tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14649051942111111752024-02-20T22:39:45.762-08:00Remembering Joe HerzenbergCelebrating the life of the first openly gay elected official in the former Confederacy, a champion of civil rights and the environment, and the Mayor of Franklin Street in Chapel Hill, N.C. >><a href="http://www.joeherzenberg.org">JoeHerzenberg.org</a><<Friends of Joehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03100645504344880513noreply@blogger.comBlogger227125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1464905194211111175.post-65902329206456407632014-01-06T07:50:00.000-08:002014-07-29T12:52:16.252-07:00Chapel Hill's First Openly-Gay Mayor Reflects On His Home<p><a href="http://wunc.org/post/chapel-hills-first-openly-gay-mayor-reflects-his-home">The State Of Things, January 6, 2014</a></p>
<p>By NICOLE CAMPBELL & FRANK STASIO</p>
<p>When Mark Kleinschmidt was a teenager growing up in Goldsboro, NC, he remembers watching the news as activist Joe Herzenberg was elected to the Chapel Hill Town Council. It was this race that made Joe Herzenberg the first openly gay elected official in the South. It was then that Kleinschmidt knew he had to get to Chapel Hill so he could be out and free to be who he wanted. Today, Kleinschmidt is serving his third term as the mayor of Chapel Hill. He's the town's first openly gay mayor. Mark Kleinschmidt talks with Host Frank Stasio about his career as mayor of Chapel Hill and his work as a death penalty litigator.</p>
Friends of Joehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03100645504344880513noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1464905194211111175.post-38485509644584545182012-09-10T12:00:00.000-07:002014-07-31T15:20:17.558-07:00Thank you, Joe Herzenberg<p><a href="http://friendschparksrec.org/herzenberg/">Friends of Chapel Hill Parks & Recreation, September 10, 2012</a></p>
<p>Joe Herzenberg was a member of the Town Council for many years. When he left the Council he continued to serve the Town by volunteering to serve on numerous boards and committees; especially those that promoted greenways and open space. He served as the chair of the Merritt's Pasture Access Committee. In 2000, the Committee recommended that the Morgan Creek Trail be built and used as the public access to the Pasture. The vision became reality in 2011 when phase one of the Morgan Creek Trail was opened and provided the first legal access to the pasture for Town citizens.</p>
<p>He went on to serve as a member and Chair of the Greenways Commission for seven years. During this time he promoted greenways issues across the entire Town, but especially along Bolin Creek. He was a champion of the concepts of extending the trail, providing public art on the trails, and emphatically, providing more benches.</p>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4jKYr1XhQUyE0JFI58AuHI6uXq_2AFne3n10TxBRrPdU7w7F3zL-rzYH-o7h8P2vBWGPiXXuU1UGLC-4kTB7Jgnxx_ozY7ygjjcb5JVs_KsoHoUbkCsKxgJcA7Fe80soyXn0VYrsdxTc/s1600/Joe+H+Bolin+Creek+Trail.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4jKYr1XhQUyE0JFI58AuHI6uXq_2AFne3n10TxBRrPdU7w7F3zL-rzYH-o7h8P2vBWGPiXXuU1UGLC-4kTB7Jgnxx_ozY7ygjjcb5JVs_KsoHoUbkCsKxgJcA7Fe80soyXn0VYrsdxTc/s400/Joe+H+Bolin+Creek+Trail.jpg" /></a>
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<p>Joe passed away in 2007, but continued to serve the citizens of Chapel Hill by bequeathing $308,000 to be used for the Bolin Creek Trail and benches. So far the Board of the Friends has authorized the use of these funds to make renovations to the trail, provide wonderful "art" benches, and to design further improvements to the Bolin Creek Trail. Among the future uses of his funds will be a flight of stairs from Franklin Street to the trail that will provide the first real and direct trail access from the north side of Franklin Street.</p>
<p>We remember Joe by making key improvements to the trail he loved and invite others to do the same.</p>
Friends of Joehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03100645504344880513noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1464905194211111175.post-10182625731723116912012-03-27T12:19:00.000-07:002014-07-29T12:52:29.888-07:00Chapel Hill and Homophobia: What Joe Herzenberg Means for North Carolina<p><a href="http://outhistory.org/exhibits/show/nc-lgbt/queer-nc/joe-herzenberg">LGBT Identities, Communities, and Resistance in North Carolina, 1945-2012, March 27, 2012</a></p>
<p>By Laura Dunn</p>
<p><b>Introduction: Chapel Hill</b></p>
<p>The Chapel Hill area of North Carolina has a long history of liberalism that defies the stereotypical ideas of a regressive South. The school district was the first in North Carolina to desegregate, and in 1968 Chapel Hill elected Howard Lee as the first black mayor of a predominantly white town. In contrast to the national debates over the validity of same-sex marriage, both Chapel Hill and Carrboro have had domestic partnership recognition since 1995, when Mike Nelson was elected in Carrboro to become the state’s first openly gay mayor. Joe Herzenberg’s election was a watershed moment in North Carolinian LGBTQ history. It is a narrative that relies on geography for its history: it is an essentially localised story of the distinctive social and political climate of Chapel Hill.</p>
<p><b>Joe Herzenberg</b></p>
<p>In 1987, there was another key milestone: Joe Herzenberg became the first openly gay politician to be elected in North Carolina when he won the election to Chapel Hill town council. It was eleven years after Harvey Milk became the first openly gay politician in the United States, and only nine years after he was assassinated in office. Facing homophobic abuse throughout his career, he nonetheless advocated effectively for the environment, civil liberties, and the preservation of the UNC-CH gay students’ association. In addition, he was a founder of NC Pride PAC, now Equality NC PAC, an association that lobbies for the interests of LGBT people in the state. John Howard’s book Men Like That indicates how radical an act running for office while openly gay was: “gay politicians required a different kind of visibility. Most disturbingly it required a clear-cut identity, individual’s open and public avowal of homosexuality, a speech act that some belligerent lawmakers and law enforcers interpreted as a felony in and of itself[1].” Indeed, at a time that sodomy laws were still on the books, admission of queerness was essentially an acknowledgement of criminality, and was treated as such by opponents. Bob Windsor writes that “Lightning [Brown, another openly gay Chapel Hill politician] confessed…that he is a class H felon in North Carolina[2]," a not uncommon view of homosexuality in a period when certain sexualities were outlawed.</p>
<p><b>Regionalism: Chapel Hill as Outlier</b></p>
<p>I found a great deal of opposition to LGBT issues and politicians in my research, some of it startling in its ferocity. One key opponent was the Landmark, a free newspaper that was distributed widely in the run-up to the Hunt-Helms 1984 election “particularly in rural areas[3]." While I initially thought that its vituperiveness would mark it as a fringe endeavour, further research indicates it was “funded by shadowy Helms backers[4],” and ads for Helms’ 1984 campaign were a frequent occurrence in its pages. A recurring idea in contemporary conservative accounts of Herzenberg’s career – such as those found in the pages of Landmark - is that gay activism is unrepresentative of North Carolinian voters, values and concerns. This is couched in stereotypical ideas of regionalism that paints the South as ‘America’s closet’, an area that queerness does not enter into. In my research I found over and over again references to gay politicians being better served by working “in and around the San Francisco area[5],” “Miami... New York City or London[6].” Repeated assertions that they “don’t have too much in common with North Carolina[7]” reinforce this image of state values being at odds with homosexuality and uses geography as potent symbolism. The assertion that goes hand-in-hand with this is of course that Chapel Hill is an isolated bastion of liberalism – as the Landmark puts it “[the fags] have always congregated in Chapel Hill[8]" and “the Gay Rights battle was begun in Orange County and the battle has been led from that quarter[9]."</p>
<p><b>Support</b></p>
