SCSJ End of Summer Newsletter 2009

Town Halls on health care, 287(g) debates, widespread state budget cuts. As the new administration slowly seeks to change policies at the national level, we have felt backlash and an increasingly irrational opposition at the local level. SCSJ has been working with communities on some of the human rights issues that underlie many of these concerns - shared responsibility for public welfare, the lack of accountability and transparency in government spending, systemic abuses of power, institutional racism, and the struggle of working people to live with dignity and security.
This fall we are also working to ensure each of us is counted in the 2010 Census, because as history has shown the implications of going uncounted are clear - our communities lose resources, political strength, and fail to receive their fair share of our counties wealth and prosperity. Moving forward this fall, we hope you will work with us to find ways to strengthen communities, challenge injustice, and pave the way for the shared prosperity and security we all need and deserve.

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Want to support SCSJ? Consider hosting a house party!

Over the past years, house parties have shown themselves to be a fun and effective way to build community and raise awareness as well as funds to sustain ongoing work for social change. (This is how our friends at Incite! do it) Friends and supporters of SCSJ have already hosted several exciting and successful house parties this year. If you are interested in throwing a house party to support SCSJ - please contact the chair of our fund development committee, Diane Standaert at Diane.Standaert@self-help.org.

IN THIS ISSUE

>> Be Counted 2010 - Resources for organizations that work with communities at-risk of not being counted

>> Partnership between Greensboro communities seeks a "Paradigm Shift" in reducing violence in communities

>> Study reveals threatened and endangered freshwater mussels reside in the contour of the prospective Gates County site of a controversial Naval Outlying Landing Field (OLF), which is opposed by residents

>> Tenants organize to improve conditions and oppose gentrification in their community

>> Take Action - Support Environmental Justice in New Hill >>SIGN THE PETITION<<

>> Healthcare is a Human Right

>> Upcoming Events

>> Legislative Updates

>> SCSJ In the Courtroom

SCSJ WORK IN THE NEWS

"Waste Dumping Proposed Near Black Community" - Triangle Tribune, August 5, 2009

"Deportation Program is Tweaked" - News and Observer, July 19, 2009

"Immigrants Blackmailed for Sex" - ABC 11, July 16, 2009

"New Curbs set on Arrests of Illegal Immigrants" - Wall Street Journal, July 11, 2009

"DHS announces major changes to 287(g)" - Independent Weekly, July 10, 2009

"Remembering Bop City" The Story with Dick Gordon (interview with Billy Freeman starts 34 minutes into the podcast), June 25, 2009

Be Counted 2010 - Census Undercount

SCSJ has established a mini-grants program to help fund organizations in North Carolina, Georgia, Virginia, Florida, and Louisiana (states with the highest rate of undercount in the 2000 Census) that work with communities most at-risk of being undercounted in the 2010 Census. The mini-grants will support creative outreach and education that seeks to reduce the undercount in targeted Southern regions.

Census counts are directly tied to the federal dollars communities receive for important services, such as education funding, affordable housing support, job training, social services, roads, bridges, and other community development opportunities.

These communities include:

• People and families that live in rental property
• Transient communities, such as the homeless and migrant workers
• Native Americans and poor, rural communities
• Immigrants (census counts are for everyone, regardless of citizenship status)
  
• Low Income African American families in urban or rural areas

For updates and information about resources and the impact of the 2010 Census, sign up for our Census 2010 emails.

Greensboro collaboration seeks a "Paradigm Shift" to reduce violence

In an effort to build peaceful, nurturing communities, the Beloved Community Center, Pulpit Forum, and the Almighty Latin Kings and Queens Nation of Greensboro (ALKQN), are working together to address violence in Greensboro. Taking a grassroots perspective, this collaborative focuses on the positive potential for street groups in low-income and communities of color to be a resource to build peace and unity. Together they have called for a Paradigm Shift, which they laid out in a collaborative document in March 2009. Beloved Community Center also prepared a thoughtful and powerful response to the white supremacist meeting that occurred in Greensboro on August 29th.

