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Jenny Maxwell
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One More Way Charleston is like China?

Wednesday, April, 30, 2008

You’ve heard it a hundred times.  Charlestonians are like the Chinese: they eat rice and worship their ancestors.

Still, I imagine it’s an odd site, a Chinese dragon boat gliding out from the salt marshes, historic Charleston just behind you.  You can watch 48 teams race dragon boats this Saturday in Charleston, free at Brittlebank Park. Charlotte_Festival_1.jpg

I had never heard of dragon boat racing until my friend Liz Oakley started making a documentary about it.  A group of cancer survivors in Charleston race dragon boats.  They’re one of the first all-cancer-survivor boat clubs in the country.

dragon_copy.JPGLiz worked as a producer in Columbia for several years before moving to Charleston.  Prior to starting Awaken the Dragon, she and Joanna Katz made an amazing documentary called Sentencing the Victim.  It shows how Joanna, the victim of a gang rape, has to relive the horror every time every one of the rapists comes up for parole.  Their documentary helped change parole procedures in South Carolina.  

Liz is editing Awaken the Dragon right now. Her website gives you a preview of  that documentary here.

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KellyLove
KellyLove
You know Liz?
Posted Thu, 05/01/2008 - 11:01
I love Liz! She is an amazing documentary filmmaker. I met her during the production of Sentencing the Victim through Joanna and they are both the most incredible women. I can't wait to see the finished Dragon Boat documentary. We do eat a lot of rice and worship our ancestors down heah in Chahleston.
jennymaxwell
jennymaxwell
1000 racers
Posted Fri, 05/02/2008 - 10:13
Liz emailed me this morning with an update. That's how many people are racing in Charleston this weekend,"such a far cry from the first Dragon Boat Charleston boat that was stuck in the mud with hardly enough folks to paddle it out," she said. I agree with you--Liz and Joanna are amazing.