June 17, 2024 • 28 mins
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.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
My friend Tevin tells me that this week is the week
of love.
Oh, oh wait, Tevin, that'severy week, right?
This week we're celebratingunity.
Tune in now to figure out howyou can tie in.
Speaker 2 (00:10):
Welcome to Discover Statesville, the show that takes
you on a captivating journeythrough the heart of one of
North Carolina's most charmingtowns.
Speaker 3 (00:17):
Welcome back to Discover Statesville.
Today, we are joined by CephalaAlameen and Tevin Carr, who are
two of the organizers of thisyear's Juneteenth celebration,
which is happening this week ina variety of events.
Welcome, fellas.
Speaker 4 (00:31):
Yeah, welcome, good to see you, thank you.
Speaker 3 (00:33):
So if we can Cephala, if we don't mind, let's start
with you.
And you've been involved withthe Juneteenth celebration in
Statesville maybe since thebeginning, Since the very
beginning, since the verybeginning.
Since the very beginning.
So tell us a little bit aboutkind of when and how that
started.
Speaker 5 (00:49):
Well, back in the early 90s then our leader, wd
Muhammad, and I'm talking aboutwith the Muslim community here
in Statesville, he brought it toour attention that and this is
a national thing that we shouldstart or energize the
(01:10):
celebration of Juneteenth.
So my family and I, and acouple of other families that go
attend the local masjid, wetraveled across North Carolina
and South Carolina.
Matter of fact, the very firstJuneteenth celebration that we
went to was in Charleston, southCarolina, and it was very
(01:32):
informative, very colorful andit was just exciting.
So the next year, instead ofgoing to South Carolina, we went
to Wilmington, north Carolina,where they was doing the same
thing, and we participated inthat and we did that for a
couple of years and then wedecided that we would start
having Juneteenth celebration inStatesville.
(01:53):
Now, what we did?
If you are familiar withStatesville at all, you'll know
that Wilson Lee Boulevard usedto be called the Boulevard, so I
think it had been named WilsonLee at that particular time.
I'm sure it had.
So we decided what we would dowould have a celebration, but we
(02:16):
would have it at Cooper Park,alice Cooper Park, which is on
Wilson Lee Boulevard.
Now, remember, we didn't knowit was Alice Cooper Park.
So we is on Wilson LeeBoulevard.
Now, remember, we didn't knowit was Alice Cooper Park, so we
were advertising Wilson Lee Park.
Okay, because it was on WilsonLee Boulevard and we didn't
realize that until we had to getpermits, special event permits
(02:38):
and stuff like that to have it.
So what we did, we went onthrough with it.
We started out at Weston AvenueNow, if you know anything about
states, again, weston Avenueruns at the end, on the north
side of Gardner-Bagner, ofWilson Lee Boulevard, and we had
(02:58):
a parade that started at WestonAvenue and went down to Alice
Cooper Park.
I started to say Wilson LeePark again, but down to Alice
Cooper Park.
I started to say Wilson LeePark again, but it was Alice
Cooper Park, and we had a veryfestive occasion.
It was very successful.
We had motorcycle clubs and itwas a walking parade.
It wasn't a whole lot of floatsor nothing like that, it was
(03:20):
just people.
Speaker 1 (03:20):
That sounds amazing.
Speaker 5 (03:21):
then Matter of fact, I had my Congo drum.
We was being a drum and stuffwe.
I had my Congo drum, oh God.
Speaker 4 (03:25):
We got to bring that back.
Speaker 5 (03:27):
No, we ain't.
Speaker 4 (03:29):
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 (03:35):
So we did that and we really had a good time.
It lasted all day.
And the next year we decided itwas a little bit much for the
local masjid, the local Muslimcommunity.
So I was involved in a groupcalled Impact and, yeah, we were
(03:58):
looking for a signature programat that time and we decided
that we would turn theJuneteenth celebration over to
the guys from Impact.
So we struggled for a couple ofyears but we still had it.
And we had it in what is knownas the flats, south Center
Street I think it's the 500block of South Center Street
which was known as the flat.
So we had it down there for acouple of years matter of fact,
(04:21):
several years and it began togrow and grow and grow and grow.
And then we decided that wewould, instead of just having
the community or the churchesand people that were supporting
it, fund it, we said, well, whydon't we get sponsors?
So, therefore, we startedgetting the businesses in the
(04:42):
local community to start helpingus out and sponsoring the event
.
And really, you know, lookingback at that, the rest is
history, because it just keptgrowing and we kept doing it
every year and it kept growingand growing and growing.
And a lot of people say, well,why didn't y'all invite other
people?
And we did, we invitedeverybody, because Juneteenth
(05:05):
doesn't belong to anybody,everybody is welcome.
I told the group yesterdayevening the same thing we were
always headed downtown.
That was.
Our goal was to make Juneteentha part of the fabric of
Statesville, and whenStatesville actually the city of
(05:26):
Statesville had been involvedsince the beginning.
Speaker 1 (05:29):
Do you hear that, Richard?
A part of the fabric.
Speaker 5 (05:35):
It really is up of Juneteenth, with the assistance
of the street closing, with thetrash pickup, with all those
things that the city helped uswith, the bleachers, and just a
whole so many things.
We can't even begin to telleverything because we don't
forget some of the stuff.
(05:56):
So what we did now we kind ofpartnered with the city so
they'll get their duerecognition as well as everybody
else, and so that's where westarted from.
Speaker 3 (06:07):
So this will be the third year since you've moved it
to the West Broad Street areaof downtown.
Speaker 5 (06:14):
Right, let me back up a minute because I forgot one
key point about the Juneteenthcelebration.
One key point about theJuneteenth celebration After so
many years of Impact being themain group that was sponsoring
it, we decided that we needed toopen this thing up to the
community.
Get some women involved Wellexactly Seriously, and so that's
(06:36):
what we did.
We started calling thecommunity's Juneteenth committee
, and that's how that happened.
We opened it up so we could getmore people involved, because
this thing is not here today andgone tomorrow.
This thing is here and you know, everybody realizes it's here
and growing every year.
Speaker 1 (06:54):
We want people from Charleston and Winston to be on
their shows saying now we wentto Statesville and checked out
their amazing event.
Speaker 3 (07:03):
And so we talk about the Juneteenth celebration,
which I think people see, flyersand everything, and this year
that's Saturday June the 22nd,that's this Saturday.
But there's a variety of eventsthroughout the week, aside from
just that Saturday celebration,correct?
Speaker 5 (07:18):
That's true.
I'll let you take care of someof that.
Speaker 4 (07:22):
Yeah for sure.
