Community Unity 2010 - "Live the Change"

The communities of Kingsport came together on the last day of February, to commemorate the 15th Annual "Community Unity" Celebration.

The event at the new Kingsport Center for Higher Education, also celebrates the historic end to the celebration of Black History Month in the city.



"I'm glad to see us in this building, the build that you built," Kingsport Mayor Dennis Phillips told the group, as the Center hosted its first major event. "This building would have never been possible without the people of Kingsport. Thank you for allowing the Board of Mayor and Aldermen, so that we could have this building for this event and others, and for the education of students who come here to learn."

Mayor Phillips then read a proclamation from the city, proclaiming February as Black History Month, asking every resident to thank the African-Americans in Kingsport, for their contributions to the community and the nation.

To see a slideshow of the 2010 Community Unity celebration, please click here.

Your Douglass Website photographer took plenty of them, so please be patient. Those blurred, reflect rapidly moving targets.

Click here to see pictures you can download.

The event began with an invocation by Reverend Charles Hawkins of the Bethel AME Zion Church of Kingsport, and the traditional singing of the Negro National Anthem "Lift Ev'ry Voice and Sing." Mrs. Louetta Hall, Chairperson of South Central Kingsport Development, Incorporated's Board of Directors, welcomed the audience to the celebration, and after remarks by the mayor and Mrs. Kathy Thacker, the Center's director, the program began.




The Full Gospel Mission #2 Gospel Choir stirred the audience, and Johnson City's Jordan Carson did an religious interpretive dance and both inspired and mesmerized the group.












The spoken word was delivered by Mr. Ralph Davis of the Johnson City-Washington County NAACP. He posed the question to the group "do we really know how far we have come? From the first Africans who rode over on ships, with their countrymen dying in the hold of the ships right next to them," he said, "and then pulled apart from their mothers, fathers, children, siblings."

Mr. Davis told the audience that he could remember the separate restrooms, the segregated schools, the lower-paying jobs for blacks doing the same work as whites."

He challenged the youth of today to find an elder that remembers those times, and to learn from their experience.



The 2010 Community Unity Scholarship Winner was then announced by Mrs. Linda Calvert. Ms. Sydney Edwards, a senior at Dobyns-Bennett High School was awarded a $2,000 dollar scholarship. Cyndee is the daughter of Angie Edwards, the granddaughter of Douglass Alumnus Sylvia Ann Davis, and the great-greaddaughter of "Mama Jean" Clark of Kingsport.

Sydney plans to attend the University of Tennessee-Knoxville, to major in biochemistry. She's a member of the Central Baptist Church.



Reverend Kenneth Calvert of the Shiloh Baptist Church announced this year's winner of the Outstanding Service Award. In February, 1999, this year's recipient saw that private funds were taken, public funds did not exist, but an hour of need went forward. One person, he said, went forward so that those who needed the inspiration, kept receiving it. Pastor Calvert said that it didn't matter what ethnicity they were, what neighborhood they came from.. the only idea was, that if one needed to be fed, they could come and be fed.



With that, Pastor Geraldine Swagerty of the Full Gospel Church and director of the Community Kitchen was presented the 2010 Community Unity Outstanding Service Award. Johnnie Mae Swaggerty, Pastor Swagerty's daughter, accepted on behalf of her mother, who could not attend the gathering.










The Revelation Men's Choir lended a couple of musical selections to the celebration, and their rousing renditions stirred the audience to several inspirational levels. It was just good, ole-timey gospel music, that folks used to hear in church growing up.

Also, there was praise dancing from several groups for the celebration.





The Celebration of Praise Choir from Central Baptist also lent their voices to the gathering, inspirational that the word "celebration" is in their name, as well as the Community Unity goal to celebrate Black History Month by bringing together neighborhoods.



A reception followed in the lobby, after the benediction by Central's Reverent Ricardo Dorcean.

The Community Unity celebration is sponsored by South Central Kingsport Development, Incorporated. Board of Directors Executive members are Louetta Hall, Chair.. Edna Potts, Vice-Chair.. Susal La Guardia, Secretary.. Lois Smith, Treasurer.. and Terry Cunningham, Assistant Treasurer. Board members are Alma Blye, James Brice, Linda W. Calvert, Denise Davis, Chris McCartt, Paul Montgomery, Johnnie Mae Swaggerty, Ed Swayze, Nathan Vaugh, Michael Vaughn, and Andra Watterson.

