Enjoy Brunch, Honor Dr. King

My twin brother and I are co-hosting a brunch this Sunday, January 18, in Charlotte in honor of the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. The event begins at noon and takes place at Sydney's Martini and Wine Bar in Uptown. We're looking forward to presenting a culturally and socially enriching afternoon, which will include a live band and MLK-themed performances. Admission is free, but RSVP is required at mlk.hollidaysocial.com; the cost of the brunch buffet is $15.

Credit: The King Center

I hope you will join us on Sunday!

READ FULL STORY

I Survived Hurricane Hugo -- 25 Years Ago

This country has been devastated by several fatal and costly hurricanes over the years. Hurricane Katrina, which struck in 2005, is probably the storm that comes to mind first for most people nowadays. But if you take it back to when I was an elementary school kid in South Carolina, there was no bigger deal than Hurricane Hugo.

The category 4 hurricane touched down near Charleston just before midnight on September 21, 1989, and went on to terrorize the Carolinas on September 22, with maximum winds of 138 mph and the eye of the storm was 35 miles wide. Hugo hit South Carolina the hardest, ravishing most of the state. And as it reached Charlotte, it blew out windows from skyscrapers and toppled thousands of trees, among other damage.

This is now the 25th anniversary for what at the time was the costliest storm in the United States' history ($7 billion in damage in the U.S. and Puerto Rico, and another $3 billion in the Caribbean islands), and tragically it killed at least 41 people in this country, with more than half of the victims being in South Carolina.

Here are a few things I remember from Hurricane Hugo.

- I was nine years old, living in the small town of Rembert, SC (located in Sumter County and about 45 minutes east of Columbia). There were a lot of trees in our yard, and as my family prepared to buckle down for the storm, my mom decided to park her black Pontiac Grand Am in a different place than usual, away from most of the trees. There was only one tree in the area where she parked the car, and it was a really big tree. Surely it would sustain from the hurricane. Not! Hugo knocked that tree over smack on the middle of my mom's car, which she'd only had for about a year. It was a total loss.

- Since the hurricane hit overnight, it had pretty much passed through my town by daybreak. Walking outside in the morning and seeing the devastation was like a scene out of the movies. Debris was everywhere, countless trees uprooted, power lines laying on the ground, houses destroyed.

- Hugo knocked out our power for more than a week (I think). The first couple of days of the aftermath we stayed at home, but then as the power loss persisted, we moved to a hotel in Camden for a few days--I think power got restored there before it came back on in my rural town. Since there was no power in Rembert, there was also no water, and I remember plenty of people going to my Aunt Martha's house to get water because she had one of those old-timey wells with a manual pump.

- Schools were closed for several days. That was the fun part.

- People started selling--and wearing--"I Survived Hurricane Hugo" T-shirts.

Credit: Etsy

The Charlotte Observer and The State (Columbia) have each put together a package of news stories, photos, and accounts of people's memories from Hurricane Hugo, in honor of the 25th anniversary. Visit charlotteobserver.com/hugo and thestate.com/hurricane-hugo.

READ FULL STORY

ICYMI: 50 Things Every Charlottean Should Do

Since debuting three weeks ago, the August issue of Charlotte magazine has been a popular topic around the city, led by its cover story on "50 Things Every Charlottean Should Do." The large feature package--encompassing 20 pages in the print issue--is a must-read whether you're a native or a newcomer or you fall somewhere in between. If you're someone who used to live in Charlotte or periodically visits the area, you'll enjoy reading this story as well.

A lot of people have shared the link to the story on social media, often commenting on how many of the 50 things they've done. Personally, I've done 46 of the things on the list during the nine years I've lived in Charlotte (today actually marks nine years ago that I moved to Charlotte from Augusta, Georgia).

Most of the activities, like "Wait in line for Price's Chicken," "Spend a day at the U.S. National Whitewater Center," and "Gain perspective at 1,625 feet," which is about hiking Crowders Mountain, illustrate just how robust and varied the list of activities are that this area has to offer. Others are more anecdotal, like "Be friendly" and "Don't assume everyone works for a bank," providing a little insight into Charlotte's culture and history, the latter of which people tend to not know much about, as this is a city filled with transplants.

I was one of eight writers to contribute to 50 Things Every Charlottean Should Do (and I'm profiled on the contributors page, pg. 14). The feature is also filled with beautiful photography.

READ FULL STORY

LaCa Projects Turns One Year Old, Brings Cuban Art Exhibition to Charlotte

Latin American Contemporary Art (LaCa) Projects opened exactly one year ago this Friday (March 21) in the revitalized FreeMoreWest neighborhood in Charlotte. I've been wanting to check out the gallery for the past year, and finally made it happen last Thursday for the opening of Cuba: Art of the Fantastic. The opening reception drew a great crowd and featured live music and dancing in addition to the amazing artwork.

Curated by Abelardo Mena, Cuba: Art of the Fantastic is said to be the first exhibition of Cuban visual production in Charlotte and the surrounding region. Mena is the curator of Contemporary International Art at the Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes in Havana, and this exhibit brings together four incredible artists: Juan Carlos Verdial, Alicia de la Campa, Alexander González, and Vicente Hernández. "Full of imagination and fantasy, these artists are joined by their eagerness to freely reinterpret symbols of the Cuban culture, of its geography and history, Catholic and African popular religions, proverbs of the Cuban popular idiosyncrasy, and by their deep knowledge and intertextual game with iconic works of the Western, European, and United States, all places where they have gathered considerable momentum," as the exhibit is described in the press release.

Cuba: Art of the Fantastic is on display through May 2. Gallery hours are Monday through Friday, 1-5 p.m., and by appointment.

LaCa Projects, located at 1429 Bryant St., is a great space, tucked away amid other renovated buildings that have been transformed for commercial and artistic uses. Usually when I make my way over to FreeMoreWest, I'm visiting the restaurants along the West Morehead Street corridor, like The Burger Company, Pinky's Westside Grill, and Savor Cafe. But if you make short turns onto South Sumit Avenue and Bryant Street, you'll find LaCa, which is dedicated to the presentation, development, and promotion of Latin American art and culture. The gallery is part of a larger planned expansion that includes artist studios and a cafe.

