The Carolina Times reports the story of Hayti's vanished dreams

The history of Durham’s Hayti community and the impact of urban renewal screams on the pages of The Carolina Times.

When presented with the proposal to build a freeway through the heart of Durham’s Hayti community, Black leaders promoted an opportunity to advance economic development.

“Not only are we in favor of the urban renewal part of the measure, but we are in favor of the bond issue in its entirety,” Louis Alston, publisher and editor of The Carolina Times, wrote on Sept. 22, 1962. “To be against it would place us in the position of limiting progress which is entirely out of line with the role this newspaper has endeavored to play during its approximately 40 years of experience.”

Alston conveys concern regarding white voters’ opposition to Durham urban renewal.

“If the bond issue is passed in its entirety, it will have to be passed by a solid Negro vote plus that of the few progressive and fair-minded white voters who are noble enough to rise above the level of prejudice and narrowness in supporting it,” Alston writes. “Frankly, we see no need of Negroes kidding themselves about the inevitable position the race holds in Durham.”

In the Sept. 15, 1962, issue of The Carolina Times, Alston warned Black voters of the possible defeat of the Urban Renewal Bond.

“As badly as the urban renewal project is needed for the future development of Durham as a whole, the mere fact that the anticipated improvements will be devoted for the most part to a Negro section is a kiss of death,” Alston writes. “The mass of white voters of this city will not respond favorably to any movement that means the betterment of the Negro’s lot. This has been proved again and again and there is no prospect that the condition will take a turn for the better on October 6 or soon thereafter.”

Ninety percent of Durham’s Black residents voted in support of the bond that displaced 600 Black residents and106 Black-owned businesses. Voters believed urban renewal would trigger massive economic progress in a community suffering due to a decline in population.

“The time has come when progressive white and Negro citizens here must rise above the program of race hatred, prejudice, bigotry, envy and jealousy that is now being advanced by Durham’s usual busy bodies when measures of progress are proposed,” Alston writes in his Sept. 22 editorial. “They must stand together, or Durham is certain to continue the state of stagnation and small pace progress it has experienced during the past 25 years which has seen it drop from the state’s fourth city in size to the fifth in position.”

Support for the urban renewal project dwindled after members of the White Rock Baptist Church scrambled to find a new location for their church edifice after the ravaging of their historical edifice.

“With many of Durham’s leading business and professional men and women, occupying positions on its roster of officers, the members of White Rock awakened one morning to find themselves out of doors, so far as having a place of their own in which to worship,” The Carolina Times reports on May 23, 1970. “Thus, they were forced to resort to the use of facilities at North Carolina Central University and a sister church, during the interim of the raising of their old House of Worship and the erection of a new edifice at another location.”

The Carolina Times challenged the members of St. Joseph AME Church to consider legal action in preparation for their forced relocation.

“Because of the critical situation experienced by White Rock, we feel it our bounden duty to sound a note of warning to the minister, officers and members of St. Joseph’s to get about their Father’s business, at once, and set their House of Worship in order, to determine whether surrounding circumstances of the present structure will eventually demand that they seek an outright new location as well as the erection of a new church edifice or be allowed to remain at its present site,” The Carolina Times states on May 23, 1970. “In the case of St. Joseph’s which has on its membership roll nine or more lawyers, as well as a member of the Urban Renewal, we would recommend that every legal angle be explored to determine whether the church has any chance of holding the Urban Renewal organization to its original proposal, which would have provided the church with sufficient area for parking at the present location, or whatever growth or development it may desire in the future.”

The May 23, 1970, article in The Carolina Times serves as a reminder of both the power and limitations of two of Durham’s most influential institutions – St. Jospeh AME Church and White Rock Baptist Church. The strain of urban renewal impacts the entirety of Durham’s Black community. The challenge to the members of St. Joseph “to get about their Father’s business” recognizes the massive power within the congregation.

Urban renewal transcendent the burden among poor Black residents devoid of the resources to battle the consequence of displacement. The demolition of White Rock’s historical edifice radically shifted the conversation. The Carolina Times, the leadership of the Durham Committee on the Affairs of Black People and Black residents recognized the smell in the air. They inhaled the aroma of a decaying community.

The Black community felt the pain of being hoodwinked.

Vivian Edmonds assumed control of The Carolina Times after her father, Louis Alston, died in 1971. The tone in editorials shifted from approval to extreme disdain.

“If ever an injustice and dastardly scheme was perpetrated on black folk in Durham, it seems to have been the so-called Urban Renewal Program,” The Carolina Times reports in the June 18, 1977, edition. “Outside of a few affluent families who seem to remain non-committal, the rest of the black folk who have been and are being affected, have renamed the fiasco “Black Removal” and tell some wicked stories of treatment.”

Stories of unfair treatment and dismal payments pack the pages of the Black-owned newspaper.  Edmonds offers The Carolina Times as an example of negligence in relocating businesses.

“Ours happens to be one of the last of three businesses left to be ‘relocated’, out of approximately 106 that made up the once flourishing Hayti section of Durham, which were affected by the so-called ‘urban renewal’ programs,” the June 18, 1977, editorial claims. “If our experience is typical, then God forbid what has happened to others.”

The Carolina Times called for the launching of an investigation into the entire urban renewal program.

“If it is found that people have been cheated – no matter how far back in this program -they ought to be paid,” the editorial states. “If black folks have been sold down the river by their own, then they, and the world, ought to know it. If they have not, then such an investigation would put a stop to the heinous stories that abound.”

On Sept. 11, 1982, 20 years after the start of Durham’s Urban Renewal project, The Carolina Times reported negotiations between Durham city planners and eight Black business owners seeking relocation.

Paul Norby, former director of Durham’s planning department, contracted with the Durham Black Business and Professional Chain to plan how to fit these businesses into a Hayti redevelopment proposal.

Ervin Allen, Jr., executive director of the Black Business and Professional Chain, related disappointment with city officials because the eight businesses weren’t involved in the contract planning process. Allen said the process lacked foresight making it impossible to fulfill the terms of the contract within six months “because it would take that long to get the businesses into discussions.”

