FOCUS: 35th annual MOJA Festival starts Thursday
COMMENTARY, Brack: 17 policy questions for South Carolina candidates
IN THE SPOTLIGHT: Charleston RiverDogs
GOOD NEWS: Small grants available to spark your great idea
FEEDBACK: Send us your thoughts
MYSTERY PHOTO: Top of a building
S.C. ENCYCLOPEDIA: Artist William Halsey
CALENDAR: Sign up to host a Lowcountry On the Table gathering
FOCUSFOCUS: 35th annual MOJA Festival starts Thursday
Image courtesy City of Charleston Office of Cultural Affairs
Staff reports | Eleven days of fun, exciting events ranging from dance, music and theatre that celebrate African-American and Caribbean arts are about to take off.
The 35th annual MOJA Arts Festival launches Thursday and will run through Oct. 7 with a rich variety of traditional favorites that make the festival continue as one of the Southeast Tourism Society’s 20 top events of the year. Even better: Nearly half of MOJA’s events are admission-free, and the remainder are offered at modest ticket prices.
“Moja,” a Swahili word meaning “one,” is the appropriate name for this festival celebration of harmony among all people in our community, according to the festival’s website.
This year’s festival highlights the many African-American and Caribbean contributions to western and world cultures. MOJA’s events include visual arts, classical music, dance, gospel, jazz, poetry, R&B music, storytelling, theatre, children’s activities, traditional crafts, ethnic food, and much, much more. In addition to its myriad arts presentations, MOJA also includes an active and busy educational outreach component of workshops in the public schools and senior outreach in senior citizen homes.
- Click here for a calendar of events.
- Click here for a program guide you can download.
- Click here to learn about this year’s poster artist, John Christopher Wright II.
The MOJA Arts Festival is a multi-disciplinary festival produced and directed by the City of Charleston Office of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the MOJA Planning Committee, a community arts and cultural group, and the MOJA Advisory Board, a group of civic leaders who assist with fundraising and advocacy.
- Have a comment? Send to: editor@charlestoncurrents.com
BRACK: 17 policy questions for South Carolina candidates
Commentary by Andy Brack, editor and publisher | This is the time of the political season that an odd dance begins.
Politicians want to present a compelling image so you’ll cast a vote for them. But they often don’t want to give away too much of what they really think in case it gets them in trouble. So they may hedge, waffle or give so much bureaucratic mumbo-jumbo that the questioner falls asleep.
Meanwhile, voters want to know specifically where candidates stand on everything from aardvarks to zucchini without all of the bluster, bombast and bull.
So it’ a good time to offer some questions readers can pose to state House and statewide candidates to get to the meat of where they stand. Use at your own peril (now that they know they may be getting them).
With so much about state government focusing on budgets and money, consider:
- If you have $100 million in state money to invest in one recurring line item in South Carolina’s state budget, what would you spend it on. [NOTE: This is not a question about tax cuts; You have to spend the money on something real, not spend it on lowering taxes.]
- South Carolina has a ridiculous number of sales tax exemptions. Studies show removing these special-interest exemptions would pump a large amount of money into the state budget. Pick five exemptions that we should get rid of and explain why.
- What specific professional experience do you offer to the office that makes you a good steward of our tax dollars?
- South Carolina hasn’t borrowed money through a bond bill for almost 20 years to make strategic investments. So, the state now has the capacity to borrow at low rates to pay for big projects. Do you support or reject use of borrowing through a bond bill of at least $500 million to pay for big projects, such as paying for long-ignored maintenance needs at colleges?
- Out-of-state Internet retail companies now have to pay sales tax in South Carolina, due to a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision. That will mean an extra $100 million to state tax coffers. How would you spend this revenue (and again, not “spend” it on a tax cut)?
In South Carolina, education spending makes up more than half of state budget, leading to these questions:
- State lottery dollars are mostly for higher education. Yes or no – should a significant share of lottery dollars be used for public K-12 education, or should the system stay the same? Why?
- If you had to choose to raise the salaries of K-12 teachers or lower the cost of college, which would you choose and why?
- South Carolina continues to lag the rest of the nation in education. What specifically do you support to help improve education in big ways, not baby steps? Don’t answer with political platitudes.