Ventures like LaCa Projects show that there are many diverse cultures thriving in Charlotte, and you should certainly pay them a visit. For more details, go to lacaprojects.com, facebook.com/LaCaProjects, and twitter.com/LaCaProjects.

READ FULL STORY

CIAA Tournament Will Stay In Charlotte for Six More Years Beginning 2015, Conference Headquarters Will Also Relocate Here

For the foreseeable future, Charlotte will continue to be home to the annual CIAA Tournament. Below is the excerpt of a press release I received via email at 3:10 p.m. today, corresponding with the 3 p.m. CIAA press conference held at Charlotte Convention Center.

CIAA and Charlotte stakeholders rejoice during today's announcement.
Photo by Jon Strayhorn/Media Arts Collective

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (March 3, 2014) – The Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA) and the City of Charlotte have agreed to exclusively negotiate a broadened partnership to include the Men’s and Women’s Basketball Tournament in Charlotte, N.C. The decision comes on the heels of the 69th Annual Men’s Tournament and 40th Annual Women’s Tournament, which was held Feb. 25 – March 1, 2014 and was the ninth subsequent year the event has been held in the Queen City.

The new agreement would commit the tournaments to be held in Charlotte for at least the next six years beginning in 2015. In turn, the City of Charlotte, Mecklenburg County and Charlotte Regional Visitors Authority (CRVA) will provide various benefits, including $1.4 million in funding annually, proceeds from which will be distributed among the 12 conference colleges and universities. In addition, the CIAA will move its conference headquarters to Charlotte in the near future, with specific timing and location to be determined. The relocation will enable the conference, the CRVA and other Charlotte entities to more effectively partner in the community, providing increased visibility for the CIAA and helping to secure enhanced sponsorships benefitting the 12 member-institutions.

“We look forward to forging an even more enhanced, collaborative and positive partnership with the City of Charlotte,” says CIAA Commissioner Jacqie Carpenter. “It’s been a home that has truly embraced the tournament and we look forward to growing the momentum we’ve experienced in these last nine years with renewed vision and energy that will help to shape the next generation of this event.”

Last year, the tournament generated a substantial economic impact for the region with $29.86 million in direct spending and $47.17 million in economic impact. The study was conducted by the CRVA based on widely used best practices from leading economists and the hospitality and tourism industry. A 2014 study will begin soon and will be released upon completion.

“On the heels of such a tremendous tournament, this news couldn’t have come at a better time,” says Charlotte Mayor Patrick Cannon. “I still remember helping to recruit this event to the Queen City more than a decade ago as Mayor Pro Tem so being able to keep it here for six more years is a testament to the depth of our relationship with the CIAA. This economic generator, that attracts tens of thousands of visitors here and infuses millions of dollars into our local economy, will pay dividends for years to come.”

Touted as the third most attended basketball tournament among all NCAA divisions, the CIAA Tournament has become an integral event that the Charlotte community rallies around year after year. Most importantly, it has fostered an important legacy for the future through the funding it has provided in scholarships for the 12 member institutions, enabling students to attend CIAA schools. CIAA has consistently ranked as one of Charlotte’s largest events, only second behind the 2012 Democratic National Convention to date.

Well, this puts an end to the rampant speculation and curiosity as to where the 2015 CIAA Tournament (and the hundreds of parties that surround it) will be held (sorry, Atlanta). You can relive my coverage of 2014 CIAA Week by visiting CharlotteMagazine.com/CIAA.

READ FULL STORY

Like We Always Do At This Time... Your Guide to 2014 CIAA Week In Charlotte

For the fifth consecutive year, I've provided comprehensive coverage of CIAA Week for CharlotteMagazine.com. Each year the parties lists get bigger, and so do the names of the celebrities who are coming to Charlotte to host them. You've likely already been checking out the content over the last few weeks--we began publishing the events lists at the end of January and have been updating them with additional events each week (shout out to Google for driving the traffic).

And today, CIAA Week 2014 officially began.

One thing I take pride in is showcasing the whole story of what CIAA Week is. Yes, for many of you it's about coming to Charlotte for a few days and partying your arse off. But there are also 12 men's and 12 women's teams from HBCUs competing for the CIAA basketball championship at Time Warner Cable Arena, and for many of those young people this is the highlight of their lives thus far. And for a lot of alumni from CIAA schools, this week is about reuniting with their former classmates and with their fraternity and sorority brothers and sisters. Some of them are the second or third generation in their family to attend a CIAA school.

So when you visit CharlotteMagazine.com/CIAA, in addition to perusing the parties lists, take a few minutes to also read the articles about the reunion aspect of CIAA, and about how Miss CIAA 2004 is now a U.S. diplomat. A lot of African-American traditions haven't survived throughout our country's history. CIAA is one of them. Make sure you appreciate it.

READ FULL STORY

Deltas Legacy Film Showcase, Pride Awards, Special Museum Events Take Place this MLK Weekend

As the nation honors the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., here are a couple of annual Charlotte cultural events that celebrate African-American achievement.

11th Annual Legacy of Black Women Short Film Showcase
Friday, January 17, 6:30 p.m. | McGlohon Theater at Spirit Square, 345 N. College St.
The Deltas of Charlotte Foundation, the nonprofit fundraising partner of the Charlotte Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., presents this annual showcase of films written, directed, and featuring African-Americans. This year's event is themed "As the QC Turns" and will begin with a light reception at 6:30 p.m., followed by the films starting at 7:30 p.m. Proceeds will benefit DST's scholarships. Tickets are $30 and can be purchased at the door or online at carolinatix.org.

