STATE NEWS BRIEFS FOR 07-23-20
WAKE SCHOOLS WILL OPEN SEMESTER WITH ONLINE LEARNING
[RALEIGH] After over 50% of parents indicated that they preferred their children safely learning at home virtually because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the state’s largest public school system, Wake County Public Schools, decided to start the school year most of it’s enrolled students with virtual instruction, eventually transitioning to in-person learning in the classroom later in the school year. Pre-kindergarten and special education students will begin their in-person instruction on Sept. 8th.
JUNETEENTH RECOGNIZED AS PAID HOLIDAY FOR GREENSBORO EMPLOYEES
[GREENSBORO] The Greensboro City Council Tuesday evening unanimously approved making Juneteenth a paid holiday for employees, doing Wake County in doing the sam several weeks ago. Juneteenth is the annual celebration of when slaves in Texas were informed two years after the fact that slavery had been abolished.
BLACK LIVES MATTER BILLBOARD PUT UP NEXT TO CONFEDERATE FLAG NEAR PITTSBORO
[PITTSBORO] Drivers along Highway 64 East Business used to seeing a giant Confederate battle Flag blowing in the wind, are now shaking their heads at a new neighbor - a paid billboard saying “BLACK LIVES MATTER.” The billboard, which will be up for a year, was paid for by Recidivism Reduction Educational Program Services and Emancipate NC.
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SPEARS NOT COMPROMISING ON
“BLACK LIVES MATTER” MURAL
By Cash Michaels
Contributing writer
At the recommendation of Mayor Saffo, the Wilmington City Council Tuesday night postponed a vote on creating a BLACK LIVES MATTER art installation on Third Street downtown near Jervay Memorial Gardens, hoping to reach a compromise by it’s next meeting August 4th.
But Councilman Kevin Spears isn’t having it.
“I don’t like it,” a perturbed Spears told The Journal Wednesday. “ I don’t like it at all.”
“I think we were in a position to vote last night, and we should have voted last night. The information my fellow council members said they needed [to make a decision] I think was provided to us…[giving us] the ability to make the decision.”
But instead, not only was an alternative ILM=BLM sign recommended by city staff, but Mayor Pro Tem Margaret Haynes joined Councilman Charles Rivenbark and pushing for anything other than BLACK LIVES MATTER.
During a contentious virtual meeting Monday, Rivenbark, in fact, called BLACK LIVES MATTER “racist,” opting instead for “ALL LIVES MATTER.”
Spears and other activists in the community countered, saying all lives can’t matter until black lives matter, and Wilmington’s racial history, especially since the 1898 race massacre, makes that clea
Councilman Spears says there have been “ a lot of messages” for, and against the BLACK LIVES MATTER proposed mural. He added that a lot of influence for the postponement came from constituents who were opposed to it. He agreed only because he knows that on August 4th “something has to happen. It has to take place.”
But Spears made clear that unless the BLACK LIVES MATTER mural was on the table at the August 4th meeting, he will not be voting for any compromises.
“I say it now, and I’ll say it for the next two weeks…my motion was for the art installation exactly as the proposal was stated to us,” Councilman Spears told The Journal. BLACK LIVES MATTER spelled out [as] it is.”
“At this point I’m unwilling to compromise on what the message says.”
Councilman Spears is not alone in that sentiment. Activists angrily denounced the council Tuesday night for failing to vote, and seemingly posturing to water down the BLM message.
“I am very disappointed that this council, in this city has failed the people again,” NHC NAACP Pres. Deborah Dicks Maxwell told the Journal. “First there had to be a compromise with no street mural and now opposition to the solution. Congratulations to the cities that were able to accomplish this task effortlessly. Councilman Rivenbark’s comment were divisive not the fact that recognition is needed to state Black Lives Matter. The county has recognized race as a health disparity yet the city keeps their head in the sand.
“A sad commentary for the city of 1898,” Ms. Maxwell concluded.