<p>While some abuse was directed at the openly gay Lightning Brown and Joe Herzenberg (“the Chapel Hill fags[10]"), still more was levelled at Jim Hunt, a politician they supported against Jesse Helms in the 1984 Senate race. This election was marked by vicious negative campaigning, and even Jim Hunt’s marriage was not enough to prevent him from smear campaigns of his rumoured homosexuality[11]. Brown and Herzenberg’s backing was seized upon and used against their candidate: in one televised debate Helms accused Hunt, “You’re supported by people like Joe Herzenberg and Lightning Brown[12]!” This tactic was repeated in 1986, where supporters of the incumbent William W. Cobey Jr. in the 4th Congressional District election challenged his opponent David Price to “have a letterhead printed with CHAPEL HILL PRICE SUPPORTERS Joe Herzenberg and Lightning Brown listed!! Stop hiding your supporters and come out of the closet PROFESSOR PRICE[13]!!” The writer of a contemporary Advocate piece labelled North Carolinian gays “a political albatross[14]," and indeed their support proved a stumbling block for politicians perceived as being under the thumb of a radical queer agenda.</p>
<p><b>Chapel Hill Post-Herzenberg</b></p>
<p>Some of this rhetoric persisted into the 1990s (most notably in Jesse Helms’ Senate race against Harvey Gantt, during which he declared that his opponent ”accepted donations from homosexuals[15]") but the election of openly gay Mike Nelson as mayor of Carrboro again highlighted the area’s reputation for trend-bucking liberalism. Openly gay Mark Kleinschmidt, elected mayor of Chapel Hill in 2008, reported minimal homophobic tactics being used against him in the election – saying only that opponent Kevin Wolff, who perjoratively labelled him a Gay Rights Activist, “apparently has not been around long enough to know the town he has moved to[16]." Kleinschmidt credits Herzenberg with influencing his career, recalling that “it was the moment we heard about this guy that we knew we had found our 'home town[17]." Dubbing Herzenberg’s election while out as gay “an audacious political act[18],” he points to the state’s strand of progressive politics as unsettling the stereotypes of the conservative South: “people need to reevaluate what they think of North Carolina[19]." Similarly, Mike Nelson sees the 1987 election as “chang[ing] the South[20]," beginning a trend of gay-friendly liberalism in the area that continues to this day.</p>
<p><b>References</b></p>
<p>1 John Howard. Men Like That. (Chicago: University Of Chicago Press) 2001. 239</p>
<p>2 Bob Windsor.‘Faggots Dominate 4th Congressional Party Convention’ Landmark. 7 June 1984.</p>
<p>3 ‘Death of a Political Hero – Joe Herzenberg (1941-2007)’. thelatestoutrage.org. 31 Oct 2007. [accessed 27 March 2012]</p>
<p>4 ibid.</p>
<p>5 Henry McMaster campaign spokesman David Thomas quoted in Lightning A. Brown. ‘Homophobic Republican Campaigns Backfire in Carolinas’. 11 Nov 1986.</p>
<p>6 Bob Windsor. ‘Gay Friends of Jim Hunt Attempt Blackmail’. Landmark Vol 2 no 17. Jan 19 1984.</p>
<p>7 Republican spokesman Tom Ballus quoted in Elizabeth Leland. ‘Helms attacks gays’ role in campaign’. Charlotte Observer. 23 Oct 1990.</p>
<p>8 Bob Windsor. ‘Gay Friends of Jim Hunt Attempt Blackmail’. Landmark Vol 2 no 17. 19 Jan 1984.</p>
<p>9 Bob Windsor. ‘Jim Hunt is Sissy, Prissy, Girlish and Effeminate’. Landmark Vol 3 no 3. 5 July 1984.</p>
<p>10 ibid.</p>
<p>11 This sometimes took the form of attacks on gender variance, which was used as an indicator of homosexuality: “can you imagine Jim Hunt taking taking a chew of tobacco and throwing a baseball? Can you imagine him pumping iron or throwing a football? Can you imagine him as a soldier charging up a hill under fire? Can you imagine him engaging in any kind of manly pursuit? I don’t think so.” Bob Windsor. ‘Jim Hunt is Sissy, Prissy, Girlish and Effeminate.’ Landmark vol 3 no 3. 5 July 1984.</p>
<p>12 Quoted in ‘Death of a Political Hero – Joe Herzenberg (1941-2007)’. thelatestoutrage.org. 31 Oct 2007. [accessed 27 March 2012]</p>
<p>13 Flyer: Committee for Responsible Representation in the 4th Congressional District. 1986. [in Joe Herzenberg papers, Wilson Library Special Collections, UNC Chapel Hill]</p>
<p>14 Peter Frieberg. ‘Hunt-Helms race a key test – NC gays try to put political albatross label behind them’. The Advocate. 3 April 1984.</p>
<p>15 Elizabeth Leland. ‘Helms attacks gays’ role in campaign’. Charlotte Observer. 23 Oct 1990.</p>
<p>16 Pam Spaulding. ‘Triumph in the Tar Heel State’. Advocate.com. 17 Nov 2009.</p>
<p>17 ‘Death of a Political Hero – Joe Herzenberg (1941-2007)’. thelatestoutrage.org. 31 Oct 2007. [accessed 27 March 2012]</p>
<p>18 ibid.</p>
<p>19 ibid.</p>
<p>20 ibid.</p>Friends of Joehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03100645504344880513noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1464905194211111175.post-52802284050704408002012-01-30T12:36:00.000-08:002014-07-31T15:14:04.501-07:00Giving His Voice: The Mayor of Chapel Hill, North Carolina<p><a href="http://www.visitchapelhill.org/images/uploads/pages/Giving_His_Voice,_the_Mayor_of_Chapel_Hill,_North_Carolina.pdf">Chapel Hill / Orange County Visitors Bureau</a></p>
<p>CHAPEL HILL, N.C., (Jan. 30, 2012) -- Chapel Hill Mayor Mark Kleinschmidt was recently interviewed by the Chapel Hill / Orange County Visitors Bureau. Kleinschmidt, an openly gay elected official, is committed to progressive ideals that are changing the face of this college town, including its tourism industry. And he wants the world to know about the city.</p>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBy8Vyn3XB7y38QFNJr5mZbdtwcSZLA3FdpDVhMUbZ4PqYeQ9tFdtXQf8yxsUJtTR12RjP2zFEet6GQbmF1WVCuwZDF2l5rdfyS2JIyyI3a3dKV2rO2a28V72ieF3sePRqV7svW_O4u0I/s1600/Joe-H-related-post-photo-for-interview-with-Chapel_Hill_Mayor_Mark_Kleinschmidt.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBy8Vyn3XB7y38QFNJr5mZbdtwcSZLA3FdpDVhMUbZ4PqYeQ9tFdtXQf8yxsUJtTR12RjP2zFEet6GQbmF1WVCuwZDF2l5rdfyS2JIyyI3a3dKV2rO2a28V72ieF3sePRqV7svW_O4u0I/s320/Joe-H-related-post-photo-for-interview-with-Chapel_Hill_Mayor_Mark_Kleinschmidt.jpg" /></a>
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<p>Chapel Hill, North Carolina is an amazing town. History books prove it. Winners live here; Nobel, James Beard, Pulitzer, Emmy and Academy Award recipients. It's the oldest public university town in the country, a musical Mecca, home to a legendary and winning basketball team – and now the 10th largest city in the world to have an openly gay mayor. In Chapel Hill, this isn't that big of a deal – the town also boasts the first African-American mayor elected since Reconstruction, back in 1969 – but in North Carolina, and throughout the south, it is a big deal. Mark Kleinschmidt, 41, who was elected as mayor in 2009, will tell you so.</p>
<p>Twenty-two years have passed since his mentor, Joe Herzenberg, was elected to the Chapel Hill Town Council. Growing up, Kleinschmidt watched Herzenberg on the news, "making headlines because he was openly gay, progressive and fought for things I had often thought of, but never articulated to myself, let alone in public." Herzenberg worked as a foil to other strong voices in North Carolina: those whose vitriol sustained North Carolina's past of homophobia way past its historical moment.</p>
<p>Herzenberg was reelected with overwhelming support in 1991, receiving an unprecedented vote total for a Chapel Hill town council race. He died at the age of 66 in 2007.</p>
<p>"Joe Herzenberg was one of many leaders who helped young North Carolinians like me
understand that Chapel Hill is just left of the mainstream: the type of town where people don't have to chase the big American salary in order to earn respect; rather, it's the type of place where counting your pennies, living modestly and conserving resources in order to help your fellow man, and those in need of help, are qualities that are recognized as noble and worthy."</p>
<p>But still, it was the 90s, and even Chapel Hill had a long way to go.</p>
<p>"I think back as to how much has changed since I first came to school here as an
undergraduate. I remember I wanted to be a teacher and I was very conflicted about being 'out of the closet' because the words teacher and gay did not go hand in hand. As a society we had not yet come to terms with gay men teaching our young children in schools."</p>
<p>Eventually Kleinschmidt did become a teacher, and took his first job in Charlotte, North Carolina's largest city. But working in a high poverty school and watching kids grow up with so many struggles (some of the kids he taught had kids of their own), convinced him that he had to find a bigger way to make a difference – a way to change the system, and not just the symptoms. For Kleinschmidt, that meant law.</p>
<p>This brought him back to Chapel Hill. It was his legal studies, coupled with his political advocacy on the UNC campus that would shape his life in public service.</p>
<p>...</p>
<p>In addition to local issues, he keeps a close eye on state issues impacting minorities and LGBT citizens. One of his biggest fears is a proposed amendment to the North Carolina Constitution which will appear on the May 8, 2012 ballot "to provide that marriage between one man and one woman is the only domestic legal union that shall be valid or recognized in this State."</p>