2014 Lowe's Pride Awards
Saturday, January 18, 6 p.m. | The Westin Charlotte, 601 S. College St.
Pride Magazine presents its 21st annual awards gala. This year's black-tie event, themed "Changing the Game with Business Diversity," will honor an outstanding minority-owned business, a youth entrepreneur, and an organization for its business diversity best practices. Pride has collaborated with the Charlotte Knights for the event--hence the baseball theme. And Queen City Forward, an innovative hub for social entrepreneurs, is the nonprofit beneficiary of the evening. The event will begin with a reception at 6 p.m., followed by the dinner and awards beginning at 7 p.m. Tickets are $212.50, and can be purchased by calling 704-375-955. Visit prideawards.net for more details.

Credit: prideawards.net

And on MLK Day itself, two of Uptown Charlotte's leading museums are holding special events in honor of Dr. King.

MLK Day 2014 - The Legacy is the Blueprint
Monday, January 20, 9 a.m.-5 p.m. | The Harvey B. Gantt Center for African-American Arts + Culture, 551 S. Tryon St., ganttcenter.org
Activities include: the museum's galleries, an interactive exchange with The Possibility Project, mentoring fair, Buttons & Protest Signs: A Drop-In Crafts Workshop, a film screening of The Fade & Discussion, panel discussions, performances, and more. Free and open to the public with suggested $5 donation. Click here for the complete schedule.

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Community Celebration 2014
Monday, January 20, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. | Levine Museum of the New South, 200 E. Seventh St., museumofthenewsouth.org
Activities include: the museum's galleries, film screenings of The Children's March, Viva La Causa, and Freedom Riders; Sunprint workshops, story time sessions; drumming, dance, and musical performances, and more. Free admission. Click here for the complete schedule, and Levine Museum will also hold MLK activities on Sunday afternoon.

Credit: facebook.com/LevineMuseum

By the way, if you're looking for parties and social events during this holiday weekend, just check my Dusk Till Dawn blog.

READ FULL STORY

'Don't Try to Compare Us to Another Bad, Little Fad.'

Kriss Kross, circa 1992. Credit: The Internets

#Bobcats x #CharlotteHornets = #BuzzCity.

bobcats.com.

backbuzzcity.com.

Charlotte Hornets, 2014-15. Credit: Bobcats.com

Explanation of headline: Rap Genius.

READ FULL STORY

You Should Know: 'Destination Freedom' at Levine Museum of the New South

Levine Museum of the New South recently opened a new series titled, Destination Freedom: Civil Rights Struggles Then and Now, that will feature several different exhibits and programs over the next two years. The first three exhibits are on display now, and I had the opportunity to check them out a few weeks ago during a members' preview. The museum is holding an official kickoff event this Sunday, September 15 that you should check out. And even if you can't make it out that day, you'll want to make plans to visit the museum in coming months.

Destination Freedom is Levine Museum's commemoration of several important milestones in the Civil Rights Movement that are each approaching 50th anniversaries between 2013 and 2015: The March on Washington and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech (August 28, 1963); the bombing of the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church and murder of four young girls in Birmingham (September 15, 1963); the signing of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which ended segregation in public places (July 2, 1964); and the passing of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (August 6, 1965). Those historical moments alone signify the importance of the exhibits, but as Levine Museum so greatly does with many of its exhibits over the years, it's presenting them in though-provoking ways along with scheduled events, corresponding programs, and dialogue sessions.

This Sunday is the Destination Freedom Kickoff, an event that's free and open to the public, beginning at 3 p.m. There'll be a panel discussion featuring David Forbes, SNCC member, Raleigh Hall of Fame inductee; Juan Carlos-Ramos, United for the Dream; Dorothy Counts-Scoggins, 1957 desegregation of Harding High School; Tiffany Flowers, director at KIPP Charlotte; and Joshua Burford, LGBT historian researcher, UNCC Multicultural Affairs; and will be moderated by Irving Joyner, NCCU legal scholar and Legal Eagle Review co-host. After the panel discussion, you'll get to enjoy a reception with entertainment by Latanya Johnson and the Sycamore Project, and tour the new exhibits.

Then at 6 p.m., at First United Presbyterian Church, which is directly across the street, the museum is presenting a keynote address by Diane Nash. Nash is a Civil Rights activist and co-founder of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (I learned a lot about SNCC during my Afro-American Studies classes in college), and she'll reflect on 1963 and the lessons for today.

Sunday's activities are free, but reservations are requested at 704-333-1887 ext. 501 or rsvp@museumofthenewsouth.org.

If you can't attend on Sunday, you should make a point to visit the Destination Freedom exhibits soon. Whenever I experience these kinds of things, they always remind me how important history is to what we encounter today. These exhibits, in particular, will show you how much progress in racial equality this country has made over the last 50 years. And while it would be natural to focus on the work that still needs to be done or to complain about things that still aren't fair, I'm inspired by the incredible hurdles and hardships that people before me overcame--it took people of all walks of life to work together--which makes many of the problems we face as a society today seem petty and disrespectful to the path that's been laid before us.

I was also inspired from talking to a teenager at the preview event a few weeks ago. She's a high school senior who participated in "A Ride for Understanding," the four-day, four-city Civil Rights bus tour across the Southeast that Levine Museum took 15 students on over the summer. Part of their experience is documented in the View from the Other Side exhibit that's featured in Destination Freedom. I was inspired by my conversation with the young lady because she, who's white, took an interest in a part of history that's far too often described as "Black History" when it is more American history than just about anything else. Plus, she reminds us that kids today don't harbor the same feelings about race that their parents and grandparents might. They're growing up having friends of all colors, listening to the same music, and sharing similar experiences. So they shouldn't be saddled with views that have been skewed by things they'll never have to experience. These exhibits help them realize how fortunate they are, but also why justice and equality are things that have to be tended to in order to be ensured and preserved.

The exhibits currently on display in Destination Freedom: Civil Rights Struggles Then and Now:

Network of Mutuality: 50 Years Post-Birmingham
(on display until December 1, 2013)
Synopsis: Featuring provocative works by leading contemporary artists and designers, who carefully examine the various social conditions and components that energized the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s, as well as continue the dialogue of race and equality in today's society.

