With history comes cultures. And with culture comes identity – the one we give ourselves and the one that is perceived. Those identities become realities. And, once reality is established and accepted, we forget to take a step back and look at what that reality really means: There’s no reason to talk about it. No reason to pay attention.
But when there’s something as loud as a gunshot firing through the safety of your church, something as blinding as the national media’s spotlighting the familiar streets of your city – it gets your attention. And, the tragedy at Mother Emanuel Church last June got Charleston’s attention.
With all eyes on the Holy City, the conversation turned to the history, the culture, the identity and the reality of race relations in the Lowcountry and the South. And, so that this moment in Charleston’s history can make a positive shift in our cultural identity – in our reality – the College of Charleston, supported by a variety of sponsors, is keeping that conversation alive.
Continuing the Conversation
In response to the church tragedy, the College’s Avery Research Center for African American History and Culture began an 18-month Race and Social Justice Educational Initiative to cultivate conversations about race, social justice and reconciliation.
Made possible by Google, the program is a collaboration of multiple partners and will take a comprehensive approach that includes campus and community outreach, exhibits and publications, faculty development and student experiential learning.
“The big thing is that we will be commissioning a disparity report on black life around Charleston,” says Patricia Williams Lessane, executive director of the Avery Research Center. “It’ll look at employment, housing, education and overall well-being. Then, Google will have something tangible to look at, and the new mayor of Charleston will have a blueprint for all the right things that need to be done here. So, that really broadens the scope of what we can do with this funding.”
In the shorter term, however, the initiative is holding a variety of events, including speakers like author and The Atlantic national correspondent Ta-Nehisi Coates, TED speaker and Equal Justice Initiative founder/executive director Bryan Stevenson and the survivors of the 1963 Birmingham Church bombing.
“This award will allow the faculty and staff at the Avery Research Center to play a critical role in promoting a more complete understanding of our shared past,” says Dean of Libraries John White ’99 (M.A.). “It is our sincere hope that we can foster a discussion on important issues of race and reconciliation in our communities.”
Over the 18-month period, the initiative will also be raising funds to create the Race and Social Justice Institute within the Avery Research Center.
History on Display
In addition to further supporting the Race and Social Justice Educational Initiative initiated by Google, SunTrust is sponsoring the educational exhibitions in the Avery Research Center’s gallery and on its first and second floors.
The proposed 14 interpretive panels – including “The Spirit That Would Not Die,” “Avery Normal Institute in the Early 20th Century” and “Sports at Avery Normal Institute” – will share stories about the history and achievements of the Avery Normal Institute, which is celebrating its 150th anniversary this year.
“For 150 years Avery has been dedicated to African American education and documenting the black experience,” says White.
“So much of African American history and culture has roots here, and those roots reach out across the country and around the globe,” agrees Conseula Francis, the College’s associate provost for curriculum and institutional resources. “Talking seriously and openly about race and social justice here in Charleston can go a long way in facilitating these conversations elsewhere.”
Celebrating Cultural Identity
The College received a grant supporting its four-day public event, “Boundless Words & Voices,” which draws on the College’s role in shaping Charleston’s literary identity and stresses the importance of finding one’s voice and celebrating diversity within one’s community.
The programming of “Boundless Words & Voices” represents a wide range of perspectives and modes of expression – including spoken word, musical performances, prose and poetry readings and student art projects – offering insight to Charleston’s heritage and its diversity of voices.
The event culminates in an event this fall with Bruce Watson’s The College Reads! keynote address. Watson’s book about the civil rights movement, Freedom Summer: The Savage Season of 1964 That Made Mississippi Burn and Made America a Democracy, is the 2015–16 book selection for The College Reads! Program, which connects students, faculty and staff through a single book throughout the year’s academic curriculum and campus activities.
The Charleston County Council grant facilitates advertising and promotions for the “Boundless Words & Voices” program.
Management professor Angela Passarelli (left) with participant of the inaugural event of the College’s Advancing Diversity and Inclusion Program
Diversity in the Real World
To advance the understanding and practice of managing human differences in the workplace and broader community, the College’s School of Professional Studies has created the program Advancing Diversity and Inclusion: Building Successful Organizations and Communities.
Denny’s restaurant sponsored the program’s inaugural event in September, which brought together business leaders, practitioners, educators, politicians, community leaders and the broader community to explore and advance the management of human differences. With two rounds of eight panel discussions, the daylong event covered everything from race and religion to military service to globalization and cultural diversity.
The College is working to establish long-term corporate partnerships with Denny’s and others to further promote human differences in the workplace.
Expanding Community Opportunities
In honor of the victims of this tragedy, Michael R. Bennett and Bennett Hospitality established the “Mother” Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church Endowed Scholarship.
“I was so moved and inspired by the Mother Emanuel response to this tragedy that I wanted to do something,” says Bennett, founder and owner of Bennett Hospitality. “I encourage all those who were inspired by the grace and forgiveness of Mother Emanuel to contribute any amount to this scholarship. I can think of no better way to strengthen our community than to offer the exceptional academic resources available right here in the heart of Charleston.”
“We are deeply appreciative,” President Glenn F. McConnell ’69 says of the scholarship, which will be awarded for the first time in the fall of 2016. “It is emblematic of the extraordinary sense of community that continues to distinguish Charleston.”