Unfortunately, in the past year the ALKQN has been harassed and charged many times by the Greensboro Police Department's Gang Unit, who have attempted to complicate the peace process through a campaign of intimidation and repeated arrests. Earlier this month, Latin King leader Jorge Cornell and Greensboro Police Officer, A.J. Blake held a joint press conference to speak to these ongoing concerns.

The growth in Black and Brown unity in their efforts to reduce gang violence and help build a positive community environment for youth of color has been met by an increasingly harsh anti-gang task force that has made many attempts to harass the ALKQN. In the past year, members of ALKQN have been constantly surveilled, wrongfully arrested dozens times, wrongfully accused of not cooperating with police, and been referred to by racial slurs by the anti-gang unit.

Visit the SCSJ blog for more info.

Study reveals threatened and endangered freshwater mussels reside in the contour of the prospective Gates County site of a controversial Naval Outlying Landing Field (OLF)

A new report finds that the Chowan River, located in northeastern North Carolina, is host to the greatest diversity of freshwater mussels on the Atlantic Seaboard. Scientists from Alderman Environmental Services, Inc. studied the mussel populations, which are a conservation priority for state and federal agencies, in a 56-page report completed July 2009. The focus of study was the section of the Chowan River located within the area currently under consideration as the future home of a US Naval Outlying Landing Field (OLF) for Super Hornet aircraft stationed at Oceana in Virginia.

The study found five threatened species of mussels and one endangered species - Lampsilis cariosa. Because of their declines and environmental importance, associated freshwater mussel high diversity areas, such as the lower Chowan River Basin, should receive priority national conservation attention. Conservation of the Chowan River and its tributaries in North Carolina should be a high priority for local, state, and federal agencies. When planning government sponsored projects, all agencies, including the Department of Defense, have the responsibility to site projects in the least environmentally sensitive areas. Clearly, the Chowan River is not such an area.

Gates County is a predominantly low-income, rural farming community. In addition to the environmental impacts, the placement of an OLF in Gates County would displace at least 166 households, which impacts 24 farms recognized as North Carolina Century Farms. Citizens Against the OLF in Gates County has been working since 2007 to lobby the Navy to have their community removed from the list of potential sites and has gained support from organizations and elected officials across N.C.

Tenants organize to improve conditions and oppose gentrification in their community

SCSJ supports tenant and resident organizing campaigns, and this month we began representing the University Apartments Residents Association in their efforts to oppose the gentrification of their 72-year-old apartment complex in historic Southwest Central Durham, a working class, multi-racial neighborhood.

This neighborhood sits in a prime development corridor, in between downtown and Duke University's East Campus. It was recently purchased by a development company, Capstone Companies, which specializes in high-end student housing. This is starkly at odds with the character of this primarily working class apartment complex.

To learn more about the UARA and the larger issues of gentrification and loss of affordable housing, visit our blog.

SCSJ summer intern raises awareness about Human Trafficking in farmworker communities around the south

Agricultural production in North Carolina is 46 billion dollar industry which involves the fifth most farmworkers of any state (Legal Aid of NC). For tens of thousands of farmworkers, it's an industry which remains seeped in extreme exploitation and, for some workers, modern-day slavery. The issue of human trafficking has become a point of action for the governments across the world, while here in North Carolina, SCSJ intern Cris Kontopidis worked with Student Action with Farmworkers to build awareness about and to combat human trafficking on NC's farms.

What is Human Trafficking? Read more about it on our blog.

Take Action: Support Environmental Justice in New Hill

The population surrounding the site is upwards of 75% ethnic/racial minorities. The community does not currently have access to sewer services, and only property directly adjacent to the plant would be connected to it - meaning it would bare the brunt of the environmental impacts and receive virtually none of the benefits. The community has been targeted for negative environmental impacts before - the Shearon Harris nuclear power plant, one of only three in the state, is also located there. The towns represented in Western Wake Partners are all far from the borders of New Hill and their populations include a much lower percentage of ethnic/racial minorities of about 19% on average.

This month, the New Hill Community Association received the official support of the SE Wake County NAACP in their efforts to oppose the current siting choice of the Western Wake Partners.

If you support environmental justice for the residents of New Hill - take action and SIGN THE PETITION or urge your organization/church/community group to a letter in support of NHCA.

