Get the latest tech news

He became the first Black mayor of a town. A white minority locked him out

For years the mayor in Newbern was appointed, not elected. When Patrick Braxton won the election, the outgoing mayor and his cronies refused to accept it

Stokes acquiesced and gave him a key, but when Braxton entered the building, he found that town hall had been stripped of its records, beyond a couple boxes of discarded items that looked like trash. Photograph: Andi Rice/The GuardianIn the brief filed by Stokes and his allies in response to Braxton’s lawsuit, they argue that they did not act in the wrong “in attempting to rectify a decades-old mistake by holding a special election”. When Lewis, who was born in Newbern, moved her family back to the area, she decided to open a non-profit that would provide needed services, like food distributions, to people across Hale county.

Get the Android app