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Who you vote for is private. Whether you vote is public record. College students decide elections. Local elections impact your daily life, make sure to vote in all elections.
You can register and vote at the same time during Early Voting.
Early Voting Ends: Nov. 2, 2024
Election Day:Nov. 5, 2024
sentinel of black and marginalized voices at N.C. State since 1992.
Y'all love your Black job as much as I love my Black job?
Obviously not! Because this week we got two issues: the wonderful one in your hand and a collaborative voting guide. These midterms don't care but Election Day is 13 days away!
Election years are always chaotic, especially for students who are the targets of campaign outreach, political activism and misinformation.
Luckily, you have The Nubian Message to set you straight! This issue features our first guest article: an endorsement guide written on behalf of Students for Decarbonization. We also have a go-to guide for local elections and an opinion piece on ballot-blocking at NC State.
Burned out by election headlines? Flip to read a critique on discussion posts, and a conversation with Siembra! No gallery this issue: we in our advertisement bag, but we got y’all next time.
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Emilia Rivadeneira
Noah Ligouri-Bills Guest Columnist
Students closely following the Presidential Election this year may have overlooked the local, non-partisan and high-stakes races happening right here in Raleigh.
Wake county sample ballots contain both partisan and nonpartisan races. In partisan elections, political parties are listed next to a candidate’s names, while in non-partisan elections, no party is listed. That being said, non-partisan elections are certainly still full of partisan politics, and almost all candidates running in them are publicly registered with a political party including the Democratic, Republican, Libertarian and Green parties.
Almost a fourth of the races on my sample ballot are non-partisan, including Raleigh’s mayor, city council, board of education and the soil and water supervisor. Researching local candidates thoroughly is essential as you cannot rely on party labels to tell you who to vote for, and these offices have tremendous power to influence life in Raleigh, especially rent rates.
Redfin, a real estate company, reported that median national rent declined from March 2022 to March 2023, while Raleigh’s rent increased more than any other city in the country.
A majority of NC State students live off campus and are deeply aware of skyrocketing rent prices. However, many may not know that Raleigh’s real estatefriendly city government has enabled development projects that have gentrified Raleigh, contributing to these rent hikes. Six of Raleigh’s eight city council members receive more than 25% of their campaign funding from real estate developers. Mary Black and Christina Jones are the only two exceptions.
The city council influences the real estate development environment through property taxes, zoning laws, public housing and land use or development ordinances. Although the entire council says addressing Raleigh’s affordable housing crisis is a top priority, they have also used their majority powers to enable development projects like John Kane’s Downtown South Development despite serious community
concerns of gentrification. However, everything could change in this election, as a new slate of pro-working-class candidates are challenging the real estate-funded incumbents.
I wrote the Students for Decarbonization (Decarb) Voting Guide for Raleigh’s nonpartisan and Green Party election. This article summarizes that voting guide, and you can find the complete guide on our instagram bio @decarb_ncsu.
My philosophy for nonpartisan elections is to vote for progressive candidates and against real estate developers or candidates funded by them. This makes supporting Democrat Sam Hershey for Wake County Board of Education District 6 an easy choice, given his only opponent is a conservative real estate advisor.
“...vote for progressive candidates and against real estate developers or candidates funded by them.”
Likewise, Decarb endorses Democrat Reese Wamsley for Wake County Soil and Water Conservation District Supervisor.
Raleigh’s eight city council seats are a bit more complicated. Five of the eight seats are district seats, meaning voters only vote for one candidate in their district. Raleigh citizens vote on two all council seats and the final seat is taken by the mayor.
Five candidates are running for Raleigh’s mayor, but only three refuse substantial real estate money: Eugene Myrick, Terrance (Truth) Ruth and James L. Shaughnessy IV. While these candidates are all progressive, I encourage you to research which one best aligns with you and your values.
In City Council District D, where NC State’s campus and most of the university’s students live, Jane Harrison is running an uncontested race. While a proponent of affordable housing, Harrison has received $13,000 in campaign donations from real estate developers. Instead, Decarb endorses write-in
candidate Damien Gu, a working-class candidate who has refused to accept any funding from real estate investors!
