Greensboro City Council votes in support of 'Greensboro Massacre' historical marker

During its regular first Tuesday meeting on February 3rd, the Greensboro City Council voted in support of the November 3rd historical marker to read 'Greensboro Massacre.'

Jubilee Institute Director Joyce Johnson released this statement:

"Tonight was just a small step toward the beloved community, but it was a
significant step, and it was a step in the right direction.  And, of course,
the difficult times are not over, but let us take a few minutes to
celebrate, appreciate, and give thanks."

To find out more information on the 'Greensboro Massacre' and the proposal for a historical marker, visit the Grassroots History section of our website. 
 

BCC Supports Historical Marker

BELOVED COMMUNITY CENTER BOARD STRONGLY ENDORSES NORTH CAROLINA HIGHWAY HISTORICAL MARKER ADVISORY COMMITTEE'S WORDING AS "GREENSBORO MASSACRE" FOR PROPOSED NOVEMBER 3, 1979 MARKER AND INVITES COMMUNITY TO PUBLIC INFORMATION SESSIONS

The Beloved Community Center Board has affirmed its support for the placement of a NC State Highway Committee Historical Marker in the former Morningside Homes Neighborhood, site of the daylight killing of 5 labor and community organizers, wounding of 10 others, and terrorizing of an African-American community on November 3, 1979.  Some members of the Greensboro City Council have voiced disagreement with erecting the historical marker; others have expressed disunity with the marker's wording; still others have affirmed unity with the wording and placement of the marker. 

So, what is the significance of this public debate?  The Board of Directors of the Beloved Community Center of Greensboro has scheduled two public information sessions to help inform and educate the community on the importance of erecting the marker and keeping the wording recommended by the NC Highway Historical Marker Advisory Committee -- Wednesday, January 28, 2015, 12 Noon - 2 pm, at Beloved's Office, located at 417 Arlington Street (Faith Community Church building) and Monday, February 2, 2015, 6:30 - 8 pm, at Bethel AME Church, 200 Regan Street.  The public is invited.

Mr. Lewis A. Brandon, III, a veteran Greensboro community organizer and a volunteer Beloved staff person (Grassroots History Coordinator) submitted the application to the State Historical Marker  Committee.  The Beloved Board approved Brandon's action.  The State Historical Marker Committee approved the request to erect a marker, acknowledging the murders of November 3, 1979 as an important event in our state.  Brandon's request was not the first that the Committee had received over the years.  Consistent with its established process, the Committee carefully screened the request, agreed on the appropriate brief wording for the marker, its placement, etc.  As part of that process, the Committee received input from several established historians to insure historical accuracy, clarity of the wording of the marker, etc. 

The Committee decided that the marker should be placed at the corner of Willow Road and McConnell Road and that the wording should read:

Ku Klux Klan & American Nazi Party members,
On Nov. 3, 1979, shot & killed five Communist
Workers Party members one-tenth mile north.

Some city councilpersons have expressed views that the term "massacre" is inappropriate and that the term "shoot-out" is more appropriate.  Beloved thinks the wording agreed upon by the state Committee should stand because it is historically accurate and acknowledges the significance of events of November 3rd. The January 28th noontime event at Beloved's office and the February 2nd gathering at Bethel AME will elaborate why Beloved stands with the Highway Marker Committee's wording. 

Plan now to attend one or both of these events -- ask questions, share your views.  Beloved has also asked concerned community members to attend the February 3, 2015 City Council meeting, at 5:00 pm, to show support for erecting the November 3, 1979 marker and to insist that the historically accurate wording, "Greensboro Massacre," be maintained.

Additional background information on the November 3, 1979 may be found on the Beloved website at www.belovedcommunitycenter.org and the website of the independent  Greensboro Truth and Reconciliation Commission at www.greensborotrc.org

Flashback Friday 01/09/2014

Today's #flashbackfriday comes from the 1990s Kmart Struggle that took place in Greensboro, NC. The mostly Black workers at a huge Kmart distribution center were mistreated by the mostly White management and voted to form a union. Kmart would not enter contract negotiations in good faith. The BCC - together with the Pulpit Forum Black ministers group - played a key leadership role in the successful effort to transform this volatile dispute from a racially charged labor-management issue to a community issue, thus giving space for the community to get constructively involved and make this a positive community experience. 

View what Executive Director Nelson Johnson expressed on this issue. 

To accomplish this, the organizing emphasis was placed on the unjust treatment of five hundred men and women who were a part of the Greensboro community. The challenge was to find creative ways to stand with the workers so that others would feel compelled to join and all could stand for the best interest of the whole community.

The further challenge was to do this in the face of public attacks, like one that characterized the struggle as a “conflict between Kmart and the radical fringe elements committed to Kmartʼs demise;” Kmartʼs attempt to divide the Black community by making a large donation to the NAACP - which was returned; and Kmartʼs lawsuit against selected workers and supporters, a tactic that ultimately backfired.

A community wide boycott of Kmart stores linked to civil disobedience at the stores brought the conflict to a head. In order to define this as a community matter, rather than as a labor-management dispute led by outside union agitators, ministers instead of workers were arrested first. Over the next several months, a wide range of people from the community - White, Black, students, professors, church members, citizens - participated with workers and ministers in ongoing demonstrations and arrests.

At the same time, the Pulpit Forum ministers invited business leaders to meet and discuss what was happening. After some contentious discussion, a group of business people, including the chairman of the Chamber of Commerce board, agreed to continue meeting. The “Business-Pulpit Forum Work Group” met weekly through the successful resolution of the dispute.

Kmart finally returned to the bargaining table and - four years after the struggle began - reached an agreement with the union that gave the workers a $2.50 per hour raise and improved benefits and grievance procedures. Soon after the settlement, the Business Pulpit Forum Work Group held a Town Meeting attended by a cross section of over 300 people to discuss the issues raised in the struggle. The struggle itself and the subsequent Town Meeting demonstrated Greensboro’s still unrealized potential to come together and deal with the most divisive economic and racial issues as one community. 

Moral Monday Comes to Greensboro