- The state of South Carolina regularly overrides the state education funding formula in the law, which allows it to underinvest in public K-12 education by hundreds of millions of dollars. Are you for or against following the K-12 funding formula in state law or do you support breaking that law and continuing to underinvest?
- What is the single biggest reason that South Carolina’s education system is ranked at the bottom?
Finally, there’s a grab-bag of various questions you may want to get people on the record?
- Do you support President Trump? Why or why not?
- Do you believe all journalists are liars? Explain the role of the press in governance.
- Are you satisfied in the investments being made to improve South Carolina’s roads. If so, why? If not, why not?
- What will you do to protect South Carolina’s water supply from nuclear plant leaks?
- Do you support increasing state funds to the Conservation Bank to protect special places? Why or why not? If so, how much would you support in increased funding?
- Specifically, how would you increase access to affordable health care to all South Carolinians?
- If you have served in any public office, what one vote did you make that you now regret? Why did you vote that way?
We’re sure there are a lot more of good, hard-hitting questions. What would you ask?
- Have a comment? Send to: editor@charlestoncurrents.com
SPOTLIGHT: Charleston RiverDogs
The public spiritedness of our underwriters allows us to bring Charleston Currents to you at no cost. This issue’s featured underwriter is the Charleston RiverDogs, whose ballplayers just finished another great regular season.
In 2018, the club celebrated its 25th season (that’s 175 years in “Dog” years!!) and, for the second season in a row, hosted more than 300,000 fans. The team had a 64-72 record, but saw 15 players promoted to higher levels in the club’s structure during the season. Click here to review the season.
Last year, the team had 77 wins and made its second consecutive postseason appearance in the playoffs. While the season is now over, it’s not long before the 2018 starts.
- Learn more about the RiverDogs.
- The 2019 season is just around the corner! Check out the 2019 schedule!
The Lowcountry’s leader in sports entertainment, Charleston RiverDogs baseball is an attractive, affordable medium for your group or business. The RiverDogs develop the next major league stars for the 27-time World Champion New York Yankees at one of the finest ballparks in Minor League Baseball — Joseph P. Riley, Jr. Park.
Three short words sum up the everyday approach taken by the Charleston RiverDogs front office. The brainchild of club President Emeritus Mike Veeck, the nine-letter phrase “Fun Is Good” is meant to be a guideline and daily reminder of how employees should approach their jobs and in turn capture the imagination of the fans to turn them into repeat customers.
- Visit the ‘Dogs online at: RiverDogs.com
GOOD NEWS: Small grants available to spark your great idea
Staff reports | Lowcountry On the Table, the community-wide discussion held at hundreds of locations across the region on Oct .4, will offer “Spark Grants” of up to $500 to people who want a little help to get a great idea going.
And it’s pretty darned easy to apply. Instead of being burdened with a bunch of bureaucratic mumbo jumbo, all you have to do is make a short video on your cell phone of what you want to do and send it to the fine folks at Lowcountry On the Table.
But you can’t submit it until Oct. 4. And you’re really supposed to only do it if you are participating in one of the discussions around the community on that date.
As the folks at Lowcountry On the Table will tell you, applications need “no paper or stamps – just a quick shot of your tablemates talking about how they will make a difference in our community.” (See – you’re supposed to attend to get a shot at the money.)
The Spark Grant program is being funded by the S.C. Federal Credit Union to help “spark” some good, simple ideas that need just a little bit of money to make a difference. Videos of the Spark Grant finalists will be available online and on social media.
- To learn more about how to send your Spark Grant video (on Oct. 4!) to Lowcountry On the Table, visit this web page: https://www.lowcountryonthetable.org/spark
- To learn how to host a table or join a discussion, click here.
In other Good News:
Helping hands. A host of Lowcountry mayors have formed a Hurricane Florence Disaster Relief Fund in coordination with the Coastal Community Foundation. Hats off to mayors from (in alphabetical order): Charleston, Folly Beach, Goose Creek, Harleyville, Isle of Palms, James Island, Kiawah Island, McClellanville, Mount Pleasant, North Charleston, Reevesville, St. George, Sullivan’s Island and Summerville. To make a donation, click here.
