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SPORTS Southeast Raleigh girls on another winning streak. VOLUME 13 NO. 9 WEE WEEKKOF OF FE BRUARYBRUARY 13, 13, 2011 2011 ONE DOLLAR THE TRIANGLE’S CHOICE FOR THE BLACK VOICE UNREST FOCUSED INTERNATIONAL ATTENTION ON N.C. Battery Heights’ national acclaim By Sommer Brokaw THE TRIANGLE TRIBUNE RALEIGH - Battery Heights, one of the first prominent subdivisions for Raleigh’s black community post-World War II, got its list- ing on the National Register earlier this year. The Battery Heights Historic District in Southeast Raleigh has post-WWII and modern architecture from 1945-1965. Named for the earthen batteries of the Civil War, it was first platted as a much larger subdivision of land originally owned by Bartholomew Gatling as early as 1915. He owned extensive acreage in Raleigh, in- cluding lots for Battery Heights, and of his home west of the district where the Roberts Park Community Center is located now. Raleigh experienced a significant boom in growth after WWII with 15,000 houses built between 1945-65. Though many homes were laid out into subdivisions to PHOTO/WILMINGTON 10 provide housing for WWII veterans and Marchers protest the arrests and jailing of 10 members who they believed were falsely accused. their families, it was also a time of racial segregation so Battery Heights was one of only a handful of neighborhoods intend- ed for black families. Wilmington 10 commemorates 40th Sybil Argintar, a preservation planning consultant for Raleigh Historic Districts By Sommer Brokaw Auditorium featured activist a perfect example of student ac- parents that resented uppity Commission, said the beautiful ranch-style THE TRIANGLE TRIBUNE Benjamin Chavis Jr. of Oxford tivism and it came from the high blacks.” architecture intact from the ‘50s and ‘60s also makes it unique. Being on the National CHAPEL HILL - The University and a Wilmington 10 member. school. The youngest person ar- The clashes between black and Register offers three main advantages: the of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s Chavis was sent to Wilmington rested was 17 years old.” white students led to a number community is officially documented; it of- Institute for African American by the United Church of Christ Thomas said racial tensions of arrests and expulsions. By the fers residents some degree of protection; Research organized a commem- in Feb. 1971 to lead black stu- had increased between white time Chavis arrived on the and offers tax incentives for homeowners oration to note the 40th anniver- dents in a boycott of the city’s and black students after the lo- scene, “downtown Wilmington, who renovate. sary of a 1971 Wilmington inci- schools. cal black high school, Williston N.C., was a war zone,” with a “It should be on the National Register be- dent that became an internation- “Ben Chavis was able to be the High, closed down. Based on his couple downtown businesses cause of its history, and it’s something that al sensation. leader because no one else want- research and interviews, he said burned, black activists blamed those who have lived in the community A group of civil rights activists, ed to be the leader,” said Larry most black people looked for- for the incidents and members for a long time have worked very hard to known as the Wilmington 10, Thomas, author of The True ward to going to Williston High. of the Ku Klux Klan patrolling come about,” said Alice Garrett, a retired were sentenced to a combined Story of the Wilmington 10 and “Once they closed the black the streets, according to teacher and school administrator who 282 years in prison. Their con- Rabbit! Rabbit! Rabbit! A high school down and sent them Nicholas Graham’s 2005 report, moved to the area in 1985. “At one time in victions were overturned in Fictional Account of the to the white school, there were “This Month in North Carolina’s the African-American community in 1980. Wilmington 10, who is from fights everyday,” he said. “The History.” Wilmington and went to gradu- problem was not so much with On Feb. 6, 1971, Mike’s The Feb. 2 sold-out event at See BATTERY/2A the Sonja Haynes Stone Center ate school at Chapel Hill. “It was the students but more so with See WILMINGTON/2A Mom jailed for sending kids to better school Durham By TaRessa Stovall students who are not legally en- barber THE DEFENDERONLINE.COM titled to be there.” While various states and the Williams-Bolar’s father lives in federal government play policy the Copley-Fairlawn district and in Nov. 2009, she was arrested rebuilds ping-pong on the issue of school desegregation/diversity, the and charged with two felony plight of one mother has starkly counts of tampering with official symbolized the obstacles that of- records for putting her father’s from ashes ten