Charleston Chronicle Exclusives
Charleston Eastside Residents Take Day-Long Trip To The Beach
By Barney Blakeney June 15, some 170 Charleston Eastside residents, former residents and friends were treated free of charge to a ‘Throwback Bus Excursion’ to Myrtle Beach. Crable ‘The Legend’, who grew up on the Eastside, made good on a promise to childhood friend, the late James ‘Reefer’ Wilson, who died last October after a…
Read MoreBetter Business Campaigns Win Seats For Hollywood Candidates
By Barney Blakeney The Town of Hollywood June 4 elected new municipal leadership with the election of a new mayor and two new town councilmembers. Former councilman John Dunmyer upset two-term Mayor Jacquelyn Heyward. Chardale Murray outpaced all the candidates with 583 votes to lead incumbent Althea Salters and Handy Miles Jr. to seats on…
Read MoreInternational African American Museum CEO Departure Part Of Internal Timeline
By Barney Blakeney The International African American Museum is set to move on in the wake of CEO Michael Moore’s announced resignation last week, said Dr. Bernard Powers who temporarily will replace Moore as the developing museum continues to take shape. While some saw Moore’s announced departure as sudden, Powers said it comes as part…
Read MoreRemembering Football Icon ‘Big Mackey’ Goodwin
By Barney Blakeney For many local football fans, Douglas MacArthur ‘Big Mackey’ Goodwin was an icon. Born in Charleston in 1942, Mackey as he was known to most, played high school football as a running back at Burke High School. He earned a prolific reputation as one of the local community’s most indomitable running backs…
Read More“One Thousand and One Nights” Dazzles Spoleto with a Spectacular Dance Theater Performance
By Hakim Abdul-Ali The occasion was a Saturday evening wind down to a successful 2019 Spoleto Festival USA programmatic season culminating with me checking out an 8 PM show at the Charleston Gaillard Center’s Martha and John M. Rivers Performance Hall. The program I observed was officially listed as “One Thousand and One Nights” featuring…
Read MoreMark Turner and Ethan Iverson Bring Chamber Jazz to Spoleto Festival USA
By Hakim Abdul-Ali For six performances during this year’s Spoleto Festival USA Wells Fargo Jazz Series, beginning on June 5 and ending on June 8, 2019, the distinct duo of tenor saxophonist Mark Turner and pianist Ethan Iverson introduced the Festival goers to a more creatively different version of jazz. Most would refer to it…
Read MoreWhere Is Prevention In The Wake Of The Emanuel AME And Virginia Beach Shootings?
By Barney Blakeney As Charleston approaches the fourth anniversary of the June 17, 2015 shooting massacre at Emanuel AME Church, in the wake of the shooting massacre that took place last week in Virginia Beach, Va., I asked two local law enforcement officials what can be done to prevent the violent incidents that have become…
Read MoreCharleston/LDC Settlement Allows For More Affordable Housing
By Barney Blakeney May 30 the City of Charleston and the Charleston Citywide Local Development Corporation (LDC) announced that Mayor John J. Tecklenburg and former Mayor Joseph P. Riley, Jr. have entered an agreement that will make another $19 million available to help address the City’s growing affordable housing problem. May 16 city and neighborhood…
Read MoreDafnis Prieto Big Band Delivers a Powerhouse Spoleto Performance
By Hakim Abdul-Ali When one normally thinks of outstanding Latin musicians, past and current, you maybe a little remiss for not immediately knowing who Dafnis Prieto is. Well, after appearing at the Spoleto Festival USA Wells Fargo Jazz Series Wednesday 29, 2019, Mr. Prieto and his seventeen-piece-big band ensemble left no doubt who they were.…
Read MoreGeri Allen Tribute Quintet: Paying Respect to a Jazz Queen
By Hakim Abdul-Ali Geri Allen was an African-American jazz pianist and composer who died in 2017 at the age of 60. She was renowned monarch in the fields of music and education. In her honor, the Spoleto Festival USA Wells Fargo Jazz Series presented a special tribute to her life and legacy by presenting a…
Read More