Category Archives: Events

on-campus and off-campus events hosted/sponsored by AAST or recognized as relevant to African American Studies

CofC Theatre: Home on the Mornin’ Train

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MorninTrain

This week, the Department of Theatre and Dance in the College of Charleston School of the Arts will open Kim Hines’ moving drama, Home on the Mornin’ Train.

The kindness of strangers amidst great danger has kept the Underground Railroad alive to this day. In this play, the audience sees the freedom train in action as two stories unfold a hundred years apart. In 1939 as World War II begins, young Jews escaping Germany find inspiration in a book about the journey of young slaves escaping the South, in 1839. Intertwined in their stories are beautiful African American and Jewish songs that speak to a legacy of hope through the ages. Their stories stand as a testament to the unimaginable courage to reach out and help no matter one’s color, one’s beliefs or one’s station in life.

Director and Music Director of the production, Laura Turner, describes the drama, stating, “Unlike most scripts dealing with Slavery or the Holocaust, this play chooses to focus on the brave work done by those willing to risk their lives for freedom. Instead of dwelling on the horrible circumstances of the characters’ situations, this play’s uplifting music and surprising moments of humor, takes the audience on a journey of hope.”

DETAILS: The production will take place Thursday, March 12 through Sunday, March 15 with a second run from Wednesday, March 18 through Sunday, March 22. The performances will take place at the Chapel Theatre, 172 Calhoun St. Performances will begin at 7:30 p.m, except the Sunday shows, which will take place at 3:00 p.m. only. The performances on Saturday, March 14 and Saturday, March 21 will take place at both 3:00 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $10 for College of Charleston students, faculty/staff, and senior citizens and $15 for the general public. Tickets can be purchased online at theatre.cofc.edu, or by email or phone (843) 953-6306.

The Avery Research Center commemorates MALCOLM X on the 50th anniversary of his assassination – February 21, 1965.

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The Commemoration Program on Feb 21 is from

11am to 5pm, see details below:

–Film screenings begin at 11:00 – 3:00
(see flyer for details)

MalcolmX

–3:00pm: A Conversation with Mzee
(esteemed & respected Elder) James E. Campbell and Imam Hakim Abdul-Ali.

–4:00pm: Exhibition Opening/Reception “Malcolm X: 50 Years and Counting, The Legacy Continues” featuring materials from the James E. Campbell Collection & from the private collection of Imam Hakim Abdul-Ali.

ALL ACTIVITIES ARE FREE AND OPEN TO THE PUBLIC!

For information call: 843.953.7609 or visit our website: http://avery.cofc.edu

 

Feb 18: Avery Brown Bag: “Baseball Dreams Deferred: The Story of the 1955 Cannon Street Y.M.C.A.,”

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Panel Presentation moderated by Ramon M. Jackson, University of South Carolina, Avery Research Center, 12-1:15 pm

In this panel discussion, moderated by University of South Carolina PhD candidate Ramon M. Jackson, local scholars and members of the 1955 Cannon Street Y.M.C.A. All-Stars will share their team’s story and discuss its legacy. Once described as the “most significant amateur team in baseball history,” members of this African-American youth baseball team were key figures in an adult-led direct action campaign to desegregate Little League Baseball in the American South. Nearly fifteen months after the Supreme Court ruled in Brown v. Board of Education (1954) that segregated schools were unconstitutional, Cannon Street Y.M.C.A. president Robert F. Morrison entered the All-Stars into the “whites only” Charleston Little League tournament. This action caused a “Civil War” within Little League Baseball, as teams in seven southern states seceded from the national organization and formed a segregated league known as “Little Boys Baseball” (Today known as “Dixie Youth”). Join us for a discussion of this powerful, often overlooked moment in the African American freedom struggle in South Carolina and the nation. To learn more about the Cannon Street All-Stars, visit: www.1955cannonstreetallstars.weebly.com

Follow this link for an online petition to have the Cannon Street All Stars team invited to the White House: https://www.change.org/p/president-barack-obama-please-invite-the-cannon-street-ymca-all-stars-to-the-white-house

***Day after this presentation: Unveiling Ceremony for a Historical Marker for the Cannon Street All Stars, Thursday, February 19, 2:00 p.m., Harmon Field (Corner of Fishburne and President, across from Burke High School). Park at Arthur Christopher Gym, 265 Fishburne Street (This is also the alternative site in the event of inclement weather)

A Student’s History of the Civil Rights Movement (Friday, Feb. 13)

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This Friday’s Faculty Lecture, as well as the panel discussion on Freedom Summer on February 26, are great ways to learn more about the Mississippi Summer Freedom Project and the civil rights movement, the subject of next year’s College Reads book, Freedom Summer by Bruce Watson.

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