Up and Coming Weekly is a weekly publication in Fayetteville, NC and Fort Bragg, NC area offering local news, views, arts, entertainment and community event and business information.
Issue link: http://www.epageflip.net/i/1254332
4 UCW JUNE 3-9, 2020 WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM STAFF PUBLISHER Bill Bowman Bill@upandcomingweekly.com ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER Stephanie Crider editor@upandcomingweekly.com OPERATIONS DIRECTOR Paulette Naylor accounting@upandcomingweekly.com EDITOR Jenna Shackelford jenna@upandcomingweekly.com HOPE MILLS AND SENIOR SPORTS EDITOR Earl Vaughan Jr. EarlUCWSports@gmail.com REPORTER Jeff Thompson news@upandcomingweekly.com GRAPHIC DESIGNER Elizabeth Baker art@upandcomingweekly.com MARKETING ASSOCIATES Linda McAlister Brown linda@upandcomingweekly.com DISTRIBUTION MANAGER/SALES ADMINISTRATOR Laurel Handforth laurel@upandcomingweekly.com CONTRIBUTING WRITERS D.G. Martin, Pitt Dickey, Margaret Dickson, Karl Merritt, John Hood, Jim Jones, Shanessa Fenner, Prudence Mainor, Avery Powers, Crissy Neville ––––––––––– Up & Coming Weekly www.upandcomingweekly.com 208 Rowan St. P.O. Box 53461 Fayetteville, NC 28305 PHONE: 910-484-6200 FAX: 910-484-9218 Up & Coming Weekly is a "Quality of Life" publication with local features, news and information on what's happening in and around the Fayetteville/Cumberland County community. Up & Coming Weekly is published weekly on Wednesdays. Up & Coming Weekly welcomes manuscripts, photographs and artwork for publication consideration, but assumes no responsibility for them. We cannot accept responsibility for the return of unsolicited manuscripts or material. Opinions expressed by contributors do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher. The publisher reserves the right to edit or reject copy submitted for publication. Up & Coming Weekly is free of charge and distributed at indoor and outdoor locations throughout Fayetteville, Fort Bragg, Pope Air Force Base, Hope Mills and Spring Lake. Readers are limited to one copy per person. © 2020 by F&B Publications, Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction or use of editorial or advertisements without permission is strictly prohibited. Various ads with art graphics designed with elements from: vecteezy.com and freepik.com. PUBLISHER'S PEN BILL BOWMAN, Publisher, UP & COMING WEEKLY. COM- MENTS? BILL@upandcomin- gweekly.com. 910-484-6200. As I write this editorial, no doubt city officials have already met to "circle the wagons" to come forth this week disseminating a consistent and coherent message, as they pat themselves on the back, proclaiming to the public what a great job they did in managing the protest, riots and un- rest that took place over the weekend. Many will certainly disagree. I sit here Sunday evening with a heavy heart at the devastation and violence and destruction that has been perpetrated on our community in the name of George Floyd. His death was a travesty; however, to loot, steal, burn and pillage personal property in his name is beyond repre- hensible. Fayetteville, North Carolina, our hometown, was transformed into a criminal flashpoint — as were about 30 other cities across the country. In Fayetteville, our leadership really blew it on multiple fronts. I have written several times about the lack of vision, talent and leadership in our community. e horrifying events of last weekend only confirm this. As I watched the carnage taking place on Hay Street and across our commu- nity, my only thoughts were: Where is the mayor? Where are the police? Where is the Fire Department? Where are our community and government leaders, and why are they not present? It is incomprehensible and unacceptable that in the city of Fayetteville and county of Cumberland, where we have people of color in the most trusted, prominent and vital positions of leadership — the mayor, city manager, city attorney, seven out of nine City Council members, the police chief, fire chief, Cumberland County Sheriff, Cumberland County Schools superin- tendent and three Cumberland County Commissioners — that no one stepped up to even try to address the protesters and calm the crowd for the safety and welfare of the community. Where were all the black pastors and clergy from the dozens of African American churches in the community? Where were all these encouraging voices of love, fellowship, compassion and reason? e good reverend, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., must be turning in his grave after witnessing the criminal acts being invoked in his name. e leadership capacity of City Hall is meant to serve and protect Fayetteville citizens. ese duties are not just reserved for law enforce- ment. Here, the mayor and all of the City Hall departments were derelict in their duties. Not just because our leaders were unsuccessful in their efforts — but because they didn't even try! ey were complicit to the carnage and must be held accountable. Saturday night in downtown Fayetteville was a horrid spectacle. It was made worse by the fact that no effort was made to protect the citizens, personal property, city property or the businesses that employ hundreds of residents and have been the lifeblood of the downtown revitalization effort — the very economic revitalization that our leadership supposedly has been advocating for and the taxpayers have been generously paying for. Yet, they collectively acquiesced and sat back and did nothing. Fayetteville and Cumberland County leaders need to rethink the vi- sion for our future and how they are going to get us there. A good friend told me something that rang so true: "In every case," he said, "friction eventually destroys." He is right — car engines, marriage conflicts, em- ployee relations, personal and business relationships — friction eventu- ally destroys any opportunity for progress or resolution. Our community will never be all it can be with leadership that is so self-absorbed in unilateral racial motives. is protest and rioting situation have exposed the ugly but inevitable truth that race alone doesn't make a person a leader, nor does it make someone smart. And it definitely doesn't keep a person from being an opportunist — especially when they yield to protest organizers and allow them and their disciples to become the pied pipers of destruction, looting and criminal intent. Fayetteville and Cumberland County are at a crossroads. Real leader- ship is the only thing that can save this community. Who will step up? More importantly, who should step down? ank you for reading Up & Coming Weekly. Fayetteville leadership collapses under pressure by BILL BOWMAN e Market House was set ablaze and looted Saturday night. Sunday morning, volunteers downtown pulled together to clean up the mess on Hay Street. Exhibits in glass cases on the walls are gone. Windows were all broken. Above, volunteer Leisa Greathouse sweeps the empty room. HIGH HIGH 82 82 LOW LOW 67 67 HIGH HIGH 83 83 HIGH HIGH 84 84 HIGH HIGH 88 88 HIGH HIGH 84 84 LOW LOW 65 65 LOW LOW 69 69 JUNE 8 JUNE 7 JUNE 5 JUNE 6 JUNE 9 Mostly Cloudy Partly Cloudy Partly Cloudy Scattered Thunderstorms Isolated Thunderstorms Partly Cloudy JUNE 4 THURSDAY FRIDAY SATURDAY SUNDAY MONDAY HIGH HIGH 88 88 LOW LOW 71 71 Humidity 70 62 60 67 72 65 LOW LOW 71 71 TUESDAY LOW LOW 72 72