Art

Knoxville’s Race Riot…100 Years Later

THE TENNESSEE TRIBUNE — In 1919 an innocent white woman was killed in Knoxville Tennessee. Despite the lack of evidence against him, a black man, Maurice Mays would be accused of the crime.

Published

6 years ago

March 13, 2019

Oakland Post

By Vivian Shipe

KNOXVILLE, TN — In 1919 an innocent white woman was killed in Knoxville Tennessee. Despite the lack of evidence against him, a black man, Maurice Mays would be accused of the crime. In the ensuring days following the charge, Affluent African American businesses would be burnt down by angry white mobs on Gay Street and other parts of town, homes would be burnt, and countless numbers would die. Mays would be moved to Chattanooga, tried and electrocuted in Nashville, and would go to his grave confessing his innocence. The story is true as Knoxville was one of the cities around America that would experience race riots in the hot summer of 1919. One Knoxville author would gather the research and lay the story down in written word to last forever.

Bob Booker’s book, “The Heat of a Red Summer: Race Mixing , Race Rioting in 1919 Knoxville” was brought to life at the Bijou Theatre in downtown Knoxville in the very venue that Booker was not allowed in sit in freely until he was 27 years old. Until then, all African Americans had to sit in the colored section in the balcony. Not so on this eventful evening.

With a crowd so large the fire marshal had to turn people away; the culminating event of Knoxville’s Black History Celebration drew a diverse crowd to watch the book brought to life. Presented by the Beck Cultural Exchange Center, The Bijou Theatre, and others, The book came to life under the thunderous and captivating voice of narrator Dr. Maxine Thompson Davis.

The story was told thru dance performances by Austin-East Magnet High School Performing Arts under the direction of Ms. Malaika Guthrie with songs performed by the Knoxville Opera Gospel Choir. Thru the visual dance and soul stirring songs , the story of the riot, capture of Mays, his letters of innocence pleas from jail; an execution of a man , many considered innocent, was boldly carried out.

One of the most riveting performances of the evening was the presentation of a skit called THE CURE, in which Morristown West High School performers, Chris Cox and Dalton Miksa presented a skit from the future where they looked at how to cure hatred as they looked over the past of America and the experiment ending with the cure of love being the answer.

The program ended with words from the author Bob Booker, who also stayed to sign copies

of the book which has been re released in anticipation of the many events planned to commemorate the 100 years. One ongoing event announced by Director of the Beck Center , Reverend Renee Kesler, is a letter writing campaign to have Maurice Mays name exonerated. The email site to join in the call to clear his name is: MauriceMays@BeckCenter.net.

The Carpetbag Theatre, which is celebrating its 50th year will present a SWOPERA (Spoken word Opera) about the riots at the Bijou from Sept 19-22nd and there are also panel discussions planned in the coming months about the riots and the questions left behind …

Where are we 100 years later? and Could it happen again?

This article originally appeared in The Tennessee Tribune.

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Activism

Griot Theater Company Presents August Wilson’s Work at Annual Oratorical Featuring Black Authors

The performance explores the legacy of Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright August Wilson whose 10-play Century Cycle chronicles the African American experience across the 20th century, with each play set in a different decade. “Half a Century” journeys through the final five plays of this monumental cycle, bringing Wilson’s richly woven stories to life in a way that celebrates history, resilience, and the human spirit.

Published

3 months ago

February 17, 2025

Oakland Post

Late playwright August Wilson. Wikipedia photo.

By Godfrey Lee

Griot Theater Company will present their Fifth Annual Oratorical with August Wilson’s “Half a Century,” at the Belrose on 1415 Fifth Ave., in San Rafael near the San Rafael Public Library.

The performance explores the legacy of Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright August Wilson whose 10-play Century Cycle chronicles the African American experience across the 20^th century, with each play set in a different decade. “Half a Century” journeys through the final five plays of this monumental cycle, bringing Wilson’s richly woven stories to life in a way that celebrates history, resilience, and the human spirit.

Previous performance highlighting essential Black American authors included Maya Angelou, James Baldwin, and Lorraine Hansberry with Langston Hughes.

The play will be performed at 3:00. p.m. on Feb. 20, 21, 22, 27, and 28 at 7:00 p.m., and on Feb. 23 at 3:00 p.m.

