By Jheri Hardaway
Staff Writer
RALEIGH, N.C. – After years of community advocacy and a unanimous City Council vote to approve its creation, the Raleigh African American Affairs Board (AAAB) has been effectively blocked by the very council members who once championed it. We recently caught up with Byron Laws, the former chair of the Human Relations Commission for the City of Raleigh. Laws proudly served six years which is three terms, and was involved with the African American Affairs Board.
In an informative interview, Byron Laws detailed a “stunning reversal” by the City Council, accusing council members of betraying their 2024 vote and leaving the Black community without a formal voice in city government. The core of the frustration stems from two conflicting council actions.
According to Laws, his commission was formally tasked by then-Councilwoman Mary Black to do the groundwork to establish the AAAB. This came after years of community requests for a task force to address systemic issues. After extensive work drafting bylaws and structure, the HRC presented its final recommendation. “Last year, on July 2nd, we presented our recommendation for the African American Affairs Board,” Laws stated. “Councilman Corey Branch made the motion, Mary Black seconded it, and it was voted for unanimously”.
That victory was short-lived. This year, the council’s position has changed. “The three who did not vote for it this time—Stormie Forte, Jonathan Melton, and Corey Branch—are the same ones who voted for it last year,” Laws said, noting they are now “okay with the African American Affairs Board not being established or seated”.
This reversal came under the guise of consolidation. “The excuse they gave was that there are too many boards and commissions and we need to consolidate,” Laws explained. He called the justification baffling, pointing out that the council recently established the Hispanic and Immigrant Affairs Board into the HRC as a subcommittee, while leaving the AAAB in limbo. “You all ran for these positions, and you knew what you were signing up for,” Laws said, pushing back on the idea that council members were too “stretched thin” to serve as liaisons. Laws argues this is part of a disturbing pattern by the city to dilute the power of community voices. He cited the Police Advisory Board (PAB), another body born from the HRC.
“Community members wanted that board to have subpoena power... so they could really hold police accountable,” Laws said. “Of course, that didn't happen. The subpoena power piece got removed. So at this point, we have a board that does not hold police accountable. That’s why it’s advisory”.
He also pointed to the dismantling of the city’s Community Advisory Councils (CACs). “Developers were required to go to your CAC first before it went to the planning commission,” Laws said, explaining that this gave small groups of residents real power to stop or shape development. The council dismantled the CACs and, though they have been brought back, Laws says they are powerless. “Developers are no longer required to go to those meetings first”.
He believes the council is now "using the CACs as a reason why you don't give the African American Affairs Board establishment," which he called a false narrative.
The push for the AAAB began as part of a "Restorative Justice document" presented to the city by community members and non-profits, asking for accountability for historical "intentional acts of oppression." While the council issued a formal apology, it did not initially approve the task force.
For Laws, the council's reversal is a personal betrayal, especially from his own District C representative, Corey Branch. “Corey Branch led the motion for the vote last year... if you don’t think it’s going to have enough votes to pass, you still could have voted for it and stood with the community,” Laws said. “We still deserve that board. The African American community still needs that board.”
Laws's message to the community is to pay closer attention to local politics, where voter turnout is often low. “It's important that you get involved,” he urged. “We've been fooled in regards to you participate in the presidential election... but people don't understand the things that impact you the most... are happening locally, in your city, your town hall”.
"As it stands," Laws concluded, "we still don't have a place for us to be formally heard or recognized by the city".
