Celebrating a local black icon
Black Mountain Brewing owner launches campaign to raise money for a mural of Grammy-winning native Roberta Flack
John Richardson
Guest columnist
John Richardson - Courtesy photo
Each year, for the past 15 years, when the month of May rolls around I have episodes of chest pain and shortness of breath. Fifteen years ago, it was unexpectedly discovered that my heart was failing me and I was fortunate enough to have my aortic valve and aortic root replaced with a titanium valve and a prosthetic root. It wasn’t fun.
The following two years, I suffered through a MRSA infection, lung complications and weeks and weeks in and out of the ICU. This has made me especially wary of getting COVID-19, and is one of the simple reasons why I wear a mask and mandate all of my employees to wear one as well.
Usually my symptoms disappear when we get to June each year, but this year I’m finding myself with a different kind of chest pain. It’s the heartache of knowing in 2020 we’re still addressing many of the same problems we’ve had all along.
I am a white male born into a position of power and privilege, and I acknowledge I will never fully know or understand the struggles many face around me.
Lately, I’ve wanted to do something. Something more visible here at home to honor and celebrate black men and women. To acknowledge, in some way, the ongoing national protests against police violence and systemic racism. We’ve had previous discussions at Black Mountain Brewing about painting a mural on the wall of our building. It’s a beautiful blank canvas, and we’ve been waiting for the spirit to strike us with the right image for this wall.
Last week, the spirit struck when we received an email from a group known as the NC Musician Murals Trail. They’re painting murals of famous musicians from all over the state in their hometowns.
Local business owner John Richardson is launching a campaign to raise money for a mural honoring Black Mountain native Roberta Flack. Image courtesy of John Richardson
Did you know hat Roberta Flack was born right here in Black Mountain?
Roberta Flack, the “Killing Me Softly,” Roberta Flack? Yes, THAT Roberta Flack. The Roberta Flack who is the only solo artist to win the Grammy Award for Record of the Year in two consecutive years? Yes, THAT Roberta Flack. The Roberta Flack with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame? YES, THAT ROBERTA FLACK. She was born right here in Black Mountain!
And it dawned on me that we haven’t done a very good job of honoring Roberta Flack, or of recognizing Black Mountain as the “Birthplace of Roberta Flack.”
We’re painting a mural and we need your help. Our goal is to raise $15,000. Every dollar donated at https://www.gofundme.com/f/pubcorps will go directly to the artists’ costs with the NC Musician Mural project.
While it’s obvious a mural won’t undo centuries of systematic oppression of black, brown and immigrant members of our communities, we want to lead by example and do our part to celebrate the black community here and across the country. We look forward to permanently honoring Roberta Flack in her birthplace.
John Richardson is the owner of the Black Mountain Ale House and Black Mountain Brewing. He is also the founder of PubCorps, a nonprofit organization that connects volunteers around community service and and breweries, restaurants and pubs.