And one thing that I've noticedwhen I would go to other
Juneteenth celebrations in othercities and other counties was
that they were making it aweek-long thing, and that's one
thing that I'm excited aboutthis year that our committee is
doing.
We've been committed to notjust doing one event or one
celebratory event, but alsoeducational events, as well as
(07:43):
networking events, just to bringthe community together even
more.
So tomorrow, actually, we'regoing to have a tour of historic
black Statesville that isguided by Dr Lisa Moser I got to
get that right, Dr Lisa Moserand immediately after that there
will be a panel discussion frommyself, Elamin Todd Scott, who
(08:05):
is the president of the NAACP,as well as Dr Moser.
We'll sit down with thecommunity and answer some
questions and just raiseawareness about what Juneteenth
is all about.
Speaker 3 (08:14):
And is that sort of centered in that Garfield
Morningside High School area.
Speaker 4 (08:18):
Right.
So historic black state.
So is that area.
The panel will be at the UnityCenter.
Speaker 3 (08:25):
Yeah, okay, but the tour is Green Street, that
Garfield area.
Speaker 1 (08:28):
Tevin, when you say tomorrow, depending on when our
listeners tune in, that isactually on Juneteenth, on
Wednesday, on Wednesday, june19th, 19th, just in case,
depending on when you tune in.
We want to make sure that youdon't miss anything.
Speaker 5 (08:42):
Let me address that also.
We decided that sinceJuneteenth has been recognized
as a federal holiday, that everyyear that the date falls on
something different than aSaturday, we are definitely
going to do something.
And this year it happens to beon a Wednesday.
(09:04):
So we said we got to dosomething on the day of Sure.
So hopefully, going forward, ifit's on a Thursday, tuesday,
friday, whatever, we will havesomething.
Now in the past we have had athree day affair.
We started out several yearsago with an educational part at
(09:24):
Mitchell College they allowed usto I think it was Sheryl Hall
that we had panel discussions,we had guest speakers to come in
to educate the community andthen on that Friday we did what
was called a reenactment.
And then on that Friday we didwhat is what was called a
reenactment, and the reenactmentwas a county like a stage play
(09:45):
that we that several members ofthe community Wrote, and then we
had other members of thecommunity that would, that would
go in and get parts to play.
It was educational but it wasalso hilarious, but it was real
good.
It was real good and I don'tknow if we'll go back to that.
(10:06):
We should at some point, butright now I absolutely think you
should.
Speaker 1 (10:10):
Right now, I think you should go back to the parade
with you, with you drumming.
Speaker 5 (10:13):
And we probably will at some point.
But what we wanted to do?
Anytime that you talk aboutAfrican-American history, if you
see it on television and thisis a pet peeve of mine they
always take you back to thecotton fields, that's true.
So, in order for us to get awayfrom the cotton fields that's
(10:36):
one of the reasons we're notdoing the reenactment, because
that was based on stage playdeveloped in the cotton fields
and then when the when the wordfirst got announced to the
slaves of gaveston that we werefree, okay, that's what that was
all about.
So we want to try to bring themfrom that error up to now,
(10:56):
gotcha.
And we can't do that constantlytaking them back to the cotton
field.
We don't want to do that, butwe don't want them to forget
that either, for sure we don'twant 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 definitelywant to get out of that.
Speaker 1 (11:08):
This is part of the educational stuff you guys are
doing.
So you have this growing groupof community leaders that are
coming together.
I mean you have a group thatworks hard to put all this
together.
I mean you work on it all year.
Oh, yeah, for sure on it allyear, but you have a theme.
You were telling us kind ofwhere my leading came from.
But unity right.
Speaker 5 (11:26):
You want to bring the unity and the reason why we
selected the song Unity and Iadvise everybody to go online,
go to YouTube and look up theOJ's Unity and in the song it
tells you about how important itis for us to have unity.
And see, I don't know people'sphilosophy as far as what they
(11:49):
think about slavery and thefreedom after the slavery, but I
always tell people theEmancipation Proclamation that
was signed and voted upon, itwasn't just for the slaves, it
was for the slave master, it wasfor the overseers of the slaves
, it was for everybody that wasinvolved in slavery, because it
(12:14):
affected everybody.
So what happened after slavery?
Well, you had a lot of peoplethat was out of work.
So if you're out of work, thenyou don't have the wherewithal
to support yourself.
So what happened?
They introduced sharecropping.
(12:34):
My grandfather was asharecropper and the whole time
as I'm coming up as a little boy, I'm thinking that my
granddaddy owned propertyBecause every summer my mother
would send me and my brother tothe farm, to help him.
You know, so I'm thinking youknow, yeah, man, I come back to
(12:58):
the city and I'm thinking no man, I spent the summer with my
granddaddy on his farm and thento come to find out that he
didn't own anything, he was asharecropper.
So that county, I ain't goingto say, hardened my heart, but
it made me realize some thingsand that's why I own acreage now
(13:18):
I don't own that much, but I doown acreage and because he
didn't have a dime to his nameand I really enjoyed those days.
And when he died he was 97years old.
Speaker 1 (13:31):
Oh, wow.
Speaker 5 (13:34):
So you know, you can imagine the things that he saw
in his lifetime.
But anyway, I figured I'd needto say that thank you for
sharing that.
Speaker 3 (13:41):
I think it's really valid because I think a lot of
people still have heard ofJuneteenth.
They don't fully understandwhat Juneteenth is actually
representing or celebratingright, right.
Speaker 4 (13:51):
And to speak on unity , I think this year is a great
example of the city comingtogether, the community coming
together, us bridging.
I know, internally, as far asthe black community generational
gaps, there's been agenerational gap between my
community and our elders and Ido see the efforts from the
Juneteenth community tocommitted to connecting with the
(14:14):
youth, connecting with youngerleaders and inviting younger
leaders to sit on the board andsit on the committee.
I sit on the committee and Ilearn a lot from those meetings.
To just to see what all goesinto a year, goes into an event
of that magnitude and to be ableto share a seat with some great
community leaders who've donegreat work here in this, in this
city, uh, that's that level ofunity that we're showing
(14:37):
internally impresses me.
But then also externally andwith our partners and our
different sponsors, that levelof unity with the community, to
know that here in idel county wedo support these type of causes
, I think that's great.
Yeah, that is great.
Speaker 1 (14:50):
So I know we talked about the events on wednesday,
um, and we do support these typeof causes.
I think that's great.
That is great.
So I know we talked about theevents on Wednesday and we were
talking a little bit before westarted recording.
