May 26, 2026 Tuesday's session focused on lessons to be learned from the full history of I-77 in Charlotte. That history includes not just the current dis-endorsement by city and regional transportation boards of state plans to extend express lanes from Brookshire Freeway to South ... Continue Reading →
Why African-Americans thrived despite Jim Crow schools
Despite inadequate buildings and out-of-date textbooks, many African-Americans thrived in segregated CMS schools. In this Forum discussion, some of those taught during the era of Jim Crow explain why. The clips in this video are from the Forum's Feb. 7, 2023 meeting. ... Continue Reading →
‘Let’s get busy and do something about it’
March 6, 2026 Clips in this video are from the Forum's Feb. 10, 2026 meeting. ... Continue Reading →
Prices paid to achieve ‘successes’ of desegregation, urban ‘renewal’
Feb. 10, 2026 Tuesday's session was not a bus ride down Memory Lane. It was an occasionally searing experience of recreating the moment in African-Americans' lives when the cost of "urban renewal" or cross-town busing for school desegregation fell directly on their shoulders. And some of the ... Continue Reading →
Facilitators convene to assess the Forum’s future
Sept. 9, 2025 The Belmont Center conference room was eerily quiet for a Tuesday morning. It was primary election day, one of the few Tuesdays when the Forum's facilitators could sleep in or jog off to a quiet park. But coffee was brewing, and an agenda was on the table. As facilitators trickled ... Continue Reading →
Open Forum
June 11, 2024 “Open Forum” has come to mean something special. Anyone wishing to speak is invited to present an issue of public policy that they thinks merits more discussion – or action. The Forum's rules of decorum (no debate; no speaking out of turn; etc.) are relaxed a bit to encourage ... Continue Reading →
Open Forum
Oct. 24, 2023 It was a small crowd that attended or listened to this morning's Forum. But a wide variety of issues were aired. If there was news made, it might have been that a last-minute inform-the-voters effort is under way to shore up support for the school bonds. The District 6 City Council ... Continue Reading →
Sarah Belle Mingo Stevenson, 1925-2023
Page initiated Sept. 26, 2023 Sarah Belle Mingo Stevenson was born Oct. 26, 1925. She died Sept. 26, 2023. A Charlotte Observer remembrance is here. Other media reports included those from WFAE, the Charlotte Post, WSOC-TV, WCNC-TV, WBTV, Queen City News and QCityMetro, More on Stevenson’s life ... Continue Reading →