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S N B . e e e RS R e R T e TimiEaeTTy e
Africa southern-style
Local vendor brings unique artifacts from mother land
By THERESA MINOR
Augusta Focus Staff Writer
Willie West admits his pas
sion for the stone sculptures of
the Shona tribe from Zimbab
we, Africa makes it difficult for
him to sell many of the pieces
he displays at his Barnyard Flea
Market stall. A lot of it ends up
in his home.
A collector from many years
back, West decided to open the
shop, Africa West, in April to
expose others to what some art
critics say is perhaps the most
important new art form to
emerge from Africa in this cen
tury. The carvings demonstrate
the mastery of tribesmen who
transform the rock into beauti
ful works of art using simple
tools and skills handed down
18 years later, museum still growing
By HALEY A. DUNBAR
Augusta Focus Staff Writer
When members of Delta
Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc.s
Delta House Inc. acquired a
small two-story house on
Phillips Street in 1986, the
group thought theyd found a
rfect place to hold sorority
Efnccions. What they discov
ered, instead, was a?;rgottcn
historic landmark worthy of a
much greater task. ’
Now, 18 years and some ren
ovations later, the group has
taken the one time home of
Lucy Craft Laney and made it
as integral a part of Augustas
historic makeup as the citys
cobblestone streets and Victori
an houses.
“Our mission is to promote
the legacy of Ms. Laney
through art history and the
preservation of her home. And
that to us is very important.
We want to make sure that this
home is here forever. Our
vision is to make it the best,”
Up, up and away: Jamie Foxx remakes himself as show-biz superman
By ANTHONY BREZNICAN
AP Entertainment Writer
LOS ANGELES (AP? -
- Jamie Foxx is a hero, an idol, an
insgliration to a guy like Eric
Bishop.
Foxx is the former In Living
Color comic making his dra
matic breakthrough “this year
with Collateral, opposite '[!:)m
' Cruise,andßfl;, in which he
steps behind the dark glasses
~and %orious smile of the late
- legend Ray Charles.
- c%Eric Bishop is Jamie Foxx’s
. real name.
. “Jamie Foxx is the Super
- man, and Eric Bishop is the
- Clark Kent,” the 36-year-old
- actor replied, smiling as if he
- was conveying the coolest
- secret in the world.
. Bishop was the kid from Ter
. rell, Texas, who dreamed of
. being a star. It almost didn’t
' matter what kind of star: sir}fizr,
. actor, comedian, athlete. The
. high school football player was
+ good at all those things.
+ But J;lall‘smle Foxx,bthc one sit
’ n oW at
| 5% Bovdy Hils Hosh. it
: two solid ‘gold dog tags lined
+ with diamonds hanging from
: hish:peck,isdxeonewhomadc
it ;
: He’?ctflc brash, clever, ambi
'+ tious alter-ego who wasn't con
+ tent to rely on luck. He wasn't
. even content to rely on his nat
. ural talent, at least when it
| came to fi(c)mng noticed.
t-~ Jamie Foxx is the trick name
that got him noticed during an
! open mic night at a club in'the
for generations.
“I had so much of this stuff
in my home I thought it might
be a good idea to sell it part
time when I retired,” he said.
He proudly points to each
piece of sculpture carved most
ly from serpentine stone and
tells the significance of the vari
ous hues of the stone. Shining
the smooth carvings has
become a daily ritual that West
performs as if each was his very
own prized possession. While
there are many vendors of
African artifacts, West is almost
certain that hes in a select
group of those selling the stone
work.
Africa West also sells a variety
of carvings made from exotic
woods as well as batik fabrics
from Egypt and Africa and
said museum Executive Direc
tor Christine Miller-Betts.
Lucy Craft Laney, who lived
in the house from the w'?:
20th Century until her dea
in 1933, was an African-Amer
ican educator dedicated to bet
tering her community. In
1883, the Macon native
founded the first school in
Augusta for black students.
Later, with a SIO,OOO donation
from Francine E. H. Haines,
President of fdt}f Wolr)nan’s
Department of the Presbyter
ian Church, the school d
ed into a building onmig
now Laney-Walker Boulevard,
just around the corner from
Laneys home. The Haines
Normal and Industrial Inst
tute, named so in honor of its
benefactor, opened its doors in
1886. After Laney’s death, the
school was renamed Lucy C.
