1619 Project draws local attention to black history, push for diversity
By Lolita Huckaby
BEAUFORT
When Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. came to Penn Center out on St. Helena Island in the late 1960’s, he and his advisors were drawn to the quiet, isolated campus as a place where they could sit together, talk quietly, share ideas, plan a course of action that would hopefully change the nation.
Penn Center’s history notes that King, along with others of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, met there at least five times between 1964 and 1967, largely unreported by the local press and more importantly, those who opposed their strategies.
One can’t help but compare those thought-provoking sessions that King and his colleagues must have had with a symbolic session held this past weekend during a 20-hour period in the fellowship hall of Tabernacle Baptist Church in downtown Beaufort.
Billed as a marathon community reading by its organizers, the subject was The 1619 Project: A New Origin Story, an anthology of essays collected by the journalists at The New York Times and published in 2019. Since its publication the book and its accompanying educational curriculum have been praised for its focus on black history in this country but damned by conservatives as part of the “woke” culture and inflammatory. The curriculum was banned by Gov. Ron DeSantis in Florida and other states introduced legislation to do the same.
Organizers of Saturday’s event – Marie LeRoy, Sally Lombard and TziPi Radonsky – felt the community read would be a way of bringing people together, introducing many to the published work and raise awareness about diversity and equality. The 100 – plus citizens who took time out of a busy, beautiful Saturday schedule and attended the reading probably agreed.
If that reading could have been construed as “civil disobedience,” as some critics have called it, Dr. King probably would probably have smiled.
Local elected officials easing into 2024
BEAUFORT – In the first three weeks of the new year, all the local government bodies have met and set their course for the coming year.
Well … kinda.
Beaufort County Council had their first meeting and got a presentation from Dean Moss about project recommendations within the proposed one-cent sales tax referendum voters can expect to see on the November ballot. The citizens advisory committee which came up with the list of projects – of which Moss is chair – estimates the tax will generate more than $1 billion over a 15-year period.
The committee came up with a vague “big projects” and “small projects” list which will be the subject of much discussion in the coming weeks. And a heads-up to the WE NEED ANOTHER BRIDGE (WNAB) supporters – it’s been suggested that a third-bridge crossing between Beaufort and Lady’s Island should be on that funding list.
The County Council, along with the municipal councils, will have to agree to the support the list if they want voters to support the penny tax in November.
The county gang also agreed to spend impact fees to buy 10 acres of land on May River Road in Bluffton to build a new library. Good news for library supporters who were thrilled last year to hear the county officials were finally going to open a library in Port Royal this year, the seventh facility in the system.
The County Council also has on its agenda for the coming year employment of a new county administrator, not to mention it’s an election year for three of the council members.
The Port Royal Town Council, with a new mayor who has a new baby, finished last year with a bang, firing off a letter to Safe Harbor LLC, saying it wanted some answers on what’s happening with the port redevelopment project. Its first meeting of the year, last week, was highlighted by a letter back from Safe Harbor attorneys who said they, too, would like to have a sit-down meeting. More to
follow.
Beaufort City Council also started the year with a new mayor but continuing projects. The group of five agreed to direct $7.1 million from hospitality and accommodations tax money to financing the much-debated, long-awaited Southside Park and the not-so-much-debated Washington Street Park.
Improvements to the Southside Park have been on the city’s to-do list for more than two decades but neighbors are hopeful this may be the year for playground equipment and more pickleball courts.
Critics of the council’s action at the meeting questioned whether it was a legal use of hospitality and accommodations revenues since those funds are generated largely by tourists and are to be used, according to state law, for projects to attract more tourists. City bond counsel didn’t agree.
The town council of Yemassee – not to overlook that growing municipality in the northern part of the county – had to cancel its first meeting due to bad weather.
Lolita Huckaby Watson is a community volunteer and newspaper columnist. In her former role as a reporter with The Beaufort Gazette, The Savannah Morning News, Bluffton Today and Beaufort Today, she prided herself in trying to stay neutral and unbiased. As a columnist, these are her opinions. Her goal is to be factual but opinionated, based on her own observations. Feel free to contact her at bftbay@gmail.com.
