There are lots of judges on the ballot, but this Forum focused on three local races in which there is competition. The Observer's Michael Gordon captured some of the flavor of the discussion in his Sept. 10 report (cached here). Video of the candidates' comments are ... Continue Reading →
Daisy Spears Stroud, 1921-2014
By Claire Williams | The Charlotte Observer A community activist who saw race relations in the country change from inside the Charlotte-Mecklenburg County school system died Wednesday. Daisy Spears Stroud, known as Miss Daisy, was 92. Stroud was born in the middle of the deeply segregated ... Continue Reading →
Gyasi Foluke offers a theory on community change
Dr. Gyasi Foluke rose from the audience today to give a short lecture on his theory on how to implement community change in the African-American community. He focused on a "system of communication" that turns out people to pressure community leaders to pursue a shared community agenda. "Once ... Continue Reading →
Open Forum: Parents and Education
Speakers fault parents, doubt state will educate all children A comment about how children at a summer camp are mostly there for math remediation set off an entire Forum focused on how the community can do a better job of ensuring that all children get a good education. There seemed to be ... Continue Reading →
Open Forum Topics
Tuesday's Open Forum saw participants rise to discuss issues on their minds. To respect privacy of Forum participants and to encourage candor during such discussions, it is the policy of this website to transcribe or paraphrase these discussions without identifying the names of the speakers. In some ... Continue Reading →
Making Change Happen for the African-American Community
A note about this coverage On May 20, 2014, an Open Forum occurred that requires some change from the way material from the Forum is regularly reported here. At some open Forums, individuals report on specific issues. Often, videos of those presentations are made and treated just as they would ... Continue Reading →
Primary Election Results: May 2014
Below are unofficial, mostly Mecklenburg results for primary elections held Tuesday in North Carolina, as posted by the N.C. Board of Elections. For more information, see the board's election page. Statewide results are available there as well. Forum appearances by candidates during the primary ... Continue Reading →
Endorsements by facilitator prompts statement
On April 29, 2014, Mary Johnson issued partisan endorsements while facilitating a Forum meeting. Later, Forum co-founder Sarah Stevenson issued a statement saying, "Mary's comments are her views and not those of the Forum, even though she was presiding." The video clips are issued here in the name ... Continue Reading →
West Charlotte High teachers propose new studies program
Rachel Scott and Paige Laurain, first-year teachers at West Charlotte High School, say they've learned from their students about what doesn't work in motivating teens to take their education seriously. From those lessons, they've put together a proposal that they outlined today at the ... Continue Reading →
More primary candidates, and more
They came to talk about wanting to be sheriff. And county commissioner. And state senator. And member of Congress. Tuesday's speakers spoke on a range of issues, but many of the questions dealt with: Will you pay attention to us and the issues we need help with after you've been elected. If ... Continue Reading →