Laney High School.
Miller-Betts says that the
museum, which officially
began operating in 1991, is a
' T RS
’}é v % s
Jamie Foxx
&rl?' 19905.
“l wrote down all these uni
sex names at this comedy place
because they would always
choose the girls to go up,” Foxx
recalled. “%1 picked ran
domly from aei;sr. So I wrote
down Stacy King, Tracy
Brown,rlamic Foxx ... And they
picked Jamie Foxx. I go up, had
a great night and that’s how the
name stuck.”
Foxx is notable for being one
of the few comics to gEke a
transition fsom slapstick to seri
ous, and his career has more
than a few similarities to that of
Tom Hanks.
th?omh msf.le their break
dressing in
(Hz:éhs in the sit%om Bgs:;mag
Buddies, Foxx as ugly Wanda
on In Living Color), and made
their share of lowbrow sex
Ron oo BBy 8
arty, Foxx in
before goi rcspectabz
Fongs(;lyr;icmadedwwvitch
by making good impressions
African musical instruments.
“It’s all ethnic. I like whar's
ethnic. Anything that comes
from Africa is good because
everything that comes from
Africa is made from raw mate
rials,” he said before pointing
out a wooden carving of a rhi
noceros from what West calls
“iron wood.” “You can wear a
blade out carving this stuff.”
As for his clientele, West says
surpn'sin?y he has a strong fol
lowing of white buyers. The art
ranges from S4O o SIOO —
something he feels takes some
by surprise when they browse
through his shop at the flea
market.
“When people come to a flea
market they look for bargains.
They dont expect to find this
type stuff at the flea market,”
i T Y
*% N t
“ S i
: : w W
4| i g
T Photo by H. Dunbar
Christine Miller-Betts poses in front of a portrait of
Lucy Laney.
tribute to not only Laney but
to other native AUfi;stans mak
ing a mark in history. Its
Ebony Legacy Exhibition
on the right le.
Olivcrrlggto[:le:[:gave him his
first dramatic role as a football
star in 1999's Any Given Sun
@l When director Michael
ann was casting A/, he took
Will Smiths advice and cast
Foxx as Bundini Brown,
Muhammad Ali's manager.
Foxx recounts his casting
experience with dead-on
imupnessions of his directors and
fellow actors.
He reteamed with Mann for
Collateral, playing a cab driver
named Max, who through a
cascade of bad luck is forced by
Cruisis I_a‘gsa&sin elto ;irivc him
around Los es foras
of latc-nightArgfirders. i
But the story reveals Max as
more than just “reluctant
accomplice”: hes a man with
failed dreams —his own high
class limo service, a vacation to
a tropical isle — who talks bi
but never made it happen, ang
probably never will.
He is, in other words, the
exact opposite of Jamie Foxx.
“T'ma go—gertcr, I'm a horse,
I'm adog,” the actor said. Fear
of success? Foxx never feels it,
3nd has no pity for those who
o.
“I run into a million le
out here in California, ‘m I
wanna l})\ch::i stilngerth’ OK; let’s
sing. ... en u
S cone. The osdlition of
‘I may not be able to make it to
thau{rum_ ”’allowsyoutokccp
Whlg bri thinfis back to
Eric Bishop".r.‘.gf)oa € ever go
back to his old self, the quiet,
AUGUSTA FOCUS
Music, Literature, Theatre,
Books, TV, Dance, Film
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Willie West (left) polishes one of the many stone carvings he imports from Zimbabwe,
Africa. The sculptures (right) are carved from serpentine rock and are seen by critics
as one of the most important art forms to come out of Africa this century.
West explains.
He hopes that once the word
gets out about his shop, that
African Americans with an
includes such notables as the
recently departed honorable Ed
Mclntyre, famed opera singer
Jessye Norman, Godfather of
reserved Texas dreamer?
Not much. But sometimes.
