Did Someone Say Election?

Legislative News by Nelda Holder –

It’s been a pretty long election season, and now we’re close to the end (November 8, General Election Day).

That means we’re also in the most dangerous period, when money pours in from outside sources to persuade us of just how awful some of those candidates “really” are. Cue the ominous music!

Well, I have a diversion or three for you.

The Bitter Southerner

An amalgam of current technology and distribution, The Bitter Southerner is several things. First and foremost, it produces a class-act magazine, The Bitter Southerner. But beyond that, it is both a repository of the stories and mores of a changing South and a light leading the way forward.

In the producers’ own words: “The Bitter Southerner has a single aim: to uncover the American South in all its truth and complexity—and in the process to break stereotypes about the region and its people by pushing out important, difficult, uncomfortable, irreverent, witty, and addictive stories online. It’s work intended to keep the region honest, inspired, and moving forward.”

There’s a website motto: “We Stand For A Better South.” And it gathers under that banner the stories of the South’s musicians, farmers, bartenders, artists, scientists, writers, teachers and more. It is a refreshing, valuable reflection of the “un-South,” as I will phrase it. And by that, I mean a reflection of a more universal ethic that enhances the good and the worthy in a changing society.

I highly recommend you take a taste of this Bitter Southerner. Start easy, if you like … just for election season. Sign up for the newsletter at bittersoutherner.com. For sure, browse through some short stories or look at the books available (such as The Bitter Southerner Reader series, or Great Smoky Mountains—“The Purple High Country” or the field guides that include An American South Road Trip Guide. Explore the General Store. Or go the full monty and explore full membership there.

It’s a most refreshing vista, especially in contrast to the context of too many exaggerated or distorted political rantings. “The still, quiet voice.” Find your better self there. That will help you decide the best candidates, after all.

The People’s Art

And speaking of examining culture, it may be a four-hour ride away, but it belongs to you—the North Carolina Museum of Art. And there’s bright news about this piece of Southern and universal culture.

Thanks to a farsighted (we can discuss that unique characteristic in another column) state legislature in 1947, a million dollars was appropriated to buy art for the people of this state.

The appropriation purchased “158 paintings, 2 sculptures, and 25 pieces of furniture and other decorative arts objects” in early 1952.

When that $1 million was matched with a gift from the Kress Foundation of 71 works or art (mostly Italian Renaissance), the combination established the NC museum as “one of the premier art museums” by the time of its opening in 1956 in downtown Raleigh. That building was outgrown relatively quickly (although I visited it as a high school student myself during that period), and the current museum, which opened in 1983, sits on the western edge of Raleigh with an expansive park surrounding it that offers both manmade and natural art for walkers and ramblers. The grounds also include a popular amphitheater for outdoor entertainment.

I’m writing about all this history because the first full weekend of October this year has celebrated the opening of a “reimagined” museum, featuring what is now called the People’s Collection. Interestingly, it was “the people” who came up with the idea for the museum in the beginning, through the 1924 creation of the North Carolina State Art Society. That was the push that led to the Legislature’s beneficence.

Which brings me to you—and the suggestion that a ride through the glories of a Carolina autumn down through the piedmont for a day at your own art museum could be an entirely worthwhile outing. (Pack a picnic for that beautiful art park!) I swear it will get your mind off politics!

The Past Becomes the Future: North Carolina Freedom Park

The mix of art and politics is now taking a brand-new physical form in the North Carolina Freedom Park in downtown Raleigh near the NC legislative complex and the governor’s mansion. We wrote about the park plan two years ago (“North Carolina Freedom Park Becomes Reality,” October 2020). Now it is becoming real.

The envisioned Beacon of Freedom, which will be illuminated by the sun by day and electrification at night, is now standing in place, awaiting the landscaping and pathways that will be surrounding it. It has a vanguard of long-established trees with deep roots to keep it company in the first park at the government complex to specifically honor the “history, contributions, and struggles of Black North Carolinians,” as noted on its website, ncfmp.nationbuilder.com.

Now, Back to Politics

This is your bonus diversion for the month. But it does involve politics. It’s called “Red Wine & Blue,” (redwine.blue) and it actually throws you right into the middle of the election, but in a way that allows you to use your own voice. Or—it allows you just to have a smile or a laugh early in the morning when you check their latest flair. Flare. Take your pick.

See if any of these topics appeal to you:

•   The Court Has Spoken; Now It’s Your Turn
•   The Suburban Woman Problem
•   Book Ban Busters
•   The Great Troublemaker Turnout

Or perhaps, see which values you might share:

•   We exist to lift each other up.
•   We’re optimistic and unafraid.
•   We believe everyone has a role to play.
•   We are not saviors. We are simply doing our part.
•   We believe trust-based relationships are the foundation for everything.
•   We stand on the shoulders of local groups, local women.

Troublemaker Training has its own page, highlighting trainings around the country—as well as virtual. And there’s The Suburban Women Problem Podcast featuring “Kitchen Table Conversations.” Some of those topics: “Parenting Against Extremism,” “Patriotism…It’s Complicated,” “We Can’t Forget Our History,” “And Now, We Fight.”

And Now, WE FIGHT.

Picking up that cue from Red Wine & Blue, we close with your direct action in this fight we call an election. All the information you need regarding your registration, your polling place, absentee ballots, sample ballots, any other question will be available online of by phone (828-250-4200) from the Buncombe County Board of Election Services, 59 Woodfin Place, Asheville. Early Voting dates and locations are available at buncombecounty.org.

Author’s note: I was a poll worker for the Buncombe County Board of Election Services several years ago. I remain impressed with the conviviality and dedication of the people who worked at the polls, with great good humor and helpfulness, making sure this American gift called a BALLOT was available and was safe-guarded and handled with utmost care. I encourage you to have confidence that your vote will be respected and that it will definitely COUNT!

One more word of encouragement: Vote your entire ballot. That includes the county’s open-space bonds referendum and housing bonds referendum; the various judicial seats that are open; and the small but mighty Buncombe Soil and Water Conservation District Supervisor. So do your research ahead of time—that’s your personal citizenship speaking, not some TV ad.

Nelda Holder is the author of The Thirteenth Juror – Ferguson: A Personal Look at the Grand Jury Transcripts.