CIVITAS: Meet the socialists behind NC’s newest radical Left coalition

RALEIGH – Those who’ve been reading First in Freedom Daily for a while are well aware of how pervasive radical collectivists — socialists, communists, social justice warriors, the Woke, Marxists — are within the ‘Left.’

Though 2020 has been the year they’ve taken their masks off to openly call for the destruction of the United States as we know it, this did not happen over night.

For decades, activists and thought leaders on the Far Left have been pulling the entirety of the American Left toward the cliff of pure collectivism, using all sorts of evil ideologies like Critical Theory to turn the pushes into shoves. Lest you think North Carolina is in anyway insulated from such influences, the Civitas Institute is out with a piece introducing the radicals that are behind the newest Left coalition in North Carolina.

From Brian Balfour of Civitas (Research by A.P. Dillon of North State Journal):

“Civitas recently introduced many of you to a radical Leftist coalition of groups calling itself NC United for Survival and Beyond (NC United).

The article detailed the coalition’s policy agenda, a terrifying list of demands that would result in economic ruin, civil unrest and spikes in crime.

As a follow up, this article will introduce you to the key players involved in the coalition, a list of radicals no less stunning than their outrageous list of demands. Make no mistake, their goal is not some quaint sounding vision of “equity” or “justice,” but rather the ushering in of a socialist system.

The Infrastructure – Backed by George Soros

Support for helping to organize the NC United coalition is coming from a group called the Southern Vision Alliance (SVA).

When visitors click to sign on to the NC United’s platform, they are directed to a sign-in page run by SVA.

SVA describes itself as: “an anchor for frontline groups and leaders to disrupt and transform power for collective liberation.”

Parroting the current zeitgeist of their fellow revolutionaries, SVA further states that they “believe that current conditions are rooted in the legacies of colonialism, slavery, white supremacy, patriarchy, and capitalist exploitation.” 

One of their statements is particularly troubling: “We reject the right of the state to decide what is, and what is not, legitimate protest.”

Translation: “We are the mob. We make the rules. If we want to destroy property in the name of ‘protest,’ we will.”

We will get to some of SVA’s other key players that are also involved in NC United momentarily, but it is worthwhile to mention that Durham Council member and Mayor Pro Tem Jillian Johnson sits on the board at SVA, and formerly served as the group’s director of operations.

Unsurprisingly, SVA’s annual report reveals that the group receives “institutional support” from some very radical, far-left organizations, including:

• • George Soros’ Open Society Foundation
  • The Ford Foundation
  • Blueprint NC
  • The Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation 

NC United’s Key Players Linked with Violent Mobs

NC United publicly emerged on the scene in April of this year, with a protest outside the home of state Senate leader Phil Berger’s house. From the news account of the incident we learn one person was arrested and also the names of three important players in NC United’s efforts.

Loan Tran, the person arrested at the Berger protest, is a co-executive director of SVA, with a past of openly declaring “their” (Tran’s preferred pronoun) desire to implement full-blown socialism in America. Tran is active with the Durham branch of the Workers World Party (WWP), a group created in 1954 and described as “one of the most hardcore Marxist organizations of any consequence in the US.”

Tran spoke at the 2015 WWP convention in New York, where “they” declared “their” passion to “fight side by side with comrades who understand the necessity of a working-class struggle.” 

At the 2016 Left Forum, Tran expressed an admiration for those who “fight for a revolutionary solution, socialism.”

Tran was also arrested as part of the mob in Durham in 2017 that tore down a statue commemorating confederate soldiers who had died in the Civil War. Tran was charged with two felonies related to inciting and participating in a riot that damaged property. The charges were later dropped.

In the tweet below, Tran favorably quotes Vladimir Lenin, the mass-murdering Russian dictator responsible for the murder and starvation of millions of his own people. One tends to question the sincerity of an activist decrying police brutality who admiringly quotes a dictator who created a political police force that brutally murdered thousands of people for the ‘crime’ of speaking out against the regime.

Elena Everett is the executive director of SVA and was also a ringleader of the protest outside Berger’s house. Everett is likewise a member of the Workers World Party and serves on the board of Blueprint NC. Everett was also arrested with Tran at the 2017 Durham statue incident.

Everett’s history of socialist activism dates back to her time at NC State University, and also includes a stint as state chair of the NC Green Party. Everett also spent time as the communications director of the Southern Coalition for Social Justice, a group that has led the charge against North Carolina’s common-sense voter ID laws.

Juan Miranda is the bilingual project coordinator at SVA and was quoted at the Berger protest discussing some of the protestors’ demands, which included Medicaid expansion – including to illegal immigrants – as well as “ending all collaboration with ICE.”

Miranda was a proposed feature speaker of the Socialism 2018 conference and is an organizer with a group called Down Home North Carolina, a self-described “rural socialist organization.”

As if the profiles of these key players weren’t evidence enough of the socialist goals of NC United, consider that the coalition includes the Raleigh and Piedmont chapters of the Democratic Socialists of America.

Legislators React to NC United, Some Ignore

Civitas reached out to several North Carolina state legislative leaders to gauge their reaction to NC United’s agenda.

“This agenda is so extreme as to be laughable. Unfortunately, it appears that Democrats are increasingly latching on to these dangerous ideas,” replied Andrew Dunn, spokesman for the Dan Forest for Governor campaign.

“This radical agenda is sadly the direction the formerly mainstream Democratic Party is moving in. It’s a dangerous new order that frees criminals from prison while demanding harsh consequences for those who dare disagree with the mob,” said Pat Ryan, spokesman for Senate President Pro Tem Phil Berger.

The offices of House Speaker Tim Moore, House Democratic Leader Darren Jackson, Senate Democratic Leader Dan Blue and Governor Roy Cooper did not respond to our request for comment.

Conclusion

NC United for Survival and Beyond’s extreme agenda becomes less surprising when you understand just how radical the people organizing the coalition are. Make no mistake, hidden behind the veneer of pleasantries like “social justice” and “equity” is a group of dedicated and committed socialists.

The term “socialist” is all too easily cast around these days, often misapplied to anyone a conservative disagrees with. That is not the case here.

The organizers of NC United are telling us they are socialists. They are not making any attempt to hide it. Their goal is nothing short of a complete overthrow of the capitalist system based on private property rights.

North Carolinians need to be aware of who is driving the progressive agenda, in order to get a better understanding of what the Left really wants in our state.”

If this was news to you, or you have friends and family that are dismissive of the ‘socialist’ label for whatever reason, have them read the curated craziness themselves. This is what you’re signing up for when voting for Democrats in 2020, whether it be Joe Biden or Roy Cooper.