Top Story Oct. 15th, 2009
The Jefferson Co. and the Richmond Co. Chapters SCLC continues to address the John Deere Incidents of Hate Crimes, Job & Racial Discrimination, and Retaliation.
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Top Story
News 12............Dec.17th, 2008
Young Black Youth Gunned down at the Cherry Tree Crossing Housing Projects by the Richmond Co. Ga. Sheriff Dept. in Augusta Ga.
Civil Rights group, the Jefferson Co Chapter SCLC Demands
Answers!
SCLC addresses book reading
in Wrens Ga.
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Top Stories
August 7, 2008 Issue
Group polls neighborhood's needs By Carol McLeod
Staff Writer
S.C.L.C. gears up on June 21st 2008, to do a
walk through survey of the Wrens Quarters
community in Louisville, Jefferson Co. Ga.
Left to right: Mr. James Ivery-president.
Mr. Bobby Broomfield-parliamentarian, Mr.
Bobby Adams-vice president, G.W. Boatwright-
advisor/direct action manager, Rev. Charles
Washington-Chairman, and Dr. Alvonia
McCoy-vice chairman..........
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A group of Jefferson County citizens has reestablished a local chapter of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, an American civil rights group whose first president was the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
“It was founded by Dr. Martin Luther King in 1957,” James Ivery said of the organization. Ivery is this year’s president of the Jefferson County chapter.
“The national SCLC headquarters is in Atlanta,” he said.
Ivery became a member in 1970 and was a member for five years. The chapter in Jefferson County lapsed and started again in April, he said.
Several members of the group met around 9 a.m. on Saturday, June 21, to meet and talk with citizens in Wrens Quarters about the needs of the people in that community. On Aug. 16 they plan to bring their findings to local leaders in a meeting at the Loiusville library in hopes of finding solutions to social problems they found.
“We have been planning this for a couple of months now,” Ivery said.
Ivery, the Rev. Dr. Alvonia McCoy, George Boatwright, Rev. Charles Washington, Bobby Adams and Bobby Broomfield met at Louisville Middle School, had a moment of prayer and then separated.
Each person, armed with questionaires, went to different streets and spoke with the people who live in Wrens Quarters about their concerns.
The questionnaire addressed the issues of crime, drugs, garbage, housing, unemployment, community restoration, teenage pregnancy, disease, high school dropouts, illiteracy and drug abuse, Ivery said.
He has already spoken with Jefferson County Sheriff Gary Hutchins, Maj. Charles Gibbons of the sheriff’s office, several county commissioners and Congressman John Barrow (D-12) about addressing the issues that concern the community, he said.
He plans to meet with these officials at 10 a.m. on Aug. 16 at the Louisville Library to address their findings. He has talked with Lee Shellman, the president of the local chapter of the NAACP and an official with the school board, he said.
The focus of this upcoming meeting will be to work out a plan to address the needs of the citizens that were identified by the questionnaires.
“It was a great, great, great success,” Ivery said of the members of the SCLC going into Wrens Quarters and speaking with the citizens.
The information we compiled was interesting,” he said, adding the group is still sorting through it in order to present it at the meeting in August.
The information was pretty much what I thought it would be,” Ivery said.
The meeting will need to be on a Saturday, he said, because that’s when Barrow could attend. Ivery said Jefferson County Board of Commissioners Chairman William Rabun said August would be a good time for him to attend.
Ivery said the questionnaires asked citizens to identify the community’s number one crime.
One person said, ‘All of the above – drugs, robbery and theft.’
“I asked another question, ‘Do you want crime to cease in your community?’ That was a definite yes,” Ivery said.
Ivery said about 45 people responded to the questionnaires.
When asked if they felt the landlords maintain their property, about half said no.
Seventy-five percent said they did not feel their community is safe.
When asked if they felt their district commissioner is doing a good job in their community, 80 percent said no.
Asked if they feel drug abuse is a huge problem in their community, 80 percent said yes.
When the residents were asked to name some things they would like to see changed for the better, nine people said street lights, eight said more police patrol and nine said garbage pick up.
Ivery said when it was announced in his church that a local chapter of the SCLC was starting, some of the church members responded.
“A couple of people stood up in church and said, ‘Y’all, please come and do something about Wrens Quarters,’” Ivery said.
He said he was told people were hiding drugs behind houses in the community.
“Some of the people were saying they’re afraid to come out of their doors. One street, it’s like a drive-through drug store, from what the people were telling me,” he said.
“One of the big ones,” Ivery said. “One of the good questions I asked, and I got some good responses, I asked people did they want to stop the young men in your community from wearing their pants below their butts. They called that indecent exposure. All of them, all 45 said if you can do something about that, please do.”
Ivery said his group will work with the community to develop what he called, “some kind of strategy to help our young people keep their pants up. We’re going to deal with that,” he said.
He said all of the people interviewed said they want their community to be kept clean of street litter, old junked cars and dilapidated houses.
“I would like to say, to sum it up, is that Wrens Quarters is one of the largest communities in Jefferson County and it’s also the hardest hit when it comes to crime, disease, poverty, teenage pregnancy, illegal drugs and drug abuse, inadequate, substandard housing, unemployment. Especially, the drugs,” Ivery said.
Ivery said a meeting has been scheduled for Saturday, Aug. 16, at 10 a.m. in the meeting room at the Louisville library at 306 E. Broad St.
Local officials scheduled to attend include Maj. Charles Gibbons of the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office, Jefferson County Commission Chairman William Rabun, Jefferson County Commissioner Johnny Davis, Jefferson County Board of Education Chairman James Fleming and members of the NAACP, according to Ivery.
“The meeting will be open to the public, he said.
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Saturday August 16th, 2008
Jefferson Co. SCLC calls together State & Local Officials to address Wrens Quarters Negative Issues
Jefferson Co. SCLC Wrens Quarters walk through survey