<p>"Today's youth accept marriage equality, but by the time they're in a position to do something about it, this amendment will be locked in place for many years to come," Kleinschmidt says. "We must defeat it."</p>
<p>California recently passed legislation that allows education to adjust the curriculum to allow teaching of gay history. Kleinschmidt believes that forward thinking initiatives like this can only help everybody.</p>
<p>"When you teach history during times when LGBT people are changing things socially, or even on a larger scale, then children and young people should be told about the whole person. If not, you're really failing the purpose of education. I'm very supportive of curriculum that recognizes that gay and lesbians are in our world and they make important contributions."</p>
<p>Curriculums like this make the rest of the world more like Chapel Hill; until it is, though, he encourages everyone to come here for a visit.</p>
<p>...</p>
<p>Kleinschmidt is an impressive leader, teacher and beacon for change for North Carolina. With charm, good looks, intelligence and a modesty born of loving, working class parents who always have his back, Kleinschmidt radiates a happy confidence that makes you believe Chapel Hill can go wherever it wants to go.</p>
<p>Kleinschmidt has come a long way from his rural, NC middle school days, where he watched Joe Herzenberg on the television, wondering if he too would one day make a difference.</p>
<p>"I hope Joe is proud," Kleinschmidt says. "But I'm sure that if he were here he wouldn't spend any time telling me how proud he is of me. He would just be giving me another list of things to do."</p>
<p>Because there are always more things to do.</p>Friends of Joehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03100645504344880513noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1464905194211111175.post-40813998543548856702010-12-15T18:01:00.000-08:002010-12-16T19:56:57.211-08:00RIP Alice the catRest in Peace Alice the cat. :(<br /><br />She had cancer. She was the sweetest. We are going to spread her ashes over Uncle Joe's grave in the spring. She was a great cat and will be missed.<br /><br />- Sarah Herzenberg<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhObCswjptb51k2MS_iY_veK7eVlsD_tHmzE0VOITJVaMQ7gbNEicmswxGap82IOcX2j2JmYOYnwBOnA-hoQygf4MWS7N94NZF22CmYyojJHhhT83bIsDXC7dcWrSDbEdn59d0xu66mYSw/s1600/Alice+the+cat.jpg"><img style="WIDTH: 400px; HEIGHT: 300px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5551493446322731154" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhObCswjptb51k2MS_iY_veK7eVlsD_tHmzE0VOITJVaMQ7gbNEicmswxGap82IOcX2j2JmYOYnwBOnA-hoQygf4MWS7N94NZF22CmYyojJHhhT83bIsDXC7dcWrSDbEdn59d0xu66mYSw/s400/Alice+the+cat.jpg" /></a><br /><strong><span style="font-size:78%;">Alice, Spring/Summer 2010</span></strong><br /><br /><em>Alice was Joe's cat, who went to live with his family in New Jersey when Joe died. During his trip to Africa with Kathie Young in 2005, Joe had a <a href="http://joeherzenberg.blogspot.com/2006/03/cousin-alice-joes-entry-in-2006-chapel.html">memorable encounter</a> with one of Alice's cousins.</em>Friends of Joehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03100645504344880513noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1464905194211111175.post-14239968435806535452010-09-29T00:01:00.000-07:002010-11-22T00:26:38.749-08:00Be proud<a href="http://www.indyweek.com/indyweek/be-proud/Content?oid=1698860">Indy Weekly, September 29, 2010</a><br /><br />by D.L. Anderson<br /><br />Last weekend, a wave of rainbow colors filled the streets around Duke's East Campus in celebration of N.C. PrideFest. About 2,000 people participated in the parade and nearly 10,000 watched it, according to John Short, executive director of the annual gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender festival, which celebrated its 26th year. "We're also seeing much greater participation from straight allies and the community," Short said.<br /><br /><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4043/5122009473_e91a49e2d7.jpg" /><br /><span style="font-size:78%;"><strong><a href="http://joeherzenberg.blogspot.com/2008/10/joe-herzenbergs-yahrzeit.html">Joe Herzenberg Memorial Arch</a> at NC Pride 2010. Photo by Jake Geller-Goad.</strong><br /></span><br />Beyond the wild color, celebration and naughty humor, N.C. PrideFest is still rooted in the serious struggle for equality for the LGBT community. "It started with a murder, then a march and now a parade," added Short, referring to "Our Day Out," a 1981 march and protest in Durham against the beating and murder of a man assumed to be gay. Speaking at the first official gay pride march in 1986, <strong>Joe Herzenberg</strong>, who would soon become the South's first openly gay elected official as a member of the Chapel Hill Town Council, said, "There is no way to get from here to there except by coming out, joining together and marching."<br /><br /><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4126/5197920444_95ea092f37.jpg" width="500" height="394"/><br /><span style="font-size:78%;"><strong>Joe at front of NC Pride 1991 march. Photo from Chapel Hill Herald, 4-25-93.</strong></span>Friends of Joehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03100645504344880513noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1464905194211111175.post-7441212260924624162010-08-30T15:05:00.000-07:002010-11-01T00:00:31.956-07:00Sean Rowe: New Times Writer/Author/Poet Is Dead<a href="http://blogs.miaminewtimes.com/riptide/2010/08/sean_rowe_new_times_writerauth.php">Miami New Times, August 30, 2010</a><br /><br />By Chuck Strouse<br /><br />Pretty much every word <a href="http://www.sean-rowe.com/">Sean Rowe</a> ever spoke was poetry. Even after he was hit by a train and survived.<br /><br />I don't say that as praise. I'm not fawning. He just had a way about him.<br /><br />He arrived in Miami in 1989 to work at the Miami Herald, where I was also employed. Back then, we tooled around town while he talked in a North Carolina lilt about love, redemption in the woods, and dozens of things he had no clue about but loved to describe. I think we planned to cover an Orange Bowl parade but never really made it. I liked listening to the guy blather, so I just kept driving.<br /><br />Sean, who <a href="http://www.douglasenterprise.net/articles/2010/10/20/obituaries/doc4ca35a80cdd30663495724.txt">died recently</a> (nobody is really talking about details), left the Herald for New Times not long after that misadventure. He was a crazy man who provided much of the creativity that got this paper started in its early days. Everybody who was around here back then or knew Sean has a favorite story -- not only from the things he wrote, which were amazing, but also from the real-life adventures he led.<br /><br /><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4013/5135128004_68a9e267bd.jpg" /><br /><span style="font-size:78%;"><strong>Sean, Joe, Kathie Young and friend, late 90s</strong><br /><br /></span>The most famous one in New Times lore was Sean's departure from the Fort Lauderdale paper. At a party in the Himmarshee district, he was laying coins on a railroad track when a locomotive surprised him. He was thrown a long way and cracked a vertebra. He began assembling the plot to his novel on the way to the emergency room.<br /><br /><a href="http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Fever/Sean-Rowe/e/9780316011747">Fever</a> is a novel you should buy. You won't regret it. Also, here are some <a href="http://www.miaminewtimes.com/related/to/Sean+Rowe/">links</a> to Sean's stories in Miami and New Times Broward-Palm Beach.<br /><br />The last story I remember was him telling me about reading the New York Times to a bunch of prisoners in a North Carolina jail -- after he mooned the judge. Of course, he also wrote a pretty wonderful novel, Fever, and charmed the globe.<br /><br />Sometimes the wheels rolled off Sean's wagon. He'd mount 'em again and keep moving forward. This time, there's no putting 'em back on, but what the heck -- the prose ain't dead.