are.. I just don't know the order.

Project Vote Smart: Look Up Your OWN Politician!

2010-03-16T07:46:00.000-07:00

Ever wonder about the voting record of your politician? How about the one that makes a lot of noise, and never has anything positive to say?

By going to Project Vote Smart, you can look up everything you ever want to know about every politician and Congress person before you vote for them, for whatever reason. You'll find biographies, history of their entire voting record, stance on current and previous issues, etc.

Be informed, BEFORE you cast your vote!

To go to Project Vote Smart, please click here.

Syracuse University Looking for African-Americans

2010-03-16T07:09:00.000-07:00

If you know of anyone who might be interested, please send this to them.

Syracuse University has 10 Full Rides for African American Men and Women Interested in Studying Architecture. Mark Robbins, Dean of Syracuse University's School of Architecture is desperately seeking young men and women of color interested in pursuing a five year professional degree in Architecture. He says he's deeply committed to bringing diversity to his field and has scholarship money set aside to fully cover education costs for 10 students. He says that Hispanic enrollment in the school has increased substantially, but it's been harder to attract Blacks.

Syracuse University School of Architecture has a great reputation and this seems like a terrific opportunity, so please pass this on to everyone you know.

Contact: Mark Robbins, Dean, School of Architecture (315) 443-2256 (315) 443-2256 (315) 443-2256 (315) 443-2256 (315) 443-2256 (315) 443-2256 (315) 443-2256 http://soa.syr. edu/index. php_School of Architecture

Syracuse University
201 Slocum Hall
Syracuse , NY 13244-1250

The Alphabet of a Friend

2010-03-07T20:26:00.000-08:00

CLICK ON THE POSTER TO MAKE IT BIGGER

There.. I fixed it.......Satisfied?.....

2010-03-07T20:09:00.001-08:00

Kids Say the Darndest Things.....

2010-03-03T07:53:00.000-08:00

A little boy was waiting for his mother to come out of the grocery store. As he waited, he was approached by a man who asked, "Son, Can You tell me where the Post Office is?"

The little boy replied, "Sure! Just go straight down this street a coupla blocks and turn to your right."

The man thanked the boy kindly and said, "I'm the new pastor in town.
I'd like for you to come to church on Sunday. I'll show you how to get to Heaven."

The little boy replied with a chuckle. "Awww, come on... You don't even know the way to the Post Office...."

Uh Oh.. Here Comes the Saints Fans!

2010-02-08T09:31:00.000-08:00

Who dat? Who dat? Who dat talkin' 'bout beatin' dem SAINTS?
Who dat? Who dat? Who dat talkin' 'bout beatin' dem SAINTS?
Who dat? Who dat? Who dat talkin' 'bout beatin' dem SAINTS?

Rosemary Gray
mediadarling@aol.com

Detroit Appreciates Douglass Alumni Association's Website:

2010-02-08T09:29:00.000-08:00

Dear Calvin:

I am an avid follower of the Current News and Events section. I must say you and the Committee are doing a fantastic job and I commend you.

I just finished viewing the photos from Mrs. Willie Kate Bradford's suprise birthday party. Here again, you have done a great job.

I too, would like to send a belated birthday wish to Mrs. Bradford.

I hope you and The Committee will continue to provide this great service, not only to the community,Kingsport area, but to the State of Tennessee.

We all thank you.

Sincerely,

Alan (Mickey) Watterson

Volunteers applauded - Letter to the Editor

2010-02-07T10:26:00.000-08:00

Once again, Mark Kilgore, James “Moose” Henry and Jason Wilburn helped pull off another successful community event. I am New Vision youth director, and these guys have been with me, and Mrs. Veronica Camp, our parent representative for New Vision Youth, from day one. We’ve been together, always supporting our youth and community when asked to help out. I’ve never got no for an answer. Their humbleness I cannot express.
New Vision Youth applauds them with thanks and love. You can always count on them for help and support in the community. I give Mark Kilgore extra thanks for all the hard work he does with the Kingsport Parks and Recreation and other athletics programs.
Thanks to all the organizations that participated in the candlelight vigil and Calvin Sneed and the pastors and mayor. To the community and the people that support New Vision Youth, thanks. May God bless you all and continue to support New Vision Youth.
Johnnie Mae Swagerty
Kingsport

Thanks for support - Letter to the Editor

2010-02-07T10:24:00.000-08:00

The Full Gospel Mission Church and the Kitchen of Hope thanks all the churches, schools, volunteers, organizations, businesses, families and individuals, and the Almighty up above — our dear Lord Jesus for your support and dedication to the Kitchen of Hope.
If it wasn’t for all of you helping out and donations and food the Kitchen of Hope couldn’t have made it through your support and dedication and a many thanks to Mrs. Nellie Roberts for her hard work and dedication. Thanks to everyone.

