At 2:17 a.m. on October 12, David Junior Ward died by injection in Central Prison’s execution chamber. Ward was the 20th person, and fifth African American, to be put to death by the state since executions resumed in 1984. Following a relatively slow trickle of just eight executions from 1984 to 1997, the pace has […]
Patrick O'Neill
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Danger and Opportunity
Death penaltyThe impact of the Sept. 11 attacks in New York and Washington is being felt in all aspects of life, and the National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty’s 25th anniversary gathering in Raleigh last weekend was no exception. The choice to hold the two-day conference in North Carolina for the first time was […]
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Livestock, tobacco and tolerance
At the North Carolina State Fair you can look in any direction and see a U.S. flag. At a dart-throwing booth, if you pop a balloon you can win a T-shirt featuring a wanted poster of Osama bin Laden. Signs of nationalism are everywhere, and support for the U.S./British bombing campaign against Afghanistan appears substantial. […]
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Regrouping After Tragedy
In the wake of the terrorist attacks in New York City and Washington, D.C., the Farm Labor Organizing Committee (FLOC) decided to proceed with plans for a Sept. 16 prayer vigil to remember Urbano Ramirez. On June 26, Ramirez, a Mexican farmworker, was working in a Halifax County tobacco field when he fell ill, received […]
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Poor timing for peace
Mary Lou Smith thought the timing was just right. Less than a week after terrorist attacks hit New York City and Washington, D.C., Smith was hosting a series of talks featuring three women peace activists from Jerusalem–a Christian, a Muslim and a Jew. The three articulate women, all of whom have worked diligently to advance […]
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He had a life
The business of death has a way of making people feel uncomfortable. That discomfort was surprisingly acute for reporter Tara Servatius who was among three journalists witnessing Clifton White’s execution in Raleigh’s Central Prison on Aug. 24. White was executed for the 1989 stabbing murder of Kimberly Ewing of Charlotte. He became the 18th person […]
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Aired mail
In a recent e-mail message to subscribers, the executive director of the North Carolina Waste Awareness and Reduction Network, Jim Warren, included a “special note” to Carolina Power & Light spokesman Keith Poston. Warren wrote: “You can intercept our e-mails, but you can’t change reality. Good luck talking or buying your way out of this […]
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Atomic Legacy
The splitting of the atom nearly six decades ago began a dark chapter in U.S. history–one that Chapel Hill resident Sandra Kane “Sunny” Marlow is still trying to shed some light on. Throughout the late 1940s and for years thereafter, thousands of U.S. military personnel were exposed to radiation from nuclear weapons. Although federal authorities […]
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Taking it to heart
For the Rev. H. Charles Mulholland, the life of a Roman Catholic priest was a good fit. Simple living came naturally to him. He almost never went to the mall. His only material joy was his books. Celibacy? No problem. His faith was his love. The Sermon on the Mount, the quintessential summation of the […]
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A United Front
In the four years since Latino union leader Baldemar Velasquez first started organizing in North Carolina, the founder and president of the Farm Labor Organizing Committee has stressed the importance of coalition-building in the effort to unionize the state’s farmworkers. Velasquez has garnered support from the state AFL-CIO and numerous secular and faith-based progressive groups, […]