Saturday, September 6, 2008 at 10:37 PM
Posted in Democratic Party Edgecombe County NC
by DCN
The Edgecombe County Democratic Party opened a headquarters the first in around 50 years or more some say at 4:00 PM today. The headquarters is located at 2109 Saint Andrew Street (Colonial Plaza Mall) Tarboro NC.
Genoetre Penny-Boone Chairwoman of the party presided. Prayer by Rev. Raymond Privott Pastor Mt. Pisgah Presbyterian Church Rocky Mount, Pledge of Allegiance led by Robert Bryd 2nd Vice Chairman County Party, welcome by Atty. Charles Rountree Chairman Precinct 1-3, introduction of speaker Janice Tolson 3rd Vice Chairwoman County Party and wife of the speaker Joe Pat Tolson NC House of Representatives, recognition of candidates Viola Harris Edgecombe County Commissioner, recognition of guest Reuben Blackwell Rocky Mount City Council and President and CEO of Rocky Mount OIC, fundraiser by Doris Howington Fundraising Chairwoman County Party along with Stephanie Hunter Treasurer County Party and Get Out the Vote Plan was presented by Allen Mitchell GOTV Chairman. Atty. Will Solomon President of the Edgecombe County Young Democrats talked about registering ex-felons who are now eligible to vote but may not be aware.
Tolson said ain’t it good to be a Democrat? He said we need to take advantage of this opportunity to elect Senator Barack Obama/Biden as our next President/Vice President and also statewide and local candidates.
Tolson said the other party talk about Democrats cutting taxes but yet they do so for the rich. He said they borrow money from other countries and just spend, spend, spend. The Democrats cut taxes but they take the money and spend it wisely to help the people.
Tolson said we need a strong leader and that is Obama. He said we can not stand 4 more years of Bush’s agenda. He said that if China was to call one day and want all of their money, he just don't know how we could make it.
Tolson said our economy is in bad shape. He asked how many people in the room can say they are better off than they were 8 years ago. No one responded.
Bill Bourne from Tarboro spoke on behalf of Lt. Beverly Perdue our next Governor of NC.
There were 2 young men present from the Obama headquarters in Rocky Mount representing Obama. One of the men is assigned to Edgecombe County. They said there purpose is to get Obama elected first and then to help get Democrats up and down the ballot elected also.
Kay Hagan’s son was present to represent his mom. He said he had left Ashville and drove to Tarboro this morning. He asked everyone to get involved and help out by registering and taking people to the polls.
Viola Harris asked the Democrats to vote her back in office in November and to hold her accountable.
Tolson also asked the Democrats to vote for him back in office in November and to hold him accountable. He told the Democrats to support Kay Hagans, Janet Cowell for State Treasurer, Walter Dalton for Lt. Governor, Perdue and all the Democrats across the state. He said make sure you find out who the Democratic Judges are so they can get elected because the other party has done a good job of campaigning for the Judges positions.
Penny-Boone said she was going to get a list of the Judges so if anyone do not know who they are they can stop by or call the headquarters.
There were around 100 Democrats present to witness this historical moment.
Gwen Wilkins Nash County Democratic Party Chairwoman was present, Sheriff James Knight Edgecombe County was present. Edgecombe County Commissioner Wayne Hines was present. Commissioner Doris Howington Whitakers Town Council, Commissioner Ann Adams Princeville Town Council and Commissioner Leah Vines of Pinetops Town Council were present. I believe Councilman Melvin Muhammad Tarboro Council was present but may have not been present during the time the others were recognized.
Penny-Boone praised Will Solomon for his work with the Young Democrats and she encouraged everyone to help get young folks involved because the older folks can’t walk and go door to door like they used to.
WHIG TV local cable station out of Rocky Mount was present. I don’t recall seeing anyone from the local newspapers The Tarboro Daily Southerner and Rocky Mount Telegram, however I am quite sure they will contact the headquarters to get some information. The weather probably played a factor in why they were not present. Of course you know yours truly The DCN was present to witness and to capture history on video.
I want to know where were the many other local Democrats of Edgecombe County such as Charlie Harrell Chairman County Commissioners, Vice Chairman Leonard Wiggins along with other commissioners T.C. Cherry, John Felton, Calvin Anderson, Evelyn Powell newly elected to replace Anderson, Register of Deeds Robin Carpenter, Edgecombe County School Board members and other local elected Democratic officials.
