CARRBORO, N.C. -- Mayor Damon Seils has proclaimed Jan. 18, 2022, the Tuesday following Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, as “National Day of Racial Healing” in Carrboro and encourages all residents to share ideas, knowledge, and points of view related to truth, racial healing, transformation, and racial equity.
As part of today's (Thursday, Jan. 13) announcement, Mayor Seils invites residents to attend the Martin Luther King, Jr. Day celebration planned by the Town’s Youth Advisory Board, the Carrboro Youth Council, and the Chapel Hill-Carrboro NAACP Youth Council from 1 to 3 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 15, via Zoom. Register in advance at https://bit.ly/3nq5buO
“National Day of Racial Healing” is an annual observance initiated as part of the W.K. Kellogg Foundation’s Truth, Racial Healing & Transformation program and promoted by the program’s many community partners across the United States. It is a way to promote relationship-building, truth telling, and racial equity; healing and solidarity; and transformative action.
The Carrboro proclamation states: “We understand and recognize that we all must work earnestly and intentionally to heal the wounds created by racial, ethnic, and religious bias and build an equitable and just society in which all people can thrive and in which children have the opportunity to learn and grow in nurturing environments that safeguard their safety, dignity and humanity.”
Access Mayor Seils’ proclamation at https://townofcarrboro.org/DocumentCenter/View/10464/National-Day-of-Racial-Healing-2022. The proclamation lists several actions that the Town of Carrboro has taken in its commitment to advancing racial equity, including:
- joining the Government Alliance on Race and Equity (GARE) in 2018;
- establishing the Town’s first race and equity officer position in January 2019;
- unveiling “truth plaques” at Town Hall and the site of the former Freedmen’s School on East Main Street to acknowledge the ties of the Town’s namesake to racial segregation and other truths about Carrboro’s history;
- adopting a resolution on June 18, 2020, to advance racial equity in law enforcement and public safety in Carrboro;
- designating Juneteenth as a paid holiday for Town employees beginning in 2021;
- adopting the Town’s Inclusive Carrboro Communication and Engagement Plan in August 2020;
- adopting a resolution in support of reparations for Black Carrboro in October 2020;
- completing Carrboro’s first Black Lives Matter mural at the CommunityWorx building on West Main Street in December 2020 and a second Black Lives Matter mural at the Century Center in January 2021;
- providing racial equity training for Town employees beginning in January 2021 and for members of the Town’s advisory boards and commissions beginning in June 2021;
- establishing the Racial Equity Commission in January 2021;
- establishing the Community Safety Task Force in April 2021;
- organizing and scheduling special activities for Town employees to normalize, organize, and operationalize the work of advancing racial equity; and
- collaborating with the other jurisdictions in Orange County to develop the One Orange Racial Equity Framework.
