North Carolina Black Alliance

Black people built public education: The story of Johnston County’s Freedmen’s School

R S — Fri, 26 Jun 2026 17:18:18 +0000

Black people built public education: The story of Johnston County’s Freedmen’s School

SMITHFIELD, N.C. — The Freedmen’s School in Johnston County is a reminder of who made public schools possible in America.

On Juneteenth, community members gathered inside First Missionary Baptist Church for a ribbon-cutting and dedication of the refurbished school near downtown. They were exposed to a truth we’ve been taught to forget: Black people didn’t just fight for education.

They created public schools.

A schoolhouse that survived

Burn marks in the flooring of the old school are evidence of multiple fires in the 1890s. The flames were aimed at extinguishing the rare educational opportunity for Black people.

“This is a schoolhouse that really is not supposed to be here,” said Todd Johnson, who directs the Johnston County Heritage Center & Museum. “But there’s a purpose. And maybe we don’t know the full purpose yet, but we will.”

Formerly enslaved people built the schoolhouse. They protected it. They understood something that their enslavers wanted to keep hidden: Education was survival. It was resistance. It was freedom.

The Black idea that transformed America

During slavery, education was reserved for wealthy white families, said historian and author Crystal Sanders, Ph.D. White people who didn’t have money couldn’t read. Early state laws made sure of it — education was tied to race, class and gender, Sanders explained.

Formerly enslaved people demanded something radical. They insisted on public education for every child, and they wanted it paid for by the state.

W.E.B. Du Bois called it out: “Public education for all at public expense was in the South a Negro idea.” During Reconstruction, Black legislators made it real. Public education became a state responsibility.

At the dedication service, the Rev. Zinfindale Smith exhorted those sitting in the pews of his church.

“Let us not sit idly by and do nothing,” the pastor said. “While we have breath in our bodies, we can pray and do some work.”

Formerly enslaved people and their allies rewrote the rules. They made sure universal education became law. By fighting for Black children to go to school, they also opened school doors to poor white children who’d been locked out. They built the foundation for the public education we have today.

Education as proof of humanity

Reading and writing meant everything to formerly enslaved people. It wasn’t just a skill. It was proof they were human, protection against being worked to death and, ultimately, a way out, Sanders explained.

“Learning to read and write should not simply be thought of as a rite of passage during childhood and adolescence but rather as an important symbol of freedom,” Sanders said.

Two children visiting the The Freedmen’s School in Johnston County during a Juneteenth celebration.

From schoolhouse to voting rights

There’s a straight line from the Freedmen’s School to today’s battles over voting rights. Literacy is the connection.

“You cannot vote unless you know how to read,” North Carolina Black Alliance organizer Abrilla Robinson said. “The key thing that we do at North Carolina Black Alliance is educate our community on voting and the importance of voting.”

Robinson’s great aunt and her husband purchased the building that housed the Freedmen’s School after it stopped serving students in 1912. They turned it into their home. Robinson lives in a house across the street that belonged to her grandparents,

“Education is the key to any success in America,” Robinson said. “You have to know how to learn. You have to read. You have to write. You have to understand so that you can vote and vote for people who work for your best interests.”

A legacy that continues

We have to tell the truth. Slavery was brutal. For centuries, it robbed millions of African-descended people of the ability to learn to read and write. So we owe it to those formerly enslaved to fight for fully funded public schools like it really matters.

“True freedom includes the right to an education,” Sanders said.

Black children deserve fully funded schools with teachers who look like them. Our communities deserve honest history — not the watered-down version that erases Black leadership.

The Freedmen’s School is a reminder of what’s possible when Black people organize. Anyone who walks through its doors gets a clear message: Education and voting are intertwined and worth fighting for.

The building that wasn’t supposed to survive is still standing. It’s still teaching. It’s imperative that we start listening.