There were a very few white folks present so I hope that is not the sign of those who were not present are not going to support Barack Obama for President.
The grand opening was exciting however it was a little long. The chairwoman said she had hoped to be out in around 45 minutes however that time was almost doubled.
Refreshments were served.
The contact numbers for the headquarters is 252.641-1974 and the hours are 10 AM - 9 PM daily. Allen Mitchell Get Out the Vote Chairman contact numbers are 252.641-1974 and 252.442-7369.
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Saturday, April 19, 2008 at 5:39 PM
Posted in Democratic Party Edgecombe County NC
by DCN
The Edgecombe County Democratic Party Convention keynote speaker for today was Judge James (Jim) Wynn and he was awesome as always. I enjoyed him even more than when I invited him to come and speak to us for the convention in 1999 when I was the interim Democratic Party Chair. The Judge said we as Democrats have done good . . . . so far but there is much more to do. He talked about the need for diversity and he said it used to be 4 blacks on the NC Court of Appeals and now it is only (2). He said if (they) are successful it will only be (1).
Judge Wynn said that so many times elected officials and others are presented awards and they think that is all they have to do. But the Judge said they need to be reminded that they have done good . . . . so far.
The Judge said we need diversity not only in Edgecombe County but everywhere. He said the collard greens that his family raised were eaten by black and white folks.
He said the Court of Appeals wrote over 1600 to 1700 opinions last year and NC only wrote about 30 opinions. He said it is a fact that over half of the prison system is a make up of black folks. So therefore we need some black folks as judges.
He said cases need not to be tried before it goes to court, in the back room and how much money you have.
Now don't attempt to twist what I am about say because I am going to take his "We have done good . . . . so far" and I am going to use it to talk about Edgecombe County from a black man's perspective. I feel I can do it because I have been an active grassroots effective community activist since the early 90's. Remember the following will be from my perspective and has nothing to do with Judge Wynn.
I have seen the Edgecombe County Democratic Party come a long ways. I remember when (they) white folks used to hold nearly all of the county offices, the precinct chair and vice chair positions. When (they) had the majority (they) didn't want to give it up and (we) black folks had to fight to get where we are today. We have done good . . . . so far.
I remember when some in the black community Rev. Thomas L. Walker former County Commissioner who very few remember him ever being one, Leonard Wiggins current County Commissioner, Dr. Florence Armstrong former Democratic Party Chair and current Secretary and some others used to say we needed more diversity in the party to reflect the county's population. However Walker and some others have not been very active in the Democratic Party over the past several years. Wiggins attends every now and then.
I first came on board in the 90's and served as 3rd Vice Chair of the County Democratic Party by default because the 3rd Vice Chair had to be a certain age. Well I was the youngest person attending the meetings and was well under the age group that the Democratic Plan of Organization called for.
After getting tired of Roosevelt Higgs ignance in the early 2000's I resigned my post as the 1st Vice Chair of the Democratic Party. I kept working trying to get new folks to come on board so we could bring about a change and yes I did. We have done good . . . . so far.
I love it when our current Chairwoman Genotre J. Penny-Boone and Higgs talk about diversity to include (whites) when it comes to the make up of the Democratic Party Executive Committee but nobody wants to talk about the Senate District 3 Seat that was carved out for a minority so we can have black representation. So why is it we do not talk about that seat in our Democratic Party meeting? I was going to stay out of this race for personal reasons however since the Daily Southerner newspaper editor Terry Smith lied on Senator Clark Jenkins opponent Shelley Willingham saying he played the race card at the meet the candidates forum a couple of weeks ago. Terry is again a RACIST LIAR because Willingham only stated the district was carved out for a minority and a minority has never held that position.
There is a lot of attention around the Register of Deeds Office and Bernard Bullock (black) asked why do Alvis (Butch) Armstrong (black) want to run against Robin Williams Carpenter (white) if she is doing a good job? I understand when someone gave him some feedback he said oh he didn't know that there is no blacks working in the office and that there has been talk about the treatment of blacks who have worked in the office.
