THE E-NEWS

FRIDAY, MAY 10, 2024

STEELE HILL A.M.E. ZION CHURCH

REV. DR. JERRET C. FITE PASTOR

Because of You - I Can

Mom, Thank you for always being with me, even during the times I didn't know you were there.

Celebrating Mothers and Mother Figures

Questions, Doris Waiters: 803.416.2352

Making Mother Proud

Class of 2024

Mr. Harrison Davis will graduate Saturday, May 11 from North Carolina A&T University, Greensboro, NC
Congratulations Harrison!
This is a just a sneek peek of the Class of 2024. We will be recognizing the Class of 2024 and Students at a later date!

Class of 2024

High School Graduates

Kamya Brooks

Indian Land High School

Graduation: May 31 - 10 AM

Brianna Davis*

Porter Ridge High School - Indian Trail, NC

June 11

*Brianna is Harrison and Noelle's sister. How is Rosalyn going to manage when Noelle leaves for college?

Your church family is proud of you and is praying for your continued success!
In their hearts humans plan their course, bur the Lord establishes their steps. (Proverbs 16:9)
May 6 - 10, 2024

Teachers face numerous challenges, from overcrowded classrooms to limited resources, yet their resilience and dedication never waver. They are the unsung heroes who work tirelessly to ensure that every child receives a quality education, regardless of the obstacles.

"Teachers are like candles — they consume themselves to light the way for others."

We Salute and Appreciate our Steele Hill Teachers and Administrators

Elementary - High School

Ms. Robin Kirk - 2024 Southside Early Childhood Teacher of the Year

Mrs. Yvette Johnson

Ms. Tenisha Taylor

Mrs. Rosalyn Davis

Ms. Tia Johnson

Mrs. Renee Witherspoon (Counselor)

College Professors

Dr. Dawn Witherspoon - Hasib

Rev. Dr. Jerret C. Fite

Congratulations to Bishop Kenneth Monroe and George Clinton

Funk and Circumstance

Music icon George Clinton collects honorary degree at HBCU in SC

Dr. Lester A. McCorn, President of Clinton College and George Clinton

Who needs pomp and circumstance when you can give up the funk, instead? The Mothership arrived in Rock Hill on Friday afternoon, as music icon George Clinton accepted an Honorary Doctorate degree from the college named for his great-great-grandfather, Bishop Isom Caleb Clinton. “Today in Rock Hill, South Carolina,” Clinton College president Lester McCorn said during Friday’s commencement ceremony, “Dr. Funkenstein officially becomes Dr. Clinton.”

Clinton, 82, began his music career six decades ago. He influenced generations with a new genre of soul and R&B while popularizing Afrofuturism and synthesizing new sounds, McCorn said. A long reel of popular songs include the “unofficial anthem of the culture,” he said, “One Nation Under a Groove.”

GEORGE CLINTON AND THE CAROLINAS

Clinton was born in Kannapolis, North Carolina. He moved north a year later, but learned about his mother’s side of the family in the Charlotte area during his music tours.

Clinton didn’t know as much about his South Carolina connection until a few years ago when his wife, Carlon, dug into genealogy research. “This is the first time I’m actually getting close to my father’s side of town,” Clinton told The Herald in an exclusive interview ahead of the ceremony. “I’m just finding it out myself.” Clinton’s father was born in Lancaster, which led to churches and schools and other areas in that city that share the family name. Clinton found out about his great-great-grandfather who was presiding bishop of the AME Zion Church when what was then called Clinton Institute, now Clinton College, was founded in 1894.

Bishop Clinton went from being enslaved as a young man to become a prominent church founder in South Carolina.

GEORGE CLINTON’S ADVICE TO GRADS

“Just keep your eyes and ears open,” Clinton said. “You’ll find out something new. That’s all you can tell anybody. Just pay attention.”

This story was originally published May 4, 2024, 7:00 AM by herald.com

Clinton's History is Our History

Isom was licensed to preach as yet a a slave and had the privilege of preaching to people of his race on Sunday afternoons in the church his master attended. Following emancipation, Isom Clinton founded one of the first Black schools in Lancaster County and taught on his former owner's plantation. He gave his own and many other children a basic education. Isom was extremely frugal and amassed quite a sum of money.

