Download the study here.
The SC Progressive Network has released a study — based on a review of racial disparities in arrest rates and a new law requiring cops to report the race of those stopped for traffic warnings — that reveals most police agencies in the state are breaking the law by not reporting. The most recent report on the Department of Public Safety’s web site reveals that 189 of the state’s police agencies are not in compliance.
The Network is circulating this study to stimulate public dialogue about racial profiling and to encourage police agencies to advocate for a database that records all stops and allows for increased transparency.
Download the study here.
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FEBRUARY CALENDAR
This listing is for Network member groups. Send items for posting to becci@scpronet.com.
• STATEWIDE •
Feb. 12-14: Camp Wellstone training in Columbia. Wellstone Action is a national center for training and leadership development in the progressive movement. Founded in 2003, Wellstone Action’s mission is ignite leadership in people and power in communities to win change in the progressive tradition of Paul and Sheila Wellstone. Choose from Citizen Activism or one of two politically-oriented tracks. For details or to register, go here.
Feb. 25-26: Remembering the Charleston 5, 10 years later. Events commemorating the struggle, celebrating the victory and charting the future. Hosted by the International Longshoreman’s Association, 1422 in Charleston. For details, email fshuler@ilalocal1422.com.
March 11-14: Conference on Race, Labor, and Citizenship in the Post-Emancipation South. The program will be held in Charleston, and will include presentations on an array of compelling topics by leading scholars, journalists, activists and educators from across the country, Ireland and the UK. Topics include: Labor and the Politics of Reconstruction, Freedwomen, Citizenship and the Public Sphere, Freedom, Property Rights, Black Workers, the Union Leagues and the Republican Party, White Supremacy and the Prospects for Interracialism, The Franchise and Grassroots Political Activism, Emigration Movements and Black Mobility, Gender and the Free Labor Vision, Religion and Southern Laborers, Dockworkers, Port Cities and Black Mobilization, Race Leadership after ‘Redemption,’ Race, Labor and New South Industrialization, and Independent Politics after 1880. The conference will include several roundtable discussions and a keynote address on Friday evening by Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Steven Hahn, author of A Nation Under Our Feet: Black Political Struggles in the Rural South From Slavery to the Great Migration. We have constructed a program that offers an exceptional opportunity for serious engagement between professional historians, K-12 educators, labor and community activists, and the wider interested public. The conference is organized by the After Slavery Project, and offers waived registration fees for teachers and the unemployed. Details and a registration form can be found at www.afterslavery.com.
March 23: Join South Carolina’s first Virtual March in support of responsible reproductive health policies. Advocates are organizing the march through Tell Them’s Web site. Thousands of men and women from across the state are joining together to let their legislators know they support access to medically accurate sexual health information and access to counseling and clinical services. Together, through responsible reproductive health policies, we can reduce the number of unintended pregnancies in South Carolina. Join today by registering here. The march is an easy way people can let legislators know they support this issue and expect representatives to support responsible public health policies.
SC Pride is calling for themes and logos for the 2010 SC Pride Festival and Parade to be held on the weekend of Sept. 10-12. Artist(s) may submit one of the following:
a. Logo design with a specific theme for the 2010 festival
b. Logo design without a specific theme
c. Specific theme for the 2010 festival without a logo
Logo design should be in an electronic format (.jpg) and must be submitted via email to: Tamera Tedder, mtt156@yahoo.com. Entries must be received no later than 5pm Feb. 28. For more information, call the Harriet Hancock Community Center at 803-771-7713 or visit scpride.org.
South Carolina Peace & Justice Coordinating listserv has been launched, as decided upon by the Peace Caucus at the SC Progressive Network retreat. To join, email aiken_peace@yahoo.com or call 803-215-3263.
The Grimke Sisters, an online community of South Carolina feminists, welcomes uppity women and the men who love them. To join our listserv, send email to GrimkeSisters-subscribe@yahoogroups.com. Or join us on Facebook. For more information, call 803-808-3384.
Check out the Tell Them blog to learn about reproductive health in South Carolina.
• AIKEN •
First and Third Mondays, 5-6:30pm: Women in Black Vigil for Peace, Hitchcock Dr. and Whiskey Road. Vigil calls for an end to war in Iraq, handing over Iraq to Iraqis and bring our troops home. Call 803-215-3263 for details. Sponsored by Aiken Peace.
Second Mondays, 6:30pm: Aiken Peace meets, Aiken Unitarian Universalist Church, 115 Gregg Ave. Call 803-215-3263 for details.
• CHARLESTON •
Third Thursday, 7pm: Charleston Peace meets at the Circular Congregational Church, 150 Meeting St. For details, call 843-763-7304.
First and Third Saturdays, noon: Peace vigil at Marion Square, corner of Calhoun and King. Sponsored by Charleston Peace.