Sonya Patrick, head of Black Lives Matter - Wilmington and the chair of the NHC Chapter of the National Black Leadership Caucus, told The Journal, “Black Lives Matter murals are going up around the country as an art expression of social justice, humanity not politics. We do not support the wordage ILM-BLM, if the mural cannot say BLACK LIVES MATTER, the local public officials should not count on Black votes in any elections. “
Patrick continued, “It would be in bad taste if the Mayor and City Council voted against a Black Lives Matter mural at the home of the 1898 Massacre, the only government takeover in the history of this nation, killing unarmed black citizens. After over 120 years no reparations for this horrific tragedy. In 1898 the local government composed " The White Declaration of Independence", it is still relevant today in this systemic racist system... After Wilmington City Councilman Charlie Rivenbark stated that the mural will be “racist.”
“The black caucus and BLM strongly believe that his statement had no merit and that ALL public officials should take a mandatory cultural competency course with implicit bias training. We feel this would help keep our public officials from being offensive, embarrassing and making national news when discussing racial issues.”
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NC REMEMBERS JOHN LEWIS
By Cash Michaels
Contributing writer
“…[T]hey’re going to help redeem the soul of this nation….and maybe even save the planet.”
Those were some of the last public words uttered by Congressman John Lewis (D-GA-5) a month ago during a joint town hall video with former Pres. Barack Obama during the peaceful demonstrations inspired by the death of George Floyd.
The appearance was Rep. Lewis’ heartfelt expression of respect to today’s generation of freedom fighters, who he felt emulated the same level of courage and commitment he displayed as a young disciple of civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. during the turbulent 1960’s civil rights movement.
On Friday, July 17th, Congressman John Lewis, 80, died. He had been suffering for several months from stage 4 pancreatic cancer. He had represented Georgia’s Fifth Congressional District for over thirty years.
Among the tributes from leaders the world over, were many from his friends and colleagues here in North Carolina - a state the Alabama native had a deep love and respect for.
“Congressman John Lewis was a hero whose lessons will echo for generations to come,” said Gov. Roy Cooper in a statement. “Let’s all honor him by working to live up to his example.”
Congressman Lewis was also very close with former Atlanta Mayor Bill Campbell, who was the first black student to integrate the old Raleigh Public School System. The two were colleagues on the Atlanta City Council during the 1980s.
Rev. Dr. William Barber, president of Repairers of the Breach, and co-convener of the Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call for a Moral Revival, said, “John Lewis challenged everyone, including [Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.] & other elders in the Movement, through his unflinching commitment to freedom now. We cannot honor him without redoubling our efforts to revive this democracy.”
Rev. Barber had a message for Republicans who are expressing sorrow for the great civil rights champion.
“Congress, if you truly want to honor John Lewis, pass an omnibus bill that includes living wages, voting rights, & universal health care. As the Bible says in Matthew 23, don’t just love the tombs of the prophet but truly love him & honor him by doing what he did all of his life.”
Congressman Lewis’ North Carolina colleagues would agree.
America has lost its greatest living hero. Everything John Lewis did was in the service of Justice,” said Congresswoman Alma Adams (D-NC-12). “It was an honor to make “good trouble” with John in the House, and I will miss my friend. My prayers are with his family and every seeker of justice who mourns him today.
Rep. G. K. Butterfield echoed the sentiment.
“Courage, conviction, the “Conscience of Congres. Congressman John Lewis was an American hero who epitomized the true spirit of the Civil Rights Movement,” said Butterfield of his friend in a statement. “From the streets of Selma to the Halls of Congress, an original Freedom Rider and a forever freedom fighter, John Lewis dedicated his life to the cause of justice and equality and will always be remembered for his humility and strength. His fervent passion and fearless conviction will forever be a reminder to never be afraid of getting into ‘good trouble’ for a good cause. John R. Lewis was a dear friend, and he will be deeply missed, but never forgotten. He now belongs to the ages.”
Fourth District Congressman David Price, another close friend of Rep. Lewis, said, ““Congressman John Lewis’ remarkable life — rising from the Jim Crow South to courageous leadership in the Civil Rights movement to his service in the halls of Congress — is a uniquely American story, as he often said. But his love of our country was expressed in his lifelong determination that it redeem its failures and live up to its democratic promise. His moral clarity in the face of injustice harnessed the power of everyday people to demand equality in the eyes of the law, a fair chance at a better life, and inclusion in the “beloved community.”
