Chapter 19
For five days in February, North Carolina’s largest city turns into a big black family reunion.
The CIAA is the oldest African American athletic conference in the nation and has member colleges from Pennsylvania to North Carolina. Even though the conference holds championships in eleven sports, the CIAA Fan Fest celebrates men and women’s basketball. It is the third most attended basketball tournament among all NCAA divisions. It has been held in Washington D.C., Richmond, and Raleigh, but Charlotte is where the fun has been for that last few years.
During CIAA week, you see proud grandparents who attended back in the day strutting proudly in their school colors as they check out the new generations. Parents let their hair down as they mingle and party just as they did when t