Fourth Saturday, 10am-noon: Genetic Literacy, Charleston County Main Library, 68 Calhoun St. For information, email jamesecj@aol.com or call 843-762-7139.
• COLUMBIA •
Feb. 2, 7pm: Columbia Central Labor Council meeting, 2025 Marion St. Columbia. Plans will be finalized for the CLC’s Mayoral Candidates Forum. Open to friends of organized labor. For details email jennypatterson@knology.net.
Feb. 4, 9am: Right to Life (H 3526) bill will be taken up by House Judiciary Constitutional Laws Subcommittee in Room 511, Blatt Building, State House. Subcommittee members: Greg Delleney, Garry Smith, Jim Harrison, James Smith, Walt McLeod. Take action! We need people to offer testimony and to help fill the room.
Feb. 9, 7pm: Columbia Progressive Network meeting, 2025 Marion St. Free and open to anyone interested in improving the quality of life in the Palmetto State. Bring a friend and find out what we’re doing. Free snacks and beverages! For details, email network@scpronet.com or call 803-808-3384.
Feb. 12-13: SC Pride Valentine’s Weekend Jell-0 Shot Fundraiser. Join us for shots served up Pride style at Blue Tapas Bar and Cocktail Lounge at 721 A Lady St. All proceeds from shot sales donated to SC Pride Festival 2010.
Feb. 23, 7pm: Progressive Network Study Group. 2025 Marion St. The meeting is informal, free and open to the public. Snacks and drinks provided. For details, email network@scpronet.com or call 803-808-3384.
March 1, 6-8pm: Mayoral Candidate Forum, Eau Claire Print Building, 3901 Ensor Ave. (in the fork at N. Main and River Dr.).
To see the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship’s programs and activities, see chaliceweb.org.
To see Garden of Grace United Church of Christ’s activities, go to gogucc.com.
Fourth Wednesday, 11:45-1pm, The Coalition for New South Carolinians Brown Bag Lunch Meeting. Find out what’s happening in SC’s immigrant communities. For details, email stanek@coalitionfnsc.org or call 803-429-8742.
First Sundays, 3pm: Regular working meetings at the Rosewood Community Garden, an organic vegetable garden at 1100 S. Holly St., behind Ben Arnold Center. All who live near the garden are welcome to become growers. Reap the benefits of fresh food and community! For more information on this and other Carolina Peace Common Ground projects, click here. Call 803-446-2772 or write to info@carolinapeace.org to join the community gardening listserv.
Sundays: West African Drum and Dance Classes, Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, corner of Heyward and Woodward. Master drummer Amara Camara teaches drum lessons 2:30-3:30pm. West African dance classes 4-5:30pm. For details, call 803-260-6486 or email tonijones@sc.rr.com. The money is used to buy rice for the Ratoma neighborhood in Conakry, Guinea, West Africa.
Sundays, 3pm: The public is invited to a weekly discussion group on the environment, led by Mel Jenkins of Environmentalists, Inc., at the USC Green Quad (West Quad). Discussions include local environmental and energy issues. For details, call 803-929-0200.
Every Wednesday, 5pm: Women in Black, State House. For details, call 803-446-2772.
Every Wednesday, 6:15-8pm: Progressive Social Hour, Tio’s, 921 Sumter St. Sponsored by Carolina Peace.
Third Thursday, 6pm: PFLAG Columbia meets at St. Martin’s in the Fields Episcopal Church in the Community House, next to the parking lot behind the church, 5220 Clemson Ave. For information, call 803-781-0515.
• GREENVILLE •
Feb. 6, 2-4pm: Sean’s Last Wish volunteer meeting, 7 Brandywine Ct. We have just finished another event filled year reaching 78000 traveling miles and attended over 100 events since we started. On Oct. 28 we finally got the federal hate crime bill passed when President Obama signed it into law. This was a huge milestone, but we still have lots of work to do. 2010 promises to be another big year to continue to educate people. We are planning a big event in May and we already have been invited to some events. Call 864-884-5003 if you have any questions or want to volunteer.
Upstate Progressive Network. For information on Network activities, projects and meetings in the Upstate, contact Roger Finch at Ubitquitus@aol.com or 864-905-6690.
Every Wednesday, 5:30-6:30pm: Protest the Iraq War, Greenville Federal Building at the corner of Washington and Church. For information, email admin@greenvilleantiwarsociety.com.
• HILTON HEAD •
Every Saturday, 10-10:30am: Women in Black Silent Vigil, Hilton Head Public Library, Hwy. 278 and Beach City Road. Email marysull@hargray.com.
Second Wednesday, 7pm: Hilton Head for Peace programs. For details, call 843-681-4010 or email fintaylor@hargray.com.
• MYRTLE BEACH •
Third Saturday, 2-3pm: Peace vigil at Chapin Park, Business 17, Myrtle Beach, next to the library. Sponsored in part by Low Country Peace Network. For information, email DwightFee@aol.com.
