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VERSION:2.0
PRODID:icalendar-ruby
CALSCALE:GREGORIAN
X-WR-CALNAME:THE CHITLIN CIRCUIT RE-ENACTMENT: SHOWCASING THE ROOTS OF FUNK
  MUSIC IN PERFORMANCE AND EXHIBITION
X-WR-TIMEZONE:Eastern Time (US & Canada)
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTAMP:20260607T080528Z
UID:tag:localist.com\,2008:EventInstance_47250727285896
DTSTART:20240913T220000Z
DTEND:20240914T010000Z
DESCRIPTION:CULTURAL PRESERVATION AND THE EASTERN NORTH CAROLINA ROOTS OF F
 UNK MUSIC  \n\nThe Sonja Haynes Stone Center\, in collaboration with the K
 inston\, NC-based 1901 Building Group\, which promotes cultural education 
 and heritage preservation\, will host the Chitlin Circuit re-enactment on 
 September 13th at 6:00PM.  \n\nRSVP Here!  \n\nThis showcase features a li
 ve performance\, an historical exhibition\, and food and fellowship that w
 ill bring to life the founding and evolution of funk music.  \n\nFor years
  prior to the outbreak of the COVID19 pandemic\, Choci Gray helped organiz
 e and host the Chitlin Circuit re-enactment in Kinston\, NC. The annual ev
 ent celebrated the town’s prominent Black musicians and harkened to segr
 egation-era marginalization of Black performers who were excluded from whi
 te clubs and forced instead to perform at Black-owned venues.  \n\nBilled 
 The Chitlin Circuit\, these venues provided important community-building a
 nd networking sanctuaries of support for Black entertainers. With artists 
 and performers such as the legendary Ella Fitzgerald\, B.B. King\, and Duk
 e Ellington starting regularly on the Circuit scene\, a new genre\, Funk M
 usic\, emerged.  \n\nSeveral of the venues that contributed immensely to s
 haping American music during that era were in North Carolina.  \n\nChoci G
 ray is an eastern North Carolina native\, who grew up listening to promine
 nt black Musicians of the time\, including James Brown. Upon learning that
  Brown’s funk style emanated from enormous contributions by several Kins
 ton-connected musicians such as Nat Jones\, Maceo Parker\, Melvin Parker\,
  and Dick Knight\, Gray was spurred to action. She returned to her hometow
 n after a period of living overseas\, with a renewed urge to preserve\, pr
 omote and celebrate her community’s rich musical and cultural heritage. 
  \n\nGray’s community-building work is best exemplified by her initiativ
 es as proprietor of the 1901 Building Group in Kinston. Through this colle
 ctive\, she hosts cultural and arts events and performances\, and serves o
 n the county’s recreation committee.  \n\nGray has worked tirelessly to 
 preserve the legacy of\, and garner recognition for\, the rich heritage of
  cultural production and artists in her community. She nominated Maceo Par
 ker and Dick Knight for the North Carolina Heritage Award\, which they rec
 eived in 2016 and 2018\, respectively.  \n\nGray also helped secure a Pome
 roy Foundation Historic Marker to honor Nat Jones\, who co-wrote many of J
 ames Brown’s songs and served as the band’s musical director. This mar
 ker will be the first in Kinston to honor an African American. \n\n \n\nTh
 e Exhibition \n\nAn accompanying historical exhibition\, entitled Hey Amer
 ica!: Eastern North Carolina and the Birth of Funk\, will feature items as
 sociated with James Brown and some Tar Heel musicians who worked with Brow
 n to shed light on emergence of the funk music genre during the mid- to la
 te 1960s. With nods to the musical genius of Nathaniel “Nat” Jones of 
 Kinston and other African American musical pioneers from eastern North Car
 olina\, the exhibition focuses on a community of artists who helped to cre
 ate funk when they joined up with James Brown in 1964 and helped transform
  Brown into the icon known worldwide as the “Godfather of Funk Music.”
  The exhibition is curated by Earl Ijames from the North Carolina Museum o
 f History.  \n\nThis event\, like most of the Stone Center’s programming
 \, is free and open to the public.
GEO:35.907852;-79.050272
LOCATION:The Sonja Haynes Stone Center for Research in Black Culture and Hi
 story\, Hitchcock Multipurpose Room and the Brown Gallery & Museum 
SUMMARY:THE CHITLIN CIRCUIT RE-ENACTMENT: SHOWCASING THE ROOTS OF FUNK MUSI
 C IN PERFORMANCE AND EXHIBITION
URL;VALUE=URI:https://calendar.unc.edu/event/the-chitlin-circuit-re-enactme
 nt-showcasing-the-roots-of-funk-music-in-performance-and-exhibition
CATEGORIES:Performances
CATEGORIES:Exhibits
CATEGORIES:Ceremony
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