By Andy Brack, editor and publisher | To better understand why South Carolina is like it is, you need to read The 1619 Project.
This blockbuster re-telling of history not taught in schools likely will provide a new understanding about how America became a country — and how enslaved Africans played a vital role — not just a subservient one — in the creation of our democracy.
By Andy Brack, editor and publisher, part 2 of 2 | If you ignore the bloody prick of a rusty nail, the wound may become infected or lead to something much worse.
Across America, but particularly in the South, the underpinnings of our society continue to be infected by the ooze of racism. While there are laws on the books to provide equal access and treatment for the pursuit of life, liberty and happiness, there’s still a lot of unfinished business bubbling under the surface that inhibits progress.
By Andy Brack, editor and publisher | Sandwiched between the Southern stains of slavery and oppressive Jim Crow laws were a few years of mostly forgotten history, the Reconstruction era.
In the months ahead, the Beaufort area is poised to become the nation’s hub for rediscovering and understanding the promise of Reconstruction to newly-freed slaves as they started to engage in America by voting, buying land and living in freedom.
IN THIS EDITION
FOCUS: Headed out to hike the Appalachian Trail … again
COMMENTARY, Brack: Beaufort to become national hub of Reconstruction history
IN THE SPOTLIGHT: South Carolina Ports Authority
REAL ESTATE: What you need to know about maintenance of your home
GOOD NEWS: New director hired for public library system
FEEDBACK: Palm’s right on the money about folly of I-526 extension
MYSTERY PHOTO: There’s a big clue in this photo mystery
S.C. ENCYCLOPEDIA: Reconstruction (part 1 of 2)
CALENDAR: Columbia Ballet to stage production based on Green’s paintings
Here’s a downtown that you may have seen in your travels in South Carolina, but where is it? Send your best guess to: editor@charlestoncurrents.com — and make sure to include the name of the town in which you live. Please also write “Mystery Photo” in the subject line.
By Andy Brack, editor and publisher | Every one will have a different way of remembering Hurricane Matthew, which got everybody’s attention after it killed hundreds in Haiti on its way north to make a tempestuous landfall in South Carolina.
From now until eternity, I’m sure that every time I encounter a chocolate-covered almond, I’ll remember eating them while waiting out the storm in Georgia at my parent’s home with my daughters in the Atlanta area. My dad had a Costco-sized container full of them that we all ate until they were gone, And then another container miraculously appeared.
One daughter says she’ll likely remember visiting her grandparents whenever asked about Hurricane Matthew. Another daughter predicts she’ll recall worrying about the fate of our home in Charleston as the storm blew through.
By Andy Brack, editor and publisher | If you’re relatively new to the state or under age 50, you may not know the story of Esau Jenkins.
But you should. And now, the world knows more about this incredible Johns Island civil rights leader thanks to a permanent exhibit in the new Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture that opened Saturday. The exhibit displays Jenkins motto — “Love is Progress, Hate is Expensive” — on the back panels of a Volkswagen microbus that ferried people on the sea islands to work, school and the voting polls.
By Andy Brack | Twenty years from now, historians just might look back on the past week as the tipping point for state legislators finally “getting it” that public education, particularly in rural areas, needs a lot of attention, not episodic Band-aids.
The state House of Representatives finally seems to have a leader — a man who grew up in the Corridor of Shame’s Darlington County — who is walking the walk, not just talking the talk about public education.
We Can Do Better, South Carolina! (2019) by editor and publisher Andy Brack offers incisive commentaries on the American South, politics, the common good and interesting South Carolina leaders. Available exclusively for Kindle for $7.99. A paperback version will be ready soon. Learn more.
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