CIAA Coverage—I’ll Holla!

CIAA Week is now CIAA Weekend and the parties and events are in full swing. I've been trying to balance work and play, and I plan to blog about my experiences in the next day or two—once I catch my breath. Check back for video from Thursday's T.I. and Young Jeezy concert as well my recap of several parties, including a day party I'm on my way to now. I'm also posting pics on Charlotte magazine's Spotted site.

It's crazy out here!

Anthony Hamilton surrounded by fans at his Grammy party last night at Cans.

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'Black In America' In Charlotte Today

CNN is coming to the campus of Johnson C. Smith University today and anchor Don Lemon is hosting a town hall forum. The event is being taped and parts of it will air in CNN's "Black In America 2" series in July, which is a follow-up to last year's acclaimed and controversial specials that depicted the life, shortcomings, and achievements of African-Americans in this country.

Don Lemon will moderate CNN's town hall forum today.

JCSU is an excellent site selection for this forum as it is an historically black college and university (HBCU) that is trying to grow its presence in Charlotte. Many HBCUs are struggling to continue to attract top African-American students and are working hard to lure students of all races. These schools also often face scrutiny as some question the need for them today. I have a simple answer for that: Most black colleges were founded in the mid to late 1800s after the Civil War, during a time when African-Americans couldn't attend white schools, among many other things (both JCSU and Morehouse College in Atlanta were founded in 1867). So by the time most African-Americans began enjoying the results of desegregation in the 1960s, these schools were nearly 100 years old and steeped in tradition. That's not something you simply throw away once you've been accepted into the larger culture.

I'm pretty sure CNN chose this week to come because the CIAA basketball tournament is in town, a conference that has a rich history itself. JCSU is one of ten historically black colleges and universities in the conference and their men and women's basketball teams are competing for the conference championships during five days of games at Time Warner Cable Arena. And unless you've been living under a rock, you know that the CIAA tournament is about much more than basketball.

Today's town hall forum is only open to current students and faculty, but I'm fortunate to be attending. And I'm looking forward to it.

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Happy Birthday Ric Flair

Ric Flair turns 60 today. And what an entertaining 60 years it has been for the Nature Boy and all of us who've watched him. I grew up watching him on TV, back when I was a wrestling fan. I lost interest around the age of 13, but wrestlers like Flair, Hulk Hogan, and Randy Savage produced many memorable Saturday afternoons after the cartoons had gone off.

Ric Flair, whose birth name is Richard Fliehr, is Charlotte's biggest celebrity. Why? Because he's lived here for decades--before it was cool to do so, before we had other professional athletes--and he's always been very accessible. I've seen him out a number of times. You can easily catch him out at a restaurant or bar, and he doesn't seem to miss a grand opening. Everyone has a Ric Flair story. One of the best I've heard involve him doing push ups in the middle of a restaurant while onlookers yelled his famous "Woooooo!"

But Flair's life hasn't always been cause for celebration. He's survived a plane crash, an infamous road rage incident that led to his arrest, he's going through his third divorce, and he had a fight last year with his daughter's boyfriend that left him with a black eye. The latter didn't stop him from making public appearances, which led to photos of the black-eyed tan man hitting the 'net. But that's what makes him so endearing. He has a larger-than-life persona that few possess. He retired from wrestling last year and was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame. He's focusing on his many business ventures, but is still heavily involved in the sport, making appearances and challenging Chris Jericho to a fight. Here's to another 60, Ric.

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Mingling With Media...and Adina Howard

The Charlotte Area Association of Black Journalists (CAABJ) hosted their annual Media Mixer last evening at Tutto Mondo to mark the start of CIAA Week. I may be a bit bias here because I'm president of CAABJ, but the event was a lot of fun and provided a great opportunity for journalists, as well as communications, marketing, and public relations professionals to network and mingle.

I think it's always a good idea to get together with people from your profession. You'll find that you don't spend a whole lot of time talking shop, but instead you converse on the many other things you have in common. I was talking to two colleagues who both work in public relations, one for the Charlotte Chamber and the other for Luquire George Andrews, and as we were catching up, I told them that they weren't allowed to talk about the economy for the night. We laughed about that, but I was somewhat serious because we all should have those nights out where we set our concerns aside.

In attendance were journalists from TV, radio, print, and online--including the names and faces you recognize (Janine Davis, Ramona Holloway, Dedrick Russell, Sarah Aarthun) as well as the behind-the-scenes folks. We should all be getting to know each other better because this media of ours is converging more every day.

There were several people from outside of our respective fields who hung out as well. Many of them came out to enjoy the music and drinks as they got their CIAA partying started early in the week. One of the surprise guests was R&B singer Adina Howard. I happened to be standing near the entrance when she walked in. She introduced herself and gave me a hug. Even though there are going to be tons of celebrities in Charlotte this week for CIAA, my first question to her was, "Do you live in Charlotte?" to which she replied yes. And all the while I'm thinking, "This is 'Freak Like Me' Adina."

Adina Howard and Ty McMath at the CAABJ Media Mixer.

As Howard made her way through the room, introducing herself and giving people hugs, which really does put you at ease, she eventually settled in at a seat at the end of the bar with the friend she'd arrived with, Ty McMath. Later in the evening, I went over and talked to them and the journalist in me probably asked too many questions, but we ended up having a great conversation. Even though she's known for her risqué past hit songs like "Freak Like Me" and "T-Shirt and Panties," she's much more reserved in person. She acknowledges that, saying she lives a boring life. I hope she's not bored because she's in Charlotte. Actually, she said she likes it and she's rather quietly lived here for the past nine years, though she travels often for shows.

She was very personable, offered some interesting perspectives on being 34 and single, and mentioned that she's had people ask her about doing a reality show. If you ask me, she's the perfect recipe for the next I Love...For the Love of... reality dating show on VH1. But she's too sweet for that. She gives hugs.

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Michael Phelps Will Compete In Charlotte

Three weeks ago I blogged about the possibility of 14-time Olympic gold medalist Michael Phelps competing in Charlotte after his three-month suspension for Bong-gate ends ("Michael Phelps' Suspension Could Be Good for Charlotte"). Well, it's now been confirmed. Phelps will compete in the Charlotte UltraSwim May 14-17. The annual event, now in its 25th year, is hosted by SwimMAC Carolina. Here's an excerpt from the press release I received yesterday.

According to Phelps' coach Bob Bowman, “Michael is focused on practicing and regaining the mental and physical momentum that he had achieved going into the Beijing Olympics. He is committed to a very demanding and rigorous training schedule as he prepares for upcoming meets and the FINA World Championships.”

Phelps will be joined by other 2008 USA Olympic team members and other gold medalists such as Charlotte’s own Mark Gangloff and Cullen Jones as well as Ryan Lochte. Mary DeScenza will look to keep expanding her lead as the highest scorer in the USA Swimming Grand Prix Series, having just earned five gold medals at the Missouri Grand Prix. Many more world class swimmers and national team members will be on deck to join these champions as well.

Click here for more on the Charlotte UltraSwim.

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