Outside organizations' influence on Durham's municipal election

 Rev-elution offers independent, local, Black journalism and reflections on faith in public space. Support Rev-elution by contributing at: Cash app, $CMizzou, or Venmo, $Carl-Kenney-1

commentary - People don’t like outsiders intruding in their business. The phrase “mind your own business” is commonly spoken to remind people to keep their nose out of other folks’ affairs.

The refrain can be heard after members of Durham4All, a Durham based grassroots political organization, put out a call for people to join a Zoom meeting from anywhere. In response, people from across the state joined in a conversation involving Durham’s municipal election.

Questions linger regarding who Durham4All will use in their phone banking efforts. Are they registered Durham voters? Is Durham4All call on groups with limited ties to Durham responded to campaign on behalf of their endorsed candidates.

Durham4All reached out to:

Down Home, Inc, a new organizing project with locations in Alamance, Cabarrus, Haywood, Jackson, and Madison counties.

Equality NC, North Carolina’s oldest organization dedicated to LGBTQIA rights with locations across the state.

Guilford For All, supports families living in Brown Summit, Gibsonville, Greensboro, High Point, Jamestown, McLeansville, Oak Ridge, Summerfield, Stokesdale, Sedalia, and Whitsett.

North Carolina Association of Educators, advocates for educators across the state.

New Hanover For All, is based in New Hanover County.

NC Raise Up, is North Carolina’s branch of the fight for $15 minimum wage and a union.

Siembra, a statewide organization, with offices in Durham, was born in 2017 in response to Donald Trump’s war on immigrants.

“We’ll listen to our neighbors around the state to hear about the problems impacting them, the solutions that speak to them, and the visions that inspire them,” New Hanover for All submitted in their call to action. “Then we’ll propose, discuss, and vote on policies to win a North Carolina that works for all of us.”

New Hanover for All’s appeal listed the group eligible to vote:

·         Guilford for All

·         New Hanover for All

·         Forsyth Freedom Federation

·         Durham for All

·         People’s Alliance

·         Bull City Tenants United

·         Down Home NC

·         NC Raise Up

·         Siembra

·         North Carolina Association of Educators

Notwithstanding the important work these organizations do in mobilizing across North Carolina, there are critical questions related to how they intersect and utilize outside resource to impact municipal elections. What are the consequences related to Durham for All, People’s Alliance, Durham Association of Educators, and Bull City Tenants United meeting to discuss a statewide agenda with implications on local governance?

For organizers dedicated to placing government in the hands of the people, developing a statewide plan is a good thing. For the people committed to government being shaped by the people who live in the city, it’s a bad thing.

Most important is the façade of inclusion. These groups assume relationships with Black and Brown people. They galvanize support based on a progressive platform – defunding police, advancing a $15 minimum wage, immigrant protections, unionization, and tenant rights. The question remains, do they really represent and empower the people they claim to serve?

These organizations identify, train, and support people to run for local office. They aren’t interested in playing the usual game. They want to change the rules. This is the essence of politics. They’re building new structures to control the game, and they’re moving beyond the limits of a municipal election.

They’re not breaking rules. They’re changing the way politics is won in North Carolina. Some people don’t like it. Others point to how party politics has controlled the game. We could argue the legitimacy of their work in representing the people they claim to support. That’s true with most political action groups. Most organizations are more mission statement and a power point presentation than nitty gritty, hands-on activist work.

Durham voters will soon select a mayor and representatives on the city council. This year’s election represents new challenges for voters. It’s not just the candidates. They’re voting on ideologies related to political systems. Will voters endorse the authority of local voters, or will they welcome a statewide and national movement to redefine government?

If they adopt the strategy of an emerging mandate, the power and influence of residents may be compromised by a well-financed movement to change government.

You decide.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Rev. Jerry Young elected president of the National Baptist Convention USA, Inc. despite oppossition to women in ministry

The National Baptist Convention USA, Inc. has morphed into the Southern Baptist Convention.  Sadly, few have noticed.  Even more disheartening is no one seems to care.

When Rev. Jerry Young was elected as president of the National Baptist Convention, no one stopped to question his position on women in ministry.  Young, pastor of New Hope Baptist Church in Jackson, Mississippi, was elected during the 134^th annual session of the convention last week in New Orleans.

Young received 3,195 of the 6,400 votes cast. He won on a platform that promises to modify the organizations infrastructure.  Masses of women voted for Young despite his opposition to women in ministry. Men who serve with women on staff voted for young. 

No one seems to care.

Young’s promise for infrastructure modifications was enough to entice members to place the needs of women on the backburner.  Women voted against their own interest, and men made a statement regarding the power and privilege of men within the National Baptist Convention.

The national press failed to cover Young’s election. With more than 7.5 million members, the National Baptist Convention is the largest black denomination in America. At one time, half of America’s black population was a member of the convention.  The lack of national coverage reflects the groups dwindling influence, and the election of Young speaks to the group’s lack of sensitivity related to women in ministry.

