The tragedy of the November 3, 1979 Greensboro Massacre has given rise to the first Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) in the United States. On June 12, 2004, after twenty-five years of persistent grassroots organizing, diverse Greensboro communities came together to install a seven-member Commission modeled after the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission. Seven countries sent messages of congratulations to Greensboro. Over fifteen states in the U.S.A. had observers or participants at the event. The truth and reconciliation process in Greensboro is supported by Archbishop Desmond Tutu, North Carolina Congressman Melvin Watt, and former Greensboro Mayor Carolyn Allen.
South African Truth Commissioner Rev. Bongani Finca called the installation of the Greensboro TRC a “near miracle.” This near miracle offers hope and meaning not only for Greensboro, but for other communities in this country and around the world that seek transformation from an ugly, racist or violent past into a peaceful and authentically democratic future. The seating of the first Truth and Reconciliation Commission in the United State helps to open the way to a powerful, progressive movement for economic and racial justice in our country.
November 3, 1979, at 11:23 in the morning, five labor leaders and community organizers were brutally killed on the streets of Greensboro by members of Klan and Nazi groups at a legally planned march and labor conference. The police, fully aware of the armed Klan and Nazi members’ plans to attack the march, went to lunch as the Klan/Nazi caravan descended on unsuspecting marchers, killing five, injuring ten others, and terrorizing the African American neighborhood where people had gathered.Two criminal trials with all white juries found no one guilty, even though the gunmen were captured on film by four TV stations in the act of killing, injuring and terrorizing.
This chilling development was distorted by the media and government officials as a “shootout” between the extreme left and extreme right. Without a true record in public consciousness and culture of what actually occurred on November 3, 1979, this tragedy has continued to be the basis for fear, division, and distrust. The TRC is a bold citizen initiative to establish that true record and pave the way for healing and reconciliation in Greensboro.
No matter what the outcome of the November 2, 2004 election, we urgently need to join forces to redirect our nation toward economic and racial justice and to uphold our Constitutional rights. Greensboro, North Carolina, is poised to infuse life into such a post-election movement. Recalling February 1, 1960, when four students at North Carolina A&T State University gave life to the sit-in movement, Greensboro can once again become a catalyst at this critical moment in national and world history. Democracy does not end at the ballot box. Democracy is not a spectator sport. Democracy is all of us participating in making history and creating our future.
On November 13 We March to support the historic and promising work of the Greensboro TRC:The Greensboro Truth and Reconciliation Commission is a creative and powerful experiment in grassroots democracy, restorative justice, community reconciliation, and healing. Groups and individuals from Mississippi, Tennessee, Alabama, Georgia, and Wilmington, North Carolina are exploring ways to apply the model to their state and/or city. We march for racial justice: Communities of color are disproportionately suffering from the defunding of education, welfare,job programs, housing and medical care. Mandatory sentencing places more young black men in the prison system than in post secondary education. Blacks and Latinos are the greatest victims of police violence and carry the burden of waging our wars abroad because of the "economic" draft.
We march for economic justice: Corporate and political cultures combine to outsource jobs and to wage campaigns of union busting that keep workers unorganized and impoverished. The current federal minimum wage is in fact a poverty wage. Nearly fifty million Americans do not have health insurance and cannot afford decent health care.
We march to protect free speech and the right to dissent: The USA Patriot Act and the FBI’s Counterintelligence Programs are corroding our fundamental rights to gather, speak freely, and dissent. The Justice and Defense Departments have denied many people the right to legal representation under the vague banner of national security. March in Greensboro on Saturday, November 13th at 11:23 A.M.
We march for * Truth and Reconciliation in Greensboro. * Racial Justice. * Economic Justice. * The Right to Dissent.
For More Information contact: The 25th Anniversary March Coalition, Phone: 336-230-0001 E-mail: info at belovedcommunitycenter.org If you/your organization wants to endorse the march please contact us at The Greensboro Justice Fund, Phone: 413-584-1079 Email: infogjf at comcast.net
Help usher in a New Beginning. Let us together build a stronger, more unified movement for social, racial and economic justice. Join us--religious leaders and lay persons; students and youth; workers and labor leaders; grassroots and community organizations; advocates for quality education for all children; lovers of democracy; all who cherish civil rights and racial dignity; all who are currently prime;targets of hate crimes and xenophobia, such as Muslims, Arabs, gays, lesbians and bisexuals; and everyone wishing for a more just society and peaceful world. Get the word out. Yes, out of the ashes of death, together we will build a future of justice, beauty and life more abundant.
Schedule of Events
March in Greensboro Saturday, November 13, For Truth and Reconciliation in the Greensboro Massacre, for Racial and Economic Justice and for the Right to Dissent!
===== The real world gives the subset of what is; the product space represents the uncertainty of the observer. The product space may therefore change if the observer changes; and two observers may legitimately use different product spaces within which to record the same subset of actual events in some actual thing. The "constraint" is thus a relation between observer and thing; the properties of any particular constraint will depend on both the real thing and on the observer. It follows that a substantial part of the theory of organization will be concerned with properties that are not intrinsice to the thing but are relational between observer and thing.
W. Ross Ashby
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