From staff reports
ST. HELENA ISLAND – Former Obama Administration official Christina Cue kicked off the Community Coalition Action Network (CCAN) Speaker Series at the Community Collaboration Center (CCC) on St. Helena Island with information about the S.C. Electric Cooperative Empowerment Program, during the center’s grand opening November 30 at 808 Sea Island Parkway.
The CCC is the headquarters of the CCAN of St. Helena Island. CCAN was co-founded earlier this year by former Penn Center Welcome Center Director Tade Oyeilumi, and retired St. Helena Island Postmaster Roy R. Brown.
Several well-known local residents attended the inaugural event, including businessman Rudy
Bishop, a member of the legendary Bishop truck farming family of St. Helena Island; S.C. Black Farmers Coalition President Daryl Orage; Gullah Geechee Cultural Consultant Tendaji Bailey; St. Helena Island community activist Inez Miller; St. Helena Island businessman Robert Sample; Freedom 326 Co-Founders Marlisha Robinson and Tiana Parker; and Pan-African Family Empowerment & Land Preservation Network Founder and CEO Theresa White.
Cue, a 2007 University of South Carolina graduate, parlayed her Bachelor of Applied Science in
Sports and Entertainment Management into a high profile internship at CNN. She later joined the Obama for America Campaign in 2008, and worked her way up to Regional Political Director for Georgia, South Carolina, Alabama and Virginia.
After Obama’s election, Cue worked at both the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, and the U.S. Department of Commerce, and she served on the Obama White House Staff as an Advance Associate and Scheduler for domestic, and foreign events, including some in Cambodia, Africa, and Belgium. She accompanied the Obamas on several trade missions to Africa and elsewhere.
Cue was introduced by Gullah Geechee Chamber of Commerce Founder and CEO Marilyn Hemingway of Georgetown, who also heads the non-profit Gullah Geechee Seafood Trail organization. The two women work closely with the S.C. Electric Cooperative Empowerment Program, which
partners with the Conservation Voters of S.C., and the Watershed Consulting Group, where Cue is the Senior Consultant and Strategist.
During her presentation, Cue talked about the Palmetto State’s electric cooperatives, like Palmetto Electric in southern Beaufort County, as well as the state-owned Santee Cooper power plant. Some 2 million S.C. residents in 46 counties receive power through electric co-ops connected by 75,000 miles of power lines, according to the Electric Cooperatives of S.C. website, which also features helpful info about electric vehicles.
Electric bill savings through solar panel use, how electric co-ops serve and operate in their communities, the role of electric co-op Trustee Boards, and how to get elected to participate in the leadership of electric cooperatives to increase diversity were among the topics discussed by Cue. The lack of diversity of electric co-op leadership is why the S.C. Electric Cooperative Empowerment Program was created.
Dissatisfied with their high Dominion Energy electric bills, several people in the audience were interested in how the St. Helena Island Community could get hooked up with an electric co-op.
Cue was accompanied by her father, retired educator Bishop William R. Cue, also of Aiken.
Although CCAN is best known for supporting the development of a private golf community for Pine Island, the organization has a wide-ranging agenda centered around local nonprofits and residents working with multiple entities to uplift St. Helena Island residents, and breaking the cycle of
generational poverty that hinders many from opportunities to achieve economic independence, according to its co-founders Oyeilumi and Brown.
Upcoming offerings at the CCC include December Movie Nights from 6 to 8 p.m.; CCAN Teen Talk Tuesdays Town Halls from 5 to 7 p.m.; the Wednesday and Thursday nights Speaker Series from 6 to 8 p.m. And a Winter Wellness (Ugly Sweater) Block Party is planned for Dec. 16, from
noon to 5 p.m. For more info, call CCAN/CCC at 843-502-3002.
