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Concerned Citizens of Tillery

GRANT-BRILEY HEADLINES 8th ANNUAL CULTURAL ARTS EVENT

7/1/2018

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The 8th Annual Cultural Arts Event was held on Saturday, June 30, 2017 at the Tillery Community Center, 321 Community Center Road, Tillery, N.C. The event, presented in two parts. Part I began at 10am, featuring Tillery’s own Evangeline Grant Briley. Part Two began at 1pm, offering a variety of talent.

Briley presented on “Meet The Extraordinary Women of Historic Tillery." Evangeline has led an extraordinary life as a social change advocate and in breaking racial barriers in the media.

In January, 1969, after several years as a social worker for the Halifax County School System, on her own initiative she became the first African American in North Carolina to produce and host a television show. Together with Evangeline was a must see weekly media event featuring local and state wide African American guests in politics, education, religion, food service and community service. It was seen over WNCT-TV, Greenville, N.C.

In 1971, Evangeline became the first woman and the first African American to produce/host for North Carolina public television. She traveled the state with a television crew interviewing students, educators, parents, and school officials on the problems and solutions of school integration. Thursday’s Child (has far to go) was an award-winning 10-program series viewed statewide.

She later established her own production/publishing company, EVAN-REDD PRODUCTIONS, INC, under which she and her brother, Gary Grant, produced Heritage of Hope, financed by a first-time grant from UNC-TV, and viewed state wide. Grant-Briley published two books, nothing: the mentality of the black woman and Anthony Debro: Something Special.

Her outstanding work has also included Cultural Arts Director for the new town, Soul City, founded by the late Attorney Floyd McKissick, Sr. Her activism with international causes célèbres include The Wilmington Ten, the Joanne Little Case, Freedom for Mandela, and her controversial marriage to death row inmate, James Briley, in a failed attempt to stop his execution. She succeeded in bringing world-wide attention to the racism and unfairness of America’s death penalty jurisprudence.

For several years forward she was in great demand for television death penalty interviews across the nation including, Donahue, Oprah, and Sally Jessey Raphael television shows.

In ten subsequent years she was the primary care-giver for her aging parents, the late Matthew and Florenza Moore Grant, and at age 77 years, Evangeline continues to be an active and adoring parent of four children and five grandchildren, a sweetheart to her former high school “boo”, and to be a helpful and inspiring sister, friend and neighbor.

Evangeline was introduced by her only son, Gary R. Redding, CCT Board Chair, and a professor of English at Halifax Community College, Weldon. 

Performing in Part II of the afternoon ARTS SECTION was youth performer Spoken Word artist Joshua Godwin, a rising 2nd year student at St. Andrews University. Godwin performed under the name of “Duece the Poet” and hails from Scotland Neck. Other performers included international recording and performing artist Connie Harvey of Tillery; Nicole Boone (“Gospel Jim, Jr.”of WYAL Radio), hailing from Northampton County; and famed recording jazz artist Ermitt Williams, “Mr. Blues” of St. Johns Island, SC. This annual major program continues to seek performers for the ARTS SECTION of the program. Singers, dancers, instrumentalists, spoken word enthusiasts, and crafters are also welcome to display and sell crafts. The event highlights talents of persons in the five counties along the Roanoke River.

It was an exciting occasion and was open to the public at no charge. The event was supported in part by the NC Arts Council, "a division of the Department of Cultural Resources, with funding from the National Endowment for the Arts.”

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During the program, Gary R. Grant and Connie Harvey led the special tribute to Tillery’s own “Lady Day”, the late Theresa Harvey who passed on February 26, 2018. Mrs. Harvey had been performing in all of the Cultural Events since its founding in 2011. Later in the program, her daughter Connie Harvey and her cousin “Mr. Blues” sang several songs in remembrance of her.
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Cultural Arts Performers for this show were (L-R) Duece the Poet; Ermitt Williams - “Mr. Blues”: Grover Rook, Denise Boone, ----- and Connie Harvey.
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CCT Walks to Remind Gov. Cooper of Pipeline’s Environmental Harms

6/22/2018

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The Concerned Citizens of Tillery joined Nash Stop The Pipeline, the Alliance to Protect Our People and the Places We Live and other groups on a June 16 protest walk near the proposed Atlantic Coast Pipeline.

They targeted the section where Governor Roy Cooper’s father grew up in Elm Grove. Gov. Cooper was invited to attend the walk, but he did not show up. His father once wrote of Elm Grove, “I thank God that I have been privileged to live between the creeks with family, close friends, and with nature at its finest.”