Staff members for the corporation are Mary Alexander, Weed & Seed Coordinator, and Jeannie Hodges, System Coordinator.

Vaughn Kicks Off Campaign

THIS STORY COURTESY THE KINGSPORT TIMES-NEWS

Kingsport Democrat lost his 2008 re-election bid in a contentious campaign to state Rep. Tony Shipley by 326 votes.

By HANK HAYES
hhayes@timesnews.net


KINGSPORT — It’s on.
Kingsport Democrat Nathan Vaughn kicked off his Tennessee 2nd House District election bid at a Renaissance Center event Saturday night.
Vaughn will again go up against one-term incumbent GOP state Rep. Tony Shipley this November barring primary challenges.

Hank Hayes —hhayes@timesnews.net
Former state Rep. Nathan Vaughn, left, visits with former Kingsport area state Rep. Ralph Yelton, center, and current state Rep. John Litz of Morristown, right, during Vaughn’s 2nd House District campaign kickoff at the Renaissance Center in Kingsport Saturday night.


“This race isn’t about Democrats. It isn’t about Republicans. This race is not even about independents. This race is about people,” Vaughn told about 180 supporters at the event. “I’ve never asked anybody what their politics were when they are in need.”
When contacted for a response, Shipley said he hasn’t set a date for a formal re-election announcement because of his ongoing work as a legislator.
“We have been doing the things that are necessary to be re-elected, and that has to do with constituent service and getting things done for the community,” Shipley said. “I will run the same campaign I ran before. ... It will be based on facts and issues. I will run against his record again. I hope, this time, that he will decide to debate the facts and the differences in our philosophies and the differences between our parties.”
Vaughn, who served as the district’s representative for three two-year terms, lost his 2008 re-election bid in a contentious campaign to Shipley by 326 votes or about one percent of the total votes cast.
That campaign included a House GOP Caucus operative being convicted of a misdemeanor for creating fake Web sites in Vaughn’s name to asso- ciate him with organized labor; attacks from Shipley and House Majority Leader Jason Mumpower of Bristol; and the Tennessee Republican Party’s so-called “blackbird” direct mail piece that claimed Vaughn was “part of the liberal, big government flock” with then presidential candidate Barack Obama and U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
Vaughn, elected as Northeast Tennessee’s first African-American state lawmaker in 2002, insisted he won’t be aligning himself with anyone in Washington.
“There are going to be folks who try to put my head on a crow and tell me that I’m with Obama and Nancy Pelosi. Folks, don’t believe that garbage,” Vaughn told the crowd.
Vaughn said Shipley “said an awful lot of evil things about me” in the 2008 campaign, and he told his supporters not to stand still if negative attacks “distort who I am” this year.
Vaughn said he would not go negative on Shipley personally, but would talk about his two-year record.
“We’ve got an unemployment rate of 10.7 percent. We’ve got people out of work. We’ve got people losing their homes, and we’ve got legislators in Nashville passing ATV bills,” Vaughn said of Shipley’s legislation that would allow ATVs to ride on locally approved roads.
Vaughn also said “things began to happen” on State Route 126 upgrading in 2003 after he took office, but added Shipley used the road project as a campaign issue against him in 2008.
“I’ve heard him say in 90 days the bulldozers would be on State Route 126,” Vaughn said of Shipley. “Sometimes I take a ride on 126 just to look for the bulldozers. ... He gave a (rebuilding) date of 2020, and he doesn’t know if it’s going to happen.”
Vaughn noted Shipley has made “awful statements” about the Tennessee Department of Transportation and has had a conflict with Health Commissioner Susan Cooper.
“How can this be helpful to the people of the 2nd District?” Vaughn asked the crowd. “In 2008 my opponent didn’t have a record. He could tell you anything. He had never been elected to anything. He had promised everybody everything. He said he could take the tax off agricultural products grown in Tennessee. I told him ‘You can’t do that.’ ... He said he was going to pass a bill... I’m still waiting for that bill.”
Vaughn began his remarks by saying Democrat Gov. Phil Bredesen had sent “a little bit more than his best regards” to his campaign.
“We’re going to be talking to everybody in this district,” Vaughn said. “We need to be working on jobs. We’re going to be talking about the things important in this county ... not about the garbage in people’s lives. It’s going to be a tough race but we have to stand up and not let (Shipley) get us down.”
As a result of Vaughn’s 2008 loss and other House seat pickups by Republicans, the GOP now has a 51-48 majority in the state House. The 2nd House District includes parts of Kingsport, Colonial Heights, Indian Springs and Sullivan Gardens.

