Reconciliation and Culture
We report on serious reconciliation work happening in Chattanooga and cultual melding happening in Tallahassee.
It’s been a fascinating few days for me, editing the three stories that make this 10th edition of Salvation South. We’ve said from the beginning Salvation South should be a place where civil conversation can happen and, secondly, that we will continually celebrate the culture of our region.
We have great examples of both this week. Our lead story is from Charles Moss, an excellent writer and longtime friend of mine from Chattanooga, Tennessee. In it, he captures the life of a man who, in the late 20th century, grew up one of the city’s wealthiest white kids. And his parents told him continually he should hold all Black people in the lowest possible regard.
But a conversion came for Franklin McCallie while he was in college, and ever since, he’s worked to redeem himself. He’s thrown himself completely into community healing, creating a place for civil conversation between Black and white people in his city. It’s called Chattanooga Connected. You should take a little time and read Moss’s story.
Then we head south to talk about culture. Rob Rushin of Tallahassee talks about the importance of arts to a city — and how arts events around the South are crawling out from under their COVID rocks. One such festival is Tallahassee’s Word of South, a unique melding of literary and music festivals. All of us at Salvation South are honored that one of the stages there will bear our name. We’ll have a tent set up selling Salvation South merchandise and a stage full of artists who will challenge and entertain you. We can’t wait to meet you this April in Tallahassee.
We look forward to some warmth in Florida come April, but right now, we are still under winter’s chill. Some folks say that trying to stay warm means choosing the right cocktail. (For that matter, some folks say that most occasions mean choosing the right cocktail.) But in her new series for Salvation South about classic Southern drinks, our friend Clair McLafferty teaches us how to make the Vieux Carré.
This mix of stories represents the kind of back-porch chats we want to have here at Salvation South. If you have anything you believe we should be talking about, let us know by hitting the “Submit” button below. Thought-starter for this week: How do arts events benefit your own hometown?
Chuck Reece is the co-founder and editor-in-chief of Salvation South, the weekly web magazine you're reading right now. He was the founding editor of The Bitter Southerner. He grew up in the north Georgia mountains in a little town called Ellijay.