July 1, 2025 The public debate over whether residents should approve an additional penny on the sales tax began in earnest this morning. It will peak in the days before the likely November referendum on the question – and then go on for years to come, as happened when the first local additional ... Continue Reading →
Panel to explore plan to hold officeholders accountable
Nov. 13, 2024 Longtime journalist and community activist Ken Koontz announced details of a presentation scheduled at the Forum next Tuesday, Nov. 19. He offered these details in advance so that participants, both in the Belmont Center meeting room and online, would be able to read about the ... Continue Reading →
What housing bonds can – and can’t – do for Charlotte
Oct. 1, 2024 T ... Continue Reading →
How to make an impact with voter canvassing
Aug, 27, 2024 Don't expect much to result from leaving a flyer at the door about the importance of voting. According to those speaking Tuesday, the way you rouse neighbors to vote is to send other neighbors to talk one-on-one. Make at least three in-person contacts with each voter, in addition ... Continue Reading →
Summary of voting rules applying to 2023 Primary Election
Aug. 23, 2023 Robert Dawkins is political director of Action NC. ... Continue Reading →
History doesn’t make people; People make history
Feb. 1, 2023 “Black history is a lifetime. It is not a month. Stop letting other people control the narrative.” – Forum participant Gary Marion Jan. 24, 2023 Perhaps there is no middle way between the stout defenders of Black History Month and Gary Marion's ... Continue Reading →
How knocking on doors boosted Census accuracy
May 25, 2021 It was six months from Census deadline, and participation had risen to just over half the number of people that demographers believed actually live in Mecklenburg County. Literally millions of federal dollars would be lost in the future if the count fell short and Mecklenburg groups ... Continue Reading →
Census 2020, and pitching homeownership as key to economic power
Nov. 19, 2019 One man works from within to promote participation in the 2020 Census. The other man works from the outside to promote – participation in the 2020 Census. It was one of those conversations where two people are not sniping at each another but jointly targeting resident apathy and ... Continue Reading →
Griffin, Dawkins challenge all to lead from the front
July 17, 2018 The question on the floor was civic engagement. But the real question was: How does the black community stop electing people who proceed to ignore the black community’s interests? These were some of the answers laid out by Black Political Caucus chair and longtime education ... Continue Reading →
Dawkins: Cut homicides by helping people resolve conflicts peacefully
Nov. 21, 2017 Today's Forum opened with with longtime Charlotte and North Carolina organizer Robert Dawkins outlining improvements to the law and administrative rules governing Charlotte's police review board. Then he launched into background on Charlotte's growing-but-not-as-bad-as-it-used-to-be ... Continue Reading →