Building on HOPE

THIS ARTICLE COURTESY THE KINGSPORT TIMES-NEWS

Transformation of Riverview site ‘progressing well’
16 single-family houses and eight duplexes are going up on the old Riverview Apartments site.

By MATTHEW LANE
mlane@timesnews.net


KINGSPORT — The transformation of the old Riverview Apartments site is “progressing well,” with two houses expected to be completed in the next six weeks and occupancy beginning in May.

Erica Yoon —eyoon@timesnews.net
As part of the city’s HOPE VI project, 16 single-family houses and eight duplexes are being built on the old Riverview Apartments site.

To see a slide show of the HOPE VI homes from February, please click here.

An updated photo album is coming shortly.


Two years ago, the city of Kingsport demolished the old Riverview Apartments complex with plans to replace the aging public housing facility with new, single-family houses and duplexes.
The work was the beginning of one phase of the city’s HOPE VI project — a $30 million redevelopment of two distressed city neighborhoods. The first phase replaced 29 houses along Sherwood and Hiwassee with 24 new, affordable homes, while the second phase calls for 32 rental houses and duplexes built on the old Riverview Apartments site and six additional houses built in the Riverview community.





Below center, workers with ABC (subcontracted by Armstrong Construction of Kingsport) put a roof on one of the two single-family houses nearing completion at the old Riverview Apartments site. At right, crews dig trenches to install storm drains at the site. At bottom right, Larry Catron, Matthew Sanders and Jerry Jones with Armstrong Construction work on the foundation of a house.











Doris Ladd, director of the HOPE VI project, said the Riverview phase of the project is at about the 30 percent completion mark. Armstrong Construction of Kingsport is performing the work.
“That’s a rough guess, but I think the houses are progressing very well,” Ladd said.
Sixteen single-family houses and eight duplexes are going up on the old Riverview site, along with six off-site houses — all of which will be public housing rental units. The houses are in the same model as those built along Sherwood and Hiwassee, with the houses being three bedroom/two bath and the duplexes being two bedroom/two bath.



The first two houses on Wheatly Street will probably be completed in the next 45 days. All of the six off-site houses are under construction, and the walls are up on the eight duplexes.
Ladd said the Kingsport Housing and Redevelopment Authority (KHRA) is hoping to begin some occupancy in May, with all of the units completed by December.
The rental units are first being offered to the original residents of Riverview who have expressed an interest in returning, then to other families in the KHRA’s self-sufficiency program and in other public housing/Section 8 units.
KHRA staff are working with former residents to get them qualified to come back, noting 90 households have expressed an interest in the rental units — 40 of whom are prior residents of Riverview. Seventeen residents have qualified for the new units.
“We have a good cross section of original residents as well as individuals who are working toward self-sufficiency, and all are meeting the requirements,” said Maria Catron, the HOPE VI Community Support Services coordinator. “And we’re still working with (other) folks to help them become eligible.”
More than three years ago, Kingsport received an $11.9 million HOPE VI revitalization grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to go toward the total HOPE VI project in Kingsport.
The cost of phase two is approximately $8.5 million — $4 million in HOPE VI dollars, $4 million in low-income housing tax credit dollars from the Tennessee Housing Development Association, and a $380,000 federal home loan bank grant.



At the same time these units are under construction, work to repair all of the homes along Sherwood and Hiwassee is wrapping up, Ladd said. Last year, city officials and the development company on the project (Cornerstone Housing of Maryland) discovered a series of problems with the 24 houses along Sherwood and Hiwassee — poor masonry work, drainage issues, and problems with the concrete steps and driveways.
Since then, Cornerstone Housing brought on a new construction company to remedy the problems, including re-bricking every home and repairing the concrete. Kingsport installed sump pumps under every house (even though only four had drainage issues) and installed a French drain along Hiwassee.
Ladd said repairs to the final house were being done last week, and the new construction company — Landmark Construction of Johnson City — will be cleaning up for the next 45 to 60 days, depending on weather.
“I’d like to think by the end of April they’ll be out of there with everything,” Ladd said, noting 20 of the houses have residents, with the remaining four being under contract.
After the debacle with the Sherwood and Hiwassee homes, the KHRA has secured a different inspection company for the Riverview units, a company out of Greeneville, Ladd said.