Geraldine Swagerty
Kingsport

Give Obama support he deserves - Letter to the Editor

2010-02-04T08:23:00.000-08:00

I wholeheartedly agree with Cecelia Henderson in Sunday’s letter to the editor. We sat by as George Bush ran this country into the ground and took care of his cronies, the same cronies that are trying to undermine President Obama. One year is not enough time to undo eight years of gerrymandering by Bush. Given the chance and our support, President Obama can make a difference. All politicians need to stop thinking about themselves and start representing their constituents. The Democrats need to stop being so wishy-washy and support the president. I see a good man fighting against the tide of the same good-old-boy politics. We need to give him a chance to do the job he was elected to do and strongly support him.

Cheryl Luis
Kingsport

"LIFE WITHOUT BLACK PEOPLE" - A Lesson for Black History Month

2010-02-03T07:54:00.000-08:00

A very humorous and revealing story is told about a group of white people who were fed up with African Americans, so they joined together and wished themselves away.

They passed through a deep dark tunnel and emerged in sort of a twilight zone where there is an America without black people.

At first these white people breathed a sigh of relief. At last, they said No more crime, drugs, violence and welfare. All of the blacks have gone! Then suddenly, reality set in. The "NEW AMERICA" is not America at all-only a barren land.

1. There are very few crops that have flourished because the nation was built on a slave-supported system.

2. There are no cities with tall skyscrapers because Alexander Mils, a black man, invented the elevator, and without it, one finds great difficulty reaching higher floors.

3. There are few if any cars because Richard Spikes, a black man, invented the automatic gearshift, Joseph Gambol, also black, invented the Super Charge System for Internal Combustion Engines, and Garrett A. Morgan, a black man, invented the traffic signals.

4. Furthermore, one could not use the rapid transit system because its procurer was the electric trolley, which was invented by another black man, Albert R. Robinson.

5. Even if there were streets on which cars and a rapid transit system could operate, they were cluttered with paper because an African American, Charles Brooks, invented the street sweeper.

6. There were few if any newspapers, magazines and books because John Love invented the pencil sharpener, William Purveys invented the fountain pen, and Lee Barrage invented the Type Writing Machine W. A. Love invented the Advanced Printing Press. They were all, you guessed it, Black.

7. Even if Americans could write their letters, articles and books, they would not have been transported by mail because William Barry invented the Postmarking and Canceling Machine, William Purveys invented the Hand Stamp and Philip Downing invented the Letter Drop.

8. The lawns were brown and wilted because Joseph Smith invented the Lawn Sprinkler and John Burr the Lawn Mower.

9. When they entered their homes, they found them to be poorly ventilated and poorly heated. You see, Frederick Jones invented the Air Conditioner and Alice Parker the Heating Furnace.

Their homes were also dim. But of course, Lewis Lattimer later invented the Electric Lamp, Michael Harvey invented the lantern and Granville T. Woods invented the Automatic Cut off Switch.

Their homes were also filthy because Thomas W. Steward invented the Mop and Lloyd P. Ray the Dust Pan.

10. Their children met them at the door-barefooted, shabby, motley and unkempt. But what could one expect?
Jan E. Matzelinger invented the Shoe Lasting Machine, Walter Sammons invented the Comb, Sarah Boone invented the Ironing Board and George T. Samon invented the Clothes Dryer.

11. Finally, they were resigned to at least have dinner amidst all of this turmoil. But here again, the food had spoiled because another Black Man, John Standard invented the refrigerator.

Now, isn't that something? What would this country be like without the contributions of Blacks, as African-Americans? Martin Luther King, Jr. said, "by the time we leave for work, Americans have depended on the inventions from the minds of Blacks." Black history includes more than just slavery, Frederick Douglass, Martin Luther King, Jr., Malcolm X, and Marcus Garvey & W.E.B. Dubois.