“The businesses refused to let the Chain see their financial books,” The Carolina Times reports. “These same businesses had consistently refused to let city planners see their books as a requirement for relocation.”

The businesses are: The Carolina Times, Imperial Barber Shop, Dreamland Shoe Shine, Thorpe’s Barber Shop, Green Candle Restaurant, E.N. Toole Electrical Contractors, Service Printing Company and Midway Sport Shop.

On Dec. 5, 1981, The Carolina Times reports five businesses remain housed in a temporary facility known as “Tin City”, built in 1969 with a goal of lasting 18 months while preparing to relocate displaced businesses.

“To resolve this last barrier to the redevelopment of NCR-54, the city has taken two important steps. First, it has rewritten the Urban Renewal plan for the area in such a way that renewal of the area no longer will have to be restored comparable to its early composition or even to provide needed services for the community,” The Carolina Times reports. “Secondly, the city’s plan calls for a $40,000 contract with the Durham Business and Professional Chain to ‘assist’ the relocatees to move into the commercial development east of Fayetteville Street. It appears that the city is willing to ‘assist’ with construction of a building, only if it is located in this area.”

The eight businesses involved questioned the Black Business and Professional Chain awareness of the original urban renewal concept and believed that plan to be completely compromised by the city’s revised plan.

“This plan offered very little time for community input and the plan was not publicized at all,” The Carolina Times reports. “A full discussion of its implications would have been almost impossible.”

The Hayti Development Corporation (HDC) was formed based on the suggestion of the Economic Development Sub-Committee of the Durham Committee on the Affairs of Black People. HDC proposed a plan making Hayti an extension of downtown.

The plan proposed converting the old Service Printing Company building into a museum, bookstore, restaurant and office space surrounded by a park. HDC proposed a hotel-restaurant complex, a large grocery store, a variety store, specialty store, barber/beauty shops, pharmacy, hardware store and a retail clothing store south of the expressway.

After reviewing HDC’s proposal, city planners proposed hiring a consultant to consider the recommendations. Nat White, Jr., executive director of HDC, expressed concern that city planners asked the wrong questions.

“We’re looking at implementation,” White said in the Sept. 18, 1982, edition of the Carolina Times. “The study should say how a particular development can be made to work rather than simply saying it won’t work.”

The Carolina Times accused city planners of having their sight on 54 acres of prized land in the Hayti district with easy access to the Research Triangle Park.

“This is a battle of power and money. The stakes are high. To city planners, the area compliments plan to rebuild downtown. In their judgment, the old Hayti is fertile ground for planning houses to give the revitalized downtown people a 24-hour life.”

Aftermath of faded dreams

A decade after the formation of Hayti Development Corporation, White endured a scandal forcing him out as Executive Director, ending the dreams of Black leaders.

On January 14, 1979, the building that Housed The Carolina Times burned to the ground. Not much survived the fire. The entire back stock of papers vanished in the flames along with all those dreams. Authorities suspect arson, a sad ending to a long legacy of reporting in Durham’s Hayti community.

Edmonds didn’t stop working. A new issue showed up on the Thursday after the fire. Hayti residents didn’t give up. They keep working to rebuild and rekindle the community’s hopes and dreams.

Henry McKoy, a faculty member and director of entrepreneurship at North Carolina Central University, leads the charge in renewing those dreams. He calls it a rebirth – like the words of the prophet, Maya Angelou – “you may trod me in the very dirt. But still, like dust. I’ll rise.”

What does renewal look like for Black people? Is it the gift of new public housing? No.

It’s the gift of being heard.

“All of this is to say that city council and city planners have always been reluctant to let blacks have a say in how their former black community should be rebuilt,” The Carolina Times reports on Sept. 18, 1982.

Listen to the prophets speak.

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Proposed Durham Housing Authority Project raises concerns involving broken promises.

When Durham Housing Authority (DHA) board members were tasked with replenishing housing after the demolition of Fayette Place, a collision between a painful history and affordable housing goals converged during a public hearing.

The tension of more than 50 years of neglect became the central topic of a Durham City Council Public hearing to discuss plans to develop the 19 acres in the heart of the Historic Durham Hayti neighborhood.

The DHA board selected Durham Community Partners – a venture team of F7 International Development, Greystone Affordable Development, Moseley Arcitects, BL Wall Consulting and Gibane Development – to build 774 housing units where Fayette Place was demolished in 2009.

“Displacement of the people is a crime of which the city of Durham will repeat if this process to reward this developer the contract doesn’t stop now,” Angel Dozier, curator of Be Connected Durham, said. “After 60 years of the unaddressed harm done to this community, by a highway having been built straight through the downtown of the Hayti community of East Pettigrew St, a contract offered with no connection to the history of this community, or the lived experiences of the people, will only cause further harm with worse consequences we have yet to see.”

Protest erupted after DHA board members rejected North Carolina Central University Professor Henry McKoy’s proposal. Members of the community submitted a petition asking DHA to rescind the approved plans in favor of Hayti Reborn’s hub for Black businesses.

“We’ve done thousands of surveys and hours of community conversations,” McKoy said. “What came out of that conversation is people want more than to be housed. What came out of those conversations is people want opportunities for upward mobility. What they wanted most of all are opportunities for kids to have a future. A future that provides for economic prosperity.”

McKoy said his criticism of the $470 million approved development plan shouldn’t be construed as him being a sore loser. Of the proposals graded on a 100-point scale, McKoy’s received 52 points, the lowest among the ten submitted to the board.

The DHA developed Fayette Place in 1967 as “replacement housing” after Durham Freeway 147 displaced residents of Hayti. DHA sold the property to Campus Apartments, a Philadelphia based acquisition, development, and management company, in 2007 for $4 million after DHA needed money to pay back Housing Urban Development (HUD) for improper use of funds. Campus Apartments planned to convert Fayette Place into housing for North Carolina Central University students.

