Discover Statesville
Welcome to "Discover Statesville," the show that takes you on a captivating journey through the heart of one of North Carolina's most charming towns. Co-hosted by community advocates, Richard Griggs and Cindy Sutton, this weekly show brings you the pulse of Statesville, recording live at various spots throughout Statesville in partnership with Sow Media studios.
Join Richard and Cindy as they uncover the hidden gems and local treasures that make Statesville truly special. From the top-notch attractions and exciting events to the remarkable individuals who shape the community, "Discover Statesville" promises to leave no stone unturned.
Hungry for a culinary adventure? Tune in for their delightful restaurant reviews, where they'll guide you to the best places to eat in town. Whether you're a resident or a visitor, this podcast is your ultimate guide to all the things that make Statesville great.
You're invited to come along on this immersive journey, as "Discover Statesville" brings you closer to the heart of our vibrant town. Be prepared to be entertained, inspired, and enlightened each week, as Richard and Cindy share their passion for all things Statesville!
Discover Statesville
Statesville's Juneteenth: A Legacy of Unity
What if a small community event could grow into a cornerstone of town unity and cultural celebration? Join us as we uncover the history of Juneteenth in Statesville, North Carolina, with special guests Seifullahaj El-Amin and Tevin Carr. From the early 1990s beginnings sparked by the local Muslim community under the guidance of WD Muhammad, to the thriving festivities now hosted on West Broad Street, this episode delves into how a modest parade and celebration blossomed into a major annual event embraced by the entire town. Learn how the contributions of local businesses and the dedication of community groups like IMPACT have played a pivotal role in this transformation.
We'll also explore the deeper themes of unity and legacy that infuse the Juneteenth celebrations, emphasizing the ongoing journey from sharecropping to land ownership within the African-American community. Discover how efforts to involve younger generations are helping bridge gaps and ensure the future vibrancy of the event. Plus, get an insider's look at the various activities that make Juneteenth in Statesville unique, from art exhibitions to the powerful recitations of Dr. Martin Luther King's speeches. Be sure to listen until the end for a taste of what you can experience at Statesville's newest business 'Culture Shock'. Tune in for a rich tapestry of stories, history, and community spirit that highlight the dynamic evolution of Juneteenth in Statesville.
My friend Tevin tells me that this week is the week of love. Oh, oh wait, Tevin, that's every week, right? This week we're celebrating unity. Tune in now to figure out how you can tie in.
Speaker 2:Welcome to Discover Statesville, the show that takes you on a captivating journey through the heart of one of North Carolina's most charming towns.
Speaker 3:Welcome back to Discover Statesville. Today, we are joined by Cephala Alameen and Tevin Carr, who are two of the organizers of this year's Juneteenth celebration, which is happening this week in a variety of events. Welcome, fellas.
Speaker 4:Yeah, welcome, good to see you, thank you.
Speaker 3:So if we can Cephala, if we don't mind, let's start with you. And you've been involved with the Juneteenth celebration in Statesville maybe since the beginning, Since the very beginning, since the very beginning. Since the very beginning. So tell us a little bit about kind of when and how that started.
Speaker 5:Well, back in the early 90s then our leader, wd Muhammad, and I'm talking about with the Muslim community here in Statesville, he brought it to our attention that and this is a national thing that we should start or energize the celebration of Juneteenth. So my family and I, and a couple of other families that go attend the local masjid, we traveled across North Carolina and South Carolina. Matter of fact, the very first Juneteenth celebration that we went to was in Charleston, south Carolina, and it was very informative, very colorful and it was just exciting. So the next year, instead of going to South Carolina, we went to Wilmington, north Carolina, where they was doing the same thing, and we participated in that and we did that for a couple of years and then we decided that we would start having Juneteenth celebration in Statesville.
Speaker 5:Now, what we did? If you are familiar with Statesville at all, you'll know that Wilson Lee Boulevard used to be called the Boulevard, so I think it had been named Wilson Lee at that particular time. I'm sure it had. So we decided what we would do would have a celebration, but we would have it at Cooper Park, alice Cooper Park, which is on Wilson Lee Boulevard. Now, remember, we didn't know it was Alice Cooper Park. So we is on Wilson Lee Boulevard. Now, remember, we didn't know it was Alice Cooper Park, so we were advertising Wilson Lee Park. Okay, because it was on Wilson Lee Boulevard and we didn't realize that until we had to get permits, special event permits and stuff like that to have it.
