Starting Jan. 2010 I'm teaching a class on politics called:
Bull City Politics: Who's Who, What's What and
How You Can Make a Difference.
Some of the people who've attended in the past: the local Dem. Party chair, the Mayor of Gay Durham, a political anthropologist, a People's Alliance staff person, a Tractivist, Mr. Bull City Rising, a transit planner, an environmental activist, the editors of the Durham News and Durham Magazine and other intriguing individuals.
How can Durham be on so many “Best Places to Live” lists if the papers are full of stories of crime, taxes, bad schools and dumb decisions? Why is it that in most communities, the best funded candidates win election every year, but in Durham, the big money candidates usually lose? And how does a Bull Citizen launch themselves into a productive role in Durham politics? Frank Hyman will lead discussions on issues, endorsements, race, media, money and the history of local politics in Durham.
What does Durham’s leading political blogger, Kevin Davis of Bull City Rising http://www.bullcityrising.com/ say about this class ?
“Frank's been in the trenches of Durham politics and lived to tell the tales. And whether you agree with him or not, you'll learn something about how to win friends (or at least allies) and influence people (or at least politicians, which are kinda "people.") If you've been trying to put together the sometimes-confusing puzzle that is Durham politics, a few weeks spent with Frank is a good way to fill in some of the missing pieces.”
Frank Hyman has spent 30 years in political activism as a neighborhood president, campaign manager, journalist, community organizer and Durham city council member.
If you’re thinking of running for office or leading a campaign or just want to know how to be a more effective and informed Bull Citizen, this class is for you.
We’ll be covering endorsements, the media, race, issues, campaigning, you-name-it.
When: The class meets for 5 Thursday nights, 7-9 pm,
Jan. 14, 21, 28, Feb. 4, 11.
How Much: Cost is $95. You can also attend individual classes for $25 a pop. Women, minorities and young people are encouraged to attend. Send checks to: Frank Hyman, 1412 N. Mangum St., Durham, NC 27701, or bring a check or cash only to the first class. Each session is different, so if you've attended previously, you can come to another session for only $50.
Where: The location is the Kings Daughters Inn on Buchanon Blvd. across from Duke’s East Campus. Come in through the front door on Buchanon and turn right into the hall. Go into the salon on the right.
Who has attended in the past?: a newspaper editor, a leading political blogger, neighborhood leaders, non-profit board members, professional planners and other active citizens and everyday people.
What Else: Let me know you want to come by contacting me at: fincaminor@mindspring.com
so I can give you the readings, etc. , some of which I'll be sending out via email.
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So why should you take a class about Durham politics from Frank?
Here are a few highlights from his 30 years of political activism:
• In 2008, worked as campaign manager for environmentalist Brenda Howerton. Traditionally, you need two major endorsements to win a local race. In the May Dem. Primary, she managed to win the fifth seat on the Durham County Commissioners by less than 800 votes, with only one endorsement from the People’s Alliance.
•As a city council member, authored the City of Durham’s Living Wage ordinance (LWO), the first successful one in the southeast. It was a way to stick a foot in the door--make that a work boot--and get the ball rolling for grassroots economic development. The LWO is now 11 years old. Subsequently, Durham CAN persuaded the county, the schools and Duke to also adopt a Living Wage policy and now about 1000 or more people have better wages because of it.
• Worked as an organizer for Durham CAN—which is affiliated with the Chicago based Industrial Areas Foundation. Which means I (and other CAN organizers) have been trained by some of the same organizers that trained Barack Obama. No shit.
• Have written about politics for almost 20 years in the Independent Weekly, Herald-Sun, the N&O and the Durham News.
• Worked full-time as the volunteer Marketing Chair (and de facto campaign manager) for the city’s ’96 bond campaign. This bond package was so progressive, that originally, the Chamber of Commerce didn’t want to back it. The bulk of the money was earmarked for the transit station, greenways, sidewalks, inner city parks and affordable housing. Word on the street was the bond package was DOA. But, in the end, we won by 65% to 35%. Learn how we snatched victory from the jaws of defeat in this class.
• When I was 32 years old, I cut off my pony tail and borrowed a suit and beat a smart incumbent (who was in favor of incinerating garbage and regressive taxation) to gain a seat on the Durham City Council in 1993. I was able to boost the transit budget by $1 million, double cardboard recycling and cut corporate welfare in one stroke (I’ll tell that story in detail in class).
* As a neighborhood association president, created a monthly newsletter that brought in ad money from local businesses to support neighborhood activities.
• Most recently, worked with SEEDs, my wife Chris and the Durham HENS (Healthy Eggs in Neighborhoods Soon), to get the city council to vote unanimously to allow backyard hens, so people can now have fresh, organic eggs.
• For more background, read my columns on politics, environment, gardening and art in the Indy and the Durham News: www.thedurhamnews.com and www.indyweek.com and search for “Frank Hyman”.
Hope to see you in class. Contact me at fincaminor@mindspring.com if you have any questions.