Focus On Justice
(on display until January 26, 2014)
Synopsis: Curated by photographer Byron Baldwin, the exhibit includes photographs documenting the regional Civil Rights Movement as seen through the eyes of Carolina photographers Don Sturkey, Bruce Roberts, James Peeler, Cecil Williams, and others.

View from the Other Side
(on display until February 2, 2014)
Synopsis: Artists and students present works informed and inspired by issues of civil and human rights. Featuring pieces from local artists TJ Reddy, Rosalia Torres-Weiner, Mikale Kwiatkowski, and Antoine Williams, along with pieces from Performance Learning Center and History Active students.

Levine Museum of the New South, 200 E. Seventh St., 704-333-1887, museumofthenewsouth.org, facebook.com/LevineMuseum, Twitter @LevineMuseum.

READ FULL STORY

Did You Know: Michael Jordan Played His First-Ever College Basketball Game In Charlotte

An interesting piece of video footage has been making the rounds on the 'net this week. It's of Michael Jordan's first-ever college basketball game. The game took place between the North Carolina Tar Heels and Kansas Jayhawks on November 28, 1981 at Charlotte Coliseum. A nine-minute highlight video was posted on YouTube in July 2007, but it's resurfaced on people's radars after some major sports websites "dug it up" this week (I saw it on CBS' Eye On Basketball).

There are several interesting things to note about the first-ever college game played by the greatest basketball player of all-time:

• Many sports fans know this, but it's worth pointing out that Michael Jordan used to go by Mike Jordan.

• The game was held at Charlotte Coliseum, which today is Bojangles' Coliseum. Many of you might think of the arena where the Charlotte Hornets used to play, that used to be located on Tyvola Road, when you hear of Charlotte Coliseum. But Charlotte has had multiple venues named Charlotte Coliseum throughout its sports history. When a new sports and entertainment facility opened on East Independence Boulevard in 1955, it was named Charlotte Coliseum. But when a new, larger, 24,000-seat arena was being built on Tyvola Road in the mid- to late-1980s with the primary intent of hosting college basketball tournaments, and Charlotte was awarded an NBA franchise that began playing in 1988, the Independence Boulevard arena closed, and the Tyvola Road arena took the name Charlotte Coliseum (what's now known as Bojangles' Coliseum reopened in 1993). Charlotte sports fans soon gave it the nickname "The Hive" and proceeded to sell out 364 consecutive Hornets home games and lead the NBA in attendance for several years. And then, of course, as the story goes, Charlotte Hornets owner George Shinn moved the team to New Orleans in 2002 because the city wouldn't build him a new publicly funded arena with the amenities and plethora of luxury suites that had become customary in NBA arenas, the league awarded Charlotte another franchise that would be called the Bobcats that started playing in 2004, with a new Uptown arena, eventually named Time Warner Cable Arena, opening in 2005. Charlotte Coliseum on Tyvola Road, not quite 19 years old, was demolished in June 2007.

• And as the above long-story-short continues with its twists and irony, Jordan would eventually become majority owner of the Charlotte Bobcats in 2010, after spending a few years as a minority owner and front office executive with the team. Then this past May, after the New Orleans Hornets' new owner changed his team's name to the Pelicans, and after plenty of Charlotteans lobbying, Jordan made the decision to rename the Bobcats the Charlotte Hornets, which will take effect for the 2014-15 NBA season.

• Got all that? Good. (Whenever I run through elements of Charlotte's history like this, it's primarily for the many newcomers who move to this city each year. Many of whom don't know much about Charlotte's history, even its recent history and how much things have changed in this growing city in the last decade alone.)

• Now, back to the video of Jordan's first game. During the player introductions, we're reminded that another Tar Heel great and NBA legend, James Worthy, is from nearby Gastonia. This was a true "home" game for him, much closer for his family, friends, and former high school classmates than the Tar Heels' usual home court in Chapel Hill.

• The first shot Jordan took in this game, which he missed, looks a lot like the famous game-winning shot he made four months later during the 1982 NCAA Championship Game against Georgetown.

• Early in the game, one of the television analysts makes these remarks about Jordan: "So many things have been said about him. Comparisons to Walter Davis and David Thompson, in this part of the country. That's pretty heavy metal for a youngster of 18 years old. He is talented, and he really is kind of going against the system. Dean Smith normally doesn't start even the most talented of freshmen." Two things about that. I guess we all tend to compare new talent to more established talent, whether it's in sports, music, or whatever. But it's funny to hear that the players Jordan was being compared to at the time were viewed as sort of big shoes to fill, when he would eventually become the greatest basketball player of all-time (and sell the most popular basketball shoes). Secondly, Dean Smith knew early on the special talent he had with Jordan, hence the reason he started him as a freshman. 

• Jordan made his second shot attempt in this game, on his way to scoring 12 points, on 5 for 10 shooting, as the Tar Heels defeated the Jayhawks 74-67 in front of a sold-out crowd of 11,666 fans at Charlotte Coliseum.

READ FULL STORY

MJ's Bringing Back the Hornets; Your Move, Charlotte

So the "buzz" is real again in Charlotte. After several months, heck, even years, of fans wanting the Hornets name and mascot to return to Charlotte's NBA team, Charlotte Bobcats owner Michael Jordan announced last evening that the team has officially submitted their application to the NBA to change their name to the Charlotte Hornets, beginning with the 2014-15 season. They've created a new marketing campaign called "Back The Buzz" and have launched a website, BackBuzzCity.com. The Hornets returning is major news, obviously, for the city, but also for the state, region, across the entire league, and for millions of people who grew up Charlotte Hornets fans.

Photos credit: Bobcats.com

Aside from all the fanfare and away from all the sports reports you're reading, let me tell you what this all really means to you.