And Then... the Fight Started....

2010-02-02T08:31:00.000-08:00

My wife sat down on the sofa next to me as I was flipping channels. She asked, 'What's on TV?'
I said, 'Dust.'

And then the fight started...

******************************************

My wife and I were watching "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire" while we were in bed. I turned to her and said, "Do you want to have sex?"
"No," she answered.
I then said, "Is that your final answer?"
She didn't even look at me this time, simply saying, "Yes."
So I said, "Then I'd like to phone a friend."

And then the fight started....

******************************************

Saturday morning I got up early, quietly dressed, made my lunch, and slipped quietly into the garage. I hooked up the boat up to the van, and proceeded to back out into a
torrential downpour. The wind was blowing 50 mph, so I pulled back into the garage, turned on the radio, and discovered that the weather would be bad all day.

I went back into the house, quietly undressed, and slipped back into bed. I cuddled up to my wife's back, now with a different anticipation, and whispered, "The weather
out there is terrible."

My loving wife of 5 years replied, "Can you believe my stupid husband is out fishing in that?"

And that's how the fight started...

******************************************

I rear-ended a car this morning. So, there we were alongside the road and slowly the other driver got out of his car. You know how sometimes you just get soooo stressed
and little things just seem funny? Yeah, well I couldn't
believe it.... He was a DWARF!!! He stormed over to my car, looked up at me, and shouted, "I AM NOT HAPPY!!!"

So, I looked down at him and said, "Well, then which one are you?"

And then the fight started........

*****************************************

My wife was hinting about what she wanted for our upcoming anniversary. She said, 'I want something shiny that goes from 0 to 150 in about 3 seconds.'

I bought her a bathroom scale.

And then the fight started...

******************************************

My wife and I were sitting at a table at my school reunion, and I kept staring at a drunken lady swigging her drink as she sat alone at a nearby table.

My wife asked, 'Do you know her?' 'Yes,' I sighed, 'She's my old girlfriend. I understand she took to drinking right after we split up those many years ago, and I hear she hasn't been sober since.'

'My Gosh!' says my wife, 'who would think a person could go on celebrating that long?'

And then the fight started...

******************************************

A woman was standing nude, looking in the bedroom mirror.... She was not happy with what she saw and said to her husband, "I feel horrible; I look old, fat and ugly. I really need you to pay me a compliment.'

The husband replied, 'Your eyesight's darn near perfect.'

And then the fight started....

President Obama deserves a chance - Letter to the Editor

2010-01-31T08:06:00.000-08:00

I have a hard time understanding why it is that anything and everything Obama does is so wrong. He has been trashed and badmouthed by everyone that did not vote for him. George Bush was such a pinhead and did nothing for the country for eight years, and there was little to nothing said about it. But Obama has been in the White House a year, and it seems as if people expect him to clean up the mess that Bush made in one year. Why aren’t we giving him a chance? We have the GOP fighting him on all sides, and he can’t do it unless he has help. So why can’t we stop criticizing him and agree to help? That would be the right thing to do. Stop the politics and try to get the country up and running again. We all will be better for it.

Cecilia Henderson
Kingsport

Vision for Riverview ignored

2010-01-19T07:21:00.000-08:00

LETTER TO THE EDITOR:

Why and how does the black community of Kingsport celebrate Martin Luther King Day year after year, seemingly with no outcome? Are we celebrating just to make us feel good about our blackness? I’m a black woman who gave this city a vision that will forever change lives in Riverview, yet no one ever mentions it. They sweep it under the rug. They ignore it, and some don’t even believe it for whatever reason. Kingsport Tomorrow did not give the city this vision; neither did anyone else. I attended church in Riverview for years and asked God why does a handful of people live so impoverished — not a handful of black people, but people. As God gave it to me, I began to sketch what Riverview should and could be. When little Jalisa Ferguson was shot and killed and Kingsport was looking for a way to change Riverview, I felt it was time to share what I had with Mayor Wright, and the rest is bad history. I told the truth, and if anyone wants to hear the rest of the story, call me and I will gladly tell you.
If the black community wants to promote truth, they would start first at home with this vision. What would King think of the fact that a black woman gave such a vision and she is ignored? Didn’t he stand for truth, justice, equality and fairness for all? Anyone deserves credit for their work, black or white. Some know the truth and yet ignore it, but celebrate a man who walked in truth. There are two responsible parties here: the city and the black community. This vision will never bloom to its full potential because it’s built on lies. When you march in a parade celebrating a man of truth, you decimate his name when you know the truth and continue not to walk in it.