Speaker 5:So what we did, we went on through with it. We started out at Weston Avenue Now, if you know anything about states, again, weston Avenue runs at the end, on the north side of Gardner-Bagner, of Wilson Lee Boulevard, and we had a parade that started at Weston Avenue and went down to Alice Cooper Park. I started to say Wilson Lee Park again, but down to Alice Cooper Park. I started to say Wilson Lee Park again, but it was Alice Cooper Park, and we had a very festive occasion. It was very successful. We had motorcycle clubs and it was a walking parade. It wasn't a whole lot of floats or nothing like that, it was just people.
Speaker 1:That sounds amazing.
Speaker 5:then Matter of fact, I had my Congo drum. We was being a drum and stuff we. I had my Congo drum, oh God.
Speaker 4:We got to bring that back.
Speaker 5:No, we ain't.
Speaker 4:Ted, don't make your space on the stage, man, I still got it. We put you on stage. You said it all. Yeah, you know.
Speaker 5:So we did that and we really had a good time. It lasted all day. And the next year we decided it was a little bit much for the local masjid, the local Muslim community.
Speaker 5:So I was involved in a group called Impact and, yeah, we were looking for a signature program at that time and we decided that we would turn the Juneteenth celebration over to the guys from Impact. So we struggled for a couple of years but we still had it. And we had it in what is known as the flats, south Center Street I think it's the 500 block of South Center Street which was known as the flat. So we had it down there for a couple of years matter of fact, several years and it began to grow and grow and grow and grow. And then we decided that we would, instead of just having the community or the churches and people that were supporting it, fund it, we said, well, why don't we get sponsors? So, therefore, we started getting the businesses in the local community to start helping us out and sponsoring the event.
Speaker 5:And really, you know, looking back at that, the rest is history, because it just kept growing and we kept doing it every year and it kept growing and growing and growing. And a lot of people say, well, why didn't y'all invite other people? And we did, we invited everybody, because Juneteenth doesn't belong to anybody, everybody is welcome. I told the group yesterday evening the same thing we were always headed downtown. That was. Our goal was to make Juneteenth a part of the fabric of Statesville, and when Statesville actually the city of Statesville had been involved since the beginning.
Speaker 1:Do you hear that, Richard? A part of the fabric.
Speaker 5:It really is up of Juneteenth, with the assistance of the street closing, with the trash pickup, with all those things that the city helped us with, the bleachers, and just a whole so many things. We can't even begin to tell everything because we don't forget some of the stuff. So what we did now we kind of partnered with the city so they'll get their due recognition as well as everybody else, and so that's where we started from.
Speaker 3:So this will be the third year since you've moved it to the West Broad Street area of downtown.
Speaker 5:Right, let me back up a minute because I forgot one key point about the Juneteenth celebration. One key point about the Juneteenth celebration After so many years of Impact being the main group that was sponsoring it, we decided that we needed to open this thing up to the community.
Speaker 5:Get some women involved Well exactly Seriously, and so that's what we did. We started calling the community's Juneteenth committee, and that's how that happened. We opened it up so we could get more people involved, because this thing is not here today and gone tomorrow. This thing is here and you know, everybody realizes it's here and growing every year.
Speaker 1:We want people from Charleston and Winston to be on their shows saying now we went to Statesville and checked out their amazing event.
Speaker 3:And so we talk about the Juneteenth celebration, which I think people see, flyers and everything, and this year that's Saturday June the 22nd, that's this Saturday. But there's a variety of events throughout the week, aside from just that Saturday celebration, correct?
Speaker 5:That's true. I'll let you take care of some of that.
Speaker 4:Yeah for sure. And one thing that I've noticed when I would go to other Juneteenth celebrations in other cities and other counties was that they were making it a week-long thing, and that's one thing that I'm excited about this year that our committee is doing. We've been committed to not just doing one event or one celebratory event, but also educational events, as well as networking events, just to bring the community together even more. So tomorrow, actually, we're going to have a tour of historic black Statesville that is guided by Dr Lisa Moser I got to get that right, Dr Lisa Moser and immediately after that there will be a panel discussion from myself, Elamin Todd Scott, who is the president of the NAACP, as well as Dr Moser. We'll sit down with the community and answer some questions and just raise awareness about what Juneteenth is all about.
