Here’s a look at a familiar site — the orange house — often snapped by contributing photographer Michael Kaynard. But in this photo, offered by Courtenay Brack, we see a different view — a long shot from a courthouse alley to focus on a Charleston bike with the orange house in the background. Not only is it interesting to look at how people view the same general subject, but the photo reminds us to try to take new looks at everyday object to appreciate them more fully.
By Andy Brack, editor and publisher | Sometimes the way to clarify where you stand on something is to stretch your brain with the game, “If I were King for a Day, I would ____” and then fill in the blank.
If I were King of the City of Charleston, I would:
* Stop construction of hotels.
* Build the bike lane.
* Build more affordable housing.
* Elevate the Crosstown.
* Transform Citadel Mall into a destination.
By Amy Lowell | FIFTEEN years is not a long time,
But long enough to build a city over and destroy it;
Long enough to clean a forty-year growth of grass from between cobblestones,
And run street-car lines straight across the heart of romance.
Commerce, are you worth this?
I should like to bring a case to trial:
By Andy Brack, editor and publisher | The new Charleston: Too many cranes. Too many hotels. Too much hustle. Too much bustle.
The Holy City’s very success in attracting tourists and newcomers to enjoy its sleepy charm and lifestyle is rubbing off Charleston’s shine. If we don’t watch it, our success in attracting three dozen new people to move into the metro area every day will cause us to become just one more vanilla, metropolitan city filled with a homogenized population of gawkers who happen to live where there’s some interesting stuff to see.
Talented Columbia cartoonist and Statehouse Report fan Robert Ariail sent along this Charleston-centric cartoon, blending the demolition of a historic house that can’t be saved with the ever-present shroud that developers keep erecting more hotels on the peninsula, leaving many residents feeling that the historic area is becoming more of a museum than a city. Thanks, Robert!
History by Christopher Dickey | Fascinating little tidbit of Charleston history with a different perspective on antebellum Charleston, Robert Bunch was British consul in Charleston from 1853 to 1862.
By Andy Brack, editor and publisher | For U.S. Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus, presence matters for “America’s away team” – the almost 900,000 sailors and Marines who comprise the U.S. Navy and U.S. Marine Corps under his leadership.
You see #presencematters in tweets and on Facebook and Instagram. You hear about it in the hundreds of talks given by Mabus as he has traveled 1.35 million miles around the world. Since 2009 when he took office, Mabus has been to more than 150 countries and all 50 states to meet the men and women serving in the Navy and Marines and help the country reconnect with their service around the world.
This Charleston scene might be easy for some, tough for others, but where is this Charleston scene taken by contributing photographer Michael Kaynard? Send your best guess to: editor@charlestoncurrents.com — and make sure to include the name of the town in which you live.
S.C. Encyclopedia | Educator and civil rights activist Bernice Violanthe Robinson was born in Charleston on February 7, 1914. Her father was a bricklayer, plasterer, and tile setter, which made the family financially independent. As such, Robinson’s parents discouraged their nine children from seeking jobs as domestic workers in white Charleston homes. Robinson grew to realize the value of education, a lesson that served her well. She married in the 1930s and had a daughter, Jacquelyn, but her husband left to find work and never returned. During the 1940s Robinson left Charleston for New York City with intentions of becoming a musician. Instead she worked in garment factories, as a beautician, and eventually as a civil servant. In New York she enjoyed the privilege of living in a nonsegregated community.
Letter: “Your column about the need for a City of Charleston logo took me back to the early 2000s when Charleston County government wrestled with a similar issue. The county had a seal that was adopted in 1950 and used as the sole graphic representing the county. It was on buildings, cars, letterhead, etc. With four distinct quadrants, the seal was supposed to depict history, industry, culture and progress, but the images were obviously outdated and many were completely illegible. It became a blob when reduced down to a half-inch wide to fit on a business card, and you couldn’t even read the words “County of Charleston.””
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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