Enlarge Mecklenburg County Commission Chair Harold Cogdell (Photo: Charlotte Post)

Posted: December 21st, 2011 Lee Howard

Mecklenburg County Commissioner Harold Cogdell is drawing fire from fellow Dems in the wake of usurping former commission chair and fellow Democrat Jennifer Roberts. Former Commissioner Norman Mitchell suggests Cogdell, often described as a political rogue, cut to the chase and go Independent. Cogdell defends his record, saying he’s more interested in leading than politicking.

Cogdell’s move is leading some political watchers to posit that the local Democratic Party is imploding even as Charlotte is poised to host the Democratic National Convention next year. Josh Putnam, visiting assistant professor of political science at Davidson College, however, says one Democrat and four Republicans collaborated to consolidate power. And the fallout may land on Cogdell’s shoulders in the next election cycle.

Two historically black local church organizations have merged to expand their shared goals. The Mecklenburg General Baptist Association and the Mount Peace Missionary Baptist Association have joined to create the United Missionary Baptist Association. The Mount Peace Missionary Baptist Association was formed in 1868 by freed slaves. The Mecklenburg General Baptist Association, founded in 1921, engages its member churches in Christian education, mission work and support of the General Baptist Convention of North Carolina.

North Carolina’s former “eugenics” policy, an effort to cleanse the population via the sterilization of “undesirables,” was a quiet pogrom that lingered for decades, and is still haunting its victims. Mecklenburg County sterilized 485 people between 1946 and 1968, more than any other county in the state. Most of those sterilized were black women, people deemed “promiscuous” and mental patients.

More than 700 people Saturday attended the annual "Spirit of Christmas" party for homeless children at Friendship Missionary Baptist Church. The event brought some Christmas spirit - along with new coats, shoes, school supplies and gifts - to homeless children.

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