John Wright: Preserving African American Heritage and Community Empowerment in Mount Pleasant

John Wright, the iconic Past President of The African American Historic Settlement Commission in Mount Pleasant, takes us on a captivating journey through his life and career, sharing stories from his childhood in Mount Pleasant to his 23 years of service in the United States Army. As he recalls his upbringing, working on Shem Creek, and the tight-knit community that shaped him, John reveals how embracing both his birth name, John Fitzgerald, and his cherished nickname, Johnny, honors his roots. He also discusses his ongoing projects that spotlight the rich history and culture of African American communities in Mount Pleasant, ensuring their stories are celebrated and preserved for future generations.

In a profound conversation about community engagement and historical preservation, John recounts his remarkable walk from Mount Pleasant to Columbia, a personal mission to raise awareness about obesity that strengthened his bonds with the community upon his return. His work with the Charleston County Historic Preservation Commission and the inaugural Black History Month program at Boone Hall Plantation underscores his commitment to celebrating the past while fostering progress. With notable figures like Major Abraham Turner, the program highlights the achievements of descendants from post-Reconstruction settlement communities, exemplifying the enduring spirit of these vibrant neighborhoods.

The episode also unveils inspiring efforts to preserve and restore Mount Pleasant's historical gems, like the 1904 schoolhouse being transformed into the Long Point Museum and Cultural Education Center. Guided by the vision of Thomasina Stokes Marshall and supported by former students now serving as general contractors, this project highlights the power of community and history. John's initiatives, including a successful water drive for Flint, Michigan, and his radio show advocacy, showcase his dedication to making a difference. Finally, the episode celebrates Mount Pleasant's unique culture and hospitality, honoring the achievements of the Gullah and Geechee communities and the prestigious Pineapple Award-winning Black History Month event at Boone Hall Plantation.

Presenting Sponsor: Mount Pleasant Chamber of Commerce

Studio Sponsor: Charleston Media Solutions

Production Sponsor: RMBO.co

Design Sponsor: DK Design

Committee:
Kathleen Herrmann | Host | MPCC Immediate Past President | Mount Pleasant Towne Centre
Mike Compton | Co-host | Marketing Chair | RMBO.co
Rebecca Imholz | Co-host | MPCC Executive Director
Amanda Bunting Comen | Co-host | Social ABCs
Ben Nesvold | Co-host | In-coming President | Edward Jones

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
Well, hello and welcome to the Building Business
Podcast powered by the MountPleasant Chamber of Commerce.
We're recording with ourfriends in the Charleston Radio
Group Studios, who are, ofcourse, a huge supporter of the
Mount Pleasant Chamber ofCommerce.
Brian, we love being here withyou.
Thank you for everything.
Kathy Herman, here, I am yourcurrent president of the chamber

(00:21):
and I am also the marketingdirector at Mount Pleasant Town
Center.
Thank you all so much forjoining us listeners.
President of the chamber, and Iam also the marketing director
at mount pleasant town center.
Thank you all so much forjoining us listeners, and I have
a special co-host today myfriend mike compton, mike
compton's back.
Mike is president of rumboadvertising and the current
marketing committee chair forthe mount pleasant chamber.
Mike, thank you for coming backand hanging out with me again

(00:44):
of course, course, no problem.

Speaker 2 (00:45):
You know, I'm very, very excited about today's
episode.

Speaker 1 (00:48):
I am too.
But before we get to ourspecial guest, Mike, tell us a
little bit about yourself.

Speaker 2 (00:53):
You just did.
You did a great job.

Speaker 1 (00:54):
No, I didn't Tell them yeah.

Speaker 2 (00:55):
President, co-founder of Roomba Advertising Right.
We help brands find their soul.
And then the marketing chairfor the chamber Also.
What am I doing?
I'm incoming president at thispoint for the American Marketing
Association.

Speaker 1 (01:12):
Well see, that's all, and you just wanted me to skip
over that.

Speaker 2 (01:15):
I forgot about that.

Speaker 1 (01:16):
That's really big stuff.
I'm a membership director rightnow.

Speaker 2 (01:18):
We're having a good time.
We also have a podcast, theCharleston Marketing Podcast.
Hey, hey, hey, hey.
Anyways, focus on this podcastright now.
Oh, my bad, my bad, my bad, youleft it open.
I know I did.

Speaker 1 (01:27):
Thank you for all that great information, but
really now I want to get to ourvery special guest.

Speaker 2 (01:31):
Yes, yes, I'm very excited.

Speaker 1 (01:39):
Because I am so honored that he is here with us
today.
He is the president of theAfrican American history in
Mount Pleasant.
I am so excited to hear aboutall these special projects.

Speaker 2 (01:49):
Please welcome, really, John Wright we are so
excited that you're here with ustoday, Ladies and gentlemen the
applause.

Speaker 3 (01:55):
Yeah, here we go, thank you, thank you.
Thank you for having me andthank you for allowing me to be
a part of this amazing podcastand this opportunity today.
I think this is good for all ofMount Pleasant you know that we
share information about thegreat work that we're doing here
in Mount Pleasant, so thank youboth All right.

Speaker 1 (02:16):
So we're going to start off, john, just if you
could tell us a little bit aboutyourself, where you're from,
how you began your mission, andthen we'll go into a lot of the
other great things that you'redoing.
But just give our listeners alittle background about yourself
.

Speaker 3 (02:28):
A little bit about John Wright.

Speaker 1 (02:30):
Yes.

Speaker 3 (02:31):
That I have to call myself Johnny, because growing
up here in Mount Pleasant I wasJohnny.
I came back home almost shy of11 years ago and I was using my
real name, john Wright, andpeople here were baffled.
They did not like it, theycould not understand it.
I had a coach that coached meas a kid playing Little League

(02:54):
baseball here, by the name ofBilly Swales, former mayor,
former mayor yes, Former mayor.
I spent many nights at Billy'shouse because I was always the
best on the team and he wantedto make sure I was at the game,
so he'd make me spend the nightat his house.
But uh, me and his son, littleBilly, we grew up together and
uh, so Billy hated the fact thatI was using the name John and

(03:15):
anytime he talked to somebody,if they says John, he would say
his name is Johnny, not John soit's been tough being home 11
years, almost 11 years, andtrying to be somebody that my
mom originally named me.
My mom gave me the name JohnFitzgerald, which I hated
growing up because I thoughtJohn Fitzgerald, why am I, john

(03:35):
Fitzgerald, solid?

Speaker 2 (03:36):
name, Solid name.
I came to realize that rightand then.

Speaker 3 (03:41):
So now I'm being back home, 11 years later.
Oftentimes you hear me, somepeople refer to me as johnny,
some people refer to me as johnum, but it's I'm.
I'm johnny from mount pleasant,born and raised here.
Okay, spent 29 years away fromhome, but 23 years, eight months
and 13 days of those servingthe United States Army, oh.

Speaker 1 (04:04):
Retired.
Thank you for your service,John.

Speaker 3 (04:06):
I'm a kid that grew up on Shem Creek.
My stepdad had a shrimp boat.

Speaker 2 (04:10):
Oh, what I love this On.

Speaker 3 (04:12):
Shem Creek.
So I grew up on Shem Creek andmy first job was probably about
seven, eight years old washeading shrimp in what is now
the Mount Pleasant Seafood.

Speaker 1 (04:22):
Market, oh goodness.

Speaker 3 (04:23):
That's where we would .
That was the job growing uphere is to head shrimp from the
shrimp boats that came in everyday.
I was in there competing withwomen in their 40s and 50s to
try to get 10 pounds of shrimp.
So I could get $50 for the weekor what have you.
So I grew up on Shrimp Creek.

Speaker 2 (04:44):
How old were you doing that?

Speaker 3 (04:45):
I was six, seven years old.

Speaker 2 (04:46):
Come on, eight years old.

Speaker 3 (04:49):
Seriously, and the sad part about it is I asked
someone that's related to thefamily that owns the business.
I was like you know, I did notknow that they were taking taxes
out of me.
What?
At age seven, until later on inlife, but yeah, at age seven.

Speaker 1 (05:02):
Oh, come on, they weren't just giving you a couple
dollar bills under the table.

