Celebrating the NAACP’s 100th Anniversary

Jorge with the Rev. Dr. Madeline McClenney-Sadler

Sunday afternoon, Jorge attended the NAACP’s 100th anniversary event at Bethel AME Church.  The event was hosted by a number of local ministers and the state chair of the NAACP Rev. Barber was planning to speak but due to some health issues, the Reverend Dr. Madeline McClenney-Sadler came in his place.  A number of speakers addressed the importance of taking action on your beliefs and recognizing society’s imperfections and working to improve them.  Rev. Dr. McClenney-Sadler was particularly passionate and powerful, explaining that to the privileged people of his day, Jesus was nothing more than a crazy felon.  Drawing similarities to the struggles endured by oppressed people today, she explained the need for us to reconceptualize society in a new way, forcing listeners to reconsider the status quo and withold judgement of wrongdoing.  She focused in particular on the cases of Jorge Cornell and AJ Blake, two Greensboro residents who have faced public criticism and disbelief in their attempts to uphold the truth and fight against injustice.  We’re planning to post Rev. Dr. Madeline McClenney-Sadler’s sermon, so check back for the text in full–or at the very least important relevant quotes. 

 

Earlier in the day, Jorge held a campaign meeting with a number of volunteers to plan for expanded voter registration efforts and campaign efficiency.  We’re still looking for more volunteers, so don’t hesistate to contact us to get involved!

A Call for Contributions

A message from the Treasurer for The Campaign to Elect Jorge Cornell:

Have you been wondering how you can support Jorge Cornell’s campaign for a seat on the City Council? One vital need that you can help us meet right now is for funds!

As we continue on with the campaign, we need money and resources to make sure that we can be competitive in this election. Any amount you can offer will be useful to us as we try to find the money to distribute literature, buy yard signs, hold campaign events and do critical voter education. If we don’t have the resources to meet these goals, we can’t support Jorge’s efforts to meet with the people of Greensboro to share his vision for our city and learn more about their concerns.

If you support what Jorge is doing, please help us by making it possible to do the work we need to do to get Jorge elected!

Contributions can come in many forms! If you want to know that your contribution is going to a specific event or item, you can help us by buying and donating food for an event, helping us pay for yard signs or t-shirts, or donating your time by volunteering to go door-to-door with us as we continue doing outreach in Greensboro. Please look at the Get Involved page for more ideas about ways to be involved and needs that you might be able to help us meet.

As the treasurer for the campaign, it is my job to keep track of these contributions and make sure that we follow Campaign Finance law. Among other things, this means making sure that we don’t receive contributions from businesses or non-profits. We can accept contributions from individuals, and to do that we need to take certain information about our contributors. For any contribution, we need to know your name, address and phone number. If you are contributing money or goods in an amount of $50.00 or more, we will need to know all of the following: your name, address, phone number, job title and employer. Any contribution exceeding $100.00 must be made by check, money order or credit card.

Please check back soon, as we will be setting up a PayPal account to receive contributions over the internet!

If you would like to contribute by mail, please send a check to:

The Campaign to Elect Jorge Cornell

1309 Kirkman Street

Greensboro, NC 27406

If you have any questions about the rules regarding contributions, or want to know how you can make a contribution to the campaign, please don’t hesitate to contact me at kathleen.yow@gmail.com.

Working together, we believe that we can make Jorge’s campaign a force to be reckoned with and bring the voice of the people to the City Council. Thank you for your continued support, and for your faith in what we are doing!

Back to School Block Party with ThemFive

On Saturday, despite pouring rain, Jorge attended the first annual Flood The Streets Back to School Block Party hosted by ThemFive. Eventually the rain cleared and people were able to enjoy free food and music as well as receive free back to school supplies thanks to the organizing efforts of ThemFive.  The goal for the event was to “boost morale for the up and coming school year and for the community to come together.”  For more information about the resources and organizing of ThemFive, please check out their website.  District 2 candidate Nettie Coad was present as well.

Most people gathered under the tent during the rain, but the weather didn’t stop the youth, who enjoyed themselves dancing and playing footbal in the rain.  Once the sun came out energy was high and people got to know each other as they listened to music, packaged school supplies for kids, and enjoyed the food. Check out the comment from one of the members from ThemFive on our website.

Recently, Jorge has spent a significant amount of time planning and coordinating a Peace, Unity, and Justice BBQ in Hickory Trails for next weekend, August 29th. In coordination with local residents, religious leaders, concerned citizens, and other City Council candidates, Jorge is working to bring the community of Hickory Trails together at a BBQ to help the community heal and also create stronger relationships in order to prevent further violence.  Jorge’s work is largely in response to the recent shooting death of 16-year old Breyon Deese in the neighborhood.  This peace-building work is the kind of important, preventative work that is often overlooked by politicians and City leaders but is essential for any neighborhood as part of the process of creating community. We’ll provide more details and information shortly, so stay tuned.

