GOOD NEWS: New museum’s groundbreaking to be Oct. 25

A rendering of what the museum will look like. Source: IAAM.

Staff reports  |  The International African American Museum (IAAM) will have a public groundbreaking ceremony 10 a.m. Oct. 25 with a theme of “Illuminating the African American Journey.”

“For almost 20 years, more than 1,000 individuals, corporations and foundations have been working to bring the museum into fruition,” said former Charleston Mayor Joe Riley in a press release.  “The groundbreaking ceremony will give us an opportunity to express our deepest appreciation to the donors, volunteers and supporters who have worked so hard to get us to this milestone.” 

It’s been a long journey to get to this point, as the museum has raised tens of millions of dollars to turn the dream of a museum into a reality.  As mayor, Riley first announced plans to build the museum in his 2000 State of the City address.

The IAAM will illuminate the story of the journey of enslaved Africans who were taken from West Africa, entered North America in Charleston.  It will show how they endured hardship and cruelty, then contributing significantly to the greatness of America. The museum and a memorial garden will honor the site where enslaved Africans arrived and thousands died.  It will share narratives that have been overlooked in most history books. And it will strive to promote compassion and empathy across all races and ethnicities, according to a press release.

The Oct. 25 ceremony will take place at 10 Wharfside Street on Charleston harbor adjacent to the former Gadsden’s Wharf where the IAAM will be built. The program will last approximately 90 minutes; a reception with light refreshments will follow.

Tickets for the event are free and available on a first come, first serve basis. The public is encouraged to visit the IAAM website  to reserve tickets.”

Prior to the ceremony, you also can attend an interfaith Worship Service at 6:30 p.m. Oct. 24 at Emanuel AME Church, 110 Calhoun Street, Charleston. This service is open. Tickets are not needed. 

In other area news:

Hunter wins big award.   The Charleston Metro Chamber last week announced Dr. Jairy C. Hunter as the recipient of the 2019 Joseph P. Riley Leadership Award, which will be presented at The Honors, the first portion of the Chamber’s annual Member-Bration.  The award recognizes an outstanding volunteer who has, through a lifetime of leadership, committed to making the community a better place to live, work and do business. Through an outstanding dedication to higher education and community involvement, Hunter has demonstrated a lifetime of leadership, the chamber said. Serving as the president of Charleston Southern University for more than 30 years, his impact on everyone he meets is meaningful and long-lasting.

Abrams to retire.  Longtime Charleston School of Law Dean Andy Abrams will retire from his leadership position at the end of the academic year in May 2020, the school announced Friday.  Abrams will remain on the faculty as as dean emeritus and will return to the classroom and resume his teaching on a full-time basis as a professor of law. Charleston School of Law President Ed Bell has been lucky to have Abrams’ leadership. “This school could not be as successful as it has been without the steady hand and guidance of Andy Abrams,” Bell said. “Andy has been able to improve the lives of thousands of young attorneys, and done so with poise and professionalism, something our school strives to imprint on students.”

Literary festival returns.  Book lovers and intellectual adventurers will converge on Charleston Nov. 7 to Nov. 10 when the third annual Charleston to Charleston (C2C 2019) Literary Festival returns. Headlined by Joyce Carol Oates, author of 58 novels and winner of numerous writing awards, the three-day festival will celebrate the written word and the Holy City’s connection with a British literary locale.  The transatlantic literary festival launched in 2017 as collaboration by the Charleston Library Society and The Charleston Trust in England. Events are scheduled at the Dock Street Theatre in downtown Charleston. Tickets for individual events start at $25. An all-access pass of $300 covers all events. For more information and to see a dazzling list of authors attending C2C 2019, visit http://www.charlestontocharleston.com.

Limehouse, Vick eye positions on PSC. Of the 21 announced candidates for S.C. Public Service Commission seats next year, two are ex-lawmakers: Charleston Republican Chip Limehouse, who served in the House 1994-2016; and Ted Vick, a Democrat who represented Chesterfield County in the House from 2004 to 2014. Read more. 

Economists warn S.C.’s growth is softening.  South Carolina’s economy is expected to have softer growth into 2021, economists told a three-member board that forecasts revenues used to build the state’s annual budget.  The state Board of Economic Advisors will offer a November forecast that House lawmakers will use to begin writing the 2020-2021 state budget for the fiscal year that begins July 1, 2020. According to a Friday story in Statehouse Report, BEA Chairman Edward B. Grimball of Edisto Island said the regional advisors “play an important role in our revenue forecasting.” The information from the outside economists will be taken into account alongside staff analysis and board members’ “own knowledge” in determining revenue forecasts, he said in a statement. 

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