Speaker 3 (05:05):
Well, no, they would give you a brown envelope on
Wednesdays, but it was taxed.

Speaker 1 (05:10):
Later on, when I get my.

Speaker 3 (05:11):
Social Security.
I'm looking and I'm like Ididn't have a job in 73.
But evidently I did.
But it was amazing growing upthere.
The Sh is where is the onlyswimming pool we had in mount
pleasant, oh okay the bridge wasthe only diving board.
So that's what we would.
We would dive off the board askids and then um.
Originally, my family is fromthe old village.

(05:32):
My mom in 1972 moved us to theremus point community and when
she did that, um, it's a littledifferent, because we went from
living in the old village and umand the projects to now having
a house that me and my brothersand sisters can live in.
And so a couple years afterliving in Remembrance Point, I
started delivering newspaper andI delivered the newspaper to

(05:53):
all 133 houses in thatneighborhood.
And so I did that for almostfive years.
And in doing it at the time Iwould collect $1.35 a week for
the seven days of delivering thenewspaper to the neighbors.
And on Sunday mornings all Iwanted was my $1.35.
When I knocked on that door,but in that community was a lot

(06:15):
of school teachers, and thoseteachers would often say to me
Johnny, do better than justdeliver the paper, read it, get
to know what's in it.
And I had no interest in thenewspaper, I only wanted that
$1.35.
And then at some point Istarted reading it.
What?

Speaker 1 (06:31):
was the paper.

Speaker 3 (06:33):
It was then called not the Post and Query, it was
called the News and Query.
I believe Ah.

Speaker 2 (06:39):
And how old are you at this point?

Speaker 3 (06:40):
Now, at this point, I'm 11, 12 years old.

Speaker 2 (06:42):
Come on.

Speaker 3 (06:45):
What are you doing?
you at this point now at thispoint I'm 11, 12 years old, come
on right and so, and so I'mreading the newspaper.
And as I read the newspaper,then I then find myself later in
life realizing that it startedmy trend in world affairs of you
know things that were going onin other cities, in other states
, and so as I traveled um in the, I found myself getting
involved in cities and stateswhere I had no right to be in

(07:07):
their business, but because ofthe newspaper I would read it,
and then I kind of got involved,you know pretty much everywhere
I went.
So I thank my upbringing here inMount Pleasant.
I think it's been one that hasawarded me a chance to get some
exposure and some experienceaway from home.
But what I often tell people isI took my Southern charm and

(07:29):
good looks on the road and Ibrought it back.
And I brought it back a littlemore experience and a little
more exposure A little worldly.

Speaker 2 (07:36):
Yeah, certainly that's cool.
What was your job in themilitary?

Speaker 3 (07:40):
I was a combat engineer, so what we did was we
blew up bridges and we builtthem.
So I use that as my model toengage.
Life is I can build the bridge,but I can also destroy it, but
it's easier to build bridges andclose gaps is what I ultimately
try to use.
That experience as a combatengineer and my daily model as

(08:03):
how I operate with citizens andwith others is build bridges,
close gaps that's pretty amazing.

Speaker 1 (08:10):
I know we should just stop the interview right now.

Speaker 2 (08:12):
That's it, we're good that's amazing.

Speaker 1 (08:15):
So, like when you, when you traveled um in the
service, john, I mean there'scertain places that you, you
know what.
What were those experiences,life in that culture?
Because you had such a strongculture growing up, obviously,
and the love of that culture Didthat kind of make you the man
you are today.

Speaker 3 (08:31):
It really did.
I think, of all the places thatI've been in my travels,
spending eight years in Europewas an eye-opener Because there
was a whole different way ofliving for me.
I missed 7-Eleven and I missedthe opportunity to go to a
convenience store at 10 o'clock,11 o'clock at night, and then I
realized that the things thatwe have here in America they

(08:53):
simply did not have in 86 and 87.
But another city I think thathad a real impact on my travels
was Louisiana.
When I was stationed inLouisiana on my travels was
Louisiana, when I was stationedin Louisiana, just to realize
that the level of, I guess,impoverished people that were

(09:15):
still living in 1990 and theconditions and where they lived,
but very humble, loving spiritpeople and they were happy with
their lifestyles.
But I find them to be a littledifferent and I thought it would
be different.
But I think louisiana, thatculture, kind of reminded me so
much of charleston, okay, and soI I really um in that two years

(09:35):
there I I um learned to, toreally enjoy the people and the
culture.
So when, when the hurricane hit, they had the devastation, it
was so important for me to goback and help out, because you
know, I knew the culture and thepeople, so so yeah, louisiana,
they had a huge impact like Igreat food.

Speaker 1 (09:58):
I mean, we think awesome yeah.
I didn't want to mention thatoh, you can, that's okay,
because I believe we can't benumber one In everything you
know.

Speaker 3 (10:06):
Because I believe.
Here In Charleston, mountPleasant, where I grew up, we
got the best food In the world.

Speaker 1 (10:10):
Except for New Orleans.
No, I love it.
I'm joking.
New Orleans got some Reallygood food.
Well, it also has soul Too,right, absolutely, that's what
makes.

Speaker 2 (10:23):
Mount Pleasant.
I've never met somebody thathas so many generational like
yourself.
Every now and again I meetsomebody from Charleston.
I'm from Detroit.

Speaker 1 (10:38):
So I'm a come-ya.

Speaker 3 (10:39):
Am I doing that right there?
You're a come-ya, but let megive you a twist to that now,
after 29 years away from home.
When I came home, I was beingtold I was a Kamyon.

Speaker 2 (10:49):
No.

Speaker 3 (10:49):
But you know, I told them, I said that's not
acceptable.

Speaker 2 (10:52):
How old were you when you were Right?
That's not acceptable.
It's just not acceptable.
No, no, no.
I was serving your country,helping you Right right.

Speaker 3 (11:00):
I just come back however you want to term it.

Speaker 2 (11:04):
Can you follow your lineage at the International
African Museum?
Absolutely, I can.
That's cool.

Speaker 3 (11:08):
I can, I really can, and I think what's unique for me
growing up here and I think inparticular and we'll talk about
the settlement communities andhow that terminology became now
something that you're hearingmore of that terminology became
now something that you'rehearing more of is that my
grandfather and my grandmotherwere, respectively, from the

(11:30):
Phillip community and the Hamlincommunity both settlement
communities.
But then my grandfather movedall of us to the old village
another settlement community.
Then my mom buys a house inRemus Point another settlement
community.
So, uniquely for me, andtracing my roots back to the
1800s, I can literally go backto the 1800s, 1860s and 18, and

(11:53):
identify the folks that rightfrom my family here, right here
in Mount Pleasant.
And that's why the Boone Hallopportunity was amazing, because
it gave us an opportunity tocelebrate current descendants of
folks that may have lived andworked there.

Speaker 2 (12:12):
I mean that's a good transition.
I was going to say, sure, whatyou're doing today, well before
we even get to the schoolhousebecause, I'm so excited about
that.

Speaker 1 (12:19):
Let's talk about the Boone Hall, because we had Jim
Westerhold on, who's the generalmanager of Boone Hall, earlier
in the year who recommended youand I was here at the time
emailing you.

Speaker 2 (12:30):
While he's here saying about you, john, I mean
we're just like, oh, we got toget him on but you, you, you
helped him do something veryspecial with the the gin house
correct absolutely, so let'stell our listeners about that.

Speaker 1 (12:42):
Well, the gin house at the time House correct
Absolutely.
So tell our listeners aboutthat.

Speaker 3 (12:45):
Well, the Gin House.
At the time when the Gin Housewas being renovated, I served on
the Charleston County HistoricPreservations Commission.

Speaker 2 (12:53):
So you just so you came home from the.
Army right from the militaryand just jumped right in the
community Embraced my community.

Speaker 3 (13:00):
I jumped you know a little story about how much I
wanted to embrace my community.
I moved home in 2013.
But in 2012, I did a walk fromMount Pleasant to Columbia, to
the Statehouse Four days 25 to28 miles a day for eight hours.

Speaker 2 (13:20):
By yourself.

