Hump Day Funk at Ziggy's

By Stephanie Barclay

Ladies and gentlemen, come get your funk on at Hump Day Funk, a weekly Wednesday night affair at Ziggy's Tavern in Winston Salem! Cass Copsey, Ashley Sutton, Scott Lewis, Andrew Lazare, Joshua Shelton and Stephanie Barclay, along with a rotating cast of sit-ins, serve you a musical experience you won't have anywhere else in the Piedmont Triad.  Show starts at  9:30 and it's free to walk in the door. So put on your dancing shoes, bring your friends, and get some funk on!

OpEd: Race Relations in the Piedmont Triad ~~ If We Can Laugh Together

By Stephanie Barclay

When I was first offered the chance to write about race relations, I was excited. After all, I have a somewhat unique perspective, being mixed, and a lot to say--in general and about the current state of things. But after trying all night to approach the subject in an analytical, objective manner, what I wrote seemed... well, it didn't ring true enough. So I scrapped all that. I'm going to speak to you from the heart, and you can take out of it what you will, dear reader.

The perception that so many of you white people have about the subjugation, harassment, disenfranchisement and marginalization of the black American ending almost two hundred years ago with the Emancipation Proclamation and that no one alive today having anything to do with it, well it's false. Ask a Southerner in their 60's about the segregated water fountains, lunch counters, swimming pools, hospitals, etc ad nauseum that still existed when the Beatles came to America. It was American apartheid. So "almost two hundred" is really more like 50 years ago... or less. It's been a scant 45 years since the last schools in the country were desegregated, just three years before I was born. 14 years since the state of Alabama struck its (albeit unenforceable since 1967) ban of interracial marriage from its law books, the last state in the US to do so. 34 years since the last known lynching of a black man by the KKK. 

And whether or not you were personally responsible for any of this, and many other injustices meted out against black Americans before and since Lincoln freed the slaves, you should at least give black Americans the courtesy of recognizing it's not ancient history, and it's not all in their heads.

At the same time, you black people who look at all white Americans with mistrust, as being part of a system that's keeping you down, are just plain blind. If you're teaching your children to mistrust whitey you're as bad as white Americans who teach their children all the worst stereotypes about people of color. There are many good white Americans and you're alienating them with your attitude. And those of you who look down on getting an education and using proper English at all because you think it's a "white" thing and therefore beneath you, (well you probably can't/won't read this article anyway but...) do you not understand that a proper education and ability to speak, read and write proper English doesn't make you "white", it makes you EDUCATED. 

Slaves would be put to death if it was found out they could read or write. I'm sure if any one of them could be brought forward in time, they would be mighty confused, sad and angry that with all the freedoms you do have, you choose to deny yourself that which was denied them by deadly force. Because the powers back then knew an educated slave was a danger to the whole system of slavery. Yet, here you are, willingly treating  yourself like a slave, wrapping yourself in shackles of ignorance.

I could go on in this vein but I'm done scolding. What it all boils down to is this: we are all the same species. We all need the same basic things to survive: shelter from the elements, food to eat, medicine to heal us when we're sick, and beneficial relationships with other human beings to sustain and enrich our souls. 

The difference in how we achieve these goals, as long as the process doesn't involve criminal activity, is chump change compared to the four basic ways in which we are all alike. This "racial divide" is an artificial construct and it CAN be breached and destroyed, just like the Berlin Wall.

The air these days is full of ugly comments, sprung from the incidents in Ferguson, New York City, and other places, flung from both sides of the "racial divide". This may scare the Bejeezus out of some people, but I think it's a good thing. The subject of race, and racism, has been covered up by so many political and metaphorical band aids that it's become a festering wound. All this recent ugliness in the air is just the buildup of nasty rotten goo releasing itself. And the wound is back open. 

Dear reader, we have an opportunity while the band aids are off to do some real cleaning of the wound. Maybe some real bandaging too. We should just go ahead and ask our ignorant questions, because let's face it, ignorance abounds on both sides of our own racial version of the Berlin Wall. And let's answer those questions, with patience and kindness, no harm no foul, laugh together at the most ridiculous ones, and work to fix the painful ones that hit the bullseye.

And if we can laugh together, maybe we can all start to finally see each other as what we truly are: fellow Americans. If we can work together, maybe we can finally heal this festering wound and tear down that wall.

It all starts with you.

About Stephanie Barclay:  Born in Upstate New York, Stephanie Barclay has lived in the Piedmont Triad since 1979. From early childhood on, she has always been most in her element when involved in one creative process or another. Today she is an artist/singer/writer, and lives for cheap or free stuff to do.

Civility ~ An Op-Ed by Stephanie Barclay

I've become acutely aware lately, due to my likes of several radically different pages on my favorite social networking website, that people of different groups are drawing in on themselves, increasingly ignorant of and uncaring about the humanity of people who belong to groups other than theirs. That seriously disturbs me. We are all put here on this planet to make it a better place, and in my opinion part of that is how we treat our fellow human beings, even if they look, worship, or live differently than us, no matter how much or how little they earn, no matter what station of life they're in. In short, I feel like civility and respect has flown out the proverbial window. People seem to be concentrating so hard on how different others are that the things we all have in common are ignored.

So let me break it down to you. No matter what the color, creed, culture, religion, gender orientation, political affiliation or national heritage, every single one of us human beings desires to be loved, to have a roof over our heads, to have enough to eat, to be recognized as a human being of worth. We're all helpless as babies and none of us have control over where or how we're born. The differences we see in other human beings, even if they seem major, are but a trifle compared to those things we have in common. 

I hope this strikes a chord, that on your day's journey today you recognize the human being in someone different than you and you treat them with civility and respect. It's good for your health to let go of and negative associations, which in turn is good for your soul. Best of all, it's free. And we all like free things to do, don't we?

Piedmont Triad Living Welcomes Stephanie Barclay

Stephanie sings backup for Big Daddy Love at their October 4, 2014 CD Release Party at Ziggy's
Photo Credit: Jenny L Viars, Dancing Lemur Photography

Piedmont Triad Living is very excited to have Stephanie Barclay as a new contributor!  Stephanie is an amazing artist/singer/writer and we're thrilled that she is joining us.  She has a witty, insightful and raw style that will bring a great perspective in observation of our area and it's events.

Born in Upstate New York, Stephanie Barclay has lived in the Piedmont Triad since 1979.  Now in her 40s, Steph enjoys downtown art events and the occassional karaoke.  From early childhood, she has always been most in her element when involved in one creative process or another.  

Stephanie's loyal transportation for many years.  Below is a detail of the side artwork.

Side Artwork, in detail, by Stephanie Barclay

Some know Steph's old truck from the side, many more know it from the rear.  

Stephanie has lived and worked in the Downtown Winston-Salem area for most of her adult life.  She currently has artwork displayed at West End Coffeehouse, 390 N Broad Street in Winston-Salem.   She will also soon be on display at the Clubhouse Salon for Men at 505 N Cherry Street in downtown Winston-Salem.


"Leftover Pizza" Hand Done by Stephanie Barclay

Stephanie's writing style will captivate you as she explores and enjoys what makes the Piedmont Triad home.  Living laughing loving playing and shopping local. 

Welcome, Stephanie!