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 →
GOV Channel to air Feb. 4 conversation with 4 Black mayors
Feb. 8, 2025 The City of Charlotte's GOV Channel will be airing throughout February a video of the Forum's Feb. 4 meeting with former mayors Harvey Gantt, Anthony Foxx, Patrick Cannon and current Mayor Vi Lyles. This link to the video may not work until after 1 p.m. Sunday, According to the ... Continue Reading →
4 Black mayors reflect on the way forward
Feb. 4, 2025 Four African-Americans have or are now serving as Charlotte's mayor. Their service spans more than 40 years, from 1983 to the present. During that time, the population has tripled, the city's national standing has skyrocketed, its economic engines have radically changed – but the ... 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 →
Another perspective on Beatties Ford mural
Dec. 3, 2021 Elloree Erwin sent in photos she took of Abel Jackson’s 2021 mural at West End Fresh Seafood Market (shown inset photo, Google) at 2206 Beatties Ford Rd. Six prominent African-Americans portrayed in the mural are, from left, Dr. Bertha Maxwell-Roddey, James Ferguson II, Julius ... Continue Reading →
Lessons learned as African-Americans won seats in halls of local government
Feb 16, 2016 Five men who brought African-American voices to the table in Charlotte in the 1970s and thereafter recounted their efforts and those of others to push Charlotte to become an inclusive city. Stories spilled out in an extended edition of the Forum this morning. The stories were about ... Continue Reading →