confront less-than-privileged address on her daughters’ school records. parents who seek quality educa- By Sommer Brokaw tion for their children. “She was also charged with THE TRIANGLE TRIBUNE When Kelley Williams-Bolar, a grand theft. The school wanted $30,000 in tuition for the two single lack mother living in pub- DURHAM - Samuel Jenkins, owner of girls, but the jury could not reach lic housing in Akron, Ohio, was Samuel and Sons Barbershop, hustled to a unanimous decision,” sentenced to 10 days in jail for take back the streets from drugs, prosti- Newser.com reported. sending her daughters to the tution and crime. Now, he faces a new chal- “Williams-Bolar is not even the Copley-Fairlawn school district lenge. first parent accused of sneaking outside of her educational juris- Jenkins received a call last month that into this particular district dur- diction, the issue of what parents disrupted his normal Sunday routine of ing the particular years in ques- - especially black, low-income going fishing. “It was 5:30 a.m., and a call tion,” Belkin wrote. “As noted in parents - will do to get their chil- woke me up,” he said. “I was told that my The Beacon Journal during the tri- dren a better education burst into shop was on fire.” al, ‘....school-district officials tes- PHOTO the national consciousness. The fire started in Triangle Trophy next tified that some 30 to 40 similar “This is not the first time that Kelley Williams-Bolar being taken to court. door and came over to Jenkins’ shop at residency issues had arisen with a family has lied to get their chil- 2110 Angier Ave. He said he was told it other families during the two dren a better, safer education,” was an electrical fire, and it probably years at issue in Williams-Bolar’s tervention. Ironically, the belea- ed felon, could no longer qualify wrote Lisa Belkin on The New stemmed from an outdated fuse box in the case. No one else faced criminal guered mother was a semester for that position. York Times parenting blog. neighboring store. prosecution or civil court action, away from completing an educa- The activist blogs “Throughout the country, finan- Jenkins said when he heard about the the school officials said.’“ tion degree at the University of Colorofchange.org and cially strapped school districts fire, he went straight into action mode. The school superintendent ad- Akron. She worked as a special Change.org gathered more than have been increasing surveillance “Right after I found out about it, I get mitted that similar cases are nor- needs teaching assistant at a lo- 100,000 signatures on petitions in the weakened economy ... re- right into the solution, forget the fire. mally resolved without legal in- cal high school, but as a convict- luctant to spend money teaching Please see OHIO/2A Everyone else was in awe. I was like ‘OK, I did the right things. I did preparation. I had insurance.’ “ Unfortunately, he discovered his insur- Grant funds revitalize SE Raleigh neighborhood ance wouldn’t cover all the damages. “I hired a public adjuster who enlightened age 18. You wouldn’t believe it; By Sommer Brokaw Stabilization Program grant. was for the first three houses that me on things to do, preventive things so Smith heard about the NSP while they are so grateful and thankful were completed. The other hous- when a disaster occurs as far as a fire you THE TRIANGLE TRIBUNE working at St. Aug’s as an assis- they got somewhere they can call es are on Oakwood Avenue right will have everything you need,” he said. “I RALEIGH - Diana Smith, a moth- tant director in the cafeteria. She home now.” outside the campus and Heck thought $100,000 would be enough, but er of two teenage daughters who said she jumped on the opportu- Saint Augustine’s Community Street,” CDC Executive Director when you start looking at codes of keep- lost her apartment to a fire in nity to become a homeowner. Development Corporation held a Dennis Davis said. ing a building up to par, it costs a lot more.” November, recently moved into Her application was accepted, ribbon-cutting ceremony last An estimated 30-plus applica- Jenkins, who has been in the shop for a new home. She is one of three and her family moved into the month for the three newly reha- tions were accepted for the over 12 years, said he plans to rebuild in families that moved near Saint home last Monday. bilitated houses at 114 Lincoln homes. “We put signs out in front the same location. He hopes to have the Augustine’s College in houses “We just thank God that we were Court. of each home and people applied, shop completed this summer and to recre- that were rehabbed as part of a able to find a roof to go over our “We’re doing six single-family and based on credit and need for ate it in a more modern style $2.1 million Neighborhood heads,” she said.