Nancy Senior
Kingsport

Center vs. Complex

2010-01-04T07:23:00.000-08:00

LETTER TO THE EDITOR:

I went to the website to see the new name. What Mr. McCartt alluded to is exactly why I did not like the name complex. Douglass High School is an historic site and dropping the word "community" would have been a better idea than calling it a "complex" and adding someone's name, especially Mr. Dobbins' name.

Center: hub, heart, core, interior, inside
Complex: multifaceted, compound, composite, multipart

I do not like the connotation and hope the name will be reconsidered because "complex" does not reflect what the Black community represented.

Rosemary Gray

Grading Barack Obama's Presidency The Past Year

2009-12-30T08:09:00.000-08:00

FROM ROBIN RUSSELL:

The author is Professor Robert Watson of Lynn University who was once a writer for the New York Times..

Professor Watson writes:

Hi friends,

I am always being asked to grade Obama's presidency. In place of offering him a grade, I put together a list of his accomplishments thus far. I think you would agree that it is very impressive. His first six months have been even more active than FDRs or LBJs the two standards for such assessments. Yet, there is little media attention given to much of what he has done. Of late, the media is focusing almost exclusively on Obama's critics, without holding them responsible for the uncivil, unconstructive tone of their disagreements or without holding the previous administration responsible for getting us in such a deep hole. The misinformation and venom that now passes for political reporting and civic debate is beyond description.
As such, there is a need to set the record straight. What most impresses me is the fact that Obama has accomplished so much not from a heavy-handed or top-down approach but from a style that has institutionalized efforts to reach across the aisle, encourage vigorous debate, and utilize town halls and panels of experts in the policy-making process. Beyond the accomplishments, the process is good for democracy and our democratic processes have been battered and bruised in recent years.
Let me know if I missed anything in the list (surely I did).

Robert

1. Ordered all federal agencies to undertake a study and make recommendations for ways to cut spending

2. Ordered a review of all federal operations to identify and cut wasteful spending and practices

3. Instituted enforcement for equal pay for women

4. Beginning the withdrawal of US troops from Iraq

5. Families of fallen soldiers have expenses covered to be on hand when the body arrives at Dover AFB

6. Ended media blackout on war casualties; reporting full information

7. Ended media blackout on covering the return of fallen soldiers to Dover AFB; the media is now permitted to do so pending adherence to respectful rules and approval of fallen soldier's family

8. The White House and federal government are respecting the Freedom of Information Act

9. Instructed all federal agencies to promote openness and transparency as much as possible

10. Limits on lobbyist's access to the White House

11. Limits on White House aides working for lobbyists after their tenure in the administration

12. Ended the previous stop-loss policy that kept soldiers in Iraq/Afghanistan longer than their enlistment date

13. Phasing out the expensive F-22 war plane and other outdated weapons systems, which weren't even used or needed in Iraq/Afghanistan

14.. Removed restrictions on embryonic stem-cell research

15. Federal support for stem-cell and new biomedical research

16. New federal funding for science and research labs

17. States are permitted to enact federal fuel efficiency standards above federal standards

18. Increased infrastructure spending (roads, bridges, power plants) after years of neglect

19.. Funds for high-speed, broadband Internet access to K-12 schools

20. New funds for school construction

21. The prison at Guantanamo Bay is being phased out

22. US Auto industry rescue plan

23. Housing rescue plan

24. $789 billion economic stimulus plan

25. The public can meet with federal housing insurers to refinance (the new plan can be completed in one day) a mortgage if they are having trouble paying

26. US financial and banking rescue plan

27.. The secret detention facilities in Eastern Europe and elsewhere are being closed

28. Ended the previous policy; the US now has a no torture policy and is in compliance with the Geneva Convention standards

