Charleston Currents

Focus

Fordham, left, with Campbell, who passed away Saturday. Photo provided.

FOCUS: Remembering Jim Campbell

By Damon Fordham, republished with permission | Mr. James Campbell, who taught adult education with Malcolm X in the Organization of Afro American Unity, has passed at the age of 96.

I learned a lot from this man. Here are some of his gems of wisdom.

“You give a youngster the power of reading and you’ve put the world in his hands. You must read the literature of the world. Then you can sort out what is garbage and what are gems.”

During President [Barack] Obama’s initial campaign, I complained to him about the large numbers of Black people who dismissed his run as folly. He replied, “Damon, you must remember that the experiences of many of our people has left behind a culture of despair that will take much work to overcome.”

by Special to Charleston Currents · 02/01/2021 · Comments are Disabled · Focus

FOCUS: New Alterman book is joyful look of past and present

By Andy Brack, editor and publisher | Jack Alterman’s new book of photographs is a smashingly awesome retrospective.

The large-format book of 204 pages includes more than 200 photos, some new, some familiar as a frayed, button-down shirt. It’s filled with portraits of people and buildings where crisp, warm light is as much of a star as the subjects.

You’ll recognize Charleston throughout, particularly in portraits of people from all walks of life. You’ll find Joe Riley, Marcus Amaker, David Rawle, Dorethea Benton Frank, Philip Simmons, Jack Bass and Nathalie Dupree. Then comes Harlan Greene, Layton McCurdy, Robert Dickson, Anthony “Tony the Peanut Man” Wright, Tommy Read and Henry Berlin. You’ll find artists Mary Whyte, Jonathan Green, John Doyle and Adrianne King Comer. These are images of strength and character with a smidge of innocence thrown in by the master photographer.

by Andy Brack · 01/25/2021 · Comments are Disabled · Focus, Good news, Photos

King during the 1963 March on Washington. Via Unsplash.

FOCUS: Kick addiction of racism with King’s prescription

By John L.S. Simpkins, republished with permission | In what would be his final speech as the leader of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, Martin Luther King Jr., spoke of sin, addiction and redemption. After rattling off a litany of the preceding year’s programmatic achievements, including effective economic boycotts led by a young Jesse Jackson and what would come to be known as Rainbow PUSH, King shifted gears.

“And if you will let me be a preacher just a little bit,” King importuned as he shifted from organization man to man of the cloth. He then told the story of Nicodemus, the Pharisee who asks Jesus how he could be saved through a dialogue about the meaning of being “born again” or, as the Greek translation would read, “born from above.”

“Jesus didn’t get bogged down on the kind of isolated approach of what you shouldn’t do,” King explained. “Jesus didn’t say, ‘Now Nicodemus, you must stop lying.’ He didn’t say, ‘Nicodemus, you must stop drinking liquor if you are doing that excessively.’

by Special to Charleston Currents · 01/17/2021 · Comments are Disabled · Focus, Good news

FOCUS: Charleston has some really bad drivers, study says

By Samantha Connors | Charleston may be home to some of America’s most dangerous drivers, according to the insurance shopping service Insurify How bad? Fifth worst in the country.

With more people traveling by car this past holiday due to the pandemic, Insurify sought to identify areas with the country’s worst drivers and encourage greater caution.

By reviewing the 2.9 million driver applications in the company’s database, analysts catalogued cities with the highest proportion of drivers with a record of an at-fault accident, driving under the influence or a speeding ticket — or a combination of the three.

Here’s how the Holy City stacked up against the national average, according to Insurify:

by Charleston Currents · 01/11/2021 · Comments are Disabled · Focus, Good news

PHOTO ESSAY: Botany Bay is a Lowcountry treasure

By English Purcell, special to Charleston Currents | Botany Bay Plantation Heritage Preserve and Wildlife Management Area is a Lowcountry treasure, and its “boneyard beach” is one of my favorite places to photograph.

Opened to the public in 2008, the 3,363-acre Botany Bay tract (map)is a significant wildlife habitat with several equally significant historic assets.

The Wildlife Management Area is also an active archaeological site where the remains of two prehistoric Native American shell rings are being threatened by erosion.

by Special to Charleston Currents · 01/04/2021 · 1 comment · Focus, Good news, Photo Essay

FOCUS: The buzz over a local holly

By Toni Reale, republished with permission | The yaupon holly is North America’s only plant source of caffeine that grows from the coast of Virginia to Florida and parts of Texas.

According to a professor of food chemistry at Texas A&M University on NPR, the leaves of this plant have approximately the same amount of caffeine as green or black tea. Theobromine, another stimulant found in yaupon, is an alkaloid that is chemically related to caffeine.