Speaker 3 (13:21):
Me and about 20, 30 other people Awesome.
Each day they walked with me.
I started from Mootree MiddleSchool on Friday Okay, Saturday,
Sunday, Monday, got to thestatehouse and I did it to raise
awareness of obesity, but whatI ultimately did was I wanted to
prepare to come home.
So what I did was I came homein 2012, walked to Columbia, got

(13:43):
Billy Swales and all thosefolks here in Mount Pleasant
thinking Johnny, I lost his mind.
And then to prepare for 2013when I came home.
All the great relationships Imade in 2012 walk to include
several organizations were veryinstrumental.
What's his name?
I can't remember his name rightnow, it's just on my mind, but

(14:05):
he's big on obesity here locallyand he was Louie there you go,
louie's kids, louie's kids,louie's kids.
Louie was instrumental because Iplanned this walk from
Cincinnati and I was in contactwith him here in Mount Pleasant
in Charleston.
So Louie was instrumental inhelping me, making sure I got

(14:26):
logistics and people there tohelp me walk each day.
So here's a man I had never metbefore.
He too thought something waswrong with me, but in the end we
met and I did the walk and soit kind of helped me prepare for
the move home because I startedsome relationships during that
2012 walk.

Speaker 2 (14:46):
I would never have thought okay, I'm going to move
home and just walk.

Speaker 1 (14:50):
You can just stay home and shake hands and say
hello to people.

Speaker 3 (14:54):
And the irony of that walk and how it was established
was for four years inCincinnati I walked from
Cincinnati to Columbus, ohio, tothe Statehouse, doing the exact
same walk with a gentlemannamed Senator Eric Kearney.
And Eric Kearney this was hiswalk and I told Eric.

(15:15):
I said, eric, I've got to dothat walk when I move home.
I want to do it in my state, Idon't want to do it on hills and
inclement weather.
I want to do it in my state.
Eric came down here in 2012 andwalked with me on that Sunday
for 28 miles.
It turned out really well.

Speaker 2 (15:35):
It takes a different type, man.
It takes a different type to bedoing stuff like that.

Speaker 3 (15:38):
It was no way to come home and prepare to embrace my
community.
I love it.
It really became the rippleeffect.
I do this here in 2012.
2013, I move home Right andthen I just continue to find
ways to get involved and to getengaged.

Speaker 1 (15:53):
Okay, now we can go back to the gym house.
I'm done.

Speaker 3 (15:57):
And so I was on the Charleston County Historic
Preservation Commission and Jimand I had already had a
conversation before inrelationships in the past.
We and Jim and I had alreadyhad a conversation before in
relationships in the past whenwe had met and talked.
And he comes into the countymeeting and there I am on the
board and he's like, wow, Ididn't even know you were on
this board.
And I was like, yeah, I nevertalked about it.
So the remodeling of the ginhouse was happening and so I

(16:19):
said Jim, let's hear some thingsthat I know our organization as
a commission, we could help andmake sure that this project
gets approved.
So I worked with him throughthat, got the project approved.
The gin house is an amazinglybeautiful location.
I mean it is a beautiful,beautifully newly renovated, and
so you know, right now I thinkit's now used by all the

(16:44):
visitors that go to the BooneHall.
Now they all you know, gothrough the gin house.
Now, awesome, great building,great project.
I need to do it Definitely.
You got to get by to see it.
And I think what really is anawesome relationship is they
restored the gin house.

Speaker 2 (17:05):
Jim was talking about that.

Speaker 3 (17:06):
And we were restoring the school.

Speaker 2 (17:08):
That was perfect.

Speaker 3 (17:09):
And so the relationship is just.

Speaker 2 (17:11):
Yeah, absolutely.

Speaker 1 (17:12):
Wasn't there a special?
I'm sorry, mike, wasn't there aspecial exhibit there too that
you worked with him on?

Speaker 3 (17:18):
Yes, let's talk about that.
I'd love to talk about that.
And it was amazing because RickBenthal, jim Westerhold,
natalie, katie, sarah all thoseguys at Boone Hall I worked with
them to plan what was the firstever, never done before, black
History Month program on BooneHall Plantation for the entire

(17:41):
month of February, entire monthof February, and what was
amazing about it was number one.
Not only has it never been donebefore, the, the title of it
was where are we now celebratingthe descendants and and when?
That title meant that I wantedto look at all the great things
that we had we've accomplishedsince, you know, the

(18:04):
emancipation, and myself and allthe guest speakers and
everybody pretty much wasinvolved.
We're all from settlementcommunities where these
settlement communities wereestablished right after the
Reconstruction and duringReconstruction, and so the
celebrating the descendants wassomething that typically in my
almost 11 years home I don't seeCharleston doing and I don't

(18:27):
really see the Lowcountry duo ingeneral.
So I thought it was a greatopportunity for us to celebrate
the descendants, talk aboutwhere we are now, those of us
that have served in the military, those of us that have went on
to achieve some great things.
Major Abraham Turner was one ofmy guest speakers throughout
that month, and Major AbrahamTurner is from the Phillip

(18:50):
community but he's a majorgeneral and the highway is now
named after him.
Right right Highway 41 is namedafter him, and he was the first
post commander at Fort JacksonTraining Post and right here
from our area, and so you know.
I think what we did in March,with the support of Boone Hall

(19:12):
Plantation, was we celebratedMount Pleasant in a way that it
had never been celebrated beforefrom a Black History Month
standpoint.
We had beautiful displays of thechurches that were established.

Speaker 1 (19:24):
We had beautiful displays of the communities that
were established and hadbeautiful displays of the
communities that wereestablished.

Speaker 3 (19:28):
And so we hit on the military.
You know all those that servedin the military dating back to,
you know, the beginning of theCivil War and so on and so forth
.
So it was a great opportunityfor us to showcase Mount
Pleasant in a positive light,Taking that away from Charleston
.
But Charleston cannot do whatwe did in February here in Mount
Pleasant, because they can'tshowcase us in the way in which

(19:52):
we did, because they have tostick to their story.

Speaker 2 (19:56):
So that's still happening.
Right, the show is stillhappening.

Speaker 1 (20:00):
No it's not, I'm hoping it's going to repeat
itself.

Speaker 3 (20:03):
Yes, it was done in February for Black History Month
and it was the first time everdone.

Speaker 2 (20:09):
Okay.

Speaker 3 (20:11):
And you know I'd be remiss if I didn't say to either
, to both you guys, along withall the great compliments we got
about doing that on Boone.
Hall Plantation during thatmonth there was also a few
negative comments.
There's always Right.

Speaker 1 (20:25):
You can't make everybody happy, John.
I try, but I can't.

Speaker 3 (20:28):
But I was thrilled to answer them and I was thrilled
to jump right in and say look,your question is legitimate, but
let's rationalize why we'redoing it on Boone Hall
Plantation and what other placeto do it.
Damon Fordham, which one of thelocal professors.
Damon and I grew up in the oldvillage together and Damon is a

(20:50):
professor at the Citadel now andDamon was one of our guest
speakers during that month, andDamon and I both agree that
there was no better place to dothis.
I agree To do it on Boone HallPlantation.
I did an interview with CNN andthe question was why the
plantation?
Well, I said why not?
What greater place and whatbetter way to build our story as

(21:14):
to how we've evolved?

Speaker 1 (21:17):
That's amazing.
I do hope and hint, hint, I dohope that this continues every
February or something like thiscontinues every February.

Speaker 3 (21:26):
I think what we did in February we got a lot of
attention and a lot of traction.
A lot of people were veryexcited about the way the month
went and after the action reviewwith Boone Hall Plantation
staff was let's plan for 2025.
Fantastic.

Speaker 1 (21:44):
You tell Jim that you've got our support.
We want it to come back inFebruary.

Speaker 3 (21:48):
Jim said, the first thing we met when after the
action review was let's talkabout 2025.

Speaker 2 (21:54):
That's amazing and I want the chamber to help in any
way we can.
Good.
Very good, so don't be afraidto reach out to Kathy.
That's right.

Speaker 1 (22:00):
That's right, I'm here for you, john, and that's
right, that's right.
I'm here for you, John, I'mhere for you, and we are proud
members of the chamber as well.