But there is going to be a tour, a historic tour, but it's sold
out, right.
But if you snooze, you don'tlose in this case because
there's a wait list, right,there's going to be on ongoing
(15:12):
tours after Wednesday, which Ithink is that's a great
opportunity and that's atestament to the growth.
Speaker 4 (15:18):
It's really.
The tour sold out was sold outby June, by the beginning of
June.
Also, all vending spots fordowntown that were available for
Juneteenth were sold out beforeJune.
I'm thinking that's a truetestament to what happens when
we rally together and we knowwe're doing something for a
cause and something that willbring us together.
(15:38):
I think that's a testament thatwe are sold out and a lot of
this stuff is like okay, there'sno more space.
But it also lets us know toexpand and it shows us that if
we do expand, we will have thatcommunity support behind it.
Speaker 1 (15:52):
Yeah, that's right.
Slow growth is good, but whenit's time to expand, you've got
to grab a hold of it and expand.
So I'm looking at the flyerwe've got laying here.
The big celebration on Saturday.
I want to make sure that we leteveryone know that is in
downtown, on West Broad Street,in front of Mitchell, under the
nice beautiful shaded trees.
Speaker 3 (16:10):
Mulberry all the way to Meeting and you guys actually
have part of meeting closedthis year too.
Speaker 5 (16:15):
Right, the north side of Broad Street?
Yeah, so right out here infront of so Media, where we
record with Isaiah.
Speaker 4 (16:25):
So Media.
Speaker 2 (16:25):
Yeah that's great.
Speaker 1 (16:27):
There's a great podcasting studio.
So it's 11 am to 6 pm it startsat 11 to 6.
Speaker 5 (16:35):
um, uh, one of our main sponsors, denso, and uh,
you know, we, we expect thecrowd because I mean it's just,
it's just time for it, it's justtime for it.
We have a lot of of sponsors,we have Piedmont Health Care and
I don't, I don't never want toget on a mic anywhere and not
(16:56):
recognize the city ofStatesville.
For sure, because they have beena very integral part of this
celebration for years.
We also have Look at this listright here, list right here
ideal health system.
We have ruggies and bingham, wehave opus, we have, uh, ideal
(17:17):
states for school system,michigan community college, uh,
doosan and I said denzel, butdoosan as well we have flow
automotive and we also haverandy marion.
That that's some of the keysponsors of some of the events.
And make sure to bring yourchildren, because there is a kid
(17:38):
zone, kid zone, yeah, and we'regoing to have bouncy houses and
stuff like that.
Speaker 1 (17:42):
Go through some of that other amazing stuff that's
happening.
I know you got.
Inspire is going to be the lead.
Speaker 4 (17:47):
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 littlebit.
When we talk about Juneteenth,we talk about unity, we talk
about legacy, we talk abouthistory.
This year in particular, again,it's a great illustration of
all of that coming together.
The headline of this year isInspire Band, and Inspire is
(18:11):
full of IRL natives and it'sfull of IRL community leaders,
but not only that.
That's like my favorite band togo and perform for, and
Insomniacs gets to open up forthem.
And what a lot of people don'tknow is the drummer and the MD
for Inspire.
They're my mentors.
So for me to be able to performin front of my mentors, perform
(18:34):
in front of my pops and myUncle Freddy in my hometown
everything is coming full circleand 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 aboutStatesville, you will really
know how important it is that wehave the acts like Jamil
Mooney's band on stage, we haveJuneteenth Choir, we have
(18:58):
Inspire, we have Insomniacs.
These are organizations that'sbeen here and that's committed
to the work.
So the fact that we'rehighlighting local talent is
going to be a great show, but alot of that talent on stage is
going to be local.
That speaks to the unity aswell.
Speaker 3 (19:11):
Well, and one of the other cool things.
You know, you've got the kidsarea.
You've got vendors, foodvendors and everything set up
throughout the day.
You've got the entertainmentpieces that you mentioned, but
there's also.
You know, my experience atJuneteenth is there's something
to watch at that stage all daylong, whether it's music or
there's dancers, or you've gotspoken word.
The past two years when I'vebeen there, somebody always gets
(19:32):
up and recites Dr Martin LutherKing's speech.
It is a full day of education,entertainment.
There's not really any downtime.
I mean, you could sit on thosebleachers all day, all day.
Yeah, for sure, for sure.
Speaker 1 (19:43):
And get there early, right?
Because Mr Elamin told usthey're going to kick off with
that Unity song.
Don't go get it on.
Speaker 3 (19:52):
YouTube.
Bring a shade hat.
Speaker 5 (19:53):
Don't sit in the sun all day though, and bring your
lawn chairs as well, because thecity 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 youget it together.
But also, people can bringtheir lawn chairs so they can
sit closer and, for the mostpart, in the shade, because
(20:17):
there's going to be a lot of sunon that part of the street
during the highlight of the day,but it would be well worth it.
Speaker 3 (20:24):
Well worth it.
It really is a great event.
It's one of my favorite days ofthe year.
Speaker 1 (20:27):
Now, guys, if people want to figure out how to get
involved and be a part of fromWednesday through Saturday and
beyond, there is a website,right, is it?
Juneteenthstatesvillecom?
Speaker 4 (20:41):
Yes.
Speake (20:42):
JuneteenthStatesvillecom .
JuneteenthStatesvillecom .
The vending spots are all soldout, right, yes, but we have
seven at Culture Shock downtown,which is going to be right
around the same area Because itwas sold out before June even
got here.
We decided at Culture Shockthat we would open up our
building and kind of have smallvending spaces for a little
(21:06):
smaller local.
Speaker 1 (21:07):
So Culture Shock.
What is that?
Yeah, so Culture Shock.
Speaker 3 (21:11):
Shameless plug man.
We talk about unity cultureshock.
What is that?
Yeah, so culture shock.
And I again it's a shamelessplug man we talk about unity, we
talk about legacy.
Speaker 4 (21:18):
Um, again, it was really important for insomniacs
to be created here in idelcounty because we did not have
that, uh, cultural and artisticpiece that was representing, um,
the black and brown communitiesexclusively and at large.
So, uh, the fact that we have aspace downtown and that
downtown Statesville haswelcomed us into this, coaching,
like you said, the fabric ofwhat it means to be Iredell and
(21:40):
what it means to be Statesville,we're excited.
So Culture Shock is theexpansion of our Daydreamers
program.
The Daydreamers program was ourcommitment to boost our
business acumen as what we callentrepreneurs.
We're artists but we also haveto be entrepreneurs.
