“A true champion of justice and equality.”
“A beacon of hope and progress.”
“A pillar of integrity.”
“The epitome of someone who leads not with words, but with action.”
Braxton Foushee is such a figure within the Carrboro community, there’s no one way to describe him that fully captures his leadership and impact. The group of speakers on Wednesday tried to sum it up with those phrases and many others.
The Town of Carrboro celebrated one of its most influential figures on Wednesday, holding a ceremony to recognize Foushee — Carrboro’s first Black elected official and a key local figure in the Civil Rights Movement. The local government recently approved Braxton Foushee Street as new name of a downtown street, replacing Carr Street and its namesake’s white supremacist history and values. The date and ceremony marked the first official day the name change took effect.
Rainy weather moved the event inside to the Century Center instead of out by the new street signs, with dozens of people gathering to celebrate the octogenarian who has offered leadership to the Carrboro community in every stage of his life. Laughs, tears, handshakes, and hugs were shared as people spoke about Foushee’s importance to them individually and his broader impact on town history.
The vote to change the street name back in February came with mild controversy, as some residents pushed back on the town’s communication leading up to the change. But Wednesday was all celebration and reflection – with community member after community member speaking to affirm not only the choice of honoring Foushee’s work to make Carrboro better, but to have a namesake reflective of the town’s values.
Danita Mason-Hogans, a local historian and the founder of Black history nonprofit Bridging The Gap, described Foushee as a “shepherd” for many of the town’s key moments – like helping elderly Black residents vote when he was a teenager, desegregating UNC Hospitals’ cafeteria in the 1960s, and organizing civil disobedience to protest other racist customs.
“Because of the citizens of Carrboro,” Mason-Hogans said, “history will record that this village took the name of an enslaver – who was a founder of this town with oppression and brutality in the past – and decided to chart a new path of reconciliation and repair into the future with the most perfect symbol of this aspiration: a descendant of the enslaved, who has been a dedicated shepherd of this town for eight decades strong.”
Braxton Foushee speaks to a gathered crowd at the Carrboro Century Center during the town government’s street renaming ceremony on Wednesday, March 27.
Braxton Foushee stands with his wife, Barbara, and his children, grandson and grandson’s wife with a new Braxton Foushee Street sign.
Some of Foushee’s childhood friends spoke Wednesday, sharing how he was a role model when growing up and that led to being a role model in situations where they took stands for civil rights. Others spoke to Foushee’s impact as the first Black member of the Board of Aldermen from 1969-1981 and how he represented non-white residents’ perspectives.
Carrboro Mayor Barbara Foushee – who said she spoke Wednesday more as Braxton’s wife and less as an elected official – pointed to how her husband’s service didn’t just stop when he left the Board of Aldermen. She rattled off the other local bodies he either has served on or still does.
“OWASA Board of Directors, multiple terms… NAACP, Silver Life member, currently serving on the [executive] committee… Town of Carrboro Planning Board, multiple terms [and] recently reappointed… the Orange County Partnership to End Homelessness, multiple terms,” said Barbara Foushee. “Decades of service as an election official in Orange County, 40 years of volunteerism with Camp Independence in Rutledge, Georgia, and many years of service as an assistant scoutmaster to Troop 411.
“This,” she added, “is just the tip of the iceberg for his service.”
Carrboro Mayor Pro Tempore Danny Nowell served as the master of ceremonies for Wednesday’s event, and said that as a newer town council member, he felt that getting to know Braxton Foushee helped expand his knowledge of Carrboro history. He likened it to a common practice in bicycle racing, where the person leading a pack has the difficult job of fighting the headwind, while those behind them get to work less by drafting behind the leader.
“When there’s a gap between where you want to be and where you are, what you need is a really strong wheel to just [behind] and draft,” said Nowell. “And I have been drafting on Braxton Foushee in ways I have barely even understood since I first set foot in Carrboro. I think we have all been drafting on Braxton Foushee for a very long time. And I am so grateful to you, Mr. Foushee, for allowing me to be here today, for sending the example that you have set, and for bringing us all here together to commemorate the kind of things that Carrboro should be commemorating more of.”
When it was time for him to address the crowd, Foushee spent most of his time at the microphone talking about his love for his family. He said his actions were influenced by a hope to set good examples for them – and to make his parents and extended family proud too. Foushee told 97.9 The Hill he wished his mother could have been there to see Wednesday’s ceremony.
With the rain, the closest the crowd got to an updated street sign was when Carrboro staff gave the Foushee family a model sign to hold. But earlier in the week, Braxton Foushee had a chance to go out to the street and take a photo with an updated sign. He called the moment “humbling.”
“It’s always [been] to make it a little easy for somebody else coming behind me,” he said of social activism and leadership. “That’s the way I look at it. I’ve done a lot of marching and being assertive myself, and [now] I’m just pleased with me.”
Braxton Foushee watches workers switch out the Carr Street signs for Braxton Foushee Street signs. (Photo via the Town of Carrboro.)
Even when asked what service means to him, Foushee made clear he believes it’s about a group effort.
“I would define it as a person speaking, one individual, knowing that [they have] the whole community behind [them],” he said. “It was just like during the civil rights: we young people had to do it, because most of our parents were connected with the university, and we didn’t want them to feel the resentment that they would have [felt] if [they demonstrated.]”
But Foushee’s dedication to others is partially why the Carrboro community was so compelled to honor him now. While Foushee joked about receiving the recognition because he “outlived others” who are deserving, Rev. Rodney Lavon Coleman of First Baptist Church helped punctuate Wednesday’s event with why it was important to have with Foushee there.
“Braxton, we absolutely love you, and we think the world of you, and we’re grateful for your contribution to this community and the community abroad,” said Coleman. “And we celebrate the town that fought enough to honor you while you’re able to smell your flowers.”
A livestream of Wednesday’s street renaming and dedication event can be watched on the Town of Carrboro’s YouTube page and Facebook page.
Photo via the Town of Carrboro.
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