Speaker 3 (22:06):
Awesome.

Speaker 1 (22:06):
Unbelievable.
I do have a question, so I justwant to make sure people are
clear, especially for the cameosIs that what they're called?
Yeah, okay, that's what you'recalled.

Speaker 2 (22:14):
That's what I'm called too.
Yeah, I've only been a littlebit, but obviously you know a
lot more and it's justexplaining to people.

Speaker 1 (22:18):
You see signs driving down 41.
You'll see, phillips, you knowa settlement, nice, new signs.
What exactly are they?
When did they start?
What's the history of them?

Speaker 3 (22:38):
Well, you know, settlement communities are
communities that wereestablished right after
Reconstruction, duringReconstruction, and most of them
were established right around1865, 1866, up to 1870.
And they were communities thatwere established very close to
proximity to where theplantation was and these were

(23:02):
communities that were.
The land that these communitiesyou find them in is very unique
because a lot of them are veryclose to the water.
The land was at the time, in1860s, when these lands, when
these communities were beingestablished, those lands that
they were able to buy at $10, alot, was really less than

(23:26):
desirable land because of theclose proximity to the water and
the mosquitoes and things suchas that.
So those lands weren't lessthan desirable and that's why
they were sold and given, youknow, sold to them, not given,
sold to them, you know, at $10for an acre and things such as
that, less than desirable land.
But what became of that is theresources that the location gave

(23:52):
to, gave to the residents ofthe sediment communities.
They allow them to fish.
It allowed them to hunt,allowed them to all the food
resources came because of thelocation and where they lived.
Um, so today, right here inmount pleasant, there's not even
a 13, a 12 year old that do noteat fish and shrimp.
Right, why?

(24:13):
Because their grandmamas andgranddaddies and everybody has
this.
That's been a staple here.
So, um, what became?
Land that was less thandesirable in the 1800s are not
waterfront property today?
And, uh, uniquely, um, thosethat purchased those, uh, those
properties way back then, um,they're now worth a whole lot of

(24:37):
money now, yeah.
And so, um, what, ultimately, Ithink, started out as settlement
communities where, you know,predominantly folks that were
enslaved, you know, moved, movedin these communities and they
did all those things.
They built schools, they builtchurches, they built all these
things.
So we displayed all that duringBlack History Month, because

(25:00):
every community had its ownschool, okay, and so we
displayed all that.
But again, the settlementcommunities are unique because,
in 2012, when I came home, oneof the things that I wanted to
do, in particular, kathy, was tochange the narrative, because
when I came home, thesecommunities were being termed,
and they were being termed asunincorporated and donut holes.

(25:24):
I'd be in a county meeting, I'dbe in a town meeting and they'd
say, well, that's anunincorporated donut hole area,
and I'm like wait a minute, what?
does that even mean?

Speaker 2 (25:32):
What does?

Speaker 3 (25:32):
that mean I said that is so unfair because those
communities are give thosecommunities their historic
significance.
Yes, of course.
And so I told them that they aresettlement communities and look
them up, that's what they are.
So we've got to change thenarrative because if you don't,
then the historic significanceof those communities will be

(25:53):
lost and the term likeunincorporated I don't know.
So a long fight, you know.
Now we are in 2016,.
Charleston County did a surveyand they identified these
communities as settlementcommunities.
A 375 page survey, awesomesurvey.
I think it was one of thethings that made me very, very

(26:13):
proud of when I got back andbeing back home was that 2016
survey from a 2013 conversationthat created these settlement
communities to be what they arenow.
And so now, today, in 2024,there is you hear the term
settlement community and nowwe're embracing them.
Yeah, because we now know thatcommunities that were less than

(26:39):
desirable still exist.
Oldest communities in MountPleasant.
Yeah so these communities predMount Pleasant, so these
communities predate waterworks.
So before there was waterworks,there was these communities.
And now, in 2024, I'm thrilledand I'm delighted when I hear

(27:02):
the word settlement.

Speaker 1 (27:04):
Well, now I know how to make sure that I say that
correctly and they're protected.

Speaker 3 (27:09):
And some of them are and some of them are not, and
particularly in the case ofPhillip, phillip Community is
one of the first settlementcommunities that now has a
historic designation fromhistoric places.
So that's one, and then youknow.
None of the others necessarilyhave them, but one of the things

(27:31):
I think that's important for usas the Settlement Community
Commission is that each of thesecommunities are so unique and
they're different, so what weultimately hope to do is to
create overlay zonings thatwould protect these communities,
because that's ultimatelywhat's needed.

Speaker 2 (27:47):
Yeah oh, it's not there right now, then that's not
in place at the moment.

Speaker 3 (27:51):
there is some there, there's some some zoning, but
there needs to be an overlayzone in that that complements
that particular community basedon the way it was built and in a
way, because ultimately in mostof the settlement communities
and you won't find that notultimately in most of the
settlement communities and youwon't find that necessarily in
most of Mount Pleasant that onsettlement communities you find

(28:12):
where they don't have parcels.
We have acres in settlementcommunities, so what you'll find
on an acre, you may find fivefamily members living on that
one acre of land.
Well, that's unique.
And so that's when I sayoverlay zoning the zoning has to

(28:34):
complement the lifestyle, it'salready there, and that is what
you know.
Again, we don't have parcels, wehave acres, and that kind of
makes us very attractive.

Speaker 2 (28:48):
Yeah, so I'm at Plannerter's point, just moved
there in 2019.
That neighborhood was built inwhat 2003?
I think something like that umthere's so much crazy
development going around thephillips community.
Love the fact you're fighting afight who else would be doing
it.
That's right, I mean the factthat you're taking it on your
shoulders and in your heart likeit's amazing, I'm on the side

(29:09):
of.
I work from home, so thetraffic doesn't bother me, you
know.
And I don't want a four-lanehighway leading to my house.
I like our.
It took me a while.
You know what it did my storyreal quick.
Dr Tanya did my story realquick.
Dr tanya matthews.
We interviewed her on thecharleston marketing podcast.
Um, but on the way to theinterview, on the way here, I
stopped at the internationalafrican american museum because

(29:30):
I'm like I'm an idiot if I don'tgo to the museum and see her
place before I talk to her.
That's right, and I was blownaway.
And one of the videos I watchedwas about the phillips
community and and what is theterm?
settlement, settlement yeah,settlement communities and their
story about never selling theproperties, like always holding
on to the properties.
That's what we have, you know,I mean, and it's listening and

(29:50):
hearing like well, shoot, I wantto keep it the way it is you
know, I'm sold, you know.
I mean like, if you're going tomove and just disrupt humans
and lives and cultures, we canwait a few minutes, as far as
I'm concerned, concerned.

Speaker 1 (30:05):
Well, listen, I'm over there too, you know, and I
do drive to work, yeah, and Idon't care about traffic, I care
more about the community.

Speaker 2 (30:11):
That's because you're listening to our podcast.
When you're driving to work,I'm listening to the Mount
Pleasant Chamber of Commercepodcast.
Yes, called Building Business.

Speaker 1 (30:20):
But it means a lot to me.
I mean, when I moved down here,I wanted to make sure.
One of the things I loved aboutthe entire area was the history
and the culture.
So I will never be one of thosepeople that comes down and goes
.
You know I need more McDonald's.
I mean I want.
I've fallen in love with thistown because of what it has

(30:42):
given me and I am not.
I do not want it to be takenaway from anyone who was here
before me.

Speaker 3 (30:48):
Absolutely.
You know what's unique aboutwhat you both are saying and you
both are not new hereessentially is that we live in a
very beautiful place and aplace where millions of people,
if they come to visit, they'regoing to find themselves wanting
to live here because it's sucha beautiful place to live.
I told my wife and my daughterin 2011,.

(31:11):
I said let's plan to move backhome because I want to go back
to Mount Pleasant.
It's safe, it's a beautifulplace to live.
It has changed a lot, andchange can be good.
Right, it has changed a lot inmy 29 years away, but what I
don't want to see us lose is ourcharacter right, yeah,

(31:33):
character, I think character isimportant that character and
that charm and the beauty, um,that we have here.
That is what I don't want to seeus lose, and because when you
lose character, you lose, loseeverything, yeah, and so you
know these communities are soimportant to the character of
Mount.
Pleasant.
So that's what the fight is forto keep the character, because

(31:53):
you lose character, you loseeverything.