We opened up an art gallery tofocus funding and efforts
towards our visual artists andto give them a platform to
(22:01):
showcase themselves, becausewe've kind of established that
footprint musically in the city.
So we wanted to do the samething for visual artists.
Came up on the blessing rightdowntown.
It's a great location.
We're excited to be downtown,to be around.
We definitely see that downtownStatesville is committed to
creating a what we call artisticand cultural hub downtown,
(22:21):
where, when you walk downtown,you're connected to the art,
you're connected to the culture.
So we're excited and it's goingto be an art gallery
consignment store.
All of the designs and artpieces will be from local
artists, minority artists aswell.
So, yeah, we're excited aboutthat.
We'll have events going onregularly downtown.
Speaker 3 (22:40):
So pop in when people are down for Juneteenth on
Saturday.
Yeah, come on in.
Speaker 4 (22:43):
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 ofthis happens at the same time.
I think that's, you know, notto get too spiritual, but I
think that's when you see Godstart to work in your favor,
when you're doing your part andyou're just trying to do the
best you can for your own cause.
(23:04):
Then you look up and take abreath and you realize so many
other people working on similarcauses that I can connect with.
I love that about this.
Speaker 1 (23:10):
For our listeners who do not know.
When Tevin says we are our, heis talking about the Insomniacs.
Speaker 4 (23:17):
Yeah, Insomniacs.
Speaker 1 (23:18):
And if you've been following along we had the
pleasure of having them on theshow.
You can go back.
I think it's been six months,maybe now Y'all have been going
strong.
Speaker 4 (23:28):
To the last video, you had almost 10,000 views.
I'm like I should have camewith that because I'm like
you're sure.
Well, this will be the next one, right for sure so Insomniacs?
Speaker 1 (23:40):
if you don't know about their mission and what
they're doing, you can go out.
Is it insomniacscom?
Speaker 4 (23:45):
It is insomniacsinfo, insomniacsinfo.
Speaker 1 (23:49):
Check them out too.
Please do that, and then comeat one of Statesville's newest
businesses, downtown right.
Speaker 4 (23:54):
That's right, culture Shock.
Speaker 1 (23:56):
They actually have a storefront with all these things
that Tevin was talking aboutand speaking about downtown.
And we've talked about musictoday.
We've talked about Tevin today.
I was out last week supportingCash Mob that Downtown
Statesville does here to supportlocal businesses and I went to
the Gondolier to have somegelato and I saw your face on a
(24:18):
poster for Make Music Day.
Speaker 4 (24:20):
That's also happening this week Make Music Day.
Speaker 1 (24:25):
We're almost out of time, but let's talk about Make
Music Day real quick, because wedon't want people to miss that
Make Music Day.
Yeah, so we're almost out oftime, but let's talk about Make
Music Day real quick, because wedon't want people to miss that.
Speaker 4 (24:30):
Make Music Day is this national event of music all
day from 12 pm to 8 pm.
And again, the city has reallyimpressed me by their commitment
to being an artistic andcultural hub and even finding
this event becoming a part ofthis event.
What it is is a lot of thelocal businesses downtown have
(24:51):
committed to open up theirspaces for local artists to come
and perform all day that day.
So if you come downtown topatron any of these businesses
downtown, you're going to beexposed to art and music, live
music at every corner ofdowntown.
It's almost like blocked off.
Anywhere you go, even in thestores, you'll see local artists
, whether it's folk, hip hop,rap, country singer, songwriter.
(25:14):
There are even workshops that'sgoing on, like at the Arts
Council.
There's a writing session, awriting workshop.
So it's just more than music.
There's also opportunities tocollaborate and network.
I'm an artist myself, so Musiceducation between these to
collaborate and network.
Speaker 1 (25:28):
I'm an artist myself, so Music education.
Speaker 4 (25:29):
Music education.
It's a great thing to know thatmusic education and art is so
important to the city and youguys understand how important it
is to culture and just thedowntown, the vitality and
beautification of downtown.
Speaker 3 (25:42):
That's going to be a super cool event.
That was a great partnershipbetween the Arts Council and
Downtown Statesville DevelopmentCorporation and I think, yeah,
it's a global event.
I mean, I think it exists inlike 130-something different
countries.
I think it started in Paris, sopretty cool how it's kind of
grown out and now we're jumpingon as well.
Speaker 1 (25:59):
It's a inaugural event, but hopefully it will be
ongoing.
Speaker 3 (26:02):
There's no shortage of talent here and people to
come and play music.
Speaker 1 (26:06):
Absolutely not.
So we look forward to seeingyou perform in that too, and
we're really excited about thisweek of unity in Statesville.
And thank you guys, so much foryour time and investment and
everything you're doing forStatesville, north Carolina.
Speaker 3 (26:21):
Zephyla any other last-minute Juneteenth news
plugs.
Speaker 5 (26:25):
Well, the only thing I can say is just come out and
enjoy yourself.
Because a couple years ago meand my wife went to Houston.
I have a daughter that lives inHouston we actually live in
Katy and we were investigatingwhat they do for Juneteenth.
And I know we'll never get tothis point I won't.
I probably won't be here, buthopefully it'll get there, Not
(26:45):
with that attitude.
Well, anyway, I probably won'tbe here, but hopefully it'll get
it.
Well, anyway, they had forentertainment.
They had Kool and the Gang andthe Isley Brothers.
That's who they had for theirJuneteenth out there.
Speaker 4 (27:03):
But Uncle Freddy played for a band who opened up
for Kool and the Gang.
Speaker 5 (27:07):
Yeah, but see, they got five universities out there.
Speaker 2 (27:11):
Okay, so they can afford something like that
they're sponsors.
Speaker 1 (27:14):
You get two, three colleges as sponsors.
I'm just saying Statesville'son the move, statesville's on
the move, just keep raising thebar.
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (27:21):
And last year was one of the highest attended events
downtown last year.
So I think the momentum that wehave is a great momentum.
It's a good thing.
Speaker 1 (27:29):
So, to summarize, what you just said and how Tevin
would have said it was pull upStatesville.
Pull up downtown we lookforward to seeing everyone out
supporting these events thisweek and we thank you, guys, and
we'll see you soon.
Speaker 5 (27:45):
Alright, appreciate you being here, thank you.
Speaker 2 (27:48):
Thank you for joining Discover Statesville.
You can email us at discover atstatesville nccom.
Check us out on Facebook atDiscover Statesville, nc.
Hashtag Discover Statesvilleand our website statesvillenccom
.
Catch us next week as wecontinue on our journey to
uncover the hidden gems,culinary adventures,
entertainment, and to beinspired and enlightened as we
(28:11):
Discover Statesville.
