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North Carolina

Racist Roots: Origins Of North Carolina’s Death Penalty

October 6, 2020 Henderson Hill, NC Policy Watch. , ,
Right now, our nation is in a moment of reckoning with our criminal punishment system. We are finally seeing clearly what should have been obvious long ago: The system has its knee on the necks of Black people. In North Carolina, as we begin a long-overdue conversation about the future of police and prisons, we must confront the punishment that sits at the top of that system, condoning all its other cruelties — the death penalty. When citizens have acclimated to the state strapping a person to a gurney and killing them in front of an audience, it becomes harder to shock them.

At North Carolina Colleges, ‘Safe Jobs Save Lives’

August 19, 2020 By Calvin Deutschbein, Workers World. , , ,
The UNC-Chapel Hill administration’s communications team finally acknowledged the spread of infection half an hour later and issued a campus alert.  The administrators had spent months fighting students, workers, local and state governments, the N.C. Department of Health, virtually every local community group — and the very concept of human dignity — to push forward an in-person reopening. The University of North Carolina, a statewide system of 16 colleges and universities, wields considerable indirect power over the entire higher education sector in the state. This is reflected in the in-person openings underway at nearby private schools Duke University and Elon College.  All around North Carolina, workers united are saying, “Safe Jobs Save Lives!”

Campus Workers Sue UNC System Over Unsafe Working Conditions

August 16, 2020 Kate Murphy, The News and Observer. , , ,
North Carolina university employees are suing the UNC System, saying working conditions are unsafe as tens of thousands of students return to campuses during the coronavirus pandemic. “Essential workers across UNC System campuses continue to report to work with inadequate protective equipment to ensure their safety,” the UE150, NC Public Service Workers Union said in a statement Monday. Some university employees, including housekeepers and other campus workers, are provided one or two masks per week and many don’t have access to face shields or gowns, according to the union.

Witness Against Torture Prison Hunger Strike

August 15, 2020 Witness Against Torture. , , ,
Shine’s hunger strike is now in its second week and the next few days of pressure are critical!  So WAT family: Contact Shane Tharrington and demand Shine's (Joseph Stewart #0802041) release from solitary even if you're not fasting in solidarity: shane.tharrington@ncdps.gov & 984-255-6100.  The Call-to-Action gives you history and details to elaborate on.  Tell Mr. Tharrington: "As a member of Witness Against Torture, I stand resolute against the use of solitary confinement. Re-classify Joseph "Shine White" Stewart because solitary confinement is torture. "

Newly Released Video Shows Jailed Black Man Died In Custody

August 11, 2020 By Connor Perrett, Insider. , , ,
Newly released video footage shows a Black man in custody in medical distress, repeatedly telling corrections officers he couldn't breathe as officers struggled to detain him after he experienced a medical event in a North Carolina jail two days before he died. Five corrections officers and one nurse have since been fired and charged with involuntary manslaughter for their role in the death of a 56-year-old James Elliott Neville, who died on December 4, 2019. The video, released this week as part of a judge's order, depicts events that occurred at the Forsyth County Jail on December 2, 2019, two days before his death and one day after he was arrested on assault charges by the Kernersville Police Department, according to the report.  The Forsyth County Medical Examiner said Neville's death was caused by "complications of hypoxic-ischemic brain injury due to cardiopulmonary arrest due to positional and compressional asphyxia during prone restraint." The Greensboro, North Carolina, man had been revived several times, both at the jail and in the hospital before he entered a coma and ultimately died.

Occupy The Block For The Neville Family On Third Week

August 9, 2020 the Triad Abolition Project. , , ,
On day 22 of Occupy the Block #OccupyWSNC, demonstrators gathered at Bailey Park at 10 am. At 3 pm, approximately 300 occupiers, supporters, and the Neville Family gathered on the sidewalk outside the Forsyth County Courthouse for the Rally of Support for the Neville Family. Activists spoke of love for the Neville family and called for transparency and accountability from our officials. Sean Neville offered words of thanks for the movement. Meanwhile, officers lined the windows at the entrance of the courthouse. Bike cops stalked the gathering, following the group even as they marched and threatened participants if they stepped off the sidewalk.

Asheville Approves Reparations For Black Residents

July 16, 2020 Joel Burgess, Asheville Citizen Times. , , ,
Asheville, NC - In an extraordinary move, the City Council has apologized for the city's historic role in slavery, discrimination and denial of basic liberties to Black residents and voted to provide reparations to them and their descendants. The 7-0 vote came the night of July 14. "Hundreds of years of black blood spilled that basically fills the cup we drink from today," said Councilman Keith Young, one of two African American members of the body and the measure's chief proponent. "It is simply not enough to remove statues. Black people in this country are dealing with issues that are systemic in nature," Young said. The unanimously passed resolution does not mandate direct payments. Instead it will make investments in areas where Black residents face disparities.

Raleigh Black Lives Matter Protest Reaches 35th Day

July 6, 2020 By Richard Stradling and Sophie Kasakove, The News & Observer. , , ,
For the 35th consecutive day, Black Lives Matter protesters chanted, made speeches, waved signs and marched across downtown Raleigh on Saturday. They are protesting SB 168 which lawmakers passed nearly unanimously with no discussion in the wee hours of the morning on June 27, would shield death investigation records from the public when they are shared with the state Office of the Chief Medical Examiner. Those records are now considered public under state law.  “The fact that they’re trying to ... pass this over on us and act like it’s no big deal like they’re just gonna ignore us — that is why we’re so much more ready to fight anything that comes our way,” said Lauren Howell, 21, an organizer with the group N.C. Born. “Because we know it’s not right.”