Speaker 3:And is that sort of centered in that Garfield Morningside High School area.
Speaker 4:Right. So historic black state. So is that area. The panel will be at the Unity Center.
Speaker 3:Yeah, okay, but the tour is Green Street, that Garfield area.
Speaker 1:Tevin, when you say tomorrow, depending on when our listeners tune in, that is actually on Juneteenth, on Wednesday, on Wednesday, june 19th, 19th, just in case, depending on when you tune in. We want to make sure that you don't miss anything.
Speaker 5:Let me address that also. We decided that since Juneteenth has been recognized as a federal holiday, that every year that the date falls on something different than a Saturday, we are definitely going to do something. And this year it happens to be on a Wednesday. So we said we got to do something on the day of Sure. So hopefully, going forward, if it's on a Thursday, tuesday, friday, whatever, we will have something.
Speaker 5:Now in the past we have had a three day affair. We started out several years ago with an educational part at Mitchell College they allowed us to I think it was Sheryl Hall that we had panel discussions, we had guest speakers to come in to educate the community and then on that Friday we did what was called a reenactment. And then on that Friday we did what is what was called a reenactment, and the reenactment was a county like a stage play that we that several members of the community Wrote, and then we had other members of the community that would, that would go in and get parts to play. It was educational but it was also hilarious, but it was real good. It was real good and I don't know if we'll go back to that. We should at some point, but right now I absolutely think you should.
Speaker 1:Right now, I think you should go back to the parade with you, with you drumming.
Speaker 5:And we probably will at some point. But what we wanted to do? Anytime that you talk about African-American history, if you see it on television and this is a pet peeve of mine they always take you back to the cotton fields, that's true. So, in order for us to get away from the cotton fields that's one of the reasons we're not doing the reenactment, because that was based on stage play developed in the cotton fields and then when the when the word first got announced to the slaves of gaveston that we were free, okay, that's what that was all about. So we want to try to bring them from that error up to now, gotcha. And we can't do that constantly taking them back to the cotton field. We don't want to do that, but we don't want them to forget that either, for sure we don't want to do that, but we don't want them to forget that either, for sure, we don't want them to forget it, but we definitely want to get out of that.
Speaker 1:This is part of the educational stuff you guys are doing. So you have this growing group of community leaders that are coming together. I mean you have a group that works hard to put all this together. I mean you work on it all year. Oh, yeah, for sure on it all year, but you have a theme. You were telling us kind of where my leading came from. But unity right.
Speaker 5:You want to bring the unity and the reason why we selected the song Unity and I advise everybody to go online, go to YouTube and look up the OJ's Unity and in the song it tells you about how important it is for us to have unity. And see, I don't know people's philosophy as far as what they think about slavery and the freedom after the slavery, but I always tell people the Emancipation Proclamation that was signed and voted upon, it wasn't just for the slaves, it was for the slave master, it was for the overseers of the slaves, it was for everybody that was involved in slavery, because it affected everybody. So what happened after slavery? Well, you had a lot of people that was out of work. So if you're out of work, then you don't have the wherewithal to support yourself. So what happened? They introduced sharecropping. My grandfather was a sharecropper and the whole time as I'm coming up as a little boy, I'm thinking that my granddaddy owned property Because every summer my mother would send me and my brother to the farm, to help him.
Speaker 5:You know, so I'm thinking you know, yeah, man, I come back to the city and I'm thinking no man, I spent the summer with my granddaddy on his farm and then to come to find out that he didn't own anything, he was a sharecropper. So that county, I ain't going to say, hardened my heart, but it made me realize some things and that's why I own acreage now I don't own that much, but I do own acreage and because he didn't have a dime to his name and I really enjoyed those days. And when he died he was 97 years old.
Speaker 1:Oh, wow.
Speaker 5:So you know, you can imagine the things that he saw in his lifetime. But anyway, I figured I'd need to say that thank you for sharing that.
Speaker 3:I think it's really valid because I think a lot of people still have heard of Juneteenth. They don't fully understand what Juneteenth is actually representing or celebrating right, right.
