Clay Aiken is officially a candidate. And he thought ‘American Idol’ was rough

Featured at The Washington Post

“I’m not a politician,” says Clay Aiken in the video announcing his candidacy for a U.S. House seat. “I don’t ever want to be one. But I do want to help bring back, at least to my corner of North Carolina, the idea that someone can go to Washington to represent all the people, whether they voted for you or not.”

What is very clear in the compelling, nearly five-minute video released Wednesday, is that Aiken seriously wants to be the Democrat on the fall ballot facing Republican Rep. Renee Ellmers in North Carolina’s 2nd District. And though an Aiken win in the conservative district has to be considered a long shot, and he hasn’t even made it past the primary, the 35-year-old reintroducing himself and making his case wants you to know that he’s more than an “American Idol” runner-up.

Read the rest atThe Washington Post
Feb052014 TAGS: , , , , ,

A Month of Arts, Remembrance and Honors

Featured at WCCB Rising


 

February in Charlotte means a month of arts, remembrance, and honors.

Mary C Curtis is giving us a tour of where it’s all happening.

The Blumenthal Performing Arts helped produce ‘”The Mountaintop“, which is being performed at the Booth Playhouse through March 2. It centers around Martin Luther King Jr’s last speech before his assassination. At the Bechtler Museum of Modern Art the exhibition “Mario Botta: Architecture and Memory” features more than 200 objects; the show spans the 50-year career of internationally acclaimed architect Mario Botta, the designer of the Bechtler.

Also, props to Johnson C Smith University; they were named School of the Month by the Tom Joyner Foundation.

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Feb052014 TAGS:

Why Amy Chua’s book on the exceptional gets civil rights all wrong

Featured at The Washington Post

Amy Chua and Jed Rubenfeld know a lot about at least one thing. That would be marketing. Their new book, “The Triple Package: How Three Unlikely Traits Explain the Rise and Fall of Cultural Groups in America,” arrives Feb. 4 amid a swirl of controversy and publicity, and from the rather self-satisfied look on their faces in the twin New York Times portraits that accompany a recent profile, they couldn’t be happier.

Chua skillfully traded in stereotypes with the “Tiger Mom” opus that publicized her strict parenting practices laced with a smattering of self doubt and made her a household name. Now she and husband Rubenfeld – both Yale law professors – are coming back with more, much more of the same. I’m not mad at them, though the couple’s scholarship and language, with countless anecdotes and caveats, sound more self-help than Ivy League. I’m writing about them, too, because the scene they’ve created is impossible to ignore. Who could miss excerpts of “The Triple Package” and stories by and about the couple? I read about as much as I could.

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Feb042014 TAGS: , , ,

Madam C.J. Walker: She had a dream — Local playwright Kami Shalom brings the first self-made female millionaire’s story to life.

Featured at Creative Loafing

Despite conventional wisdom, Madam C.J. Walker did not invent the straightening comb. The woman who started life as Sarah Breedlove of Louisiana — the first child in her family born into freedom, in 1867 — earned fame and fortune through ingenuity, innovation and hard work. Despite hard times and loss, Walker is regarded as America’s first female self-made millionaire after she developed products to help grow healthy hair, and when she died in 1919, left two-thirds of her fortune to black charities.

Kami Shalom hopes to correct the record with a transformation of her own. The Charlotte performer, writer and teacher will play 20 characters of all races, ages and genders to tell Walker’s story. Call Me Madam: The Making of an American Millionaire, presented by On Q Performing Arts and written and performed by Shalom, will take the Duke Energy Theater stage Jan. 29 through Feb. 1. Walker’s inspiring life translated into a local play is just one example in Charlotte of the strength and accomplishments of African-American women being reclaimed, on and off the stage.

Read the rest atCreative Loafing
Jan292014 TAGS: ,

State of the Union perspective

Featured at WCCB Rising


CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Washington Post columnist, Mary C. Curtis, joins Rising with some perspective on Tuesday’s State of the Union.

Congressmen feel that the President needs to work with them, not go around them.

In his address, President Obama said he will use executive action to pass bills if necessary.

Much of his focus was on the economy and income equality.

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Jan292014 TAGS: , ,

Could NAACP leader and black GOP senator find common ground?

Featured at The Washington Post

In the bipartisan effort to strengthen the Voting Rights Act of 1965, key parts of which were eliminated by the Supreme Court last year,  Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) and the Rev. William Barber, head of the North Carolina NAACP, would likely find themselves on opposite sides.

And that’s just if the debate were strictly political. Now, it has gotten personal, with Barber’s recent remarks about the tea party-backed Scott, the only black Republican in Congress, causing both sides to retreat to established positions and preconceptions.

Read the rest atThe Washington Post
Jan272014 TAGS: , , , , ,

Grand jury decides not to indict officer in N.C. shooting, but questions remain

Featured at The Washington Post

CHARLOTTE – It’s a situation that won’t end quickly or easily. In a case that has drawn national attention, a Mecklenburg County grand jury did not indict a police officer on Tuesday on a charge of voluntary manslaughter in the killing of an unarmed man.

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Jan222014 TAGS: , , , ,

Grand Jury Won’t Indict Officer Randall Kerrick, but Case Is Far From Over

Featured at WCCB Rising


Charlotte, N.C.- A Grand Jury decides not to indict the CMPD officer, accused of killing unarmed man Jonathan Ferrell. Tuesday’s decision leaves mixed emotions for both sides. Washington Post Columnist Mary C. Curtis joined Rising to break down what’s next in the case.

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Jan222014 TAGS: , , ,

The president and the pope: What will they talk about?

Featured at The Washington Post

During President Obama’s upcoming European trip, he’ll be engaging in important diplomatic and political discussions, including the Nuclear Security Summit, hosted by the Dutch government, and a U.S.-EU Summit in Brussels. But perhaps most anticipated by observers of church and state — and where the two intersect — will be the president’s planned March 27 get together with Time’s Person of the Year, Pope Francis.

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Jan212014 TAGS: , , , ,

North Carolina Welcomes President Obama to NC State

Featured at WCCB Rising


 

Charlotte, N.C.- Today, President Obama will announce a $140 million initiative at NC State, focused on hi-tech manufacturing innovation. The president says manufacturing is one way to get the country’s economy back on track. Washington Post columnist Mary C. Curtis joined Rising to discuss the president’s visit and how North Carolinians will welcome him.

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Jan152014 TAGS: , ,
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