After receiving numerous complaints from residents due to the vacant property, former Mayor Bill Bell pressured Campus Properties to demolish the buildings in 2009. Due to a series of crimes at Campus Crossing, a Campus Properties development housing NCCU students, the developer backed out and sold the property back to DHA in 2017 for the same amount sold in 2007.

The site became the focus of conversations involving affordable housing during the 2019 city council election. A $95 million affordable housing bond was placed on the same ballot. Members of Durham Congregation, Associations, and Neighborhoods (CAN), an Industrial Area Foundation faith and community-based organization, pressured Anthony Scott, chief executive officer of DHA, and candidates for elected office to commit on a timeline for construction on the Fayette Place site.

An Overdue Conversation

“Seems like in the late 60’s or 70’s the City of Durham along with the Department of Transportation drove a knife through the chest of Hayti and Hayti has been bleeding ever since,” Dewey Williams, a 15-year Durham resident, said during the public hearing. “What I see in Hayti tells me the city does not care about Hayti. If you would compare the community around Duke with the community around central (NCCU) you would see a great difference.”

Stories about good old days in historic Hayti are the common theme of the night. The 19 acres of vacant land conjures thoughts of what used to be and what can be with the proper vision.

What took so long?

The site wasn’t elevated in conversations regarding Black business revival before being sold to Campus Properties in 2007. No one raised the topic before Bill Bell forced the demolition of buildings in 2009. After sitting for more than 10 years, members of CAN, the Durham Committee on the Affairs of Black People and concerned residents failed to mention the possibility for Black business renewal during the movement to endorse affordable housing on the site.

Affordable Housing led the list of vital concerns among Durham voters. Black economic development failed to generate interest among voters during Farad Ali’s campaign for Mayor against Steve Schewel in 2019. Ali, president and chief executive officer at Asociar, campaigned on a platform to enrich Black equity and inclusion in business.

The Historic Fayetteville Street Master Plan

Denise and Larry Hester lead conversations regarding economic development concerns in the Historical Hayti district. The Hester’s own Phoenix Square Shopping Center and developed the failed Rolling Hills project before the city took over to rebuild a gentrified nightmare.

The Hester’s opposed Southside development where houses sale for more than $500,000. The couple warned the Duke University backed project would lead to higher taxes for Black residents, forced displacement and gentrification. Their outrage followed efforts to classify the area blighted – the first step in decreasing the value of the housing market. Self-Help Credit Union backed labeling the area blighted in a plan to use Southside and Rolling Hills as a template for a white takeover of Black spaces.

The Hesters envisioned the coming of out-of-town developers altering the landscape of Historic Hayti. Members of the city council rejected their request for $25-50 million for a streetscape project on Fayetteville Street. The council blamed the Hesters for the failed second Rolling Hills project.

“I believe that in the past, past decisions made about Rolling Hills were made by well-meaning people – but the fact of the matter is, it’s a failed project,” Elaine Armstrong, a former Rolling Hills homeowner said during a December 2007 city council meeting. “And I think that now, after about four years, people who live there have reason to believe there’s some new hope with the discussions about the new development.

During that 2007 city council meeting, the council approved $6 million to buy up Rollings Hills and properties in St. Teresa’s and the Southside neighborhood. The city budgeted $3.7 million for property acquisition and $1.2 million for relocation cost.

The Rolling Hills project mirrors the proposed project across the street at Fayette Place. The Hesters continue mobilizing business owners and residents in the Fayetteville Street Corridor.

Check out the Fayetteville Street Corridor Report

Where is NCCU

Absent from Monday’s meeting are sanctioned representatives from NCCU. It’s critical to imagine the Hayti district between Pettigrew Street and Hillside High School. This area includes significant pillars of Historical Hayti – St. Joseph AME Church, White Rock Baptist Church, Hillside High School and NCCU.

Foreseeing a project aimed at recapturing the once vital Black district involves more than the Fayette Place site. Building on the dream of a revitalized Hayti is best served in partnership with NCCU.

Time to Breathe

Aidil Ortiz, a principal at Aildisms, a consultancy focused on supporting government departments, non-profits and communities, encouraged people in the crowd to breathe – much needed after a long night of considering the sway of a tainted history. The breaths began a new process. More than healing – a chance to envision new possibilities.

“We have to find a way to get to the yes,” Mayor Elaine O’Neal said after recounting her own memories of walking down Fayetteville St. during the heydays of Hayti.

Those streets paved with Black business. A place nurturing the dreams of Black children. A home enriched in the pride of Black hued brothers and sisters.

DHA offers a proposal for a small area in historic Hayti. Henry McKoy provides a vision for more than public housing. Others arrived with the burden of their memories – stories of displaced families and businesses.

The story is left to be told.

Next step, the emergence of an empowering Black agenda.

Kahlil Kwame Bell: music for the soul from the heart of the ancestors

 

Kahlil Kwame Bell performs a Father's Day Jazz Concert on Saturday, June 18

I heard my ancestors calling my name when I first heard Kahlil Kwame Bell play the slappaphone. The transcendent moment reminded me of the infinite possibilities of music. The sound united my soul to parts missing due to the splintering of cultures during the transatlantic slave trade.

“The slappaphone called me when I first heard it and it has become my voice … offering rhythm and melody to the listener,” Bell said.

 

Bell plays over 1,000 percussion instruments while blending wood and clay flutes in musical outputs varying from jazz, rock, hip-hop, classical, world music, spiritual and spoken word accompaniments.

 

Bell performs a Father’s Day Jazz Concert on Saturday, June 18 at Muna on Main Street, 2409 Crabtree Blvd, suite 107 in Raleigh, NC. Dasan Anahu, co-founder and managing director of Black Poetry Theatre, a Durham based theatre company that creates and produces spoken word-based productions, also performs.