Speaker 4:And to speak on unity, I think this year is a great example of the city coming together, the community coming together, us bridging. I know, internally, as far as the black community generational gaps, there's been a generational gap between my community and our elders and I do see the efforts from the Juneteenth community to committed to connecting with the youth, connecting with younger leaders and inviting younger leaders to sit on the board and sit on the committee. I sit on the committee and I learn a lot from those meetings. To just to see what all goes into a year, goes into an event of that magnitude and to be able to share a seat with some great community leaders who've done great work here in this, in this city, uh, that's that level of unity that we're showing internally impresses me. But then also externally and with our partners and our different sponsors, that level of unity with the community, to know that here in idel county we do support these type of causes, I think that's great. Yeah, that is great.
Speaker 1:So I know we talked about the events on wednesday, um, and we do support these type of causes. I think that's great. That is great. So I know we talked about the events on Wednesday and we were talking a little bit before we started recording. But there is going to be a tour, a historic tour, but it's sold out, right. But if you snooze, you don't lose in this case because there's a wait list, right, there's going to be on ongoing tours after Wednesday, which I think is that's a great opportunity and that's a testament to the growth.
Speaker 4:It's really. The tour sold out was sold out by June, by the beginning of June. Also, all vending spots for downtown that were available for Juneteenth were sold out before June. I'm thinking that's a true testament to what happens when we rally together and we know we're doing something for a cause and something that will bring us together. I think that's a testament that we are sold out and a lot of this stuff is like okay, there's no more space. But it also lets us know to expand and it shows us that if we do expand, we will have that community support behind it.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's right. Slow growth is good, but when it's time to expand, you've got to grab a hold of it and expand. So I'm looking at the flyer we've got laying here. The big celebration on Saturday. I want to make sure that we let everyone know that is in downtown, on West Broad Street, in front of Mitchell, under the nice beautiful shaded trees.
Speaker 3:Mulberry all the way to Meeting and you guys actually have part of meeting closed this year too.
Speaker 5:Right, the north side of Broad Street? Yeah, so right out here in front of so Media, where we record with Isaiah.
Speaker 4:So Media.
Speaker 2:Yeah that's great.
Speaker 1:There's a great podcasting studio. So it's 11 am to 6 pm it starts at 11 to 6.
Speaker 5:um, uh, one of our main sponsors, denso, and uh, you know, we, we expect the crowd because I mean it's just, it's just time for it, it's just time for it. We have a lot of of sponsors, we have Piedmont Health Care and I don't, I don't never want to get on a mic anywhere and not recognize the city of Statesville.
Speaker 5:For sure, because they have been a very integral part of this celebration for years. We also have Look at this list right here, list right here ideal health system. We have ruggies and bingham, we have opus, we have, uh, ideal states for school system, michigan community college, uh, doosan and I said denzel, but doosan as well we have flow automotive and we also have randy marion. That that's some of the key sponsors of some of the events. And make sure to bring your children, because there is a kid zone, kid zone, yeah, and we're going to have bouncy houses and stuff like that.
Speaker 1:Go through some of that other amazing stuff that's happening. I know you got. Inspire is going to be the lead.
Speaker 4:And to speak on Unity Legacy. When we talk about Juneteenth, we talk about—this is where I get excited. You just turned me up a little bit. When we talk about Juneteenth, we talk about unity, we talk about legacy, we talk about history. This year in particular, again, it's a great illustration of all of that coming together.
Speaker 4:The headline of this year is Inspire Band, and Inspire is full of IRL natives and it's full of IRL community leaders, but not only that. That's like my favorite band to go and perform for, and Insomniacs gets to open up for them. And what a lot of people don't know is the drummer and the MD for Inspire. They're my mentors. So for me to be able to perform in front of my mentors, perform in front of my pops and my Uncle Freddy in my hometown everything is coming full circle and I love the fact that we're doing it on Juneteenth. It's a celebration of unity, it's a celebration of legacy and if you know some stories about Statesville, you will really know how important it is that we have the acts like Jamil Mooney's band on stage, we have Juneteenth Choir, we have Inspire, we have Insomniacs. These are organizations that's been here and that's committed to the work. So the fact that we're highlighting local talent is going to be a great show, but a lot of that talent on stage is going to be local. That speaks to the unity as well.