Workshops: Hair Styling and Head Wraps (LaVonda Price)

THIS IS ONE IN A SERIES OF REPORTS ON THE RECENT BLACK HISTORY WORKSHOPS AT THE RENAISSANCE CENTER IN KINGSPORT:


The cultural phenomenons known as hair weaving and head wraps, continue to draw people from all walks of life.



"Hair design has always brought people together to sample the latest styles," says hair stylist LaVonda Price, who demonstrated popular distinctions like weaving and preparation during a workshop at Kingsport's Renaissance Center for Black History Month 2010.



Click here to see a slideshow of African-American hair wraps and hair styling.

"Sometimes, you can change a man or woman's whole personality, just by changing the way they wear their hair," she says. "It's a real good attention-getter. Sometimes, you can go way back to the styles of the Motherland, which are becoming very popular in African-American culture. The braiding that I'm doing is what I love doing the best. I love it because that's what our ancestors used to do back when. They didn't have much else to do and when they were bored, they women braided hair and fixed it up."



LaVonda is one of the best experts in her craft, and for good reason. She learned hair dressing and styling from one of the legends.. Mrs. Tillie Trammell on Dunbar Street. She was among the best of the best in Riverview.

"Miss Tillie was a wonderful teacher," LaVonda remembers, "and very good at detail. She could talk to you, style your hair, carry on a phone conversation, everything all at the same time, and when she finished, you were amazed at the new look you had. I miss asking her advice on things, and when I fix hair, it's just like she would have done it."



"Hair styling is a long lost art in the black community," she says. "A lot of people like the styles they see from Africa, the Motherland, because they're so nostalgic. Everything they used to do back then, is more natural now, it's more becoming. It's also relaxing. Sometimes you can do too much and damage the hair, and it does take great care to make sure you're not overdoing anything."

There's a common misconception about hair styling that LaVonda says, many people have.

"When you braid hair," she says, "it actually grows. When you're using just your own hair in corn rolling, you're using a gentle tension. The human scalp responds to that, and gives in a little bit at a time. Hair is going to grow daily anyway.. most hair grows anywhere from a half-inch to an inch in a month's time, and when you start adding to it, that's when it can really become an elegant way to express yourself."



Teira Blye has always liked her hair in braids.

"I see a lot of people with that, in pictures, in school," she says, " and I like having my hair stylish like that. I think it looks good on me. There are so many styles to choose from, but the long braids are the best on me."

"We're going to take her's long," LaVonda says. "She's gonna have fun with it.. she can wear it in pony tails, or up-do's.. she's just gonna have a ball with it when we're done. We've got a creation going on here that she's gonna enjoy showing off."



Meanwhile, head wraps are not lost on the new generation.

Step 1: Unwrap the head-wrap and let the fabric unfold so it is one long piece. Place the fabric on your head. Pull the fabric down so it covers all your hair. Allow one side to be longer than the other as it hangs down.

Step 2: Take the long end of the fabric and wrap it around the hair in a twisting fashion. Be sure not to twist your hair into the fabric as this will damage the hair. Twist the fabric around the hair so it keeps the hair straight while covering it entirely. Continue until you have all the hair securely wrapped in the fabric.



Step 3: Find the end of your hair and hold it with your fingertips. Twist the hair wrap with your hair inside slowly. Twist and twist until your hair and the wrap begins to coil and twists under itself into a bun-like structure.

Step 4: Wrap this twisted section around the bulk of your hair nearest your head. It should form a sort of short enclosed ponytail. Tuck the ends in under the ponytail section. Secure with bobby pins or, if your hair is thick enough, tuck the ends in and secure them.

Step 5: Shake your head gently to make sure your wrap is secure. If it feels loose, you can start over or simply pin the loose areas in place with bobby pins.



If hair design and hair wraps are long lost arts in the African-American community, you can't tell it. Folks stopped by on a regular basis to watch the magic of hair creation, and of course, had plenty of good comments about what they were seeing.