Several North Carolina Republicans like representatives Greg Murphy, Virginia Foxx and Sen. Thom Tillis also expressed their condolences to Rep. Lewis’ family.
However, prominent Democrats in Congress challenged Republicans to truly honor Rep. Lewis by passing restoration of the 1965 Voting Rights Act, which was passed by the Democrat-controlled U.S. House, but has been sitting on Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s desk without action.(R-KY).
“"There's very little tangible evidence of this whole voter-suppression nonsense that the Democrats are promoting,” McConnell told the Wall Street Journal just last week.
NC Chief Justice Cherie Beasley knew Congressman Lewis, and respected his work as a young civil rights activist, leader of the Shaw University-born Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, and later congressman representing the Atlanta district.
“We must continue their work,” she told WRAL-TV, also acknowledging the death of another disciple of Dr. King during the ’60’s movement, Rev. C.T. Vivian, who died the day before Lewis.
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ASHEVILLE COUNCILMAN KEITH YOUNG
SONYA PATRICK
COULD OTHER NC CITIES
PASS REPARATIONS FOR BLACKS?
By Cash Michaels
Contributing writer
When the Western North Carolina city of Asheville passed a local resolution mandating reparations to it’s Black community, it was the shot heard around the world.
By a 7-0 unanimous vote, the Asheville City Council not only apologized for its role in enslaving Black people who essentially built the Buncombe County city during the 1700-1800s through hard, unpaid labor, but resolved to make investments to help area African-Americans to “…increasing minority home ownership and access to other affordable housing, increasing minority business ownership and career opportunities, strategies to grow equity and generational wealth, closing the gaps in health care, education, employment and pay, neighborhood safety and fairness within criminal justice,”according to the ratified July 14th city resolution.
Afterwards, one of the resolution’s sponsors, Councilman Keith Young, said, “Hundreds of years of Black blood spilled that basically fills the cup we drink from today.”
Based on published reports, there are a few other cities, like Chicago and Evanston, Illinois that have passed some form of reparations measure. There are also state legislatures like New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania considering legislation. California’s state house reportedly passed legislation in June, and has sent it’s measure onto it’s state Senate.
But conspicuously, no other North Carolina town, city or county is on the list for even considering reparations, despite their documented roles in enslaving people of African descent.
That was the case for Black slaves who were considered property, considered 20 percent of the known population in 1808 of what was then known as Greensborough. Years later, the Underground Railroad would transport blacks from Guilford County to safe haven up North until slavery ended in 1865.
That was the case in Charlotte-Mecklenburg, where according to D.A. Tompkins’ History of Mecklenburg County, slavery was introduced there in 1764. By 1860, the lave population is estimated to have been roughly 6800 out of the total population of 17,000. And during the Civil War, Mecklenburg slaves were “donated” to the Confederacy to help build fortifications in Eastern North Carolina, and work on the Statesville Railroad.
And a case can certainly be made for reparations in Wilmington, given the 1898 racial slaughter of blacks by white supremacists that resulted in a bloody, and illegal grab for power, property and governance.
Sonya Patrick, head of the New Hanover County of the National Black Leadership Caucus and Black Lives Matter - Wilmington, says Asheville has certain lit a spark that she hopes will light up the nation, and the embattled Port City.
“The state of NC needs to take responsibility for the 1898 Massacre, a bill needs to be rendered to provide the following as a form of reparations: 1- All students of low level schools be provided a free wifi and computer . 2- Scholarship for all the descendants of the 1898 Massacre ( which can be proved by census, legal documentation for example certificates ( birth and death). . 3 - Compensation for the Black Press. 4- Compensation for the churches and black businesses that existed in 1898 and are still current. 5 -. Compensations to victims of the descendants of stolen property,” Patrick says.
She notes the the NC Democratic Party passed a resolution for reparations in 2014, the state legislature ignored it.
“However, giving up is not an option,” Patrick says.
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