If you don’t know which district you vote in or who is running near you, the NC Board of Elections offers a simple guide to see your sample ballot.
Every Raleigh voter selects two at-large candidates for city council. Of the six candidates running, three do not take substantial money from big real estate development: Reeves Peeler, Robert Steele Jr. and Joshua Bradley.
Students for Decarbonization endorses Reeves Peeler for consistently promising to hold developers accountable for the costs they create for the working class. While this summarizes the non-partisan elections for students living near NC State, it's not the end of the ballot.
Students must also vote on a confusing Constitutional Amendment Referenda that will add language to the NC constitution specifying that “only a citizen of the United States who is 18 years of age” can vote in NC elections. This is already codified and enforced by the state constitution, but what the ballot omits is that this text will replace constitutional text that reads “Every person born in the United States and every person has been naturalized, 18 years of age [can vote in NC elections]” By removing language that affirms the voting rights of naturalized citizens from the state constitution, this amendment would stir up anti-immigrant rhetoric and open the door for future voter suppression of naturalized citizens.
The Decarb Voting Guide also includes information on the presidential, senate and gubernatorial Green Party candidates. Heading their presidential ticket is Jill Stein, with Rudolph Ware as vice president. Michael Dublin is running for US House of Representatives District 2, and Wayne Turner is running for NC Governor.
Green Party candidates often align better with student politics than Democrats. For example, all three Green candidates on Raleigh’s ballot support an immediate ceasefire between Israel and Hamas and the complete replacement of fossil fuels with renewable energy sources, while none of their democratic opponents support either
policy. Commitments to these policies and complete platforms can be found on the respective websites for Stein, Dublin, and Wayne.
“...all three Green candidates on Raleigh’s ballot support an immediate ceasefire between Israel and Hamas and the complete replacement of fossil fuels with renewable energy sources... ”
Many voters I’ve talked to in past elections still end up voting for Democrat candidates even if their beliefs better align with the Green Party because they do not want to risk a Republican victory.
I feel the same pressure. As a North Carolina voter, where the presidential election is expected to be the closest in the country, I am voting for Kamala Harris for president. However, not all races come with the same tension.
538, an American opinion analyst who simulates election results with ABC News, modeled Harris winning 48 out of 100 simulations with Trump winning 52. However, recent 538 polls show Republican Mark Robinson is behind Democrat Josh Stein by about 13%, and a model by The Hill gives Democrat Deborah Ross less than a 1% chance of losing her race for US House of Representatives District 2. If you are voting Democrat in order to guarantee a Republican won’t win, it is important to know the chance the Republican actually has for victory.
Emilia RivadeneirA Staff Writer
With Election Day around the corner, the presidential and gubernatorial races dominate headlines, pulling voter attention away from other important races on the ballot. This year, North Carolinians will also elect representatives in the North Carolina General Assembly.
The General Assembly is the state legislature of North Carolina. Divided into two chambers – the 120-member state House of Representatives and the 50-member state Senate.
Since 2011, the Republican Party has controlled both chambers of the state legislature. In 2023, they achieved supermajority when NC Representative Tricia Cotham changed her party affiliation from Democrat to Republican. Holding supermajorities in both the state House and state Senate gives the
Republican Party enough seats to control the legislative agenda without bipartisan support. It also gives them the ability to override vetoes from Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper. Even with Democrat control in the governor’s office, the supermajority has allowed Republicans to ease campaign finance rules and limit the governor's power to appoint state board members – all despite Cooper's objections.This year, the landscape could shift with just one seat.
North Carolina Democrats need just one seat to end the Republican supermajority in either the state House or Senate. Their efforts are aimed at breaking this supermajority, especially following the new congressional map passed by the General Assembly in 2023 – expected to give Republicans a significant electoral advantage.
In March, the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee identified 14
districts in the state House and Senate that are considered key this year, including two Triangle-area House seats: Districts 35 and 37 as well as three Triangle-area Senate seats: District 18, District 13 and District 11.
These races are considered competitive and could decide North Carolina’s political landscape with both the Republican and Democratic parties vying for control.