 

Bell’s mastery of percussion led to recording with jazz greats Ron Carter, Baba Olatunji, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Roy Hargrove, Stefon Harris and two-time Grammy nominated group Ethnomusicology. His range as a world class percussionist is reflected in work with Roberta Flack, Peabo Bryson, Ashford and Simpson, Luther Vandross, James Ingram, Bilal, Prince, Erykah Badu and Common.

 

Bell appears on over 100 recordings. “Homeland”, a tribute to the music of Africa, his most recent recording, follows “Gift of Forgiveness”, “Joyous Moments”, “Act of Faith”, “Inner Thoughts” and “Live at Sweet Rhythm in New York” in showcasing his skills as a composer and producer.

 

If you’re a fan of music aimed at healing brokenness stirred by divisions. Come. If you consider music a gift uniting culture. Come. If you seek art affirming and celebrating the contributions of Black ancestors. Come. If you’re a fan of good music and miss gathering after a long season of distance from like-minded people. Please, join us in a celebration of good music.

 

Roberta Flack sings a song about being killed softly with his song. It’s a song about a piano player gradually breaking down emotional barriers – one by one - with his music.

 

Isn’t that the purpose of music?

 

In celebration of father’s and Juneteenth – Kahlil Kwame Bell present a gift of spiritual renewal. We all need that. I know I do.

Purchase his music and get those tickets to Saturdays concert. Bring your daddy. Bring your son. Bring your partner. Prepare for a reminder – we are all created in the image of love.

 

I find love in music. Sweet music, heal my weary soul.

To purchase tickets, go to:

 

FATHER'S Day Jazz Concert featuring KAHLIL KWAME BELL & Friends Tickets, Sat, Jun 18, 2022 at 3:00 PM | Eventbrite

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Rev-elution's letter to Durham Committee on the Affairs of Black People board members

Support Rev-elution by contributing at: Cash App ($CMizzou) or Venmo (@Carl-Kenney-1). Coming soon, Durham Rev-elution

On January 25, 2022, Carl W. Kenney II, president of Black Thought Media, LLC, and publisher & editor-in-chief at Durham Rev-elution, sent a letter to Durham Committee on the Affairs of Black People (DCABP) board members in response to a pending decision to rescind a $75,000 grant from The Movement for Black Lives.

The letter served a two-fold purpose: (1) as a rallying call for Black solidarity during a season of massive division, and (2) to facilitate a conversation regarding the merit of building a local Black agenda grounded in work taking place across the United States.

Given the DCABP failed to respond, Rev-elution offers parts of that statement in hope of facilitating community conversations related to reimagining and nurturing more vital relationships between Black residents and the institutions representing Black people.

This statement is NOT framed as a criticism of the current leadership of DCABP. Rather, these thoughts reflect mounting tension between a large mass of Black residents and organizations (DCABP, NAACP, Black churches and civic organization) with credos committed to the empowerment and mobilization of all Black people.

The statement begins after a heavily redacted introduction of thoughts:

My role as a member of the Black Press is to mend, equip and mobilize. It’s not to engage in rhetoric marked by the bitter words designed to further divide Durham’s Black community.

With that stated, I’m deeply troubled for a variety of reasons. Again, the purpose of this letter is not to judge the happenings of the DCABP. As an outsider, I’m mindful of the damage caused by outsiders who lack insight driven by work within the system. These are reflections driven by a desire to collaborate beyond any semblance of brokenness. My role is to cast and recast narratives regarding Black life in Durham.

A few thoughts to ponder:

Consider the work of The Movement for Black Lives

It is true, based on a surface evaluation, that The Movement for Black Lives has adopted a defund police model. It is part of their platform statement, and, given the branding of the past municipal election, seems antithetical to the political position of the DCABP. I suggest members of the DCABP explore both the political and cultural implications related to denouncing the work of The Movement for Black Lives as a major contributor in constructing a national, broad based Black agenda.

Consider the more than 50 organizations representing the interest of Black people across the United States. Consider the contribution and impact of the Black Lives Matter Network, the National Conference of Black Lawyers, the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights, Color of Change, Race Forward, Policy Link and other notable groups.

What is the impact and significance of refuting the efforts of one of the leading Black led umbrella organizations consisting of a coalition of movement organizations across the nation? What does it mean when the DCABP refuses to engage in the work of national coalition building?

The work of The Movement for Black Lives holds significance beyond one platform statement. What does it mean, for the culture of Black agenda building, for the DCABP to refuse to engage in work aimed at ending the war on Black people, the fight for reparations, the promotion of economic justice, the fight for independent Black political power and Black self-determination in all areas of society?

Black power is the power to name Black allegiances

The Black community isn’t a monolith. We are communities of divergent political, economic, and social interests. What it means to engage in work aimed at empowering, and leaning hard into the affairs of Black people, involves constant engagement with people on the other side of political perspective. We are not a people limited by alternative views. We claim all of it as part of the lingering juxtaposition between the American Dream and dreams deferred.

Isn’t this the ultimate weapon of white supremacy – the promotion of agendas forcing divides between the Black folks living with opposing views regarding how to get closer to that American dream?

We shouldn’t be forced to choose between Malcolm and Martin, Booker T and WEB, Marcus Garvey and A. Philip Randolph. The challenge of Black progress in America has long been about decisions to alienate from individuals and groups deemed overly radical or subversive to the will of white people who continue to define the terms of acceptability.

Establish new terms for Black engagement

The DCABP isn’t beholden to the power dynamics of the Democratic Party. It shouldn’t be measured by terms established by those outside -including me – of the work deemed important by the members of DCABP. You decide the legitimate partners. You establish the terms of the work you do, knowing others may be confused by some decisions.

The work of Black solidarity claims all members of the family willing to establish meaningful, sustainable relationships with the DCABP. Solidarity is not rooted in a prefabricated assumption of a perfect marriage. Being Black comes with ideological differences. Yes, we must own how some of these differences are rooted in centuries of white supremacy – an indoctrination that makes white normality the goal versus the casting of a bigger net hoped to grab hold of all of us. All of us, not a few Black folks clinging to the assumption of Black power begging for white acceptance.