In Jordan's official statement, he said, in part: "The response we received during the process of researching this decision was overwhelming and made it clear to us that you wanted the Hornets name back in Charlotte." I believe that. I've lived in Charlotte since 2005, moving here a couple of months before the Bobcats embarked on their second season and first in their new Uptown arena (which eventually would be named Time Warner Cable Arena). Back then, many fans couldn't let go of having lost the Hornets to New Orleans, despite having been granted a new NBA franchise so quickly, thanks to NBA Commissioner David Stern and original Bobcats owner Bob Johnson.

Initially, I was against the idea of Charlotte getting the Hornets name back. I felt like the city and fans needed to embrace this new era, and stop holding onto the past. This was my view, and I'm one of those people who grew up a Charlotte Hornets fan, from my small town in South Carolina. I even chastised Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton in December 2011 for wearing a Charlotte Hornets hat to a Bobcats home game (sitting next to Jordan at that). And, of course, up until a few months ago when the New Orleans Hornets announced they would be changing their mascot to the Pelicans, Charlotte getting the Hornets back wasn't even possible.

After grassroots campaigns like "Bring Back The Buzz" and "We Beelieve" launched a year or two ago and gained momentum, and after I met John Morgan of We Beelieve during the taping of an episode of 282 last year, I started to warm up to the idea. Now, it's no longer just an idea. It's on the path to becoming reality.

The Bobcats are going to have to spend a few million dollars as the team becomes the Hornets--new logos, uniforms, team colors, signage at the arena, around the city and the NBA; new merchandise--which means it's going to be extremely difficult to sell Bobcats gear during the 2013-14 season (expect major markdowns). Essentially by listening to the desire of fans and making this investment, Jordan is showing his commitment to this city and franchise, something that's been questioned in the past. I think some of his moves over the past couple of years, including his many philanthropic deeds in the community (the Book Bus, for example) and the purchase of an Uptown condo and, more recently, a mansion on Lake Norman, have quieted that doubt.

So now the move is on you, Charlotte. You asked for the Hornets, and they'll be yours again. You're going to need to pack out home games during the 2014-15 season, when your newly named team amasses another losing record. This isn't me being negative, this is my presumption based on recent history. The Bobcats finished with the worst record in the NBA in 2011-12 and the second-worst in 2012-13. That's the result of poor decisions and failed moves in the NBA Draft and with trades, and I don't expect the team--which is currently without a head coach--to play much better next season. In 2014-15, I expect the former-Bobcats-now-Hornets will continue to be far below .500.  But you're going to need to cheer them on at TWC arena, because those of you who frequently touted the nostalgia of the Charlotte Hornets often talked about how Charlotte Coliseum had sold-out crowds for several years, even when the Hornets weren't that good (364 consecutive home game sellouts from December 23, 1988 through November 21, 1997, to be exact). Because y'all were excited about the team. (In 2010, as part of Charlotte magazine's "Where Are They Now?" feature, I gave an update on all 15 players and the head coach of the inaugural 1988-89 Charlotte Hornets team, including Muggsy Bogues, Rex Chapman, Dell Curry, and Kelly Tripucka.)

Another thing that's often pointed out is how Charlotte Hornets gear, referred to as retro or throwbacks, saw a resurgence in popularity a couple of years ago and the trend continues today. My "Summer of the Snapbacks" blog post from nearly two years ago continues to get ridiculous traffic, largely from people Googling snapback hats, including the Hornets kind. Fashion is largely based on fads, but you're going to need to show your support by buying the "new" Charlotte Hornets stuff, beginning with the Back The Buzz merchandise Jordan Brand has just launched.

Time to show and prove, Charlotte Hornets fans.

READ FULL STORY

'From Sit-ins to Eat-ins,' Multiple Events Commemorate 50th Anniversary of Desegregation in Charlotte

May is a significant month in Charlotte's history, and over the next two weeks there's a coordinated effort to recognize a brave step the city and its residents took 50 years ago. "From Sit-ins to Eat-ins" celebrates the desegregation of Charlotte that occurred in May 1963. It's great to see that several organizations are coming together to present these events. I hope it serves as a reminder to us that 50 years isn't all that long ago, and if people from different walks of life could work together decades ago on something as serious and monumental as desegregation, most of our issues today aren't as difficult as we make them out to be.

Below are details from the press release, including the list of community events (admission is free, except where noted).

Charlotte made national headlines in May 1963 when Chamber of Commerce members led by Mayor Stan Brookshire voluntarily joined with African American leaders to go two-by-two and desegregate Charlotte’s leading restaurants. This “eat-in” came three years after the sit-in movement had opened lunch counters.

Charlotte Civil Rights activist Dr. Reginald Hawkins triggered the action, leading a march on May 20, 1963 from Johnson C. Smith University to the Mecklenburg County Courthouse and declaring “We shall not be pacified with gradualism; we shall not be satisfied with tokenism.  We want freedom and we want it now.” His call echoed a spirit of revolution dating to the Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence demanding freedom from England, which tradition holds was signed on May 20, 1775, a year before the 1776 US Declaration of Independence.

The successful desegregation on May 29-31, 1963 – a year before the 1964 U.S. Civil Rights act required desegregation of “public accommodations” – pushed Charlotte into the national spotlight. The city’s progressive action contrasted sharply with the massive resistance then going on in places such as Birmingham, where police chief Bull Connor turned fire hoses and police dogs on young Civil Rights protesters that same month. It was a key turning point in Charlotte’s emergence as a major Southern city.

Organizers of this two-week celebration include: Levine Museum of the New South, Mecklenburg Ministries, The May 20th Society, Charlotte Mecklenburg Community Relations, and Mert's Heart & Soul, with assistance from Charlotte Center City Partners, Charlotte Chamber, Queens University, Johnson C. Smith University, and the Carolina Room of the Charlotte Mecklenburg Library.

Sunday, May 19

From Sit-ins to Eat-ins: History Makers Panel Discussion
Several participants from the 1963 desegregation march in Charlotte will be a part of this panel discussion, including the son of Charlotte activist Dr. Reginald Hawkins, who marched beside his father in 1963; Jack Claiborne, who is a long-time reporter for The Charlotte Observer and covered the Civil Rights movement locally; Evan Faulkenbury, who has studied Dr. Hawkins’ life; and Patricia A. Albritton, board chair of Charlotte Mecklenburg Community Relations Office. 2:30 p.m. First United Presbyterian Church, 406 N. College St.