In North Carolina, the process of drawing legislative maps – known as redistricting – significantly impacts political power dynamics, often benefiting the party in power. In 2023, the General Assembly adopted new congressional district boundaries.
In an article by WUNC, Michael Bitzer, a political science professor at Catawba College, said Republicans have crafted maps that are likely to maintain their vetoproof supermajorities in both chambers
of the North Carolina legislature. The 2024 redistricting map establishes 10 solidly Republican districts, three solidly Democratic districts and one competitive district.
While in theory, redistricting contributes to political polarization by making elections less competitive, North Carolina is known to be a heavily gerrymandered state – altering the fairness of elections before any votes are cast.
When district lines are drawn to favor one party over another, it shows why some races are competitive while others seem safe for incumbents.
If a district is shaped to include a higher concentration of voters from a particular party or group, it may become less competitive for opposing candidates
Emma Hamrick Staff Writer
If you haven’t already heard, let me break the news to you: NC State has classes on Election Day. Many, if not all, public schools in North Carolina do as well. For NC State students registered in Wake County, this isn’t a problem since Talley Student Union is one of the early voting sites for Wake County voters. But for other students, this may end up being a big issue. NC State has students from every county in North Carolina, as well as over 8,000 out-of-state students. Because classes are in session this Election Day, many students won’t be able to make it home to vote. Requiring classes on Election Day is just the beginning of it all. States all over the country have implemented different laws over the past few years making it increasingly difficult for students to vote – laws regarding absentee voting, proof-ofcitizenship, ID, residency, voter registration and more.
I know that in high school, all we learned regarding the election is that we need to vote for whoever's policies we agree with. But once you can actually vote it is much more complicated than that. You have to register, get the proper identification materials, figure out your voting location and keep up with candidates through appearances, primaries, town halls, debates and so much more. Elections don’t start in the fall, they get into motion long before that.
Logistically it’s even worse, I live almost two hours away from NC State and because of my extracurriculars, I can’t make time to go back home for early voting. I also won’t be able to vote on Election Day itself since I have two classes with mandatory attendance.
So what do I do? Ask my parents..? They don’t know either. They've always voted in person. Ok, I guess I should Google it then… Looks like the answer is to order an absentee ballot. Simple enough, right? Well for me, yes. For others, not so much. At this point, I have gone through the long process of paperwork just to order an absentee ballot. Now after doing all of that I am still waiting to receive it in the mail. On top of that I still haven’t even gotten to the point of filling out the ballot or mailing it back. Lots of students are incredibly busy and have other priorities. We are in
the midst of midterm season and I’m sure that many students are spending their free time studying, rather than researching how to actually take part in one of their civic duties.
There are so many deadlines to adhere to and paperwork to fill out, it can be super stressful. You have to register to vote by a certain date, apply for an absentee ballot by another date while understanding early voting is within a range of dates, then Election Day itself is only one day. The only reason I know about those dates is because my Fiction Writing professor, Carter Sickels, is very adamant about getting us out to the polls.
Students aren’t the only demographic that have obstacles between them and their vote. Women and people of color are two of the groups that are being hit the hardest. I mentioned earlier that there have been laws implemented over the past few years barring students from voting, but there are even more that discourage the participation of marginalized communities.
The 2013 Supreme Court case of Shelby County v. Holder rid all federal jurisdiction over voting laws, allowing states to control
their own voting laws. Within days of the case multiple states, particularly Texas and North Carolina, enacted laws making it increasingly difficult for people of color to vote.
North Carolina is no stranger to these voter restrictions as this will be the first General Election in which the a goverment issued photo ID requirement will be enforced. Voters are required to bring a photo ID with them. If they are voting by mail, they must include a copy of their ID in the envelope. There is also the fact that mail ballots must be received by Election Day or else they will not be counted, which is a change from the prior three-day grace period in the 2020 election.
There are millions of people in the United States who don’t have easy access to documents that would prove their citizenship and even more who do not have documentation with a government-issued photo ID.
Women are more likely than men to have invalid documentation in part due to the issue of legal names. When a woman gets married or divorced they are likely to change their name and there are a number
of women who haven’t changed their legal name on legal documents.
