NEWS
BIPOC NEWS HAPPENING IN ORANGE COUNTY
Bob Drakeford
The Orange County Board of County Commissioners and Carrboro Town Council recently voted to name the new building at 203 S. Greensboro Street the “Drakeford Library Complex” in honor of Bob Drakeford,
Celebrating Juneteenth
Juneteenth, short for “June Nineteenth,” marks the day in 1865 when federal troops arrived in Galveston, Texas, to enforce the freedom of all enslaved people, more than two years after the Emancipation Proclamation.
Black Restaurant Week in Carrboro
Mayor Barbara Foushee has proclaimed the week of April 26 to May 5, 2024 as Black Restaurant Week in Carrboro. The Town of Carrboro recognizes the importance of supporting local Black-owned restaurants, which play a vital role in building inter-generational...
Carrboro Celebrates: The Braxton Foushee Street Dedication
The Town of Carrboro celebrated the renaming of Carr Street during the Braxton Foushee Street Dedication on Wednesday, March 27, 2024 . Braxton Foushee is a local civil rights leader, a current Planning Board member, and the first Black member of the Carrboro Board of...
Braxton Foushee Street Dedication Event
The Town of Carrboro is planning an event to celebrate the renaming of Carr Street to Braxton Foushee Street at 9 a.m. Wednesday, March 27, with a community gathering outside the Areté Studio, 203 E. Carr Street. The street dedication will begin with the...
2024 Black History Month Schedule of Events
Celebrate Carrboro https://www.carrboronc.gov Feb. 1-29 Virtual Events: Youth Art Exhibit: “Celebrating Black History Month” 29 Days of Black History Trivia Inspiring Black History Month Quotes to Remember Friday, Feb. 2 First Watch & Melanated Wine Trip 9:45 a.m....
Scenes from the 2024 MLK Event at UNC Friday Center Chapel Hill
Black History Month 2024
Hillsborough, NC -- The Orange County Office of Equity & Inclusion is committed to fostering an inclusive and equitable community for all residents. Black History Month is a time for us to come together and recognize the invaluable contributions of Black...
Martin Luther King, Jr. Day Celebration Events
UNC MLK Jr. Week of Celebration The MLK Jr. Week of Celebration is part of a UNC-Chapel Hill campus-wide initiative to honor Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., his legacy, and his ideals. Carolina began its celebrations of Dr. King’s life and legacy long before there was a...
Dasan Ahanu to Perform at Current Art Space Chapel Hill on March 7, 2023
Writin’ Dirty: Southern Lyricism and Storytelling There’s something special about the way pen meets page down bottom. As a former Nasir Jones Fellow with Harvard University’s Hip Hop Archive and Research Institute, poet and educator Dasan Ahanu understands this truth...
Mural of Rev. Dr. Pauli Murray Unveiled
On Tuesday, Dec. 5 the Orange County Office of Equity & Inclusion unveiled the new Pauli Murray mural by Scott Nurkin. The mural is located at the Orange County Sportsplex at 101 Meadowlands Dr., Hillsborough. The program included a tribute to Rev. Murray by Dasan...
Congresswoman Valerie Foushee
Valerie Foushee is a lifelong resident of Chapel Hill. She is a former Chair of the Orange County Board of Commissioners and served for 10-years in the NC General Assembly, in both the House and Senate. Now Foushee is in Washington, D.C. proudly serving as...
Tonya’s Cookies & Bake Shop
The maker of an Oprah’s ‘Favorite Thing’ has opened a new bake shop in Chapel Hill Discover Chapel Hill's culinary heritage at Tonya's Cookies & Bake Shop. Tonya Council, granddaughter of Mildred "Mama Dip" Council, presents a charming bakery in The Galleria. A...
Chapel Hill’s 2023 Community Treasures: Profiles of Dedication
Meet the remarkable individuals of the 2023 Community Treasures who have dedicated their lives to serving and shaping Chapel Hill: Albert Simms Williams: A civil rights pioneer and Chapel Hill native, Mr. Williams made history with a courageous sit-in at the age of...
PEACH Apartments Break Ground on Multifamily Affordable Housing
A groundbreaking ceremony was held Tuesday, October 17, 2023 to celebrate PEACH apartments — Pine Knolls, EmPOWERment, Affordable, Community, Housing —built in Pine Knolls, a historically Black neighborhood in Chapel Hill. According to the Community Empowerment Fund...
New Fire Chief
Some exciting news from Chapel Hill Fire Department — we've got a new fire chief! Starting July 3, Jay Mebane took the helm. Before this, Jay was rocking it as the fire chief in Burlington. A bit about Jay: he's a 2005 Walter Williams High School grad. And fun fact?...
Creighton P. Blackwell, Coastal Credit Union
CHAPEL HILL CARRBORO CHAMBER OF COMMERCE 2023 BLACK BUSINESS ALLIANCE BUSINESSPERSON OF THE YEAR “Doing good is simply good business,” says Creighton P. Blackwell Vice President of Corporate Affairs and Community Engagement Coastal Credit Union. Blackwell is an...
Carrboro to hold 10th Annual Frederick Douglass Community Reading
The Town of Carrboro will hold its 10th Annual Community Reading of the Frederick Douglass essay "What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?" on Tuesday, July 4, 2023. The reading will occur from noon to 1:30 p.m. at the Carrboro Century Center, 100 N. Greensboro St....
Celebrating Mrs. Lillian Lee
In his autobiography, Dean Smith wrote about the quest of a dream. “It is about the thousands of small unselfish acts, the sacrifices on the part of the players that result in team building.” The same sentiment could be used to describe the best parts and people of...
The 23rd Annual Mildred Council Community Dinner
The 23rd Annual Mildred Council Community Dinner was held Sunday, April 30, 2023 as part of a long tradition of community building, crossing economic, racial, religious and ethnic barriers in Chapel Hill and Orange County, North Carolina. Local volunteers worked hard...
Bonnie B. Davis’ Legacy and the Hillsborough Center Named After Her
The Bonnie B. Davis Environment and Agricultural Center is the first county building named after a Black woman, and the only agricultural center in the state of North Carolina named after a Black Family and Consumer Sciences or Home Demonstration Agent. The...
Phyllis Portie-Ascott
Phyllis Portie-Ascott was chosen to fill the vacant seat on the Orange County Board of County Commissioners, which voted unanimously in favor of her appointment — one of four final applicants for the position. Portie-Ascott was also the Orange County Democratic...
Graham Street Raid
Town of Chapel Hill Rights a Wrong in 2022 Council Meeting Thirty-three years ago, local and state law enforcement, some wearing masks and carrying automatic weapons, swarmed a block of downtown Chapel Hill, forcing Black people to the ground for an illegal search. In...