Speaker 3:Well, and one of the other cool things. You know, you've got the kids area. You've got vendors, food vendors and everything set up throughout the day. You've got the entertainment pieces that you mentioned, but there's also. You know, my experience at Juneteenth is there's something to watch at that stage all day long, whether it's music or there's dancers, or you've got spoken word. The past two years when I've been there, somebody always gets up and recites Dr Martin Luther King's speech. It is a full day of education, entertainment. There's not really any downtime. I mean, you could sit on those bleachers all day, all day. Yeah, for sure, for sure.
Speaker 1:And get there early, right? Because Mr Elamin told us they're going to kick off with that Unity song. Don't go get it on.
Speaker 3:YouTube. Bring a shade hat.
Speaker 5:Don't sit in the sun all day though, and bring your lawn chairs as well, because the city provides some bleachers but I'm glad you said that. That's why I'm saying it. That's why I'm saying it so you get it together. But also, people can bring their lawn chairs so they can sit closer and, for the most part, in the shade, because there's going to be a lot of sun on that part of the street during the highlight of the day, but it would be well worth it.
Speaker 3:Well worth it. It really is a great event. It's one of my favorite days of the year.
Speaker 1:Now, guys, if people want to figure out how to get involved and be a part of from Wednesday through Saturday and beyond, there is a website, right, is it? Juneteenthstatesvillecom?
Speaker 4:Yes.
Speaker 1:JuneteenthStatesvillecom.
Speaker 4:JuneteenthStatesvillecom. The vending spots are all sold out, right, yes, but we have seven at Culture Shock downtown, which is going to be right around the same area Because it was sold out before June even got here. We decided at Culture Shock that we would open up our building and kind of have small vending spaces for a little smaller local.
Speaker 1:So Culture Shock. What is that? Yeah, so Culture Shock.
Speaker 3:Shameless plug man. We talk about unity culture shock. What is that? Yeah, so culture shock. And I again it's a shameless plug man we talk about unity, we talk about legacy.
Speaker 4:Um, again, it was really important for insomniacs to be created here in idel county because we did not have that, uh, cultural and artistic piece that was representing, um, the black and brown communities exclusively and at large. So, uh, the fact that we have a space downtown and that downtown Statesville has welcomed us into this, coaching, like you said, the fabric of what it means to be Iredell and what it means to be Statesville, we're excited. So Culture Shock is the expansion of our Daydreamers program. The Daydreamers program was our commitment to boost our business acumen as what we call entrepreneurs. We're artists but we also have to be entrepreneurs. We opened up an art gallery to focus funding and efforts towards our visual artists and to give them a platform to showcase themselves, because we've kind of established that footprint musically in the city. So we wanted to do the same thing for visual artists.
Speaker 4:Came up on the blessing right downtown. It's a great location. We're excited to be downtown, to be around. We definitely see that downtown Statesville is committed to creating a what we call artistic and cultural hub downtown, where, when you walk downtown, you're connected to the art, you're connected to the culture. So we're excited and it's going to be an art gallery consignment store. All of the designs and art pieces will be from local artists, minority artists as well. So, yeah, we're excited about that. We'll have events going on regularly downtown.
Speaker 3:So pop in when people are down for Juneteenth on Saturday. Yeah, come on in.
Speaker 4:Downtown as well, because we'll be open. We'll be open for Juneteenth, we'll be a part of Juneteenth. It's a blessing that all of this happens at the same time. I think that's, you know, not to get too spiritual, but I think that's when you see God start to work in your favor, when you're doing your part and you're just trying to do the best you can for your own cause. Then you look up and take a breath and you realize so many other people working on similar causes that I can connect with. I love that about this.
Speaker 1:For our listeners who do not know. When Tevin says we are our, he is talking about the Insomniacs.
Speaker 4:Yeah, Insomniacs.
Speaker 1:And if you've been following along we had the pleasure of having them on the show. You can go back. I think it's been six months, maybe now Y'all have been going strong.
Speaker 4:To the last video, you had almost 10,000 views. I'm like I should have came with that because I'm like you're sure. Well, this will be the next one, right for sure so Insomniacs?