Women are also more likely to lack the proper photo identification. In 2012 there were 3,575,713 women registered to vote in NC. Out of those 3,575,713 women, 202,714 did not have the proper identification required to vote. Out of all of the people in NC who lacked the proper identification to vote, 63.62% of them were women.
People of color are also less likely to have the proper identification. These sorts of laws have existed since the inception of our nation, when only rich white men were the only group of people allowed to vote. In the past, literacy tests, poll taxes or other measures were meant to disproportionately affect people of color and marginalized communities, but because of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, it's not as upfront anymore.
Around 25% of Black voters, 16% of Latino voters and 15% of low-income American voters lack proper photo identification. People born at home or on Reservations may also not be able to obtain proper paperwork to get a photo ID.
As one of the swing states that could make or break the 2024 election, North Carolina needs all of its eligible voters to hit the polls. This is why it’s crazy to me that they are putting so many laws and regulations in place that are barring huge groups of people from voting. I am not going to make comments about why North Carolina is doing so, at least not in this article, but I’m sure we can all make our assumptions.
They are trying to silence our voices. Don’t let them. Go vote.
“They are trying to silence our voices. Don’t let them. Go vote.”
Nevaeh Sturdivant Correspondent
Think about the last time you completed a discussion board–were your responses genuine, or were they simply to earn a grade?
Discussion boards are busy work disguised as collaborative learning. For college students with a multitude of responsibilities, a discussion board is just another box on a lengthy to-do list. When completing these discussion boards, communication is surface-level compared to the real in-class conversation that could take place. Rather than having these inclass discussions, professors move this conversation to virtual platforms where they lose clarity of certain topics.
“Discussion posts are very superficial assignments given that sometimes teachers are just trying to pad out the grade book,” says Colin Schmitt, a third-year political science major. “Especially in big classes discussion posts are just like copy and paste, things said over and over again,” said Schmitt.
In courses I have taken at NC State,
the responses almost always read like a script. Students just trying to make the word count and complete the assignment. The comments and responses are almost always non-beneficial and superficial.
“If a discussion board is just an added homework assignment that you have to do that’s never discussed in class, never talked about, never acknowledged then no one is taking it seriously…I just do it for the points” says Morgan Maser, a first-year business administration major. “As time goes on I put less and less work into it because it is not a part of class. It doesn’t do anything for me,” said Maser.
Maser’s class, Introduction to Business Processes, includes an outside program called “Packback” to engage in a discussion board. These discussion boards are graded by AI that gives students a “curiosity score” and the discussion is never introduced or acknowledged in class. These discussion boards are assigned and both students and the professor apply the bare minimum.
This is blatantly unproductive and unuseful for students. If these are the students’ experiences, professors should
also be able to spot the flaws in the discussion posts right?
Well, they do. Professors here at NC State acknowledge the issues that discussion boards have when implementing them into a course. Dr. Joseph Krylow, a professor at NC State who has taught various philosophy classes, notes that discussion boards do have some negative drawbacks as well as some positive ones if used correctly.
“From the feedback I've gotten from other students, people say that the discussion is usually low quality. It's just a bunch of people getting on there saying what they got to say, they get their requirement made and it's pretty much [a] waste of time,” he said.
Dr. Krylow highlights a critical piece to making discussion boards effective, “To have it at a caliber where it would be useful for the student in a significant way. It would take more time for the instructor to oversee it.” He states that discussion boards can be a good tool for getting students to think critically outside of the classroom and introduce new topics. However, all his points come to a common conclusion that
for it to be effective the discussion board has to make a presence in the classroom, class communication is pertinent.
Given this, it is clear that the use of discussion boards needs to be altered or discontinued. There are much more effective ways to use discussion boards than just additive assignments for students to complete or a filler for the grade book.
Discussion boards should be an assignment that introduces new ideas to spark discussion in the classroom so that students can benefit from well-thought-out ideas from their classmates that would not have been acknowledged or seen otherwise. Discussions should not continue to be brought completely offline where they lose their academic value. Discussions should still be prevalent in classrooms and discussion boards should not be used to replace them. Instead, they should be used to enhance in-class discussion.