Final words about a forward-thinking Black Agenda

So, there is goodness in all of this. We are NOT a broken people. We are wonderfully and beautifully made in the image of goodness. I celebrate the contributions of our ancestors – both known and unknown – who consistently carry US through many dangers, toils, and snares. Together, we can build new work rooted in our collective genius. The answer is in the rooms where we gather, together, with a will to build beyond this present misery.

I have thoughts related to moving forward. They involve an agenda crafted by all of us. Moving forward, I will do my part by listening to each of you. I will do so with an enduring faith in both the wisdom and legacy each of you brings to this critical moment. I’m excited by the truth beyond conflict stirred by misunderstanding. I own no truth of my own.

Pray for my footsteps in claiming my role as a local Girot. I embrace the power of storytelling with a passion greater than any of the fears we face.

Finally, I encourage members of the DCABP to accept the fellowship from The Movement for Black Lives. In doing so, I suggest naming the terms related to community building. We think different. There are a myriad of shades, experiences, and circumstances at the table. Never forget, we all Black.

Saying it loud, “I’m Black and I’m proud.”

Holla back.

Then came the crickets.

 

 

Post-election reflections: What happens to a dream deferred?

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Thank Black Jesus and all the disciples it’s over.

That’s my first thought in the aftermath of an election that drained my will to believe in the advent of a collective Black agenda. Elections are about people. They’re also about policy decisions. This election was also about defining and redefining what it means to be Black in a city known as the historical hub of Black prosperity.

Yesterday’s primary followed a city council election that seemingly shifted the power of Durham politics. The Durham Committee on the Affairs of Black People (DCABP) celebrated the election of Mayor Elaine O’Neal, Mayor Pro Tem Mark-Anthony Middleton, DeDreanna Freeman and Leonardo Williams – all endorsed by the Black political action committee.

DCABP members touted the victory a statement against an agenda to further defund the police. Were we witnessing a historical shift back to DCABP controlling Durham’s political landscape, or was the previous election about more than local endorsements?

The battle for PAC supremacy is what separates Durham from other communities. Durham isn’t trapped in tension between political parties. Republicans are rarely welcomed in Durham’s political culture. Ours is a battle among varied interpretations of what makes a progressive agenda.

What do we learn from yesterday’s election after DCABP taking a major ass whipping? The perception of DCABP assuming PAC supremacy hit the brakes after candidates endorsed by People’s Alliance (PA), Durham Association of Educators (DAE) and Indy Week defeated candidates endorsed by DCABP.

Valerie Foushee defeated Nida Allam in the race for U.S. Congress; however, Allam won in Durham. Foushee’s strength outside of Durham was enough to defeat Allam by more than 16 percent.

What are the lessons for Durham’s Black community?

A Divided Black Agenda

I wonder if the founders of DCABP foresaw a day with multiple Black candidates pitted against each other? The group that met for the first time on August 15, 1935, were called “a committee of influential Negroes”. They drafted a creed to promote voter registration, to run and support candidates who promoted an agenda that benefits Black people and the support of initiative to improve education, health, housing and economic power in the Black community.

Yesterday’s election underscores the complications related to endorsing and electing Black candidates with varied perspectives involving public policies impacting Black life in Durham.

What happens when multiple Black people run for the same office? Some conclude its democracy at its best. It also unveils the mounting tension between electing Black people to office while promoting an agenda reflective of a common Black agenda. The days of naming and supporting Black candidates supported by the DCABP is circumvented by processes outside the control of the Black people gathered with the expressed desire to speak on behalf of other Black people.

The ultimate question regards the ongoing purpose of the DCABP. Black candidates no longer need the affirmation of the DCABP. Is that a good thing? Is it a bad thing, or is it just a thing?

More critical in this conversation is the surfacing of multiple Black led platforms and candidate slates. Voters endured the pressure of campaign workers with varied combinations of Black candidates. Yesterday’s election felt more like a civil war between Black people with different agendas.

This raises another fundamental question. Is it relevant, in 2022, to seek and implement an agenda aimed at addressing concerns of Durham’s Black community? Even more, is it valid to assume such an agenda can only be formed by a community of all Black people? Are the Black people endorsed by PA and DAE doing Black stuff better than the people endorsed by DCABP?

These are sensitive questions best addressed among Black people, but which Black people? Is it time for the Black people endorsed by PA and DAE to hold camp with the Black people endorsed by DCABP? I’m suggesting a massive readjustment related to the construction and implementation of a Black agenda.

As for this current moment, Durham is limited in addressing concerns involving Black people due to a severely divided Black agenda.

Grumbling in the Midst

I’m among the people who cheered when Donald Hughes, candidate for the district 2 school board seat, publicly rejected participating in PA and DAE’s endorsement process. I celebrated even more when Hughes blasted INDY Week for the reporting on the story involving his decision. There’s no doubt his public repudiation of INDY Week ended the possibility of receiving their endorsement.

I rooted for Hughes due to the significance of a possible win. Winning with no endorsement from PA and DAE would significantly speak to the limited power of PAC endorsements. I wished for a win due to the magnitude of that story.

Hughe’s statement introduced a troubling brewing development. Black people, once aligned by allegiance to the DCABP, broke from the ranks. Alternative Black candidates received support from Black people fueled by a variety of issues. Some personal. Some policy based.

The uncivil war presented in public view. District Court Judge Pat Evans failed to receive the endorsement from DCABP. The local press received news leads from people opposing Evans. It became nasty.

The personal mudslinging came from numerous camps. The collateral damage involves the depleted reputation of numerous first-time candidates. Will they be able to run again? Maybe. Does it matter? I sense a more pressing question.

The grumbling in the midst distracts from the importance of a Black agenda. There are no villains in this story beyond the deterioration of Black solidarity. Sadly, there is an absence of heroes charged with the task of rescuing the Black community from the appearance of massive dysfunction.

 Only the Shadow Knows What the Future Holds

Yesterday’s election relates the story of diminished dreams. This is the story about what happens when the determination to win elections takes precedence over the implementation of a progressive Black agenda.