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In brief: Duke Energy rate hike

R S — Thu, 25 Jun 2026 13:53:34 +0000

In brief: Duke Energy rate hike

Duke Energy Carolinas has reduced its proposed energy rate hike for residential customers from 18% to 11.6%. The adjustment follows external pressure and feedback from organizations and community advocates. The previous rate hike was proposed despite Duke Energy Carolinas reporting a $5 billion profit the previous year. Duke Energy Carolinas has justified the previously proposed rate increase by citing projected infrastructure upgrades, the recovery of fuel and purchase power costs, and shareholder returns. Attorney General Jeff Jackson has stated that although the recent reduction is a step in the right direction, the revised proposed rate increase is still too high.

Before this proposed rate revision, there were two developments favorable to Duke Energy Carolinas that came without stipulations fully protecting residential customers from future electricity cost increases. First, as of May 2026, the North Carolina Supreme Court upheld the 2023 decision of the North Carolina Utilities Commission to allow Duke Energy Carolinas to raise rates on customers, even though the rates were higher than those implemented by Duke Energy Progress, which serves the eastern region of North Carolina.

Second, Senate Bill 730, the Ratepayer Protection Act — which aims to regulate hyperscale data centers and shield customers from the power and water demands they create — has passed the House. Although the legislation includes ratepayer protections and bans foreign ownership, it prevents the retirement of baseload power sources fueled by fossil fuels until the transition to nuclear power as the foundation for energy production is complete.

Since Duke Energy Carolinas’ proposed rate hike of 18%, there have been eleven hearings across North Carolina to solicit feedback from the community regarding this rate increase. The last public hearing prior to the revised rate increase was held in Durham on June 3, 2026, at which over 200 people appeared to provide testimony. However, expert testimony hearings are pending for July and August 2026.

Regardless of the revised proposal, the North Carolina Utilities Commission retains the option to approve, reduce, or reject the request. The final ruling is expected in the fall, with the new rates taking effect on January 1, 2027.

LaTosha Gibson

Environmental Program Associate

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The board is not neutral: Introducing NCBA’s CHESS board

R S — Thu, 21 May 2026 17:21:52 +0000

The board is not neutral: Introducing NCBA’s CHESS board

Chess is a game of strategy. Every move is purposeful. Every piece has a role.

Some glide across the board with range and flexibility. Others move slowly, deliberately, one square at a time. But the outcome is never determined by any single piece—it’s determined by how well each one understands its role in relation to the whole.

That kind of purposeful, strategic movement is exactly what the North Carolina Black Alliance’s Community Health and Environmental Storytelling toward Solutions Dashboard—the CHESS Board—brings to health equity and environmental justice.

The CHESS Board emerges at a critical moment. Access to public data that once helped communities understand their realities and hold decision-makers accountable is being removed. When data about what’s happening in our communities disappears, so does our ability to advocate for change.

In chess, you don’t start with abundance. You start with a position. You take stock of what’s in front of you—who’s on your board, what spaces are open, what pressures are already in play. And then you begin. Not with a rush, but with intention.

Taking stock of the realities facing Black communities across North Carolina, NCBA’s Access to Healthcare and Environmental Justice teams compiled data from open sources—uninsured populations, infant mortality, healthcare facility access—and overlaid it with environmental justice data: air pollution, Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs), landfill locations.

What becomes clear is what many communities have long known: the board is not neutral.

The greatest concentration of Black communities often overlaps with the highest cumulative impacts—multiple exposures to multiple chemical and non-chemical stressors affecting health, well-being, and quality of life. What has too often been experienced in isolation is now visible in connection.

What sets the CHESS Board apart is its intentionality about who is centered in the data. Many tools map environmental and health burdens—but stop short of telling you who lives there. The CHESS Board layers race demographics directly into the analysis, using dot density indicators and shaded overlays to make visible what aggregated data often obscures: where Black communities are concentrated, and what they are disproportionately living alongside. You can see the density of CAFOs over counties with high Black populations. You can see regions of the state where Black residents carry the highest rates of being uninsured. The burden is not anonymous. The people aren’t either.

That visibility matters. Strategy requires awareness that is both anticipatory and responsive. You have to see what’s happening now while also understanding what it sets in motion. We hear it in deep conversations with community partners—about children impacted by contaminated soil in a park that was once a landfill, about the toll of living in a town with more hogs than people.