Bring discussions back to class.
EMMa HAMRICK Staff Writer
Grayson McCall took a shocking double hit against Wake Forest on Oct. 5. The first tackle took McCall's helmet off and the second one slammed him into the ground. He was immediately attended to and carted off the field and to a hospital. McCall had just been cleared to come back from a nearly career-ending concussion that he sustained last season.
McCall sustained a similar concussion while playing for Coastal Carolina around this time last year. He laid unconscious on the field before being taken to the hospital. After sitting out the remainder of the season at Coastal Carolina, McCall transferred to NC State during the following offseason.
Head Coach Dave Doeren referred to McCall's injury as the “scariest moment” of his coaching career. Doeren knew that McCall had a history of concussions which makes it all the scarier. Having multiple concussions can cause permanent brain damage. Once you get one concussion it
becomes increasingly easier to get another. Concussions are essentially brain trauma. The more often you experience a brain trauma the more likely you are to seriously damage your brain. Although concussion symptoms typically dissipate within a week or so, the more concussions you sustain the more likely you are to experience longlasting symptoms.
In an interview before the Syracuse game, Doeren confirmed McCall's concussion. He also said that “all the scans and things they did came back clean.” Which is a good sign that McCall will be alright and may even be able to return to the field this season.
Yet in that same interview, Doeren was asked about injury updates for the rest of the team and responded with: “I don't have to discuss injuries, so I'm not going to. ...There are no rules around that. I'd rather not talk about their health.”
Although it may seem weird to not tell fans about the injuries players sustain, it is a pretty common practice amongst NCAA coaches. For NC State fans it has been the object of conversation this season due to
the sheer number of players on the team that have been injured. Since the team is now missing a handful of players, with undisclosed injuries and no timelines for their return, it is making an already dismal season look worse.
Dacari Collins, Brandon Cisse, Val Erickson, Hollywood Smothers, Devan Boykin and Grayson McCall are among the players missing games. There has also been another injury since the Wake Forest game.
At practice, linebacker Caden Fordham, who recovered a fumble at the Louisiana Tech game, sustained an injury that will require surgery.
Yet again, the team has not disclosed exactly what his injury is.
With some of the key players out on injury, the rest of the season is going to be an uphill battle for the Wolfpack. Collins is one of the starting wide receivers and Cisse was a starting cornerback. Of course, McCall was the starting quarterback as well. Although it may not seem like a lot of people, it is going to shake up the formations.
Plays that the team is used to running won’t be called, voices that they are used to hearing won’t be heard and players that would normally get tackled, won’t be. As of writing this article, NC State is sitting at 13th out of the 17 teams in the ACC with a win-loss ratio of four to four.
The NC State football team started off the 2024 season sitting at #24 in The Associated Press (AP) preseason poll. That poll was for the entirety of the NCAA. Yet now, after eight games, NC State is nowhere near The AP top 25, or even their honorable mentions. After all of these injuries, it is likely that NC State will continue to fall in rankings unless something changes.
Athletic Director Boo Corrigan thanked the Wolfpack fans for filling Carter-Finley Stadium every single game, and continuing to do so, regardless of the success of this season. The only thing left to do is hope that the NC State Football team will avoid any more injuries and finish out the season strong.
melanie sierra Correspondent
This past week
The Nubian Message sat down with Adam Wampler, an NC State Alum and Environmental Technician, to discuss the effects of Hurricane Helene in Western North Carolina and its contribution to climate change.
From landslides to increased sedimentation, the aftermath of Helene reveals the fragile balance between nature and human resilience in the changing climate.
Having grown up in Western North Carolina, Wampler explained how big storms and hurricanes never really made it up to the mountain region. Wampler explained that it was “the intensification experience of the rapid warming within the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Florida meant that by the time it was hitting the mountains, it was in places still a hurricane. There were hurricane-force winds reported not too far away from where I live and part of the biggest issue of what caused the massive destruction we’re seeing is climate change itself. When you have these massive storm events intensified by abnormal climatic conditions, you have unpredictable outcomes.”