Year of Women. The College of Charleston will celebrate 100 years of women on campus since 13 women joined the school in the fall of 1918. Throughout the current academic year, the college will host a series of events, speakers, seminars and more to mark the centennial. “The College of Charleston is proud and fortunate to have had countless women leave their mark not only on our remarkable university, but this country and the world,” said Interim President Steve Osborne. To learn about all of the events for the year-long celebration, click here.
Blood needed. The American Red Cross has put out a call for blood donations after more than 200 blood drives were forced to cancel because of the potential impact of Hurricane Florence in the Charleston area. Donors of all blood types are urged to make an appointment to give blood or platelets and replenish the blood supply. Appointments can be made by using the Blood Donor App, visiting RedCrossBlood.org or calling 1-800-RED CROSS (1-800-733-2767).
FEEDBACKSend us your thoughts or what you love
We’d lover to get your impact in one or more ways:
Send us a letter: We love hearing from readers. Comments are limited to 250 words or less. Please include your name and contact information. Send your letters to: editor@charlestoncurrents.com. | Read our feedback policy.
Tell us what you love about the Lowcountry. Send a short comment – 100 words to 150 words – that describes something you really enjoy about the Lowcountry. It can be big or small. It can be a place, a thing or something you see. It might the bakery where you get a morning croissant or a business or government entity doing a good job. We’ll highlight your entry in a coming issue of Charleston Currents. We look forward to hearing from you.
MYSTERY PHOTO: Top of a building
After two weeks of relatively easy mysteries, this one might be tough. So tough, in fact, that you might need a hint: It’s somewhere in South Carolina but not in the Charleston area. Send your guess to: editor@charlestoncurrents.com. And don’t forget to include your name and the town in which you live.
Our previous Mystery Photo
Our Sept. 17 mystery showed a different kind of 21 Club located at 21 Magazine Street in Charleston – site of the Old City Jail. Congrats to all of the photo sleuths who identified the old building: Stephen Yetman of Charleston; Marnie Huger of Richmond, Va.; Chris Brooks and Tom Martin, both of Mount Pleasant; Paul Hedden and Archie Burkel, both of James Island; George Graf of Palmyra, Va.; and Bill Segars of Hartsville. Thanks also to Dale Rhodes of Richmond, Va., for suggesting the jail as a mystery photo.
Burkel said she believe the old jail is the most haunted building in the country. Segars told us the jail was originally built as the county’s jail and was used by the county until 1939.
Graf shared a story that we didn’t know: “The infamous Lavinia Fisher was held in the Old Charleston Jail. According to findagrave.com, Lavinia Fisher was hanged in 1820 but the crime was highway robbery— a capital offense at the time—not murder. She was a member of a large gang of highwaymen who operated out of two houses in the Backcountry outside of Charleston, the Five Mile House and the Six Mile House. The legend of Lavinia Fisher had probably already started but her (true) last words to the crowd at her hanging guaranteed her immortality: ‘If you have a message you want to send to hell, give it to me—I’ll carry it.’”
- Send us a mystery: If you have a photo that you believe will stump readers, send it along (but make sure to tell us what it is because it may stump us too!) Send it along to editor@charlestoncurrents.com.
HISTORY: Artist William Halsey
From the cover of a monograph of a 1972 retrospective show of Halsey’s work.
S.C. Encyclopedia | Born in Charleston on March 13, 1915, Halsey was the son of Ashley Halsey and Eleanor Loeb. His father was a partner in the Halsey Lumber Company. Educated in Charleston schools, in 1928 Halsey became a youthful protégé of the Charleston Renaissance artist Elizabeth O’Neill Verner. He attended the University of South Carolina for two years before going to the Boston Museum School (1935–1939), where he studied anatomy and fresco painting.
On June 5, 1939, he married Sumter native and fellow artist Corrie McCallum. The couple had three children. In 1939 and 1940, he spent18 months in Mexico on a Paige Fellowship from the Museum School. Returning to the Southeast he taught for a short period in Charleston before moving to Savannah to direct the art school at the Telfair Academy. He settled in Charleston permanently in 1945 and supported himself by teaching, first at the Gibbes Art Gallery and then independently. From 1972 until his retirement in 1984, he was artist in residence at the College of Charleston, where the William Halsey Gallery at the Simons Center for the Arts is named in his honor.
