Blues City Cultural Center celebrates 30 years of service
 

By Jon W. Sparks - The Commercial Appeal, April 22. 2009         

 

For 30 years, the Blues City Cultural Center has been an integral part of the city’s arts and entertainment scene.

In celebration of the anniversary, the center is holding events Friday through Sunday, capped by a dinner recognizing community arts leaders with media personality Tavis Smiley as keynote speaker.

Being honored in the arts are Erma Clanton, director/producer/playwright; Akiba Shabazz, noted storyteller; Ekundayo Bandele, founder of Hattiloo Theatre; Robert Lipscomb, director of Housing and Community Development for Memphis; Glenn Sessoms, chief diversity officer for FedEx Express; Rose Flenorl, manager of social responsibility at FedEx; Martha Perine Beard, senior branch executive of the Memphis Branch of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis.

But the Cultural Center wouldn’t exist except for the dreams of Levi and Deborah Frazier, who formed the company in 1979, a year after they were married.

"Behind it all, we had a desire to present something that had an effect on people's lives," says Levi Frazier (left), who founded Blues City Cultural Center with his wife, Deborah, in 1979, the year after their marriage. Joining in their vision of the arts is the company's chairman of the board, Harold Shaw Jr
 

“We’ve been on the case a little while,” Levi Frazier says. “We founded it with five friends of mine who wanted to do original work because we were Southern writers writing about the African American experience in particular.” They wrote poetry, short stories and novels and put some of those works on stage. That “stage” has included not only the traditional boards but a radio series called “A Play for a Day” on (radio station) WLOK that ran for a couple of years, a cable TV show “Sweeter the Juice,” and impromptu productions in parking lots of fast food restaurants. “Never a dull moment,” Frazier says.

“Behind it all, we had a desire to present something that had an effect on people’s lives.”

The Blues City Cultural Center went into communities, prisons and churches, determined to deal with social issues and eventually getting into social programming. They’ve helped educate and motivate homeless mothers to help them lead a better life. They’ve reached out to leaders in under-served communities to improve the results of their efforts. One example is the organization’s close involvement with the Seek to Serve program that provides leadership training in the public housing community.

The Fraziers will take a short time out this weekend to celebrate the accomplishments, but then, it’s back to fulfilling the vision.

                                                                                                     Photo by Mark Weber

Deborah and Levi Frazier blindfold Renee Kirk, middle, during a team building activity at St. Columba Episcopal Center last year. The Fraziers are actors, writers, directors, and producers and co-founded Blues City Cultural Center, which is celebrating its 30th anniversary.