No one seems to care that Young has publicly denounced women in ministry.  No one seems to care about the lingering message sent to the more than 10,000 women ordained by churches within the National Baptist Convention. 

How do you preach to women after voting for a man who fails to affirm a woman’s  role in ministry?  What justice is left for the women who endured going to divinity school, and paying the price to serve in leadership, only to be told there is no room at the table for them?  How do you justify voting for a person who refuses to embrace women?  How do you convince women to continue to trust their calling when the president of the convention is on record in opposition to their service?

Where is the justice for women in ministry? Why no outcry?  Why aren’t women fighting?  Has the patriarchy silenced their resistance? Have they been sold a theological perspective that legitimizes their demoralization?

Have they been told it doesn’t matter?  Has the autonomy of the local church been used to rationalize the promotion of a man who opposes women in leadership?  If this is true, why worry about national leadership?  If the president of the National Baptist Convention isn’t elected to promote the common values of local churches, why worry?

What meaning is there beyond the preferment of a national agenda? Shouldn’t the national president present an agenda that reflects the direction of churches across the country?  Wouldn’t it help if the convention presses congregations to affirm women in leadership? What about other issues that impact public space? If not, what’s the role of the National Baptist Convention beyond it being a fellowship designed to promote the personal agendas of the pastors who attend?

There was no mention of Young’s position on women in ministry.  The national press missed it.  No one seems to care. The silence reflects the sad truth about the National Baptist Convention.  Its purpose is in promoting its own agenda.  It has limited voice beyond the purview of the internal matters of the convention.  For many, there is comfort in the limits of the convention.  Others wonder what could be if the convention moved beyond the walls of the institution.

Woman helped it happen.  Men are content with maintaining the status quo.  Lost in the silence is the prophetic voice of the Church.  As the world shifts in the direction of change, the church refuses to engage in real dialogue related to the implications of change. 

The worst part is no one noticed.

When you’re deep into subjugation, you simply take the mistreatment thrust your way.

Let the women of the Church say amen.

Corrections:
1.The National Baptist is NOT the larges AA denomination. The COGIC now has that distinction

2. Women did speak out. I went on twitter and I know Carolyn Knight was on Facebook as were other women.

3. Lorena Parrish, a member of the Women of Color in Ministry Council also blogged about this

Kalkhof: "DDI is off the table"

“If I run for city council DDI is off the table,” Bill Kalkhof, president of Durham Downtown, Inc., told me during a recent phone conversation. “It would be a conflict of interest if I continued to serve.”

The conversation came after a recent blog were I mention Kalkhof as a potential candidate for city council. His name has circulated since 2009 after he shared his interest with Barry Ragin and Kevin Davis on Shooting the Bull, their radio show on WXDU. Kalkhof says he has pondered running since then with the understanding that doing so would mean leaving the post he has held since the beginning of DDI.

“I have a team in place,” he told me. “If I decide to run now they are prepared. If not this time they are in place for me to run late.”. Kalkhof was clear that serious thought has gone into his decision to run. At issue is not if, but when, and the when has much to do with if the landscape is such that he can assure winning.

Kalkhof has been instrumental in fueling growth in downtown Durham. Once a wasteland of vacant and deteriorating buildings, downtown has transformed into one of the hottest spots in the South. The city has caught the attention of the New York Times and is regarded as a national model for economic development.

To keep the wheels of progress flowing, Kalkhof led the charge to pass the Downtown Business Improvement District (BID) which created a special taxing district for augmented services downtown. Like a master craftsman, Kalkhof was able to convince the city council the BID is essential during tough economic times.

"If you believe, like DDI does, that the current level of services is simply not good enough, then we're going to have to have a public-private option to raise up the level of services downtown, and to do so in a way that does not take away from other neighborhoods," Kalkhof said during a council meeting. He convinced the council that forming a special tax district would free funds to focus on other vital needs.

Kalkhof has his share of critics. Some have argued that the emphasis on economic development downtown has robbed resources from North East Central Durham and Southside/Rolling Hills. Others are critical of how Kalkhof and DDI receives credit for all that growth while failing to acknowledge the contributions of Jim Goodman at American Tobacco, Christian Laettner, Brian Davis and Tom Niemann at West Village, and Michael Lemanski, Steve Mangano, Paul Smith and Carl Webb at Greenfire Development. They are quick to point to a series of interrelated events that led to massive growth in downtown. More than Kalkhof’s passion, they argue, it was the vision of these business folks that stirred the growth.

The critics of Kalkhof are silenced by the success of downtown economic development. His passion and consistent voice as the advocate for downtown revitalization has been influential in shifting the tide. Now that the BID is in place, Kalkhof is free to pass the baton and consider expanding economic growth in other areas as a member of the city council.

Kalkhof has talked about focusing on downtown and extending economic development from the center. He has talked about developing North East Central Durham and Soutside/Rolling Hills after building a strong infrastructure from the downtown district core.


Maybe he can follow through with the rest of the vision. One thing is certain-we have to take notice of his track record.

DDI is off the table. Sounds like he needs to be placed in a seat.