The marchers took water from the Little Sapony Creek at the beginning of the march and mixed it with the waters from the Big Sapony Creek in a ceremony to draw symbolic attention to the impacts the pipeline project might have on the water systems in eastern North Carolina.

For more on the walk, see the coverage in The Rocky Mount Telegram and the Spring Hope Enterprise.
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"Malcolm X" Music Video Filmed in Tillery

6/17/2018

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King David Wilson and Dominque Wilson of Atlanta filmed the music video for King David’s “Malcolm X” in Tillery, with extension scenes of the Tillery Community Center and History House. The Wilsons will feature Tillery in the first episode of a documentary they host and produce, “Culture Quest.” The song will serve as part of the documentary's soundtrack.

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Tillery Featured in "Our State" Magazine

6/12/2018

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The June 2018 issue of Our State magazine features the Tillery Farms Resettlement community in its package of stories on the transformations of the 1940s in North Carolina (article attached below). Gary Grant and Hilda Walden are featured in the piece, which discusses how land ownership provided a foundation for educational achievement and civic engagement for a generation of black Tillery farm families.

For reprints of the piece, contact editorial@ourstate.com. To order bulk copies of this issue to share with friends and families, contact the circulation department: circulation@ourstate.com.
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1940s_the_decade_of_transformation.pdf
File Size: 391 kb
File Type: pdf
Download File

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Great Signs at HKonJ

2/12/2018

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CCT at 11th Annual HKonJ

2/12/2018

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CCT did not have a large contingent to attend the 11th HKonJ (“Historic Thousands on Jones Street”), but it was still there. The Concerned Citizens of Tillery were there for the very first HKonJ back in 2007 and has missed only one march since that time.
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Gary R. Grant, CCT Executive Director, and CCT member Regional "Reggie" Pender made the HKonJ March. Yep! There was rain, but the march went on.
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Gary signs petition to save Voting Rights for all.
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Gary and Reggie run into others from Halifax County who are also members of CCT: Paul Walden of Weldon, Bill Hodge of Roanoke Rapids and a former producer for WRAL, Mr. Williams, who knows of Tillery and the fights we have taken on. (L to R): Hodge, Williams, Grant and Walden.
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CCT Executive Director Featured in Daily Herald "Year in Review"

12/18/2017

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CCT Executive Director Gary Grant was featured in the Roanoke Rapids Daily Herald's "Year in Review," along with other community leaders who opposed plans for a coal ash landfill in northeastern North Carolina. The issue ran on December 15, 2017.
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7TH REAL SENIOR PROM: Sat, July 1, 2017

6/8/2017

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SATURDAY, JULY 1, 2017 
THE CENTRE @ HALIFAX COMMUNITY COLLEGE 
WELDON, NC 
6:00PM- DINNER - SEMI-FORMAL 
ADMISSION DONATION - $25.00 
DINNER - CROWNING CEREMONY - DJ “BIG SMOOTH”
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Vying for the title of King and Queen of the “7TH Real Senior Prom” are: (L-R) Cynthia Lynch of Enfield; CCT Board Chairman, Gary R. Redding of Roanoke Rapids; a past OMS president, Cary White, Jr. of Scotland Neck; past CCT Board Chairwoman Doris Taylor Davis of Tillery; recent OMS members James Williams of Hobgood and Shirley DeBrow, Asst. OMS Welcome Back Hostess, of Enfield. Redding was asked to become a candidate by the OMS because there was an insufficient number of men in the contest. Not pictured but running for the title of Queen is Donna Whitaker of Wilson.
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SPONSORED BY 
The Open Minded Seniors & Concerned Citizens of Tillery 
Drawing for Door Prizes - Cast a Vote for your contestant - $1.00 
(Do Not Have To Be Present To Win) 
Contact the CCT office at 252-826-3017 or tillery@aol.com for more information.
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STAR-STUDED GROUP FOR 7TH CULTURAL EVENT

