'Museums on Us' this Weekend - October 5 and 6

In case you didn't know, through Bank of America's Museums on Us program, bank cardholders can visit more than 150 museums nationwide for free during the first full weekend of each month, including five Charlotte museums. The next opportunity is this Saturday and Sunday, October 5 and 6.

The Mint Museum Uptown. Credit: Facebook

Below is the list of participating Charlotte museums:

Bechtler Museum of Modern Art, 420 S. Tryon St., 704-353-9200, bechtler.org.

Harvey B. Gantt Center for African-American Arts + Culture, 551 S. Tryon St., 704-547-3700, ganttcenter.org.

Levine Museum of the New South, 200 E. Seventh St., 704-333-1887, museumofthenewsouth.org.

The Mint Museum Randolph, 2730 Randolph Rd., 704-337-2000, mintmuseum.org.

The Mint Museum Uptown, 500 S. Tryon St., 704-337-2000, mintmuseum.org.

All you have to do is show your Bank of America or Merrill Lynch card and photo ID at the admissions counter at any of the participating museums to be admitted for free. It would also be convenient for you to visit more than one of the museums during an outing because four of the five venues are located within walking distance of each other in Uptown (all except for the Mint Randolph location).

Harvey B. Gantt Center. Credit: Facebook

For more details on Museums on Us, visit museums.bankofamerica.com.

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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.

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'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.

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Levine Museum Takes You From 'Murphy to Manteo', a Culinary Trip Without Leaving the Museum: April 11

Levine Museum of the New South puts on one of the best cultural events each spring with its annual Taste of the New South. It's the museum's signature fundraiser, and the organizers come up with creative ideas to make it fresh and exciting each year. This year's Taste of the New South event is themed "Murphy to Manteo," and guests will be taken on a culinary and cultural trip across the state without leaving Charlotte, or the museum for that matter, when they visit on Thursday, April 11.

Click on image for larger view.

First off, bring your appetite. In fact, on Thursday skip lunch. Working closely with the TOTNS planning committee, Best Impressions Caterers have put together an impressive and diverse menu for the evening. There'll be numerous hors d'oeuvres, such as Southern-style egg rolls, fried green tomatoes, and fried oysters; hefty servings of Eastern vs. Western North Carolina barbecue (guests will get to vote) paired with your favorite fixings like mac-n-cheese and hush puppies; a calabash station featuring fried flounder and jumbo crab cakes; and more.

For your sweet tooth, there'll be a dessert station with popular items from the North Carolina State Fair, including fried apple hand pies, banana pudding shots, red velvet funnel cake, and Coca-Cola cake, to name a few. Games will accompany the state fair flair, and you can expect to find varying decor and activities (like a pie-eating contest and kissing booth) in each of the rooms throughout the museum to accentuate the menu items.

Because you'll need something to wash down all of this great food, you'll enjoy an assortment of Southern tea and lemonade cocktails, along with local craft beer and wine. An eclectic mix of live entertainment is planned throughout the evening.

Taste of the New South truly is one of the most entertaining, belly-pleasing events you'll come across in Charlotte. The event begins at 6 p.m. on Thursday. Tickets to the event are $85 for Levine Museum members, $100 for nonmembers, and that includes all of the aforementioned food, drinks, and activities. You can buy tickets in advance at www.museumofthenewsouth.org. Great prizes will be raffled away--including weekend getaways, jewelry, and tickets to sporting events--and raffle tickets can be purchased for $25 each.

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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).

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Youth Expressions Summit (Y.E.S.) this Saturday

If you have teenage children, relatives, or encounter them in youth groups or activities, you should encourage them to attend the Youth Expressions Summit (Y.E.S.) taking place this Saturday, November 19. It's a free event for students ages 12 to 19 that will allow them to discuss and engage in many of the issues they face as young people growing up in this crazy, fast-paced world today.

Here's an excerpt of the official description of the event:

Levine Museum of the New South, as part of its New COURAGE project, invites students ages 12 to 19 to come show your courage at the Youth Expressions Summit (Y.E.S.). Join hundreds of fellow students as you explore the issues today and the guts to face them—the things that matter to you as individuals, in your schools, in your communities, and in your world. Designed by teens, the summit focuses on a host of hot topics, from cliques to bullying, dating-violence to sexting, immigration to re-segregation, peer pressure to personal advocacy, and much more.