And better yet.. LaVonda's hair styling has impressed Teira greatly. Another great hair stylist, in the true tradition of "Miss Tillie" could be in the making.

Workshops: Drumming (Richie Hicks)

THIS IS ONE IN A SERIES OF REPORTS ON THE RECENT BLACK HISTORY WORKSHOPS AT THE RENAISSANCE CENTER IN KINGSPORT:



If you ever wanted to connect with the number one aspect of African culture, both mainstream and ancestorial, all you have to do is pick up one item.


The drum.

"Everybody has a rhythm," says Richie Hicks of Kingsport, who has been teaching the African art of drumming for years. We caught up with Ritchie during a drumming workshop at Kingsport's Renaissance Center for Black History Month 2010.

Click here to see a slideshow of Richie's drumming workshop.

"Everybody has a beat that defines them," he says. "It's an inner thing, something that goes right down to the heartbeat, which, itself has a beat. The beat defines the person. Tune in to it sometimes, and you'd be surprised. Feel the pulse of your heartbeat and you'll hear and feel the pulse of a specific beat. Your own rhythm just goes from there and stretches out all over the universe."

"It's something unique just to you."



Richie says, drumming is the extention of a person's natural rhythm, and the African tribes of our ancestors discovered that, first.

"Most drum beats are West African in nature," he says. "The West Coast, the Congo.. those areas. Many tribes had languages all to themselves that nobody else understood but them, so when it came to communicating with other tribes, that's where the drums came in. Drumming was, and still is, in some cases, the promary form of communication between people, between tribes, between communities and between cultures."



"It's almost a spiritual cleansing, that gets out your passions and aggressions."

"It was all a matter of pitch," Ritchie says. "Different pitches would mean certain things, like 'come celebrate my daughter's wedding,' or 'we're having a big feast, come join us.' Friendly beats meant good things.. heavy, steady, rapid beats usually meant just one thing.. WAR."

Both kids and grownups learn something from drumming.



"The kids love it because number one, they get to make noise," Richie laughs. "Number Two, they get to hit things. But this way, it comes with a rhythm and a beat that means something. The grownups are taken back to that tribal time when this was the only way for our people to communicate."

He says, just look to your own heartbeat.

"Drumming brings out the need to communicate, and that gives the heartbeat a soul."

Workshops: African-American Cuisine (Gerry & John Harrison and others)

THIS IS ONE IN A SERIES OF REPORTS ON THE RECENT BLACK HISTORY WORKSHOPS AT THE RENAISSANCE CENTER IN KINGSPORT:



Eat true African food combinations, and expect to lose some weight.

"They're very nutritious and not as fattening as soul food," says Gerry Harrison, who help provide samples of African food combinations in a workshop at Kingsport's Renaissance Center for Black History Month.



Click here to see a slideshow of the African-American Cuisine exhibit and sampling.

The African-American Cuisine exhibit and food samples, proved to be well-liked, by folks who stopped by one of the Renaissance Center's conference rooms, where the food was laid out for sampling. At any given time, people were lined up to try samples that were prepared from scratch.



"For the third year, the most popular kind of soup we served was the beef stew with rice and the banana slices," Gerry says. "It was amazing how many people remarked about how good it was, having never considered the combination. The banana actually brings out the flavor of the beef and the meat sauce. It's a beef that you don't add any water to, it makes its own broth, and you put a lot of things in."

This particular recipe uses bananas, but Gerry says, you can also substitute banana's nearest cousin, the plantain.



"I had a friend from Nigeria.. actually, she's my daughter's mother-in-law," she says. "She stayed in the States 3 summers ago, and she used plantains instead of bananas. At first, I was kinda leery of it, too, but I said 'I'm gonna try it.' It was much better than I thought.. an idea from the Motherland that was just different."






"She also showed us how to do fried plantains, too," says Gerry. "Both plantains and bananas are high in potassium, but plantains have a coarser, more dense content. The substance inside is not as soft as a banana.. bananas will fry up and get mushy on you, but the plantains will not. The green plantains have a totally different taste than the black ones. The black ones are used mostly for desserts, if you want the sweetness to come out. If you want something like potato chips, cut the green ones thin and fry them."



Another African food combination that raised a few eyebrows, but later tickled a few taste buds, was chicken stew with a little peanut butter in it.

