Black Charlotte: A Poetic Celebration of Place and Folk Black Charlotte
The Black Charlotte stage will feature artists from the Black Charlotte album with a special tribute to and appearance by Dorothy Counts. Join us on stage and stream or purchase the album here.
Fifteen poets wrote a love letter to Charlotte and organized them into a groundbreaking album, an homage to historically Black neighborhoods, important Black people and pivotal moments in our city’s rich cultural history, to give us a greater understanding of what home is and what it can be.
Join us for an afternoon of reflection, celebration, conversation, storytelling, soulful sounds and poetry. The role of the poet is to catalogue, document, carry, teach, inspire, push and, most importantly, to make sure these stories aren’t forgotten. We invite you to a version of home that must be preserved. Welcome home.
Dorothy Counts:
Dorothy “Dot” Counts-Scroggins was the first Black student to integrate Charlotte schools, three years before Ruby Bridges took the same brave step in Alabama. Counts became a civil right pioneer and has devoted her life to equitable education. Her story is immortalized in Black Charlotte.
Gathering at: Library Stage
Gathering Times:
Saturday, 4/26, 2:45 – 3:45pm