Levine Museum is partnering with ASPIRE Youth Leadership and Development Program, Girl Talk Foundation, Inc., Planned Parenthood of Charlotte/Teens Taking Action, and UNC Charlotte's Department of Public Health Sciences to present the Y.E.S. Summit.

Youth Expressions Summit (Y.E.S.)
Saturday, November 19, 2011
9 a.m.-2 p.m.
UNC Charlotte, College of Health and Human Services Building, 9601 University City Blvd.
Free; registration required at www.yessummit.eventbrite.com or the morning of the event.
www.facebook.com/NewCourage

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Wells Fargo Community Celebration Saturday—Huge

Wells Fargo, which recently completed its conversion of Wachovia signs and banking locations to Wells Fargo nationwide with Charlotte and North Carolina being the final changeovers this month, is throwing the largest cultural arts festival I think this city has ever seen. The Wells Fargo Community Celebration takes place this Saturday in Uptown Charlotte, featuring more than 60 performances and events, and it's all free to the public.

Wells Fargo, which now employs about 20,000 people in Charlotte and nearly 30,000 in the state thanks to its acquisition of Wachovia, has partnered with the Arts & Science Council (ASC) and Charlotte Center City Partners for this all-day celebration. There will be live art demonstrations, a street festival featuring LEGO sculptures, a chalk art competition, stage plays, dance shows, and concerts such as those by Nicci Canada and headlining act, jazz great Branford Marsalis.

Branford Marsalis headlines the celebration Saturday. Credit: facebook.com/branfordmarsalis.

Wells Fargo is also underwriting free admission into several Uptown cultural facilities on Saturday, including: Bechtler Museum of Modern Art, Discovery Place, Harvey B. Gantt Center for African American Arts + Culture, Levine Museum of the New South, McColl Center for Visual Art, The Light Factory, and more. Plus, the celebration will commemorate the opening of the Wells Fargo History Museum in Three Wells Fargo Center, which honors Charlotte and North Carolina's rich banking heritage in addition to telling the history of the San Francisco-based bank.

The main hub for the activities will be the Levine Center for the Arts, so you'll want to make your way there Saturday as a starting point. CATS Gold Rush, the free center city trolley on wheels, is operating a special route to help attendees maneuver easily to the various facilities and events. You can find a detailed list of all of Saturday's events here on the ASC's website, including this printable event guide and information on parking.

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Civil Rights Pioneer Sylvia Mendez Speaks Wednesday

This Wednesday evening, October 5, you have the opportunity to be enlightened on some important issues from our country's history that are still prevalent today.

Levine Museum of the New South presents "Para Todos los Niños/For All the Children: Access to Education, Then, Now, and in the Future," featuring a conversation with Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient Sylvia Mendez and The Honorable Judge Albert Diaz. They'll explore educational access and community equity. The event, sponsored by Norsan Multimedia, takes place 7 p.m. at McGlohon Theater at Spirit Square, 345 N. College Street. Admission is free.

Sylvia Mendez received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in February.

Featured in Levine Museum's current exhibit about the 1946 Mendez v. Westminster School District court case, Sylvia Mendez learned about discrimination at a very young age. When she was eight years old, her parents attempted to enroll her in a local all-white school close to her home. She was denied admission and directed to the all-Mexican school in their California community, a school with significantly fewer resources. Sylvia's parents refused. Her father, Gonzalo Mendez, a Mexican immigrant, and her mother Felicitas Mendez, a Puerto Rican immigrant, decided to sue the school district, The subsequent case Mendez v. Westminster led to a landmark decision in the fight against educational segregation. Many commentators say the case was won largely based on young Sylvia’s testimony.

Admission is free; reservations recommended. To reserve seats, contact 704-333-1887 ext. 240 or lfairbrother@museumofthenewsouth.org.

