Jorge Cornell and Ryan Shell both made appearances at District 2 candidate Nettie Coad's campaign kickoff at the Nettie Coad Apartments today. It wasn't the first time the two at-large candidates have bumped into each other on the campaign trail.
Both candidates have reached out to the mother of the young man recently killed at the Hickory Trail apartment complex.
Shell said his effort to organize a community watch awareness event this past week was scuttled because Interim City Manager Bob Morgan advised council members that it would be dangerous to appear, and that family members and residents did not welcome the attention. Shell indicated that, in fact, the family was happy to have attention from elected officials and attention from the media. (I haven't checked with Morgan to confirm any of this.)
Cornell had a different concern. He said the Greensboro Housing Authority is threatening to evict the family because the young man who was killed was allegedly a gang member. The city council candidate -- who leads the North Carolina Latin Kings, a group recognized by law enforcement as a gang -- said he considers the allegation that the victim was a gang member to have no merit, expressing the view that the killing resulted from an individual beef rather than a gang conflict. He said he will be organizing a campaign to prevent the eviction. (Again, I haven't had an opportunity to confirm any of these details with the Greensboro Housing Authority.)
Cornell's comments prompted a conversation about the unfairness of public housing rules. One man, an ex-felon and HIV/AIDS activist named Thomas E. Clodfelter, introduced himself to the candidate.
"I've been following you for awhile," he said, "and I support you."
17 comments:
"The city council candidate -- who leads the North Carolina Latin Kings, a group recognized by law enforcement as a gang --"
You just can't bring yourself to admit that the Latin Kings are a gang, can you?
Whether or not the Latin Kings should be considered a gang is for you to judge, Anonymous. And if you consider them a gang, then you also have the freedom to define that term as you wish. Gang is such a loaded and imprecise term. I prefer more descriptive terms such as organization, criminal network, drug retailing operation, action set, clique, social movement. Gang only tells me that a person is considered worthless and expendable.
They aren't an organization and it's about time that people who know nothing about the situation stop running their mouths pretending they know what they're talking about. I'm with you too, Jorge!
I heard a rumor that Ryan Shell was donating $300 to help pay for the funeral or that he had raised it or something but that only $100 ever showed up? I think Ben Holder was involved. You might wanna check into it
Ryan Shell responded to Anonymous3, at my request: "I thought a couple hundred dollars had been raised, but at the end of the day it was only $100, and that money had been raised to fund the cookout that never happened. $50 was donated from Ben and $50 from myself. End of story."
Cool glad to hear it. Thanks for checking into it.
If the money was raised to fund a cookout that never happensed, then where did it end up going? To their campaigns?
The money went to the mother of the 16-year-old.
Ryan
From Wikipedia:
"The Latin Kings are said to be the largest and most organized Hispanic street gang in the United States of America [1], which has its roots dating back to the 1940s in Chicago, Illinois [2]. Latin King documents reveal that Gino Gustavo Colon (a.k.a. "Lord Gino") is considered the "SUN" of the Almighty Latin King Nation in Chicago—and has been for a long time. Currently he is serving a life sentence in federal prison due to a 25-count indictment, which includes charges of conspiracy to distribute cocaine and other drugs. Latin King headquarters is located on Beach and Spaulding in Northwest Chicago."
It's one thing to be politically correct. It's another to not tell the truth.
This is directed to the last post: Unlike you I have done my research on the ALKQN and your comment is not justified. For anyone seeking the truth please be dircted to www.alkqn.org.
Can you show me where in your Wikipedia quote (which you could have written, by the way) it says anything about the ALKQN in Greensboro? Because I'm having a little trouble finding ANY information that they are actually involved in criminal activity here. Is there a Wikipedia entry on that? Oh well, then I guess you wouldn't know anything about it.
So if the Latin Kings are not a gang, what are they? A business? An LLC? Are they a non-profit group? Do they have a tax exempt ID number; are they a 501-C 3? Perhaps they are a cult.
And to the above poster, no I cannot find anything in the Wiki post about the Latin Kings in Greensboro, as if that matters. Do you honestly think the Latin Kings are recognized as a gang everywhere EXCEPT Greensboro? Are we so politically correct that we cannot identify something for what it is?
Anonymous: You're quibbling about a word. Why not investigate the reality, instead of arguing over semantics. We've published articles about members of the ALKQN who have been convicted of crimes. We've also published a fair, though not extensive amount about Cornell's community organizing activities. It's all there for you to consider, and thus to form your own opinions.
"We've published articles about members of the ALKQN who have been convicted of crimes."
Jordan, the truth points to itself. Whatever stigman there is in calling such "organizations" a gang has been placed there by the actions of their members. It is what it is. Denying it is just more politically correct bullshit.
If Jorge Cornell wants to be taken seriously as a community organizer or (God forbid) a serious candidate for Greensboro City Council, he can apply for tax-exempt non-profit status, open an office, and follow the usual protocols.
I expect an alternative paper such as YES! Weekly to challenge the status quo. I don't expect its lead reporter to be an apologist for thugs.
You (previous poster) are full of shit. You are applying a standard to Jorge Cornell that you wouldn't apply to a white person (which lets just go ahead and call that by it's real name- racism) and you don't know the first thing about the Latin Kings and Queens or community organizing
I agree with Jordan's earlier comment that "Gang only tells me that a person is considered worthless and expendable."
Too true!!
This has nothing to do with being politically correct. It has everything to do with being CORRECT and not being a flagrant racist.
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