Better Fayetteville Project

16/07/2024

Join us tonight!

28/05/2024

Join us tonight as we demand a FULLY funded OCS (Office of Community Safety) development. Press conference at 6pm.

29/03/2024

Did you miss the Have a HEART Fayetteville: Documentary Screening and Q&A last night? Well, here’s a conversation discussing OCS and what that can look like for our community.

13/03/2024

For us to have a Better Fayetteville, we MUST have a better maternal healthcare system. We are looking to start the conversations to find the solutions for our families in our community.

As clinics close their doors and physicians limit services, women in Cumberland County are struggling to get the maternal health care they need.

06/03/2024

Tune in tomorrow at 10AM to WIDU 1600AM for a conversation with CityView TODAY's Evey Weisblat and Community Organizer Trisha James.

Last show we highlighted stories that I believe ought to have lit a fire 🔥 in our community, and so we continue with that mission to ensure some impact on our journey to move City of Fayetteville, NC forward!

03/03/2024

28/02/2024

Please join us and also consider sponsoring this event. All funds will be used to cover the cost to use The Cameo and support this screening event.

ANNOUNCEMENT! Mark your calendars for March 28. As apart of our campaign, Fayetteville Freedom For All will be hosting Have a HEART Fayetteville: Documentary Screening and Q&A. The new documentary, “HEART: Serving Our Neighbors in Crisis,” follows the journey of the City of Durham, NC Government coming together to build an alternative care response team of passionate mental health clinicians with the "HEART" for working alongside police, fire and EMS in the community. The HEART (Holistic Empathetic Assistance Response Team) program is a new public safety response within the City of Durham’s Community Safety Department. It connects Durham residents to the right care ­— starting from the point at which someone calls 911 to the warm handoff to those who help meet the needs of neighbors in crisis. The screening will be followed by a Q&A session with the Durham HEART staff.

We need to raise $600 to cover the cost of renting out The Cameo. If you are an individual, business, or organization who would like to donate, please visit the link in our comments to view our sponsorship packages.

16/12/2023

16/12/2023

Here is the update to the Arts Council of Fayetteville “Our People” Exhibition curated by Collyn Strother. I had the pleasure of speaking directly to Collyn, as well as Bob (CEO), Kennon (Chief of Staff) and Antoñio.

As stated in the article, the original words posted were NOT of the curator/artist and did NOT reflect his vision for the exhibit.

Many people commented on Facebook, including myself. But, because my daughter is a Black artist as well, I felt that it was important to not taint the curator’s exhibit by not giving HIM the opportunity to express his vision.

One thing I left Collyn with (well, a few things 🥴)….I told him to NOT change or alter his vision to please those who expressed their displeasure in the Arts Council’s post. It is not fair of anyone to influence the creativity of what he has invisioned. I also told him to be ok and comfortable if some artists, like my daughter, may choose not to submit a piece because of wanting to guarantee that ONLY Black artists will be submitting and considered. She understands that if there are two then the Black artist will be strongly juried but it still leaves room for the possibility in which SHE is not comfortable with. But there are hundreds of Black artists in this community who do not feel as my daughter does and THAT’S ok, too. We guaranteed him that we will be the first to be present and support his exhibition. The expressions about what happened was never about calling for a boycott of this exhibit. It was to acknowledge when the mark has been missed and the opportunity to correct it.

I think that has been done. But this situation, along with Dicken’s Holiday, demonstrates that there are important conversations that still need to take place in this community. I think I will plan for that to take place during February. Announcement to come shortly. But for now….those who want to submit your art, make sure you beat the deadline! I look forward to seeing COLLYN’S vision come to fruition.
~Angela Tatum Malloy

Link to original FB post can be found in the article written by Paul Woolverton, Senior Editor for CityView.

For the second time in 18 months, The Arts Council of Fayetteville/Cumberland County has stepped into a morass of racial discord. This week, The Arts Council issued a call on Facebook for …

15/09/2023

We do not need the city to be exposed to more lawsuits.

11/09/2023

Thank you to the critically important community members that are standing up for our Young People and their civil rights.

All the power to all people.

11/09/2023

Today, Fayetteville, NC Government City Council received an email from Retired Judge Greg Weeks. The photo speaks to the important work he has been doing in our community.

