Public Service Announcement (PSA): All-Star Justice Center

 

There's still much work to be done, but the old All-Star Triangle Bowling Lanes on Russell Street is on the path to reopening. In its new life it will be called the All-Star Justice Center. It will not only feature 16 bowling lanes but will also have a civil rights museum to reflect the business' role in what became the Orangeburg Massacre. 

My students and I are producing public service announcements to help raise awareness about the important project and also to solicit donations.

To follow is the script for my 60-second PSA.
Click here to listen to the final product.  

All-Star Justice Center PSA
Patrick Harwood
April 18, 2024
Time: 60 seconds 

Music bed

Two SC State students are walking on campus when they hear this sound: 

Bowling bowl hitting pins

Student 1: Hey did you hear that?

Student 2: Yes I did! It sounded like a bowling alley!

Voice from the great beyond: Greetings S-C State students. I'm a voice from your school's past. Have you heard about how in 1968 hundreds of us college students tried to integrate the All-Star Bowling Lanes over on Russell Street?

Student 1: That's when the owner wouldn't let Black folks in to bowl. 

Student 2: Right, that sure was an ugly time.

Voice from beyond: Things got really ugly the night of February 8th, 1968. Law enforcement opened fire on students gathered on your campus. Three young men were killed and more than two dozen others were wounded. 

Student 1: That was the Orangeburg Massacre!

Student 2: So I here there's something going on with the bowling alley?

Voice from beyond: Indeed there is! Work is underway to reopen the All-Star Lanes and turn parts of it into a civil rights museum so people will always remember the tragedy caused by segregation back then.

Student 1: This sounds great!

Student 2: How can we help? 

Voice from beyond: With your help, the All-Star Justice Center can get to the finish line sooner than later. For more information and to make a donation, please go to center for creativepartnerships-dot-org. That's center-for-creativepartnerships-dot-org. 

End with bowling alley sound 

Podcast Productions: Student-Athletes, Campus Issues and More!

We recently dusted off one of our department's old Allen and Heath mixing boards to record a series of podcasts. 

Podcasts seem to be as popular as ever so this project gave the students a chance to be part of one. They will be writing blog posts that feature their particular podcasts complete with the recording, photos and their thoughts about being part of one in our Radio Production class.

(Audio Story) Orangeburg Native Remembers the Orangeburg Massacre

Sandra Paul Miller was a student at Orangeburg's Wilkinson High School on Feb. 8, 1968 when shots rang out on the campus of South Carolina State University. Fortunately for her, she was far away from the school at home with her mother.

Fortunate because three young men were killed and more than two dozen others were wounded when nine S.C. Highway Patrol officers opened fire on the 200 or so SC State and Claflin students who had gathered around a bonfire in the wake of attempts in the previous days to integrate a bowling alley nearby on Russell Street. 

My students and I met Ms. Miller at the All Star Bowling Lanes in February 2022. It was by happenstance that she was there. We went there to interview Ellen Zisholtz, who is leading an ambitious effort to restore the bowling alley and also make it a civil rights museum. 

Click here to listen to my two-and-a-half-minute report about Ms. Miller and her experiences marching for integration and other civil rights for Black Americans. The music included is courtesy of Incompetech. 

Click here to listen to the unedited interview (seven minutes 30 seconds)

February 2024- Students in my BC 203 Radio Production visit the plaza on campus that commemorates the Orangeburg Massacre.

Click here to see my blog post that proceeded this final production audio report. 

Sharp with the "Sharpies"- SC State's Avery Daniels

Outside his job as the library archivist at South Carolina State University Avery Daniels has an interesting hobby.

It involves axes, hatchets and knives. 

A regular at Orangeburg's Black Water Axes & Ales, Daniels in about a year and a half has become a world-class thrower of these "sharpies." 

Check out my video (below) about his expertise. In September my students and I met Daniels at Axes & Ales and saw firsthand his blade-throwing precision.

Good luck Avery Daniels at the big tournament in Appleton, Wisconsin. We hope you bring home the gold and some of the prize money too! 

This is a fun photo Avery Daniels took of us. Thank you sir for a great experience with you at Black Water Axes and Ales! 

Archivist/Ax Thrower Avery Daniels- Check Out My Audio Report!

 

In a relatively short time SC State library archivist Avery Daniels has become a world-class thrower of knives and axes. 

You and I may visit one of these increasing popular places to have some fun and maybe a drink or two. But Daniels has taken his throwing skills to the next level and will soon compete in a world championship tournament. 

Click here to listen to my report about Avery Daniels who has refined his skills at Orangeburg's Black Water Axes and Ales.

Thank you Avery Daniels for letting us interview you. We wish you the best of luck in your upcoming competitions. 

This is a fun photo Avery Daniels took of us. Thank you sir for a great experience with you at Black Water Axes and Ales! 

And thanks to the owner of Black Water Axes and Ales for letting us come in and even try out a few throws ourselves. 

The business is located in the Orangeburg Mall at 1128 Orangeburg Mall Circle. 

SC State's Archivist is Sharp with the Knives and the Axes!

 

By day Avery Daniels is the mild-mannered archivist at SC State's Miller F. Whitaker Library. 

His third-floor office is packed with more than 130 years of the school's history. 

Daniels helped my students with a research project a few years ago. 

Thanks to a recent University Relations feature story I learned about a passion of Daniels outside the library. The Orangeburg Times & Democrat has also featured Daniels and his world-class skills in throwing knives, hatchets and axes. 

The coverage headlines say how he is aiming for national and world titles in a sport that is growing in popularity around the globe. 

Daniels has honed his throwing at his home "court" you could say. This is at Black Water Axes & Ales located in the Orangeburg Mall, a short drive from campus. 

In an interview recorded for both my video and audio production classes, Daniels says he finds the sport therapeutic...this after the loss of a loved one two years ago. 

SOT: Avery Daniels :25
In: Yes, absolutely
Out: competitive drive going 

Listen to his response here.

If you watch Daniels throwing you may notice he uses both hands. Is he naturally ambidextrous? 

SOT: Avery Daniels   :20
In: I was in a car accident
Out: my left hand 

Listen to his response here.

Daniels is earning a name for himself in throwing competitions locally, nationally and internationally. 

Next month November 9-11, he will will be in Appleton, Wisconsin for the inaugural World Ax and Knife Throwing League Pro-Am Championships. 

In an interview my students and I had with Daniels at Black Water Axes and Ales, he was asked about the challenges of competition. 

SOT: Avery Daniels   :57
In: The challenge is nerves 
Out: it comes second nature 

Hear his answer here.

We wish Avery Daniels great success at the upcoming world competition in Wisconsin! May he bring home the gold and prize money too. 

As if ax and knife throwing wasn't enough of a passion hobby for him, Daniels told us he also plays pickleball several days a week. 

"Me in 30 Seconds" Video Project

This semester I'm teaching Basic Television Production and it's a very hands-on class. Students have been quickly exposed to the tools of the trade: cameras, microphones, lights and tripods. 

As a first project I asked them to be in front of the camera sharing "Me in 30 Seconds." Just talk briefly about yourself: where you are from, your major and year, hometown, hobbies, ambitions, what you like about SC State- things like that. 

The students rotated from in front of the camera to behind it. They operated the camera, some held the boom microphone and others held up a stopwatch so the length would be a close to 30 seconds as possible. 

Here are some of the videos that the students will post on YouTube, then there own blogs. 

Patrick Jenkins