Monday, May 20

March from Johnson C. Smith University to the Mecklenburg County Courthouse
Scheduled speakers include Malcolm Graham, attorney Charles Jones, James Ferguson, Dr. Reginald Hawkins, Abdullah Salim Jr., and Mayor Anthony Foxx. 10:30 a.m. Johnson C. Smith University, 100 Beatties Ford Rd.

Annual Noon Commemoration of Mecklenburg Declaration
Event will include cannons, a reading of the Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence, and a celebration of Mecklenburg County’s 250th anniversary. 11:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. The Square, corner of Trade and Tryon streets in Uptown.

The May 20th Society 8th Annual Speaker Series featuring Isabel Wilkerson
The Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Warmth of Other Suns will connect her research on 20th century African American history with the Charlotte 1963 history. 7:30 p.m. $12. McGlohon Theater at Spirit Square, 345 N. College St., blumenthalarts.org.

Wednesday and Thursday, May 29 and 30

“From Sit-ins to Eat-ins” Event
To mark the city's historic desegregation, some of today’s civic leaders will kick off two days in which Charlotteans are urged to invite someone of a different race to lunch. Throughout Charlotte.

Thursday, May 30

“From Sit-ins to Eat-ins” Community Festival
Music and munchies set the mood in 1963. Participants in the 2013 eat-in reflect on history, share what they’ve learned, and suggest hopes for future. Hosted by Mecklenburg Ministries’ “Friday Friends.” 5:30-7 p.m. Levine Museum of the New South, 200 E. Seventh St., museumofthenewsouth.org.

You can also find details at www.may20thsociety.org and www.meckdec.org.

READ FULL STORY

Look Mom, I'm On a Billboard!

I was honored, and a little nervous, when the good folks at Levine Museum of the New South asked me back in June if I would pose for a new branding campaign they would be unveiling, highlighted by new signage, graphics, and window boxes on the exterior of their building. If you drive or walk past the museum on Seventh or College streets this evening or tomorrow, you'll see many of the new pieces being put into place. One of the first things to go up is this new billboard on the side of the building facing Seventh Street Station parking deck.

The branding makes use of Levine Museum's slogan, "Come To Understand," which it has used for several years, but now presents in a more contemporary way. The museum celebrated its 20th anniversary last year, and this is the first extensive change to the building's exterior since a major fundraising campaign concluded in 2000 with the expansion of the beautiful building you've gotten to know--and come to understand--in Uptown. I think you'll be pleased with these new changes (not just saying this because my likeness is used), which should be completed by this weekend.

New window boxes are under construction. 

Those iconic images in the 12 window boxes facing Seventh and College streets, such as the photos of Joseph Benjamin Ivey, who opened J.B. Ivey and Sons department store in the early 1900s, and Betty Freezor, who hosted a local cooking show on WBTV from the 1950s to 1970s, have been removed and are being replaced with photographs of new people, including myself, and artifacts to showcase the diversity of the New South. Above them, corresponding green-colored boxes are being added showcasing the museum's logo. The building will look especially cool at night, as shown in this architectural rendering below.

UPDATE: Below, me visiting me a few nights later (I promise you I'm not too vain).

READ FULL STORY

'Mummies of the World' Opens at Discovery Place

I went on a media tour of Mummies of the World this morning and it's far more intricate than the King Tut exhibit I remember going to see when I was a kid. Mummies of the World officially opens to the public at Discovery Place tomorrow, November 11 (11-11-11, how fitting for this tomb-esque exhibit) and runs through April 8, 2012. It's the Southern U.S. premiere for MOTW, which is the largest exhibition of real human and animal mummies ever assembled, with more than 150 specimens.

Discovery Place is a science museum, of course, and that's what's really at the heart of this traveling exhibit (Charlotte is one of only seven cities that will show it). It's fascinating to see how these mummies have been preserved for centuries and how scientists study them to learn about cultures, the environment, historical eras, and even diseases.

"The Tattooed Woman" is from Chile, believed to have lived before 1400. She's noted for her unusual tattoos--an oval with a dot inside on both breasts and her mouth.

Walking through the exhibit, you'll experience a range of emotions. One of the first pieces you'll encounter is the "Monkey Mummy." This howler monkey is from Argentina and is believed to have been naturally preserved in the warm, dry environment of the area. But what makes it stand out is that it's displayed with a feather skirt and feather wreath around its head and neck--a fancy monkey it is, that'll have you going "awwww." But as you proceed through MOTW, you'll encounter other pieces such as a South American mummy of a woman and her two children that'll leave you a little sad. These are, after all, the remains of people who once lived.

MOTW is a 12,000-square-foot exhibition so you'll journey through many sections, several of which are defined by the region where the mummies were discovered. I captured a short video, which you can see below, of a display in the European Mummies section. In the video is the Orlovits family, also known as the Vac Mummies, a husband, wife, and son group of mummies from the 18th century who were found in a long-forgotten church crypt in Vac, Hungary.

Admission to Mummies of the World is $24 for adults; $18 for children ages 2-13 (you might want to think carefully about letting small children see it); and, $20 for students with ID and seniors ages 60 and older. All tickets include full-day admission to Discovery Place. For more details, visit www.discoveryplace.org or www.mummiesoftheworld.com.

READ FULL STORY

C-SPAN's Spending the Week In Charlotte

Details below are edited from press release.

C-SPAN is visiting Charlotte for a week starting today, as it chronicles the history and literary life of the city for the cable network’s non-fiction book channel (BookTV on C-SPAN2) and history channel (American History TV on C-SPAN3). Charlotte is one of eight cities being featured in a special series called the LCV Cities Tour. The tour is given this name because C-SPAN producers are travelling in specially designed Ford Transit Connect vehicles, which they're calling Local Content Vehicles (LCVs), that are equipped with digital cameras, editing and other recording technologies, and each member of the LCV team is able to shoot and edit video on location as well as make presentations to the community about the work they do for the network.

