Charleston Chronicle Exclusives
Fresh Future Farm Land Sale: You Reap What You Sow
By Barney Blakeney In its effort to purchase the land it’s using to grow fruits and vegetables Fresh Future Farm of North Charleston may be sowing seeds of animosity that however still may produce the crop it desires. Since 2014, Fresh Future Farm has produced 16 tons of groceries sold or distributed between 2016 and…
Read MoreBlack Coalition Backing Heyward in Challenge To His Voting Record
By Barney Blakeney The Lowcountry Black Leadership Coalition, a newly formed organization of individuals from the political, religious and activists communities have launched an effort to show support for North Charleston City Councilman Jerome Heyward criticized in recent daily news media articles for his votes on issues those reports say come alarmingly close to…
Read More2000 Acres – No Mule
By D.R.E. James Charleston is to chattel slavery what Las Vegas is to legalized gambling. Magnolia Plantation could very well be the Mirage, Boone Hall is Caesar’s Palace and Middleton Place, the MGM Grand. Both industries built their cities immense wealth from the ground up.The only difference is that one hosts world championship boxing matches…
Read MoreNative Charlestonian Jade Simmons Running For President 2020
By Beverly Gadson-Birch Jade Simmons, a graduate of St. Andrew’s High School, has decided to enter the 2020 Presidential race as an unaffiliated independent. After graduating from high school, she earned a bachelor’s degree in Music (Piano) from Northwestern University in Chicago, Illinois and a master’s degree from Rice University, Houston, Texas. Jade is the…
Read MoreDespite The Rhetoric Joseph Floyd Manor Residents Ultimately May Be Displaced
By Barney Blakeney Though he’s only lived in the building a few years, Michael Waldron has gained a keen sense of the characteristics shaping the controversy about residency at Joseph Floyd Manor Apartments – systemic neglect, finger pointing, grandstanding and apathy. Ultimately it all will end up displacing current residents, he believes. Joseph Floyd Manor,…
Read MoreBlack Folks Must Take COVID More Seriously
By Barney Blakeney The spike in the number of reported COVID cases is frightening. More frightening, COVID 19 is spreading like wildfire through Black communities and with more devastating effect. For the week ending May 30 there were about 1,700 reported cases of the COVID virus in South Carolina. For the week ending June 27…
Read MoreIconic Charleston English Teacher N.C. Williams Passes
By Barney Blakeney A pillar of the Charleston community passed away June 27. Ms. Naomi C. Williams, or “N.C’’ as she was affectionately called by her peers at C.A. Brown High School and the community at large, was a renowned educator in the Charleston County Public School system for over 35 years. She was 94…
Read MoreCharleston Council Votes To Remove Calhoun Statue
By Barney Blakeney Charleston City Council June 23 approved the removal and relocation of the monument to staunch slavery advocate John C. Calhoun. The 115-foot statue has overlooked the street named in Calhoun’s honor from its place at Marion Square since 1896. The statue’s removal comes amidst a national wave of challenges to Confederate and…
Read MoreTedder Beats The Odds And Johnson To Fill House 109 Seat
By Barney Blakeney Despite rallying calls from some of North Charleston’s most well-known politicos, S.C. House Dist. 109 candidate James Johnson lost his bid to succeed Rep. David Mack in one of the most contentious elections of the season. Political newcomer Deon Tedder defied the odds to pull out a victory over Johnson despite challenges…
Read MoreBe Careful What You Ask For, Cautions Kimpson
By Barney Blakeney As protests calling for justice and police reform in the wake of the May 25 police murder of George Floyd in Minnesota continue, a peripheral evolution is occurring since protesters began calling for defunding of police agencies. Charleston Sen. Marlon Kimpson this week offered some thoughts on the subject. Without hesitation,…
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