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.
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4 UCW AUGUST 25-31, 2021 WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM STAFF PUBLISHER Bill Bowman Bill@upandcomingweekly.com ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER Janice Burton OPERATIONS DIRECTOR Paulette Naylor accounting@upandcomingweekly.com EDITORS April Olsen Carolyn Harmon editor@upandcomingweekly.com PRODUCTION MANAGER / GRAPHIC DESIGNER Dylan Hooker art@upandcomingweekly.com REPORTER Jeff Thompson MARKETING ASSOCIATE Linda McAlister Brown linda@upandcomingweekly.com DISTRIBUTION MANAGER/SALES ADMINISTRATOR Laurel Handforth laurel@upandcomingweekly.com CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Margaret Dickson, Pitt Dickey, D.G. Martin, John Hood, Jim Jones, Shanessa Fenner, Crissy Neville COVER Cover design by Dylan Hooker. Cover photo of Tim Hair with Indian Outlaw (absent from group photo is Gina Gerard). –––––––––––-_ 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 Army Airfield, 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 Community input vital for renaming Fort Bragg by REP. RICHARD HUDSON 82 64 82 83 79 82 63 64 83 66 64 65 THU AUG 26 FRI AUG 27 SAT AUG 28 SUN AUG 29 MON AUG 30 TUE AUG 31 90 72 90 71 87 70 86 69 86 68 86 67 Thunderstorms Thunderstorms Thunderstorms Thunderstorms Partly Cloudy Partly Cloudy Association of Community Publishers Publisher Bill Bowman yields his space this week to Rep. Richard Hudson. Fort Bragg is going to be renamed. Last year, Congress passed a law that forced the renaming of military bases with ties to the Confederacy like Fort Bragg, named after Confederate Gen- eral Braxton Bragg. Now, a Commission from Washing- ton, D.C. is meeting to develop a report on base renaming for the Secretary of Defense. If our community doesn't engage, it will be this Commission that decides the new name of our base. I think that is wrong. In June 2020, when Congress was con- sidering this move, I said any decision regarding renaming the base should be made by the Fort Bragg community. I still believe that is the case. is is a very tough issue for many in our community and I appreciate that there is a lot of passion on both sides. Now is the time for our community to come together. We need to respect one another and listen to one another. We can let this situation tear us apart, or we can use it to bring us together. Whether you agree or disagree, Braxton Bragg's name will be removed from the base. Despite my belief that we should remove his name, I recognize the name Fort Bragg has meaning that transcends Braxton Bragg. When I visit with heads of state anywhere in the world and I tell them I represent Fort Bragg, their eyes light up. e reason is because the world recog- nizes and respects the men and women of our Airborne and Special Forces who have fought, bled and died to free the oppressed and spread peace and liberty throughout the world. eir sacrifices, as well as those by every family who has been stationed at Fort Bragg, should be honored. On Aug. 11, the Renaming Com- mission held a meeting with several community leaders at Fort Bragg. Before their meeting, I spoke with members of the Commission and I challenged them to do a better job to engage and listen to key voices across our community. Several new names for Fort Bragg were suggested at that meeting, but one stands out. One name suggested, in my opinion, erases any stigma associated with Braxton Bragg while also recogniz- ing the heritage associated with our Airborne and Special Forces communi- ties. at name is of an accomplished Union General in the Civil War who was later a Member of Congress and the U.S. Minister to Mexico. His name is Edward S. Bragg. ere is precedent for a community coming together to replace an obscure but controversial name with a more positive choice with the same last name. Seattle is in King County, Washington. King County was originally named for William King, a person later found un- acceptable because he was a slave own- er. In 1986, the County Council renamed the County to instead honor Martin Luther King Jr. is decision allowed the community to come together and turn the page in a unifying way. I believe it is an example we should consider. While Edward S. Bragg is one name that should be considered, I do not suggest that I alone should choose the new name of Fort Bragg any more than a Commission full of people who do not live in our community should. is needs to be a community decision, but we need to act quickly. According to the Commission's timeline, we have until the middle of September before members release their initial report to the Secretary of Defense. I believe your voice and the voices of our community need to be heard. e local elected leaders in Cumberland and surrounding counties need to weigh in. We also need to hear from the Chamber of Commerce and our local veteran organizations. e Commission will soon have a website allowing people to submit comments directly about renaming. In the meantime, organizations and folks should engage with local elected lead- ers, community leaders, or contact my office through my website at Hudson. House.Gov and I will be happy to relay your opinions, letters or resolutions to the Commission on your behalf. Fort Bragg is going to be renamed whether we like it or not. If our com- munity doesn't come together with a consensus name, one will be chosen for us. I believe the consensus name that could unite us is Edward S. Bragg. Now it's time for our local elected and community leaders to join this discus- sion and bring us together. I stand ready to help. REP. RICHARD HUDSON, R-N.C. COMMENTS? Editor@ upandcomingweekly.com. 910-484-6200. Many are calling for Fort Bragg to be re- named Fort Bragg in honor of Union General Edward S. Bragg. (Photo courtesy Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division)