The speed of hurricane recovery efforts is pernicious, says Matthew Reddick of Washington, NC. If he had one word to describe how hurricane recovery functioned in his hometown – he would choose ‘slow.’ “Slow to react, slow to get something done.” In a context when folks are out of their homes, and Reddick sees the…
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Beverly Johnson’s family bought land by the river in Trenton, NC early in the 20th century. Land ownership options then were limited for African Americans families. Inheriting land in a flood zone was not Johnson’s choice, but she does see many white families in Trenton these days choosing to buy waterfront property. Flood Zone is…
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“I can only imagine what my parents had to go through for that land.” Gwendolyn Brown grew up in Back Street, a long-time African American community in Trenton, NC. When you enter the neighborhood, you pull off of ‘Backstreet Road’, go down a gravel hill, and enter what Brown calls ‘a bowl.’ She is familiar…
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Dallas White-Wells can remember when the young people in Morehead City always had something to do. “Now it’s mostly for retirees and beach people.” White-Wells was born on Bay Street in Morehead City, NC. She lived in this almost entirely African American part of town by Calico Creek until she was 18. Later in her…
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“I’m not against integration, but I think people are being cheated out of their homes.” Her mother’s home was condemned. Then her uncle’s. Ophelia Chambers’ family homestead has been in the same location off of Bridges Street in Morehead City, NC for at least 4 generations. In the wake of Hurricane Florence, her traditionally African…
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Willie Johnson has been driving 30 minutes from his hometown in New Bern, NC to the more rural area of Trenton, NC for nine years. His congregation is there – in a church located within ‘the bowl’ of Back Street. Many of his parishioners have weathered all of North Carolina’s storms. And geographically, African American…
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“I think the shrimp are confused just as much as the people are.” Melvin Dunn is a shrimper from North River– a small, coastal community in Carteret County, NC. His father was a commercial fisherman, and his father before him. But climate change is making Dunn consider leaving his days on the water behind him….
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Jeff Mills, volunteer and Medicaid Ambassador with the North Carolina AIDS Action Network (NCAAN), reads an essay he composed with Lee Storrow, the Director NCAAN. Mills and Storrow note the positive changes to restrictions and limitations on Medicaid programs during COVID-19. They call on policy-makers to extend these considerations beyond times of crisis. Mills is…
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In our latest episode, Amari, Arabia, Kam, and Shecoria talk about what they’re doing stay sane and have fun during the shelter-in-place orders due to COVID-19. Kam tells us the news on the coronavirus pandemic, Shecoria gives us updates on politics and fashion, and Arabia talks about a curious new trend in her neighborhood. Produced…
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