My friend Tevin tells me that this week is the week
of love.
Oh, oh wait, Tevin, that'severy week, right?
This week we're celebratingunity.
Tune in now to figure out howyou can tie in.
Speaker 2 (00:10):
Welcome to Discover Statesville, the show that takes
you on a captivating journeythrough the heart of one of
North Carolina's most charmingtowns.
Speaker 3 (00:17):
Welcome back to Discover Statesville.
Today, we are joined by CephalaAlameen and Tevin Carr, who are
two of the organizers of thisyear's Juneteenth celebration,
which is happening this week ina variety of events.
Welcome, fellas.
Speaker 4 (00:31):
Yeah, welcome, good to see you, thank you.
Speaker 3 (00:33):
So if we can Cephala, if we don't mind, let's start
with you.
And you've been involved withthe Juneteenth celebration in
Statesville maybe since thebeginning, Since the very
beginning, since the verybeginning.
Since the very beginning.
So tell us a little bit aboutkind of when and how that
started.
Speaker 5 (00:49):
Well, back in the early 90s then our leader, wd
Muhammad, and I'm talking aboutwith the Muslim community here
in Statesville, he brought it toour attention that and this is
a national thing that we shouldstart or energize the
(01:10):
celebration of Juneteenth.
So my family and I, and acouple of other families that go
attend the local masjid, wetraveled across North Carolina
and South Carolina.
Matter of fact, the very firstJuneteenth celebration that we
went to was in Charleston, southCarolina, and it was very
(01:32):
informative, very colorful andit was just exciting.
So the next year, instead ofgoing to South Carolina, we went
to Wilmington, north Carolina,where they was doing the same
thing, and we participated inthat and we did that for a
couple of years and then wedecided that we would start
having Juneteenth celebration inStatesville.
(01:53):
Now, what we did?
If you are familiar withStatesville at all, you'll know
that Wilson Lee Boulevard usedto be called the Boulevard, so I
think it had been named WilsonLee at that particular time.
I'm sure it had.
So we decided what we would dowould have a celebration, but we
(02:16):
would have it at Cooper Park,alice Cooper Park, which is on
Wilson Lee Boulevard.
Now, remember, we didn't knowit was Alice Cooper Park.
So we is on Wilson LeeBoulevard.
Now, remember, we didn't knowit was Alice Cooper Park, so we
were advertising Wilson Lee Park.
Okay, because it was on WilsonLee Boulevard and we didn't
realize that until we had to getpermits, special event permits
(02:38):
and stuff like that to have it.
So what we did, we went onthrough with it.
We started out at Weston AvenueNow, if you know anything about
states, again, weston Avenueruns at the end, on the north
side of Gardner-Bagner, ofWilson Lee Boulevard, and we had
(02:58):
a parade that started at WestonAvenue and went down to Alice
Cooper Park.
I started to say Wilson LeePark again, but down to Alice
Cooper Park.
I started to say Wilson LeePark again, but it was Alice
Cooper Park, and we had a veryfestive occasion.
It was very successful.
We had motorcycle clubs and itwas a walking parade.
It wasn't a whole lot of floatsor nothing like that, it was
(03:20):
just people.
Speaker 1 (03:20):
That sounds amazing.
Speaker 5 (03:21):
then Matter of fact, I had my Congo drum.
We was being a drum and stuffwe.
I had my Congo drum, oh God.
Speaker 4 (03:25):
We got to bring that back.
Speaker 5 (03:27):
No, we ain't.
Speaker 4 (03:29):
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 (03:35):
So we did that and we really had a good time.
It lasted all day.
And the next year we decided itwas a little bit much for the
local masjid, the local Muslimcommunity.
So I was involved in a groupcalled Impact and, yeah, we were
(03:58):
looking for a signature programat that time and we decided
that we would turn theJuneteenth celebration over to
the guys from Impact.
So we struggled for a couple ofyears but we still had it.
And we had it in what is knownas the flats, south Center
Street I think it's the 500block of South Center Street
which was known as the flat.
So we had it down there for acouple of years matter of fact,
(04:21):
several years and it began togrow and grow and grow and grow.
And then we decided that wewould, instead of just having
the community or the churchesand people that were supporting
it, fund it, we said, well, whydon't we get sponsors?
So, therefore, we startedgetting the businesses in the
(04:42):
local community to start helpingus out and sponsoring the event
.
And really, you know, lookingback at that, the rest is
history, because it just keptgrowing and we kept doing it
every year and it kept growingand growing and growing.
And a lot of people say, well,why didn't y'all invite other
people?
And we did, we invitedeverybody, because Juneteenth
(05:05):
doesn't belong to anybody,everybody is welcome.
I told the group yesterdayevening the same thing we were
always headed downtown.
That was.
Our goal was to make Juneteentha part of the fabric of
Statesville, and whenStatesville actually the city of
(05:26):
Statesville had been involvedsince the beginning.
Speaker 1 (05:29):
Do you hear that, Richard?
A part of the fabric.
Speaker 5 (05:35):
It really is up of Juneteenth, with the assistance
of the street closing, with thetrash pickup, with all those
things that the city helped uswith, the bleachers, and just a
whole so many things.
We can't even begin to telleverything because we don't
forget some of the stuff.
(05:56):
So what we did now we kind ofpartnered with the city so
they'll get their duerecognition as well as everybody
else, and so that's where westarted from.
Speaker 3 (06:07):
So this will be the third year since you've moved it
to the West Broad Street areaof downtown.
Speaker 5 (06:14):
Right, let me back up a minute because I forgot one
key point about the Juneteenthcelebration.
One key point about theJuneteenth celebration After so
many years of Impact being themain group that was sponsoring
it, we decided that we needed toopen this thing up to the
community.
Get some women involved Wellexactly Seriously, and so that's
(06:36):
what we did.
We started calling thecommunity's Juneteenth committee
, and that's how that happened.
We opened it up so we could getmore people involved, because
this thing is not here today andgone tomorrow.
This thing is here and you know, everybody realizes it's here
and growing every year.
Speaker 1 (06:54):
We want people from Charleston and Winston to be on
their shows saying now we wentto Statesville and checked out
their amazing event.
Speaker 3 (07:03):
And so we talk about the Juneteenth celebration,
which I think people see, flyersand everything, and this year
that's Saturday June the 22nd,that's this Saturday.
But there's a variety of eventsthroughout the week, aside from
just that Saturday celebration,correct?
Speaker 5 (07:18):
That's true.
I'll let you take care of someof that.
Speaker 4 (07:22):
Yeah for sure.
