By Andy Brack, editor and publisher | Now is not the time for the state’s black legislators to be timid. Now is the time to demand much more than has been on the table in a long time.
For the generations from slavery through Jim Crow and into modern times, South Carolina’s African American population has been beaten down, physically, mentally and emotionally.
By Angelo Geter, special to Charleston Currents Today I will praise. I will praise the sun For showering its light On this darkened vessel. I will praise its shine. Praise the way it wraps My skin in ultraviolet ultimatums Demanding to be seen. I will lift my hands in adoration Of how something so bright Could be so heavy. I […]
By Andy Brack, editor and publisher | Protest is just fine. Violence as a means of protest is just wrong, 100 times over. It accomplishes nothing positive. It emboldens evil.
Here and across the country, racial injustice is splitting America, much like it did five centuries ago. This week, just like in 1968, Americans watched a rocket blast into space and saw cities burn following the grisly murder of an African American man.
By Andy Brack, editor and publisher | The woman and her two children walked into the house, quickly closing the door because it was a blustery winter day. They arrived to celebrate a daughter’s birthday.
The boy joined the other kids. The little girl, much younger, stuck near her mother. She was wearing a coat but had bare feet. Mucus bubbled around her nose. She was whiny. And obviously sick.
IN THIS EDITION
TODAY’S FOCUS: A few life lessons for new graduates
COMMENTARY, Brack: Just wear the dang mask
IN THE SPOTLIGHT: Magnolia Plantation and Gardens
NEWS BRIEFS: State looks at stockpiling medical equipment again
FEEDBACK: Send us your thoughts
MYSTERY PHOTO: Another old image of an old building
CALENDAR: Catch some virtual art events at home
S.C. ENCYCLOPEDIA: Influenza pandemic of 1918
By Andy Brack, editor and publisher | Buried beneath the headlines of coronavirus doom and gloom, you can still find a little good news.
Case in point: Renewable energy produced in the U.S. this year may yield more electricity than power that comes from coal-fired plants for the first time ever. Why? Because more people are at home and businesses have been empty, drained by people hunkering down in the pandemic.
By Andy Brack, editor and publisher | In these pandemic times, the state doesn’t want large groups of people to congregate. Yet it hasn’t expanded rules to allow people who want to shelter in place to vote by absentee ballot on June 9.
This makes absolutely no sense for anyone who has stood in long lines on election day, particularly now that there are more barriers to voting with identification requirements and new electronic machines still unfamiliar to many voters. More absentee voting would limit human contact — and potentially thwart the spread of coronavirus.
By Andy Brack, editor and publisher | With Americans burning up Zoom to conduct business meetings online and keep up with what’s happening in this year of an invisible enemy, you’ve got to wonder why state lawmakers mostly wasted the 2020 legislative session.
By cutting class for two months due to the novel coronavirus, they missed big opportunities to deal with Santee Cooper’s future, state pension shortfalls, teacher pay, educational improvement, the problems of vaping, gun loopholes, opioids and tax reform. The list drags on.
Staff reports | You remember why you’re planning to celebrate on May 5, right? It’s Cinco de Mayo, surely etched into your memory as the 158th anniversary of the Battle of Puebla in which Mexican forces turned back French troops on May 5, 1862. More than 250 soldiers died on the day in what later morphed into a holiday celebrating Mexican heritage.
Here’s a beautiful scene, but where is all of this water? Send your best guess to editor@charlestoncurrents.com. And don’t forget to include your name and the town in which you live.
Our previous mystery, “Pretty little church,” pictured Grace Episcopal Church in the Charleston County fishing hamlet of Rockville.
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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