<br /><br />###<br /><br /><em>Sean was one of Joe's close friends and traveling companions. In 1987, while a Morehead scholar at UNC-CH, Sean <a href="http://joeherzenberg.blogspot.com/1987/12/herzenberg-wins-seat.html">covered</a> Joe's victorious Town Council campaign for Lambda, the CGLA newsletter. He became an <a href="http://www.oxfordamerican.org/blogs/post/2010/sep/01/oa-mourns-loss-sean-rowe/">author</a> and award-winning journalist in Miami before returning to North Carolina. Recordings of Sean telling two stories at The Monti storytelling event in Chapel Hill are <a href="http://www.themonti.org/story-categories/sean-rowe-stories/">posted online</a>. Friends gathered at Margaret's Cantina on Labor Day (Sept. 6) for a potluck dinner to remember him</em>.Friends of Joehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03100645504344880513noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1464905194211111175.post-22528090870304297552010-01-14T13:14:00.000-08:002010-10-27T21:53:22.464-07:00Remembering King<a href="http://www.carrborocitizen.com/main/2010/01/14/remembering-king/">Carrboro Citizen, January 14, 2010</a><br /><br />If you’ve recently made your way across the square in front of Chapel Hill’s downtown post office, you may have noticed an inscription near the flagpole that says “Peace & Justice Plaza.”<br /><br />Below those words are the names of eight individuals — men and women, black and white — who were at the forefront of this community’s civil rights efforts. Below that are the words of Martin Luther King Jr.: “True peace is not merely the absence of negative forces, it is the presence of justice.”<br /><br />You may or may not know the names Charlotte Adams, Henry Anderson, James Brittian, <strong>Joe Herzenberg</strong>, Mildred Ringwalt, Joe and Lucy Straley and Gloria Williams. They’re largely responsible for that little square in front of the post office being hallowed ground. It was the setting for countless rallies and protests during the civil rights era and each year on the third Monday in January it serves again as a gathering spot for those dedicated to keeping King’s dream alive.<br /><br />There the NAACP’s annual rally in remembrance of King and the cause he fought and died for begins on Monday at 9 a.m. From there, the annual march down Franklin Street will start at 9:30 and proceed down to First Baptist Church on Roberson Street for a worship service. The service starts at 10:30 a.m. Tim Tyson, author of the book Blood Done Signed My Name and an extensive study of the 1898 Wilmington Riots, will be the keynote speaker.<br /><br />The rally, march and worship service are among dozens of events throughout the community, including several for those who want to honor King with a day of service to their community.Friends of Joehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03100645504344880513noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1464905194211111175.post-61327172464714574922009-11-04T10:10:00.000-08:002010-11-01T00:05:03.731-07:00Mayor-Elect Mark Kleinschmidt Wins in Chapel HillBy ERIK OSE<br /><br />Last night, two-term Chapel Hill Town Council member Mark Kleinschmidt was elected mayor of Chapel Hill in a hard-fought victory over fellow Town Council member Matt Czajkowski. One of Joe Herzenberg's political protégés, Kleinschmidt fulfilled part of Herzenberg's unfinished legacy by becoming the first openly gay (and at age 39, the youngest ever) mayor of Chapel Hill.<br /><br /><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2473/4075771080_ec18e49126.jpg" /><br /><br />Kleinschmidt ran on an unabashedly progressive platform, supporting civil liberties, a responsible approach to development, and environmental protection.<br /><br />And unlike his opponent, who vastly outspent him by <a href="http://www.newsobserver.com/news/story/172263.html">at least a 4-1 margin</a>, Kleinschmidt supported and participated in the town's pioneering campaign finance reform program, <a href="http://www.sboe.state.nc.us/content.aspx?id=106">Voter-Owned Elections</a>. Czajkowski vocally opposed the program, <a href="http://www.lwvodc.org/ChapelHillVoterGuide.html#questions">claiming</a>, "there is no special interest influence in Chapel Hill."<br /><br />Amazingly, Czajkowski was so ignorant of local politics and history that in the week before the election, he ran a full-page endorsement ad listing former <a href="http://www.lib.unc.edu/mss/exhibits/protests/pop_catalog37_2.html">segregationist</a> mayor Sandy McClamroch at the very top of his list of supporters. In early 1964, McClamroch <a href="http://www.lib.unc.edu/mss/exhibits/protests/catalog31.html">led a 4-2 majority</a> of the then-Board of Aldermen in Chapel Hill in voting against a public accommodations law that would have integrated Chapel Hill. The town's <a href="http://www.carolynedy.com/SegregationsLastStand.pdf">refusal to integrate</a> became a moot issue when Congress passed the Civil Rights Act in July, 1964.<br /><br />During the campaign, Kleinschimdt also had to contend with gay-baiting tactics used by another marginal mayoral candidate, Kevin Wolff. First, Wolff paid for a push poll that called himself the only "moral" candidate in the race. Then, he distributed flyers labeling Kleinschmidt a "gay-rights activist" who doesn't have children or own a home in Chapel Hill. In fact, Kleinschmidt owned a home in Chapel Hill from 2003-08 and is currently house-hunting for a new one, as <a href="http://www.newsobserver.com/news/counties/orange_county/story/161246.html">fully detailed</a> by the <em>News & Observer</em> once Wolff's scurrilous campaigning came to light.<br /><br />Despite these obstacles, Kleinschmidt ran a professional yet grassroots campaign built on small donations, broad community support, and lots of volunteer effort. He focused relentlessly on the nuts and bolts of local issues, and his "reputation for getting things done" while standing up for progressive principles. It was the classic Herzenberg campaign model, and Joe would have been overjoyed to be there at the R&R Grill (formerly Papagayo's) last night watching Kleinschmidt declared the winner by the TV cameras while an overflow crowd of his supporters cheered.<br /><br /><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2788/4075051659_b5d8b7642e.jpg" /><br /><br /><a href="http://www.indyweek.com/gyrobase/Content?oid=oid%3A404948">Indy Weekly, 11-4-09 ("Relieved and jubilant, Kleinschmidt basks in win")</a><br /><br /><blockquote>Supporters erupted. His mother burst into tears. His sister shouted. Mark Kleinschmidt just smiled contently, arms crossed but giving the kind of ear-to-ear grin you could feel across the room, satisfaction and disbelief merging together on his face. The campaign had just received word that rival Matt Czajkowski had made his concession speech at the Franklin Hotel...</blockquote><br /><a href="http://www.newsobserver.com/front/story/173407.html">N&O, 11-4-09 ("Kleinschmidt wins Chapel Hill mayoral race")</a><br /><br /><blockquote>CHAPEL HILL -- The liberal establishment held off a band of businessmen trying to change the town's course. Two-term councilman Mark Kleinschmidt, a death-penalty defense lawyer and gay rights activist, narrowly defeated colleague Matt Czajkowski to take the reins as mayor. Kleinschmidt had just 48.6 percent of the vote in the four-person mayoral race...</blockquote><br /><a href="http://www.q-notes.com/4182/openly-gay-kleinschmidt-is-next-chapel-hill-mayor/">Q-Notes, 11-4-09 ("Openly gay Kleinschmidt is next Chapel Hill mayor")</a><br /><br /><blockquote>A member of the Chapel Hill Town Council since 2001, Kleinschmidt will become the third openly gay man to hold mayoral office in the state...</blockquote>Friends of Joehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03100645504344880513noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1464905194211111175.post-74672477281166825982009-09-23T02:00:00.000-07:002009-09-27T07:36:23.836-07:00Worthy of the honor<a href="http://www.chapelhillnews.com/news/story/52390.html">Chapel Hill News, Editorial, September 23, 2009</a><br /><br />Roses to Chapel Hill's ongoing efforts to commemorate those local activists who led the way on the momentous issues of civil rights and justice.<br /><br />A historic marker was unveiled in the front of the Franklin Street post office Sunday. The event, sponsored by the town and the local chapter of the NAACP, honored nine remarkable local people: Charlotte Adams, Hank Anderson, James Brittain, <strong>Joe Herzenberg</strong>, Mildred Ringwalt, Hubert Robinson, Joe Straley, Lucy Straley and Gloria Williams.<br /><br />The marker is at a spot that has been named Peace and Justice Plaza. Those nine are worthy of the honor, and we're confident that each of them would have agreed that there have been many more who played key roles in the struggle.