Speaker 1 (31:55):
Boy.
They're very lucky to have you,john.
I'll tell you that.

Speaker 2 (31:58):
Well, I think the mayor is doing a good job,
intentionally growing the town,which is really a city the town
of Mount Pleasant.

Speaker 3 (32:04):
Thank you, thank you, st.

Speaker 2 (32:05):
City, the town.

Speaker 1 (32:06):
That's right, the town.
I say it all the time Do themath.
That's all.

Speaker 3 (32:11):
I'm not going to be mad at you all the time because
I often say I moved back home tomy new big city.
Yeah, you know it's no longerthe town of Mount Pleasant
because as a kid I can walk.
I'd have a baseball game atMount Pleasant Academy, okay,
and then I would walk from MountPleasant Academy to Remus Point
where I lived, and that wasthrough the old village and all

(32:35):
the way, but back then throughthe groves, right Back then it
was such an easy walk.

Speaker 1 (32:41):
There was no 17,.
Right yeah, we played footballin the middle of 17.
From time to time I read greatstories about that.

Speaker 3 (32:48):
And you know uniquely too, is growing up here.
We did not have North MountPleasant.
There was no such a term.
Mount Pleasant ended on BowmanRoad, anything beyond Bowman
Road.
You were in the country, and socoming back home and hearing
the term North Mount Pleasant,I'm like where am I?
I never in my life knew that weexisted.

Speaker 1 (33:10):
The funny part is the mayor will tell you there is no
such thing as North MountPleasant.

Speaker 2 (33:14):
I'll stop saying that no it's, we're all Mount
Pleasant.

Speaker 3 (33:20):
One.
Mount Pleasant is a greatconcept and I know that's
something that they promote, andI have you both know that in
2016 and all the things I'vebeen engaged in, one of those I
also took on was I wanted tochange our local government okay
here in mount pleasant from ourcurrent at-law system to

(33:41):
districts.
So I put on a pretty good fightto get the question on a ballot
in 2016 and um, and I did itprimarily with a group of folks
and, uh, we got 8600 signaturesbut we needed 9200 oh, to get
the question about.
So we came came like 600 umsignature shot.

(34:02):
But what I realized and what Ifound out about my beautiful
hometown then was that intalking with people to get
signatures signed, have themsign that ballot was.
A lot of them thought that ourcommunity was already districts.
They thought that we were largeenough to be districts already,
but we're an at-large system.
So I understand the mayor'sidea of the one Mount Pleasant,

(34:22):
but it's um, we have a lot ofnewcomers here that don't know
that our local government is anat-large system.
So I think you know that wassomething that that took on with
a few people in 2016 youexplain that at-large system?
well, at large, what it means isthat currently, where we have a

(34:43):
proximity, almost a hundredthousand people here in Mount
Pleasant, so 100,000 people votefor nine council members and
that's an they vote.
It doesn't matter if you livein Carolina Park or if you live
in.
Old Village or Tupelo, itdoesn't matter where you live.
You vote for nine councilmembers that represent all of

(35:05):
Mount Pleasant, I see.
But in a district format whatyou would have is you'd have
nine council members that wouldserve nine different districts.
So it puts you closer to thecommunity and closer to the
local government.
So the breakdown was roughlyabout 10,000 people per district
.

Speaker 2 (35:25):
Okay.

Speaker 3 (35:25):
So if you had a district representative on
council then I thought it wouldbe far easier to approach your
current issues in your communitywhether it's traffic or whether
it's development, and throughyour representative.
But a lot of people did notwant that and I got a lot of
kickback from a lot of peoplethat knew me from being a little

(35:47):
kid.

Speaker 1 (35:48):
They said Johnny, what are you doing?

Speaker 3 (35:49):
You're coming home and you're causing problems.
We like it the way it is, andI'm like well, me too, but I'm
finding that we have a lot ofnewcomers and they don't
understand our current makeup oflocal government.
So what I had a problem with isthat we were only turning out

(36:13):
about nine to ten thousandpeople for elections in some
cases, seven thousand and so Iknew that we did not have an
equal voice.
Um so, and primarily, thatseven thousand came from the
south the south end of town andum so what.
What I thought would be in thebest interest of the town was to
create a district format wherewe would have more voices but
then have more people involved.
So that was something I hopewould have happened, and I'm

(36:37):
always looking for the year thatWill you try again.
Well, what I'm looking for nowis I'm looking for our council
to put the question on theballot themselves.
Because the goal behind it,those that were upset with me.
As I told them, this wasn'tabout me.
This was about the peopledeciding.
Sure, I thought it was in thebest interest of the people to
decide how our government wouldbe moving forward.

(37:01):
So a little confusion.
I thought I was trying tochange things.

Speaker 1 (37:05):
A little change, but I wanted to change things.

Speaker 3 (37:07):
I wanted people to get involved and I thought that
was the right thing to do, andso what I'm hoping today is,
along with the advocacy and allthe other things I might be
involved in, the day when ourlocal council just puts that
question on the ballot.

Speaker 2 (37:22):
Well, why don't you become mayor to do that?

Speaker 1 (37:25):
John for mayor.

Speaker 3 (37:26):
You don't have enough going on right now right well,
why don't I just keep on, keep agreat relationship with the
mayors and all those councilguys and encourage them?
You don't want me out therecollecting signatures.
I'm out here making trouble sojust let's just put the question
on the ballot.

Speaker 2 (37:44):
You heard it here first folks.

Speaker 1 (37:46):
You did.
And then I want to talk alittle bit about your very
special project, which was oneof the first ways I heard about
you, which is the Long PointRoad Schoolhouse 1904.
John, I'm amazed.
Like I said, I love history andI've followed this and I've
seen the pictures.

(38:07):
For those of our listeners whohave not heard about this
amazing schoolhouse, please letthem know how this project
started and where we are with it.

Speaker 3 (38:17):
It's the address where the school is located.
Now Its permanent location is1578 Snowden Road.
This school project was onethat, as organization, we did
not.
It was not on our radar, it wasnot something that we even
envisioned we would ever be apart of.
In 2017, Thomasina Stokes,Marshall, then councilwoman, she

(38:42):
was on council the only blackthat ever served on council.
When I first came home, CoachSwells I call him Coach because
I don't he may be the mayor buthe's coach to me, right.
Coach Swells said Johnny, youneed to meet Tomasina, and I had
only been home two days.
I said, well, coach, can Iunpack?

(39:02):
He said no, you need to meether immediately.
So, four days into being home,I Her entire life.
I literally was there to buryher when she passed away several
years ago.
And Thomasina Stokes Marshallwas a very special woman Born
and raised here too, like me,but went to New York and spent

(39:23):
her life there.
So she served on council and in2017, mark Roberts one of the
guys with Mount PleasantHistoric Commission, a staffer
with Mount Pleasant the town, astaffer with Mount Pleasant the
town told Tom Messina about thisbuilding that was going to be
demolished because someone hadbought the property, and Mark

(39:43):
Roberts found out that at onepoint it served as a school.
He didn't have the history on it, but he did know that at one
point it served as a school.
So he then called Tom MessinaStokes Marshall because it's in
the Stoughton, then calledthomasina stokes marshall
because it's in the stowncommunity where thomasina is
from.
Well, come to find out.
Thomasina went there for thefirst grade, come on.

(40:04):
So here we are in mountpleasant with a 1904 school that
ended.
It stopped serving thecommunity in 1953 when
equalization came about, and theonly black to have ever served
on Mount Pleasant Council wentthere for the first grade.

