Aug. 9, 2016

When speakers scheduled to discuss a Black Lives Matter topic did not arrive, Forum participants discussed the issues raised by the movement.

Forum co-founder Sarah Stevenson asked speakers to focus on how to make improvements in the lives of African-Americans in Charlotte-Mecklenburg, and many did just that. Among the proposals:

• Help young black people see that their votes would matter if they voted.
• Stop recruiting police officers from those leaving the military, where they were trained to kill.
• Act on gun control.
• Reduce police-driver confrontations by changing laws to end police stops for minor issues like a broken tail light. Have officers mail tickets the same way red-light cameras do.
• Men: Take greater role in raising your children.
• Men: Mentor a young man.
• Demand that the white community take responsibility for officers’ actions. Teach officers to disable, not to kill.
• Hold black public officials responsible for not protecting black residents.
• Black adults need to be present at school board meetings, to invite police into community groups for communication.
• Confront and end the gun violence against black people that has been common since the earliest American militias and the police forces allied with the militias.
• Put your save-black-people notions to use in direct contact with young at-risk black youth.
• Teach officers de-escalation techniques so no weapons are fired.
• Add a “too” to Black Lives Matter.
• Employ young people so they don’t have to steal to eat.
• Read to a child once a week.
• Repeal N.C. laws that can ban some  individuals from employment.
• Support groups encouraging young people to become entrepreneurs.

The discussion followed a presentation by Delores Johnson Hurt about the Charlotte-Mecklenburg League of Women Voters. Hurt also participated in the open Forum about Black Lives Matter.

The video below, which is taken from today’s live feed to YouTube, focuses on the Black Lives Matter discussion.