Healthcare is a Human Right

According to Article 25 of the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights, passed on December 10, 1948, "everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of herself and of her family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services, and the right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond her control."

In keeping with those principles, we believe that universal access to quality, affordable healthcare is a human right. We applaud the efforts of so many (as tracked by our friends at Facing South) these past months who have been attending town halls, speaking truth to power, and using creative tactics to show our national leadership that we are ready for healthcare reform NOW!

Upcoming Events

SCSJ staff attorney Chris Brook will be speaking on the panel "The Epidemic of Black Land Loss in the South: the Pitfalls and Opportunities of Heirs Property" at the 2009 North Carolina Statewide Financial Education and Asset Building Conference. The conference will be held at the Sheraton Imperial Hotel and Conference Center October 13-14, 2009.

The panel will be October 14, 2009 from 1:15-2:45. Speakers include Chris Brook, Staff Attorney, Southern Coalition for Social Justice, John Cooper, MDC, Inc., Christina Rausch, Program Manager, MDC, Inc., and Savonala Horne, Executive Director, Land Loss Prevention Project.

The panel will define Black Land Loss and present factors that have perpetuated Black Land Loss in the South. It will discuss present challenges for stemming the tide of Black Land Loss for property owners, advocates, and policy makers. It will also provide examples of promising strategies for overcoming hurdles to asset preservation and potential outcomes.
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Chris Brook will also conduct a workshop on heirs' property in Moore County on October 10, 2009. The event, open to the public and co-hosted by the Land Loss Prevention Project, will provide the audience with a background on heirs' property as well as information on how they can manage their family land.

Legislative Updates

"The Southern Coalition is an indispensable resource for me in representing my district on justice issues." -- North Carolina State Representative Angela Bryant

During the 2009 legislative session, SCSJ played a central role in successful legislative efforts to promote procedural fairness in partition actions and to protect the right of non-profits to practice law.

Regardless of how small an interest they have in jointly held land, a party can seek to force the sale of land through a partition action in North Carolina. This practice has contributed greatly to the loss of African-American heirs' property throughout the South. Working with legislative sponsor Representative Angela Bryant, SCSJ helped demonstrate the need for legislation improving procedural fairness in partition sales, including, but not limited to, increasing the time to respond to a petition for partition, assigning representatives to protect the interests of unknown or unlocatable heirs, and emphasizing the availability of mediation in partition actions.
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Throughout recent decades, non-profit organizations like SCSJ have provided legal representation to communities in need. Relying upon a law that banned all non-legal aid corporations from practicing law, a state court recently ruled that attorneys employed by non-profits could not practice law in our state unless they fit within a narrow exception for legal aid programs serving the poor. Partnering with non-profits of all political stripes, SCSJ argued that current state law conflicted with federal constitutional guarantees. In response, legislative and state bar leaders amended state law to allow non-profit attorneys to practice law and to permit the important legal work done by SCSJ and others to march forward.

In order to make a difference for the communities we serve sometimes it is necessary to go straight to the source and fight for legislation that allows their voices to be heard. This summer these efforts paid off, opening the courthouse doors ever so slightly for parties wishing to hold onto their family land and keeping important options on the table for those in need of legal assistance.

TAKE NOTE: COURTROOM CONSIDERATIONS

SCSJ argued to the Court that Section 5 of the Act, the "preclearance" requirement, is an important protection for minority voting rights. That provision will now continue to be in effect.

Click here to read the Court's 8 - 1 decision.

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IMAGES

Asheville, NC: The brother of an SCSJ client, a U.S. citizen that was nearly deported by I.C.E., talks about his brother's case at a houseparty.

Elon, NC: SCSJ summer organizing interns conduct a checkpoint monitoring training in Alamance County

Arrest of Jorge Cornell. He is currently running for City Council.

Healthcare Rally at Blue Cross Blue Shield

Southern Human Rights Organizers speak - Interviews from SHROC 2008

We would like to thank the following organizations for their financial support:

The Ford Foundation

Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation

Fund for Southern Communities

Fleisher-Bierstein Foundation

Triangle Community Foundation

Southern Poverty Law Center

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