Dear friends,
When I launched the Long Leaf Pine Slate last year, I expected it to be a modest online effort. Instead, it blossomed into the top progressive fundraiser in North Carolina for our legislature outside of the state party itself. In an election cycle marked by a lot of disappointment here in our state, the breakout success of “the Slate” was a silver lining. I believe in building on what works to halt and reverse the tide of corrupt right-wing extremism in Raleigh. And I’m very excited to share it with you now.
Today, we’re introducing Carolina Forward, the next generation of progressive activism for North Carolina.
We are pivoting the Long Leaf Pine Slate from a temporary vehicle to a permanent progressive policy organization focused on building a better North Carolina for us all. Carolina Forward is focused on promoting progressive voices and policy and competing in elections at every level of our government. Our all-volunteer board of ex-campaign staffers, professionals and activists is dedicated to building long-term progressive power again in North Carolina.
At Carolina Forward, we believe in a more just, democratic and prosperous North Carolina that works for everyone, not just the fortunate few. We believe that an honest, transparent and effective government should not be the privilege of the wealthy and well-connected, but a basic right of every resident. At the core of our values is justice: economic, social, racial, environmental and otherwise. Those principles have been badly abused over the last decade of Republican misrule in Raleigh. In that time, our state has only gotten more unequal, more unjust, and far more corrupt. Enough is enough.
Let us not mince words: the 2010s were a disaster for North Carolina families, schools, workers, its environment, and (especially) vulnerable communities. If we are to avoid a second decade of more of the same, we must expand, and redouble, our fight. Most importantly, we must change tactics. The same old, tired approaches and strategies and playbooks simply will no longer do. They are not working. It’s time for something different.
We need new ideas, as well as better ways to distribute them. We must develop a deeper bench of younger leaders across the state who understand that the old rules of the game have changed and that partisan politics have evolved. There is generational change happening all over our country, and it’s time that wave came to North Carolina politics. Carolina Forward will invest in these priorities so that when the next election cycle comes around, our dollars can go even further in winning hearts, minds, and most importantly, votes.
We must win the public argument that we North Carolinians are in this together, and that core American values of justice, democracy, and shared prosperity are the best ways to build our state in the 21st century. Read more about our strategy at CarolinaForward.org/Strategy.
Perhaps most of all, we will need patience and resolve. This will be a long fight. The far-right has entrenched power, deep pockets, a zeal for playing dirty and an internalized, highly organized understanding of power politics. Winning victories against these forces will take time. We may lose more races than we will win, at least in the interim.
But rest assured - eventually, we will win.
One way to summarize the history of North Carolina could be as 232 years of entrenched right-wing regressivism fighting progress at every single step - as they still do today. But eventually, the reactionaries have always lost, and they will in our era as well. They can manipulate the voter rolls, gerrymander the maps, hollow out our institutions and worse, but in the long run, they will lose to the slow, steady and righteous voices of North Carolinians demanding the fullest measure of democracy and justice. We are here to make sure they do.
Today, I’m asking you to join us. You can propel our movement by following us on social media (on Facebook or Twitter) or sharing this post with friends. You can also become a financial supporter, and know that you are investing in not just repairing our home, but joining a community of your peers who are putting your values into practice.
We’re going to tell a new story of North Carolina - one of a truly multiracial democracy that provides justice and prosperity to all its people. And we’re going to do it together. Let us begin.
Sincerely,
Blair Reeves
Executive Director, Carolina Forward