Ubuntu Weekly #61

Thanks going out this week to the Community Foundation of Greater Greensboro for an additional $10,000 grant last week that, in addition to helping us cover our final expenses, gives us a vote of confidence that our work holds promise for the city’s future.

• Thanks, too, to Jacinta White of the Word project, the Greensboro Public Library, and all the participants in Saturday’s “Poetry, Truth and Reconciliation” workshop. It was an enlightening and enjoyable experience, and we appreciated being part of PoetryGSO.
• Volunteer of the Week: Matt Shelton, a recent Guilford College graduate and faithful truth and reconciliation supporter who has been part of our statement-transcribing team. Thanks, Matt!
• This week’s progress indicator: The Greensboro Men’s Club, an organization with a long and influential history in the city, has agreed to become a GTRC Report Receiver.
  

Latest news coverage:
Ed Cone column, News & Record, April 23, 2006
News & Record editorial, April 20, 2006
News & Record related coverage, April 20, 2006

Our upcoming events:
GTRC Report Receivers Gathering, 6-7:30 p.m. Thursday, May 4, Tuscana Cuisine, 709 E. Market St. Meeting to discuss what it means to be a report receiver, including plans for the report release ceremony. To become a Receiver, contact our volunteer coordinator, Samantha Hargrove, at samhargrove@hotmail.com or 336-988-2019.

GTRC Report Release Ceremony, 6 p.m. Thursday, May 25, 2006, Annie Merner Pfeiffer Chapel, Bennett College for Women, 900 E. Washington St.

UBUNTU – “I am what I am because of who we all are.” For a more complete definition, visit http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ubuntu

GTRC Volunteer Reflections

The following are reflections of Ashely Gravely, a Commission volunteer and Bennett College junior:

Interning here at the Greensboro Truth and Reconciliation Commission opened my eyes to a side of Greensboro that I never could have imagined. While working on special projects such as transcription and scrap booking, I was able to see up close and personal why the individuals here worked tirelessly for the truth, reconciliation, and healing of Greensboro, NC and November 3, 1979. The scrap booking of news articles based on race, labor, and police were particularly interesting; you never notice how many articles can be published everyday about these subjects. Having the opportunity to work on this project has been an asset to my fields of study, Political Science and Mass Communications. Also having my school, Bennett College for Women, named as the site for which this valuable information will be placed is a great honor. I know that Sandra N. Smith and others would be proud of our hard work!

Thanks, Ashely, for all of your hard work and for sharing your thoughts.

posted by Jill Williams, exec. dir.

Ubuntu Weekly #60

Some of us are looking forward to this Saturday’s Poetry GSO workshop (details below) as a chance to heal a little from the trauma of November 3, 1979, and its aftermath.

• Please join us at the workshop, which we believe holds promise for personal and community breakthroughs. To RSVP or ask questions, e-mail joya@greensborotrc.org or call 275-5953.
• While we remain focused on completing our fundraising, recruiting GTRC Report Receivers and planning our Report Release Ceremony, Commissioners – in yet another daylong meeting and daily via e-mail – are hanging with the painstaking work of discerning their collective “truth.”
• Volunteer of the Week: Eric Whitaker, a recent history graduate of N.C. A&T State University who is connecting with student groups to create a campus pool of Receivers who will use our report for future social justice learning and work. Thanks, Eric!
• This week’s progress indicator: National groups also are agreeing to be GTRC Report Receivers. So far we have agreement forms from the William Winter Institute for Racial Reconciliation and the Andrus Family Fund, our largest funder.
  

Latest news coverage:
Elizabeth Wheaton guest column, News & Record, Sunday, April 16, 2006
Ed Cone blog coverage, Sunday, April 16, 2006
Yes! Weekly coverage, Wednesday, April 12, 2006
Yes! Weekly mention, Wednesday, April 12, 2006
Carolina Peacemaker coverage, Thursday, March 30, 2006

Our upcoming events:
(THIS WEEK!) “Poetry, Truth and Reconciliation,” 2-5 p.m. Saturday, April 22, Nussbaum Room, Central Library, 219 N. Church St. Workshop co-sponsored with the Greensboro Public Library as part of Poetry GSO, led by Jacinta White of the Word project, who will present techniques for using poetry as a means of community healing. For info or to RSVP, e-mail joya@greensborotrc.org.

