Racial & Economic Justice

Another Busy Night

Activists, start your engines! There are three great events tonight, addressing development of Carolina North, workers' rights on campus, and homophobia in the classroom. (All pertaining to UNC, hmmm.) Which one are you going to?

1. Town Council Public Hearing on the Horace Williams Citizen's Commitee Report and on OI-4. Starts at 7pm, Chapel Hill Town Hall. There are lots and lots of meetings relating to UNC's development plans, but this Monday is one not to miss. The Chapel Hill Town Council will hold public hearings on two issues that will define the future deliberations about Carolina North. I'll be there.

2. The Workers Solidarity Coalition teach-in about the history of workers struggles at UNC. Starts at 7pm, Greenlaw 101, UNC-CH. Sounds great! Panelists include: Fred Battle, leaders of the 1969 Lenoir strike, Keith Edwards, leaders of the Housekeepers Movement and UE 150. I hate that I will be missing this.

Springtime for Hitler in Raleigh?

Not quite. About 30 Nazi's came to Raleigh on Sunday to visit with their KKK pals. I'm proud that the opposition was led and populated largely by people from Orange County. The N & O put the ratio at about 20 protesters per Nazi.

The white supremacists marched onto the Capitol grounds to furious shouts from the protesters. Several wore brown uniforms reminiscent of Adolf Hitler's Third Reich. Three others donned Ku Klux Klan robes.

About a half-dozen speakers cited a wide range of complaints including interracial marriage, the war in Iraq and what they said was Jewish control of the media.- Raleigh N&O, 2/22/04

I guess you can add OrangePolitics to the list of Jewish-run media. Look out, I'm taking over!

Oh Good, Another Forum

It doesn't inspire much confidence for me to see Orange County government holding yet another forum about our affordable housing problem. In addition to forums like this, a "summit" a few years ago, and a lengthy report from a well-qualified task force you'd think they'd be up to doing something about affordable housing by now.

In my experience, the County's not even particularly good at the one thing they do, which is disperse the voter-approved bond funds to support the building and acquisition of affordable housing.

Martin Luther King Boulevard

In addition to a number of other good ideas on the Chapel Hill Town Council's agenda, I'm told they will hear a proposal tonight to rename Airport Road to Martin Luther King Boulevard. When I was first exposed to this idea (at a candidate forum last fall), I was taken aback. I've known that road for a long time by only one name.

But actually, it makes a lot more sense to me than naming the road after an aiport that hardly anyone uses, and most people expect to be closed within a few years. And It's especially appropriate that the street that will be the future grand entrance to Carolina North should be named after such a great American. I hope it will serve as a daily reminder to all of us to do whatever we can to live up to the moral challenges of our times (of which there are many).

MLK Day - Jan. 19

The Chapel Hill Herald reports that our local Martin Luther King Day festivies this year will focus on voting. The timing couldn't be better.

"If all we do is get together and talk big in January, all the work of Dr. King and those of us who worked with him will be in vain," said Fred Battle, the president of the Chapel Hill-Carrboro branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, in a statement. "We must visit our neighbors with registration forms. After they register, we must make sure they know which politicians will do something about our problems -- not just talk big before elections.

"I plan to celebrate Dr. King's birthday twice this year; first in January and again in November on Election Day," he said.

Pages

 

Community Guidelines

By using this site, you agree to our community guidelines. Inappropriate or disruptive behavior will result in moderation or eviction.

 

Content license

By contributing to OrangePolitics, you agree to license your contributions under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivs 3.0 United States License.

Creative Commons License

 
Zircon - This is a contributing Drupal Theme
Design by WeebPal.