Ruby Sinreich's blog

Did you know that the first civil rights "freedom ride" took place in 1947, fourteen years before the 1961 riders captured the nation's attention by exposing the brutality of Jim Crow in the South? The Journey of Reconciliation was organized by the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE), which was born at the Fellowship of Reconciliation (FOR), and was led by FOR staff members Bayard Rustin and George Houser.

The interracial group of nine men on the Journey of Reconciliation set out from Washington, D.C. on April 9th, 1947. They met some resistance from passengers and drivers on buses in Virginia and North Carolina. But when they attempted to sit at the front of a bus in Chapel Hill on April 12th, the driver refused, and removed some of the riders by force. They were then attacked by angry cab drivers at the Chapel Hill bus station, and arrested by local police. Their subsequent time serving on a chain gang led Rustin to write about the experience. His serialized journal led to major reforms in the North Carolina prison system.

The state of the local media is a subject of much concern here on OP, and there have been some very interesting shifts in recent weeks. The most exciting change is the announcement by the Carrboro Citizen that they will be expanding to cover Chapel Hill and increasing circulation by 20%. (See this OP post by CC editor Kirk Ross last fall soliciting our feedback on the expansion.) They have hired Margot Carmichael Lester who is an experienced reporter and a local native. It is really gratifying to see this locally-owned paper succeed. I think it's good for the entire community.

On the other end of the spectrum, the Kentucky-based Paxton Media Group, which bought the Herald-Sun several years ago, is continuing the downward spiral of that paper. Recently, they yanked Chapel Hill Herald editor Neil Offen and swapped him out with Durham metro editor Dan Way.

I have been hearing about a lot of inauguration-related activities going on this weekend and through Tuesday. I'd rather not have them clog up the calendar, but I thought it would be helpful to list them all in one place. Here's what I know about so far, please post additional events and let us know how you're observing this landmark event.