Halsey traveled extensively, funded by friends and supporters who were rewarded with a work of art in return for their modest subventions. The Yucatán peninsula in Mexico was one of his favorite destinations, but he also went to Greece, Spain and Morocco. In 1971, with McCallum, he published A Travel Sketchbook, an annotated selection of their drawings, and in 1976 he issued Maya Journal. Halsey’s early work gained critical attention in several New York exhibitions.
Unlike his predecessors who emphasized charm and sunlight in their portrayals of Charleston, Halsey reveled in the decay, colors, and textures offered by the old city. It was precisely these qualities that inspired the nonrepresentational work that dominated his mature output. Instead of painting conventionally in oil on canvas, he elected to use Masonite, which provided a firm backing for his frequent reworkings of the surface. The firmness of the support was advantageous when he added collage elements, such as old paint rags, torn and stained bits of his own clothing, and African textiles given to him by his friend Merton Simpson, a dealer in African art. About 1964, Halsey began to translate his collages into three-dimensional sculptures, largely totemlike assemblages, made from scraps of wood and later metal. Late in his career he worked with oil pastels on paper in a bright range of colors enlivened by expressionist gestures.
A prolific artist, Halsey was active in arts organizations in the state, such as the Guild of South Carolina Artists, and his work was regularly included in a broad range of exhibitions across the Southeast. The Greenville County Museum of Art organized two major exhibitions: in 1972 a retrospective of his work and in 1999 a posthumous exhibition. Halsey is represented in the collections of the Gibbes Museum of Art, the South Carolina State Museum, the Columbia Museum of Art, the Greenville County Museum of Art, and the College of Charleston. Halsey died on Feb. 14, 1999, in Charleston.
— Excerpted from an entry by Martha R. Severens. This entry hasn’t been updated since 2006. To read more about this or 2,000 other entries about South Carolina, check out The South Carolina Encyclopedia, published in 2006 by USC Press. (Information used by permission.)
ON THE CALENDARCALENDAR: Sign up to host a Lowcountry On the Table gathering
Staff reports | You’re encouraged to host a small-group discussion in your home, at your church, in a local restaurant or in a library anytime on Oct. 4 to take part in Lowcountry On The Table, a citizen-driven process to identify issues and suggest solutions.
Organizers of the tri-county event, the Library Foundation of the Lowcountry, are hoping to engage thousands of area residents in what could be considered a huge local focus group to provide input to local nonprofits and governments on what people believe really matters in the Lowcountry.
Open to the public, the day-long event invites thousands of residents and “table hosts” to break bread while discussing and recording ways to make the Lowcountry a better place. Top ideas and recommendations from Oct. 4 will be awarded Spark grants to enact change, made possible from the Library Foundation of the Lowcountry.
Determine a location for friends, family, colleagues, and neighbors to meet for a mealtime conversation on Thursday, Oct. 4. This could be at a restaurant, over a home-cooked meal, a potluck, cups of coffee or whatever works for a (recommended) group of 8-12 people.
Visit www.lowcountryonthetable.org/hosting to register as a host, subscribing for weekly updates on how to deliver a meaningful experience. Hosts will be encouraged to gently guide their table’s discussion to wherever their guests want to go, while providing materials to record key topics.
- For more information visit lowcountryonthetable.org, call (843) 608-1223 and follow updates on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram. The official hashtag for the event is #OnTheTableSC.
Also on the Calendar:
ACLU SC celebrates 50. 6:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m., Sept. 27, Republic Garden & Lounge on King Street, Charleston. The South Carolina office of the ACLU will hold an anniversary celebration with a keynote speech from Faiz Shakir, national political director of the ACLU. He is expected to provide updates on national community engagement efforts. More.
Huck Finn Fishing Festival: Starts 8:30 a.m. Sept. 29, Colonial Lake, Charleston. The Charleston Parks Conservancy will host Moultrie Family Fun Day in conjunction with the City of Charleston’s Huck Finn Fishing Festival. Fishing is open to all kids from 4 to 12 at $3 each. Games will be held at the Moultrie playground through 1 p.m. More.
Latin American Festival: Noon to 6 p.m., Oct. 14, Wannamaker County Park, North Charleston. Dive into the vibrant Latin American culture for a day this popular that will feature Latin American music, dance, art, food and children’s activities. Plena Libre will headline this festival followed by various musical performances and demonstrations by Latin America’s best artists. More info.