(40:26):
Right.
So she finds out about theschool and she calls me
immediately.
It's like 6.15 in the morningand she's like I've been waiting
all night to call you.
There is a school that we couldpotentially save and, um, and I
said, well, is that on ourradar?
Is that something that that'sthat a part of our mission

(40:47):
statement?
And she was like, well, no, but, johnny, I think we need to get
and get some information aboutthis.
So thomasina started this ballrolling and it was very exciting
for me to be a part of itbecause I'll be honest, in this
project is I've served mycountry in two capacities, two

(41:09):
wars, and I thought those werebig.
Those were serving my countryand those wars were big.
This renovating the schoolproject is probably one of the
biggest things I've ever been apart of.
Why?
Because I never thought I wouldbe a part of a restoration
preservation, in particular,back here at home.
So there is about 20 members ofthis mountain community that is

(41:30):
currently still alive that wentto that school, of the Snodden
community that is currentlystill alive, that went to that
school.
The unique dynamics in October13th of 2021, we moved that
school One, two miles down theroad and it took about two and a
half hours to move it.
I coined that day as movinghistory.

(41:52):
How we identified the school tohave a historic significance is
the college of charlestonstudents and grant gilmore did
the first archaeology study, notarchaeology architectural
review, I'm sorry.
They did an architecturalreview of the school.
They identified that that theschool was.
A lot of the material was fromthe 1800s.

(42:13):
So we then knew that we had amuseum.
Yeah, so what, what?
What?
That?
What those students review didwas validated that we had
material from the 1800s thatpredated brown versus board of
education, it predated therosenwald system and it was
built and served during theheight of the Jim Crow era.

(42:36):
So that schoolhouse is veryspecial to me, as well as it is
to Mount Pleasant and ourcommunity, because we're now
restoring that schoolhouse tobecome the Long Point Museum and
Cultural Education Center.

Speaker 1 (42:49):
I'd love that Sweet.
I can't wait.

Speaker 2 (42:50):
So, what we.
So what does that entail then?

Speaker 3 (42:53):
What we visualize and you know I like oftentimes I'm
the visionary, you know, behindthis stuff because you know I've
had the chance to do some otherthings and know what we could
do.
What we did in February onBoone Hall Plantation is exactly
what we anticipate you will seefor 365 days a year in that

(43:16):
public youth facility that we'recreating, okay, okay.
What we did in February was wedisplayed Mount Pleasant
exclusively the churches, theschools, the communities, the
military.
We did that in February onBoone Hall Plantation for 30
days, but it was just a way tosegue into what we knew we were
going to do with that school.

(43:36):
When you open that door everyday for a tour, you would see
things relevant to MountPleasant, exclusively Mount
Pleasant, and then the culturaleducation part.
It gives us a chance to share.
You know the stories about thecommunities and the students
that would have went to thatschool and how it was formed.

(43:57):
But more importantly, I thinkthis project, the saving and
restoring our job and this hasbeen to make sure that the
integrity, the culture, I meanthe historic integrity of the
building be saved so that whenthe story is being told, it's
being told, it's being told fromthe perspective of how it used

(44:19):
to be a school built in the1800s by former slaves.

Speaker 1 (44:23):
So is it going when it's?
I love looking at things thatare restored but look exactly
like they did back in the day.
I know it's so hard to do.
Who are you working with onthis restoration?

Speaker 3 (44:35):
Well, this is one of my favorite subjects when I talk
about the restoration project.

Speaker 1 (44:39):
Well then, I asked a good question, didn't I?

Speaker 3 (44:41):
That's an awesome question, because this project
to me is so beautiful simplybecause there are two students,
respectively 77 and 83 years old, that are the general
contractors Come on On thisproject, and they both went to
this school.

Speaker 1 (44:58):
No, I can't.

Speaker 3 (45:01):
They both went to this school.
Henry Palmer has been buildinghouses brick houses in Mount
Pleasant for over 40, 50 years.
Well, henry built thefoundation under the school.
Henry and Joe built thefoundation that's under the
school right now, currently, asit stands, all brick.
Both of these guys are thegeneral contractors on the

(45:24):
school and they both attendedthe school.
Joe attended in the first grade, henry did first through fifth.

Speaker 2 (45:31):
Did you know that, like you, brought all these
people together?
I?

Speaker 3 (45:34):
knew that because Joe serves on our board.
Yeah, and then I knew hisbrother, Henry, was a
professional brick mason guybecause when I took a brick
masonry in Wando High School andhe came out of school when I
was a kid to kind of give uspointers about giving us an
opportunity to say, well, look,if you've finished this course
you can come work for me as abrick mason.

(45:55):
So the idea that this projectis being restored and preserved
by those two gentlemen that wentto the school, it means the
world to this project.
Why?
Because they're restoring theschool that they went to so they
know what it looks like.

Speaker 2 (46:11):
That's a movie.
What are we doing?
I know really what are we doing.

Speaker 3 (46:13):
I know really what are we doing here.
It's an untold story that atsome point I would love to see
on TV somewhere.
You know, in a movie somewhere,because it's very rare, very
rare that you would find aproject like this.
But, more importantly, thepeople that are orchestrating
and putting it together went tothat school, so this is their

(46:38):
love and their passion for thisproject.
It's amazing.
It makes it easy for me toadvocate for it, so talk about
the radio show talking about away for you to advocate which is
where you are now.

Speaker 2 (46:50):
That's right, that's right.

Speaker 3 (46:53):
Yeah, some years ago I started talking and somehow or
another I was told I was prettygood at it.

Speaker 2 (46:57):
You got a smooth voice.
I'm not going to lie to you,Brian.
Is he all right At some?

Speaker 3 (47:02):
point I started talking, I was pretty good at it
and then you know, I kind ofgot a little bit in politics and
then you know I was told, ohyeah, you're really good at it
now because you know you're alittle versed, a little worst,
and so I'm now the host of theJay Wright show on Sunday
mornings on WJ and I 106.3.
And I talk strictly socialcivics.
One of my biggest things Ipromote is voting Perfect.

Speaker 2 (47:25):
And participation.

Speaker 3 (47:26):
Every Sunday morning on my show I say the following
words no vote, no voice.
And ultimately it's my way to.
I'm so excited about it becausewhen I'm being back home and
having the opportunity to dothis in other cities, it's a big
deal.
But when you're back home andthe people that know you and

(47:49):
that's been around all your life, and when you see them and they
say, oh, I listened to you onSunday mornings, it's a joy
because it's like you know me.
You know me all my life.
I'm Johnny to you.
I'm that kid that grew up hereand that went away and then came
back and now having theseimpacts.
So the great thing about theshow is the show gives me a
chance to talk about thatamazing 1904 school 1904 school.

(48:19):
It kind of gives me a chance tomake sure people understand um,
promote it and to advertiseevents and certain things that
we're having.
So on sunday mornings I makesure that if it's something
special we're doing, that I getthat in on my radio show,
because that's the greatest wayto make people aware of what
we're doing is through formatslike that and that, that, that
platform.
But I, I enjoyed it, um, it's,it's great to be back home and
to have a radio show after uh,29 years away.

(48:43):
And to come back home and now Ican be seen in the community
but then heard on the radio onSunday morning Very cool.

Speaker 2 (48:50):
29 years away and how long back.

Speaker 3 (48:52):
I've been back home now, august, 29 years away, and
how long back.
I've been back home.
Now August will be 11 years.
That's not a long time.
It has not been a long time.
It's been a lot.
And you know.
I tell you what, and I know wedidn't mention this, but you
know, and I think, again, 2016it was during the Flint water
crisis.

Speaker 2 (49:11):
Okay, you said you were from.

Speaker 3 (49:12):
Detroit Yep, water crisis.
Okay right, you said you werefrom detroit.
Yep, I um.
I collected over 40 000 gallonsof water in mount pleasant,
where our headquarters for theafrican-american settlement
commission is, at 440 venningstreet in the old village.

Speaker 2 (49:25):
I collected over 40 000 gallons of water and walked
it, you walked it, you walked itto the point.

Speaker 3 (49:33):
Negative I had it.
I had it driven with thesupport of the local ILA and
some folks.
I had the water transported outthere on an 18-wheeler.
But I flew out there to meetthe water and to meet the mayor
and to meet the folks in Flintbecause I felt like what we were
doing by collecting all thatwater over those five days here

(49:56):
in Mount Pleasant.
I had already made contact withthe folks in Flint and let them
know what we were doing becauseI knew a lot of them from when
I lived in Cincinnati.