Two Videos Now Available

Did you miss Jorge speaking at City Council this week? Lucky for you, the footage is archived on City Council’s website.  Go here and click on the video for August 18, 2009 (it’s at the top of the list).  You can skip to speakers of the floor.  Jorge is the third speaker, but also check out the first speaker, Wesley Morris, who addresses related issues. 

Also, check out this video of part of Jorge’s statement at a press conference last Wednesday.  Click on the title of this post in order to see the whole screen.  The volume is low so you’ll probably have to turn it up.  Since the video is only part of his statement, you shoud read the full statement if you have a chance.

Speaking at the Boys & Girls Club

Jorge with Sabrina Abney, the head of Boys & Girls Club in Ray Warren Homes

This afternoon, Jorge attended a BBQ hosted by the Boys & Girls Club in Ray Warren Homes.    The BBQ celebrated the end of their summer program for dozens of children of varying ages.  Ray Warren is a public housing community off of Lee Street in Greensboro.  Jorge met and talked with a number of parents who were present and they were very supportive of his campaign, saying they planned to vote for him.  A few weeks ago, Jorge met with Sabrina Abney, the director for the Boys & Girls Club in Ray Warren and the co-founder of the Ray Warren Drum Corps.  They spoke about the similarities in their ideas for a better Greensboro, such as increased community parks in neighborhoods such as Ray Warren.  Sabrina invited Jorge to come back and speak to the youth in the summer enrichment program and the end of the program.

Jorge and Wesley speaking to youth and engaging them in activities

Jorge spoke with Wesley Morris, a community organizer with the Beloved Community Center, about the importance of following your dreams and sticking to your goals no matter what.  Both of them talked about some of the things they’ve been able to accomplish by not giving up or listening to people who told them they couldn’t do it.  They led the youth in a number of interactive activities about supporting each other as friends, family, and community members.  Jorge and Wesley also talked about the importance of confidence, staying in school, standing for what you believe in, and commitment.  Jorge has spent time in Ray Warren Homes on other occasions, including to attend a screening of the film Bastards of the Party.

Marching, Speaking, Moving Forward…

Today around lunch time, Jorge participated in a Justice & Prayer Walk from the Beloved Community Center on Arlington Street to the heart of the City.  People gathered to stand against racism and violence in our community, specifically problems within the Police Department and anti-Latino sentiment in particular.  The manifestation of anti-Latino attitudes can be seen in the mistreatment of Officer AJ Blake, whose mother is from Honduras, and the mistreatment of the Almighty Latin King & Queen Nation (ALKQN) by the police.  In addition, law enforcement policies that support racial profiling such as 287(g) immigration policy demonstrate the need for reforms within the Police and Sheriff Departments and for police accountability.

Jorge speaking at City Council today

At tonight’s City Council meeting, Jorge addressed the Council, everyone in the chambers, and people watching at home on Channel 13.  Jorge spoke about City Council’s unwillingness to meet with him to discuss the positive work he is doing in the community, and Mayor Pro Tem (City Councilmember at large) Sandra Anderson Groat seemed upset but stated that she didn’t see a reason to meet with him.   Not only should City Councilmembers and the general public be concerned with the way people of color are harassed in Greensboro, but they should also be concerned with joining up with those who are making monumental steps to building peace, unity, and community in the City.

Jorge criticized some City Councilmembers for not hearing the voices of regular people, asking over 20 people who were there to support him to stand as an example of the people City Council is not hearing.  It seems as if some City Councilmembers are not too concerned with hearing the problems of common folks in the City, which may not be surprising when considering that many of them (not all, of course) are lawyers and real estate developers without many ties to communities that are suffering from a lack of economic opportunities, street violence, racial profiling, and countless important service programs being slashed- especially for youth. 

An at large City Council member should represent the entire City and be concerned with the well being of every last person.  They cannot rely on newspaper reports to shape their understandings of an issue, but they have to get out in the community and meet with people from all walks of life.  An at large representative should feel comfortable going into any community to fulfill their duties as a public servant. 

An at large representative should be on top of every issue related to their duties as a City Council member, and should be involved in meeting with grieving mothers, organizing community building events in divided neighborhoods, working to bring fighting groups together despite their differences, hear the pain of a single parent who lost their job, attending community meetings taking place throughout the City, listening openly and honestly to people’s criticisms of how they are doing their job, working with all types of people including homeless folks and students and judges and reverends and small business owners. Jorge Cornell is already doing all of these things on top of raising his daughters and being an involved parent in their education. 

Jorge Cornell is the only candidate who encompasses all of these characteristics and more- he would bring a much needed change to City Council. 