<br /><br />It's always worth remembering those who put themselves on the line to help society live up to its ideals.Friends of Joehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03100645504344880513noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1464905194211111175.post-16063564280587522382009-09-20T15:00:00.000-07:002009-10-28T13:00:25.430-07:00Dedication of Tribute Marker<object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/sMFRJG4gKL8&hl=en&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/sMFRJG4gKL8&hl=en&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDpyKp9Npnar0LZTMAtRIdUwbZZh_quOd7MXNwFz5DXKhSU5Vw8IdBOgWeKQELpxyaURyJDsOWDPswr5fIl3aNKNXCrTP8nxmD2V5qG7Tv3EBzVTFGV-MgReegH-1olkvwCMdQXHnpxUY/s1600-h/Dedication+Program+9-20-09.JPG"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3528/3959078774_e0f729de0d.jpg"/></a><br /><br /><strong>(Click for larger image)</strong>Friends of Joehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03100645504344880513noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1464905194211111175.post-85988861312856903352009-09-20T02:00:00.000-07:002009-09-22T06:37:51.629-07:00Town to unveil tribute marker today<a href="http://www.chapelhillnews.com/news/story/52297.html">Chapel Hill News, September 20, 2009</a><br /><br />CHAPEL HILL - The historic unveiling of a tribute marker will take place from 3 to 4 p.m. today at Peace and Justice Plaza in front of the Post Office-Courthouse, 179 E. Franklin St. <br /><br />The public event will be the second in a series sponsored by the town and Chapel Hill-Carrboro NAACP to honor nine local peace and justice leaders: Charlotte Adams, Hank Anderson, James Brittian, <strong>Joe Herzenberg</strong>, Mildred Ringwalt, Hubert Robinson, Joe Straley, Lucy Straley and Gloria Williams. <br /><br />The quote on the marker comes from Martin Luther King, Jr.: "True peace is not merely the absence of some negative force, it is the presence of justice." <br /><br />The town has recently increased efforts to commemorate its civil rights history.Friends of Joehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03100645504344880513noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1464905194211111175.post-64937847694232056812009-08-28T13:12:00.001-07:002009-09-27T08:14:58.497-07:00Celebrate Our Peace and Justice Legacy<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmDW2NJN5I7n1uTdFBxuJbnuMHeni5hcW2LOOqtRttxuKpkstZys7FIC95MKdaPNu3jrPrezLZuaPm1zrXMPTMZomqymmz0e-4dK2BFXvndeitw0l0MLwFiEDy9uvd_qXN_g36VTQynpE/s1600-h/flyer_for_9-20-09_event.JPG"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3456/3865124679_7a9d32ee49.jpg"/></a><br /><br /><strong>(Click for larger image)</strong>Friends of Joehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03100645504344880513noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1464905194211111175.post-80491750134305979522009-08-16T00:30:00.000-07:002009-08-17T08:18:56.978-07:00Town, NAACP to remember historic march<a href="http://www.chapelhillnews.com/front/story/51512.html">Chapel Hill News, August 16, 2009</a><br /><br />On Friday, Aug. 28, the anniversary of the 1963 March on Washington, the Town of Chapel Hill and the Chapel Hill-Carrboro NAACP will hold the first of two programs to honor nine local peace and justice leaders.<br /><br />An outdoor rally will be held from 5 to 6 p.m. at the Peace and Justice Plaza outside the Post Office/Courthouse at 179 E. Franklin St. The leaders being honored are Charlotte Adams, Hank Anderson, James Brittian, <strong>Joe Herzenberg</strong>, Mildred Ringwalt, Hubert Robinson, Joe Straley, Lucy Straley and Gloria Williams.<br /><br />Three weeks later, the public unveiling of a tribute marker at Peace and Justice Plaza will be held from 3 to 4 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 20. The Town Council has established a process to honor additional peace and justice leaders in the future.Friends of Joehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03100645504344880513noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1464905194211111175.post-63472408694535742162009-07-23T07:23:00.000-07:002009-08-17T08:13:14.661-07:00Missing Joe<a href="http://www.carrborocitizen.com/main/2009/07/23/campaign-notes/">Carrboro Citizen, July 23, 2009</a><br /><br />There are a lot of reasons people miss former Chapel Hill Town Council member and greenways champion <strong>Joe Herzenberg</strong> around election time.<br /><br />For poll organizers and precinct captains, a big reason is that he could always be counted on to lend a hand. For journalists, he was a kind of institutional memory of local elections.<br /><br />Joe could have quickly answered one of the big trivia questions floating around about the four-way race for Chapel Hill mayor. So we’ll put this one to our readers: When was the last time four people ran for mayor of Chapel Hill?Friends of Joehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03100645504344880513noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1464905194211111175.post-19833522980936647082009-06-27T00:15:00.000-07:002009-08-17T08:08:23.484-07:00Inside the halls of power: Gays and lesbians have served the Carolinas well<a href="http://www.q-notes.com/2883/inside-the-halls-of-power/">Q-Notes, June 27, 2009</a><br /><br />By MATT COMER<br /><br />In the 1980s, the chances for any openly gay man or lesbian woman wining an election to public office were pretty much slim-to-none. That didn’t stop scores of gay and lesbian North Carolinians from throwing their hat into the ring and giving it a shot.<br /><br />...<br /><br />Bob and Lightning<br /><br />On August 25, 1981, openly gay N.C. State University graduate student Bob Hoy filed to run for the Raleigh City Council where just a generation before, arch-conservative Jesse Helms held office. Hoy was ultimately unsuccessful. Even The Front Page, North Carolina’s most comprehensive gay and lesbian newspaper at the time, said Hoy wasn’t a “serious contender.”<br /><br />The Front Page’s writers changed their tune when Lightning A. Brown came onto the scene, extolling his abilities and platform. Just weeks after Hoy filed to run in Raleigh, Brown filed to run for the Chapel Hill Town Council.<br /><br />Come election day, neither Hoy nor Brown won. Hoy picked up only three percent of the vote in his primary. Brown picked up more than 1,400 votes in his primary, but ultimately failed to capture the 2,100 votes required to continue on to the general election.<br /><br />Hoy’s and Brown’s candidacies are likely the first openly gay candidacies for public office in the Carolinas.<br /><br />‘The Mayor of Franklin St.’<br /><br />Brown’s partner, <strong>Joseph Herzenberg</strong>, would go down in history. At the same time Brown was fighting for his chance to become Chapel Hill’s first openly gay town councilman, Herzenberg — not yet out — lost his chance to continue serving on the council.<br /><br />Herzenberg had run for the council before. In 1979, he was narrowly defeated. He was later appointed to the council when University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill student Gerry Cohen resigned. Trying to keep that seat in 1981, Herzenberg barely missed the mark, losing his seat in the same primary election that saw his partner’s defeat.<br /><br />That didn’t stop Joe. In 1987, he ran again and won, becoming the state’s first openly gay elected official. Serving until 1993, Herzenberg was instrumental in political organizing statewide and was a co-founder of the Equality North Carolina Political Action Committee.<br /><br />He died of complications from diabetes at the age of 66 on Oct. 28, 2007.Friends of Joehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03100645504344880513noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1464905194211111175.post-39853733046700173912009-03-20T09:00:00.000-07:002009-10-28T12:58:46.074-07:00Joe was always a true friend of the IFC<a href="http://www.ifcweb.org/IFC_Spring09_Newsletter_web.pdf">IFC News, Spring 2009</a><br /><br /><strong>Thanks, Joe</strong><br /><br />Throughout his life, Joe Herzenberg enriched Chapel Hill. And so it's no surprise that even after his death in 2007, Joe continues to help the community, thanks to bequests he made in his will, including a $250,000 gift to IFC.<br /><br />A historian and political activist, Joe became the first openly gay elected official in North Carolina with his 1987 election to the Chapel Hill Town Council. A fierce advocate for social, environmental and economic justice, Joe's generous bequest will help the disenfranchised served by IFC by supporting emergency shelter and long-term housing opportunities for men, women and children.<br /><br />In addition, IFC purchased a truck, for its new FoodFirst program, which is used to transport food between all of IFC's facilities.<br /><br /><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2483/4053834920_5c514b3b86.jpg" /><br /><br /><strong><span style="font-size:78%;">The FoodFirst truck used to transport food between IFC locations is just one of the legacies of a generous bequest by the late Joe Herzenberg.</span></strong><br /><br />"Joe was always a true friend of the IFC," says Chris Moran, IFC Executive Director. "He was a regular donor and advisor to IFC over the years. And he was someone who was extremely public in his views about supporting human services."