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Vote Today, Shout Tonight

Elections in Charlotte City Council primaries are taking place today until 7:30 p.m. I know many of you are planning to vote in the general elections in November, but today is the first step to ensuring the city council candidate of your choice makes it onto the ballot. There are five contested races today: At-large, District 2, District 3, District 5, and District 7. Click here to read The Charlotte Observer's breakdown of the races and links to their political coverage. You can also find important details, such as voting locations, on the Mecklenburg County Board of Elections website, www.meckboe.org.

Then later this evening, treat yourself to a jubilant event. The eighth annual Gospel Shout! is like a celebration of the return to fall. As always, the concert is free, and features religious "roots music" featuring a cappella singing plus the high-energy trombone "shout band" tradition found at the United House of Prayer. It always reminds me of a performance you would see in the streets of New Orleans (watch the YouTube clip below of the Charlotte band). You can make an entire evening of it and enjoy a soul-food dinner (approximately $10) in the House of Prayer cafeteria. Dinner begins serving at 6 p.m.; concert begins 7:30 p.m. This event is presented by Levine Museum of the New South and Charlotte Center City Partners. United House of Prayer for All People, 2321 Beatties Ford Road.

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'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.

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Intolerance In Norway Looks Familiar

I avoided watching most of the news coverage over the weekend of the mass bombing and shooting spree that took place in Norway on Friday. Even though it happened in a country where we usually don't hear about any violence, when the story broke it seemed like another tragic account of hate and mass murder that unfortunately dominates world news. Finally, yesterday I began to watch the news stories and read some of the published reports about Anders Breivik and the carnage he left behind (death toll is currently at 76). By Monday, the narrative began to focus on why this maniac did what he did. From what I understand, he wanted to lead a violent revolution against multiculturalism, more specifically Muslim integration, in Europe. A New York Times article sums up the tension that had been building in Norway concerning immigration:

Norway has recently tightened its liberal immigration and asylum rules in the midst of a longstanding debate about assimilation and multiculturalism. Despite Norway’s oil wealth and low unemployment, there has been a growing concern over the increasing size of the Muslim population... But the Muslim population is growing, and Islam is now the country’s second-largest religion. The impact of an increasing, and increasingly visible, Muslim population in a relatively monoethnic, liberal and egalitarian Norway has led to a surge in popularity for the anti-immigration Progress Party, now the second-largest party in Parliament. And it appears to have been one of the triggers to the massacre carried out here on Norway’s white elite. The suspect, Anders Behring Breivik, claims he was compelled to act by the failure of mainstream politicians — including those in the Progress Party — to stem the Islamic tide.

The article goes on to state that Norway’s immigrant population nearly tripled between 1995 and 2010. And I've seen a few news reports of Norwegians interviewed who don't like that so many Muslims have moved into their country of just under five million people.

This all reminded me of a documentary I saw last October during a special screening at Levine Museum of the New South. The film is titled Welcome to Shelbyville and depicts a small Tennessee town that historically was mostly populated by whites and blacks, but in recent years had seen an influx of Latinos and Somali refugees. Because of their Muslim faith, the Somalis are met with increased resistance from the townspeople. Some locals say they feel threatened by them ("they're going to start blowing up in Shelbyville next"), blame them for the overcrowding of schools, and say they bring down property values. Some of the allegations are even published in the local newspaper.

Welcome to Shelbyville reminds us how race, religion, and cultural differences can divide people before they even attempt to get to know or understand each other. What happened in Norway reminds us how far some will go with intolerance and hate. Fortunately, the Shelbyville film shows people in the town making progress--though it is a work in progress. You should watch the 60-minute documentary, directed and produced by Kim A. Snyder along with the BeCause Foundation and Active Voice. After you do, think about your own views on immigrants, who have become our neighbors in Charlotte and throughout the South. You might be able to catch the film airing again soon as part of PBS' Independent Lens series. It's also available on DVD. You can view the trailer below.

For more details, visit www.shelbyvillemultimedia.org.