"I make it without tomatoes," says Gerry, "by using a tomato base and peanut butter. You can use roasted peanuts, or creamed peanuts, or peanut butter. Usually you try to use the unsalted kind, which is what we did for the sampling. Using the unsalted version, that took away much of the peanut butter taste. It had a more nutty taste to it, and folks just loved that."



And then there was rice, normally a staple in most diets. But not the regular rice you're familiar with.

"All of these dishes we served with coconut rice," Gerry says. "This went over quite well. It was also the second year that I decided, for the display, to make the Sweet Potato Bread, with fruits and nuts, and also banana bread. Altogether, we had soup, stew, 2 different kinds of rice, and 2 different kinds of bread."

One thing's for sure. African cuisine will definitely fill you up, but won't bloat you out.



"African foods don't use the same oil that we normally use in this country," says Gerry. "They use peanut oil, which is much lighter than the oil we use. In the African culture, they use a lot of natural herbs and seasonings, which are better for you. We've got food cravings for things from time to time, but if you don't fry a whole lot of food, over-sugar them, or put a lot of fat in them all the time, they can be healthy for y9ou.

"But it's the combinations of fresh foods and herbs that people in Africa use, that are more healthy," she says. "Don't be afraid to try the different African food combinations that you can find online.. they give a whole new, wonderful taste that you've never experienced before.

"Healthwise.. that can be a good thing."

AFRICAN BEEF STEW - CLICK HERE TO SEE THE RECIPE












AFRICAN PEANUT SOUP - CLICK HERE TO SEE RECIPE:


AFRICAN SWEET POTATO BREAD - CLICK HERE TO SEE RECIPE

Workshops: Step Dancing (Tim Hall)

THIS IS ONE IN A SERIES OF REPORTS ON THE RECENT BLACK HISTORY WORKSHOPS AT THE RENAISSANCE CENTER IN KINGSPORT:


In the African-American culture, step dancing remains a phenomenon.

Watching the movie "Drum Line" is like watching a carefully choreographed ballet, with precise movements, focused attentions, and no room for error.



Enter Xavier (Tim) Hall, Kingsport's official "King of Comedy."

"I've been doing and teaching step dancing since I graduated from Dobyns-Bennett in '96," Tim says. "I teach the 'swag' style of stepping. It's step dancing to a point, then you just let the body and the mood take over. It's a beat, but it's still what you want to say in your steppin'."

Tim says he first got to practice the craft while enrolled at Hiwassee Junior College, a predominantly Christian School in Madisonville, Tennessee.


HIWASSEE JUNIOR COLLEGE COURTYARD, MADISONVILLE, TENNESSEE


"I was in a fraternity we called 'B-Phi," he says. "We had about 60 African-American students, including me. There were no fraternities or sororities on campus, so we actually made up our own name, our own charter with our own identity. We called it 'B-Phi' because of our dormitory. A homemade fraternity like we were, and we had probably the largest number of blacks that ever came to the school during that time.. We were always wondering, 'well what is there to do in Madisonville,' so we said 'hey let's start up a fraternity."



Step Dancing is one of those physical workouts, that Tim says, will 'wear you out.'

"I looked at the schedule for the Renaissance Center Workshop and I thought 'oh no..six hours of stepping,'" Tim says. "It is a real cardio-workout, a fat burner, because if you give it 100 percent, you'll work muscles you didn't know you had."

"The late 90's were good years for step, and now it's coming back," he says. "The popularity of the step shows on television are showcasing the art form and people are starting to pick it up again."



Of course, what would an interview with "Kingsport's King of Comedy" without a spot check on Tim's exploding career?




D.T. OWENS AND SIR WALT


"I'm still touring with the group from BET," he says proudly. "D-T Owens and Sir Walt. We'll be in Winchester, Virginia the 20th of March... Charlotte, North Carolina on the 26th of March, and then I've got a real big surprise. We're bringing the tour to Kingsport on July 2nd. When we got back on the tour, I told the guys about Kingsport and they said 'well, it's time to bring BET to Kingsport, and there they were, dropping it into the tour dates. We're looking to bring in some heavy names when we come to Kingsport on July 2nd.

Sir Walt has taken me under his wing and really created my craft. He's the headliner on this tour. My material, my staging, my everything is changed somewhat, so just learning how to write, how to confirm my 45 minutes, that type of work is now driven in a new direction. I was somebody who just jumped right into it, no coaching, no staging or anything."