GTRC Report Receivers Gathering, 6-7:30 p.m. Thursday, May 4, Tuscana Cuisine, 709 E. Market St. Meeting to discuss what it means to be a report receiver, including plans for the report release ceremony. To become a Receiver, contact our volunteer coordinator, Samantha Hargrove, at samhargrove@hotmail.com or 336-988-2019.

GTRC Report Release Ceremony, 6 p.m. Thursday, May 25, 2006, Annie Merner Pfeiffer Chapel, Bennett College for Women, 900 E. Washington St.

UBUNTU – “I am what I am because of who we all are.” For a more complete definition, visit http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ubuntu

GTRC Report Release Ceremony

Please join with the Greensboro Truth and Reconciliation Commission for its Report Release Ceremony.

At this event, the Commission will issue a report to the residents of Greensboro, to the City, to the Greensboro Truth and Community Reconciliation Project, and to other public bodies. The report will include findings about the context, causes, sequence and consequences of the events of November 3, 1979, as well as recommendations for how the community and its institutions can work towards reconciliation and restorative justice.

Event Specifics:
Thursday, May 25, 2006
6pm
Bennett College
Annie Merner Pfeiffer Chapel
900 E. Washington St.
Free Parking

Following the ceremony, a reception will be held in Steele Hall.

Those attending the ceremony will be the first to receive the report (at no charge).

If you can't make the ceremony, check out our website for the report which will be posted shortly after the ceremony.

posted by: Jill Williams, exec. dir.

Ubuntu Weekly #59

Forty-four days before its release, the report is drafted, much has been redrafted and we’ve had to add a daylong meeting to the schedule for hashing out more details. The heat is on!

• We offer thanks this week to our friends at New Garden Friends Meeting for once again providing a comfortable room and warm hospitality for a two-day retreat we had last week.
• Volunteer of the Week: Wanda Mobley, executive assistant to the vice president for institutional advancement at Bennett College for Women, who’s lending her invaluable expertise, assistance and resources to the planning committee for our Report Release Ceremony on May 25 (details below). Thanks, Wanda!
• This week’s progress indicator: More than a hundred community groups have been approached about becoming GTRC Report Receivers. The diverse organizations that have agreed so far include the Greensboro Public Library and Muhammad Mosque No. 92.
  

Latest news coverage:
Ed Whitfield Counterpoint column, News & Record, Wednesday, April 12, 2006
Jim Capo blog commentary, Sunday, April 9, 2006
Ed Cone blog coverage, April 9, 2006
Off the Record blog coverage, Saturday, April 8, 2006
Thinking Out Loud blog coverage, Saturday, April 8, 2006

Our upcoming events:
“Poetry, Truth and Reconciliation,” 2-5 p.m. Saturday, April 22, Nussbaum Room, Central Library, 219 N. Church St. Workshop co-sponsored with the Greensboro Public Library as part of Poetry GSO, led by Jacinta White of the Word project, who will present techniques for using poetry as a means of community healing. For info or to RSVP, e-mail joya@greensborotrc.org.

GTRC Report Receivers Gathering, 6-7:30 p.m. Thursday, May 4, Tuscana Cuisine, 709 E. Market St. Meeting to discuss what it means to be a report receiver, including plans for the report release ceremony. To become a Receiver, contact our volunteer coordinator, Samantha Hargrove, at samhargrove@hotmail.com or 336-988-2019.

GTRC Report Release Ceremony, 6 p.m. Thursday, May 25, 2006, Annie Merner Pfeiffer Chapel, Bennett College for Women, 900 E. Washington St.

UBUNTU – “I am what I am because of who we all are.” For a more complete definition, visit http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ubuntu

Citizen's Response Panel Hearing Transcript

Click here to read the transcript from the Citizen's Response Panel Discussion at the Commission's second public hearing.

