In partnership with the Beck Cultural Exchange Center, East Tennessee PBS conducted a dialog with the city’s Black elders in recollection of the city's 8th of August Emancipation Day celebrations. During Tennessee’s Jim Crow era, Black people of the city were only allowed entry into Chilhowee Park one day a year. That day was the 8th of August. Through this conversation, facilitated by Reverend Renee Kessler of the Beck Center, community members recalled the excitement of those days and the meaning of a freedom celebration in the midst of segregation and second-class citizenship. Participants also expressed their hopes for present generations to remember and help carry the legacy of struggle for equal treatment into the future. For more information see: https://www.blackinappalachia.org/knoxville

At the historic New Zion AME Zion Church in Newport, Tennessee, East Tennessee PBS, in partnership with the Tennessee Picnic Association, conducted a dialog with Cocke & Jefferson County, Tennessee elders on their recollections and hopes for future generations around these important events association. For more information see: https://www.blackinappalachia.org/newport

At the birthplace of the 8th of August Emancipation Celebrations, East Tennessee PBS, in partnership with the George Clem Multicultural Alliance, conducted a dialog with Greene County, Tennessee elders on their recollections and hopes for future generations around these important events. Follow the George Clem Multicultural Alliance on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GCMAssociation For more information on the 8th of August: https://www.blackinappalachia.org/8th-of-august

East Tennessee PBS in partnership with the Beck Cultural Exchange Center and Chick History, hosted a forum with Black women leaders. Featuring moderator Rev. Renee Kesler, Eddie Mae Robinson, Cynthia Finch, Olga Welch and Sylvia Peters, participants discuss issues related to education, voting and political organizing from the Jim Crow era to today. Funding for this project was provided by The East Tennessee Foundation and was produced partnership with the Beck Cultural Exchange Center and Chick History. For More Information, see: http://www.BlackInAppalachia.org http://www.BeckCenter.net http://www.ChickHistory.org