29. Better body armor is now being provided to our troops

30. The missile defense program is being cut by $1.4 billion in 2010

31. Restarted the nuclear nonproliferation talks and building back up the nuclear inspection infrastructure/protocols

32. Reengaged in the treaties/agreements to protect the Antarctic

33. Reengaged in the agreements/talks on global warming and greenhouse gas emissions

34. Visited more countries and met with more world leaders than any president in his first six months in office

35. Successful release of US captain held by Somali pirates; authorized the SEALS to do their job

36. US Navy increasing patrols off Somali coast

37. Attractive tax write-offs for those who buy hybrid automobiles

38. Cash for clunkers program offers vouchers to trade in fuel inefficient, polluting old cars for new cars; stimulated auto sales

39. Announced plans to purchase fuel efficient American-made fleet for the federal government

40. Expanded the SCHIP program to cover health care for 4 million more children

41. Signed national service legislation; expanded national youth service program

42. Instituted a new policy on Cuba , allowing Cuban families to return home to visit loved ones

43. Ended the previous policy of not regulating and labeling carbon dioxide emissions

44.. Expanding vaccination programs

45. Immediate and efficient response to the floods in North Dakota and other natural disasters

46. Closed offshore tax safe havens

47. Negotiated deal with Swiss banks to permit US government to gain access to records of tax evaders and criminals

48. Ended the previous policy of offering tax benefits to corporations who outsource American jobs; the new policy is to promote in-sourcing to bring jobs back

49. Ended the previous practice of protecting credit card companies; in place of it are new consumer protections from credit card industry's predatory practices

50. Energy producing plants must begin preparing to produce 15% of their energy from renewable sources

51. Lower drug costs for seniors

52. Ended the previous practice of forbidding Medicare from negotiating with drug manufacturers for cheaper drugs; the federal government is now realizing hundreds of millions in savings

53. Increasing pay and benefits for military personnel

54. Improved housing for military personnel

55. Initiating a new policy to promote federal hiring of military spouses

56. Improved conditions at Walter Reed Military Hospital and other military hospitals

57. Increasing student loans

58.. Increasing opportunities in AmeriCorps program

59. Sent envoys to Middle East and other parts of the world that had been neglected for years; reengaging in multilateral and bilateral talks and diplomacy

60. Established a new cyber security office

61. Beginning the process of reforming and restructuring the military 20 years after the Cold War to a more modern fighting force; this includes new procurement policies, increasing size of military, new technology and cyber units and operations, etc.

62. Ended previous policy of awarding no-bid defense contracts

63. Ordered a review of hurricane and natural disaster preparedness

64. Established a National Performance Officer charged with saving the federal government money and making federal operations more efficient

65. Students struggling to make college loan payments can have their loans refinanced

66.. Improving benefits for veterans

67. Many more press conferences and town halls and much more media access than previous administration

68. Instituted a new focus on mortgage fraud

69. The FDA is now regulating tobacco

70. Ended previous policy of cutting the FDA and circumventing FDA rules

71. Ended previous practice of having White House aides rewrite scientific and environmental rules, regulations, and reports

72. Authorized discussions with North Korea and private mission by Pres. Bill Clinton to secure the release of two Americans held in prisons

73. Authorized discussions with Myanmar and mission by Sen... Jim Web to secure the release of an American held captive

74. Making more loans available to small businesses

75.. Established independent commission to make recommendations on slowing the costs of Medicare

76. Appointment of first Latina to the Supreme Court

77. Authorized construction/opening of additional health centers to care for veterans

78. Limited salaries of senior White House aides; cut to $100,000

79. Renewed loan guarantees for Israel

80. Changed the failing/status quo military command in Afghanistan

81. Deployed additional troops to Afghanistan

82. New Afghan War policy that limits aerial bombing and prioritizes aid, development of infrastructure, diplomacy, and good government practices by Afghans

83. Announced the long-term development of a national energy grid with renewable sources and cleaner, efficient energy production

84. Returned money authorized for refurbishment of White House offices and private living quarters

85. Paid for redecoration of White House living quarters out of his own pocket

86. Held first Seder in White House

87. Attempting to reform the nation's healthcare system which is the most expensive in the world yet leaves almost 50 million without health insurance and millions more under insured

88. Has put the ball in play for comprehensive immigration reform

89. Has announced his intention to push for energy reform

90. Has announced his intention to push for education reform

Oh, and he built a swing set for the girls outside the Oval Office!

Robert P. Watson, Ph.D.Coordinator of American Studies
Lynn University

Do Not Dial Or Accept Calls From 809 Area Code

2009-12-28T08:47:00.000-08:00

USE YOUR CALLER ID!