Durham’s Black residents endure the encumbrance of living under the shadow of a once promising future. The life and legacy of Black Durham remains as a collective memory. The former Black Wall Street. Old Hayti with streets laced with successful Black businesses. The pride of Black life in Durham serves the people with the resources to remain glued to their dreams. Left are the disillusioned children with parents with barely enough to pay their bills.

I’m left beholden to a creed established long ago. A vision inspired and nurtured by Black residents.

I pray we’re not witnessing the death of those dreams.

 

Valerie Foushee prepares to serve residents of Durham County

“You don’t know me, but I know you,” Valerie Foushee, Democratic Party candidate for U.S. House of Representatives, said during a visit at her campaign headquarters. “I used to come to Durham to listen to you preach at Orange Grove Missionary Baptist Church.”

It was a firm reminder that Foushee is present in Durham. Sometimes she’s in the crowd – listening. Sometimes she’s out front – working to make a difference.

Foushee’s roots are in Orange County where she was the oldest of six children born to two teenage parents. Her parents worked multiple jobs, teaching Foushee the benefit of hard work, community service and education. She attended segregated schools in Chapel Hill -Carrboro until the sixth grade, shaping a lifelong journey of advocating for the rights of Black and Brown students.

Chapel Hill – Carrboro residents elected Foushee to serve on the school board before making her the first Black woman elected to the Orange County Board of Commissioners. She took office as a member of the state House of Representatives and then the state Senate, but what about Durham?

Rev-elution: It’s been more than 50 years since Durham elected a Durham resident to the U.S. House. If elected, Durham will be left with another representative with limited connections with Durham voters. How do you address this perceived disconnection?

Foushee: In 1970, my parents were able to purchase a home in Durham in a neighborhood formerly known as Kentington Heights, where Hendrick Auto Mall now stands. They lived in Durham for the remainder of their lives. All my siblings attended Durham Public Schools and my sister has taught in the system. When I was first elected to the General Assembly, I represented a part of Durham County and was a member of the Durham Delegation, serving with Representatives H. M. “Mickey” Michaux, Larry Hall, Paul Luebke and Senators Mike Woodard and Floyd McKissick. I am a former member of the Board of Trustees for Durham Technical Community College. My association with several civic organizations provides me with constant interactions with residents of Durham with which I have built relationships over the years.

Rev-elution: Both national and local conversations surrounding elections to the U.S. House have centered around the need for youth inclusion.  Nida Allam, 28, your opposition in this race, is running on the hope of joining Alexandria Ocasio-Ortez (D-NY), Ilhan Omar (D-MN), Ayanna Pressley (D-MA), Rashida Tlaib (D-MI), Jamaal Bowman (D-NY) and Cori Bush (D-MO) as members of the Squad - progressive and left-wing members of Congress. How do you respond to voters who are told youth is more important than seasoned leadership?

Foushee: I love seeing young people get involved in politics. Obviously, they are the future of this party and our country, and I hope that more of them answer the call and become active in electoral politics. I welcome that. That said, given where we are as a country, and the urgency with which we must act to preserve our democracy, I believe that my 25 years of experience in elected office will serve the people of this district best. With Republican attacks on women, the environment, healthcare, and voting rights, we cannot afford to send someone to Congress that has to learn on the job. I've been in the rooms, I've helped change hearts and minds, I've worked across the aisle, and I've delivered results. We need that in Washington. Anyone can go to Congress and scream and shout for change. I believe I'm the most poised to go to Congress and get things done because I've been here before.

Rev-elution: How do you define progressive? Do you consider yourself a progressive candidate? Why?

Foushee: For me, being a progressive means moving the ball forward, making progress on the things we care about, as Democrats – voting rights, women’s reproductive rights, LGBTQ rights, immigrants’ rights, climate action, racial justice, and economic equality. Being progressive requires us, not just to talk about these values we care about, but to make progress toward achieving them and that means building coalitions, garnering the respect of your friends and adversaries alike, and finding ways to work with people you disagree with to bring them around to your point of view.

Of course, I consider myself a progressive. I have been fighting for our shared progressive values my entire life. On the school board I fought to ensure that Black and Brown students were treated fairly. On the county commission I fought for environmental justice and worked to close a landfill in a low-income, minority neighborhood. In the state senate I fought to eliminate child marriage, to move us toward our clean energy goals, and I stood up to countless Republican attacks on women’s reproductive rights. I grew up in segregated schools, I remember a Chapel Hill that wouldn’t allow me to eat at the lunch counter, I struggled to pay my way through school at UNC, I raised two Black sons and dealt with a world that, at times, treated them differently. I don’t just talk about progressive values, I have lived them, I have fought for them, and I have used my voice and my power to move the ball forward for all of us. I fear that allowing a handful of people with privilege to gatekeep who is and is not “progressive” is dangerous for us as a party and as a country.

Rev-elution: Historically, the American Jewish community plays an important role in advocating for the Civil Rights of Black Americans. Recently, you’ve come under attack for accepting contributions from individuals connected with AIPAC, an organization that advocates for a strong U.S. – Israel relationship. Given the struggles of refugees in Afghanistan, Syria, Venezuela, and Ukraine, how do you balance support for Israel, as a Black American, given the millions of Palestinians forced to leave their home and blocked from returning by the Israeli government?

Foushee: The Jewish community has long been a friend to the African American community, marching arm-in-arm with Dr. King and other Black leaders during the civil rights movement. While I believe that Israel is a critically important ally – and the only democracy in the region, I unequivocally support a two-state solution in the Middle East.

Rev-elution: How did you think about hiring members of your campaign team, how do you manage members of your team and what does that say about your style of leadership?

