Please note: the developer who has filed a public petition in court to force the sale of this family’s land has apparently made repeated requests to change.org to scrub this petition of his personal name/identity or even that of his corporate identity.  Change.org has done so twice now on his behalf or at the the request of someone representing him.  He has also taken steps to scrub his social media pages of any link between him and his own company.  This although he filed a public document to force the sale of land.  This although he is listed as a public owner of the land located at 2028 St. Mark Street, Charlotte, NC 28216.  This although he is the public registered agent of his company.

Apparently the developer or someone acting on his behalf also asked to remove the image of Mangie McQueen that fronts this petition.

Why try to remain anonymous if you are employing legitimate legal business practices to conduct your business?

Why try to erase the face of the incredibly strong black man who provided for his family and worked so hard to help other black families achieve the American dream of owning their own homes?

The McQueen Family knows why and if you read the rest of this petition you will also know why the developer now wants to conduct himself under a cloak of anonymity.  Anyone taking such hostile action against a 91-old woman in hospice care should be embarrassed.  We will continue to bring light to this duplicitous business scheme in the public sphere and now in court as this case advances.

And the McQueen Family proudly displays the likeness of our late patriarch, Mangie McQueen whose legacy we now fight to protect.  It is our legal right to do so.

The developer’s attorney today also reminded/threatened a member of the McQueen Family of the risks associated with disparaging his client presumably with this petition.  There is zero risk because this petition states only the truth and is based on publicly available reliable information.

If the developer wants to change the narrative about him and his company he knows the right thing to do.

In late 2021, a white real estate developer (who also frequently advertises himself as a DJ) acquired a minority interest in a residential plot of land located at 2028 St. Mark Street, Charlotte, NC which has been in the McQueen family since 1944 when it was purchased by Mangie & Catherine McQueen.  On that site, Mr. McQueen built a home for his family which at the time included 3 young daughters, Dorothy, Clotelle & Sarah.  Mr. McQueen was a preeminent self-educated African-American home builder during much of the 20th century, having built more than 80 homes in Charlotte’s historically black neighborhoods.  In 2003, 2 days shy of his 100th birthday, Mr. McQueen, affectionately called “Daddy” by every family member no matter the relation, passed away intestate.

The home on St. Mark Street eventually sat empty and was vandalized by homeless people and drug users, prompting demolition of the residence by the city of Charlotte.  However, the heirs of Mr. McQueen have remained current on all property taxes and maintained the land in good stead with the intention of rebuilding a family home on that plot of land poignantly using some of the bricks salvaged by family after the demolition.

One direct heir of Mangie McQueen, Clotelle, is still living.  Together with the heirs of her younger sister, Clotelle owns 2/3s of the land now in dispute.  The other 1/3 was acquired by a white developer from a McQueen family member who has suffered from severe mental illness since adolescence into adulthood.  Now having obtained that 1/3 interest with knowledge that the remaining owners had and have no intention or desire to sell, the white developer has launched an aggressive legal action against the heirs of Mangie McQueen to force them to sell their shares of the land against their wishes.

No doubt the white developer hopes to be the beneficiary of its current court action so that he is able to procure the remaining shares of the property at a below market rate in order to profit off of Mangie McQueen’s hard work, perseverance and legacy.

In an incredibly cruel manner, the white developer presently demands via the company’s attorney of record, Gregory Tomchin, that Clotelle Fisher, now 91 years old and in hospice care with a terminal diagnosis of dementia/Alzheimer’s, appear in court to fight to retain her father’s legacy.  Mangie McQueen, having been forced by discriminatory laws, restrictive covenants and segregation to build in the outer margins of the city, started his family’s legacy with the first brick laid at 2028 St. Mark Street.  He furthered that legacy with his hard work of providing family homes for many other hardworking black families.  And when he could no longer use his hands to build, he cemented his family’s legacy by ferrying 7 grand and great-grand children to and from school daily.  The McQueen Family seeks only to retain ownership of Mr. McQueen’s land and to block the injustice that will be inflicted if this opportunistic and underhanded builder is allowed to control this family’s destiny.

The white developer’s company tagline purports that it is a company that buys land and houses.  We beg to differ and instead suggest that the tagline should read “we want to take land & houses from a black family.”  The white developer can and should take the morally correct step and return his share of 2028 St. Mark Street to the rightful heirs of Mangie McQueen and immediately cease its court action so that the family may tend to the needs of the family matriarch who requires their continued care and attention.  Anything less simply perpetuates the legacy of racism and oppression that Mangie McQueen worked so diligently against with his mind and skilled hands, brick by brick.