A look at topics impacting our decisions for 2024 elections. Plus, renewed debate about monuments and our country’s history of slavery raises a question: are we’re preserving history or our future? Host Kenia Thompson discusses these topics and more with Immanuel Jarvis, chairman of the Durham County GOP; columnist Mary C. Curtis (Roll Call); and Brett Chambers, lecturer at NC Central University.
Local News Roundup: CMPD responds to viral video; CATS names new management company; new fines for illegal parking; drought continues in NC
A viral video of a Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police officers punching a woman restrained by several officers during an arrest surfaced earlier this week. CMPD released a statement saying that the woman was resisting arrest and Chief Johnny Jennings released his own statement.
Charlotte City Council voted unanimously this week to raise the fine for illegal parking in uptown. We’ll bring you up to speed on that and other city council news.
The Charlotte Area Transit System has announced the name of the company it has chosen to operate the Charlotte bus system. National Express Service would now run CATS, instead of RATP Dev. Council will vote later this month to make it official.
Fires continue to spark in western North Carolina, as drought and higher temperatures persists.
And after a disappointing fall so far for pro sports in Charlotte — the Queen City has a new team. The Carolina Chaos Lacrosse team joins the Premier Lacrosse League.
Mike Collins and our roundtable of reporters delve into those stories and more, on the Charlotte Talks local news roundup.
GUESTS:
Joe Bruno, WSOC-TV reporter
Mary C. Curtis, columnist for Rollcall.com, host of the Rollcall podcast “Equal Time”
David Boraks, WFAE climate reporter
Alexandria Sands, reporter with Axios Charlotte
Nov172023
Pairing leadership with justice: Is that so hard, Washington?
It was an example of leadership and justice. California Gov. Gavin Newsom, fresh off surviving a recall vote, was not laying low but standing in front of cameras, signing a bill that would return prime property in Manhattan Beach — known as Bruce’s Beach — to descendants of the Black couple who had been run off the land they owned close to a century ago.
It turns out the very white Manhattan Beach was not always that way; the transformation was not by coincidence, but by design.
“As governor of California, let me do what apparently Manhattan Beach is unwilling to do: I want to apologize to the Bruce family,” said Newsom, as reported in the Los Angeles Times. He then handed the signing pen to Anthony Bruce, whose great-great-grandparents, Willa and Charles Bruce, had once turned the lovely stretch along the water into a needed getaway for African Americans, complete with lodge, cafe and dance hall.
Newsom wasn’t standing alone, literally or otherwise. Behind stood activists with organizations such as Where Is My Land, co-founded by Kavon Ward and Ashanti Martin, who have worked hard and know that the meaning of the word “reparations,” so feared in some circles, is merely “the making of amends for a wrong one has done.”
Oct072021
POLITICAL WRAP: Efforts at Police Reform
CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Police reform is back in the spotlight.
It comes as protests continue in the fatal shooting of a Black man by deputies in Elizabeth City.
Andrew Brown Jr. will be laid to rest on Monday.
May022021
POLITICAL WRAP: Biden Address to Joint Session of Congress Happening Wednesday
CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Nearly 100 days after taking office, President Joe Biden is finally set to give his first formal address to a joint session of Congress.
Wednesday’s speech will give the President an opportunity to make the case for his $2 trillion infrastructure plan and other legislative priorities.
Apr252021
Mary C. Curtis: What is The Message of RNC 2020?
CHARLOTTE, NC — The first lady and nation’s top diplomat were among those making the case for another term for President Trump Wednesday night.
WCCB Political Contributor Mary C. Curtis has a recap of the Republican National Convention and how it differs from the Democratic National Convention.
Aug262020
Very much up for grabs: this year’s profile in courage
OPINION — “Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country.” Identifying the politician offering that idealistic advice is not so hard — President John F. Kennedy at his Jan. 20, 1961, inauguration. But that’s not all the 35th president had to say about the promise and challenges of America.
Climate change? “The supreme reality of our time is the vulnerability of our planet.” Income inequality? “If a free society cannot help the many who are poor, it cannot save the few who are rich.”
The John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum, based in Boston, planned to regularly tweet out Kennedy’s quotes, though if you now try to seek a daily dose of inspiration, you will see a note on its page: “We’re sorry, but we will not be posting updates to our social media channels during the government shutdown. Also, all National Archives facilities are closed and activities are canceled until further notice.”
Jan172019
The Criminal Justice Bill Shows Where the GOP Is on Race
OPINION — Sen. Tim Scott, Republican from South Carolina, was optimistic after the Senate passed an amended bill this week that makes bipartisan progress on an issue — criminal justice reform — that has divided lawmakers for years.
Scott, an original co-sponsor of the bill, said in a statement: “By cutting recidivism, encouraging job training, education and mental health and substance abuse treatments for incarcerated individuals, and making our criminal justice system both smarter and tougher, we have taken a positive step forward.”
The bill is considered a First Step, as it is named, toward addressing inequities in the system that disproportionately affect African-Americans and the poor, in everything from arrests to sentencing, and have contributed to a mass incarceration crisis. Criminal justice advocates will also point out that the changes are modest and apply only to the federal system, which truly makes this a first step. Yet it’s something.
Dec202018
Tim Scott treads – carefully – through South Carolina and D.C. political thicket
Tim Scott, the junior senator from South Carolina, is a reliably conservative vote, most recently his “no” on Wednesday’s bipartisan budget agreement. But while the Republican’s record mirrors that of other tea party-backed members of Congress, his rhetoric is noticeably cooler.
That much was clear during his recent conversation with members of the Trotter Group, a national association of African-American columnists, who spent a few days in Washington meeting with policymakers from various parties and persuasions.
Dec192013