The CHESS Board gives community members the ability to layer data, explore patterns, and uncover relationships that are invisible when viewed separately. It doesn’t tell you what to think. It gives you the full board so you can ask better questions and strategize your next move.

This is more than a map. It’s a tool for education, storytelling, advocacy, and engagement—built for community members, organizations, policymakers, and educators advancing environmental health. It grounds lived experience in data. And the data won’t disappear.

But like chess, the tool doesn’t make the move. People do.

This iteration of the CHESS Board is just the beginning. The issues impacting Black communities are intersectional, and our work ahead focuses on adding layers that reflect that. In the interim, we’ll be connecting with community members and partners for training on how to use it.

Because this work isn’t just about reacting to what’s in front of us. It’s about understanding how the board was set in the first place—and working toward a future where health and environment are not determined by zip code or race, but by intentional, equitable investment.

Once you can see the board clearly, you can begin to move differently.

That is the strategy.

Karida Giddings

Access to Healthcare Coordinator

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NC Black Alliance joins calls to restore printed voter forms for community drives

R S — Mon, 04 May 2026 19:52:38 +0000

NC Black Alliance joins calls to restore printed voter forms for community drives

RALEIGH, N.C. (May 4, 2026) — North Carolina Black Alliance joins 30 nonpartisan voting rights and civic engagement organizations in calling on the North Carolina State Board of Elections (NCSBOE) to reverse its decision to stop providing printed voter registration forms to community groups.

In a letter to Executive Director Sam Hayes, organizations argue the policy violates the National Voter Registration Act and threatens access for voters who rely on community-based registration drives, which accounted for more than 217,000 registrations in 2024.

The coalition is urging the NCSBOE to restore access to printed forms and ensure consistent guidance across counties ahead of the 2026 general election.

Read the full release at the Southern Coalition for Social Justice website.

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Louisiana v. Callais decision a direct threat to Black political power

R S — Mon, 04 May 2026 18:50:32 +0000

Louisiana v. Callais decision a direct threat to Black political power

The U.S. Supreme Court attempted to push this country backward, toward rules that echo the Jim Crow South, an era when millions of Black people were systematically denied their right to vote.

Ruling on Louisiana v. Callais, the Court gutted one of the most important protections for free and fair elections in modern American history: Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

For decades, Section 2 has been a guardrail. It stopped politicians from drawing maps that diluted Black voting power through tactics like cracking and packing, which split Black communities across districts or squeezed us into districts to weaken our broader electoral influence. It ensured that racial discrimination in voting didn’t have to be explicit to be illegal, only consequential.

Now, that protection is being stripped away.

This case began in Louisiana in 2024, after Black voters successfully sued for fair representation, winning a map with two majority-Black congressional districts out of six, instead of just one. As a result, plaintiffs challenged the new map, claiming it was discriminatory. The Supreme Court took that argument and used it to fundamentally reshape how voting rights are protected in this country.

The ruling sets a dangerous standard: Racial gerrymandering must now be intentionally discriminatory to be illegal, not simply produce discriminatory outcomes.

Black communities know far too well that discrimination in America has never needed to announce itself to be effective.

Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act was designed to enforce the promises of the Fourteenth and Fifteenth amendments of U.S. Constitution — that Black and Brown voters have equal access not only to the ballot but also political power.

The consequences will not be abstract. Experts warn this ruling could eliminate nearly half of Black-majority districts across the South and potentially cost up to 30% of seats held by the Congressional Black Caucus.

That means fewer Black representatives. Fewer advocates for policies that impact our communities. Fewer people in power who understand the lived realities of the people they serve.

This ruling impacts more than one district in Louisiana. National, state and local elections all over the country — from school boards to county commissions and state legislatures will be affected. Every level of government where decisions are made about our schools, our health care, our infrastructure and our futures.

And it will hit hardest in the South, the region of our home state, North Carolina.

Here, the state legislature already holds overwhelming power over redistricting. The governor cannot veto maps for redistricting or local bills in many cases. That means there are now even fewer checks at the federal level on lawmakers who want to redraw districts for political gain.