Foushee: When considering members of my team, I first considered competence, diversity, and loyalty. Because I have never run a congressional race, I needed a manager with experience in that area. I wanted to ensure legal compliance, inclusivity, and integrity. Paramount in choosing members was my ability to trust them to do the right thing; to believe in my candidacy and to run a clean race based on my record. We have never spoken negatively of our opponents but focused on my experience and my desire to serve. My management style focuses on hiring capable personnel with the necessary skillsets and then letting them do their jobs. I provide directives or suggestions as necessary with the expectation that with proper training and encouragement, people will do their best.

Rev-elution: Who do you see your natural allies to be in Congress? Who are you excited to work with?

Foushee: Representatives Alma Adams and Deborah Ross would be natural allies since I’ve had the opportunity to work with them in the NCGA. I am excited for the opportunity to work with them again along with Reps. James Clyburn, Shontel Brown, Joyce Beatty, Barbara Lee, Lois Frankel, Gregory Meeks, and Hakeem Jeffries, to name a few.

Rev-elution: You are in what is considered a safe seat.  What’s the best use of that type of safety?

Foushee: Although the District Four seat may be safe for a Democrat, it is not – and should not – be safe for any candidate. The best use us to be responsive and responsible to the citizens of the district to hear, consider/assess and address their needs and concerns. In short, be the best REPRESENTATIVE you can be.

 

 

  

Myca Jeter: Academic performance can be increased by more emphasis on mental health services within Durham Public Schools

MYCA JETER, CANDIDATE FOR Durham County School Board, District 4, believes Covid-19 changes the way we should think about public education.

Jeter says current data reveals achievement dropped during Covid-19, regardless of racial identity. The decline in academic performance came after Durham Public School’s witnessed an uptick in achievement district wide prior to Covid-19 restrictions.

“The disparity percentage did not shift, but, overall, they were starting to make incremental gains on moving the dial as it relates to the grade level proficiency scores,” Jeter said during a recent interview with the Rev-elution. “Then COVID hit, and everything really plummeted, so that leads us to the mental health stuff.”

Jeter, a social worker with Alliance Health, says her personal experience, as the parent of an academically gifted middle school daughter, forced her to consider how Covid-19 impacts the education of students.

“The brightest most capable student after COVID is not that anymore,” Jeter said.  “There were a lot of kids that were padding the numbers, holding the numbers down because they were sound, they were stable, they were normal.”

Jeter says her background as a teacher and social worker provides her a unique perspective related to the mental health needs of students, parents and teachers. She taught middle and high school students Spanish before obtaining a Master of Social Work degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She decided to run after watching a school board meeting on television. Members of the staff gave a report on social and emotional numbers after professional development training.

“I was talking back to the TV.  OK they had the training but who was looking at the validity of implementation. How do you know they’re reaching for those new strategies when things are happening in the classroom,” Jeter said?  “What transfer learning processes are in place to ensure that when you get the new information you have intentional time to digest and then consider application and then understand how and when to use it?”

Jeter says she’s running to serve on the school board because of a need for a person like her to ask different questions regarding mental health issues caused by Covid-19.

“When my daughter started at Neal this year, she was 13 years old chronologically, but from a maturity, social and emotional and peer space, she was still a fifth grader,” Jeter said. “Her hormones are raging.  She’s now dealing with anxiety. She's never had that before, and now she's in this building with a whole cohort that have this same unknowing. The same gray space, the same anxiety, fear, whatever.”

Jeter says teachers are also confronted with a variety of unknowns.

“In a classroom with a teacher who is typically used to dealing with the mature 7th graders, they are now confronted with kids who lessen the flow of their classrooms,” Jeter said. “They have been functioning on automatic for maybe 10 years, and now they have to pivot and address this classroom with these young, minded kids.  They didn't wanna teach elementary school.  On purpose, they chose middle, and now they're left in a classroom with kids that won't sit still.”

Jeter says her concerns for the mental health well-being of students is triggered by her life as a parent.

“From what I have seen, not only with my daughter, but her peer group, my nieces and my nephews, is that the standing foundation that our kids had in terms of their own identity, their own self-esteem, their own ability to know for sure what they like what they don't like, it’s no longer a tangible thing for most of them,” Jeter said. “A huge segment of our children is in the throes of and don't have the language to ask for help. Parents are seeing their behavior shift - all the sleeping, all the defiance, all the other stuff. The drug use is crazy.”

Jeter says she’s perplexed by the growing number of youth contemplating suicide. 

“I can listen to my daughter on the phone with her friends, and so many of them are talking about how unwell they are. They're desensitized to the sheer value of what's really happening with them, and I'm worried because as a mom, with the mental health background, I can then pause and say ‘hey get off the phone and let me talk to you for a minute. When your friend tells you this - this is not OK.’”

Jeter worries that many parents and teachers aren’t equipped to meet the mental health challenges facing students. She says Durham Public Schools needs to take some time to dig through what is happening across the district. She says some principals have provided leadership to provide strategies, while others fail to offer support for students with anxiety and depression issues.

“We have some social workers and counselors on staff that could be leveraged, in my opinion, to do some coping skills development training with the kids,” Jeter said. “You don’t have to call it a coping skill development class, but you go in and you model for kids like, let me tell you how you are feeling, say who's a little irritated, who's a little bothered. Let's talk through this strategy of how you bring yourself out of that.  Let me give you some ways to control how you're feeling so that you could be your best and show up as your best person.”

Jeter believes everyone needs mental health support after post-Covid induced trauma

“Those strategies need to be shared with teachers,” Jeter said. “Because I've seen teachers really lose their shit.”

Rev-elution Election Endorsements: Durham County Board of Education

Note: Rev-elution has removed comments regarding Matt Sears, incumbent representing District 3, after reviewing records which fail to verify assumptions made in the previous version. Sears never publicly called for the termination of former Durham County Manager Wendell Davis and made no public comments supporting David Hawk, former principal at Durham School of the Arts.

no elected public official faces more scrutiny than public-school board members. It’s where the public ideologies of parents emerge in a volatile display of emotions. It’s where race, class privilege and petty demands of parents converge to pit the rich against the lack of resources of others.

