Mary D. Williams, one of the four people arrested for taking over the June 15 Wake County school board meeting, has received an award from the YWCA of the Greater Triangle.
In this case, the award is for Williams' artistic skills and not her political activism. Williams was inducted Wednesday into the 2010 Class of the Academy of Women honorary society for the arts and entertainment category.
The YWCA has been an active supporter and organizer for groups that support the old diversity policy.
Duke University historian and author Tim Tyson is now doing hip-hop.
Tyson and gospel singer Mary D. Williams will meet with students Monday night at Pullen Memorial Baptist Church to help develop what organizers are calling “hip-hop infused chants” to be used at the following day’s march.
Protesters plan to march from the Raleigh Convention Center to the State Capitol before showing up at Tuesday’s Wake County school board meeting to oppose the elimination of the socioeconomic diversity policy.
Duke University historian Tim Tyson is accusing the Wake County school board of trying to exercise "arbitrary police powers" by barring him from being on school property.
Tyson, one of four people arrested for disrupting the June 15 school board meeting, has finally gotten the certified letter sent Monday by the school system. Tyson questioned how the quartet can be barred from being on school property when their second-degree trespassing charges haven't been adjudicated yet.
"I take note that the Tea Party faction on the school board thinks it can suspend the legal process and convict and now apparently sentence us without trial, but I remind them that neither Mrs. Williams nor Rev. Petty nor Rev. Dr. Barber nor I have ever been convicted of one thing," Tyson said today. "They have no right to act otherwise."
The Wake County school system has pulled the trigger and barred the four people who were arrested at the June 15 school board meeting from showing up on school property.
The trespassing notices affect the Rev. William Barber, president of the state NAACP; Tim Tyson, a Duke University historian; the Rev. Nancy Petty, pastor of Pullen Memorial Baptist Church and Mary D. Williams, an activist and parent.
The letters come just as Barber and Petty planned to show up at the July 20 school board meeting following that morning's march in downtown Raleigh.
The pretty strong implication coming from speakers at Monday night's rally is that God is on the side of those who support Wake County's old diversity policy.
As noted in today's article, God was repeatedly invoked by multiple speakers, many of whom are Christian ministers. God was used both to justify fighting the school board and to back any efforts at civil disobedience.
The Rev. Nancy Petty, senior pastor of Pullen Memorial Baptist Church, which hosted the rally, called for the crowd to engage in direct action. She also prayed for God to encourage them to act for social justice.
Contrary to some reports you may have heard, the Rev. William Barber, head of the state NAACP, has not been barred from going on Wake County school system property as a result of last week's arrest.
Greg Thomas, a Wake schools' spokesman, said people are not automatically banned from school property if they're arrested on trespassing charges. He said today no decision had been made yet on whether to bar Barber or any of the other three people who were arrested at last week's school board meeting.
It wouldn't be unprecedented to issue those trespassing notices.
Look for the state NAACP to speak out at today's Wake County school board meeting.
In a news advisory sent this afternoon, the group said "leaders within NC NAACP will continue to speak out against Wake County’s anti-diversity caucus of the Wake County School Board ending socio-economic diversity policy, setting a course for resegregation of its public schools.
The public comment section starts at 4 p.m.
UPDATE
With all the speakers on agenda items done at 4:42 p.m., Margiotta called for a recess and said he'd resume public comment after employee awards scheduled for 5 p.m. were given.
Coincidentally or not, the next group of speakers were from the NAACP. The Rev. William Barber, presidnet of the state NAACP, objected to the recess, saying they would refuse to give up the podium until they spoke.
Only John Tedesco, Keith Sutton, Carolyn Morrison and Anne McLaurin are in the room hearing the speakers. The others are out on recess.
The meeting has resumed a little after 5 p.m. with Margiotta saying he's pushed back the awards ceremony for the NAACP speakers to talk.
Tim Tyson is talking past his two minutes. He's refusing to stop. Barber is backing Tyson and arrests could be coming soon.
“The anti-diversity members of this school board wipe their feet on our ancestors,” Barber said.
Barber said they’re willing to accepted being locked up for peforming their “spiritual witness in a non-violent act of conscience.
“We are willing to break a lesser law and accept our punishment to defend a larger law,” he said.
At 5:28 p.m., Margiotta called for a closed session. About 20 people are singing various civil rights songs. Barber warned they were not going to leave the building as the board walked out.
The protesters have taken over the seats of the board members and are holding their own mock meeting as they ask for speakers from the public to come up to the podium.
Click here to read the NAACP press release on the protest.
At 6:06 p.m., no arrests yet but that's because there are no police in the building yet. It looks like the NAACP protest caught the district off guard or else the normal contingent of four off-duty cops would have been here already.
At 6:17 p.m., the police are now downstairs. We'll see how much longer it lasts.
At 6:20 p.m., Margiotta asked them to leave. When they said no, they were arrested and charged with trespassing. Three were quickly taken away.
After a wait for an ambulance because of Barber's size, he was transported to the Wake County jail to join the other three protesters.
In addition to Barber and Tyson, Pullen Memorial Baptist Church minister Nancy Petty and activist Mary Williams were also arrested.
