The Sunday Edition of the Main Street blog (August 20, 2023) asked the question, Who Can Beat Andre Knight? It got a big readership and informative comments have been left on social media.
If you read the blog in the AM, please go back and reread because I added in the afternoon a comment from Ms. Sherry Little. You will decide for yourself if her experience with Councilman Knight and Ward #1 is helpful in deciding who you will vote for in October. Click On:
https://mainstreetrockymount.com/2023/08/20/sunday-edition-who-can-beat-andre-knightterrick-pitman-running-for-ward-1-council-seat/
Now I am sharing a response to Ms. Little from a Ward 1 resident. In order to ensure CHANGE, the question is will it be Mr. Tarrick Pittman or Mr. Troy Davis who carry the flag home to victory. Trashing either of them will be Mr. Knight and his supporter’s temptation. I am dead agin either of the contenders going negative because both are making contributions in Rocky Mount and are valuable to all of us regardless of the outcome. I anticipate positive campaigning from both men, each intent on beating Knight while talking about their plans for leading in Ward #1. I have no doubt that either men will bring the CHANGE needed. Both are interested in honoring the past and building the future of Rocky Mount, NC. In the end, you MUST vote as an act of self determination. Take your life into your own hands and risk what has always been to what can be.
The lemon in making lemonade is the harsh reality that between them, with a poll, they must become ‘one’ sometime in late September in their efforts to take this seat. A 3-man race historically goes to the incumbent. You can bet Mr. Knight is counting on that. If Troy and Tarrick are in agreement of taking this seat now, it will be taken!
In the comment below, a Ward #1 resident has good advice for Mr. Pittman and Mr. Davis. Between now and October 8, the Main Street Blog hopes to tell bits and pieces of their good stories and why their experience has brought them to this race. Do you know who I’m talking about when I say, Mr. Curmilus Dancey? He complains about the white lady that doesn’t live in the Ward, interfering with Mr. Knight’s reign. I hope so. The truth is, I don’t care about your skin color. I do care about your heart and competency that can change lives in Ward #1 and the Wards in the map above that improves life for all of us.
Hi Ms. Little,
I am a Ward 1 resident and I have blogged a comment about my feelings before. My section of Ward 1 does not have a representative. If we do, then I have not been made aware of once since pre-Covid. I have attended 2 meetings and then no more. I had just moved here and so I cannot speak on the history of this here place.
What I find interesting is that in speaking with a gentleman who no longer lives in the area, he said he and his family grew up in South RM. The time frame for this was in the 70s and he said it was rough then, just as it is now. That made me understand that there’s a spirit of the place that continues to oppress, distress and lose out on all costs. I don’t know what ward S. RM represents but I used that as an example for time and a need for change, unless, what’s the need for voting? A problem cannot be solved on the same level it’s created.
Lately, I’ve been hearing that Ward 1 is a slum. That, for a newcomer, is surely not a true representation! I can vouch only for that. There are though, many a street that needs some TLC but if it’s true they’ve been that way for years, then why?
As for Mr. Knight, who is he? What has he done and what does he propose? I have heard him speak once at our pre-Covid meeting and all I can recall was that he said (in paraphrase) was that some things are coming (to Ward 1). I had then and still have no idea what that meant but we did get a couple of new eateries but lost one. We also lost a drug store, and I hear, will be losing a bank. I really don’t know the ins and outs but I guess it all boils down to money. People invest where they feel the best. It wasn’t until this election that I understood that we can go out of our community assoc to others to be informed. That’s fine but if I were not online, I would have never known.
As a newcomer and maybe with others to this area, we can’t possibly understand the past histories that have occurred between Mr. Knight and Ward 1 in a few weeks. We can only vote (if we chose) based off of what we see now and as for me, he’s unseen and unheard. Maybe it’s my fault, not looking hard enough but as I see it, neighbors should have been talking and encouraging a newbie but they haven’t. No one talks politics around me. I feel maybe they have given up silently and I surely can understand that.
Mr. Knight may have the history but maybe his opponents have the flair that’s needed today especially in speaking in the voice of the young people. In closing, I am not deceived or confused, just not informed, and honestly, not impressed. I have only made up my mind not to vote for him but need to hear more of the “hows” from the opponents. I may not vote for anyone, really.
I need to be sold. Warning: All contenders need to advertise on all platforms (audio, video, social media, snail mail) with not just an ad to win but a rolling history of what you’ve done. Be consistent. You’ll also need to reach out to convince the youth, middle agers and elders of what you propose and speak to them on the levels they can hear.
.Lastly, what are any of the potential runners going to do for the youth (they ARE the tech age) and where are their voices? What are they proposing for the middle-aged earners who may be teetering on making RM their permanent home (on the Edgecombe side) or moving off to elsewhere more progressive? I live in the tech age and so much of what I do is online. I work and so when I come home, I can catch up with the meeting virtually and email/text when necessary. This is the attitude of these people, these voices. RM is poised for greatness because the potential is here but too much of this negative back and forth will have the ppl running and taking their money with them!
Thank you. –Ward 1 resident.
Main Street Rocky Mount 
Mr. Dancey has always been on the wrong side of progress, in my opinion.
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