UNC artists and speakers will explore the connections between the Unsung Founders Memorial in McCorkle Place, the murder of James Cates in 1970 and Maya Little’s upcoming Honor Court appeal with a dedication in the Pit.
The dedication will take place on Tuesday, Feb. 12 at 3 p.m. leading up to Little’s Honor Court appeal. This will be the second time Little has appeared in front of the Honor Court. Little decided to appeal the charges she received in October at her first appearance, which resulted in her receiving a letter of warning and 18 hours of community service.
The dedication is titled “After the Fall, the Unsung Rise” and will include speakers and artistic performances.
Gina Balamucki, a law student, is Little’s representative for the trial. She said this artistic dedication is not only meant to uplift Little and what she stands for, but all of the unsung heroes of UNC.
“Organizers and student activists and Maya work to highlight the ways that we tell other histories,” Balamucki said. “And when we make room for other histories we can allow these unsung heroes, particularly Black and brown marginalized people, to have their voices and their stories brought to the fore and shine.”
Balamucki said she wants to emphasize that the event is not only about what she said have been injustices against Little, but also about “historical inequity” at UNC.
“Maya has tried to use her notoriety to raise up the voices of other people and other causes,” Balamucki said. In April, Little was arrested by UNC police for putting red paint on Silent Sam.
Balamucki said that people are showing support for Maya by coming to an event that is about the broader history of UNC. In the midst of Black History Month, the event is a marker of Black history on campus and discusses the endorsement of lynchings of Black students by Julian Carr, the murder of James Cates and the Unsung Founders Memorial, dedicated to the slaves who built UNC, in McCorkle Place.
UNC graduate student Cortland Gilliam will be speaking at the event.