This decision is about more than simply redrawing maps; it is about whether Black communities can elect leaders who represent them.

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. once said, “The Voting Rights Act is not just a victory for Black Americans, it enriches the lives of all Americans.” And President Lyndon B. Johnson made it plain: Denying people the right to choose their leaders is to deny democracy itself.

That is exactly what is at stake now, when politicians can redraw maps to choose their voters, rather than voters choosing their leaders — democracy is under attack.

North Carolina lawmakers have the power to act where the Supreme Court has weakened our rights. Real protection will require more than court decisions. It will take our communities organizing and mobilizing across the state. Make a plan to vote in the upcoming general election and demand that the leaders you elect are willing to protect our rights when the courts will not.

Mikayla Massey

Democracy + Economy Program Manager

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Environmental Health Fellow

R S — Mon, 04 May 2026 15:55:09 +0000

Career Opportunity

Position: Environmental Health Fellow

The Environmental Health Fellow will help enhance internal and external capacity to track organizational environmental justice and access to healthcare work and community movement. The fellow will be responsible for assisting with the development of research support on key environmental health issues, such as PFAS, Energy Justice, CAFOs, Black maternal health, and social determinants of health.

The fellow will report to both the Environmental Justice Program Manager and Access to Healthcare Program Manager.

Key Responsibilities

Assist in the development of our health equity and environmental justice profile for tracking community members and organizations we’ve engaged with and trained.
Attend important meetings to help assist with overall Access to Healthcare and Environmental Justice priorities.
Produce issue-related content for social media, newsletter, and community education materials.
Create and support unique educational opportunities for fellow students and campuses regarding environmental health
Assist in the development of environmental health profile for tracking of community members reached and trained
Conduct key policy research around current environmental health concerns for NC

Education & Qualifications:

Proficient in Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Google applications.
Highly organized, reliable, able to work independently, and able to develop internal and external partnerships.
Strong interpersonal communication skills.
Willing to try new things and can find comfort in new tools and spaces.
Strong interpersonal skills, experience meeting deadlines, and the ability to multitask.
Likes to look further than surface level but can control their research to not go down a rabbit hole.
Willingness to work some evenings and weekends.

Expectations & Compensation:

20 hours a week commitment.
MUST live and work in North Carolina.
$1,500 monthly stipend

Apply Today

North Carolina Black Alliance is an Equal Opportunity employer. Personnel are chosen on the basis of ability without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability, marital status or sexual orientation, in accordance with federal and state law.

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NC Black Alliance responds to SCOTUS decision in Louisiana v. Callais

R S — Wed, 29 Apr 2026 18:40:15 +0000

NC Black Alliance responds to SCOTUS decision in Louisiana v. Callais

As the Supreme Court issues its decision in Louisiana v. Callais, our focus remains where it has always been: with the people and communities most impacted by efforts to weaken fair representation. Today’s decision represents a profound setback for our multiracial democracy.

Even after the Court’s decision in Shelby County v. Holder, the Court has consistently promised that the Voting Rights Act’s core protections against discriminatory districting are here to stay. Today’s decision breaks that promise, a promise reaffirmed by this Court as recently as 2023 in Allen v. Milligan.

But the Callais decision effectively strips away the remaining safeguards in Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, putting hard-won representation at risk. As we’ve seen in our own state with North Carolina’s 1st and 3rd congressional districts, opponents of fairness will not stop until Black voters are denied the opportunity to elect candidates of their choice. When political power is diluted, communities lose leverage to fight for better schools, safer infrastructure, accessible health care, environmental protections and economic opportunity.

Despite today’s decision, our work continues. We will continue organizing, educating and mobilizing. We will continue to pressure elected officials to create fair and representative electoral systems. And we will continue to prepare voters to show up because our opponents would not work this hard to silence voices that did not matter.

Remember, we have faced setbacks before. But every major civil rights victory in this country has grown out of moments like this.

The responsibility remains ours to defend, rebuild and expand.

