Charleston Currents – Johns Island

"A New Description of Carolina", engraved by Francis Lamb (London, Tho. Basset and Richard Chiswell, 1676); via Wikipedia.

11/19: Early Thanksgiving here; Tonics for an unhappy America; More

IN THIS ISSUE of Charleston Currents #11.03 | Nov. 19, 2018

FOCUS: Looking back at Thanksgiving in early Charleston
COMMENTARY, Brack: Some tonics to soothe an unhappy America
IN THE SPOTLIGHT: Morris Financial Concepts, Inc.
GOOD NEWS: Homegrown Holiday Bazaar set for Dec. 1 on Johns Island
FEEDBACK: Great photo essay
MYSTERY PHOTO: Who is this guy?
S.C. ENCYCLOPEDIA: Carolina, the 1663 ship
CALENDAR: ARC’s Blood Battle is on

by Charleston Currents · 11/19/2018 · Comments are Disabled · Full issue

FOCUS: Two local harvest festivals set for coming weeks

Staff reports | You know that Halloween is around the corner with the approach of local harvest festivals. Two are on the way — North Charleston’s on Oct. 20, followed by a similar event Nov. 3 by Charleston County Parks at the Johns Island County Park.

North Charleston event set for Oct. 20

North Charleston’s 6th annual Harvest Festival will feature live musical performances, an artist market, costume contests, trick-or-treat on the street, a pop-up pumpkin patch, children’s activities, and more. The fall festivities will take place in the Olde Village of North Charleston, located on East Montague Avenue near Park Circle, from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. Oct. 20. Admission and parking are free. East Montague Avenue will close to vehicular traffic from Jenkins Avenue to Virginia Avenue at 2 p.m. and remain closed for the duration of the event.

by Charleston Currents · 10/08/2018 · Comments are Disabled · Focus, Good news

CALENDAR, Jan. 22+: On civil rights photography, breaking barriers, more

Staff reports | The niece of a celebrated civil rights photographer will be at a special event Jan. 30 at Charleston County Public Library on Calhoun Street. Karen Berman will attend an event at the library at 5:30 p.m. Jan. 30 that celebrates photographs taken by her aunt, Ida Berman, in 1959 on Johns Island as residents were organizing to vote and figure for their rights. A display of photos have been at the library since the beginning of the month.

NINE DAYS LEFT, Cuba photo exhibit: Through Jan. 31. Charleston County Public Library, Calhoun St., Charleston. Charleston Currents’ editor and publisher Andy Brack offers photographic insights into Cuba from a 2015 visit to the country. An exhibition is on display in the Saul Alexander Gallery. Free.

Breaking down barriers: 6 p.m. Jan. 23, Emanuel AME Church, Charleston. Former S.C. Rep. Lucille Whipper of Mount Pleasant and Charleston business leader Linda Ketner will share their experiences breaking barriers in this talk moderated by Patricia Williams Lessane, a cultural anthropologist and the executive director of the Avery Research Center at the College of Charleston.

by Charleston Currents · 01/22/2018 · Comments are Disabled · calendar

BRACK: Let’s be thankful for one of our own, Septima Clark

By Andy Brack, editor and publisher | All South Carolinians – white, black, brown, newcomer and native – can stand to learn more about a real homegrown patriot, the late Septima Poinsette Clark.

The mere mention of her name today invokes reverence in the black community. But white Southerners seem to forget that she was so respected for her work in the civil rights movement that Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. asked her to accompany him to Oslo, Norway, in 1964 when he accepted the Nobel Peace prize.

“In a sort of casual way, he would say, ‘Anything I can’t answer, ask Mrs. Clark,’” she recalled in a 1986 memoir.

From 1916 when she was 18 until she was fired 40 years later with 41 others in Charleston County for being a member of the NAACP, Clark was a teacher, first on John’s Island and then in Charleston, McClellanville, North Carolina, Columbia and again in Charleston.

by Andy Brack · 11/20/2017 · Comments are Disabled · Andy Brack, Views

GOOD NEWS: Harvest Festival set for Nov. 4 on Johns Island

Staff reports | The 16th annual Harvest Festival will be 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Johns Island County Park. a foot-stompin’ showcase of Charleston’s bluegrass talent, this year’s lineup will feature local performers Blue Plantation, YeeHaw Junction, Southern Flavor Bluegrass, Marshgrass Mamas and Boss Hawg.

Other Good News on International African American Museum, AAA credit rating, year-round market, more.

by Charleston Currents · 10/09/2017 · Comments are Disabled · Good news, News briefs

BRACK: Yes, love is progress and hate is expensive

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 · 09/26/2016 · Comments are Disabled · Andy Brack, Views

GOOD NEWS: Hands Across the Sand draws 100 on Saturday

Staff reports | Hands Across the Sand: About 100 people joined hands Saturday to “draw a line in the sand” and support efforts to cancel plans for Atlantic offshore drilling and to raise awareness of the dangers of seismic airgun blasting off the East Coast. Also: Online Emanuel tribute, Pinckney portrait, summer reading, shade tree, poll managers.

by Charleston Currents · 05/23/2016 · Comments are Disabled · Good news, News briefs