Leah Wise, Larry Morse, PhD, and Michael Curtis all spoke on a "citizen's Response Panel" about the community response to the events of November 3, 1979. Wise is a lead organizer of the National Anti-Klan Network, a coalition made up of civil rights and church organizations formed in response to November 3, 1979. She was also a director of the Durham Based Southest Regional Economic Justice Network and later formed the North Carolinians Against Religious and Racist Violence. Morse is an economics professor at NCA&T State University. He was out of town on November 3, 1979, but was friends with initiators of the march. He was also a member of the Citizens for Justice and Unity and was a co-chair of the march and vigil in the early 1980s against Klan demonstrations. Curtis is the Judge Donald Smith Professor of Constitutional Law and Legal and Constitutional History at Wake Forest School of Law. He was also on the Human Relations Citizens Review Commission after November 3, 1979.

Special thanks to commission volunteer, Matt Shelton, for transcribing this statement.

posted by Jill Williams, exec. dir.

Ubuntu Weekly #58

One by one the chapters of our final report are coming together, thanks to the work of staff, volunteers and consultants. We’re looking forward to presenting a collective memory to replace the divergent understandings that help keep us divided.

• We know it’s not the most convenient time but we do hope you’ll plan to join us at our report release ceremony May 25 (details below), where we’ll democratically deliver our report to the entire community in one fell swoop. Be there to get it firsthand and interpret it for yourself.
• Speaking of interpreting, we’re looking forward to some creative new interpretations and ideas to come out of our poetry workshop April 22 (details below). Planning to join us? We’d love it if you’d RSVP. E-mail joya@greensborotrc.org.
• Volunteer of the Week: Rev. Carole Howard, a grassroots Greensboro-based minister, teacher and artist who is lending her gifts, connections and experience to our campaign to recruit GTRC Report Receivers. Thanks, Carole!
• This week’s progress indicator: Between the Commission and the Greensboro Truth and Community Reconciliation Project, we’re averaging one-two engagements a week with classes and other groups interested in our experience, in general or with specific topics such as truth, reconciliation, justice, forgiveness or history. If you’d like someone to speak to your group, e-mail info@greensborotrc.org.
  

Latest news coverage:
John Young guest column, News & Record, Sunday, April 2, 2006
Ed Cone blog coverage, Sunday, April 2, 2006
Related Chosen Fast blog coverage, Thursday, March 30, 2006

Our upcoming events:

“Poetry, Truth and Reconciliation,” 2-5 p.m. Saturday, April 22, Nussbaum Room, Central Library, 219 N. Church St. Workshop co-sponsored with the Greensboro Public Library as part of Poetry GSO, led by Jacinta White of the Word project, who will present techniques for using poetry as a means of community healing. For info or to RSVP, e-mail joya@greensborotrc.org.

GTRC Report Receivers Gathering, 6-7:30 p.m. Thursday, May 4, Tuscana Cuisine, 709 E. Market St. Meeting to discuss what it means to be a report receiver, including plans for the report release ceremony. For more info, contact our volunteer Receivers coordinator, Samantha Hargrove, at samhargrove@hotmail.com or 336-988-2019.

GTRC Report Release Ceremony, 6 p.m. Thursday, May 25, 2006, Annie Merner Pfeiffer Chapel, Bennett College for Women, 900 E. Washington St.

UBUNTU – “I am what I am because of who we all are.” For a more complete definition, visit http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ubuntu

Marty Nathan's Public Hearing Statement Transcript

Click here to read the transcript of Dr. Martha Nathan's statement at the GTRC's third public hearing.

Martha Nathan is the widow of Dr. Michael Nathan, one of the five people killed on Nov. 3rd and executive director of the Greensboro Justice Fund, which supports Southern grassroots work fighting racist, religious and homophobic violence. A physician in Northampton, Mass., she is a graduate of Brown University and Duke University Medical School.

Thanks to volunteers Ashely Gravely, Bennett College student, and Sue Keith for transcribing this statement.

posted by Jill Williams, exec. dir.