<br /><br />Community members are invited to support The Joe Herzenberg Fund; funds raised will support IFC's residential services operation.<br /><br />For more information, contact IFC Development Director Kim Shaw at 919-929-6380 ext. 29 or developmentdirector@ifcmailbox.org.Friends of Joehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03100645504344880513noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1464905194211111175.post-7676031054426492172008-12-16T04:48:00.000-08:002008-12-16T04:58:48.166-08:00Bill of Rights reading honors 'mayor of Franklin Street'Chapel Hill Herald, Dec. 16, 2008<br /><br />By LISA A. YOUNG<br /><br />CHAPEL HILL -- With the traffic and activity of downtown Chapel Hill buzzing around them, a group of elected officials and local residents paused Monday to reflect on freedom and a man who championed it as they gathered for an annual reading of the Bill of Rights. <br /><br />This year's event at Peace and Justice Plaza in front of the old Franklin Street post office -- organized by the Orange County Bill of Rights Defense Committee -- also served as a tribute to the late <strong>Joe Herzenberg</strong>, a former Chapel Hill councilman and the so-called "mayor of Franklin Street." <br /><br />Herzenberg, who died last fall at the age of 66, was one of the first openly gay elected officials in the South and is particularly remembered for his passion for civil rights. <br /><br />"We're doing this in honor of Joe," said State Sen. Ellie Kinnaird, who gave a few remarks before the reading. She then looked heavenward and added, "We know you're doing the right thing up there, too." <br /><br />Bill of Rights Day 2008 marks the 217th anniversary of the day the necessary number of states ratified the Bill of Rights, the first 10 amendments to the U.S. Constitution. Kinnaird said the event has been held in downtown Chapel Hill for at least the last 20 years. <br /><br />Chapel Hill Mayor Pro Tem Jim Ward, Orange County Commissioner Barry Jacobs and Carrboro Mayor Mark Chilton each read a proclamation declaring Dec. 15 "Bill of Rights Day" in their respective jurisdictions. They noted that North Carolina withheld its ratification of the Constitution until a Bill of Rights could be added. <br /><br />All three jurisdictions have passed resolutions reaffirming the human and civil rights of residents. Additionally, Jacobs and Chilton said, the county and the Town of Carrboro have established policies against the use of local law enforcement to enforce civil immigration law and policy. <br /><br />Reading with gusto <br /><br />Ten individuals then read, some with great gusto, the original 10 constitutional amendments. <br /><br />Daniel Pollitt, a retired UNC law professor who has been attending the Bill of Rights reading for most of its history, said he recalls a time when some had to read more than one amendment because there weren't enough people. This year's crowd of 15-20 people was much bigger than in years past, he said. <br /><br />"It's good to keep people reminded that we have a Bill of Rights and they ought to abide by it," Pollitt added.Friends of Joehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03100645504344880513noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1464905194211111175.post-45771830619618500302008-12-02T15:56:00.000-08:002008-12-12T06:55:58.223-08:00Bill of Rights Day 2008 press release<a href="http://orangepolitics.org/events/bill-of-rights-day-0">Orange Politics, Dec. 2, 2008</a><br /><br />From Peggy Misch:<br /><br />COMMEMORATION OF CIVIL AND HUMAN RIGHTS!<br /><br />12 Noon, Monday, December 15, 2008<br /><br />Bill of Rights Day <br /><br />Peace and Justice Plaza, East Franklin and Henderson Streets, Chapel Hill<br /><br />Proclamations read by two mayors and county commissioner; 10 amendments read by participants; words spoken by NC Senator Ellie Kinnaird remembering <strong>Joe Herzenberg</strong> for his dedication to civil rights<br /><br />Orange County Bill of Rights Defense Committee<br />Information: 942-2535Friends of Joehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03100645504344880513noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1464905194211111175.post-11352998575952135302008-11-10T13:41:00.000-08:002008-11-26T09:53:16.406-08:00Chapel Hill may name trail for HerzenbergN&O, Orange Chat, Nov. 10, 2008<br /><br />by MARK SCHULTZ<br /><br />The Greenways Commission and the Parks and Recreation Commission voted unanimously to jointly recommend at tonight's Town Council meeting that the town make the following naming and dedication change:<br /><br />* Dedicate the future phase 3 section of the Bolin Creek Trail in honor of Joe Herzenberg. The commissions note Herzenberg was a strong proponent of open space and greenways and left at least $250,000 upon his death to be used for the Bolin Creek Trail. (The commissions also note that it would be easier to plan a memorial to Herzenberg if any such dedication were made prior to construction.)<br /><br /><p><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2277/2125041592_0f6b27dc1a.jpg" /></p><p><span style="font-size:78%;">Joe and Allan Gurganus at Joe's Stonewall party, 2004.</span></p>Friends of Joehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03100645504344880513noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1464905194211111175.post-24100114485492057412008-10-28T15:58:00.000-07:002008-11-17T07:12:30.683-08:00Helms and Herzenberg: When The Old South Met New<a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/erik-ose/top-mccain-advisor-learne_b_138697.html">Huffington Post, Oct. 28, 2008</a><br /><br />by ERIK OSE<br /><br />Despite sharing the same initials and middle name "Alexander," Jesse Helms and Joe Herzenberg were very different. Helms was a bigoted, heterosexual, Southern Baptist, extreme right wing Republican who <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/erik-ose/jesse-helms-shameful-lega_b_111791.html">used divisive politics</a> to <a href="http://thelatestoutrage.blogspot.com/2008/07/how-jesse-helms-ruled-north-carolina.html">keep himself in power</a> for five U.S. Senate terms. Herzenberg was a tolerant, gay, Jewish, staunchly liberal Democrat who <a href="http://joeherzenberg.blogspot.com/2007/10/death-of-political-hero-joe-herzenberg.html">spent his life standing up for progressive ideals</a>.<br /><br /><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3035/2981906715_9df13c4ec6_o.jpg"/><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3178/2981918373_771687ed94_o.jpg"/><br /><br /><em>Jesse Helms and Joe Herzenberg</em><br /><br />Yet they were both historic politicians who bookended the Old and New South. Helms, who died last summer at age 86, was the last unapologeticly racist politician of the segregation era. Herzenberg, who passed away <a href="http://joeherzenberg.blogspot.com/2007/11/obituary-joseph-herzenberg.html">one year ago today</a> at age 66, was elected to the Chapel Hill Town Council two decades ago as the first openly gay elected official in the former Confederacy. And in 1984, their paths memorably crossed during the epic Helms-Hunt U.S. Senate race.<br /><br />That year, Helms used shameful hate mongering against Herzenberg, his partner Lightning Brown, and the rest of North Carolina's gay and lesbian community to eke out his narrow re-election against sitting Gov. Jim Hunt. Helms had been getting decreasing mileage out of race-baiting, drawing heavy criticism for his filibuster against the Martin Luther King Jr. federal holiday a year earlier. So he found a new bogeyman - the homosexual menace.<br /><br />Headlines screaming "Jim Hunt Is Sissy, Prissy, Girlish and Effeminate," and asking, "Is Jim Hunt homosexual?...Is he AC and DC?" appeared throughout 1984 in a free newspaper called <em>The Landmark</em>, a virulently anti-gay publication printed in Chatham County, N.C. The paper's homophobic publisher, Bob Windsor of Chapel Hill, was a cog in the Helms machine.<br /><br />The stories ran alongside paid ads for Helms' re-election campaign, and hundreds of thousands of copies of the paper were distributed around the state, particularly in rural areas. Its press run increased dramatically in the weeks leading up to Election Day. <em>The Landmark</em> was funded by <a href="http://lyndonlarouchewatch.org/fascism15.htm">shadowy national Helms backers</a>, part of the religious right that played a key behind-the-scenes organizing role in Helms' campaign. <br /><br />That June, the N.C. Republican Party held a press conference to accuse Jim Hunt of a "gay connection" because gay donors had bought 100 of 700 tickets to a Hunt fundraiser in New York, and Sen. Paul Tsongas of Massachusetts, leading Senate sponsor of a gay rights bill, had held a fundraising dinner for Hunt in Boston. The next day, Helms supporters paid to have a <em>Landmark</em> story reprinted as a large ad in the Raleigh <em>News & Observer</em>, accusing Hunt of "accepting a $79,000 contribution from Gay Activists."