When asked what distinguished Hurricane Helene from other storms in recent years, Wampler explained, “Climate change has a huge effect on this. Some folks remember Hurricane Fred which also hit my hometown two years ago. It fully wiped out many communities. One of the mayors of our town was preparing for this hurricane with the idea of Fred in mind, as Fred had completely submerged their downtown. Even still, those preparations were not enough. Storms of this size should not be happening this frequently without manmade climate change.”
According to Wampler, hurricane season and hurricanes will see a change in duration very soon. Wampler explains, “The temperatures within the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic are rising and that is causing hurricane seasons to start a bit earlier and end a bit later.”
“We’re also seeing more rapid and longer-term intensification and slowing down intensification. Warmer ocean temperatures cause more powerful hurricanes and what we’re seeing is climate change is consistently warmer temperatures, especially in places like the Gulf of Mexico that traditionally have
a lot of hurricane and tropical storm activity. Climate change itself causes these, especially causing strength and duration to increase,” Wampler said.
“ Warmer ocean temperatures cause more powerful hurricanes and what we’re seeing is climate change is consistently warmer temperatures, especially in places like the Gulf of Mexico that traditionally have a lot of hurricane and tropical storm activity ”
-Adam Wampler, NC State alum & Environmental Technician
When explaining the role that the Gulf has plays in storms like Helene, Wampler said, “You have the Gulf Stream and the Gulf Current. The Gulf Current goes up the Eastern seaboard from around the Gulf of Mexico all the way up and around. A lot of hurricanes get caught in that and that will direct its path. Because of its weakening, we see more hurricanes being able to get inland. Those paths are not so much changing, but the more devastating ones, the ones that are inland are happening more often. You normally see it prepared for on the coast, but it happened in the mountains with massive flooding and winds and that necessitates the massive response we’re seeing.”
When asked about the long-term environmental consequences and predictions for areas hit by Helene, Wampler said, “A big issue we’re seeing right now is the movement of land, silt and sediments off the mountain slips causing major impacts. I spent two days after the aftermath of Hurricane Helene clearing out a landslide site near my house. A stream had roaded down and caused a landslide, a very small one luckily enough, that had filled culverts and rerouted
over a mountain road that was not statemaintained. Because of that, those who private-owned that road had to go out with shovels, and are going to have to get some heavy equipment, to clear out culverts just to get the stream flowing through.”
When discussing the environmental impact Wampler described the situation as “is even worse.”
“That stream-changing path is something we would expect, it might be anticipated for a natural environment. Any of the areas downstream of that shift caused by landslides is going to have a massive loss in quality of life for the critters living there. There are fish, salamanders, and crawfish that rely on consistent water that aren’t getting it for multiple days, even despite the massive rains. What would've been a generally good thing for providing water quality has turned into a really dangerous thing because it changed the stream path,” Wampler explained Wampler discussed the high deposition rate in the region, “You also have worries about sedimentation. These cause impacts to the macroinvertebrates, which are small bugs that live in the creeks. They rely on having very clear water and low sediment to just survive. So the high sedimentation rate we're going to be seeing thanks to the hurricane is going to cause a lot of them to die, which can have great buildup effects throughout the ecosystem. Pretty much everything in the creeks relies on those little critters that are going to die because of these sediments we're seeing.”
He also explained how people play a role in this as well, “The more paved area you have, the more runoff you're going to have. That can not only carry with it the sediments but also the pollutants from cars and nonpoint source stuff that would get in and make the water toxic. There are going to be major ecosystem impacts from streams that were once a very muddy bottom providing an important habitat to become a completely rock bottom, which provides great habitat for some creatures, but you need to have that variety. That's something we're just not going to see for a long time. It's going to take years for the natural ecosystems to recover from the impacts we're seeing from Helene.”
The impact that Helene left on Western North Carolinas electricity is going to increase some of the carbon footprint from individual power generation. While there are some arguments that the reduction in
energy usage, given just the loss of power to these areas, could have short-term impacts on carbon availability. It's going to have long-term impacts on the number of cars that have to be mobilized from long distances of crews from all over the United States in the Western parts of North Carolina providing support.