"My best story with D.T. and Sir Walt is.. I had never seen them in person, of course, only on TV.. I go in as a newcomer," Tim says. "I go into the hotel room and I'm like, 'OMG, there they are, just like on BET' and I get all country," Tim says with a laugh that has become one of his signatures. They're like 'calm down dude, you're part of us.' We were putting the lineup together, and I figure since I'm the new guy, I would go on first, because the star of the group is the headliner..they always go last. Then I find out, I'm the middle guy in the group, going on just before the headliner. That's a big honor, especially being new to these guys.



"They told me, 'you've got something going now.. that giggle. That giggle is your best signature," says Tim. Click here, and then click PLAY to hear Tim's signature giggle. That night, the audience gave me a standing ovation. That let me know that, I'm working on something."



"God has given me the ability to make people laugh," he says, "and I'm gonna take it and run with it. I hope it's my time to shine."

"If I can just get through this step dancing."

Workshops: Tap Dancing (Terrance Bennett & Tre McClendon)

THIS IS ONE IN A SERIES OF REPORTS ON THE RECENT BLACK HISTORY WORKSHOPS AT THE RENAISSANCE CENTER IN KINGSPORT:

There wasn't a single minute that Atlanta's Terrance Bennett did not want to tap dance.



"The masters back in the 30's and 40's, both men and women, found it difficult to find work, because most of the African-American tap dancing shows, began shifting to musical theater," he said recently during a break in a Kingsport workshop with his tap dancing partner Tre McClendon. "Tap started disappearing from the public scene, and most of the dancer went underground. They had day jobs, but at night, they still tapped and loved to tap dance. They just couldn't find anywhere to showcase their talent."



Terrance credits the movie "Taps" with Gregory Hines, for bringing the long, lost art of tap dancing back. "He actually brought many of those ole-time tap dancers out of retirement and showcased them in the movie. All of a sudden, American re-discovered an art form that was bourne out of the desperation of trying to feed one's family during the Depression. When the movie came out, tap dancing started to re-emerge and people became interested in it again."



It's no secret that tap dancing is one of the few art forms that actively engages the audience, especially if the tap dancer is on his or her game.

To see a slide show of the tap dance workshop held by Terrance and his tap dance companion, Tre McClendon, click here. If the picture is blurred, it's because they were moving quite fast.

"It's the percussion," Terrance says, "and it's the unexpected. Audiences can really get mesmerized by the rapid movements of the feet, and then you slip something in that they weren't expected. It's like icing on a cake."



"The idea that a dancer can move and create, both at the same time, is just fascinating," he says. "Before I started tap dancing, I looked at tap as almost magical, because here were people who had two feet, just like I did, and they could create sound with their feet in ways that I couldn't figure out and there they are, right in front of me."

It's that magical perception that connects people with tap dancing, and, judging by the audience that flocked to the Kingsport Renaissance Center's auditorium to watch Terrance and Tre compete, it's quite successful. It was difficult for folks to look away while they were watching.



"McClendon and I have worked together for years," Terrance says. "He was actually a student of mine. I taught tap dancing at his parents' studio in Stone Mountain, Georgia and he was just starting high school. At the time, he wasn't a great tap dancer, but he did become passionate about tapping when I started working with him and it just took off. As he matured, we just kinda took the routine on the road."

One of the most engaging things about tap dancing, is its ability to create a competition between two or more dancers.

"Back in the day, tap dancers literally stole steps from each other," says Terrance. "In the vaudeville days, people had to be competitive because they were all going for the same job. If you weren't the best, you didn't get the job, and if you had a family to support, it was no fun getting beat. Your family would not eat, if you didn't get the job."



"So, tap dancers became more outlandish in their routines. We've all seen the Nicholas Brothers doing front flips, splits and stuff..that was just the tip of the iceberg. You had guys jumping off things 10 feet tall, back flips, throwing each other up.. anything they could do just to make their acts stand out, so they could survive. It became an art form, because of that."

And what of folks, wanting to learn tap dancing?

"It's not as difficult as it looks," says Terrance. "There are beginner classes all over the place. I have a website www.tapdanceman.com where I teach online tap lessons, and you can practice right at home. You don't even have to have tap shoes. Most of my practicing, I do in my regular shoes because I don't like wearing them shoes all the time."



