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 →
Dr. Gyasi Foluke has died
Sept. 26, 2020 Dr. Gyasi Foluke, a longtime Forum participant, has died. He was 88. A note of his passing, here, says he died Sept. 25. Neighbors reportedly called police after he had not been seen for some time in his Hyde Park neighborhood. Born in the public housing projects of ... Continue Reading →
Open Forum draws commentary, calls for action
April 30, 2019 Neighborhoods that are hurting. Avenues for supporting others. Strategies for uniting for change and against violence. Working to keep the Forum's discussions relevant The topics brought up this morning ranged widely. And as with discussions over the years, the point was not ... Continue Reading →
Group proposes new approach for majority-African American schools
Sept. 22, 2015 Ken Simmons led a presentation this morning about "Another option to Improving the Educational Performance of Poor and Inner-city Youth in Mecklenburg County." Video from the presentation and the Q&A that followed is in five pieces below. Below the videos are the slides from ... 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 →
Forum session unearths disappointments with both charters, districts
In a packed house with more than a dozen elected officials or candidates present, Tuesday's session on public education in Mecklenburg unearthed deep disappointment over how all public schools in Mecklenburg are not meeting the N.C. constitutional mandate to afford every child a sound basic ... Continue Reading →
Reflections of Some Who Lived Black History
When the Forum gathered at the Wallace Pruitt Rec Center for the "Highlighting African-American Achievers" exhibit, participants saw reminders of the inventive genius of African-Americans, and saw a riviting skit about the Underground Railroad. When the skit concluded, they met in a room and ... Continue Reading →
Foluke on group pressure politics
May 7, 2013 In his comments, Dr. Foluke references the Rev. Delwyn Rayson. More on Rayson is below. https://www.macucc.org/obituaries/detail/22 The Rev. Delwyn Rayson 4/22/2008 From the Honolulu Advertiser: A champion of social justice in Hawai'i, the Rev. Delwyn "Del" Rayson of Church ... Continue Reading →
Foluke on ‘Black boys are dying young and needlessly’
Aug. 28, 2012 Dr. Gyasi Foluke, in the video below, responds to an opinion column by Charlotte Observer Associate Editor Fannie Flono headlined "Black boys are dying young and needlessly." Flono's Aug. 16 column dealt with the death two days earlier in Charlotte of 13-year-old Khalil Malik Cousart, ... Continue Reading →