Speaker 2 (50:04):
Oh, okay, right, so I had a relationship with them
then.

Speaker 3 (50:07):
And so one of the ladies in Flint told me I was
here at home and she said,johnny, you're in South Carolina
now, now that you're not inCincinnati, you're not going to
help us.
I'm like, yeah, I guess I haveto now, right, right.
So for five days I staged awater drive man and we collected

(50:27):
over 40,000 gallons of waterand had that water taken out to
Flint.
I got out there, I met themayor and I met with the water
officials out there and kind ofunderstood their problem.
But what was important aboutdoing that was it was a way to
temporarily assist them in theirissue, which was a permanent
issue.

(50:47):
They got a permanent issue, soall we did was temporarily took
some water out there from MountPleasant.
But it was just, you know,again, another way and
opportunity for me to come backhome but then at the same time
realize the value and the thingsthat I can and have the ability
to maneuver and help others.

Speaker 2 (51:07):
What can't you do?

Speaker 1 (51:08):
John, I'm trying to figure this out right now.
I was just going to ask thesame thing, what sport did you
play.

Speaker 3 (51:11):
Is there something?

Speaker 1 (51:11):
you don't love.

Speaker 3 (51:13):
Well, you know, I box man.

Speaker 1 (51:14):
I was like oh, I can see that I can see that Look out
now.

Speaker 3 (51:18):
So you know I mean I played baseball and basketball.

Speaker 1 (51:22):
I'm on your team.

Speaker 3 (51:23):
Yeah, but boxing was one of my things.
I loved it.
I mean, I was always told that.
You know, my coach said Johnny,you've never seen a chin that
lift weights.
So I was sad.
That became my motto.

Speaker 1 (51:36):
Well, you're so helpful to everybody else.
What can we as a chamber, aslocal businesses or just
listeners do to help you?

Speaker 3 (51:47):
Well, we are currently in this endeavor and
we are going to see this throughbecause we know that when this
building becomes available forpublic use, we already have an
amazing relationship with BooneHall.
Boone Hall has given us over$225,000 currently in this
renovation, this restorationproject.
Why?
Because Boone Hall is directlylinked to the school, of course,
and if you go to the gin housethe newly beautifully renovated

(52:09):
gin house you'll find a pictureof the 1904 school on the first
floor, so it's on display everyday.
So the relationship is thatonce the school is renovated and
we're ready and we open as apublic use facility, as a museum
and cultural education center,boone Hall will then transport
people from Boone Hall to theschool, because we're less than

(52:30):
a mile away, wow.
And so not only will Boone Halldo that, but then we're also
working closely with the AfricanAmerican Museum to have traffic
brought to the school fromthere as well as Charleston
County School District.
So we're making all the rightconnections because we're very
proud to have a public usefacility in Mount Pleasant.

(52:53):
One of the things I've learnedto my 11 years here at Almost
Home is that, mount Pleasant, wedo a great job of preserving
things in the old village Houses.
But we have not done a greatjob of preserving any public use
structures and so this gives usthat chance to preserve a
public use structure in mountpleasant.

(53:15):
That'll be good for the entirelow country, the state of south
carolina, in the nation.
We really, really believe thatthat in the end, that's the kind
of impact this will eventuallyhave, and how do our listeners
donate, John?
So, if you want to donate, ifyou want to make a donation, if
you go to A-A-S-C-H-C.
Our website, there's a donatebutton, or just Google Long

(53:39):
Point School and there's a pagethere, a GoFundMe page there.
So contributions are going tobe critical, but let me make
sure it's.
I also share with you thatseveral months ago I submitted a
request to the statehousethrough our district

(54:00):
representative Kathy Landon inDistrict 80, for fundings to
finalize the school Well we wasawarded $150,000 from the
Statehouse through the Ways andMeans Committee.

Speaker 2 (54:12):
Asking you shall not receive.
Asking you shall receive.

Speaker 3 (54:14):
To finalize it.
So Kathy gave me a call.
She is the districtrepresentative and she gave me a
call a couple weeks ago to tellme that we were awarded
$150,000 to complete the school.
So we're excited now that wenow have that additional funding
to take us right on through theend of this project.
But you know, it's been amazingbecause we spent essentially

(54:37):
almost $60,000 just to move theschool.

Speaker 2 (54:40):
Okay.

Speaker 3 (54:41):
Just to move it from.

Speaker 2 (54:42):
Two miles, two miles.

Speaker 1 (54:43):
Could, you imagine picking up a structure that was
built in 1904 and trying to move.

Speaker 3 (54:48):
Yeah, so you know that cost itself.
A lot of people don't realizehow expensive that was, just to
move itself.
So we got a lot invested inhere, but we're going to see
this project right on through.
And, with your help, thechamber we could move this right
on to finalization and, youknow, have something that we in

(55:11):
mount pleasant can be very proudof.

Speaker 1 (55:13):
Heck yeah very proud absolutely well, before we let
you go john, let's talk aboutone more question for you,
because of your love for mountpleasant right, that's right I
love it go ahead.
No, you want to go.
Do you want to do yours?

Speaker 3 (55:24):
that's right same.

Speaker 1 (55:25):
I don't know.
I want to talk about thepineapple award.
Oh, I was going to just talkabout you.

Speaker 3 (55:29):
Go first I already did you already did pineapple
award just yesterday man I got aphone call about, I got an
email, sorry um, about the blackhistory month event that we did
on boone hall plantation andhow it was so well received.

Speaker 2 (55:44):
Yeah, what was that event?
Was it a show?
Was it a play?
What was that event?
No, what it was.

Speaker 3 (55:49):
it was a month-long self-guided tour of.
We had displays of the churches, schools, military, so we had
displays that you can literallygo up and read and information I
mean information dating from1619 all the way to today about

(56:10):
Mount Pleasant, significantpoints, things that happened.
So it was on display the entiremonth.
But on the weekends, onSaturdays and Sundays, I had a
speaker series.
So I brought in speakers thatare all from Mount Pleasant
Perfect.
Lynette Love was a speaker.
Lynette Love's son, reggie Love, played basketball at Duke, won

(56:31):
a national championship at Dukeand then went on to become
President Obama's personal aide.
She was a guest speaker.
Lorna Bell Coakley, whichcreated and started the
Declaration Day at Hampton Park,she was a guest speaker.
So we had all guest speakers.
That were all from MountPleasant.
So the displays were allself-guided tours.

(56:51):
So none of us had to be therefor you to become familiar with
Mount Pleasant.
But on the weekends, when wewere there, it gave us a chance
to interact.
So it went extremely well.
So, as a result of that, theCharleston Vis bureau and also
along with that during thatmonth, we planned I planned with

(57:12):
charleston visitors bureau tohave somebody from our
organization at the visitorcenter every friday oh good,
from noon to four to promotewhat we were doing on the
weekends.

Speaker 1 (57:23):
Oh, that's fantastic.

Speaker 3 (57:24):
So from noon to 4 every Friday during the month of
February, two representativesfrom our organization was there
to greet the people and to givethem information about what we
were doing on the weekends.
So that worked out really well.
So the result of that I got anemail yesterday that I won a
pineapple.

Speaker 2 (57:41):
Yay so what does that mean?

Speaker 1 (57:43):
It's a big award.

Speaker 3 (57:45):
I don't know anything about it.
I mean, you probably know morethan I do.

Speaker 1 (57:48):
I go every year to the luncheon.
Oh, really Okay good, good.

Speaker 3 (57:52):
So there's the people that are pineapples yeah, very
important people.
So I have a really yeah, thepineapple is a very.

Speaker 1 (57:59):
It's obviously the symbol of hospitality.

Speaker 2 (58:02):
Okay.

Speaker 1 (58:03):
And a huge symbol of Charleston.
Of course that's right, and soit's a very you should be
honored.
It's a very important award.
I'm really looking forward toit now, yeah, it's awesome and,
of course, Explore Charleston.
For those it's the CharlestonArea Convention and Visitors
Bureau.
It's a huge organization thatwe do a lot with too, with the

(58:24):
chamber and things.
So, I'm excited for you.