Wampler even explained how the influx of machinery in the area has also left an impact, “These are vehicles that need to have these high-powered engines that can only be run on high-carbon fuels, and those impacts of the long-distance transit to get to western North Carolina, along with the hours of work and movement that they're going to need, are going to cause a greater carbon footprint within the region.”
Wampler also discussed the impact Helene left on the deforestation of the region, “We also have some of the reduction of forest lands. Lots of trees were knocked down by the storm. We're going to have a lot more that are going to be storm-damaged and are going to have to be taken down by tree companies to protect property and life. And you have some areas being completely buried under sediment that’s going to cause issues if those plants are not able to regrow.”
“ It's going to take years for the natural ecosystems to recover from the impacts we're seeing from Helene. ”
-Adam Wampler
Wampler explains that anyone who would like to help the people of Western NC, donate to the NCCF Disaster Relief Fund and local counties' preferred organizations like United Way, Mountain Projects and the Asheville Tool Library. These efforts are needed. As much as tourism is something our economy relies on, there are barely to not enough resources for the locals already, so please do not travel to the region.
adriana Hernández Correspondent
Latine Heritage Month has come to a close, yet the fight for human rights within our communities is a yearround endeavor. Siembra, an organization here in North Carolina has been making strides for the Latine community across the state. Initially founded in 2017 following former president Donald Trump’s inauguration, Siembra provides security for families living under the threat of ICE raids and DACA redaction. In the effort to highlight Siembra’s state and campuswide impact, The Nubian Message spoke with Primx Leader Maria Peralta and CoPresident of UNC’s Chapter of Siembra, Jessica Gaytan:
Maria Peralta
The Nubian Message: From your perspective, how would you describe Siembra? And what is your role within the Siembra-verse?
MP: So usually, when I'm talking to gente en las calles, I say, it's a Latine organization in North Carolina. Luchamos por los derechos de la comunidad Latine in different ways. So some of it looks like registering our Latine people to vote. At the same time, it's also finding new young people. We are multi-generational, so there's people as young as like in high school too. You would consider your tias, senoras, [y] senores that are part of Siembra [as well]. Some of the things that we really focused on, or we're focused on right now, is robo de salario, wage theft. I am the Primx Organizer. Primx is a term we have in the Siembra-verse for young people, Gen Z vibes. But I basically am at different events, tiendas, concerts, anywhere you could find Latine people, in hopes of getting them plugged into the work that we do at Siembra.
TNM: What is Robo de Salarios?
MP: North Carolina is actually dead last when it comes to workers rights. So we still have a really low minimum wage, lower protection for workers, as well as people going through wage theft. Many times, we've seen that it impacts the
Latine community. This includes those in construction, limpieza, factory, and field work. Time and time again, we noticed that some of these patrons think they can get away with it, either because our people don't have papers or they kind of push it to the side and don't think that the workers are gonna do anything about it. At Siembra we give workers the tools and resources they need to fight back. As well as support the workers through their fight. We host these workshops where workers can fill out an intake form, and then if they're good to go, and all the required information is needed, then we go through with the case. The first step is to call the patron, ‘Hey, we're apoyando this worker, because you owe them this money. Can you meet with us?’ Nine times out of time they don't respond. So then we send a certified letter. If that doesn't work we sometimes canvas their neighborhood to say ‘Hey, do you know your neighbor doesn't pay its workers?’ It's giving shame to what they're doing because estan robando salarios. A lot of them need it for their families to pay bills. So stealing that wage for the work that they did is really frustrating. If that doesn't work, our lawyer friends take it from there and then go to court. This year alone, we've been able to recover over $200,000 in stolen wages.
“ North Carolina is actually dead last when it comes to workers rights. So we still have a really low minimum wage, lower protection for workers, as well as people going through wage theft. -Maria Peralta Primx
TNM: What is your favorite memory of Siembra?
