Salute to the Best of Us, and Tools for the Coming Year

Legislative News by Nelda Holder –

I’m going to play along in the spirit of the season by bestowing two “Best of” awards in government and citizenship, plus recapping the state’s own awards for the “Best of Us” this year.

Then, because it is becoming a column tradition to support “book learning,” I’ll offer tips for getting ready for 2025 by reading some of the best of 2024’s literature on government and politics. Read ’em yourself, and/or wrap them as presents. Or, if you just need an escape from the politics of 2024, there is a list of restorative titles included at the column’s end.

First, a brief list of whose been nice enough to win our notice for a spot among “The Best of Us.”

Best of Us in Government

This columnist’s award for Best in Government goes to Gov. Roy Cooper as he leaves the governor’s office and mansion after eight years of leadership we can be proud of. That includes his dedication to keeping the residents of this state safe and informed during the Covid epidemic, and it includes his multiple opportunities to represent the state nationally on news and interview shows as a distinguished, soft-spoken, sharp-minded politician with an optimistic view of the future. It also includes the discernment that has gone into multiple vetoes (usually overridden) of legislation that he believed would harm the state’s people or business. A big tip of the hat to an elegant state leader.

Best of Us in Citizenship

This second award—without question—goes to the residents of the western North Carolina’s Hurricane Helene disaster area, for the courage and hope they have exhibited in the wake of the brutal blow that hit them and their surrounding world so hard during late September, 2024. This is a continuing disaster scene, despite the giant steps toward normalization of electricity and water systems, schools and other public services. The depths of tragedy for individual residents follow multiple paths, and demand “the best of us” from the rest of the state in support for some time to come.

2024 North Carolina Awards

On the state level, we’d like to share the winners of the North Carolina Award, as honored by Gov. Cooper at a banquet and ceremony in Raleigh this past month. The North Carolina Award—the state’s highest civilian honor—was created in 1961 by the General Assembly to recognize state and national contributions in the following categories. We salute those who earned a place on this list.

Fine Arts

The Avett Brothers (Scott and Seth Avett and longtime friend Bob Crawford), the state’s famous folk-rock band from Concord, were recognized for being “cultural ambassadors for the state in promoting its “rich musical heritage.”

William Henry Curry, a contemporary conductor and composer, has been a trailblazing African American in classical music and champion of American composers. Currently the music director/conductor and artistic director of the North Carolina Symphony, Curry is also a composer and mentor for young musicians.

Literature

Frank A. Bruni Jr., prominent journalist and columnist at The New York Times, came up through the Carolina ranks as a UNC Morehead Scholar and writer for the university’s’ Daily Tar Heel. At NYT he was the paper’s first openly gay op-ed columnist, winning the Randy Shilts Award for lifetime contribution to LGBTQ equality. He subsequently authored five bestselling books including his most recent, The Age of Grievance, examining America’s political dysfunction and culture wars.

Science

Thomas W. Earnhardt’s life has been dedicated to preserving and promoting NC’s rich natural and cultural heritage during a career including tenures with the NC Department of Justice and the Department of Administration, as well as the NC Central University School of Law. Working with former Gov. Jim Holshouser, he played a key role in preserving critical natural areas including the New River in northwestern NC, the southernmost Outer Banks, and the Cape Lookout National Seashore. He is the writer/host of the long-running PBS series, Exploring North Carolina.

Christina Koch, trailblazer for women in space exploration, set the record for longest single spaceflight by a woman (328 days); participated in the first all-female spacewalk; and was a flight engineer for the International Space Station’s Expeditions 59-61. An NCSU graduate of the School of Science and Mathematics, Koch is a passionate advocate for STEM education and encouraging young people—especially girls—to pursue careers in science and technology. She is a part of the Artemis II mission scheduled for 2025—making her the first woman participating in a lunar mission.

Public Service

Dr. Harold L. Martin Sr., 12th chancellor of the NC Agricultural and Technical State University from 2009-2024, has been a key figure in NC A&T’s growth to become the largest of the nation’s historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) and a top public research institution. His earlier career included serving as senior vice president for Academic Affairs for the UNC system, and leadership roles at Winston-Salem State University.