C-SPAN Team: Mark Farkas, Tiffany Rocque, Adrienne Hoar, and Deborah Lamb. [Source]

During the week, C-SPAN producers will visit various literary and historic sites, interviewing local historians, authors and civic leaders, including Charlotte Mayor Anthony Foxx and Charlotte Chamber President Bob Morgan. The C-SPAN team will also visit area schools, including Central Piedmont Community College, Providence Day School, and McClintock Middle School. C-SPAN is partnering with Time Warner Cable, the network’s local affiliate, which is helping to organize the week’s many logistics.

A Tuesday, August 30 public kick-off event will be held at Charlotte Museum of History, 3500 Shamrock Drive, with opening remarks at 6:30 p.m. from Time Warner Cable, C-SPAN, and representatives of Charlotte Museum of History. The event keynote speaker is local author and Levine Museum of the New South historian, Dr. Tom Hanchett. He'll discuss Charlotte’s unique history and other topics included in his book Sorting Out the New South City and his most recent work, Salad Bowl Suburbs: A History of Charlotte's East Side and South Boulevard Immigrant Corridors.

The kick-off event will air along with C-SPAN’s other productions during a special Charlotte feature the weekend of September 24-25 on BookTV and American History TV. For more details, visit www.c-span.org/LocalContent.

In the video below, Mark Farkas, C-SPAN executive producer and LCV project manager, explains why they're visiting cities like Charlotte.

READ FULL STORY

'Museums on Us' this Weekend

I think a lot of people are unaware of Bank of America's great Museums on Us program. Here's how it works: By presenting your Bank of America or Merrill Lynch debit or credit card, you're admitted for free into more than 150 participating museums nationwide during the first full weekend of every month. So the next one is this Saturday and Sunday, August 6 and 7.

There are six museums in Charlotte where you'll be admitted for free (each one below links to that museum's website):

• Bechtler Museum of Modern Art
• Harvey B. Gantt Center for African-American Arts + Culture
• Levine Museum of the New South
• Mint Museum Randolph
• Mint Museum Uptown
• NASCAR Hall of Fame

All of these museums, except for the Mint Museum Randolph, are in Uptown so you can easily visit more than one of them in an afternoon. Make a day of it! Charlotte has such a rich offering of museums and cultural arts venues, and more people should visit them. If you're a BofA customer, take advantage of this free weekend and go see Niki de Saint Phalle: Creation of a New Mythology at Bechtler; Live and In Stereo(type) at Gantt; COURAGE at Levine Museum; Attitude and Alchemy: The Metalwork of Gary Lee Noffke at Mint Uptown; and The Great Hall at NASCAR HOF.

The remaining Museums on Us weekends for 2011 are: September 3 and 4, October 1 and 2, November 5 and 6, and December 3 and 4. For more details, visit museums.bankofamerica.com.

READ FULL STORY

'Cotton Fields to Skyscrapers' Keeps Telling Charlotte's Story

I always say that eight out of 10 people I meet in Charlotte aren't from here. I can't say that my 80 percent theory is scientific, but I'm sure you would agree that Charlotte has a lot of newcomers and transplants. I've lived here for almost six years now and because of the work I do I've gotten to know the city really well. But it's easy to get caught up in the present and future and not know much about a place's history. There's no better way to learn Charlotte's story than by visiting the Cotton Fields to Skyscrapers exhibit at Levine Museum of the New South. The award-winning exhibit that debuted in 2001 has just been renovated and updated to reflect the past decade.

Levine Museum tells the history of the New South, which is defined as the period from the end of the Civil War (1865) to today. Cotton Fields to Skyscrapers is its permanent exhibit, located on the first floor, so if you've ever visited the museum you've likely journeyed through it. It's a large exhibit that literally guides you through Charlotte's history from when cotton fields dominated the landscape in the late 1800s and early 1900s to how the economy changed that eventually led to the businesses that built the skyscrapers we see in Uptown today. Or as the museum folks say, it goes from "farm to factory to finance." And along the way, you experience cool artifacts and features such as equipment from a cotton mill, a replica of an old Belk department store, a lunch counter that tells the story of Civil Rights Movement-era sit-ins, the history of integrating schools, the plight of factory workers, how Duke Energy became the largest utility company in the country, and more.

Levine Museum has been celebrating its 20th anniversary since the beginning of the year, and things ramped up this week with an elaborate and festive gala, "Taste of Time," on Thursday that drew hundreds of people, including some of the city's most prominent figures. This week also saw the reopening of Cotton Fields to Skyscrapers, which underwent a three-month renovation. It now contains an additional 750 feet of gallery space, primarily comprised of the new end section, titled "Whirlwind of Growth, 1970s-2010s." In this section, which largely reflects the changes Charlotte has experienced since 2001, you see how the big banks got bigger--Bank of America and Wachovia--and how the latter was acquired by Wells Fargo. You also see how Charlotte has become one of the South's most diverse cities.

A replica of the Bank of America Corporate Center stands tall in Cotton Fields to Skyscrapers.

The exhibit also now features many new interactive components with touchscreen technology. There's the "Remix History" feature, where you can play with digital graphics on flatscreens to manipulate historic photos (it reminds of how the folks at CNN slide things around on their big screens when telling the news). There's also "Picture Yourself in History," where you sit in front of a green screen and have your picture taken to place yourself into an historic moment. The computer allows you to email the photo to yourself so you can have a keepsake (look for these to pop up on people's Facebook pages).

But before you get to all of the cool new stuff at the end of the exhibit, you get to experience a new 10-minute intro film. Sitting in the theater at the entrance to the exhibit, you can watch a video that I guarantee will tell you some stuff about Charlotte you never knew. But you'll likely recognize the names of the voices narrating the film--former Bank of America chief Hugh McColl, NASCAR pioneer Humpy Wheeler, and radio personality Ramona Holloway.