And one thing that I've noticedwhen I would go to other
Juneteenth celebrations in othercities and other counties was
that they were making it aweek-long thing, and that's one
thing that I'm excited aboutthis year that our committee is
doing.
We've been committed to notjust doing one event or one
celebratory event, but alsoeducational events, as well as
(07:43):
networking events, just to bringthe community together even
more.
So tomorrow, actually, we'regoing to have a tour of historic
black Statesville that isguided by Dr Lisa Moser I got to
get that right, Dr Lisa Moserand immediately after that there
will be a panel discussion frommyself, Elamin Todd Scott, who
(08:05):
is the president of the NAACP,as well as Dr Moser.
We'll sit down with thecommunity and answer some
questions and just raiseawareness about what Juneteenth
is all about.
Speaker 3 (08:14):
And is that sort of centered in that Garfield
Morningside High School area.
Speaker 4 (08:18):
Right.
So historic black state.
So is that area.
The panel will be at the UnityCenter.
Speaker 3 (08:25):
Yeah, okay, but the tour is Green Street, that
Garfield area.
Speaker 1 (08:28):
Tevin, when you say tomorrow, depending on when our
listeners tune in, that isactually on Juneteenth, on
Wednesday, on Wednesday, june19th, 19th, just in case,
depending on when you tune in.
We want to make sure that youdon't miss anything.
Speaker 5 (08:42):
Let me address that also.
We decided that sinceJuneteenth has been recognized
as a federal holiday, that everyyear that the date falls on
something different than aSaturday, we are definitely
going to do something.
And this year it happens to beon a Wednesday.
(09:04):
So we said we got to dosomething on the day of Sure.
So hopefully, going forward, ifit's on a Thursday, tuesday,
friday, whatever, we will havesomething.
Now in the past we have had athree day affair.
We started out several yearsago with an educational part at
(09:24):
Mitchell College they allowed usto I think it was Sheryl Hall
that we had panel discussions,we had guest speakers to come in
to educate the community andthen on that Friday we did what
was called a reenactment.
And then on that Friday we didwhat is what was called a
reenactment, and the reenactmentwas a county like a stage play
(09:45):
that we that several members ofthe community Wrote, and then we
had other members of thecommunity that would, that would
go in and get parts to play.
It was educational but it wasalso hilarious, but it was real
good.
It was real good and I don'tknow if we'll go back to that.
(10:06):
We should at some point, butright now I absolutely think you
should.
Speaker 1 (10:10):
Right now, I think you should go back to the parade
with you, with you drumming.
Speaker 5 (10:13):
And we probably will at some point.
But what we wanted to do?
Anytime that you talk aboutAfrican-American history, if you
see it on television and thisis a pet peeve of mine they
always take you back to thecotton fields, that's true.
So, in order for us to get awayfrom the cotton fields that's
(10:36):
one of the reasons we're notdoing the reenactment, because
that was based on stage playdeveloped in the cotton fields
and then when the when the wordfirst got announced to the
slaves of gaveston that we werefree, okay, that's what that was
all about.
So we want to try to bring themfrom that error up to now,
(10:56):
gotcha.
And we can't do that constantlytaking them back to the cotton
field.
We don't want to do that, butwe don't want them to forget
that either, for sure we don'twant 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 definitelywant to get out of that.
Speaker 1 (11:08):
This is part of the educational stuff you guys are
doing.
So you have this growing groupof community leaders that are
coming together.
I mean you have a group thatworks hard to put all this
together.
I mean you work on it all year.
Oh, yeah, for sure on it allyear, but you have a theme.
You were telling us kind ofwhere my leading came from.
But unity right.
Speaker 5 (11:26):
You want to bring the unity and the reason why we
selected the song Unity and Iadvise everybody to go online,
go to YouTube and look up theOJ's Unity and in the song it
tells you about how important itis for us to have unity.
And see, I don't know people'sphilosophy as far as what they
(11:49):
think about slavery and thefreedom after the slavery, but I
always tell people theEmancipation Proclamation that
was signed and voted upon, itwasn't just for the slaves, it
was for the slave master, it wasfor the overseers of the slaves
, it was for everybody that wasinvolved in slavery, because it
(12:14):
affected everybody.
So what happened after slavery?
Well, you had a lot of peoplethat was out of work.
So if you're out of work, thenyou don't have the wherewithal
to support yourself.
So what happened?
They introduced sharecropping.
(12:34):
My grandfather was asharecropper and the whole time
as I'm coming up as a little boy, I'm thinking that my
granddaddy owned propertyBecause every summer my mother
would send me and my brother tothe farm, to help him.
You know, so I'm thinking youknow, yeah, man, I come back to
(12:58):
the city and I'm thinking no man, I spent the summer with my
granddaddy on his farm and thento come to find out that he
didn't own anything, he was asharecropper.
So that county, I ain't goingto say, hardened my heart, but
it made me realize some thingsand that's why I own acreage now
(13:18):
I don't own that much, but I doown acreage and because he
didn't have a dime to his nameand I really enjoyed those days.
And when he died he was 97years old.
Speaker 1 (13:31):
Oh, wow.
Speaker 5 (13:34):
So you know, you can imagine the things that he saw
in his lifetime.
But anyway, I figured I'd needto say that thank you for
sharing that.
Speaker 3 (13:41):
I think it's really valid because I think a lot of
people still have heard ofJuneteenth.
They don't fully understandwhat Juneteenth is actually
representing or celebratingright, right.
Speaker 4 (13:51):
And to speak on unity , I think this year is a great
example of the city comingtogether, the community coming
together, us bridging.
I know, internally, as far asthe black community generational
gaps, there's been agenerational gap between my
community and our elders and Ido see the efforts from the
Juneteenth community tocommitted to connecting with the
(14:14):
youth, connecting with youngerleaders and inviting younger
leaders to sit on the board andsit on the committee.
I sit on the committee and Ilearn a lot from those meetings.
To just to see what all goesinto a year, goes into an event
of that magnitude and to be ableto share a seat with some great
community leaders who've donegreat work here in this, in this
city, uh, that's that level ofunity that we're showing
(14:37):
internally impresses me.
But then also externally andwith our partners and our
different sponsors, that levelof unity with the community, to
know that here in idel county wedo support these type of causes
, I think that's great.
Yeah, that is great.
Speaker 1 (14:50):
So I know we talked about the events on wednesday,
um, and we do support these typeof causes.
I think that's great.
That is great.
So I know we talked about theevents on Wednesday and we were
talking a little bit before westarted recording.
But there is going to be a tour, a historic tour, but it's sold
out, right.
