In recent months, there have been successes to report about in the fight for municipal services in Moore County, North Carolina. Not too long ago, it was announced that the Town of Southern Pines was awarded a $750,000 Community Development Block Grant to help pay for Waynor Road residents to have municipal water and sewer. Funds are also beginning to trickle in for the mostly African-American community of Jackson Hamlet, near Pinehurst.
One unifying force that has kept spirits high and communities’ issues in the news is Voices for Justice – the “glue.” Hilton Dunlap and Bobby Person have worked more than 20 years speaking out and publicizing issues of racial discrimination in Moore County. Person even had to fight the Ku Klux Klan for burning a cross in his yard and threatening his life. With the help of the Southern Poverty Law Center, he won that fight. So it was of no surprise when the two men helped to drum up support and get the word out about the five African American communities in Moore County needing help – and a “voice.”
It seems Dunlap and Person never sleep! Last fall, they were getting the word out about a Community Workshop of Land Loss Prevention in Carthage, North Carolina (also in Moore County). “Protect Your Family Land,” is what it was called. And the gathering was specifically set-up to teach African Americans about the causes of “black land loss.”
In their continued fight to preserve land owned by African Americans, especially in Moore County, Voices for Justice signed on to a letter that was sent to North Carolina Legislators. Joined by residents of Jackson Hamlet, Waynor Road and Midway – making up the Southern Moore Alliance of Excluded Communities (SMAEC) – they are challenging the state’s annexation laws:
“SMAEC recommends that the General Assembly examine the possibility of requiring that cities and towns provide services in a reasonable period of time for voluntary as well as involuntary annexations. Finally, SMAEC recommends that several representatives of affected low-income and minority communities be appointed to serve on the study commission to examine annexation laws and policies.”
I’ll keep you posted.
Invisible Fences of Moore County 