Steve Dear knew something wasn’t right when he arrived at Peace & Justice Plaza on Aug. 28.
Dear, executive director of People of Faith Against the Death Penalty, was scheduled to speak at a rally in the plaza. The rally was one of 13 in North Carolina honoring the 50th anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr.’s March on Washington.
“I showed up five minutes late and already 400 to 500 people had gathered, so I knew it had started.” Dear said.
“But I couldn’t hear the speaker, and I couldn’t hear that anyone was even speaking because the sound was so poorly amplified.”
Thousands gathered in each of North Carolina’s 13 congressional districts to engage in protests about topics such as civil and voting rights. Crowds roared as impassioned speakers provided their opinions on the social injustices going on in the state legislature. At the other rallies, everyone was heard, and Dear said he was disappointed the same could not be said in Chapel Hill.
At the event, Dear stepped to the podium and asked for people to urge the Chapel Hill Town Council to install a better PA system. Dear’s plea was met by a roar from the crowd, and 12 days later he was in front of the Town Council arguing his case.
“I told the Town Council not to consider it as just a PA system, but as a monument,” Dear said.
“A monument of this town’s rich legacy of speaking out, of exercising our First Amendment rights, and a legacy of being a community that also listens.”
At a Sept. 9 meeting, the town council received the request, and referred it to the town’s staff for review, according to the meeting’s agenda.Dear and council members said the request has a reasonable chance of going through.
