About a year after marrying in ’78, Frazier and Hardin launched the Blues City Cultural Center, a theatre created to promote local artistic talent that reached underserved audiences. Funding from the Memphis Arts Council and the Tennessee State legislature allowed BCCC to form the first professional black theatre company in Memphis in 1989. Under the direction of Ruby O’Gray, technical director Danny White, and guest choreographer Arthur Hall, Verna Aldridge, Phillip Bell, Percy Bradley, Michael Adrian Davis, and Darrell K. Hagan got their careers started. The organization hosted the Southern Black Cultural Alliance annual festival in 1990. Held at the Old Daisy Theatre on Beale Street, the festival included plays, workshops, and readings, and served as a forum for southern black creativity featuring artists from Tennessee, Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, Texas and the Carolina’s. Additional accolades about the history of the BCCC, including the facts stated in this article, can be found online at http://bluescitycc.org/history/. Ayana Frazier Williams, the daughter of Levy and Deborah, took over the helm of the BCCC in January. Under her direction, the BCCC celebrated its 40th anniversary in April and is currently operating two summer camps (Whitehaven – 38116 and Orange Mound – 38111/14) for youth, ages 14 to 18, among their many other programs. The camps are an arts-based summer project that provides employment for a total of 35 youth (20 in Whitehaven and 15 in Orange Mound). Participant job descriptions include singer and dancer, and all students are researchers, oral historians, cultural interpreters, writers, and marketing planners. They receive training in theatre, dance, music, visual art, expressive writing, and vocals as it relates to the history and heritage of one of the two camps situated in Memphis, TN. Programs are held Monday through Friday from 9 AM until 3 PM, and include challenging youth presentation activities on local landmarks, historical places, and people, two bus tours (June 25 & 26 in Whitehaven and July 9 & 10 in Orange Mound) that are open to the public to attend ($20/person) as well as a program finale on July 11th at 10 AM. The Orange Mound site is located at New Hope Baptist Church, 2731 Enterprise Ave, Memphis, TN 38114. The finale will be held at the Whitehaven site, Abundant Grace Fellowship, 1574 E. Shelby Drive, Memphis, TN 38116. “The Whitehaven 38116 Summer Youth Experience seeks to expose youth to the history of their community,” said BCCC Programs and Education Director Roniece Gilkey. “The goal of the program is for these youth participants to use the arts for achieving a better way of life – through dance, songs, and acting.” For more information about the program, to reserve your spot for both tours, or to volunteer, please call Programs and Education Director, Roniece Gilkey, at (901) 268-3740 or email bcceducation75@gmail.com. Students share various concepts they learned about finances after the presentation on money matters given by Pinnacle Financial Partners Senior Vice President Sheneka Nutall (standing right) during her visit to The Whitehaven 38116 Summer Youth Experience camp hosted by the Blues City Cultural Center where Roniece Gilkey is the Programs and Education Director. 2
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