
{"id":15393,"date":"2011-01-20T09:37:29","date_gmt":"2011-01-20T14:37:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.carrborocitizen.com\/main\/?p=15393"},"modified":"2011-01-20T10:17:12","modified_gmt":"2011-01-20T15:17:12","slug":"the-message-was-renewal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/2011\/01\/20\/the-message-was-renewal\/","title":{"rendered":"The message was renewal"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure id=\"attachment_15394\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-15394\" style=\"width: 400px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.carrborocitizen.com\/main\/2011\/01\/20\/the-message-was-renewal\/img_17451\/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-15394\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.carrborocitizen.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/01\/IMG_17451.jpg\" alt=\"\" title=\"IMG_17451\" width=\"400\" height=\"267\" class=\"size-full wp-image-15394\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/01\/IMG_17451.jpg 400w, https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/01\/IMG_17451-113x75.jpg 113w, https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/01\/IMG_17451-150x100.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/01\/IMG_17451-360x240.jpg 360w, https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/01\/IMG_17451-120x80.jpg 120w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-15394\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">PHOTO BY KIRK ROSS. Benjamin Chavis, a native of Oxford, called on those at the Martin Luther King Jr. Day service at First Baptist Church to recommit themselves to the ideals of the civil rights movement.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><strong>By Kirk Ross<br \/>\n<\/strong><em>Staff Writer<\/em><\/p>\n<p>CHAPEL HILL   \u00e2\u20ac\u201dIn May of 1960, when Martin Luther King Jr. spoke in Chapel Hill \u00e2\u20ac\u201c first on Sunday night at the Hargraves Center, then on Monday evening to a packed audience at Hill Hall on the UNC campus \u00e2\u20ac\u201c \u00e2\u20ac\u0153the movement,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d as it is still known, was at a turning point.<\/p>\n<p>On Monday, with another packed house, this one at First Baptist Church on Roberson Street, those gathered in King\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s memory said a turning point had again arrived and urged renewal of purpose.<\/p>\n<p>The theme of this years King Celebration, which began with speeches and song at Peace and Justice Plaza before the march to the church, was \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Renewing Dr. King\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Call to Conscience: Not One Step Backward!\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n<p>As it was during that evening at the Hargraves Center in 1960, the event was part revival, part rally, interspersed with prayer and song.<\/p>\n<p>The keynote speaker for the occasion was Benjamin Chavis, introduced by civil rights attorney Al McSurely as \u00e2\u20ac\u0153a big deal and the real deal.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n<p>As a native of nearby Oxford, Chavis, whose recent resume includes director of the Million Man march and cofounder of the Hip-Hop Summit Action Network, recalled many connections to Orange County.<\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve always had a special feeling about Orange County,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d he said.<\/p>\n<p>As one of the South\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s key civil rights organizers, Chavis was falsely convicted in 1971 along with nine others of a firebombing during desegregation struggles in Wilmington. Chavis served 10 years in prison until an international effort to free the Wilmington 10 led to their convictions being overturned. His sentence, he said, mandated that he not serve time in a majority black prison, an impossibility. So he moved around a lot.<\/p>\n<p>He was asked at one point where he wanted to go next. Chavis asked to be transferred to Orange County and was transferred to the Hillsborough Correctional Unit. There he enrolled in Duke University, where he eventually earned a doctorate in divinity.<\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153I wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t just going to serve time,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d he said, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I was going to make time serve the movement and get an education.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n<p>The recent shift in politics, he said, should serve to sharpen resolve.<\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Our trials and tribulations ought to make us stronger not weaker,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d he said.<\/p>\n<p>Chavis acknowledged the historic role of Chapel Hill and Carrboro in the civil rights struggle and asked that residents renew their involvement in local efforts, including the NAACP\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s advocacy on behalf of two sanitation workers fired by Chapel Hill. He also vowed to return here to assist the residents of Rogers Road with their efforts to get more residents on the public water system and improve conditions around the landfill.<\/p>\n<p>Chavis, who is credited with coining the term environmental justice, said, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m not picking on Orange County. These problems are statewide. These problems are national \u00e2\u20ac\u201c some would say they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re global. But you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re never going to have a global movement if the local base is not organized.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n<p>Several speakers, including both mayors of Chapel Hill and Carrboro, said the change in leadership in Raleigh and Washington, D.C., will have serious repercussions.<\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153We\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve got some difficult times ahead,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d said Michelle Laws, president of the Chapel Hill-Carrboro chapter of the NAACP. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153But I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m convinced that we will stand together.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n<p>The mayors said they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d like to see more involvement in lobbying elected officials and holding them accountable.<\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153I want you to make my job harder,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Carrboro Mayor Mark Chilton said.<\/p>\n<p>The event at First Baptist also featured the presentation of the NAACP\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s annual awards.<\/p>\n<p>St. Paul\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s AME Church won the Rebecca Clark Award, which is given in honor of the late community leader and organizer for efforts to improve voter turnout.<\/p>\n<p>The annual Martin Luther King Jr. Community Service Award went to Lorie Clark, a Carrboro native and longtime school social worker. Clark plays a key role in the schools\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 Blue Ribbon Mentor Advocate program.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_15395\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-15395\" style=\"width: 400px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.carrborocitizen.com\/main\/2011\/01\/20\/the-message-was-renewal\/lori-clark1\/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-15395\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.carrborocitizen.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/01\/Lori-Clark1.jpg\" alt=\"\" title=\"Lori-Clark1\" width=\"400\" height=\"267\" class=\"size-full wp-image-15395\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/01\/Lori-Clark1.jpg 400w, https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/01\/Lori-Clark1-113x75.jpg 113w, https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/01\/Lori-Clark1-150x100.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/01\/Lori-Clark1-360x240.jpg 360w, https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/01\/Lori-Clark1-120x80.jpg 120w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-15395\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">PHOTO BY KIRK ROSS. Lorie Clark (left) receives the annual Martin Luther King Jr. Community Service Award from NAACP chapter president Michelle Laws.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>CHAPEL HILL   \u00e2\u20ac\u201dIn May of 1960, when Martin Luther King Jr. spoke in Chapel Hill \u00e2\u20ac\u201c first on Sunday night at the Hargraves Center, then on Monday evening to a packed audience at Hill Hall on the UNC campus \u00e2\u20ac\u201c \u00e2\u20ac\u0153the movement,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d as it is still known, was at a turning point.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":15394,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,30],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-15393","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-top-story"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15393","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15393"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15393\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15430,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15393\/revisions\/15430"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15394"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15393"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15393"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15393"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}