Black Power Through Participatory Budgeting

June 5, 2020 Rossanna Mercedes, Medium. , , ,
I’ve spent the last two and half years learning and implementing participatory budgeting in New York City, first from within the New York City Council and now as a staff member of Participatory Budgeting Project. As members of Black Youth Project 100, I and my colleague Maria Hadden have presented on participatory budgeting as a policy for Black self-determination and liberation on various occasions and to varying audiences. Can you imagine my excitement when, on August 1st, The Movement for Black Lives released a robust policy agenda titled A Vision for Black Lives: Policy Demands for Black Power, Freedom and Justice — and included a bold solution for more community control through participatory budgeting? Contained in the policy agenda are some things we want to see get done.

North Carolina Court Strikes Down State Legislative Map As Unconstitutional Gerrymander

September 4, 2019 Joseph Ax, Reuters.com , , ,
(Reuters) - A North Carolina court on Tuesday struck down the Republican-drawn state legislative map as an illegal partisan gerrymander and gave lawmakers two weeks to enact new district lines for next year’s elections. A three-judge panel in Wake County Superior Court said the state Senate and state House district lines discriminated against Democratic voters in violation of the state constitution’s free elections, equal protection and free speech clauses. The decision is a victory for election reform advocates considering legal challenges to partisan gerrymandering in state courts despite a U.S. Supreme Court ruling earlier this year blocking such cases in federal courts.

Report Back From An Anti-ICE Protest In NC

February 9, 2019 Anti-Capital, Itsgoingdown.org , ,
Over the last week, there has been a wave of ICE arrests across North Carolina. Perhaps the most notable is a workplace raid that took place at Bear Creek Arsenal, a firearms manufacturing plant, but arrests have also been made outside a high school in Durham, and several dozen reported in Charlotte. The pattern is relatively obvious, ICE is targeting the everyday activities of working-class people and terrorizing them and their families. Thanks, by the way, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez for helping to reopen the federal government, the immigrant community really missed ICE, but hey, we all have to make compromises, right?

Paying It Forward: North Carolina J20 Ex-Defendants Pass On Anti-Repression Funds

January 21, 2019 Staff, Itsgoingdown.org , , ,
Two years ago, roughly twenty anarchists, anti-fascists, and anti-capitalists from the North Carolina region were among the 200+ people arrested for disrupting the Presidential Inauguration spectacle, also known as J20). Some of us went to trial. Some of us stuck it out until the final dismissal. None of us accepted their bullshit pleas. Despite the prosecution’s divide and conquer tactics, we stuck together. And we beat them! Along the way we learned valuable lessons, gained stronger relationships, and, thanks to our amazing regional support network, a few thousand dollars in defense funds.

Samuel Oliver-Bruno Kidnapped By ICE: Sanctuary Is Disobedience

November 29, 2018 Anonymous, Itsgoingdown.org , , ,
The biggest sale this year for Black Friday is deportation. As millions gathered around tables and screens, celebrating their families and purchases, we the folks of North Carolina are in mourning. On Friday morning, August 23rd, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (I.C.E.) set a biometric trap for Samuel Oliver-Bruno. After eleven months of living in the basement of City Well Church in Durham, advocating for “prosecutorial discretion,” Samuel Oliver-Bruno unsettled sanctuary and left for an immigration appointment in nearby Morrisville. Held by clergy and spirited warriors, Samuel walked into the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services office where he was besieged by officers. His son, Daniel, was swept into a mangle of arms and charged with assaulting an officer.

Read The Moving Letter The Descendant Of A Racist Confederate Leader Wrote In Support Of Anti-Racist Activists

October 16, 2018 By Kali Holloway, Independentmediainstitute.org , , , ,
Meg Yarnell, the great-great-great-granddaughter of Julian Carr, is calling for academic and criminal charges to be dropped against Maya Little and other anti-racist activists who have been arrested for protests related to the Confederate monument known as Silent Sam. In an open letter to University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill administrators, including Chancellor Carol Folt, Yarnell notes that she is “grateful for what Maya did to contextualize this statue and advance the cause for its removal.” In the weeks and months following the toppling of Silent Sam on August 20, Carr’s speech at the statue’s 1913 dedication ceremony has been widely recirculated.

Hurricane Florence Highlights The Cruel Reality Of Factory Farming

October 6, 2018 Kenny Torrella, Buzzflash.com , , , ,
Broiler chickens (chickens raised for meat) are the top agricultural commodity in North Carolina. In 2015, 823 million broiler chickens were raised in the state. (Photo credit: North Carolina Department of Agriculture). In 1999, Hurricane Floyd tore through North Carolina, killing 74 people and causing $6.5 billion in damage. But it didn't just destroy towns and claim human lives; it also claimed the lives of millions of farm animals. The images are impossible to forget: lifeless pigs floating in flood water, thousands of dead chickens inside a factory farm and a few live pigs huddling on top of a barn almost completely submerged under water.
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