‘More than a picnic.’ Black family reunions keep ties — and tradition — strong

CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Inside Fred Witherspoon’s house, the phone rings off the hook. His wife, Renee, starts the car to pick up a relative from the airport as Fred answers call after call from family members. The T-shirts are ordered, the food is prepared and the itinerary is set. Family is coming over — the whole family. It’s been this way almost every July since 1962 — minus one year when they were saving up for a big family reunion cruise. Fred’s grandparents, family patriarch Rev. Willie Witherspoon and matriarch Daisy Strain Witherspoon, started the tradition in their home base of Lancaster,...