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Free Community Workshops, Plus Sister Souljah

There are some great, free events for the community this weekend you should know about, if you weren't already aware. Tomorrow morning (Saturday, June 11) the Urban League of Central Carolinas Young Professionals Auxiliary is presenting Health Focus: Know Your Numbers. Also, tomorrow afternoon, the Charlotte Area Association of Black Journalists (CAABJ) is presenting its Sixth Annual Secrets to Accessing the Media Workshop. And tonight, recently added, you can meet Sister Souljah.

The Health Focus event will be held 10 a.m.-12 p.m. Saturday at the Urban League, 740 W. Fifth St. It will be an informative session on what you need to know to achieve living a healthy lifestyle, presented in partnership with Carolinas Medical Center-Mercy. Registered nurse and personal trainer Dave Eaker will discuss body mass index (BMI), body fat, and information on African-American health disparities. There will also be free blood pressure checks, weight and BMI screenings, and a healthy brunch will be provided. Organizers suggest that attendees wear workout attire. Click here for more details.

Then from 1-3 p.m. Saturday at Levine Museum of the New South, 200 E. Seventh St., CAABJ is holding its Secrets to Accessing the Media Workshop. I'm a member of CAABJ and have been involved with this event for each of the last six years, and can tell you it's a very informative session. A panel of journalists from newspapers, magazines, TV, radio, and Internet will give tips and advice on how to get your stories told, explain how news at individual media outlets is produced, and answer questions from the audience. The panelists are: April Bethea, reporter, The Charlotte Observer; Glenn Burkins, editor, Qcitymetro.com; Chris Dyches, web producer, WBTV; Eric Frazier, reporter, The Charlotte Observer; Carlton Hargro, editor-in-chief, Creative Loafing; Trey Harmon, associate producer, WCNC-TV; Davida Jackson, associate producer, News14 Carolina; and BJ Murphy, on-air personality, WGIV Radio.

Carlton Hargro, editor-in-chief of Creative Loafing, returns as a panelist for the workshop.

Members of nonprofit organizations, HOA’s, community organizations, church and civic groups, etc. are encouraged to attend. This is a great opportunity to learn how to get media coverage for your events, fundraisers, organizations, and even small businesses. Light refreshments will be served. Guests are asked to RSVP at rsvp@caabj.com. Click here for more details.

And finally, Saturday evening, Red@28th, a new literary lounge in NoDa is bringing in Sister Souljah for a book signing, reading, and Q&A. But as word spread about this event, RSVPs have reached capacity. So to accommodate the popularity of the best-selling author, recording artist, and film producer, Red@28th's owners are bringing her to the Harvey B. Gantt Center for African-American Arts + Culture, 551 South Tryon St., tonight (Friday, June 10) for a similar event at 7 p.m. Copies of Sister Souljah's new book, Midnight and the Meaning of Love, will be available for purchase and to be signed, as well as her other titles, including The Coldest Winter Ever, No Disrespect, and Midnight: A Gangsta Love Story. If you wish to attend, you should RSVP to contact@realeyesbookstore.com. Click here for more details.

All of these events are culturally enriching, being held free of charge, and are well worth your time.

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'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.

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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.

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'COURAGE' Is Here and We Need It

In this current climate we're living in, where struggles with public education are dividing people, right now is a good time for COURAGE. And you can experience it at Levine Museum of the New South. COURAGE: The Carolina Story That Changed America, an exhibit that tells the powerful 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, opened yesterday at Levine Museum and will be displayed for an entire year. The exhibit, which the museum created seven years ago, has just returned from a national tour and is back in Charlotte for the first time since 2004.

Today and tomorrow, Levine Museum is offering free admission and special programs and activities in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day (the museum validates free parking in Seventh Street Station).

You should encourage your family, friends, and colleagues to see COURAGE. Many people in this area don't know about the De Laine family and their town's story and how their fight for equal education opportunities led to them filing a lawsuit that was later 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. The exhibit 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 (nine miles, which is the equivalent of walking from Uptown Charlotte to Carowinds).

Below is a video promo about COURAGE and the MLK holiday.

Levine Museum of the New South is located at 200 E. Seventh St. For more details such as hours and events, visit www.museumofthenewsouth.org.