5/18/2017

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Tillery, NC – Continuing the efforts of the Roanoke River Regional Collaborative (RRRC), Concerned Citizens of Tillery will host the 7th Annual Cultural Arts Event on Saturday, May 27, 2017 at the Tillery Community Center, 321 Community Center Road, Tillery (Halifax), N. C. The Cultural Workshop will run from 10:00am until 12 Noon featuring noted artist and painter Mary Ellen Jones of the Mary’s Chapel Community; and performer Jackie Ruffin-Pittman, noted Storyteller and singer. There is no charge for this event and it is supported in part by the Halifax County Arts Council. Come join us for a time of learning as well as being entertained.
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Mary Ellen Jones
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Jackie Ruffin-Pittman
The Cultural Arts Performances will begin at 1:00pm and run until 4:00pm. This year we are pleased to have performances by Gospel Recording Singer Johnny Ruffin -- Hertford County, NC; Gospel Singer Nicole Boone – “Gospel Jim, Jr.” on WYAL Radio; international gospel singer Connie Harvey; jazz singer 92 Year Old – “Lady Day of Tillery” Theresa Harvey; and rounding out the afternoon, noted recording singing artist Ermitt “Mr. Blues” Williams of South Carolina. His Music Genre: Blues, Jazz/Blues, Ballads; and Keyboardist - Charlie Hill & Friends – Nash, Edgecombe, Pitt, and Martin Counties. 
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Johnny Ruffin
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Nicole Boone
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Theresa Harvey
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Connie Harvey
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"Mr. Blues"
Our Roanoke River Region is rich in history, heritage, and culture. The Concerned Citizens of Tillery invites you to join us for this Cultural Awareness Event to learn more about the fabric of our communities. Hosting this Cultural Awareness Event is one step in the broader effort to have our citizens understand and support the culture along the Roanoke River. Attendance at the seminar is free of charge. Food will be available to support the ongoing work of the CCT.
For additional information, please contact Gary R. Grant (252) 586-3215 or Marilyn Harris (252) 537-6305. 

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CCT Joins APPPL Walkers for Last Miles of Walk

3/15/2017

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Reginald “Reggie” Pender (kneeling far right 1st row) and Gary R. Grant, (standing far right 2nd row) pose with the “Through and Day Walkers” at the entrance to the Duke Power Plant in Hamlet, NC on Saturday, March 18, 2017 as the last miles of the walk were made.

​On Saturday morning, March 11, 2017, Concerned Citizens of Tillery’s (CCT) executive director and CCT member Reginald “Reggie” Pender traveled for three hours to Hamlet, NC to be part of the Alliance to Protect our People and the Places Where We Live (APPPL) who would make the final five miles walk against the proposed Atlantic Coast Pipeline (ACP).  Arriving and finding between 30 and 40 walkers, CCT representatives were gladly welcomed to join those making the walk.

The walk against the proposed pipeline began on Saturday March 4, 2017 at the Virginia and North Carolina state line. Grant states, “CCT was there and walked the first 8 miles with the group and thought it only fitting that we be there to walk the last five miles with the “Through Walkers.”

CCT, like many other groups and individuals, were “Day Walkers” who joined the group along the more than 200 miles traveling Hwy 301 from the VA/NC state line ending in Hamlet, NC, which is basically the route of the proposed ACP pipeline. CCT also joined the walkers as they entered Nash County in Rocky Mount, Tuesday, March 8 and into Wilson county on Wednesday, March 15.

Grant says that the pipeline is another infringement on the ‘people and places where we live’ because of the culture of our area and the route clearly shows environmental injustice.  Many people are not aware even of the people line coming through and possible damages that can result from this proposed detrimental action.  Based on information from the APPPL, “the pipe line will reduce property values” which will ultimately reduce property tax revenues needed by county and municipal governments to provide services to residents.  Farm land will be damaged by the installation of the pipeline.  As the people line is installed land around it, both during installation and afterwards up to 20 years before the fertility of the land recovers.  The pipeline proposed by Duke Energy shows a clear lack of concern for the health and safety of the people of North Carolina as they have demonstrated through its careless disposal and resistance to properly dispense of coal ash from its many coal fired power plants

Grant further states that citizens in Northampton are currently trying to ward of a more than 800 acre coal ash landfill, and the pipeline. He says, once an area lets in one polluting industry, the only corporations that will look at them are more waste polluting industries.  Thus, our wetlands, surface and groundwater and the people of Halifax and Northampton counties currently are being “dumped on” and thus another step in making eastern North Carolina and especially the “Black Belt” of the state a waste dumpland.

Grant says, “We met a diversity of local people along the way including farmers and community people whose farmland and homes would be immediately impacted. There was also a diverse group of supporters from across the state and the nation who supported the walk by coming to join the walk, especially college students on their spring break.

For those who are concerned with environmental justice and the health of the people in the area, please contact http://www.apppl.org/ or https://2017acpwalk.org/. You can also contact CCT at tillery@aol.com or call the CCT office at 252-826-3017. CCT has been working on environmental injustice issues since the early 1990s.
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Rally in Rocky Mount against the ACP are CCT members (l to R) Gary R. Grant, 90-year-old James Parker, Fleming Peterson, Ernestine Peterson, Claude Ford, Melvin Whitaker, Hazel Ford, Doris Taylor Davis, Glenn Brown, Donna Whitaker, Mamie Boone, Cora Brown, Perline Baggott, Cary White, Jr., and William “Shorty” Richardson.
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