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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MARCH CALENDAR
This listing is for Network member groups. Send items for posting to becci@scpronet.com.
• STATEWIDE •
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. 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 20: “Out of Iraq and Afghanistan!” National March on Washington DC. Now organizing transportation out of Columbia — departing Friday, March 19, time to be determined, returning early Sunday, March 21. If enough people are interested, we will organize a bus. For more on national march, see www.march20.org . For information on transportation from South Carolina, contact David at 803-215-3263 or aiken_peace@yahoo.com. Also, see Facebook: “SC to DC”.
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.
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 •
March 1, 6-8pm, Columbia Central Labor Council Mayors Forum. Eau Claire Print Building, 3901 Ensor Ave. (in the fork at N. Main and Monticello Dr.). Columbia’s next Mayor will participate in a question-and-answer session with local unions. The SC Progressive Network is a union shop and member of the Central Labor Council. Free and open to the public.
March 2, Day of Action for SC workers’ rights. The State Senate votes March 2 to change the state constitution to make it harder for workers to form unions. Call your senator! Let’s jam the lines like we’ve effectively done before on urgent issues. Call in beginning at noon: 803-212-6700. Ask to speak to your senator and tell him to oppose H. 3305 and focus on the real problems South Carolina is facing.
Talking points:
At a time of deepening recession, rising unemployment and the loss of homes and health care, some South Carolina state senators are throwing mud at a problem that simply does not exist. They are wasting time by promoting H. 3305, a costly, unnecessary constitutional amendment that attacks the Employee Free Choice Act. H. 3305 is nothing more than politics at its worst. Some state senators are spending their time going after working people when they should be trying to solve South Carolina’s budget crisis and making sure your schools and fire stations stay open. The Employee Free Choice Act does not eliminate the secret ballot. There are currently two ways that workers can that wouldn’t change under this legislation. Workers can form a union through a majority sign-up process, or they can form a union by an NLRB-sponsored election. Today, however, employers decide HOW workers form their union, regardless of the workers’ preference. The current system is badly broken. Employers pull out all the stops-companies harass, intimidate and even fire workers for exercising their freedom to form unions. Majority sign-up is a common and effective procedure already used by workers and employers. Workers at businesses like Kaiser Permanente, AT&T and Harley-Davidson all use majority sign-up.
March 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.
March 19-21: “Student Activism, Southern Style: Organizing and Protest in the 1960s and 70s”, University of South Carolina, Russell House, Rm. 203. The USC History Department. is holding a three-day “broad conversation about protest, organization, and political engagement across the political spectrum” with nationally know leaders. Network Director Brett Bursey is on the 1pm opening panel: “Why We Became Activists.” Saturday evening the keynote panel includes SDS founder Tom Hayden. Free and open to the public. For the full agenda, click here.
March 23, 7pm: Progressive Network Study Group. 2025 Marion St. Back by popular demand: “Corporate personhood and its impact on your life.” Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens said of the court’s recent ruling granting more rights to corporations, “While American democracy is imperfect, few outside the majority of this court would have thought its flaws included a dearth of corporate money in politics.” See movetoamend.org. 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.
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 •
March 6, 2-4pm Sean’s Last Wish volunteer meeting, 7 Brandywine Court, Greenville, SC 29615, For details, email info@seanslastwish.org or call 864-884-5003.
March 13-14, Trail of Dreams, a walking journey started by four immigrant students from Students Working for Equal Right in Miami, will be in South Carolina. They set out on foot Jan. 1 from their hometown so they could arrive on May 1, a historic day for immigrants, in Washington, DC. The walkers are about to enter into South Carolina and need your help as they walk the western edge of the state from Anderson to Greenville, Spartanburg and Rock Hill. For details, see trail2010.org, email meagan@trail2010.org, or call 203-559-6034.
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.