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Organizations appeal ruling upholding discriminatory N.C. law targeting youth voters

R S — Tue, 28 Apr 2026 19:15:28 +0000

Organizations appeal ruling upholding discriminatory N.C. law targeting youth voters

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. (April 24, 2026) — Three voting rights organizations announced their appeal today of the recent federal court decision upholding restrictions to same-day registration in Senate Bill 747 (SB 747) that targeted the voices of North Carolina’s youngest voters and unnecessarily put their ballots at risk of rejection based on administrative processes outside their control.

Plaintiffs Democracy North Carolina, North Carolina Black Alliance, and the League of Women Voters of North Carolina are represented by Southern Coalition for Social Justice (SCSJ) and pro bono counsel Steptoe LLP and McDermott Will & Schulte LLP. They contend the court’s recent decision did not apply the proper legal analysis to fully consider the realities facing college students and first-time voters in North Carolina, who are already grappling with increased barriers to the ballot, including limited student voter ID availability and crackdowns on early voting sites on college campuses.

Young voters are an increasingly powerful voice in North Carolina elections. If the targeted, coordinated efforts to suppress their participation, as documented in the trial record, are allowed to stand, their votes and their future lifelong civic engagement will be jeopardized. The plaintiffs will continue to fight to ensure every eligible voter has their voice protected from these threats.

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Southern Coalition for Social Justice, founded in 2007, partners with communities of color and economically disadvantaged communities in the South to defend and advance their political, social, and economic rights through the combination of legal advocacy, research, organizing, and communications. Learn more at southerncoalition.org and follow our work on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn.

North Carolina Black Alliance (NCBA), founded in 2001, works toward state-level transformative change by fostering intentional collaboration with Black elected officials, community partners and progressive grassroots organizations. Our core work focuses on voting rights, environmental justice, criminal justice reform, access to health care, education equality and economic empowerment.

Democracy North Carolina is a statewide nonpartisan organization that strengthens democratic structures, builds power among disenfranchised communities, and inspires confidence in a transformed political process that works for all. Learn more at www.democracync.org.

The League of Women Voters is a nonpartisan, grassroots nonprofit dedicated to empowering everyone to fully participate in our democracy. With active Leagues in all 50 states and more than 750 Leagues across the country, we engage in advocacy, education, litigation, and organizing to protect every American’s freedom to vote. Learn more at LWVNC.org and LWV.org.

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Jesse Jackson Jr. diagrams winning play for Black North Carolinians

John McCann — Wed, 15 Apr 2026 21:59:13 +0000

Jesse Jackson Jr. diagrams winning play for Black North Carolinians

Former Illinois congressman Jesse Jackson Jr. challenged members of the state’s Divine 9 to engage those turned off by politics. He spoke during Divine 9 NC Legislative Day April 8, 2026, in Raleigh, North Carolina. After his keynote address at downtown’s Halifax Mall, Jackson accepted The Order of the Long Leaf Pine posthumously awarded to his father, the Rev. Jesse Jackson Sr.

RALEIGH, N.C. — On Halifax Mall’s grassy lawn outside of the North Carolina General Assembly, former Illinois congressman Jesse Jackson Jr. drew up what he believes is the winning play for Black people in this year’s midterm election.

Back in 2024, ahead of the general election, the North Carolina State Board of Elections purged some 747,000 registered voters. Their registrations were considered ineligible for reasons including their inactivity between two federal general elections, and their inability to prove American citizenship.

Jackson, speaking April 8 during Divine 9 NC Legislative Day (D9 Day), called for canvassers to run routes that pull disengaged voters off proverbial sidelines and benches, getting them in the game.

“Go back to our meetings, go back to our claves, go back to our districts and make the case for political advocacy, not just for the college-educated and elite amongst us, but for the 800,000 North Carolinians and the million in Illinois who’ve opted out of the process,” Jackson said. “And you’re gonna find them in the barbershops, in the beauty shops. You’re gonna find them in the streets. You’re gonna find them on the corners. You’re gonna find them graduating from high school not attending college having never heard of a fraternity or a sorority. We can’t hold our heads up higher than the least of these in our community. You can’t do that.”