Researchers at the University of Navarro found that the combination of theobromine and caffeine as a drink can result in a smoother experience when consumed. Caffeine and theobromine naturally occur in cacao, which is why the consumption of chocolate can lead to an enhanced mood without the jitters.

That’s why yaupon holly can be the base of the perfect caffeinated beverage for those who may be sensitive to caffeine, according to a journal article in Frontiers in Pharmacology.

by Charleston Currents · 12/21/2020 · Comments are Disabled · Focus, Good news

FOCUS: Protect your pets during cold weather

Staff reports | Pet owners are encouraged to take active steps to protect their pets during coming cold weather. Here are some tips from the Charleston Animal Society to help keep pets safe:

Keep cats inside. Domestic cats are not equipped for cold weather and can freeze, or become lost, stolen, injured or killed when seeking protection from the cold.

Provide warm shelter for feral cats. This can be provided through a variety of resources found in most homes. Simply take some kind of container, such as a storage bin, cat or dog carrier or even a sturdy box and provide it with insulation. For insulation, you can line the container with a variety or combination of things such as a blanket or a pillow, Styrofoam or hay.

Bang loudly on your hood before starting your car. Outdoor or homeless cats often seek the warmth of a car engine. When the motor is started, a cat huddled there can be injured or killed by the fan belt.

by Charleston Currents · 12/07/2020 · Comments are Disabled · Focus, Good news

PHOTO FOCUS: A study in black and white

By English Purcell, special to Charleston Currents | I grew up on James Island and was always fascinated with McLeod Plantation. Its slave quarters were visible near one of only two ways off the island. The owner at the time, Willie McLeod, always sat behind my grandmother at St. James Episcopal Church.

More recently, I took one of the interpretive tours at McLeod. It focused on enslaved Africans and their lives there. I decided to shoot the series from the perspective of the enslaved on a plantation to draw attention to what they saw in their everyday lives. I must note that the enslaved were not just on plantations. Behind just about every big house on the peninsula of Charleston were slave quarters: laundries, kitchen houses, carriage houses and stables.

This series tells a story without words. The title “A study in black and white” has, of course, a double meaning: Black, representing the enslaved, and white, representing the slave owners. I also edited the photos in black and white.

by Special to Charleston Currents · 11/30/2020 · 1 comment · Focus, Good news, Photo Essay

Historians and art enthusiasts believe that when Charleston artist Edwin Augustus Harleston was denied entry to Magnolia Plantation and Gardens, he painted an image of himself in this 1920s panoramic view of the White Bridge at Magnolia, as shown in this close-up view. The bridge, built from cypress in the 1840s, is currently undergoing extensive repair after a mass tree fell on it this summer. A copy of the original Harleston photo is on sale at Magnolia’s gift shop. (Photos by Herb Frazier)

FOCUS: Act of resistance embedded in mysterious Magnolia Gardens photo

By Herb Frazier, special to Charleston Currents | A hand-tinted photograph captures a unique panoramic view 90 years ago of the iconic White Bridge at Magnolia Plantation and Gardens with a glimpse of the pointed cupola of Magnolia’s Main House.

What gives this old-fashioned picture an even more intriguing tinge, however, is a haunting image of a well-dressed artist painted into the photo as a bygone act of defiance against southern racial norms at that time.

Wearing what appears to be a seersucker suit and straw hat, the artist, seated before an easel, is dwarfed by the foot bridge, towering oaks and bushy azaleas in a late 1920s snapshot of America’s oldest garden.

Today, a copy of that original wide-angled view hangs in the sitting room of Magnolia’s Main House where the artist ̶ presumably Edwin Augustus Harleston ̶ would not have been invited for dinner because of his mixed parentage. …

by Special to Charleston Currents · 11/23/2020 · Comments are Disabled · Focus, Good news

FOCUS, Morris: Divided federal government may help economy

By Kyra Morris, contributing editor | History shows the American economy prefers checks and balances. Since 1945, the S&P 500 stock index under a divided federal government has had a 14 percent return whereas under a unified government the experience was 12 percent.

Morris

The 2020 elections are not completely over, yet the probability is for a Joe Biden presidency, a tight GOP majority in the U.S. Senate and a tighter Democratic majority in the U.S. House than before the election as more seats were taken by the GOP. We will have a divided Congress at least for the next two years. Assuming the eventual transition, how will history be written under this administration?

First, political appointments will be meaningful and more competitive, particularly at independent commissions, such as the Securities and Exchange Commission, where personnel is policy.