MP: I think the summer 2018 there are
these programs all over North Carolina called 287(g). It basically forces the Sheriff Department to collaborate with ICE. They’re agreements that each county can decide on. Alamance is notorious for having this. The Sheriff Terry Johnson is super racist. At one point, he had told his sheriffs ‘Hey, let's go get these taco eaters’. And so throughout the summer, we were just like, door knocking, kind of canvassing, trying to try to get some more apoyo and bringing awareness of this. So we came up with an action where we showed up in mariachis, and we had plates of tacos, and we all yelled, ‘Si tacos quieren. Tacos le damos." I was terrified. But at the same time, it was like, all the people that we had been door knocking and like getting support in, they all came out. And I feel like we made a really good, like, big statement about, like, no nos, vamos a dejar, and what you're doing is wrong. Like, separating families, because that's what he was allowing when he would have these programs.
TNM: How did you get involved with Siembra?
JG: The way I got involved in Siembra was actually my freshman year. I ended up signing up to actually table for one of their events as a volunteer opportunity. So I just decided to get involved, and in that way, I became an exec member. I started off as the outreach coordinator, just sending emails and getting involved with other orgs on campus and letting them know about what Siembra UNC does. Over the summer, I got involved more with the Mother org, which is in Siembra NC. They are a nonprofit that works in the state with the Latine community. I ended up doing, being part of their Primx committee for the one of the blitzes that they had in Raleigh and then I got involved in their Comité to plan for the Carne Asada. And I would do a lot of phone banking and help out with what I could. Then this year, I became co-president of the Siembra UNC chapter. So right now, I'm acting as that, and also I am still involved with the mother org and helping out with Primx.
TNM: How does the Chapter version of Siembra differ from the Mother org? And how was the chapter founded?
JG: The chapter focuses more on issues locally, here in Chapel Hill and Orange County. So we've been working a lot with housekeeper and worker issues such as, like low wages, them having to pay for parking, etc. A lot of mutual aid. We also do fun social events as well for students here on campus. So we tend to just have a more local focus. The way it started was actually two of our exec members, Delaney and Sabrina. They ended up finding Maria, one of the Primx leaders of Siembra NC. She was tabling with a couple of other people, and they started talking. They're like, You know what? We'd love to bring this on campus. Like, have this new perspective. Have this org that focuses on helping with issues in the Latino community in Chapel Hill and like in college in general. That's how they ended up establishing a chapter here at UNC. We're currently the only chapter, college chapter, but we hope soon, that we get to be on other campuses as well. But that's still in the works.
TNM: Any closing remarks?
JG: I guess the thing that really pulled me into Siembra, the thing that really connects with me is the fact that it's based on community. It's about helping each other and putting light on issues that affect everybody. Our organization not only talks about like issues with the Latino community, but also other communities that are marginalized here in Chapel Hill. It's also multi-generational, which I also really appreciate, because even though issues may not affect us as students, it could affect the workers, faculty or other people in the Chapel Hill and Orange County community that we're just unaware of, because we just tend to either push it aside
If you are interested in learning more, follow them on instagram at @siembranc or visit their website https://www. siembranc.org/. All it takes is a single message to enact great change.
Wednesday, Oct. 30
Pack Appreciation Day
Stafford Commons
The Corner at Centennial Campus
Green Commons, CVM Main Administration Building
Wear Red, Get Fed
Stafford Commons
Various locations
Chancellor’s Fall Address
Talley Student Union
Thursday, Oct. 31
Wear Red, Get Fed
Stafford Commons
Monday, Oct. 28
Red and White Week Kickoff
Stafford Commons
Wear Red, Get Fed
Stafford Commons
Various locations
Tuesday, Oct. 29
Wear Red, Get Fed
Stafford Commons
Various locations
Show your #PackAppreciation
P.S. We’ll also have lots of great swag and snacks. See you there! Celebrate Generosity on
of
Various locations
NC SYNC: Lip Sync Competition
Stafford Commons
Friday, Nov. 1
Tuffy Trivia Witherspoon Auditorium
Saturday, Nov. 2
NC State vs. Stanford Carter-Finley Stadium
Check out the full calendar at redwhiteweek.ncsu.edu for even more Red and White Week festivities!
Follow @NCState on social media, tag us and use #NCStateRedWhite for chances to win swag and be featured.