Back to the Books …

Or, Something for a Cold Winter’s Night

I don’t think any of you would deny that “politics” is like a hot red coal on a cold night right now. And winter is perhaps the best time of year for rumination (did you know that one definition of “rumination” is “the action of chewing the cud”?). So here are some recommendations to keep beside your easy chair, or to share as presents under the tree. It is our hope that a literary nation is one capable of thinking … carefully and creatively. Or at least to chew the cud quietly and happily.

Most of these titles were recommended to me by various friends and/or known purveyors of things political. We know that as President Joe Biden (D) hands over the White House keys to the former and newly elected President Donald Trump (R) in January, there will be loud clashing of political philosophies around the country. My own personal penchant is, under such circumstances, to check with some serious and deep thinkers about (as well as the original architects of) this nation that was created back in 1776. It’s in our hands. All of us—not just some of us. So do your duty and prepare to participate.

First and foremost, of course, keep your pocket edition of The Constitution of the United States close at hand. Don’t have one? Easy-peasy with a computer. That plus the Declaration of Independence and the Bill of Rights are easy to access at the US National Archives, but I prefer to hold this little book in my hands, so I keep one in the side drawer of my desk. You can get a really cheap copy all your own ($1.49) of The Constitution of the United States and the Declaration of Independence by the Delegates of the Constitutional Convention by ordering from Christianbook online. The Constitution is also available for $1.50 from Amazon. Such a bargain!

But as we, as a nation, puzzle out the coming focus and force of our government, society and politics (to say nothing of our politicians) in the world of 2025, here are some recommendations to stretch your mind.

Twilight of Democracy I (2021) by Anne Applebaum, Pulitzer Prize-winning historian and journalist, and subtitled The Seductive Lure of Authoritarianism. Recommended by Gene Nichol, UNC professor of law and statewide political columnist. Nichol himself has written two particularly pertinent books focused on North Carolina government: Lessons from North Carolina—Race, Religion, Tribe, and the Future of America; and Indecent Assembly: The North Carolina Legislature’s Blueprint for the War on Democracy and Equality.

Autocracy Inc. (2024): Also authored by Applebaum, this is Nichol’s second recommendation among contemporary “civics-oriented” books. Its subtitle is The Dictators Who Want to Run World.

The Unmaking of America: A Recent History by Kurt Andersen, looks at the history of the US through the lens of Hofstadter’s The Paranoid Style. This one is recommended by Mark Jamison, former WNC award-winning columnist and social observer.)

No Shortcuts: Organizing for Power in the New Gilded Age by Jane F. McAlevy. A dozen contemporary case studies of unions and social movements seeking to effect change. (Jamison)

How Elites Ate the Social Justice System by Fredrik DeBoer. A discussion of how the social justice movement that grew out of the George Floyd murder got derailed and swallowed up. (Jamison)

Crack-Up Capitalism: Market Radicals and the Dream of a World Without Democracy by Quinn Slobodian. A Fortune magazine best nonfiction book of 2023. (Jamison)

On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century, by Timothy Snyder. Guide for “surviving and resisting America’s turn towards authoritarianism. You might add the successor Snyder book, The Road to Unfreedom: Russia, Europe, America. (Recommended by Nelda Holder, your host.) If these are too ponderous (or depressing), maybe you’d like something a bit more uplifting—perhaps one of these from the Malaprop’s “Recommended” list this month (more precisely, from Emoke’s Picks). The recommender and the titles speak for themselves.

How to Be a Good Creature: A Memoir in Thirteen Animals, by Sy Montgomery, Rebecca Green (Illustrator).

The Snow Child: A Novel by Eowyn Ivey.

Haiku: The Last Poems of an American Icon by Richard Wright.

The Wisdom of Donkeys: Finding Tranquility in a Chaotic World by Andy Merrifield, introduction by Elizabeth Marshall Thomas.

Plenty to ponder for 2025, both in these books and in the world we’re living in. But for now, to all a good night, and a very good rest of the holiday season.

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