Speaker 3 (58:27):
Yeah, thank you.
So well-deserved Thank you.
I'm looking forward to gettingthat award, I think.
When I got the email yesterdayI was like, wow, this is another
way to validate what we did inFebruary.

Speaker 2 (58:38):
It's amazing.
Sorry, I got one more.

Speaker 1 (58:41):
Okay, one more.

Speaker 2 (58:42):
Kichigala.

Speaker 3 (58:43):
Kich Gala.
Wow, unique term, Very uniqueterm.
Why it's because, growing uphere, born and raised here, I've
always known us to be.
Gala Gitchi is a newterminology.
Okay, I think it resonatedsomewhere like in the Beaufort
area, Seattle area, but it'snever been a term that I've
always been accustomed to.
But it is something that I hearall the time now gala gichi.

Speaker 2 (59:06):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (59:07):
You know, gala has always been associated with
Charlestonians and folks from.
Mount Pleasant, and it's stillour dialect, the language, in
some cases even the food.
But the gichi part, I think, isnew.
What does that mean?
What does gichi?

Speaker 1 (59:23):
mean.
Well, I think, what is new?
What does that mean?
What does Geechee mean?

Speaker 3 (59:26):
Well, I think what I believe as I've talked to some
folks and I've even had thisquestion posed on a radio show
was what is?
Geechee, and I think it's apeople, I think it's a culture,
more than it is the people.
The Geechee is a culture.

Speaker 2 (59:41):
Okay, and Gullah is the people.

Speaker 1 (59:46):
Gullah is the people.

Speaker 3 (59:47):
Gala is the people copy.

Speaker 1 (59:47):
You know right, because gichi grits, right,
that's yeah, okay, becausethey're not gulla grits, they're
gichi grits.

Speaker 3 (59:50):
Right, right, right, right so so yeah, I think when
they refer to get you, I thinkit's more of a culture.
Okay, then it is the people,but the gulla is the people of
charles and absolutely so sogulla can be um, gulla can be
any color.
You could talk to a person frommountasant that's been around
for a long time and you say, ohwell, you're not black, but
you're Gullah, you speak Gullah.

(01:00:11):
So Gullah is speak Gullah.
Oh yeah, that's right, that's awhole language in itself.

Speaker 1 (01:00:17):
We had a gentleman well, two of them actually, but
one of them just retired so oneof our maintenance gentlemen at
Mount Pleasant Town Center.
He one of our maintenancegentlemen at Mount Pleasantown
Center.
He worked for us for the 25years we've been open and he was
born and raised here and thefirst thing I always said was he
wore a winter coat in likeApril because he was cold.

(01:00:38):
Okay, well, we're all in tanktops and stuff because we're so
used to the sun, right, but hespoke Gullah, and boy did we
have some really interestingconversations.
It was such a joy to listen tospeak to him because it took a
little understanding.
Don't get me wrong.
But it was.

(01:00:58):
And then he and an associate,frank.
They both worked at Town Center.
You should have heard themgoing back and forth, and if you
didn't know who they were,you'd be like what are they
speaking?
But I loved listening to themtalk.

Speaker 3 (01:01:11):
Uniquely in all my travels everywhere I've ever
been in my life, if there wassomebody from Charleston that
was speaking and they wereacross the room as soon as they
opened their mouth, my ears, myantennas went up, I'm like I
know that person.
They're from my hometown becausethe language is so unique and I

(01:01:33):
often in my travels I wouldtell people that I speak three
languages.
I speak German and then I canspeak broken English and then I
speak Gullah, so Gullah's alanguage, and then you know.
So my wife is from Boston andshe would always tell me she
says you know, you think youspeak so intellectual from time

(01:01:56):
to time and then you get aroundyour friends.

Speaker 1 (01:02:01):
I would love to be a fly on the wall for those
conversations she said then youget around your friends and I
think who is that?

Speaker 2 (01:02:07):
Johnny, that's not a whatever you be.
You, Johnny, right, You'redoing something, right.
Thank you for all of it.
Yeah, I think that's amazing.

Speaker 1 (01:02:15):
I mean Mount Pleasant .
I just want to talk about MountPleasant one more time because
this is so special to you.
What do you think that makesMount Pleasant so special?
Not just to us who live hereand people who visit, but the
world.
People love coming here.

Speaker 3 (01:02:27):
You know I think Mount Pleasant is special
because geographically wherewe're located.
I often, you know, when I do aradio show in Cincinnati,
somewhere else, I often say thatI'm calling from the bottom of
America.
And you know, I thinkgeographically where we live is
such a beautiful place we have.
We have great food.
I mean, I'm great.

Speaker 1 (01:02:46):
I came home to eat fish and shrimp, man, it's great
food.

Speaker 3 (01:02:51):
So we got great food, we got a great atmosphere.
I mean, the climate here isjust amazing.
You can't get this anywhere elsein the world in some cases, and
so you know we 10 months,almost warm weather.
This is the perfect place tolive.
But again, I embrace everybodythat wants to live here.

(01:03:15):
I'm not one of those that feellike, hey, this is my hometown
and I don't want nobody else tocome here.
No, not at all.
I embrace everybody.
I like diversity.
I like to see If this placewasn't so special then people
would not want to come here.
So what we have to do with thoseof us that are from here is to
make them comfortable whilethey're here.
Make them understand.

(01:03:36):
We don't want you to take over,but we want you to be here, we
want to comfortably livetogether.
But Mount Pleasant is such abeautiful place it's like no
other place I've ever been in mylife Comfortably live together.

Speaker 2 (01:03:51):
I like that.

Speaker 1 (01:03:52):
Yeah, that's another good take.
We got to start writing some ofthis stuff down while we're
talking.

Speaker 3 (01:03:57):
Yeah, I mean because literally I mean we have to.
That's the new way of MountPleasant.
So I love being back home, Ilove the weather, I love the
food, I love the camaraderie, Ilove that custom that I can get
a chance to be myself.

(01:04:17):
But Mount Pleasant is a placethat I think is extremely
special.
I said years ago that MountPleasant is Hollywood without
the lights the glamour and theglory, it's not any of that
Interesting.
But it's a great place wherepeople live and are raised by

(01:04:40):
communities.
So it's just where everything inHollywood is not.

Speaker 2 (01:04:45):
I love that.
I mean Danny McBride lives herenow bill murray's been here
like danny mcbride brought hiswhole crew here, that's right.
It's livability here is amazing.
That's right.

Speaker 1 (01:04:54):
That's amazing, that's right, uh well, we're
honored to have you, um as backin your hometown.
I mean, obviously, because ofall these amazing things that
you're doing, I want everybodylistening to this podcast to go
say the website again one moretime, john.

Speaker 3 (01:05:08):
A-A-S-C-H-Ccom or Google.
Longpoint 1904, LongpointSchool.

Speaker 1 (01:05:14):
I want all of them.
I want the dollars raised afterlistening to this podcast
because I want you all to go andlook at what they're doing, the
history of this school and allthe renovation and just how
amazing it's going to be for uswho live here and work here in
Mount Pleasant.
And thank you for your serviceagain, for everything that

(01:05:35):
you've done for this town andI'm kind of lucky that I know
you so.

Speaker 2 (01:05:39):
I'm really excited about that.
Well, I'm lucky now too.
I know him now.
That's right, that's awesome.

Speaker 3 (01:05:44):
Come to your radio show again.
Wj and I 106.3.
It's the Jay Wright Show andit's every Sunday morning from 9
to 10 am, and I'm talkingsocial civics and if it happens
here or anywhere around theworld, I might talk to you.
Start listening, everybodyThank you so much, john.

Speaker 1 (01:06:02):
Before we leave, we need to thank our sponsors, of
course, charleston Radio Groupand our friend Brian Cleary here
, and the Mount Pleasant Chamberof Commerce.
If you want to be a sponsor ofour podcast or be a guest on our
show, just feel free to reachout to us.
Make sure you follow anddownload.
Let's see I'm going to get themright, mike.
Spotify, itunes, youtube,instagram, facebook and LinkedIn

(01:06:25):
.
Sure, okay, sounds fantastic.
We're so excited.
Thank you for being with ustoday.
Until next time, mount Pleasant.
Until next time, listeners.