<br /><br />Posing as reporters for the black and gay press, right-wing operatives made and taped phone calls to gay Hunt supporters around the country. Articles based on distorted excerpts from the phone calls were then published in issues of <em>The Landmark</em>.<br /><br />Herzenberg and Brown were the smear campaign's N.C. poster children, targeted because they had helped co-found the Lesbian and Gay Democrats of North Carolina two years earlier, and were both vocally campaigning for Hunt. According to Lightning, one caller "asked about my fund raising for Hunt. The details ended up in <em>The Landmark</em> right away - it was frightening."<br /><br />Besides running made-up stories that slandered Herzenberg and Brown relentlessly, including accusations that they had started a Chapel Hill NAMBLA (North American Man-Boy Love Association) chapter and were secretly "porno kings," <em>The Landmark</em> also published their home addresses and did everything possible to incite violence against the two of them. No wonder, as gay activist Mab Segrest <a href="http://joeherzenberg.blogspot.com/1985/09/anatomy-of-election-southern-exposure.html">recounted</a> in an article on the Senate race, that "Brown and Herzenberg were subjected to more than a dozen separate incidents of intimidation, vandalism and harassment...for their work within the Democratic Party."<br /><br />In a <a href="http://joeherzenberg.blogspot.com/1984/12/citizen-awards-lightning-brown-and-joe.html">1984 interview</a> with the <em>Independent Weekly</em> when Herzenberg and Brown were awarded two of the Indy's first-ever Citizen Awards, Brown told of how "two people even threatened to kill me on Rosemary Street." Herzenberg called the attacks "very disruptive and at times painful." Asked if he had been scared, he admitted, with a subtlety that testified to his courage, "At moments."<br /><br /><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2268/2203313502_068a68d6f8.jpg"/><br /><br />In September, <em>The Landmark</em> published an interview with Helms in which he called homosexuality "a perversion and a crime." He described the gay movement as a "threat to the morals of our young people" and to "the ability of our population to reproduce itself...jeopardizing the very survival of the nation." <br /> <br />Helms was eventually forced to publicly distance himself from <em>The Landmark</em> after the paper published its most sensational charges accusing Jim Hunt of having a lover who was a "pretty young boy."" But he was well aware of how the paper was being widely distributed on his behalf. Helms betrayed himself on this point during a televised debate.<br /><br />Although both were known in Triangle political circles, and in the state's gay community, the only actual media coverage of their status as gay activists was through <em>The Landmark's</em> smear campaign. But in one of their four debates, Helms twice gay-baited Hunt by thundering, "You're supported by people like Joe Herzenberg and Lightning Brown!" Herzenberg considered the moment he was publicly outed to have been when Helms announced his name on statewide television.<br /><br />In the wake of his sliming by Helms' hateful tactics, Herzenberg decided he was out of the closet for good. His political activism and organizing flourished. He was <a href="http://joeherzenberg.blogspot.com/1984/07/joe-as-openly-gay-mondale-delegate-to.html">elected as an openly gay Mondale delegate</a> to the 1984 Democratic National Convention. He <a href="http://joeherzenberg.blogspot.com/1986/04/lesbian-and-gay-pride-86.html">helped organize</a> North Carolina's <a href="http://joeherzenberg.blogspot.com/1986/10/joe-herzenberg-tells-it-like-it-is.html">first Gay Pride Parade</a> in 1986. He ran for the Chapel Hill Town Council as an openly gay candidate <a href="http://joeherzenberg.blogspot.com/1985/10/vote-for-joe-herzenberg-ad-1985.html">in 1985</a>, and again in 1987 before he was <a href="http://joeherzenberg.blogspot.com/1987/12/friendly-place-for-all-its-residents.html">finally elected</a>.<br /><br /><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3030/2981705721_37bcac1ce1.jpg"/><br /><br />Herzenberg was arguably the first gay candidate in U.S. history elected to office outside an urban area or historically gay enclave, and he did it by <a href="http://joeherzenberg.blogspot.com/1987/12/herzenberg-wins-seat.html">assembling a broad-based progressive coalition</a>. His election was an important symbol of how the South was changing, and in some ways, Jesse Helms made it possible. Joe Herzenberg would have been thrilled to see the political landscape one year after his death, only one week away from the election of Barack Obama and a historic repudiation of the politics of division and hate.Friends of Joehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03100645504344880513noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1464905194211111175.post-19641735849843956882008-10-11T13:42:00.000-07:002008-10-28T15:57:10.331-07:00Joe Herzenberg's YahrzeitAs the anniversary of Joe Herzenberg’s death nears I would like to share with you the Jewish custom for observing the Yahrzeit of a family member. The Hebrew Date is used instead of the actual date of death. This year the date will be November 14.<br /><br />Traditionally family members mark the yearly anniversary of a death (called "yahrtzeit") in two ways:<br /><br />Light a yahrizeit candle. A candle that burns for 24 hrs. Yahrzeit candles should be lit the evening before the date specified. This is because the Jewish day actually begins at sundown on the previous night. There is no prayer said with this lighting.<br /><br />And giving some form of charity (tzedakah) in the name of the deceased.<br /> <br />Candles can be purchased at Harris Teeter in the ethnic section of the store or at the Chapel Hill Kehillah gift shop. <br /><br />I gave a Rainbow Arch to NC Pride Fest that is now is the Joe Herzenberg Memorial Arch. It was dedicated September 26 at the Pride March in Durham.<br /><br /><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3156/2932686478_771d1391fa.jpg"/><br /><br />Joe left 1/2 of his estate equally to Friends of Chapel Hill Parks and Recreation and Greenways for the Bolin Creek Greenway, especially for benches and other amenities, as well as actual construction; and the Inter-Faith Council for Social Services, Inc. for the operations of the homeless shelter and the kitchen. Each has received a check in the amount of $250,000.00.<br /><br />L’shalom,<br /><br />Kathie YoungFriends of Joehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03100645504344880513noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1464905194211111175.post-82227416310325444222008-09-28T00:30:00.000-07:002008-12-05T08:15:45.767-08:00Gay Pride allies pin their hopes on Obama<a href="http://www.newsobserver.com/front/story/1235212.html">N&O, Sept. 28, 2008</a><br /><br />by Jesse James DeConto<br /><br />DURHAM - "We are on the doorstep of the most important political election of our day," Chapel Hill Town Council member Mark Kleinschmidt told the crowd (at the N.C. Pride Festival on Saturday) on Duke's East Campus.<br /><br />...<br /><br />Kleinschmidt and others celebrated the late Chapel Hill Town Council member <strong>Joe Herzenberg</strong>, who in 1987 became the first openly gay elected official in North Carolina. The path to the stage passed beneath a 20-foot-high inflated arch -- the Rainbow Memorial Arch -- in Herzenberg's honor. He died in October.<br /><br />"His election opened the door for the rest of us who followed," said Orange County Commissioner Mike Nelson, former mayor of Carrboro.<br /><br /><p><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3149/3050738060_c26a7d9562.jpg" /></p>Friends of Joehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03100645504344880513noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1464905194211111175.post-29646859881582954262008-07-26T19:26:00.000-07:002010-10-27T19:56:31.523-07:00Helms created our ‘Stonewall’: N.C. Senate Vote 90 was a defining moment for queer N.C.<a href="http://goqnotes.com/517/helms-created-our-stonewall/">Q-Notes, July 26, 2008</a><br /><br />By DAVID STOUT<br /><br />Mandy Carter leaps onto the comparison like a cat pouncing on a cricket. “Yes, I so agree,” she says excitedly. “That was a defining moment for the lesbian and gay community in North Carolina. I think you absolutely can call it this state’s version of Stonewall.”<br /><br />The event Carter is referring to is the creation and year-long organizing of N.C. Senate Vote 90, a statewide political campaign founded by a handful of Triangle-area lesbians and gay men for the purpose of defeating virulently anti-gay Sen. Jesse Helms. The Republican senator from North Carolina was seeking his fourth term in the 1990 general election.