For more information, go to griottheatercompany.squarespace.com/productions-v2

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Activism

MLK Day of Service Volunteers Make Blankets and Art for Locals in Need

“Everyone has an opportunity to participate,” said Glenda Roberts, kinship support care program manager at CCYSB. “Our nonprofit organization and participants recognize how important it is to give back to the community and this is serving. As Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. stated, ‘Everybody can be great…because anybody can serve.’”

Published

4 months ago

January 18, 2025

Oakland Post

Photo courtesy of the nonprofit.

By Kathy Chouteau
The Richmond Standard

The Contra Costa Youth Service Bureau (CCYSB) and Bethlehem Missionary Baptist Church (BMBC) are collaborating with a team of volunteers for a Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day of Service, Monday, Jan. 20 that will wrap the community’s most vulnerable people in warm blankets and provide them with an uplifting gift of art.

Volunteers will kick off their activities at BMBC at 11 a.m., making blankets for the unhoused people served by the Greater Richmond Interfaith Program (GRIP) and art for those in convalescence in Richmond.

Others will get to work preparing a lunch of chili, salad, a veggie tray, and water for participants, offered courtesy of CCYSB, while supplies last.

“People of all ages are welcome to participate in the MLK Day of Service,” said Roberts. Volunteers can RSVP via phone to Glenda Roberts at 510-215-4670, ext. 125.

CCYSB Boardmember Jackie Marston and her friends donated the materials and supplies to make the blankets and art projects. The nonprofit is also providing the day’s complimentary lunch, as well as employees to volunteer, under the direction of CCYSB Executive Director Marena Brown.

BMBC, led by Rev. Dr. Carole McKindley-Alvarez, is providing the facility for the event and volunteers from the church, which is located at 684 Juliga Woods St. in Richmond.

Located in Richmond, CCYSB is a nonprofit youth advocacy organization that serves eligible children, youth, and low-income families with a variety of wraparound services so they can thrive. Programs include academic achievement, youth mentorship, truancy prevention and direct response.

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Art

Vandalism at Richmond Ferry Terminal Saddens Residents

Residents have been lamenting the destruction online. Ellen Seskin posted photos of the vandalism to the Facebook group, Everybody’s Richmond, on Jan. 12, saying she encountered it while out on a walk. “It was on the sidewalk, the street, the doors to the ferry, even in the art installation and the ‘stone’ benches,” she said. “I reported it but knowing how slow they are about getting things done — I just know that the longer you leave graffiti, the more likely they are to spray it again.”

Published

4 months ago

January 18, 2025

Oakland Post

Graffiti mars the walkway at the Richmond Ferry Terminal. Photo by Kathy Chouteau, The Richmond Standard.

The Richmond Standard

“This is why we can’t have nice things,” stated the post on NextDoor.

The post referenced images of graffiti at the Richmond Ferry Terminal. Not just on the terminal, but also on public artwork, on trail signs, on public benches and the boardwalk.

On Wednesday, the Standard stopped by to see it for ourselves. The good news was that it appears the graffiti on the terminal and on the artwork, called Changing Tide, have been cleaned for the most part. But graffiti remained abundant in the area around the relatively new ferry terminal, which opened to the public just six years ago.

Graffiti artists tagged benches and the boardwalk. Cars that had done doughnuts in the street marked the cul-de-sac just outside the historic Craneway Pavilion.

A ferry worker told us the graffiti had been there since before he started working for the ferry service about a week ago.

A member of the Army Corps of Engineers who did not want to be named in this report called the scene “sad,” as “they’d done such a nice job fixing it up.”

“It’s sad that all this money has been spent and hoodlums just don’t care and are destroying stuff,” he said.

It wasn’t immediately clear how soon the graffiti would be removed. The Standard reported the graffiti to the city’s graffiti abatement hotline. We were prompted to leave a message reporting the address and location of the graffiti.

“It was on the sidewalk, the street, the doors to the ferry, even in the art installation and the ‘stone’ benches,” she said. “I reported it but knowing how slow they are about getting things done — I just know that the longer you leave graffiti, the more likely they are to spray it again.”

In the comment section responding to Seskin’s post, local attorney Daniel Butt questioned why there aren’t cameras in the area.

On Nextdoor, one resident suggested searching to see if the tags match any accounts on Instagram, hoping to identify the perpetrator.

On its website, the City of Richmond says residents should graffiti immediately call Public Works graffiti removal and/or Code Enforcement at 510-965-4905.

Kathy Chouteau contributed to this report.