STATEHOUSE REPORT | ISSUE 22.31 | AUG. 4, 2023
BIG STORY: Thousands visit as Charleston’s new museum experiences early success
LOWCOUNTRY, Ariail: The original device
COMMENTARY, Brack: How you can help to strengthen democracy
SPOTLIGHT: SC Clips
MYSTERY PHOTO: Tall and skinny
FEEDBACK: We are all sinners, buddy
Thousands visit as Charleston’s new museum experiences early success
By Andy Brack | More than 18,000 people have walked through the quiet display rooms of the new International African American Museum since it opened June 27.
And get this — they’re so engaged with what they experience that they’re staying just under two hours on average, said Dr. Tonya Matthews, the museum’s president and CEO. And that, she said in an exclusive interview, has surprised her.
“When people come into the museum, they immediately gather and start having conversations [with others], and that is what we were hoping for,” she said in a modern corner office overlooking the grassy, hilly entrance to the modern building.
Before the museum opened, organizers worried people wouldn’t talk much to others or even among themselves as they strolled through powerful exhibits that highlight the Black experience from times of slavery to today.
“But it has happened. Folks are lingering,” she observed. “Yes, the average time inside the museum is just under two hours. And inevitably, folks say, ‘I have to come back.’ Museums are not intended to be one-and-done. I’m so very pleased it’s going so well.”
Many might not have expected the new museum, the second-largest museum devoted to the African American story, to rocket to quick success, especially when it took 23 years for it to mature from idea to reality.
But tickets generally are sold out a week in advance. Up to 900 people walk through on any given day from Tuesday through Sunday — and that’s without the school groups that will flood through in the fall and spring.
How you might get in at the last minute
Matthews said the museum generally has some walk-up availability on weekdays. Weekends are just plain busy. On Aug. 4, for example, the first available tickets are Aug. 8.
Museum staff also are working on creating a more orderly way for people who didn’t get tickets online to see the exhibits. Within a couple of weeks, anyone interested in visiting should be able to call the museum’s general phone number (843-872-5352) to learn whether there will be any walk-up availability for that day. The likely chance that there will be availability on that day — about 50%, Matthews guessed.
What’s been exciting, frustrating
Matthews said she’s been surprised with how visitors are thrilled about the space.
“You know, we do tell some heavy stories,” she said. “And we talk about some challenging times. But people have been excited to be in a space that tells these stories.
“I think for our African American audiences, folks are excited to be reflected. They see themselves. They see stories in this very beautifully designed space that are authentically told. And I think for our non-Black audiences, they seem excited to be welcomed into the conversation.”
The museum, she says, offers a kind of sanctuary with a great vibe where there is “no yelling or screaming at people. It’s just sort of telling the stories. There’s a sense of community when you walk in.”
Since the museum opened in June, Matthews said there have been few big challenges or disappointments. There have been some staffing and logistic issues. But, she said, they work quickly to solve problems.
“In these early days and in these early phases, we’ve come up with problems or issues about things we need to learn better,” she said. “It’s the art of being a startup business.
“I know we’ve been talking about this for 23 years, but you know, we’re a business that’s essentially less than 50 days old.”
The museum, located along the Cooper River in Charleston, is open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily, except on Mondays.
- Have a comment? Send to: feedback@charlestoncitypaper.com
The original device
Cartoonist Robert Ariail generally has a biting or funny comment about the great state of South Carolina in his weekly cartoon. This week, he takes a swipe at Fox News. Love the cartoon? Hate it? What do you think: feedback@statehousereport.com.
How you can help to strengthen our democracy
By Andy Brack | If there’s anything that stood out in this week’s scathing criminal indictments of former President Donald Trump for trying to overturn the 2020 election, it’s how serious the threat was to American democracy.
Now that Trump, the leading GOP candidate for president in 2024, will face a reckoning on his attempt to keep power in 2020, you may wonder what can be done to buttress our democracy and make it stronger in the years ahead so that what happened on Jan. 6, 2021, doesn’t happen again.
The answer comes from two words: You and participation.
If we are to reinvigorate American democracy, we must be intentional about strengthening our communities from neighborhoods to towns, counties and states.
Consider your local bookshop. Not only is it a place where you can find entertainment and new ideas, but local booksellers spend an enormous amount of time curating a selection of books to appeal to and inform their communities. Yes, they want to sell books, but they know that if they pick books that reflect their community’s spirit and mores, they’ll pull people together, launch discussions and help residents to see things in new ways – all of which strengthen community ties and democratic values.
“Independent bookstores foster democracy by providing meaningful backstop to misinformation, disinformation and censorship,” said Charleston bookseller Julian Buxton, co-owner of Buxton Books.
Libraries are much the same. Go to one soon and you’ll see how the professionals have displays of books to engage your brain by offering interesting, relevant topics about what’s going on.
So here’s a short list, in no particular order, of how you can proactively promote democracy by getting off the couch and getting more involved in your community:
Read banned books. If somebody doesn’t want you to read To Kill a Mockingbird or some other classic, it’s because there are ideas in there that scare them – and might get you to think. Do you really want somebody else telling you what you can and can’t read?
