Press Releases:
September 27, 2005
Media Advisory: Greensboro Truth Commission to Hold Final Hearing this Friday and Saturday (Sep.30 - Oct.1, 2005)
MEDIA ADVISORY
CONTACT
Suzana Grego
Director of Communications
TEL +1 917 438 9331
E-MAIL sgrego@ictj.org
On Friday and Saturday of this week, the Greensboro Truth and Reconciliation Commission (GTRC) will hold its third and final public hearing at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, in the Elliott Center Auditorium, from 2-9 pm Friday, September 30, and 9 am-4 pm Saturday, October 1.
The Commission was established to examine the events of November 3, 1979, when members of the Ku Klux Klan and American Nazi Party opened fire on a racially mixed gathering of political activists and labor organizers, killing five and wounding 10 others.
The final hearing will explore the theme “What does the past have to do with the present and the future?” It will use the events of Nov. 3 to examine issues such as race, economics, power, and law enforcement that are so critical and relevant to life in America today.
The names of speakers at this hearing will be released on Thursday, September 29. Speakers will include those directly and indirectly affected by the events of November 3 and its aftermath, as well as journalists, community leaders, local and national educators, and others.
If you would like further information on the hearings or on the Commission, please contact GTRC Communications Director, Joya Wesley, at (336) 275-5953 or joya@greensborotrc.org.
The International Center for Transitional Justice (ICTJ) has served as an adviser to the organizers of the Greensboro Truth and Reconciliation Commission and currently provides technical assistance to the Commission and its staff, as it has in similar efforts worldwide. For further information or to schedule an interview with Lisa Magarrell, the Center’s lead adviser to the Commission, please contact Suzana Grego (contact information above).
See the attached GTRC press release for further details.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 22, 2005
Contact: Joya Wesley
Direct Line: (336) 275-5953
Office Phone: (336) 275-6462
Fax: (336) 275-6227
joya@greensborotrc.org
U.S. TRUTH COMMISSION TO HOLD LAST PUBLIC HEARING SEPT. 30-OCT. 1
GREENSBORO, N.C. – The Greensboro Truth and Reconciliation Commission will explore the question, “What does the past have to do with the present and the future?” at its third and final public hearing, 2-9 p.m. Friday, Sept. 30, and 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 1, in the Elliott Center Auditorium at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG).
The hearing is being hosted by the American Democracy Project, a national initiative in which UNCG is involved, that aims to increase the number of undergraduate students engaged in meaningful civic actions. The Commission is a democratically created body that is seeking truth and working for reconciliation around Greensboro’s tragedy of Nov. 3, 1979.
Community divisions exploded in violence that day, ending with Klan and Nazi members killing five labor organizers and wounding ten others at a rally organized by the Communist Workers Party. All defendants in the shootings, which were captured by TV news cameras, were acquitted in state and federal trials. In a federal civil trial, Klansmen, Nazis and Greensboro police officers were found jointly liable for one count of wrongful death.
The third hearing’s universal question will highlight the valuable lens the Nov. 3 violence provides for viewing underlying issues such as race, economics, power and law enforcement – issues whose relevance today is highlighted by the impact of Hurricane Katrina.
The names of speakers at this hearing will be released on Sept. 29. Speakers will include those directly and indirectly affected by Nov. 3 and its aftermath, as well as journalists, community leaders, local and national educators, and others. They are being selected from the more than 100 people who so far have made statements. Statements are formal stories and information provided to the Commission. Public hearings allow selected statement-givers to tell their stories publicly, often for the first time.
The Greensboro Commission is the first in the United States modeled on truth-seeking efforts in South Africa, Peru and elsewhere. As with public hearings in other nations, this Commission’s first two hearings helped increase understanding of the events and surrounding social issues. They received broad, local and international coverage, and the audience grew from nearly 400 to more than 500 at the second hearing.
Although the Greensboro City Council voted 6-3 – over the vocal objections of its three black members – to oppose the Commission’s work, individuals are continuing to give statements and become otherwise engaged with this historic process.
The Commission’s concluding report, due in spring 2006, will clarify confusion and dispel myths about the event, and include specific recommendations to the Greensboro community and its institutions for concrete healing, reconciliation and restorative justice.
The International Center for Transitional Justice (www.ictj.org), an organization founded by one of the architects of the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission, is serving as a consultant for the Commission, as it has for similar efforts in nations including Ghana, Sierra Leone and Timor-Leste (East Timor).
