social justice
This past Friday, April 24th, marked the last day of classes at UNC-Chapel Hill for 2014-2015, and while many students fulfilled the campus tradition of relaxing on the quad, others chose to reclaim and “occupy” the space as a hub for an open dialogue about the university’s racial tensions over the past year.
The event was organized by The Real Silent Sam, which is a coalition of student, faculty, and community activists working to contextualize the university’s physical landscape and institutional history.
Most notably, the coalition’s efforts to rename Saunders Hall in favor of Hurston Hall have caused a buzz of controversy throughout the community, making local, state, and national headlines.
Saunders Hall is named after William Saunders, a UNC trustee, confederate colonel in the Civil War and a chief organizer for the Ku Klux Klan.
On April 9, Chapel Hill-Carrboro Schools will present an unprecedented living wage policy for full and part-time employees to the Orange County Board of Commissioners.
According to School Board Member James Barrett, the idea for a living wage policy emerged from a cost-savings discussion during the summer of 2014 to move some school janitors from district to contract-based employment. In doing this, the city would save money at the expense of a drop in wage for workers.
The unanimous board-approved wage decrease from about $11.50 to $9.50 an hour infuriated Barrett, who was not present for the vote.
“I raised a fuss about it,” he said. “I didn’t think it was acceptable to give our lowest paid employees a twenty-percent cut while at the same time giving our highest paid employees—our administrators—a three-percent raise.”
Later in September, Orange County Commissioner Mark Dorosin continued the discussion of a living wage for both employees and contractors in a joint meeting between the school board and the Orange County Board of Commissioners.
"The Chapel Hill-Carrboro and UNC-CH chapters of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) will sponsor its annual Martin L. King Jr. Day Rally, March, and Worship Service. Meet for the rally at 9:00 a.m. and then join our march down Franklin Street. The march will end at First Baptist Church. At 11:00, the church service at Historic First Baptist Church (106 North Roberson Street, Chapel Hill NC) will commence. There will also be choir performances and a brief ceremony honoring those who have served in the military."
Date:
Monday, January 19, 2015 - 9:00am
Location:
Chapel Hill Peace & Justice Plaza (Franklin Street)
Date:
Saturday, February 14, 2015 - 9:00am
Location:
2 East South Street, Raleigh
"A panel of our local school district superintendents will discuss the impact of the NC budget on local schools at a public meeting at 7 pm on Tuesday, February 3, 2015.
Expert participants include: Dr. Del Burns, Orange County Interim Superintendent; Dr. Tom Forcella, Chapel Hill-Carrboro Superintendent; Dr. Derrick Jordan, Chatham Superintendent and Dr. Bert L'Homme, Durham Superintendent.
The League of Women Voters of Orange, Durham and Chatham and the North Carolina Central University (NCCU) School of Education are partnering to sponsor the meeting. Dr. Wynetta Lee, Dean of the School of Education at NCCU, will moderate the discussion, which will be held in the School of Education Auditorium in the H.M. Michaux Jr. building on the NCCU campus at 700 Cecil Street in Durham.
Parking is available in any of the campus lots after 5 pm, and elevator access is on the lower level of the building from the front parking lot."
Date:
Tuesday, February 3, 2015 - 7:00pm
Location:
School of Education Auditorium in the H.M. Michaux Jr. building on the NCCU campus at 700 Cecil Street in Durham
On Tuesday, June 3, at 6:00 pm, the Board of the Chapel Hill-Carrboro YMCA is likely to announce that it will merge with the YMCA of the Triangle Association (YOTA). The meeting will take place at Amity Church, 825 N Estes Drive, adjacent to the CHCYMCA.
Justice United is joining with Organizing Against Racism (OAR) and Racial Equity Institute (REI) to ask “Why are people poor?” Titled “Understanding Poverty in America,” the analysis will help communities and congregations organize more effectively to eliminate barriers to economic opportunity. The program will critically examine the roots of systemic poverty, explore how wealth in American has been accumulated, and review socialized bias against the poor. For more information on the program, please contact Stephanie Perry at 919-225-6187 or [email protected] Date:
Thursday, May 29, 2014 - 7:00pm to 9:00pm
Location:
United Church of Chapel Hill
From The Internationalist Prison Books Collective
The New Press just donated 150 copies of the excellent book The New Jim Crow to us to be sent to North Carolina prisoners. This comes right on the heels of NCPLS successfully challenging the ban by the North Carolina Dept. of Corrections on The New Jim Crow as a violation of the First Amendment. This donation is a huge help for us at the Prison Books Collective and the populations we send books to. There is a great need inside prisons to understand the roots and nature of the prison-industrial complex. We want to publicly thank The New Press for publishing this important book and making it available to NC prisoners.
After years of planning and community discussion, the Orange County Board of Commissioners recently placed a referendum on the November ballot for a half-cent sales tax to support public transit. Together with state and federal contributions, the new revenue will support a 20-year investment in bus and rail service in Orange County. There are many reasons to support the transit tax, like reducing the environmental degradation wreaked by overreliance on car travel and the sprawl it generates. Often overlooked are the benefits of public transit for marginalized populations.
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