By FRAN FARRER
CONCORD, NC - Robert L. Barrier, Jr., son of Mrs. Elnora Pharr Barrier of Concord, NC was inducted into the Educators Hall of Fame at East Carolina University on Saturday, October 27, 2018. Recognizing his many accomplishments during his educational tenure, Mrs. Ella T. Harris and her husband Alton nominated and sponsored Robert as a recipient of this honor.
Barrier was a 1973 graduate of Concord High School, after which he attended Winston-Salem State University, and was elected to serve as the Senior Class President and graduated with honors in 1977.
His teaching career began in Greenville, North Carolina when he was hired to serve as a middle school classroom teacher in Pitt County.
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By YOLANDA CARAWAY, LEAH DAUGHTRY, AND MINYON MOORE
November 5th marked the historic 50th Anniversary of the first African American woman elected to the U.S. Congress, Rep. Shirley Chisholm. This important milestone marks a watershed moment in American politics for black women, to emerge and take their rightful seats at the table of elected Democratic More ↠
By CASH MICHAELS
Buoyed by one of the largest midterm election voter turnouts in history, Democratic voters, in reaction to the change policies of President Donald Trump and his Republican Party, turned up, and turned out to “take their state and country back” at the polls, in preparation for the next presidential election in 2020 when Trump’s name is expected to be back on the ballot.
It wasn’t the massive “blue wave” that was originally predicted, but it was enough of a renouncement of GOP rule to give Democrats something to leverage for the next big election in two years.
While failing to win the two seats needed to take back the majority in the US Senate, Democrats were victorious in reclaiming the US House for the next two years, and are expected to go after the president with mounting investigations into his business dealings, taxes, and alleged 2016 campaign dealings with the Russians.
Here in North Carolina, the highest notable Democratic victory for a Black candidate was for civil rights attorney Anita Earls, who is projected to win a seat on the state Supreme Court with 49%, defeating incumbent Republican Associate Justice Barbara Jackson with 34%, and controversial GOP challenger Chris Anglin at 16%.
“We have a president who believes he can, by executive order, erase the 14th amendment to the U.S. Constitution,” Attorney Earls said during her victory speech. “And we have misguided partisans in our state who believe that they should impeach justices who don’t rule in their favor. By working together over the past year, we’ve shown that we can stand up for the importance of an independent judiciary. Stand up for the principle that no one is above the law. And stand up for the importance of people’s right to vote.”
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By CASH MICHAELS
Thank you! What an incredible honor it is to stand before you as your next Associate Justice of the North Carolina Supreme Court. First, I would like to thank all of you for your support. This would not have been possible without each of you. I am especially grateful to my husband Charles and my sons Dylan and Chad for their unwavering love and support this past year. Next, I’d like to thank my amazing staff Caroline, Jackie and JuJu, and to every volunteer who gave generously of your time to work with us, thank you.
When we set out on this journey 12 months ago, we were clear about our vision: we stand for an independent and fair court that applies the law equally to everyone. I am confident that our clarity and your commitment carried us to this victory.
It is important to remember that when we launched this campaign, we faced a huge uphill battle. Nothing was certain; we didn’t even know who was in the race until the end of July. Litigation over one of the five laws passed to prevent what happened tonight kept us guessing what the ballot might look like until just ten weeks ago. It was your faith in what we could accomplish together, your steadfast commitment and hard work, that got us to this moment. We faced long odds together with the conviction that voters would hear our positive message, share our values and be moved to support us.
It is no exaggeration to say that at this moment our democracy is in peril. We have a president who believes he can, by executive order, erase the Fourteenth Amendment to the US Constitution; and we have misguided partisans in our state who believe that they should impeach justices who don’t rule in their favor.
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