We actually received a call last week from the 809 area code.. The woman said 'Hey, this is Karen . Sorry I missed you--get back to us quickly. I have something important to tell you.' Then she repeated a phone number beginning with 809We did not respond. Then this week, we received the following e-mail:

DO NOT dial area code 809, 284, and 876.

THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT INFORMATION PROVIDED TO US BY AT&T. DON'T EVER DIAL AREA CODE 809

This one is being distributed all over the U-S ... This is pretty scary, especially given the way they try to get you to call.

Be sure you read this and pass it on.

They get you to call by telling you that it is information about a family member who has been ill or to tell you someone has been arrested, died, or to let you know you have won a wonderful prize, etc..

In each case, you are told to call the 809 number right away. Since there are so many new area codes these days, people unknowingly return these calls.

If you call from the U.S. , you will apparently be charged $2,425 per-minute.

Or, you'll get a long recorded message. The point is, they will try to keep you on the phone as long as possible to increase the charges. WHY IT WORKS:

The 809 area code is located in the Dominican Republic ..
The charges afterward can become a real nightmare. That's because you did actually make the call.. If you complain, both your local phone company and your long distance carrier will not want to get involved and will most likely tell you that they are simply providing the billing for the foreign company. You'll end up dealing with a foreign company that argues they have done nothing wrong.

Please forward this entire message to your friends, family and colleagues to help them become aware of this scam.

AT&T VERIFIES IT'S TRUE---COPY AND PASTE THIS LINK INTO YOUR BROWSER LINE: http://www.att.com/gen/press-room?pid=6045

Good to know our history: Watch Night Services

2009-12-22T08:11:00.000-08:00

Many of us who live or grew up in Black communities in the United States have probably heard of "Watch Night Services," the gathering of the faithful in church on New Year's Eve.

The service usually begins anywhere from 7 p.m. To 10 p.m. And ends at midnight with the entrance of the New Year.
Some folks come to church first, before going out to celebrate.
For others, church is the only New Year's Eve event.
Like many others, I always assumed that Watch Night was a fairly standard Christian religious service -- made a bit more Afro centric because that's what happens when elements of Christianity become linked with the Black Church.
Still, it seemed that predominately White Christian churches did not include Watch Night services on their calendars, but focused instead on Christmas Eve programs.
In fact, there were instances where clergy in mainline denominations wondered aloud about the propriety of linking religious services with a secular holiday like New Year's Eve.

However, there is a reason for the importance of New Year's Eve services in African American congregations.
The Watch Night Services in Black communities that we celebrate today can be traced back to gatherings on December 31, 1862, also known as "Freedom's Eve."
On that night, Blacks came together in churches and private homes all across the nation, anxiously awaiting news that the Emancipation Proclamation actually had become law.
Then, at the stroke of midnight, it was January 1, 1863, and all slaves in the Confederate States were declared legally free .

When the news was received, there were prayers, shouts and songs of joy as people fell to their knees and thanked God.
Black folks have gathered in churches annually on New Year's Eve ever since, praising God for bringing us safely through another year.

It's been 145 years since that first Freedom's Eve and many of us were never taught the African American history of Watch Night, but tradition still brings us together at this time every year to celebrate
"how we got over."

PS- Pass this information on so we can educate.

Best Quotes of 2009

2009-12-10T09:24:00.000-08:00

FROM FLOYD PERRY:

CLICK ON THE PICTURE TO MAKE IT LARGER

HOW TO STAY YOUNG

1. Throw out nonessential numbers. This includes age, weight and height. Let the doctors worry about them. That is why you pay 'them'

2. Keep only cheerful friends. The grouches pull you down.

3. Keep learning. Learn more about the computer, crafts, gardening, whatever. Never let the brain idle. 'An idle mind is the devil's workshop.'

4. Enjoy the simple things.

5. Laugh often, long and loud. Laugh until you gasp for breath.

6. The tears happen. Endure, grieve, and move on. The only person, who is with us our entire life, is ourselves. Be ALIVE while you are alive.

7. Surround yourself with what you love , whether it's family, pets, keepsakes, music, plants, hobbies, whatever. Your home is your refuge.

8. Cherish your health: If it is good, preserve it. If it is unstable, improve it. If it is beyond what you can improve, get help.