Community Pulls Together to Help Grieving Mother

We have great news to share today.  Working with Kesha McNeil, Jorge Cornell was able to work together with community members to help raise close to $1,000 for Breyon’s funeral. Kesha’s 16 year old son Breyon was murdered recently in Greensboro, and she could not afford his funeral.  Jorge was able to find someone to donate a plot of land for Breyon’s burial, as well as a church to host the service tomorrow for free.  Jorge also pulled together a location for the reception and found friends to provide the food for free.  In addition, with strong help from the Pulpit Forum and door to door canvassing for donations in Kesha’s community of Hickory Trails, Jorge helped coordinate roughly $1,000 in donations to cover funeral costs.  Kesha still needs community support to be able to transfer housing or stay in her current location, because the Greensboro Housing Authority has attempted to use Breyon’s murder as an opportunity to evict his mother.

Jorge feels very strongly about the need to build community and unity in order to create peace and justice in Hickory Trails and in Greensboro as a whole.  He is committed to building peace between all people, particularly in oppressed communities, so that we can all live in a more just and peaceful City.  Jorge is currently working into the night to make sure that everything goes well for Breyon’s funeral tomorrow, even at the expense of missing an event he is scheduled to speak at tonight. To find out more information on the situation, please check out our press release which you can find in our website posted in the archives.

On an unrelated note, earlier today Jorge attended a forum on climate change. According to the announcement, the forum was “an in-depth discussion of the climate change and energy legislation currently being debated in Congress and its potential impact impact on North Carolina businesses.”  The event was a presentation from a business angle of the issues, but Jorge has also recently attended a forum on alternative transportation and sustainability from a grassroots level.

A Busy Week

Jorge with a member of the community and one of his daughters Wednesday

Jorge has been very busy with different events this week, and it’s not even the weekend yet!  Tuesday he attended the regular meeting of the Board of Education’s School Safety Committee, of which he is a member. 

Jorge continues to work with Kesha McNeil, whose son was killed recently in Hickory Trails.  He is working to rally community support around her to keep the Greensboro Housing Authority from evicting her and to raise funds for her son’s funeral.  Check out the press release we sent out in a recent post, even though it was ignored by all the local media we sent it to except for the Carolina Peacemaker.  It appears the media is generally more interested in sensationalized stories focusing on negative occurances in our city than about helping citizens bring about positive change.

On Wednesday Jorge held a press conference with Officer AJ Blake, which we also covered on our site.  He also went to the Beloved Community Center’s weekly community meeting and an event to celebrate their summer interns.  Later on, the campaign held an organizing meeting, where four new volunteers were welcomed to the campaign and we went over key issues and a couple important upcoming events.

Today he met with another City Council candidate, and we’ll have more news on that soon.  We also made plans to speak to a college class on race and criminal justice in the fall.  Tonight, he is going to the weekly meeting of The Tea Talk Ladies to talk with and support survivors of domestic violence.

Today’s Press Conference with Officer Blake

Today at 1:30 pm, Jorge held a press conference with AJ Blake, a former officer on the Greensboro Gang Squad.  The press conference addressed racism within the Greensboro Police Department, corruption and slanderous statements made by Councilman Mike Barber, and the importance of continuing to work towards peace.  Below is Jorge’s opening statement at the press conference, and afterwards he answered questions from the public and the press.

Jorge shares a lighter moment with Officer Blake after the press conference

August 12, 2009

“I Will Continue To Work For Peace and Unity”

Over a year ago as leader of the Almighty Latin King and Queen Nation I publicly announced that I would work for peace and unity in the community, especially among street groups (gangs) and between black and brown people.

I have done my best over the last 13 months.  I have been received positively by most parts of the community.  I participated in a major black-brown conference last October attended by over 250 People at Genesis Baptist Church.  I have worked with various streets groups and we actually created a written peace agreement.  Working with the Pulpit Forum and the Beloved Community Center, I was part of a broad plan for peace in Greensboro that was presented to the City in January called the “Paradigm Shift”.

 About a month ago I was placed on Guilford County School Safety Committee.  Several days ago I lead a delegation of city residents to visit with a grieving mother in the Hickory Trails Public Housing Community.  We have helped raise money and got a church for her to bury her sixteen-year-old son who was killed by senseless violence.  This is the kind of violence I think we can prevent if we could work freely in the community.  Even before her son in buried the Housing Authority has said that it will put this mother out of her home. I will be working with others to her to keep her in her home in the weeks to come. 

No matter what positive work I have done, the one group that strongly opposed all my efforts  has been the “Gang Unit” of the Greensboro Police Department.   I have come today to say that I will continue to work for peace and unity in our community.

