Community Op-Eds
Celebration or Ritual?
By Dr. William Small, Jr. The practice of effectively organizing and celebrating the importance of events is validated by its existence in all cultures. Celebrations on their face speak to values which define and affirm a people. Christmas, Columbus Day, the Fourth of July, for example all say something about the soul and character…
Read MoreA Public Call for School Board Members to Dismantle Racial Barriers in Education
The status of public education in Charleston County has been the subject of intense though warranted scrutiny by a high-profile report, “The State of Racial Disparities in Charleston County, South Carolina 2000-2015.” Dr. Stacey Patton, a professor of History and Journalism at Morgan State University and acclaimed author, published the report in consultation with the…
Read MoreThe Fine Line
By D.R.E. James I imagine my demeanor to be something like Drake’s on the cover of his magnum opus Take Care. Head down, by his lonesome in the corner of Joso’s dining room. Except at Henrietta’s, I’m not in Toronto. I’m on the wickered, patioed Parisian-feeling patio of Henrietta’s. My waiter greets me; his…
Read MoreFairness
Right and wrong are words that are not applicable to today’s society. We live from day to day in complete denial about what these words really mean. Today as I sat in church I was given a new word: Fair. I came home and referred to Webster for the clear definition of fair: free from…
Read MoreUnited We Stand, Divided We Fall
By John Singletary Yes – Yes – Yes, I know it may sound like a broken record. But this article you must read again and let talk to you. This is an oldie but goodie: UNITY IN THE COMMUNITY. We, the citizens of North Charleston, are facing a pivotal crossroad in the future and preservation…
Read MoreThat Side of Paradise
By D.R.E. James Charleston, crumbling eloquently under the weight of hurricanes, humidity and history, possessed those subtle aesthetic nuances I’m infatuated with–exposed brick, fading hand painted signage and the chipped edge of a claw foot tub. The summer I moved there the city had just completed a dynastic reign as the number one city in…
Read MoreEducation starts with parents but has to include schools to be successful
By Cheryl Cromwell Civil rights trailblazer and educator, Septima P. Clark, said, “I believe unconditionally in the ability of people to respond when they are told the truth,” I share in this belief and the truth, presented in the new data released by Charleston RISE, is that 80 percent of Charleston’s African American third graders who were…
Read MoreA Change is Gonna Come – Must Come!!!!!
By John Singletary, Candidate for Mayor of North Charleston Congratulations to Reggie Burgess and his recent promotion to Chief of Police for The City of North Charleston. It is especially worth noting that Chief Burgess is the first African American Police Chief in the history of The City of North Charleston, since the city’s incorporation…
Read MoreCharleston’s Landscape of Memory: The Gentrification of History
By Robert R. Macdonald The Charleston History Commission’s effort to formulate wording for a plaque intended to place the monument to John C. Calhoun on Marion Square in historical context is comparable to placing a band-aid on a cancerous lesion. The wound here is the landscape of memory presenting a mythical Charleston past almost totally…
Read MoreLeague of Women Voters and the 2018 CCSD School Board Elections
By Melinda Hamilton, League of Women Voters of the Charleston Area President Consider a revolution. It’s time. Start by thinking of 113,000 children, the area’s economy and one of the toughest public service jobs around. What’s the connection? The 113,000 children are students in public schools in Berkeley, Charleston and Dorchester counties. Sooner or later…
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