Speaker 1:if you don't know about their mission and what they're doing, you can go out. Is it insomniacscom?
Speaker 4:It is insomniacsinfo, insomniacsinfo.
Speaker 1:Check them out too. Please do that, and then come at one of Statesville's newest businesses, downtown right.
Speaker 4:That's right, culture Shock.
Speaker 1:They actually have a storefront with all these things that Tevin was talking about and speaking about downtown. And we've talked about music today. We've talked about Tevin today. I was out last week supporting Cash Mob that Downtown Statesville does here to support local businesses and I went to the Gondolier to have some gelato and I saw your face on a poster for Make Music Day.
Speaker 4:That's also happening this week Make Music Day.
Speaker 1:We're almost out of time, but let's talk about Make Music Day real quick, because we don't want people to miss that Make Music Day. Yeah, so we're almost out of time, but let's talk about Make Music Day real quick, because we don't want people to miss that.
Speaker 4:Make Music Day is this national event of music all day from 12 pm to 8 pm. And again, the city has really impressed me by their commitment to being an artistic and cultural hub and even finding this event becoming a part of this event. What it is is a lot of the local businesses downtown have committed to open up their spaces for local artists to come and perform all day that day. So if you come downtown to patron any of these businesses downtown, you're going to be exposed to art and music, live music at every corner of downtown. It's almost like blocked off. Anywhere you go, even in the stores, you'll see local artists, whether it's folk, hip hop, rap, country singer, songwriter. There are even workshops that's going on, like at the Arts Council. There's a writing session, a writing workshop. So it's just more than music. There's also opportunities to collaborate and network. I'm an artist myself, so Music education between these to collaborate and network.
Speaker 1:I'm an artist myself, so Music education.
Speaker 4:Music education. It's a great thing to know that music education and art is so important to the city and you guys understand how important it is to culture and just the downtown, the vitality and beautification of downtown.
Speaker 3:That's going to be a super cool event. That was a great partnership between the Arts Council and Downtown Statesville Development Corporation and I think, yeah, it's a global event. I mean, I think it exists in like 130-something different countries. I think it started in Paris, so pretty cool how it's kind of grown out and now we're jumping on as well.
Speaker 1:It's a inaugural event, but hopefully it will be ongoing.
Speaker 3:There's no shortage of talent here and people to come and play music.
Speaker 1:Absolutely not. So we look forward to seeing you perform in that too, and we're really excited about this week of unity in Statesville. And thank you guys, so much for your time and investment and everything you're doing for Statesville, north Carolina.
Speaker 3:Zephyla any other last-minute Juneteenth news plugs.
Speaker 5:Well, the only thing I can say is just come out and enjoy yourself. Because a couple years ago me and my wife went to Houston. I have a daughter that lives in Houston we actually live in Katy and we were investigating what they do for Juneteenth. And I know we'll never get to this point I won't. I probably won't be here, but hopefully it'll get there, Not with that attitude. Well, anyway, I probably won't be here, but hopefully it'll get it. Well, anyway, they had for entertainment. They had Kool and the Gang and the Isley Brothers. That's who they had for their Juneteenth out there.
Speaker 4:But Uncle Freddy played for a band who opened up for Kool and the Gang.
Speaker 5:Yeah, but see, they got five universities out there.
Speaker 2:Okay, so they can afford something like that they're sponsors.
Speaker 1:You get two, three colleges as sponsors. I'm just saying Statesville's on the move, statesville's on the move, just keep raising the bar. Yeah.
Speaker 4:And last year was one of the highest attended events downtown last year. So I think the momentum that we have is a great momentum. It's a good thing.
Speaker 1:So, to summarize, what you just said and how Tevin would have said it was pull up Statesville. Pull up downtown we look forward to seeing everyone out supporting these events this week and we thank you, guys, and we'll see you soon.
Speaker 5:Alright, appreciate you being here, thank you.
Speaker 2:Thank you for joining Discover Statesville. You can email us at discover at statesville nccom. Check us out on Facebook at Discover Statesville, nc. Hashtag Discover Statesville and our website statesvillenccom. Catch us next week as we continue on our journey to uncover the hidden gems, culinary adventures, entertainment, and to be inspired and enlightened as we Discover Statesville.