Saturday evening August 1^st, member of my Nation were harassed, provoked and when I intervened, I was arrested without cause by members of the Gang Unit.  This is a continuation of the pattern that has been occurring for over 18 months.

The “Gang Unity said that members of my Nation were flashing “Gang Signs”.  This is completely false.  It is a lie.   We were there with students who were working on my City Council Campaign.   When several members of my Nation arrived, Eric Ginsburg, who is a student at Guilford College and an intern this summer at the Beloved Community Center, waved to identify his location.  It was a normal sticking your hand up to wave.  When members of my nation saw him they waved back.  

That is what happened and that is all that happened.  The Gang Unit then approached members of my Nation and began to harass them.  When I walked around the police officer to speak with the members of my Nation, one of whom is in my legal custody, a member of the Gang Unit came around and got in my face and then began shouting to me to get out of his face.   In less than 30 seconds I was arrested and taken to jail. 

I was put under $500.00 bond and the most ridiculous thing of all is that I was also put under a 6:00 PM to 6:00 AM Curfew.  Now I ask you to check the record and see how many grown men are put under a curfew for a legal arrest, not to speak of an illegal misdemeanor arrest. So far as I know, no other adult has been given a curfew for a misdemeanor charge.

What basis could a magistrate have for such a decision except the information given to them by police officers associated with the arrest?  I see this as a direct attack on my City Council Campaign.  The Gang Unit has now become the “Political Unit”.   The ridiculous curfew lasted two days but it cost me money to get a lawyer to have it lifted.

The most dangerous part of what happened was that the Gang Unit said that we were flashing Gang signs at another street group called the Bloods.  First, no gang sings were flashed.  Second, there were no Bloods any where in the area.  This kind of public statement by the police can lead to street groups fighting each other.  Is the Gang Unit aware that their statements can lead to fights and conflicts in the community?   Fortunately, because of the work that we did several months ago I was able to talk with a couple of sets of Bloods and there are no problems between us.

The police cannot produce a single picture or even a witness -except other police- to say that any group called the Bloods was present.  It is another Gang Unit lie.  What’s really bad is that Police Chief Bellamy stands up in the City Council meeting and defends what the Gang Unit did.  This is wrong.

When Mayor Yvonne Johnson asked the City Manager about the unusual curfew, before he could answer Councilman Barber rudely cut across him and tried to stop him from answering the Mayor’s question.  This is the same Councilman Barber who publicly said at a City Council meeting that the Sheriff’s Department investigated the ALKQN for dealing in child pornography.  Barber tried to make it appear as if my organization participates in or condones child pornography. That’s absolutely not true and I challenge Barber to prove his allegations.

The Gang Unit is a dangerous group.  They either do not know what they are doing -in which case they need training- or they are consciously attacking and setting up street groups to fight each other, in which case they need to be dismantled.   After Officer Blake makes his statement, I will be happy to answer your questions.

Mother Needs Support, Community Needs Healing

In order to spread awareness about this important community issue, we are reprinting this press release Jorge Cornell is sending out tonight because we want it to reach as many people as possible.  This is part of the work Jorge has been involved in prior to running for office (building community and working to prevent violence) and even though it is not part of his campaign for City Council, we wanted to repost it for maximum visibility in order to help Kesha McNeil as much as possible.

 

HICKORY TRAILS MOTHER URGENTLY NEEDS FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE TO BURY HER SON

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

 

Jorge Cornell

1309 Kirkman St

Greensboro, NC 27403

Phone: 336-740-1225

Email: cornellforcouncil@gmail.com

A week ago, 16 year old Breyon Deese was killed in Hickory Trails, Greensboro.  His mother, Kesha McNeil is struggling to stay in her apartment and is unable to pay for her son’s funeral.  In light of these developments, and in the spirit of building a stronger, peaceful community, I am calling on anyone and everyone to donate whatever is within their means to help Kesha McNeil cover the funeral costs.  We need to come together as a community not just to help McNeil bury her son, but in order to have collective healing and to ensure that more blood isn’t shed on the streets of our City.   Donations can be made out to Gilmore Funeral Home and sent to 4404 Sellers Ave Apt. E, Greensboro NC 27407.  Donations can also be sent directly to the funeral home (note that it’s for Ms. McNeil) at 1609 N Liberty St, Winston Salem, NC 27105.

Over the past couple of days I have spoken with Kesha McNeil and a couple of us sat down with her Monday afternoon.  She has expressed that her primary financial concern right now is her son’s funeral.  After helping to coordinate donations for Breyon’s funeral, I plan to continue to be involved in working with residents of Hickory Trails to build peace, unity and justice.  Our whole community needs to come together in order to address the violence in our society and daily lives.

For more information, you can contact Jorge Cornell at cornellforcouncil@gmail.com or 336-740-1225.

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