Charleston Currents

FOCUS: Interest in Slavery to Freedom Tour spikes at Magnolia

By Herb Frazier, special to Charleston Currents | With rapid-fire questions, Georgia nurse Leonza Hudson wanted to know where the enslaved people at Magnolia Plantation and Gardens attended church and cook and were the children taught to read.

He and his wife, pediatrician Tamara New-Hudson, directed their questions to Joseph McGill as he led the couple and eight others through four former slave dwellings open daily during Magnolia’s Slavery to Freedom Tour.

The African-American couple, who lives in Decater, Ga., said they were drawn to Charleston for its history. A Google search steered them specifically to Magnolia for a lesson on slavery. They said slavery was not taught in the all-white schools he attended in Michigan and at her school in Maine.

by Special to Charleston Currents · 09/21/2020 · Comments are Disabled · Focus, Good news

Laborers returning at sunset from picking cotton, on Alex. Knox’s plantation, Mount Pleasant, near Charleston, S.C. Photo by G.N. Barnard. Date of photo likely is 1876-79.

BRACK: This blockbuster report should change your view of history

By Andy Brack, editor and publisher | To better understand why South Carolina is like it is, you need to read The 1619 Project.

This blockbuster re-telling of history not taught in schools likely will provide a new understanding about how America became a country — and how enslaved Africans played a vital role — not just a subservient one — in the creation of our democracy.

by Andy Brack · 09/02/2019 · Comments are Disabled · Andy Brack, Views

A grave marker at a Kinsler family cemetery.

BRACK: Dealing with Southern ghosts of the past

By Andy Brack, editor and publisher, part 1 of 2 | This is the story of three cousins. Well, they’re pretty sure they’re all cousins because they think they are linked genetically to the same man. But they’re not 100 percent sure because some of the records are lost.

They do know, however, that they’re linked by circumstance and family to that man, a South Carolina plantation owner who moved his family and 14 slaves to Florida before the Civil War. Later he moved back to the Palmetto State, signed the state’s Ordinance of Secession, fought and served in the state Senate.

by Andy Brack · 06/17/2019 · 1 comment · Andy Brack, Views

6/17: Building our future; Ghosts of past; New voting machines

IN THIS ISSUE:

FOCUS, Morris: Let’s work proactively to build a brighter Charleston future
COMMENTARY, Brack: Dealing with Southern ghosts of the past
IN THE SPOTLIGHT: Magnolia Plantation and Gardens
ANOTHER VIEW, McCoy-Lawrence: Voters aren’t getting voting system they deserve
GOOD NEWS: Remembering a Revolutionary victory, more
FEEDBACK: On a liberal arts education
MYSTERY PHOTO: Mystery box building
S.C. ENCYCLOPEDIA: Slavery in South Carolina
CALENDAR: Charleston Carifest to start June 20

by Charleston Currents · 06/17/2019 · Comments are Disabled · Full issue

FOCUS: Group calls for Tuesday passage of slavery apology resolution

By SJRE Collaborative leaders, special to Charleston Currents | For the past 15 months, the Social Justice Racial Equity Collaborative convened by the Sophia Institute has hosted duet conversations with local black and white leaders sharing their personal perspectives and truths.

On Tuesday, June 19, passage of the Resolution to Recognize, Denounce, and Apologize for the City’s role in the Institution of Slavery offers a chance for the Charleston region to begin to share its truth.

We hope you will lend your voice in support and stand with us.

by Special to Charleston Currents · 06/18/2018 · 1 comment · Focus, Good news

6/18, full issue: Slavery apology; Governor’s runoff; Private 529 plans

IN THIS ISSUE | June 18, 2018

FOCUS, Group calls for Tuesday passage of slavery apology resolution
COMMENTARY, Brack: Is S.C. ready for a political pig in a poke?
IN THE SPOTLIGHT: Charleston Gaillard Center
MONEY, Morris: Prepaid tuition 529 plans offer flexibility over 529 savings plans
WHAT WE LOVE, Burkel: Charleston brings out the best in us
FEEDBACK: On ferries, Michaux mural and governor’s race
MYSTERY PHOTO: A house that may look familiar
S.C. ENCYCLOPEDIA: Peaches, our state fruit
CALENDAR, June 18+: Portrait unveiling, jazz, yoga, book sale

by Andy Brack · 06/17/2018 · Comments are Disabled · Full issue

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

FOCUS: New museum slated to start construction in summer

By Andy Brack, editor and publisher | Construction is expected to begin this summer for the $100 million International African American Museum on the Charleston site where an estimated 100,000 West Africans disembarked into slavery.

“This is an unusual opportunity for the city … to create something of enormous value to our country,” former Charleston Mayor Joe Riley told members of the Rotary Club of Charleston last week “We American’s don’t understand African American history. It’s important for the nation to be well-grounded in itself, its people, their contributions and their history.”

Charleston was an epicenter of the international slave trade at its peak …

by Andy Brack · 01/29/2018 · Comments are Disabled · Focus, Good news