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 →
CMS Board candidates, part 1
Sept. 17, 2019 In the first of two Forum meetings to hear from CMS school board candidates, seven of the 13 candidates on the Nov. 5 ballot attended. Each brought a host of skills and talents to the table. Most have had multiple contacts with CMS. There seemed to be agreement that newly appointed ... Continue Reading →
Primary Election 2018: Queen Thompson
– Page initiated April 17, 2018 Queen Thompson is a candidate for the District 4 seat on the Mecklenburg Board of County Commissioners. Below are video or audio files of statements made by the candidate or surrogates at the Forum during the 2018 election cycle. To start a video, click on ... Continue Reading →
School board candidates, Districts 2, 4, 5, 6
Oct. 10, 2017 The Forum heard from eight school board candidates running in four different districts today. In the video below, candidates gave short presentations, beginning at minute 9:52, then fielded questions beginning at minute 28:32. ... Continue Reading →
Queen Thompson on District 5 appointment candidacy
Jan. 17, 2017 Longtime Charlotte resident Queen Thompson this morning sent in the following document, along with the text that follows. ---------- The following text was in an e-mail. The text appears to be addressed to Mecklenburg Democratic Party Chair Matt Newton, who himself was a candidate ... Continue Reading →
Residents seek appointment to City Council District 5
Jan. 3, 2017 At least six residents of Charlotte District 5 have offered themselves for appointment to the unexpired term of John Autry, who resigned to take his seat in the N.C. General Assembly. A number of the candidates have sent materials to the Forum about their candidates. The dates and ... Continue Reading →
Three women who went first
Feb. 23, 2016 They were asked how they wanted to be remembered, these three African-American women who were first in their fields to be clerk of court, or social worker, or school board chair. It was a way to unearth what had motivated them to do, to keep doing. Perhaps their testimony will ... Continue Reading →
Queen Thompson on Lawrence Orr’s contributions to Mecklenburg
Sept. 22, 2015 Forum regular Queen Thompson announced that CMS would name its newest elementary school for Lawrence Orr, her grandfather, on Sept. 25. In the announcement below she gives some of the man's contributions to Mecklenburg County. ... 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 →