PSC ratepayer public hearing: 6 p.m., Oct. 15, Lonnie Hamilton III Public Services Building, 4045 Bridgeview Drive, North Charleston. The S.C. Public Service Commission hold a hearing for South Carolina Electric & Gas customers to air grievances over nuclear surcharge rates. More about the meeting.
Georgetown Wooden Boat Show: 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., Oct. 20; 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., Oct. 21, Georgetown, S.C. Celebrate wooden boats and boating at this community-wide festival that features one of the Southeast’s best wooden boat exhibits with more than 140 classic wooden boats displayed on land and water, children’s model boatbuilding, knot tying, maritime art and crafts, food and music. Free. Learn more online.
C4WNEW: Nov. 15-16, Trident Technical College, North Charleston. This event, the Center for Women’s annual conference, will feature author Elizabeth Gilbert as special guest. To learn more or buy tickets, click here.
Early morning bird walks at Caw Caw: 8:30 a.m. every Wednesday and Saturday, Caw Caw Interpretive Center, Ravenel. You can learn about habitats and birds, butterflies and other organisms in this two-hour session. Registration not required, but participants are to be 15 and up. $10 per person or free to Gold Pass holders. More: http://www.CharlestonCountyParks.com.
AREA FARMERS MARKETS
SATURDAYS: The Charleston Farmers Market, is back in action from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. every Saturday through Nov. 24 at Marion Square. A holiday market will be open Dec. 1, 2, 8. 9, 15 and 16.
SATURDAYS: Johns Island Farmers Market operates each Saturday from 9:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. year-round with more than 50 local farmers and vendors, food trucks, music and more. The market is located on the campus of Charleston Collegiate School, 2024 Academy Road, Johns Island.
SATURDAYS: The Town Market on James Island are again open. Open 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. every Saturday at the James Island Youth Soccer Club, 871 Fort Johnson Road, James Island.
TUESDAYS: The Town of Mount Pleasant’s Farmers Market is every Tuesday from 3:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. through the end of September in the market pavilion at Moultrie Middle School, 645 Coleman Blvd, in Mount Pleasant.
WEDNESDAYS. The West Ashley Farmers Market, 55 Sycamore Ave., is open every Wednesday from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. in Ackerman Park. More.
- If you have an event to list on our calendar, please send it to charlestoncurrents@gmail.com for consideration. The calendar is updated weekly on Mondays.
If you like what you’ve been reading, how about considering a contribution so that we can continue to providing you with good news about Charleston and the Lowcountry. Interested? Just click the image below.
ABOUT CHARLESTON CURRENTS
OUR UNDERWRITERS
Charleston Currents is an underwriter-supported weekly online journal of good news about the Charleston area and Lowcountry of South Carolina.
- Meet our underwriters
- To learn more about how your organization or business can benefit, click here to contact us. Or give us a holler on the phone at: 843.670.3996.
OUR TEAM
Charleston Currents offers insightful community comment and good news on events each week. It cuts through the information clutter to offer the best of what’s happening locally.
- Mailing address: O. Box. 22261 | Charleston, SC 29413
- Phone: 670.3996
Charleston Currents is provided to you weekly by:
- Editor and publisher: Andy Brack, 843.670.3996
- Contributing photographer: Michael Kaynard
- Contributing editor, common good, Fred Palm
- Contributing editor, money: Kyra Morris
- Contributing editor, Palmetto Poem: Marjory Wentworth
SUBSCRIBE FOR FREE
Subscriptions to Charleston Currents are free.
- Unsubscribe. We don’t want to lose you as a reader of Charleston Currents, but if you must unsubscribe, you will have to do it through the email edition you receive. Just go to the bottom of any of your weekly newsletters and click the “unsubscribe” function. If that doesn’t work, please send us an email with the word “unsubscribe” in the subject line.
© 2008-2018, Statehouse Report, LLC. All rights reserved. Charleston Currents is published every Monday by Statehouse Report LLC, PO Box 22261, Charleston, SC 29413.
We Can Do Better, South Carolina!
Like us on Facebook
Follow us on Twitter
Use our feed
Send us your comments
