FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 18, 2012
For More Information: Rev. Dr. William J. Barber, II, President, 919-394-8137
Mrs. Amina Turner, Executive Director, 919-682-4700
For Media Assistance: Rob Stephens, Office Manager, 336-577-9335
The Truth & Hope Tour of Poverty in North Carolina Kicks Off
on Thursday, January 19
WHAT: The Truth & Hope Tour of Poverty in North Carolina
WHEN: Thursday, January 19 – Friday, January 20
WHO: The North Carolina NAACP, NC Justice Center, and UNC Center on Poverty, Work and Opportunity and the Institute for Civic Engagement and Social Change at North Carolina Central University
WHERE: Washington, Roper, Elizabeth City, Winton, Scotland Neck, Rocky Mount
RALEIGH (January 18, 2012) – On Thursday, January 19, the North Carolina NAACP, NC Justice Center, UNC Center on Poverty, Work and Opportunity and the Institute for Civic Engagement and Social Change at North Carolina Central University will kick off the first leg of the "Truth and Hope Tour of Poverty in North Carolina," a state-wide tour of rural counties and inner city neighborhoods where North Carolinians struggle to find work, decent housing, transportation, and sufficient food for their families.
Departing from Raleigh on Jan. 19, a bus full of activists, reporters, foundation leaders, and scholars will travel through the northeast quadrant of the state, engaging in town hall meetings, sessions with local leaders, and tours of neighborhoods directly affected by poverty.
"If we see the faces of poverty, maybe then we will have as a state the moral motivation to do the long, hard, necessary and righteous work of turning this reality around for the good of the whole of our state and nation." said Rev. Dr. William Barber II, chair of the NC State NAACP.
A video trailer of the tour, which contains footage from listening sessions, is available online. Click here to view the video.
"We mean, through this modest effort, to illuminate and highlight barriers to opportunity in North Carolina, these moral and social transgressions that hold us all back," said Gene Nichol, director of the UNC Center on Poverty, Work and Opportunity. "We want to do so not simply through data, and statistics, and documents and reports – but through the words and voices and protestations and hopes of those most directly affected."
Communities of color have been hit particular hard by the economic crisis. Organizers say the tour is a way to listen as well as a means to highlight the concerns of North Carolinians most affected by poverty and economic injustice.
"We want a North Carolina with real opportunity and prosperity for all," said Melinda Lawrence, executive director of the NC Justice Center. "To get there, we have to remember those places hit hardest by the recession – and do the hard work necessary to bring opportunity to the places it is most needed."
The tour schedule:
THURSDAY, JANUARY 19
9:30 a.m. – BEAUFORT COUNTY. Metropolitan AME Zion Church, 102 W. Martin Luther King Jr., Drive, Washington, NC 27889
12:00 p.m. – WASHINGTON COUNTY. Eastern NC & VA Headquarters Building, 111 June Street Roper, NC 27970
6:30 p.m. – PASQUOTANK COUNTY. Elizabeth City State University, K.E. White Graduate Center (Room 130), 1704 Weeksville Road, Elizabeth City, NC 27909
FRIDAY, JANUARY 20
8:30 a.m. – HERTFORD COUNTY. "Old" C.S. Brown High School, Cafeteria, 101 C.S. Brown Drive, Winton, NC 27986
1:00 p.m. – HALIFAX COUNTY. Brawley High School, E. 16th Street, Scotland Neck, NC 27874
4:30 p.m. – EDGECOMBE COUNTY. Rocky Mount OIC, Auditorium, 402 E. Virginia Street, Rocky Mount, NC 27801
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Founded in 1909, the NAACP is the nation’s oldest and largest civil rights organization. Its members throughout the United States and the world are the premier advocates for civil rights in their communities, conducting voter mobilization and monitoring equal opportunity in the public and private sectors.
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