myrmepropagandist
Newbern, Alabama is a small town. At it's heyday in the 1880s the population was 562. Today just about 150 people live there, with the population falling by 20% per decade for the past two decades.
It's a tiny town but there are residents who care about its future. One is Patrick Braxton, who started to question how the town was being run when working as a volunteer firefighter and during the early days of COVID.
The official leadership seemed unresponsive and even hostile.
1/
myrmepropagandist
Also, don't assume that living in a big city means there isn't "local politics" -- it's a slightly different animal but find out what an 'alderman' is. Shocking how many levers of political power just sit around gathering dust... or are manned by the dullest rock in the barrel.
I don't know why anyone even runs for congress-- You can do so much more by being on the community reporting group to the Department of Sanitation.
(for example insist they put more trash cans by the public high school)
myrmepropagandist
One other thing:
This kind of annoying headache inducing super local nit picky local politics is *the most important kind of political battle right now*
Power is built from these tiny councils up-- and the structures that keep all manner of "outsiders" from participating, or even knowing what they are doing need to be destroyed -- one little town at a time. Get the school board too.
If you live in a small town and don't know who the mayor is or what he does.
Maybe YOU should be the mayor.
myrmepropagandist
There is a process to have mayoral elections, Patrick Braxton found the paperwork despite obstruction from the city council. The existing mayor Haywood “Woody” Stokes III ignored him and didn't bother to run so Braxton won by default managing to get recognized by the county. Then, shortly after, the white town council met secretly and reappointed (??) Haywood “Woody” Stokes III as Mayor. It's an old typical situation. Here's the best article I found:
myrmepropagandist
Newbern is majority black, but like many small towns in the Black Belt the town leadership is all white. Newbern has historically not had elections for Mayor--
Some residents from First Baptist Church of Newbern are fed up. Braxton among them. The small funds the Mayor controls are not spent with transparency. COVID supplies were squandered. When Patrick Braxton put up signs encouraging people to get vaccinated the signs were thrown in the burn heap.
So Braxton decided to run for mayor. 2/
myrmepropagandist
Haywood “Woody” Stokes III
...
Haywood “Woody” Stokes III!
There is no way...
myrmepropagandist
A note on the population.
I strongly suspect the recent census data is bungled. It makes sense that the town is shrinking, but probably not as much as is showing on paper.
If this story sounds incredible to you-- you need to take the super tiny size of the town into account to understand how this could be happening.
It looks like this church is the main source of social organization in the area-- though despite the towns size there are probably like 8 churches there.
https://www.facebook.com/pages/First%20Baptist%20Church%20Newbern,%20Al/273998409599258/
myrmepropagandist
“In October, Lewis and her children found their house burned to the ground. The cause was undetermined, but she thinks it may have been connected.”
The article didn’t make much of this since it’s just a suspicion— but they were receiving hate mail with swastikas and drawings of them being hanged before this happened! Likewise it’s not like the local police will help.
Her suspicion is reasonable. And that sucks that she has to go on day to day not knowing just how much danger she’s in.
Cat West
@futurebird TFG called for an early end to the census. He had both houses too, so the census ended early. There was Covid and everyone knew it would take longer than the previous time because of that, but he and his minions, ended it early, specifically to undercount in key areas, and ‘certain’ demographics.
InkySchwartz
@futurebird And if your town or city doesn't have aldermen it may have selectmen (especially in New England) or councilors. The role of all of them is broadly similar.
Also see if they are district defined or "at large" because that changes how they work a bit. My city has both.
John Young
@futurebird 1,000% agreed. School board is the _most_ impactful in people’s daily lives, and those elections turn on dozens or hundreds (not thousands) of votes.
Being an elected poll worker (I’m a Judge of Elections; I ran unopposed) is a GREAT way to learn the nitpicky rules and bureaucratic shenanigans that are the tools of voter suppression. Starting with voting-precinct size!
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