N.C. Rep. Robert Reives exhorted members of North Carolina’s Divine 9 to engage in the voting process. He spoke during Divine 9 NC Legislative Day April 8, 2026, in Raleigh, North Carolina.

Black sororities and fraternities are historically politically active. D9 Day builds on that by assembling Black Greek-letter organizations for calls to action.

“We’re not doing this to have fun. We’re doing this so you can tell us how you’re going to help us fight,” said N.C. Rep. Robert Reives, a Divine 9 member. He drew the audience’s attention to a QR code directing users to volunteer opportunities with North Carolina Black Alliance, which has organized D9 Day for 11 years.

D9 Day included a panel discussion featuring four Black state lawmakers, all of them Divine 9 members. Jackson said the panel was top tier, and the overall eventwas unlike any he’d ever seen put on by Black Greek-letter organizations.

“I’m in Illinois. Divine 9’s impact [there] is not what your impact is,” Jackson said.

During the event, Jackson’s father, Jesse Jackson Sr., was posthumously awarded The Order of the Longleaf Pine, North Carolina’s highest civilian honor. Jackson Jr. said he’d take it to his mother.

Former North Carolina legislator Yvonne Holley was recognized for her work in state politics.

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It’s Tax Day: The most wonderful time of the year, right?

R S — Wed, 15 Apr 2026 17:28:11 +0000

It’s Tax Day: The most wonderful time of the year, right?

Well, not quite yet, but imagine if our tax dollars were reinvested into our communities in tangible ways: safer streets, well-funded public schools and affordable housing.

In 2021, the American Rescue Plan Act, signed into law by President Joe Biden, helped bring us closer to this vision. ARPA was one of the largest federal investments in communities in decades, marking a shift toward direct investments in households, local governments and frontline services.

ARPA was designed to help the economy recover from the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic by replacing lost revenue and investing in our state’s infrastructure. This was not limited to physical infrastructure but also included public health systems, housing stability and workforce recovery. The law created new possibilities for counties across the state by providing $8 billion in state and local recovery funds across North Carolina.

The bill also directly supported households by providing the third round of stimulus checks, with $1,400 payments to individuals earning less than $75,000, allowing families to cover rent, food costs and other needs during a period of economic instability. ARPA also provided $120 million in assistance to small businesses in North Carolina to help prevent closures and preserve jobs, along with $277 million for capital projects, allowing for infrastructure improvements to public facilities communities rely on every day.

These dollars have had real impacts on our communities. For example, in Fayetteville, elected officials, with input and approval from community members, allocated funding for park and building maintenance, workforce development programs and a housing trust fund for affordable housing. For many residents, these changes translated into more accessible public spaces and employment opportunities.

In Greensboro, thousands of residents shared their priorities for American Rescue Plan funding, helping align investments with community-identified needs. The county was able to direct funding to programs focused on childhood health, economic development and education.

Public dollars should work for the public

Five years later, we can see that when federal tax dollars are reinvested into our communities in concrete ways, the lives of working people improve. While short-term challenges were addressed, this investment also helped create long-term stability and growth. These investments helped keep families in their homes, kept small businesses open and provided essential resources to our communities. The funding also allowed communities to determine how best to meet their own needs.

As policymakers continue to shape the state budget, we have an opportunity to build on the progress communities need to make a difference. The choices lawmakers make help shape what our communities look like moving forward, and we cannot afford to continue patterns of divestment.

It’s important to remember on Tax Day that taxes are more than just what we owe — they are part of how we build our communities together. It is a reminder that public dollars should be used to strengthen our communities, support working families and create opportunities where we all can thrive.

Investments such as ARPA were made possible because of public advocacy and community organizing. When we engage in these processes as a community, we can work together to shift how public dollars are spent and who benefits.

North Carolina Black Alliance joins North Carolina Budget & Tax Center and partners across the state to advocate for increasing affordability, lowering barriers to wealth-building and creating policies that are equitable for Black communities. By investing in people, we can build an economy that works for our communities.

Mikayla Massey

Democracy + Economy Program Manager

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