In 1866, Isom Caleb Clinton organized Mount Carmel A.M.E. Zion Church, Lancaster County, SC. He was ordained Deacon in the morning and Elder in the evening in the A.M.E. Zion Church. He was appointed Presiding Elder in 1872. Clinton worked his way upward in the church hierarchy and was elected a Bishop in the A.M.E. Zion Church in 1892. Eventually, he greatly expanded the work of the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church in South Carolina.³⁹ (Provided by Lancaster County Black History: A Photographic and Literary Document (1785 - 1991) Lancaster County South Carolina Black Heritage Committee)

The African - American Trailblazers of Lancaster County, SC

The photo exhibit including Bishop Clinton is on display at USC - Lancaster through August 30, 2024
Bishop Clinton (top row left)
The photo exhibit started at Steele Hill in February

USC - Lancer Galleries

The University of South Carolina Lancaster is home to ten art galleries located across our campus locations. The Galleries on Hubbard are on the main USCL campus, while the Galleries at the Native American Studies Center are located downtown Lancaster on Main Street.

Current Exhibits

Lancaster Trailblazers Photo Exhibition

This is a local traveling exhibit that highlights African American history in Lancaster County from 1785 through 1991.

The exhibit opened April 27th, 2024 and will be on display through Aug. 30th, 2024.

Note: The exhibit is free and open to the public. The exhibit is open anytime the University is open. The exhibit space is in the Bradley Building, in the main hallway. The auditorium and event space is in the Bradley Building. Contact Fred Witherspoon with any questions!

Please support First Lady Andrea Fite

THE LAY COUNCIL

EACH WEEK WE WILL PROVIDE INFORMATION ABOUT THE LAY COUNCIL, LEADING UP TO OUR MEETING.

LAITY: THE PEOPLE OF A RELIGIOUS FAITH WHO ARE NOT MEMBERS OF ITS CLERGY

As witnesses of the grace and mercy of God, the Connectional Lay Council of the African American Methodist Episcopal Zion Church, exists to prepare and equip laity for life discipleship in the Kingdom of God. (amez.org)

WEEK 1: FIVE OBJECTIVES OF THE LAY COUNCIL

WEEK 2: DEEPEN THE SPIRITUAL LIFE OF THE LAITY

WEEK 3: DISSEMINATE INFORMATION

Today: Expand the Denomination Through Education and Evangelism

STEELE HILL CONNECTIONAL LAY COUNCIL LEADERSHIP TEAM

NADINE MORRISON, MARGARET MCILWAIN, MARGRETTA MORRISON, FRED WITHERSPOON, VERTA W. LOOPER (PAST PRESIDENT, PEE DEE CONFERENCE LAY COUNCIL & F.A.N. (FAITH.ACTIVITY.NUTRITION)

May 10 Lewis LH Johnson, Sr.

May 10 Ms. Roberta Cureton

May 10 Ms. Mary Zimmerman

May 11 Ms. Edna Williams

May 11 David Smith

May 11 Walter B. Davis (A Great Weekend!)

May 12 Brother Jerry Lindsay

May 16 Mrs. Bernice Fletcher

A Song for Mama

Mother to Son

BY LANGSTON HUGHES

Well, son, I’ll tell you:

Life for me ain’t been no crystal stair.

It’s had tacks in it,

And splinters,

And boards torn up,

And places with no carpet on the floor—

Bare.

But all the time

I’se been a-climbin’ on,

And reachin’ landin’s,

And turnin’ corners,

And sometimes goin’ in the dark

Where there ain’t been no light.

So boy, don’t you turn back.

Don’t you set down on the steps

’Cause you finds it’s kinder hard.

Don’t you fall now—

For I’se still goin’, honey,

I’se still climbin’,

And life for me ain’t been no crystal stair.

Langston Hughes, "Mother to Son" from The Collected Works of Langston Hughes. Copyright © 2002 by Langston Hughes. Reprinted by permission of Harold Ober Associates, Inc.

Source: The Collected Works of Langston Hughes (University of Missouri Press (BkMk Press) 2002)

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