<br /><br />“We were all upset about Helms’ gay record,” Carter observes. “But as a black lesbian I was also very aware of his horrible record on civil rights. Even George Wallace and Strom Thurmond understood that things were changing, but Helms was not letting go. Let’s not forget that he was an equal opportunity destroyer.”<br /><br />Anyone who even halfheartedly follows politics already knows that Helms was reelected. What many don’t know, however, is that some of the most significant gains won by the state’s LGBT community in the ensuing two and a half decades have risen from the ashes of NCSV90’s stinging defeat.<br /><br />The advances haven’t come from the loss itself — the crucial exception being the unavoidable and unavoidably empowering realization that the LGBT community could have its collective breath knocked out on Tuesday and still get up on its feet on Wednesday. Rather, the gains have blossomed from the lessons learned, the groundwork laid and the coalitions assembled before the polling places even opened that fateful election day.<br /><br />“This all really begins with Sue Hyde,” Carter recalls. “It was around 1989 and she was working for the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force. She was in Durham for a hearing because the City Council was considering a gay anti-discrimination policy. Afterward, she asked a few of us what we were going to do about Jesse Helms.”<br /><br />Hyde’s deceptively simple question sparked a house meeting of local activists, including host David Jones, Carter, openly gay Chapel Hill Town Council member <strong>Joe Herzenberg</strong>, Mab Segrest, Jim Duley, Jim Baxter and Meredith Emmett.<br /><br />“We needed to do something, but we didn’t know what,” Carter says. “We didn’t know anything about what we were doing.” Still, there was enough energy and determination in that initial meeting to convince Carter to tell her bosses at Durham’s legendary women’s music label Ladyslipper that she was “going to take time off to work on this thing to defeat Helms.”<br /><br />Carter, a nationally respected activist who started organizing with the War Resister’s League in the late ’60s in San Francisco, wound up campaign manager of the nebulous start-up, which after a bit of research was registered with the Federal Elections Commission as an independent expenditure political action committee.<br /><br />“That meant we could raise and spend as much as we wanted, but we could have no contact with the Gantt campaign,” explains Carter.<br /><br />Harvey Gantt, the African-American former mayor of Charlotte, was creating history with his bid for Helms’ seat. No black candidate had ever before run for the U.S. Senate in North Carolina and Gantt was actually making a strong showing in the early polling.<br /><br />NCSV90’s launch was less auspicious. The group had an office but no money. Carter, at that point a full-time volunteer, says things turned around as word of the campaign spread.<br /><br />“We had people contacting us from Greensboro, Charlotte, Asheville, Wilmington asking ‘how can I get involved?’ When we saw that, we decided it was time to go public in the traditional press. The response was incredible, and that’s when we knew we had something. Money started pouring in from our friends outside North Carolina. It was just remarkable.”<br /><br />The PAC was now legitimately up and running, but organizers knew that money alone didn’t equal victory. It would take more than paid staff and media buys to defeat the Helms juggernaut. To maximize the odds of victory, they needed a voter army.<br /><br />So, they assembled one — and forever changed the face of North Carolina politics.<br /><br />“We had a strategy meeting in Chapel Hill where we were wondering how we would pull together enough votes to defeat Helms,” Carter remembers. “Even if we got every gay person to vote we figured it wouldn’t be enough. We started to think, who would work with us on this? That led us to get a copy of Helms’ voting record.<br /><br />“Arts, environment, education, people of color, gay and lesbian allies, pro-choice — these were the groups we knew we should be in contact with. It was an alliance that we needed then and I’m happy to say that it still exists to this day. That historic moment really got down to the roots of who would be the progressive coalition in North Carolina.”<br /><br />As the race — one of the most closely watched in the nation — unfolded through the spring and summer, NCSV90 volunteers statewide worked tirelessly canvassing neighborhoods, staffing phone banks, fundraising and registering voters. Gantt’s numbers continued to grow until he was actually leading in the polls.<br /><br />And then the wheels fell off. In an 11th hour act of desperation, Helms’ campaign unleashed what has come to be known as simply “The Ad.”<br /><br />The TV spot focused on a white man’s hands as he tore up a rejection notice for a job that, according to a voiceover, was given to a less qualified minority applicant “because of a racial quota.” The ad was blasted by moderate and left-wing pundits and politicians nationwide for its racist fear-mongering. But, Helms was unbowed and the spot stayed on the air.<br /><br />A few weeks later, the embattled incumbent eeked out a win with 52.5 percent of the vote. It was a crushing loss for North Carolina’s LGBT community and the entire progressive coalition after they had worked so hard and come so very close.<br /><br />“I was taping every ad during the campaign,” Carter says. “When I saw that one, I said this election’s over. But it still didn’t soften the blow because we had experienced all these mini victories — money, volunteers, this amazing alliance we had put together — along the way. To lose like that at the end was devastating.”<br /><br />Today, the river of time has carved out enough emotional distance that the perspective required to accurately assess NCSV90’s “failure” is possible.<br /><br />Beyond the progressive coalition that was established, other essential, lasting benefits from the campaign include EqualityNC — the statewide LGBT advocacy organization was founded as NC Pride PAC by key Senate Vote 90 organizers — as well as an increase in the number of openly gay elected or appointed officials in the state.<br /><br />A couple of years after working with NCSV90, Mike Nelson successfully ran for the Carrboro Board of Aldermen. After serving just one term, in 1995 he became the first openly gay candidate to be elected mayor of a North Carolina city. Mark Kleinschmidt and Julia Boseman are additional out candidates who successfully campaigned for public office.<br /><br />Amazingly, nearly three decades after the fact, one more advancement from the anti-Helms campaign is playing out before us right now, in the historic political race of another trailblazing African-American politician — this one seeking the nation’s highest office.<br /><br />Presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama’s primary victory and competitive general election polling in North Carolina is a testament to the courage of Harvey Gantt and the sweeping vision of a few gays and lesbians at a house party who were very early adopters of the real politics of change.<br /><br />Looking at these results, it’s clear that the legacy of NCSV90 actually has little to do with loss or lack, but a great deal to do with increased common will, visibility, political standing and connectedness. The campaign ushered in a new era for LGBT North Carolinians. It should be celebrated for the remarkable victory history has revealed it to be.<br /><br />“Helms has come and gone,” Carter concludes, speaking pensively. “But we’re still here, and in the long run we won.”Friends of Joehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03100645504344880513noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1464905194211111175.post-54197811095551966402008-06-19T13:26:00.000-07:002009-10-29T05:17:31.749-07:00Brilliant Flight - a love poem for Mama Nayo and Joe (VIDEO)This video honors the lives of Joe and <a href="http://www.newsobserver.com/news/story/1026919.html">Nayo Barbara Malcolm Watkins</a> ("Mama Nayo"), a Durham community activist and educator who died of cancer on January 22, 2008. It was created by artist and poet <a href="http://www.goldendharma.blogspot.com/">Ebony Noelle Golden</a>.<br /><br /><object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/vp1cpEgTvC4&hl=en&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/vp1cpEgTvC4&hl=en&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object>Friends of Joehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03100645504344880513noreply@blogger.com0