Recently someone described me as a “longtime columnist for the Smoky Mountain News,” which made me realize I’ve been sharing personal stories, revelations and anecdotes with this audience for quite a while.

To the Editor:

In North Carolina we have a candidate for governor who is alleged to have said, “I absolutely want to go back to the America where women couldn’t vote … We want to bring back the America where Republicans and principles and true ideas of freedom rule.”  

The court has made its decision in the Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office’s request to dismiss  many of the complaints in a lawsuit stemming from the 2022 shooting of Jason Harley Kloepfer at his home near Murphy.

Even as an elementary school kid, Chris Cable hated school. It felt pointless, and so boring that he struggled to stay awake. Cable wanted to be a state trooper when he grew up — why did he need to know about algebra and essay-writing?   

The statue of Harriet Tubman that has been standing at Bridge Park in downtown Sylva depicts a woman in motion. Tubman is actively pressing forward, leading a child behind her. She looks ahead, and slightly up, her face contorted in determination and concentration. 

Exactly 123 years to the day after a Black man was dragged from his cell in Franklin and hung from a bridge at the edge of town, a group of activists took the first step in attempting to reckon with Macon County’s most infamous lynching. 

Plans are underway for a Nov. 6 event in Franklin to commemorate the lynching of a Black man more than 120 years ago, but if organizers are successful, the Mozeley Memorial Walk will also initiate debate over how, if at all, Mitch Mozeley should be publicly acknowledged. 

By Katherine Bartel • Secretary, Haywood County NAACP

“My little brother Isaiah is, as you would call it, ‘a boy of color,’” said 11-year-old Alicia Matthews. “He is probably one of the smartest 6 year olds you’ll ever meet. One time we were playing in his room and all of a sudden he asks me a question just randomly out of the blue, ‘Alicia? Why do I have brown skin?’ At first, I didn’t know what to say to him because he is so young and he barely knew who he was. I said, ‘Because that’s who you are. So don’t try to be anyone else.’ He responded to me with a simple ‘OK’ because he is still very young and that’s just how he responds to those kinds of statements.” 

This year marked the third annual Women’s March on Asheville — part of a national movement to rally for equal rights and social change for women. 

The first march was held less than 24 hours after President Donald Trump’s inauguration in January 2017 as tensions were high. Women were angry about Trump’s attitude and actions toward women and also feared for the erosion of their rights, safety, health and families. 

Two weeks ago marked the 53rd anniversary of a watershed moment in the civil rights movement — the Selma to Montgomery marches, where civil rights leaders including current Georgia Congressman John Lewis were badly beaten by Alabama State Troopers on the Edmund Pettus Bridge.