With this letter, I invite you to apply for membership in the Town of Chapel Hill’s Justice in Action Committee. Dr. Martin Luther King once said, “The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.” Yet, Dr. King did not rest on the promise of inevitability; he took action. Through his efforts and those of countless others committed to the welfare of their fellow man, great strides were made toward the goal of social justice during the Civil Rights movement of the 1960s.
Still, almost fifty years since Dr. King’s hopeful observation, there remains work to be done to bend history in the direction of justice. As such, I invite you to join the growing collection of people dedicated to the same principles of equality that motivated Dr. King. I invite you to experience the joy of public service by becoming a member of an organization charged with reflecting the Town’s commitment to “preserving racial, economic, and social justice.”
The members of the Justice in Action Committee fulfill our social justice mission in a variety of ways. First and foremost, we serve as a mouthpiece for the community. We seek to understand and convey the community’s concerns about social justice issues to various Town entities, including the Town Council. For example, the Committee recently partnered with the Chapel Hill Police Department to gather feedback from local citizens designed to improve the provision of law enforcement services in our town. Also, we welcome members of the community to voice their concerns during our meetings, which are held at six o’clock on the first Thursday of each month in the Second Floor Training room at Town Hall.
We also strive to educate the community through workshops, seminars, and creative programming designed to raise awareness and address issues of racism, diversity, equality, and inclusiveness. In partnership with the Chapel Hill Public Library, we recently presented a panel discussion in the wake of the Yates incident about the changing nature of civil disobedience in our society. As part of that partnership, we also sponsored a workshop facilitated by the Sacrificial Poets and designed to explore the power of the spoken word in the fight for social justice.
We are proud of our past efforts and excited about our plans for the upcoming year. However, there is always more to be done, and many hands make light work. If, like Dr. King, you both hope for a better future and want to take action to achieve it, I implore you to join the Justice in Action Committee. To find an application form, simply visit the Town’s website at www.townofchapelhill.org/boards or call the Town Clerk at (919) 968-2757.
Best,
