Carolina impact | the legacy of l. C. Coleman | season 11 | episode 1111

(bright music) - [Dara] Old black and white pictures capture moments of L.C. Coleman's life, the joy he felt holding hands with friends while singing, the time he spent in the Navy, and

most notably, the lives he touched on the Westside of Charlotte through his activism. - And he spent in his entire life being a crusader of these neighborhoods. - [Dara] Having lived in

Charlotte since he was a child, and being a graduate of Johnson C. Smith University, Coleman was deeply connected to the Westside community. He saw firsthand the inequalities that African

Americans face during segregation and the years that followed. - It was a part of town where African Americans settled, so the city didn't pay as much attention to these neighborhoods.

- [Dara] Coleman became their voice, advocating for road repairs, sidewalks, ambulance services, and hot meal programs. - He just made things happen, and he put his actions to work. This is

a great picture of them. - [Dara] Lynn Coleman Hudson, daughter of the late activist, recalls her father's dedication to every cause and how he kept working even after hours. - [Lynn]

It was a very active home, especially during election time and especially when anything in the community needed some attention. - [Dara] Often when people think of her father, they remember

his activism, but Coleman was also a businessman. - [Lynn] He had a sundries and so hamburgers and hot dogs and french fries and ice cream. - [Dara] His business, Coleman's Westside

Sundries opened in the 1960s on Beatties Ford Road, and it was a popular place for many of the neighborhood children. - [Lynn] In the area where he had a store, didn't have any

activities for the young kids, and so there were a lot of kids around, and they didn't have many places to play. - [Dara] Hudson tells me this sparked another cause. - And so he would

go down to the county commission meetings and advocate for 'em and fight for some kind of recreation. - [Dara] Coleman wanted the Westside to have its own parks, because there

weren't a lot of places African-American children could play. Many parks were located in White neighborhoods. - One strategy you used was to get families on buses on Sundays and take

'em over to the park over across the town. - [Brandon] So this is the historic Westend site. - [Dara] Historian Brandon Langsford says this plan upset White park goers, but it got the

ball rolling, and eventually, the city built the highly-requested park on the Westside. In 1979, it was named after Coleman. - [Brandon] He fought really hard to have that park put here, so

the kids would have a safe place to play. - [Dara] During the 2008 recession, L.C. Coleman Park, like many others in Mecklenburg County, weren't able to be properly maintained due to a

loss of funding. However, in 2020, county commissioners set aside $2 million in equity funding for the improvement of several parks, including L.C. Coleman Park. - The idea was that we would

pick out certain parks that were in our prioritized gap areas that were identified as being in park deserts where there was just limited access to park amenities. - [Dara] Although this

project is only in the design phase, it's already making an impact, one that came unexpectedly. - We came out to take a look at it, and we were surprised to see three sides of a

swimming pool. And so, that sent us on an exciting journey that is paralleling the design process. - [Dara] Jennifer Brooks, the design and construction project manager, says after further

research, she believes the fragments are part of a pool where religious ceremonies once took place. - So the first historic event that we have photo documentation of is from this event in

1926. It was a mass baptism by Bishop Grace. And what I love about this photo that really roots us to this spot is that you can see the power tower that's right over my shoulder here in

this photograph. - [Dara] Brooks and other experts also say there was once a building near the pool that was a bustling club. They say throughout the 1900s it had several different names

like Sunset Park, Mona Lisa Club, The Nightingale, Hi Fi Country Club, and Hi Fi Club. - There are actually residents of this community who are still alive, who remember coming here and say,

"This is where I went to see Ike and Tina Turner "and James Brown, where Malcolm X spoke in 1963," so it's really awesome. - [Dara] As the county works to preserve the

history of the park... - He was cool. - Like naturally cool. - Naturally cool, right. - [Dara] Coleman's family continues working to preserve his legacy. - He just really cared, and so

somehow, I wanna have that same kind of impact. - [Dara] His grandchildren tell me their Papa was their hero and much of what they learned from Coleman, they try to instill in their own

children. - And so, as far as how I try to live my life, a lot of things echo from what I saw him do, from being there for his family, providing for his family. - [Dara] So whether it's

through his family, the park named after him, or the Charlotteans who he advocated for, the legacy of L.C. Coleman lives on. For "Carolina Impact," I'm Dara Khaalid.