The problem I have with Bullock is he told me in the 90's when I joined the NAACP under Rev. Elbert Lee that he didn't get along with his Pastor Lee but I found it strange Bullock would do whatever the hell Higgs tell him to do. Just a couple of years ago Bullock and Higgs rode around to the polling places on a limousine to pick up the number of voters who had voted throughout the day.
The problem I have with the Register of Deeds Office is that I am very much familiar with issues surrounding the office. I met with some folks several years ago who had many complaints about the office. But my main issue with the office is I want to see someone hold meetings and to go out in the community and explain to black folks how valuable that office is because that is where very important documents are stored and it is not just a place to go get a birth certificate and death certificate.
Alvis (Butch) Armstrong asked me for his support and he stressed that he would go out and educate the community about what actually goes on in the Register of Deeds Office.
The reason why I endorsed Armstrong over the incumbent Carpenter is because first of all she has not asked me for my support however if she had she would have had to explain to me why I should vote for her. You see I recognize and understand that a "title and a position do not guarantee performance and productivity" Miles Munroe on leadership.
It is so funny how folks do not know how politics work. I have my own philosophy of politics when it comes to politics. There are some who want to say it is about experience when they are pushing a certain candidate for however it is of my opinion the bottom line is the majority of the folks vote for a person who they can relate to, look like them and because someone asked them to vote for a certain person. There are so many times when a person do not know anything about a candidate except through others, prime example Bernard Bullock comments about Carpenter doing a good job. But maybe say for instance she is, does it mean that someone else can't do a better job?
What tickles the hell out of me is every damn meeting we have Higgs always talk about diversity. Well why in the hell don't he let (them) nominate a person to represent (them)? Obviously he is the spokesperson for the white community. He always nominate the same folks and (they) are old folks. Why don't he and (they) find some young white males and females and bring them into the party. I don't have a problem with diversity however I have a problem with putting old (white) folks in place with the mindset of a Gladys Shelton former Register of Deeds, former Democratic Party County Chairwoman, former Democratic Party County Treasurer, former Board of Elections Chairwoman. And I definitely can't leave out she was a member of Edgecombe First a white group that was formed to unseat our first black Clerk of Court Carol A. White.
Clerk of Court Carol A. White won her first term after being fired from working in the Clerk's office when she announced she was going to run. (They) were successful by removing White from office and elected Patsy Whaley whose sister was the Register of Deeds at that time. Whaley served 4 years and we put White back in and she has been there since that time.
Case in point just this week the N.C. Court of Appeals ruled in favor of Ward 1 Councilman Andre Knight on the basis that improper proceedings were carried out by the Edgecombe County Board of Elections during the original hearing held by the board in 2006. Gladys Shelton is named and it talked about how she did not recuse herself from the Residency challenge against Knight. And then today Shelton who did not attend the convention was nominated by Higgs to serve on the State House District 23 Committee. What a damn joke when Higgs is a known criminal and he is the one who got Shelton in the situation with the NC Court of Appeals. I questioned do anyone know if she would be willing to serve in that capacity since she was not present and since she has some health conditions. But it does not matter because it is the Edgecombe County Democratic Party like to promote the criminal Higgs and then now they are willing to support Shelton when she has issues that must be resolved with the Board of Elections. Click here Knight v. Higgs Court of Appeals Case - Knight Wins for the fact findings from the NC Court of Appeals.
What a damn shame. This is why I do not hold an office in this local party. A bunch of supposedly grown damn folks who do not want to do what is right but then they don't understand why there are no young folks in the party. The problem I have the most is dealing with ignant black folks who are older than I so they know better than I about how far we have come as a black people but they seems to ignore their history because I be damn if they have their history. Well I am here to remind these ignant black folks that as long as I continue to live here in Edgecombe County I am going to be involved in what is going on in the county that affect me, my family and others who allow me to speak for them.
It was so funny that during the convention it is obvious that Rev. Roy Gray was trying to send a message to someone that he was somebody. Roy was told he could not participate in the convention process because his precinct had not met and therefore he was not a delegate to the convention. Gray had the audacity to attempt to 2nd a motion and I had to question the chair how can he do that when he was not a participant?
Black folks we have done good . . . . so far, however we have a damn long ways to go. I will continue to hold all folks accountable who are making decisions that affect change in Edgecombe County, across the state and the nation so if anyone has a problem with that, they may as well get the hell over it because until the good master call me home I am going to be an involved black man speaking truth to power.
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