Blogs

Guest Post by Sally Greene

Congratulations to Ruby! Orangepolitics.org was named by the Independent Weekly today as "Best Blog" in their "Best of the Triangle."

Our own pick for Best Blog is a site that demonstrates how effective the
medium can be as a civic forum: Orangepolitics.org, created by activist
and techie Ruby Sinreich, is a buzzing site full of news about every
conceivable issue: school merger, town'gown relations, traffic, you name
it. Local politicians, activists and commentators often contribute guest
posts, and the message boards host some very lively debate. The site is
elegantly designed and constantly updated, despite being ad-free and
non-commercial. We wish every community in the Triangle had an online
venue like this one.

Sally Greene is a member of the Chapel Hill Town Council. She can be reached at sally AT ibiblio DOT org.

Apparently a bunch of people came out to the Town Council meeting this week to oppose re-naming Airport Road to Martin Luther King Boulevard. I'm pretty surprised - I thought this was a no-brainer.

Local NAACP President Fred Battle bristled Monday at criticism of the idea to rename Airport Road for Martin Luther King Jr., which the Town Council will consider May 24.

Any time there's a call to rename something to honor a black person, the first objection that comes up is how much the renaming would cost, Battle said during a council forum.

"It hardens my heart to see that this type of attitude still exists in this community," he said.

Battle followed seven speakers to the podium, each of whom objected to renaming the road or offered other suggestions. Marie Weiden said she thought it would be better to rename Airport Road for Howard Lee, Chapel Hill's first black mayor and a longtime state senator.
- Chapel Hill Herald, 4/20/04

Internationalist Books and Community Center is soliciting nominations for the Third Annual Bob Sheldon Award. The deadline has been extended to April 25.

Each year, the Internationalist collective recognizes a member of the Triangle community who carries on Bob Sheldon's work and breathes life into his legacy by being gentle and persistent, being radical and free-thinking, being playful and patient, and leading by example...

Bob Sheldon founded Internationalist Books in 1981. He described the store's mission as follows: "We are dedicated to the position that we have no country: we do not support mindless patriotic pleas for 'national unity,' nor are we interested in keeping America number one. We support the unity and liberation of oppressed people worldwide and are working toward the day when all oppression and inequality will be removed from the earth."