Five Questions with Phillip Agnew, creator of the Charlotte Black Card
When 25-year-old Phillip Agnew was arrested at the Charlotte entertainment complex, The EpiCentre, last summer, he started a movement that brought praise and scorn his way. According to published reports, he was arrested because he wouldn't turn his hat around -- at an outside event. Agnew said his arrest was racially motivated, a complaint about the EpiCentre that has floated around the black community in the Queen City since the place opened. Agnew took it public, fighting the arrest and launching a protest against the EpiCentre. Then he went one step further, launching the Black Card , a movement in Charlotte to bring solidarity and economic empowerment to the city's African American-owned businesses. Agnew spoke to me about the Black Card, what it means to Charlotte and how he feel about the EpiCentre today. A note about the EpiCentre, after Agnew's high profile arrest, other groups of people reported discrimination against the establishment and the EpiCentre fac...