Then on Thursday, in conjunction with the exhibit, Levine Museum is featuring "COURAGE: Where Do We Need It Now? A Conversation with Juan Williams, Janet Murguía, John Payton, and William Winter," 7-9 p.m. at McGlohon Theatre at Spirit Square. This panel of prominent figures will discuss the legacy of the Brown v. Board of Education decision, as well as race relations and the challenges facing public education today. Juan Williams, civil rights historian and FOX News commentator; Janet Murguía, president and CEO of National Council of La Raza; John Payton, president and director-counsel of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund; and William Winter, former governor of Mississippi, will also answer questions from the audience.

Tickets for this event are $25 for Levine Museum members; $35 for non-members/general public, and are available through N.C. Blumenthal Performing Arts Center Box Office at 704-372-1000 or www.carolinatix.org.

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A Great Night for 'Changing Places'

Last evening I attended the opening reception for Changing Places: From Black and White to Technicolor at the Levine Museum of the New South. The new exhibit is the centerpiece of a yearlong project that is "exploring how people in the Charlotte region are dealing with the growing cultural diversity and change created by the influx of newcomers from across the U.S. and around the globe." The museum is touting it as its most ambitious project to date, and I believe it based on the excellent opening.

Photos by Ron J.Deshaies/Treasured Events of Charlotte

A few hundred Charlotteans from all backgrounds attended and we started by filling out name tags on which we listed where we're originally from. That struck up many conversations throughout the evening, as it was intended. I talked to a nice lady who came up to me because my name tag said South Carolina. She was an SC native too and told me that she used to teach at a school near where I grew up, and that it was before desegregation. You couldn't have picked a more fitting place for this conversation than the Levine Museum of the New South. Coincidentally, part of the exhibit includes a "video-talkback," in which visitors can record their responses to questions and those responses will become part of the exhibit, with the purpose of creating an ongoing conversation between newcomers and longtime residents.

Several business, arts, and government leaders were there, including city councilman and newly announced mayoral candidate John Lassiter. (Johnnyboy has big shoes to fill because outgoing Mayor Pat McCrory is known for always being present at public events like this. You gotta get on the ball, Anthony Foxx.)

The highlight of the evening was the entertainment. Dancers and musicians from various cultures, from pop-and-lock to mariachi, epitomized the new exhibit. I always feel smarter and more cultured when I attend a museum event--it's something about knowing that I chose to come here over going to see a movie or something. The Levine really does offer great programming throughout the year and it's one of the most affordable forms of entertainment, which can be a particularly great option during this recession. And opening nights are always tops. It's a great chance to meet new people and converse with a glass of wine in hand. Plus, I've mastered the art of attracting the servers carrying the passed hors d'oeuvres.

Changing Places: From Black and White to Technicolor officially kicked off today during a free community day at the museum. Click here to visit the museum's website for more details on the exhibit and its related programming. There's a community conversation event taking place Wednesday.

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Voters Have a Choice On Sunday

A voter information and candidate forum called "Your Voice. Your Vote." is being presented by the Charlotte Area Association of Black Journalists this Sunday at the Levine Museum of the New South (I'm prez of CAABJ). Just last night, the Barack Obama campaign announced a "Change We Need Rally with Barack Obama" for the same date and time as YVYV and will be taking place only a few blocks away downtown.


I can honestly say that my organization, along with the National Association of Hispanic Journalists-Charlotte and GenerationEngage, has worked hard over the last four months to plan this event, secure sponsors, and to line up more than 25 local and state candidates (Democrats and Republicans) to attend. It's a coincidence that our primary reason for putting on this event is because the presidential election is overshadowing local and state candidates and issues, and we want our community to be informed when it's time to vote in November--there will be much more on the ballot than the office for president.

This is absolutely not a rant against the Obama campaign, and we obviously can't compete with Obama's star power. But the people of Charlotte now have a choice on Sunday: Will they go to the pep rally or will they go to class? And I betcha Obama won't be serving free food from Mert's Heart & Soul--fried chicken, macaroni, cornbread, sweet tea--like we will! This is food for thought...you do the dishes.

Your Voice. Your Vote.
Sunday, September 21, 2008
12-4 p.m.
Levine Museum of the New South
200 E. Seventh Street, Charlotte
www.caabj.org

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