9. Don't take guilt trips. Take a trip to the mall, even to the next county; to a foreign country but NOT to where the guilt is.

10. Tell the people you love that you love them, at every opportunity.
AND ALWAYS REMEMBER :
Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away.

And if you don't send this to at least 8 people - who cares?
But do share this with someone.
We all need to live life to its fullest each day!!

Worry about nothing, pray about everything!!!

2009-11-26T08:27:00.000-08:00

Hope VI should have gone to local contractors

2009-11-21T06:49:00.001-08:00

Construction problems with Hope VI homes is just another example and should be a lesson learned about acceptance of the low bid.
It would be very difficult for a contractor to come from another town, pay for the crew to eat and have a place to sleep and also be able to do the job correctly. Of course they are going to take every shortcut that can be imagined.
Local contractors should be the ones selected to do work inside the city. We are the ones that live here, pay taxes here and spend our money here. It is really sad when this much money leaves Kingsport to be spent in another town, especially with the economy being as it is. Had this been a local contractor, I really doubt these problems would be in existence, and while we are not perfect, we do take pride in our work, and should a problem arise it is usually very quickly resolved.
If they are really a good contractor, why do they not have work going in their own hometown? Our company would not have the time to go to another town to work. This is not the only project given to the low bidder that is going to result in problems. We have seen some other work in progress, and it is just a matter of time.

Marsha Vanderpool
Kingsport

The History of APRONS

2009-11-19T18:01:00.001-08:00

FROM ROBERTA LANAUZE AND VIRGINIA HANKINS:

I don't think our kids know what an apron is. The principal use of Grandma's apron was to protect the dress underneath,because she only had a few,it was easier to wash aprons than dresses and they used less material, but along with that, it served as a potholder for removing
hot pans from the oven.

It was wonderful for drying children's tears, and on occasion was even used for cleaning out dirty ears.

From the chicken coop, the apron was used for carrying eggs, fussy chicks, and sometimes half-hatched eggs to be finished in the warming oven.

When company came, those aprons were ideal hiding places for shy kids.
And when the weather was cold grandma wrapped it around her arms.
Those big old aprons wiped many a perspiring brow, bent over the hot wood stove.

Chips and kindling wood were brought into the kitchen in that apron.

From the garden, it carried all sorts of vegetables.
After the peas had been shelled, it carried out the hulls.

In the fall, the apron was used to bring in apples that had fallen from the trees.

When unexpected company drove up the road, it was surprising how much furniture that old apron could dust in a matter of seconds.

When dinner was ready, Grandma walked out onto the porch, waved her apron, and the menfolks knew it was time to come in from the fields to dinner.

It will be a long time before someone invents something that will replace that 'old-time apron' that served so many purposes.

REMEMBER:

Grandma used to set her hot baked apple pies on the window sill to cool. Her granddaughters set theirs on the window sill to thaw.

They would go crazy now trying to figure out how many germs were on that apron.

I don't think I ever caught anything from an apron.

Written history of city’s black community would showcase legacy of Douglass High

2009-11-08T09:15:00.000-08:00

By DR. ROSEMARY GRAY

Dr. Gray is a 1964 Douglass High School graduate and vice president of Special Services and Equity at McNeese State University, Lake Charles, La.

OP-ED LETTER COURTESY THE KINGSPORT TIMES-NEWS; PHOTOS COURTESY THE DOUGLASS WEBSITE

I read the October 21 article on the Douglass Sons and Daughters’ Web site entitled "Artwork at the New V.O. Dobbins Center: The Sky’s The Limit.” I read further to see what types of art would be included in my former high school, remembering that Martha Beverly, cultural arts coordinator for the City of Kingsport, said: “The sky’s the limit on the artwork we can bring to the new V.O. Dobbins Center.”

I began to reflect on my experiences at Douglass High School, beginning in the eighth grade in 1959 and graduating in 1964. My host family was the Wilbur Hendricks Sr. family when I needed to participate in after-school activities that lasted longer than the school day. I was from Gate City, and my bus left as soon as school was out.
My Douglass High School experiences contributed greatly to my knowledge, background, and experiences which helped me educationally, socially, and culturally because I not only interacted with a larger black population, but with students at Dobyns-Bennett and surrounding areas as I participated in essay and public speaking contests and was vice mayor for the day during an event sponsored by the Kingsport Board of Mayor and Aldermen.