"But get ready, though.. it's a good cardio-workout."

Women's Conference 2010

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Douglass Alumni Association Meeting Minutes 2/27/10

The regularly scheduled February 27, 2010 meeting of the Douglass Alumni Association was held at Bethel A.M.E. Zion church. The following members were present: Douglass Releford, Virginia Hankins, Sheila Leeper, Louetta Hall, Ozine Bly, Wallace Ross, Harry Smith, Carl Bradford and Calvin Sneed. A quorum was met.

The Meeting was called to order by President Douglass Releford. Louetta Hall opened with prayer. Calvin motioned that because of a late start, to waive the reading of last meeting minutes. Virginia Hankins seconded.


OLD BUSINESS - Doug reported that the required fee of $1,500.00 for the Douglass School Historical marker has been paid by anonymous donors. Doug relayed our appreciation to those persons for their generosity.
Calvin presented handouts. One announced the approval of Douglass High School receiving the historical marker and the other one was of the text that would be on both sides of the marker. Calvin also stated that we would be getting a phone number from Charter soon. Wallace asked if Charter was the only company we considered and Doug told him that it was cheaper to go with the company the other organizations were using and that Charter’s rates were the best.

Virginia Hankins asked how the telephone and internet service would be funded.
Doug stated that it was discussed in the last meeting that we would no longer need to rent a storage facility so we would be able to transfer those funds to the telephone and internet service. Virginia also asked if we could maybe look into grants. Doug stated that talks were already in the works about us applying for grants. Wallace Ross suggested that we ask members of the association for donations. Doug stated that we need to stress the importance of Douglass Alumni members paying their yearly dues as a means to help meet our financial obligations.

Calvin suggested that we would need XP or Vista on the computers and that they would most likely be Dell since that was who the city had their contract with.
Doug stated that in a conversation with Terry Cunningham it was disclosed that there was a grant in place to take care of the furniture situation. Since our organization was small in comparison to the other non profit organizations in the building, he was not sure how much furniture that would consist of. Doug did say that chairs, for some reason, would not be included.

Virginia asked if the scholarship money had been transferred into the scholarship account and Doug said that it had.
Calvin questioned if Jeff Faulkerson had been paid yet. Doug said as soon as we could acquire his address, the check would be sent.


NEW BUSINESS - Doug suggested that we discontinue the use of our P.O. box since we would have a physical address once we moved into the V.O. Dobbins Complex. Virginia Hankins made a motion to cancel the P.O. box when we move and Sheila Leeper seconded the motion. It was voted to do so. Doug also suggested those funds could also be used toward our utilities.

Doug reported that construction was going good and that there was going to be an innovative nuclear heating and cooling system installed for the community room at the V.O. Dobbins complex. This will be the only system of its kind in the state of Tennessee.
There was a discussion on where the marker should be placed. Calvin suggested the courtyard. Virginia suggested we wait on a date closer to completion of the building to give everyone a chance to look over the grounds before we decided on placement of the marker.

Harry Smith asked if there was going to be shelves in the office at the complex. Doug was not sure. Harry said if we needed shelves, that may be something that he could volunteer to build for the association. He showed us a picture of his work.
Doug asked the association to remember several of our Douglass Alumni who are sick and in the hospital.

Virginia Hankins suggested we have a dinner for the working board of the Douglass Alumni Association for appreciation of the work we have done. Everyone was in favor of doing that. Our next scheduled meeting will be on April 17, 2010 at the Golden Corral at 1:00.
Virginia Hankins made a motion to adjourn and Ozine Bly seconded.
Douglass Releford adjourned the meeting.

Respectfully submitted,
Virginia Hankins

Stand By for Stories

We're working on some wonderful stories on the Black History workshops held this past Saturday, 2-27-10 at the Kingsport Renaissance Center. We've got stories and pictures on African Cruisine Sampling, Headwrap Designs, Tap Dancing, Drumming and more.

Also, we're working on the Kingsport Community Unity Celebration story with LOTS of pictures, too.

You'd think the V.O. Dobbins Center renovations were already complete. I paid a visit this past weekend, and it's incredible the progress the workers have made. We've got a story with lots of pictures on that, too.

Please watch the website.. folks on the mailing list will get an email reminder.

--Calvin