We must take his wisdom on this issue seriously:

There is much talk these days about why Fayetteville and Cumberland County officials need to enact curfew laws for our youth to address what many see as rising crime in our community. As a retired Cumberland County Superior Court Judge I understand those concerns are well intentioned but I believe that curfews would cause more harm than good.

All of the available data shows that, while the idea of curfew restriction may sound good, they are largely ineffective in terms of reducing crime. And, more importantly, they are a violation of young people’s fundamental rights. They violate fair and equal treatment and substantive due process.

There is a growing consensus by experts in the field that they don’t work. Reviews of studies on the subject of juvenile curfews have concluded that “they are ineffective at reducing both crime and victimization.” Other studies have found that juvenile crime and victimization were “most likely to remain unchanged after implementation of curfew laws”. The overwhelming consensus appears to be that curfews were “just as likely to “reflect an increase in crime as a decrease.

Another negative result of curfews is that they punish non-criminal behavior. They are ‘’status offenses” in that they are illegal only because the person involved is under a certain age. That constitues discrimination based on age. It creates “criminals out of otherwise law-abiding citizens."

Also, contrary to popular belief, the data shows that the juvenile community and the elderly community are the two communities that proportionately commit less crime. Think about that. Are we wasting law enforcement time and resources on policies that could be put to better use?

Finally, as is true with driving offenses, history tells us that juvenile curfews are too often applied in a discriminatory fashion. Think “stop and frisk” policies. There is a wealth of evidence that shows that minority communities and the homeless would be impacted the most by curfews.

The idea of curfews may sound good but, in my view, the negatives outweigh the positives. Perhaps we should consider other, more positive options in terms of what we can do to provide our youth with hope and encouragement. They deserve our support.

08/09/2023

The Fayetteville Police Department has spread misinformation about the Cumberland County NC Government having a Youth Criminalization Curfew…and that ours is just a copy. That is totally false.

The county has a 7 clause 26 year old ordinance that’s never been enforced.

We have a 5 page ordinance that seeks to institute Stop & Frisk in Fayetteville.

Don’t believe the hype.

23/03/2023

Join now.

05/09/2022

Episode 5: Why we're saying NO to the "vote yes referendum" & How to change the way we respond to mental health crisis.

05/09/2022

My “partner in conversation” is here and we’re just about ready to get going. Hope y’all make some time to join us today!
1:30p!!!

03/09/2022

With everything going on in our city, you KNOW that Mario Be and Angela Tatum Malloy Ibclc have something to say! It’s September! Time for regularly scheduled programs to make their fall lineup comebacks and that includes the Better Fayetteville Project! As you’re enjoying your day off, take some time out to listen. I promise you it will be worth your time, as always.

Make sure you’re following the page for air time! Click the “Like” AND “Follow” buttons.

27/07/2022

We would like to congratulate Mario Be for running a great campaign and winning the seat to represent District 3 on our City Council. You can count on Mario to do what it takes to make our city a !

Mario "Be" Benavente narrowly defeated Councilman Antonio B. Jones in the District 3 Fayetteville City Council race, according to unofficial results.

13/04/2022

Episode4: Primary 2022 - What's Going Right [and Wrong]

13/04/2022

🌟🌟🌟New Podcast Alert🌟🌟🌟
Episode 4: Primary 2022-What’s Going Right [and Wrong]

Turn on the “Notifications 🔔” so you will know when we go LIVE!

11/03/2022

Episode 3: Loyalty in Politics

11/03/2022

Loyalty in Politics…is it even possible?!

A Better Fayetteville depends on doing things differently.

We will be GOING LIVE @ 2PM on Better Fayetteville Project for all the local election bombshells now that filing is 🚫CLOSED🚫

19/02/2022

Episode 2: Misogynoir and Hierarchy of Identity

We share a little more context about who we are and what brought us to engage in community Activism! We continue to focus on the concept of Misogynoir in the context of the feminist movement, and how people in distress can retreat to a "safe space" that ultimately harms vulnerable communities.

The verdict in Kim Potter's killing of Daunte Wright comes into play, as well as the actions of Judge Chu in her sentencing.

26/01/2022

Episode 1: Misogynoir + Learning how to honor another person’s truth.

Tune in to the First episode of the Better Fayetteville Project where we discuss hyper-local topics through open and honest community dialogue.🎙