Rev-elution applied a different type of matrix in determining who to endorse for the five seats on the board of education. We considered each candidates’ campaign pitch. We also counted the level and nature of involvement with Black and Brown parents and students. Not just Black, and not just Brown.

 

Impact of the Better Board, Better Schools slate of candidates

The surfacing of Better Board, Better Schools, a group of concerned parents and grandparents, in promoting a slate of candidates is significant. It’s not clear if the group is motivated by political party ties. What is clear is a budding population of parents unsatisfied with student academic performance in Durham Public Schools.

“Resources are being allocated to various initiatives while our students are being left behind academically,” the group states on their website. “Our children deserve better.”

Chris Burns, the group’s candidate representing District 2, touts homeschooling, The Hill Center and Cresset Christian Academy, a private faith-based school, as options used for his children.

Rev-elution extends no endorsements for members of the Better Board, Better Schools slate; however, acknowledges the burden felt by parents who feel DPS fails in satisfying the educational needs of their children.

“Our slate will bring a laser-like focus on increasing reading literacy, mathematical achievement, and critical thinking skills,” their websites states. “We want to unleash the creativity of teaching professionals, allowing them to impact in ways that are effective and impactful.”

Curtis Hrischuk (District 1), Gayathri Rajaraman (District 3), Joetta MacMiller (Consolidated District B) and Valarie Jarvis (District 4) are a slate of candidates representing parents likely to consider alternative methods to educate their children. School board members are encouraged to listen. 

 

District 1

Rev-elution endorses Emily Chavez based on her more than 15 years of experience as a professional development facilitator, education administrator and organizational change agent.

A former English teacher, her work as project director of the DREAM Project at the University of North Carolina, director of equity and justice, associate director at the Center for Multicultural Affairs both at Duke and outreach program coordinator of the UNC-Duke Consortium of Latin American & Caribbean Studies, offers the perfect fit in a school system with an expanding Brown population.

Jasper Fleming presents a platform centering teacher pay, parent engagement and Covid-19 safety protocol. Rev-elution viewed his platform, and lack of experience within Black and Brown spaces, both limited and nonconsequential in addressing critical issues.

 

District 2

District 2 presents a decision between two viable candidates. Bertina Umstead serves as the current chair of the Durham Board of Education. A graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, she studied Middle Grade Education with a concentration in Language Arts & Social Studies before taking a job with Student U, a college access program in Durham.

Umstead, and members of the current board, advocates for additional school counselors, increased access to mental health support and programming that supports Black and Brown boys.

Rev-elution endorses Donald Hughes based on a set of unusual and welcoming variables. Hughes is nurtured within a culture of advocacy and activism. He began service as a speaker at city council and school board meetings before entering high school. Hughes knows Durham. He’s a graduate of Hillside High School, earned a bachelor’s degree in economics from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro and a master’s degree in public administration from North Carolina Central University.

Hughes is a rarity in Durham politics, a Durham born and raised Black man potentially being elected for local office. He’s a strong advocate of Durham pride. He has witnessed, firsthand, the rise and fall of what Durham represented prior to gentrification. He remembers the madness related to school merger, disputes to fund magnet schools and conflicts at Hillside High School leading to the dismissal of a vastly popular principal.

Hughes is part of the history of Durham’s public education system. He’s connected to the population most impacted by economic, education and health disparities. Hughes can do more than talk about what troubles Durham, he’s engaged. He does more than talk about policy in a platform statement. He’s about that life.

 

District 3

This is complicated. Matt Sears, the incumbent in District 3, hasn’t done enough to warrant an endorsement from Rev-elution.

Gayathri Rajaraman, the only opposition in District 3, is an unknown. Her connection as a member of the Better Board, Better School slate offers a clue. The problem is with the clue. It feels like a hostile Republican Party takeover of a welcoming and progressive school system.

Rev-elution endorses no one for District 3.

 

District 4

Natalie Beyer played tag team with Matt Sears in a campaign against Wendell Davis. She challenged the credibility of positions affirming the strength of Durham’s AAA rating. The call for accountability was matched by her call for Davis’ job. Fueled by the support of People’s Alliance, Beyers and Sears won the battle. Will Durham voters remember rhetoric condemning Davis for being conservative – yes, some called him a Republican – while addressing his compensation – too much for a Black man. Stop me. It's too soon.

Rev-elution endorses Myca Jeter based on her more than 20 years of working with children and families as a social worker. A graduate of North Carolina Central University, Jeter taught Spanish at Neal Middle School and Hillside High School before becoming a mental health professional.

An authentic and much needed breath of fresh air.

 

Consolidate District B

Few in Durham manifest the anti-Wendell Davis agenda more than Millicent Rogers.

“With an annual salary of more than $200,00, the contract provides the manager with numerous perks, including seven weeks of vacation a year, term life insurance, and a hefty monthly vehicle allowance,” a statement released by People’s Alliance Board of Directors on March 18, 2021, states. Rogers served as co-president of the group.

The ache of feeling Black men don’t deserve to be paid still resonates. The sidenote involves the contract for the newly appointed county manager. It’s more than Davis’ contract prior when he was booted out of his position. Rogers and members of People’s Alliance avoided conversations related to her compensation package.

Rogers’ involvement as a key organizer in efforts to not approve the renewal of Davis’ contract is critical among residents desiring more than a blank check to fund public education. Rogers, and members of the People’s Alliance Board of Directors, set a political philosophy questioning the credibility of conservative fiscal management. What pressures will Rogers, Beyer and Sears place on Kimberly Sowell, the newly appointed Durham County Manager.

Rev-elution endorses Frederick Xavier Ravin III. Ravin was appointed by school board members on Aug 27, 2020, to fill the vacancy after the resignation of Xavier Carson. A graduate of Southern Durham High School, he earned a degree in marketing from North Carolina A&T State University, a degree in finance from North Carolina Central University and a master’s degree in strategic information management and MBA from North Carolina Central University.

He's smart, likeable and a meticulous critical thinker. He offers vision and an unwillingness to be bound by the selfish whims of any given political action committee.