Support local newspapers. They are incubators of community values and are vital knitters for keeping the fabric of a community strong. But if you don’t advertise with them or subscribe to the newspaper, it can’t stay in business. Two of South Carolina’s 46 counties no longer have weekly newspapers. In neighboring Georgia, 16 of 159 counties no longer have newspapers. Imagine what’s not happening there as a force that pulls people together?
Volunteer somewhere. Get out of your comfort zone and find a place where you can join with other people and help with something you care about. It will deepen your sense of community, which will make democracy stronger.
Reduce social media. If you rely on Facebook and other outlets’ algorithms to push information they think you will like, you’ll miss a lot of stuff that could change your mind on issues. Get out of the echo chamber. And guard against foreign-owned media outlets that may be pushing disinformation and misinformation.
Be cautious about hot-button issues. The current rage finds conservatives going nuts over “wokism,” which is nothing more than a modern-day way to scare you that somebody is trying to take away your guns, values, job or insert the appropriate outrage. But think more deeply. If they don’t want you to be awake, they are really saying they want you to be asleep. Why? So they can do what they want without you paying attention. There’s no way that’s going to be good for democracy.
Get involved in the political process. Vote. Work or give money to candidates. Write letters to the editor. Contact your local, state or federal representative when you don’t agree. Attend public meetings to hold public officials accountable.
Respect the rights of others. Just as you may not want to be told how to think or act, others may feel the same about their beliefs or behaviors. Don’t engage in issue-related road rage or the similar grumpy codger syndrome. Listen to other perspectives and have civil engagements.
There are dozens of other ways that you can promote democracy. What would you suggest?
Andy Brack, editor and publisher of the Charleston City Paper and Statehouse Report, last week was named first-place winner for political columns in the 2023 national contest by the Association of Alternative Newsmedia. Have a comment? Send to: feedback@statehousereport.com.
SC Clips
Statehouse Report is brought to you weekly at no cost thanks to our underwriters. In the spotlight today is SC Clips, an affordable, daily information digest that provides you with the South Carolina news you need every business day. Subscribers receive a daily email news round-up before 10 a.m. that provides a link to each day’s edition of SC Clips.
Each issue (click for sample) provides a concise summary of dozens of the latest newspaper and television reports of news with statewide impact, politics, business and local stories. Readers also are linked to key opinions by South Carolina’s editorial writers.
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Tall and skinny
Here’s a photo that looks remarkably similar to something we ran a couple of weeks ago. What and where is it? Send us your guess of what this photo shows – as well as your name and hometown – to feedback@statehousereport.com.
Allan Peel of San Antonio, Texas, was one of several who identified the July 28 “Classical building” photo.
He wrote, “This week’s mystery photo is of the Abbeville County Courthouse located at 102 Court Square in the historic district of Abbeville, S.C. The photo was taken facing northeast from South. Main St. The courthouse was built in 1908 in the ‘Beaux- Arts’ style by William Augustus Edwards (1866 – 1939) and was added to the National Register of Historic Places on Oct. 30, 1981. It has continuously served as the center of government in Abbeville County for 115 years. … The Abbeville County courthouse is one of six existing courthouses in South Carolina that were designed by Edwards, and more than 25 of his works have been listed on the National Register of Historic Places.”
Others who correctly identified the courthouse were: Jay Altman, Donna McGreevy and Elizabeth Jones, all of Columbia; E.S. Norman of Greenwood; Frank Bouknight and Daniel Prohaska, both of Summerville; Steve Willis of Lancaster; Bill Segars of Hartsville; Penny Forrester of Tallahassee, Fla.; George Graf of Palmyra, Va.; Jacie Godfrey of Florence; Pat Keadle of Wagener; David Lupo of Mount Pleasant; Christi Norton of Abbeville; and Nancy Trapp of Sumter.
>> Send us a mystery picture. If you have a photo that you believe will stump readers, send it along (but make sure to tell us what it is because it may stump us too!) Send to: feedback@statehousereport.com and mark it as a photo submission. Thanks.
We are all sinners, buddy
To the editor:
Your attempt to appeal to Republican voters using the 10 commandments shows that is all you read of the Bible. Try reading the story of how God uses all people – even though some of them like David and Paul were really bad people – for his purpose of a greater good.
We are all sinners forgiven by grace if we believe in Jesus and Christian conservatives like me cheer Trump for defeating our version of the anti-Christ – Hillary Clinton – in 2016! Not to mention that he appointed three conservative justices saving millions of lives through the kicking back of an abortion laws to the states.
To paraphrase Jesus, take the plank out of your own eye, Andy, before you judge Trump! Christian Conservatives like me see Trump as strong enough to fight evil/woke Democrats without fear. Should be interesting but no matter what happens, God is in control (Romans 13:1) so we shall see if he wants Trump as President again.
– Will Bradley, Las Vegas, Nevada
Send us your thoughts
We encourage you to send in your thoughts about policy and politics impacting South Carolina. We’ve gotten some letters in the last few weeks – some positive, others nasty. We print non-defamatory comments, but unless you provide your contact information – name and hometown, plus a phone number used only by us for verification – we can’t publish your thoughts.
Have a comment? Send your letters or comments to: feedback@statehousereport.com. Make sure to provide your contact details (name, hometown and phone number for verification. Letters are limited to 150 words.
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