REV. AND MRS. C.E. EDGE

My favorite place to eat was Edge’s Place, where we would listen to Rev. Edge’s lectures counseling us on life as we stood in line for one of his hamburgers. The topics varied, depending on what had happened in the neighborhood the night before or what was in the news that he thought we needed to know about.

All of our teachers taught more than the lessons in our books, but demanded and commanded our attention to these lessons. You would have to have experienced the community leaders that I interacted with, both black and white, as I completed my well-rounded educational experiences in the Douglass High School community. The current leaders you all know in the Kingsport-Gate City area are a direct result of what we all experienced as young people attending Douglass High School: a sense of community. I do not want to forget my 24 other classmates in the Class of 1964 who supported me and each other as we acted our way through school, played in the school band, sang in the chorus, participated as basketball cheerleaders and in our student government activities, and studied our high school subjects. You could hear a pin drop in our classes because of the attention expectations of our teachers when it was time to learn.

The Douglass High School community I remember was a strong supporter of education and community involvement — an educational community that was not limited to the historical grounds of Douglass High school. It extended to our churches in the city of Kingsport and to the communities in the surrounding areas. May I suggest that a creative way to showcase the legacy of what Douglass High School meant to the city of Kingsport during our day and to the black community? It goes beyond the Tiger paws and memorabilia such as pictures, trophies, and furniture.

We need a written history about the black community that we all knew with artwork that depicts our stories, our lives, the vocation and work of our community and school leaders by either local writers or artists or regional or national artists; perhaps even a room dedicated to guest artists. When Douglass alums return to their alma mater, regardless of the renovations and changes to our school, we want to see the history of our legacy in print and visually that depicts what made us who we are today and the generations that followed. I respectfully request that the coordinators of the renovation of the V.O. Dobbins Center consider some additional written and visual history of the past and current lives and stories of the Kingsport black community during the years that Douglass High School existed. I, too, am excited about the possibility of quality and historical artwork that reflects the era in which Douglass existed and the impact it made on the Kingsport and surrounding communities.

2009-11-01T20:56:00.000-08:00

Letter To The Editor: Gave Neighborhood Back

2009-11-01T09:17:00.000-08:00

Re: Community policing. Just a quick note to say thank you for your hard work that gave our neighborhood back to us, Officer Clark and Officer Coffey.

Cecilia Henderson Kingsport

Letter To The Editor: For Riverview, new housing, old woes

2009-11-01T08:57:00.000-08:00

I was born and raised in the Riverview housing development and was fortunate that although I was from the stereotyped one-parent household, my siblings and I succeeded through the strong direction and guidance of our mother and never had to live in public housing after we became adults and left the area.
After reading the announcement that the housing in Riverview will now be rental properties, I was just sickened and saddened by that news. Living in a major metropolitan city now, I have seen the outcome of building new project housing. While the property is new, the same problems, way of life and government programs do not solve any of the issues that were in place when the projects were torn down. I thought the whole project was about home ownership, work and pride in what you can own, and beginning anew with a generation of hope.
If in the end, Riverview is back to rental properties, then the government could have just renovated the apartments and kept the same police precinct and presence that will once again be needed. I’ve had a strong desire to move back to the area, in particular Riverview and live. There’s no way now after hearing about the change in the criteria of building the properties that I want to retire and come back home. Maybe you can show me a different perspective, but it seems always the same perpetual wheel. One neighborhood gets the new homes, people can buy and have home ownership, the other neighborhood gets what’s left again because of economic times — rental property. After you’ve uprooted family lives, you say they can come back now to the same old way of life and live in a brand new rental property furnished by the government.

Patricia Leeper Calloway
Atlanta, Ga.

2009-10-28T10:41:00.001-07:00

Concentrate on this Sentence

'To get something you never had, you have to do something you never did.' When God takes something from your grasp, He's not punishing you, but merely opening your hands to receive something better. Concentrate on this sentence... 'The will of God will never take you where the Grace of God will not protect you.'

There comes a point in your life when you realize:

Who matters,
Who never did,
Who won't anymore...
And who always will.
So, don't worry about people from your past,
there's a reason why they didn't make it to your future.
Give these flowers to everyone you don't want to lose in 2009