In this interview, Thomas A. Dixon recounts his life in Charleston after his military discharge. He arrived in town at the end of 1988. Soon after, he had an accident that left him with a broken leg and twenty thousand dollars in medical debt. Dixon remembers the events that landed him in prison for three years and describes his life in jail, prison, and the pre-release center. He explains that during this time, his faith was decisive for his transformation and sense of purpose. Dixon states his life experiences including his upbringing in Chicago, his addictions, his job history, and his family problems, gave him a firsthand understanding of the needs and hopes of people struggling in our society. That personal understanding informs his community and political work. He ends the interview with a word of advice: "Don’t let others define your future or your purpose by their opinion of you because people don't know the whole story. Only you know the whole story and take that whole story, embrace that whole story, and begin to work for the betterment of others. And I guess that would be the final thing that I would say to anyone is to understand that every life, every person that's born, we're not, we were not born for ourselves. We were born to serve others, to be a blessing to others. That's why God's, God's got a sense of humor."
Michael Novielli was born in 1964 in New York. In 2020, he relocated to Mt. Pleasant, South Carolina, attracted by the beauty of the region and the prospects to live in a conservative state. In the interview, he talks about his work and experience as a businessperson and the reasons why he felt compelled to be part of the Tea Party movement. He reflects on the challenges the Tea Party confronted to accomplish its goals. Currently, Novelli is a member of Friends of Liberty, a group that seeks to defend the USA Constitution, fight for election integrity, and support conservative people in local elections.
Nina Cano Richards was born in 1988 in La Paz, Bolivia. When she was nine years old, her family came to the USA looking for the American Dream. In the interview, Cano Richards remembers her childhood in Bolivia and her experiences as a child of immigrants learning to adjust and thrive in Charleston. She remembers her early interest in becoming an immigration lawyer, and the challenges she faced as a first-generation college student. Cano Richards talks about Charleston Immigrant Coalition (CIC) and the work it has been doing since 2019. She reflects on CIC's leading role in the process that ended the 287(g) program in Charleston County and tells about other CIC's efforts, such as providing immigration legal information and facilitating community access to services during the pandemic.
John Wright grew up in Mt Pleasant, South Carolina. His family roots are in two African American settlement communities, Philips and Hamlin. At seventeen, he joined the US Army, and after retirement in 2013, he returned home. He reflects on coming back to a dramatically changed area and understanding the benefits and challenges development has brought to the Black communities in that area. He states that the lack of fair representation for the black communities prompted him to organize an effort to advocate single-member voting districts for the town government. Wright takes pride in demanding a change in the language to name the Black communities as settlement communities. He is one of the founder members and current president of the African American Settlement Communities Historic Commission. The commission, active since 2015, comprises seven communities represented by their respective presidents. Local, state, and federal agencies frequently consult and collaborate with the commission. Wright affirms his tenure’s brainchild is the preservation and relocation of a school built in 1904, the Long Point Road School House.
Lynne Moldenhauer was born in St. Claire, Michigan in 1952. After high school, she joined the Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary and earned a bachelor's degree in religious studies at Marygrove College. Moldenhauer moved to South Carolina and progressively became more aware of her sexuality. She left the religious community and went to work for the SC Department of Probation, Parole, and Pardon Services until she retired in 2010. While living in Columbia, she joined the efforts of the Gay and Lesbian Business Guild and later became one of the founding members of the Alliance for Full Acceptance (AFFA) in Charleston. In the interview, Moldenhauer talks about the multiple actions the Alliance promoted to improve the life of the South Carolina LGBTQ+ people. Some of them included changing the community attitudes, and others aimed to help its members to learn to love themselves. After forty years living in South Carolina, she moved back to Michigan and re-entered her old congregation. Moldenhauer concludes the interview by stating: "AFFA was the birthplace of a lot, and it gave birth to a stronger, better me, more honest me and I think that would be a true story from just about everyone that encountered and engaged with AFFA."