But if you snooze, you don'tlose in this case because
there's a wait list, right,there's going to be on ongoing
(15:12):
tours after Wednesday, which Ithink is that's a great
opportunity and that's atestament to the growth.
Speaker 4 (15:18):
It's really.
The tour sold out was sold outby June, by the beginning of
June.
Also, all vending spots fordowntown that were available for
Juneteenth were sold out beforeJune.
I'm thinking that's a truetestament to what happens when
we rally together and we knowwe're doing something for a
cause and something that willbring us together.
(15:38):
I think that's a testament thatwe are sold out and a lot of
this stuff is like okay, there'sno more space.
But it also lets us know toexpand and it shows us that if
we do expand, we will have thatcommunity support behind it.
Speaker 1 (15:52):
Yeah, that's right.
Slow growth is good, but whenit's time to expand, you've got
to grab a hold of it and expand.
So I'm looking at the flyerwe've got laying here.
The big celebration on Saturday.
I want to make sure that we leteveryone know that is in
downtown, on West Broad Street,in front of Mitchell, under the
nice beautiful shaded trees.
Speaker 3 (16:10):
Mulberry all the way to Meeting and you guys actually
have part of meeting closedthis year too.
Speaker 5 (16:15):
Right, the north side of Broad Street?
Yeah, so right out here infront of so Media, where we
record with Isaiah.
Speaker 4 (16:25):
So Media.
Speaker 2 (16:25):
Yeah that's great.
Speaker 1 (16:27):
There's a great podcasting studio.
So it's 11 am to 6 pm it startsat 11 to 6.
Speaker 5 (16:35):
um, uh, one of our main sponsors, denso, and uh,
you know, we, we expect thecrowd because I mean it's just,
it's just time for it, it's justtime for it.
We have a lot of of sponsors,we have Piedmont Health Care and
I don't, I don't never want toget on a mic anywhere and not
(16:56):
recognize the city ofStatesville.
For sure, because they have beena very integral part of this
celebration for years.
We also have Look at this listright here, list right here
ideal health system.
We have ruggies and bingham, wehave opus, we have, uh, ideal
(17:17):
states for school system,michigan community college, uh,
doosan and I said denzel, butdoosan as well we have flow
automotive and we also haverandy marion.
That that's some of the keysponsors of some of the events.
And make sure to bring yourchildren, because there is a kid
(17:38):
zone, kid zone, yeah, and we'regoing to have bouncy houses and
stuff like that.
Speaker 1 (17:42):
Go through some of that other amazing stuff that's
happening.
I know you got.
Inspire is going to be the lead.
Speaker 4 (17:47):
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 littlebit.
When we talk about Juneteenth,we talk about unity, we talk
about legacy, we talk abouthistory.
This year in particular, again,it's a great illustration of
all of that coming together.
The headline of this year isInspire Band, and Inspire is
(18:11):
full of IRL natives and it'sfull of IRL community leaders,
but not only that.
That's like my favorite band togo and perform for, and
Insomniacs gets to open up forthem.
And what a lot of people don'tknow is the drummer and the MD
for Inspire.
They're my mentors.
So for me to be able to performin front of my mentors, perform
(18:34):
in front of my pops and myUncle Freddy in my hometown
everything is coming full circleand 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 aboutStatesville, you will really
know how important it is that wehave the acts like Jamil
Mooney's band on stage, we haveJuneteenth Choir, we have
(18:58):
Inspire, we have Insomniacs.
These are organizations that'sbeen here and that's committed
to the work.
So the fact that we'rehighlighting local talent is
going to be a great show, but alot of that talent on stage is
going to be local.
That speaks to the unity aswell.
Speaker 3 (19:11):
Well, and one of the other cool things.
You know, you've got the kidsarea.
You've got vendors, foodvendors and everything set up
throughout the day.
You've got the entertainmentpieces that you mentioned, but
there's also.
You know, my experience atJuneteenth is there's something
to watch at that stage all daylong, whether it's music or
there's dancers, or you've gotspoken word.
The past two years when I'vebeen there, somebody always gets
(19:32):
up and recites Dr Martin LutherKing's speech.
It is a full day of education,entertainment.
There's not really any downtime.
I mean, you could sit on thosebleachers all day, all day.
Yeah, for sure, for sure.
Speaker 1 (19:43):
And get there early, right?
Because Mr Elamin told usthey're going to kick off with
that Unity song.
Don't go get it on.
Speaker 3 (19:52):
YouTube.
Bring a shade hat.
Speaker 5 (19:53):
Don't sit in the sun all day though, and bring your
lawn chairs as well, because thecity 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 youget it together.
But also, people can bringtheir lawn chairs so they can
sit closer and, for the mostpart, in the shade, because
(20:17):
there's going to be a lot of sunon that part of the street
during the highlight of the day,but it would be well worth it.
Speaker 3 (20:24):
Well worth it.
It really is a great event.
It's one of my favorite days ofthe year.
Speaker 1 (20:27):
Now, guys, if people want to figure out how to get
involved and be a part of fromWednesday through Saturday and
beyond, there is a website,right, is it?
Juneteenthstatesvillecom?
Speaker 4 (20:41):
Yes.
Speake (20:42):
JuneteenthStatesvillecom .
JuneteenthStatesvillecom .
The vending spots are all soldout, right, yes, but we have
seven at Culture Shock downtown,which is going to be right
around the same area Because itwas sold out before June even
got here.
We decided at Culture Shockthat we would open up our
building and kind of have smallvending spaces for a little
(21:06):
smaller local.
Speaker 1 (21:07):
So Culture Shock.
What is that?
Yeah, so Culture Shock.
Speaker 3 (21:11):
Shameless plug man.
We talk about unity cultureshock.
What is that?
Yeah, so culture shock.
And I again it's a shamelessplug man we talk about unity, we
talk about legacy.
Speaker 4 (21:18):
Um, again, it was really important for insomniacs
to be created here in idelcounty because we did not have
that, uh, cultural and artisticpiece that was representing, um,
the black and brown communitiesexclusively and at large.
So, uh, the fact that we have aspace downtown and that
downtown Statesville haswelcomed us into this, coaching,
like you said, the fabric ofwhat it means to be Iredell and
(21:40):
what it means to be Statesville,we're excited.
So Culture Shock is theexpansion of our Daydreamers
program.
The Daydreamers program was ourcommitment to boost our
business acumen as what we callentrepreneurs.
We're artists but we also haveto be entrepreneurs.
We opened up an art gallery tofocus funding and efforts
towards our visual artists andto give them a platform to
(22:01):
showcase themselves, becausewe've kind of established that
footprint musically in the city.