“Eric Bishop is a litde more
way private, when I'm some
where with my friends, my
friends from Texas. Theyll say
‘Eric Bishop,” even though I'm
]la_ilnie Foxx now,” Foxx said.
ese days his friends are more
like his co-star Cruise, possg)(lf'
the world’s \:/nhOSt hf?nr;us lead
man, who out at
lFr:)gxx’s Eam’cs, was inseparable
from him backstage at the
MTV Movie Awat:% and Iger
fi'elsmafly.nags Foxx fora CD of
music.
Foxx compared working
with Cruise to a game of tennis
(evidence, again, that his whole
mindset is sports-themed.)
“You watch Tom Cruise, and
he hits the ball back to you,”
Foxx said. “When you” play
[flnylt}xisr’n therlti’ls a mlg'o 3vn}fl a
r ... Heresa o is
at the top of the foocfit:gain and
still wants to work. That means
you got to burn.”
No sooner do the words
leave Foxxs lips than Cruise
himself throws open the door
to the darkem:c‘i’e bungalow,
ginning the famous Tom
ruise smile and as%once
again, for Foxx's CD — which is
now out of print.
F(;‘I got that stuff right hertcl;”
X says, toward the
bedroom.”
“I'm shocked,” Cruise replies
ey id his
ve on
u'ailet,”ryCru);sc : sgl?d.ba‘{%(’ha:’s
the video?” He says, Ah, I for
got ..." Kids and everybody are
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" Theresa Minor
interest in art might also come
to appreciate the precious stone
work that has become his life’s
obsession.
Soul James Brown, and actor
Lawrence Fishburne. Miller-
Betts says the facility has slowly
gained support from the local
government, being recognized
in recent years as an initiative
worthy of public funding. The
catch for the group, however,
has been getting the communi
ty at-large to recognize its
importance.
“We have a friends of the
museum program and we ask
people to make donations
through that. At first it was
very slow. Its getting better
now, but it neeci to Ee even
better. I just hope that as peo
ple see the improvements or
they see that were doing what
we say we're going to do, theyll
be more apt to support the
museum,”asie explained.
In addition to artwork and
pefi(})gS piece exhibits, the mu?c
um has a summer program for
local yguth, a dluks)mns acade
my and a youth leadership pro
gram. TK(C) facility also[:)[f)fers
telling me ‘Jamies got these
firmt songs! ... And I say, “Yeah,
es been TELLING me about
it.
Foxx looks both embarrassed
and appreciative. He released
an album dded Peep This in
1994, but now downplays his
music interests, saying the pop
charts dont have much room
for his style. (He did, however,
sing the hook on the smash
Kanye West/Twista rap single
Slow Jamz.)
He'll get to show off some of
his musical skill when Rzz
opens on Oct. 29. Although he
lip-syncs to Charles’ voice, the
late musician (who died after
filming finished) gave him
piano Fwsons for the role.
When asked to talk about
Ray, Foxx barely says a word
before Cruise interrupts to
praise his dead-on imperson
ation. Sl
“Let me tell you about Ray,”
Cruise says. “When (Flf)?lo()
came in and we met _ the three
of us, with Michael Mann—in
about two m:l‘gg we said,
‘Hey, youre working on
Aniiy h);ojust did Ray Charlleg
Inside and out, it wasn't an imi
tation. He was Ray Charles. |
sat back and went, ‘You've got
to be (kidding) me.”
Foxx grins and doesnt say
anything — just basks in the
Enkhmisc and waits for Cruise to
August 19, 2004
Africa West is open at the
Barnyard Flea Market located
on Highway 56 on Saturday
and Sunday only.
monthly ethnic storytelling for
young ple. Miller?getts
O(plajnttfed‘iat the staff, which
includes Kelvin Jackson, Carl
Prescott, Audrey Crosby,
Frances Wimberly and Jamie
Eatman, has committed itself
to not only preserving the
Laney home but also continu
ing the educators dream of
teaching “the children of the
PeO&lf’
“We want people in the
community to g: proud of the
museum. We want them to
feel like it’s their museum and it
is here to serve them. Just as
Ms. Laney did,” she said.
The Lucy Craft Laney Muse
um will bcf.n showing its Sym
biosis Exhibition on September
3 and its annual Quilt Exhibi
tion on October 3. For a com
plete listing of upcoming
exhibits or information on
becoming a friend of the muse
um visit www.LucyCraft-
LaneyMuseum.com or call
(706) 724.3576.
¥
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