Carolina Angel Mascarin was born in Bogota, Colombia in 1979. She studied journalism at Los Libertadores University. After graduation, Mascarin moved to New Hampshire to continue her studies. Six months later, she relocated to Charleston, South Carolina to work with Azteca America TV. Working in this Hispanic media outlet, she met her husband. The economic crisis of 2008 affected the TV Channel, and she lost her job. She joined the staff of Trident Urban League and started a photography and videography business with her father. In the interview, Mascarin talks about her experiences growing up in Colombia, the challenges of balancing work and motherhood, and how COVID has impacted her family and her business. She also reflects on her identity as an immigrant and her love for her motherland and the USA.
Eric Esquivel was born in 1975 in Danville, Pennsylvania. His father was from Colombia, and his mother was from New Jersey. In the mid-eighties, his family moved to Hilton Head, South Carolina. He remembers how as a child he noticed the exuberant landscape and the racial diversity in his school. He grew up as a mainstream American child who was aware of his Latino roots because his family traveled frequently to Colombia. Esquivel attended Hampden-Sydney College and majored in Spanish. After college, he taught Spanish in Hilton Head and then, moved to Austin, Texas to work with Dell. In 1998, Esquivel and his two siblings created La Isla Magazine, which was launched in November 1999. Esquivel reflects on Hilton Head's demographics and the key role the Latino community has played in region’s economy. He remembers the origin of the Lowcountry Immigrant Coalition, and states it was formed in response to a Beaufort County's attempt to implement the Legal Employment ordinance, which encouraged citizens to report to the authorities people they suspected were undocumented. The business community, dependent on the immigrant labor rallied against it. Over the years, the coalition has kept working on many issues, among them, supporting DACA recipients, advocating against the "show me your papers" laws, providing counseling to immigrants and offering citizenship seminars. Finally, Esquivel reflects on the effects of President Trump’s race rhetoric in the local community relationships and immigrants’ fears.
Brandon Chapman was born in Charleston, South Carolina in 1993. After graduating from the College of Charleston, he joined Charleston Area Justice Ministry (CAJM) as an associate organizer in January 2017. He worked with the organization for three years coordinating the demand for affordable housing in Charleston. In the interview, Chapman reflects on growing up in the Lowcountry, developing an interest in social justice, and the work and challenges involved in organizing and building people’s power in Charleston. He remembers the resistance CAJM faced when demanding a Charleston Police Department racial bias audit. Finally, he talks about his decision to move to Washington, DC and his job at the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights.
Alma Lopez and Mario Puga were born in Mexico. In this interview, they focus on their experiences as workers. Puga tells he started working at a young age with his father and asserts children mature quickly in Mexico. As a young man, he joined his brothers in Rhode Island, where he finished high school. When he returned to Mexico, he met Lopez. She worked in housekeeping. Later, both separately immigrated to the United States. Lopez was with her family in Johns Island and Puga joined her. There both worked in agriculture and progressively moved to less physically demanding jobs. Lopez learned English at Our Lady of Mercy and became active in the community. In 2015, she opened a cleaning business. In 2020, the COVID pandemic caused a severe decrease in revenue in her business. Seeking a way to support themselves during these trying times, they decided to dig into their cultural roots and sell food. They knew there was a need: Latino workers did not have a place to buy breakfast in the morning. Lopez and Puga discuss the nuances of the food truck business and assert that it is a very tiring activity. They state the biggest reward in this endeavor is to share their food with their clients and receive their appreciation.
Beverly Stark was born in Lansing, Michigan. She joined the Dominican Sisters of Adrian after completing her junior year in high school. Vatican II and the civil rights movement framed her formative years. Stark remembers an immersion experience working with farmworkers in the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico that was key to her understanding of the capitalist economy and its consequences. In 1974, Stark and her friend Sister Mary Trzasko moved to Cincinnati, Ohio to work at the St. James Church outreach center. For the next ten years, they engaged in grassroots organizing. In 1985, Stark and Trzasko moved to Beaufort, South Carolina where they resided for thirty years. There, Stark worked with the Upward Bound Program with the Technical College of the Lowcountry, and Trzasko founded the after-school program Thumbs Up. After retirement, they moved to Charleston and became members of St. Patrick Church. They continued working in social justice and got involved with Charleston Area Justice Ministry and Charleston Alliance for Fair Employment. In 2019, Stark and her lifelong friend moved back to Adrian, Michigan.