On Tuesday I attended a media tour for the reopening of Cotton Fields to Skyscrapers. Below is a few minutes of video I captured that showcases the new section at the end. Levine Museum historian Tom Hanchett points out some of the new features; then I wander off a little on my own.

You should make sure to check it out for yourself, which you can do tomorrow (Sunday, May 1) during the museum's 20th Anniversary Community Celebration. The free event takes place 12-5 p.m. and you'll be treated to exhibit tours, music and dance performances, multimedia art, photography, family activities, and birthday cake. Levine Museum of the New South, 200 E. Seventh St., 704-333-1887, www.museumofthenewsouth.org.

READ FULL STORY

Black History Tribute: 'RACE' and 'COURAGE' Exhibits

Each day this week, I'm spotlighting a Charlotte-area person or organization that is making black history.

There are two extremely important and culturally relevant exhibits on display at Charlotte museums: RACE: Are We So Different? at Discovery Place and COURAGE: The Carolina Story That Changed America at Levine Museum of the New South. Each of these exhibits gives context and insight into what we think we know, and if you visit them you should walk away with a level of understanding that could shape how you view issues we're currently facing in society.

RACE is a project of American Anthropological Association and is on display at Discovery Place until May 8. The traveling exhibit offers visitors an opportunity to explore the science of human variation, the history of the idea of race, and the contemporary experience of race and racism in the U.S. According to the exhibit and contrary to what we're accustomed to, science has shown that humankind cannot be divided into races or categories. Genetically, humans fall on a continuum--short to tall, thin to fat, pale to dark--and there are no clear places to divide people into groups.

RACE is explored through interactive activities, multimedia presentations, contemporary and historical photography, unique artifacts, and thought-provoking questions. There are more than 30 exhibits and activities in the 5,000-square-foot exhibition. Highlights of the experience include:

• The Colors We Are: Visitors scan their skin and watch the image appear on the screen next to dozens of other visitors. Then, participants are challenged to consider whether skin shade equals race.
• Who’s Talking: Visitors are invited to match voices they hear with people in photos based on speech patterns and inflection. The results are surprising.
• The Hapa Project: Through photographs and words of people who consider themselves to be multiracial. Museum-goers experience issues of race and racial categories.
• Creating Race: Tells the story of how the idea of race was created in the 17th and 18th centuries in response to political, economic and social forces.

For more details on RACE: Are We So Different?, visit www.discoveryplace.org.

Next, we go from race to education--actually to an exhibit that's primarily about race and education. COURAGE is on display at Levine Museum through January 2012. The exhibit tells the story of the Rev. J.A. De Laine and other brave citizens of Clarendon County, S.C., who brought the first lawsuit in America challenging racial segregation in public schools. Combined with four other national lawsuits, the result was the 1954 Supreme Court decision Brown v. Board of Education, which ruled that racial segregation of schools was unconstitutional.

COURAGE is comprised of personal histories, photographs, artifacts, and interactive components, including one that shows you how far some black children in Clarendon County had to walk to school when the local school district wouldn't provide buses for them (nine miles, which is the equivalent of walking from Uptown Charlotte to Carowinds).

Even though the exhibit chronicles a period in our history that those of us who were born after can't even fathom how segregation could've existed for so long, it should help us put our current challenges into perspective. Nearly 60 years later, we still aren't providing equal education to all children in this country, because that essentially is what the Rev. J.A. De Laine and members of his community wanted for their children--and was one of the primary issues during the Civil Rights Movement.

It's also inspiring to know how the De Laine children went on to become college educated and have successful careers, despite all of the hurdles they faced. The Rev. De Laine’s daughter Ophelia is a retired college professor living in New Jersey; son B.B. is a retired educator; and son Joe is a retired chemist. B.B. and Joe live here in Charlotte.

For more details on COURAGE: The Carolina Story That Changed America, visit www.museumofthenewsouth.org.

READ FULL STORY

Black History Tribute: Queen City Tours

Each day this week, I'm spotlighting a Charlotte-area person or organization that is making black history.

When you think of touring a city, you might view this as something for out-of-towners. But for cities like Charlotte in which there are so many transplants, many of us could benefit from a guided tour of this city we call home. Since 1993, Queen City Tours has been leading groups on journeys through Charlotte's rich history. The company offers a variety of tours ranging from its traditional daily city tour, a NASCAR tour, and ghost tour to its cutting-edge Segway tour, where you cruise the city on the two-wheeled vehicles. And one of the most popular among the tours offered is the Charlotte Black/African-American Heritage Tour.

A group reads an historical marker during one of the Pilgrimage tour stops.

On the African-American Heritage Tour, guests are taken on a two-hour-plus tour that includes more than 75 sites that are significant to black history. Those include touring three historic black neighborhoods (Washington Heights, McCrorey Heights, and Biddleville), Johnson C. Smith University, the old Good Samaritan Hospital, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. statue, The Excelsior Club, and more. This tour is offered daily.

And each February, Queen City Tours presents its annual Pilgrimage, which it's been holding for the last 13 years. Each Saturday during Black History Month, the company leads groups on a special tour through Charlotte and Huntersville, highlighted by visits to former slave churches and cemeteries. The final edition for this year's Pilgrimage is this Saturday, February 26, offered at 10 a.m. and 1:30 p.m.

For more details on these great tour opportunities, visit queencitytours.com.

READ FULL STORY

Celebrate Black Music Month

In case you didn't know or didn't remember, June is Black Music Month. And RushmoreDrive.com, "the search engine for the black community," is making it easy for you to celebrate the rich history and contributions African-Americans have made to music.


Among the many features on the special section of RushmoreDrive.com, which is based here in Charlotte (the name of the website comes from the company's street address in Ballantyne), is a blog written by Charlotte native and Grammy award-winning singer Anthony Hamilton. You'll also find daily top 5 picks, black music polls, and videos and photos of your favorite artists.

Visit www.rushmoredrive.com/BlackMusicMonth.

READ FULL STORY