Local

By Barney Blakeney For weeks murmurs of a political change in North Charleston have been stirring quietly. This week North Charleston House Dist. 113 Rep. Seth Whipper hushed them. The proverbial cat slipped out of the bag several weeks ago when a North Charleston political pundit told this reporter Whipper would be leaving the S.C.…

By Barney Blakeney Next week the 2017 session of the South Carolina State Legislature officially closes. Asked how the session benefited the state’s black constituents, veteran lawmaker Rep. David Mack said succinctly, we’re screwed! Legislators opened the session in January and for the past three months spent three days weekly at the State Capitol, presumably…

By Barney Blakeney Since 1975 the City of Charleston has received tens of millions of dollars in federal Community Development Block Grant funds. Those millions allow the city to conduct various activities that benefit residents such as home repairs and quality of life initiatives. The Trump administration has proposed cuts to the Department of Housing…

“Do you recall the saying ‘sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me?,” asked Angela Rye, principal and CEO of Impact Strategies, which develops tailor-made solutions for high profile clients on Tuesday at Claflin’s annual Freshman Assembly in the W.V. Middleton Auditorium. “But that’s a lie,” Rye said. “Some of…

For the first time in its 69-year history the South Carolina Law Review has elected an African American to serve as its editor in chief. Chelsea Evans, a second-year law student from North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, was elected by peers to lead the esteemed University of South Carolina School of Law publication. “I’m proud…

By Barney Blakeney Columbia Rep. Joseph Neal died unexpectedly February 14. He was 66. Neal’s name may not have been a widely familiar one in the Charleston community, but his work as a minister and legislator in those respective communities was more than familiar. And the impact of his actions was even more widely felt.…

By Barney Blakeney The North Charleston Branch NAACP this week led local participants in picketing the offices of U.S. Senators Tim Scott and Lindsey Graham to show opposition to the nominations of Alabama Sen. Jeff Sessions for U.S. Attorney General and charter school advocate Betsey DeVos as Secretary of the Department of Education. The pickets…

Staff Reports – The game of musical chairs set in motion when former Gov. Nikki Haley became U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations created a trickle down effect that will shape South Carolina politics for the next decade. We asked several local state legislators how shifts in the hierarchy in state government will impact Black…