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”…