So we wanted to do the samething for visual artists.
Came up on the blessing rightdowntown.
It's a great location.
We're excited to be downtown,to be around.
We definitely see that downtownStatesville is committed to
creating a what we call artisticand cultural hub downtown,
(22:21):
where, when you walk downtown,you're connected to the art,
you're connected to the culture.
So we're excited and it's goingto be an art gallery
consignment store.
All of the designs and artpieces will be from local
artists, minority artists aswell.
So, yeah, we're excited aboutthat.
We'll have events going onregularly downtown.
Speaker 3 (22:40):
So pop in when people are down for Juneteenth on
Saturday.
Yeah, come on in.
Speaker 4 (22:43):
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 ofthis happens at the same time.
I think that's, you know, notto get too spiritual, but I
think that's when you see Godstart to work in your favor,
when you're doing your part andyou're just trying to do the
best you can for your own cause.
(23:04):
Then you look up and take abreath and you realize so many
other people working on similarcauses that I can connect with.
I love that about this.
Speaker 1 (23:10):
For our listeners who do not know.
When Tevin says we are our, heis talking about the Insomniacs.
Speaker 4 (23:17):
Yeah, Insomniacs.
Speaker 1 (23:18):
And if you've been following along we had the
pleasure of having them on theshow.
You can go back.
I think it's been six months,maybe now Y'all have been going
strong.
Speaker 4 (23:28):
To the last video, you had almost 10,000 views.
I'm like I should have camewith that because I'm like
you're sure.
Well, this will be the next one, right for sure so Insomniacs?
Speaker 1 (23:40):
if you don't know about their mission and what
they're doing, you can go out.
Is it insomniacscom?
Speaker 4 (23:45):
It is insomniacsinfo, insomniacsinfo.
Speaker 1 (23:49):
Check them out too.
Please do that, and then comeat one of Statesville's newest
businesses, downtown right.
Speaker 4 (23:54):
That's right, culture Shock.
Speaker 1 (23:56):
They actually have a storefront with all these things
that Tevin was talking aboutand speaking about downtown.
And we've talked about musictoday.
We've talked about Tevin today.
I was out last week supportingCash Mob that Downtown
Statesville does here to supportlocal businesses and I went to
the Gondolier to have somegelato and I saw your face on a
(24:18):
poster for Make Music Day.
Speaker 4 (24:20):
That's also happening this week Make Music Day.
Speaker 1 (24:25):
We're almost out of time, but let's talk about Make
Music Day real quick, because wedon't want people to miss that
Make Music Day.
Yeah, so we're almost out oftime, but let's talk about Make
Music Day real quick, because wedon't want people to miss that.
Speaker 4 (24:30):
Make Music Day is this national event of music all
day from 12 pm to 8 pm.
And again, the city has reallyimpressed me by their commitment
to being an artistic andcultural hub and even finding
this event becoming a part ofthis event.
What it is is a lot of thelocal businesses downtown have
(24:51):
committed to open up theirspaces for local artists to come
and perform all day that day.
So if you come downtown topatron any of these businesses
downtown, you're going to beexposed to art and music, live
music at every corner ofdowntown.
It's almost like blocked off.
Anywhere you go, even in thestores, you'll see local artists
, whether it's folk, hip hop,rap, country singer, songwriter.
(25:14):
There are even workshops that'sgoing on, like at the Arts
Council.
There's a writing session, awriting workshop.
So it's just more than music.
There's also opportunities tocollaborate and network.
I'm an artist myself, so Musiceducation between these to
collaborate and network.
Speaker 1 (25:28):
I'm an artist myself, so Music education.
Speaker 4 (25:29):
Music education.
It's a great thing to know thatmusic education and art is so
important to the city and youguys understand how important it
is to culture and just thedowntown, the vitality and
beautification of downtown.
Speaker 3 (25:42):
That's going to be a super cool event.
That was a great partnershipbetween the Arts Council and
Downtown Statesville DevelopmentCorporation and I think, yeah,
it's a global event.
I mean, I think it exists inlike 130-something different
countries.
I think it started in Paris, sopretty cool how it's kind of
grown out and now we're jumpingon as well.
Speaker 1 (25:59):
It's a inaugural event, but hopefully it will be
ongoing.
Speaker 3 (26:02):
There's no shortage of talent here and people to
come and play music.
Speaker 1 (26:06):
Absolutely not.
So we look forward to seeingyou perform in that too, and
we're really excited about thisweek of unity in Statesville.
And thank you guys, so much foryour time and investment and
everything you're doing forStatesville, north Carolina.
Speaker 3 (26:21):
Zephyla any other last-minute Juneteenth news
plugs.
Speaker 5 (26:25):
Well, the only thing I can say is just come out and
enjoy yourself.
Because a couple years ago meand my wife went to Houston.
I have a daughter that lives inHouston we actually live in
Katy and we were investigatingwhat they do for Juneteenth.
And I know we'll never get tothis point I won't.
I probably won't be here, buthopefully it'll get there, Not
(26:45):
with that attitude.
Well, anyway, I probably won'tbe here, but hopefully it'll get
it.
Well, anyway, they had forentertainment.
They had Kool and the Gang andthe Isley Brothers.
That's who they had for theirJuneteenth out there.
Speaker 4 (27:03):
But Uncle Freddy played for a band who opened up
for Kool and the Gang.
Speaker 5 (27:07):
Yeah, but see, they got five universities out there.
Speaker 2 (27:11):
Okay, so they can afford something like that
they're sponsors.
Speaker 1 (27:14):
You get two, three colleges as sponsors.
I'm just saying Statesville'son the move, statesville's on
the move, just keep raising thebar.
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (27:21):
And last year was one of the highest attended events
downtown last year.
So I think the momentum that wehave is a great momentum.
It's a good thing.
Speaker 1 (27:29):
So, to summarize, what you just said and how Tevin
would have said it was pull upStatesville.
Pull up downtown we lookforward to seeing everyone out
supporting these events thisweek and we thank you, guys, and
we'll see you soon.
Speaker 5 (27:45):
Alright, appreciate you being here, thank you.
Speaker 2 (27:48):
Thank you for joining Discover Statesville.
You can email us at discover atstatesville nccom.
Check us out on Facebook atDiscover Statesville, nc.
Hashtag Discover Statesvilleand our website statesvillenccom
.
Catch us next week as wecontinue on our journey to
uncover the hidden gems,culinary adventures,
entertainment, and to beinspired and enlightened as we
(28:11):
Discover Statesville.
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