Archive for the ‘Black Folk who matter...’ Category
Odunde festival lives on
In Black Folk who matter..., It's a Black Thing That You Need To Understand..., The Book Report on June 12, 2009 at 10:02 pmNAACP celebrates 100 years of progress
In Black Folk who matter..., The Book Report on March 14, 2009 at 8:38 pmBlack PR Society salutes women in the media
In Black Folk who matter..., The Book Report on March 14, 2009 at 8:36 pmHagley Museum is Keeping History Alive
In Black Folk who matter..., The Book Report on March 14, 2009 at 8:33 pm…Dr. Perri Johnson’s “Healing Feeling” returns to Philly
In Black Folk who matter..., The Book Report on June 1, 2008 at 9:20 pm
By Bobbi Booker
The Book Report
It’s been more than two decades since Philadelphia radio emitted the
introduction, “You’re listening to the good Dr. Perri Johnson, Music
Therapist.” While his absence from the local airwaves have been
lamented, Johnson has maintained the “healing feeling” he so often
talked about on WDAS-FM during the last 15 years as a licensed
clinical psychologist in Los Angeles. Johnson (who truly is a Dr. with
two Masters Degrees in psychology and Doctorate)has always maintained
that his work on the radio was intended to produce a pleasurable and
therapeutic effect and explores his theory in his debut book,
“Prescriptions: Therapeutic Poems for the Healing of
Depression”($13.99, Xulon Press).
“Prescriptions” is a self-help book which combines poems to help heal
depression with a discussion of the causes of depression and how to
overcome it. Each poem relates to a common experience of depression
and suggests strategies and behaviors to quarantine and reverse
various types of depression. Johnson renders psychological services to many in the film and
entertainment industry at his private practice in Hollywood Hills, CA.
Johnson grew up in North Philly, graduated from Benjamin Franklin High
School and received a BA Degree in Psychology from Temple University
while working at the school’s radio station WRTI-FM. Johnson’s
distinctive style drew the attention of WDAS who recruited him in 1970
for their experimental FM format to help shape the new sound. “It was
a compromise for me because somehow or another it had to all fit
together,” said Johnson.”We were basically doing underground rock.
They said I could bring in some of the stuff I was doing at WRTI, as
long as it blended. So they really got in my head early on that I had
to to flow.”
Radio programmers were allowing their FM air talent explore the long
play (or LP) albums in ways unknown on the AM side where the three
minute Top 40 radio format ruled. By the 1970s, FM audience size
surpassed that of AM, and Johnson was a pivotal player in that change
that started locally and resonated nationally.
“When Marvin Gaye’s ‘What’s Going On’ came out, I just put it on from
the beginning and let it play all the way through. That was unheard
of, radio just wasn’t do that, except underground radio and they
weren’t playing Marvin Gaye. A.M was playing ‘What’s Going On’ for
three minutes because that was the format. When we put that thing on
it blew up. It put us on the map. Then it became more about theme. And
we became a soundtrack for a lot of the (70s) movements that were go
on.”
One of those movements was disco, the indomitable precursor to hip hop
and both genres Johnson comfortable mixed during his broadcasts. In a
speaking style Johnson had perfected over the years, the popular jock
would effortlessly rhyme over the musical interludes that interspersed
his show. One of Johnson more popular rhymes over the beats of funk
music maker Hamilton Bohannon would lead to worldwide success for both men.
Teamed with Johnson’s syncopated lyrics, Bohannon’s style of music
would eventually influence the burgeoning hip hop scene with a double
hit in 1978 and1981.
“Perri fell in love with ‘Let’s Start the Dance’ and started
ad-libbing to that so I decided to put him on wax,” recalled Bohannon.
“(Philadelphia) is where it started at and then New York and all over
the East Coast and it became real, real big for me.” Bohannon’s
version of “Let’s Start II Dance Again (Rap Version)” featuring
Johnson climbed to #1 on the Billboard Dance Chart and remains among
the most frequently played radio tracks to this day.
After Johnson left the Philadelphia market, he settled in Southern
California, married had three children and eventually divorced after
17 years. “I think I’m living out the dream of my father,” explained
Johnson of his move to Los Angeles shortly after his beloved
father,Andrew, died in 1980.
“I was so close (to my father),” recalled Johnson. “He was the go-to
guy for decisions. I was successful early on and didn’t know how to
handle things, so I would go to him to get advice and just rely upon
him to be my confidante and my manager and to keep me grounded. He
steered me in the right direction and he provided the same support and
advice for others. Teddy Pendergrass use to go to him a lot and sit
and talk after Teddy and I got tight. He had a little office down on
Lombard Street and many guys would go by like Sony Hopkins and Kenny
Gamble. He was a wise guy.”
Recently, the Philadelphia radio market has witnessed a ‘return’ of
popular on-air personalities, including Miriam “MiMi” Brown who
received an on-air call from Johnson during her recent Mother’s Day
debut on WDAS. Brown, who was already besieged with well wishers
welcoming her back, received even more positive feedback after Johnson
called in.
“I believe that a part of what he lives for is to heal others and let
them know that they can be healed,” said Brown of her mentor and
colleague. “That’s what his book is all about. A lot of times we walk
through life and don’t even know what’s wrong with us. Perri’s whole
existence is to give people a better way of living and a better way of
existing on this earth and to be happy within their own skin and be
appreciative for the things that they do have. He addresses those
medical problems and helps bring about healing and solution. He is on
his quest.”
Longtime radio personality Gary Shepard also recalled Johnson’s early
plans to start a clinical practice to treat others like himself in the
entertainment business. “When he was on the radio he was putting out
words of wisdom that help people feel good about themselves and who
they are. It’s just brilliant the way he has used his poetry as a
therapeutic tool for people in a depressed state.”
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Lifestyle/Leisure/Literature
Richard Wright “was very preoccupied by the impact of racism.”
In Black Folk who matter..., It's a Black Thing That You Need To Understand..., The Book Report on April 19, 2008 at 4:55 pm
Richard Wright, the acclaimed author of “Native Son” and “Black Boy,”
was born in Mississippi and raised in Memphis, but it is Philadelphia
that is honoring him with the proclamation of Richard Wright Week from
April 20- 27, 2008. Wright, who would have turned 100 this September, will
be the focus of a number of citywide presentations, including a
special Robin’s Bookstore address from the author’s daughter, Julia
Wright. The acclaimed author’s final manuscript, “A Father’s Law
($14.95, HarperCollins)” was just released by the younger Wright in
honor of her father’s birthday.
“As a present for his centennial, I dug up his last unfinished novel,”
explained Wright. “It’s the only existing draft of what he was working
on when he died. ‘A Father’s Law’ is about the relationship of a Black
police chief and his brilliant university-bound son. The police chief
slowly comes to suspect his son is the serial killer that he has been
assigned and promoted to find and punish.”
The novel was written during a six-week period near the end of
Wright’s life. “The book is unfinished, so you don’t know if the
father is imagining it, or whether the father has indeed a serial
killer for a son. It is an extraordinary book. Had he lived to finish
and perfect it, I believe it would have been a masterpiece. As it is,
it is riveting reading.”
Wright, the grandson of a slave, was born on the Rucker Plantation in Roxie,
Mississippi September 4, 1908. Soon after his family moved to Memphis,
Tennessee, in 1913, his father, a former sharecropper, abandoned the family, leaving his mother to support them alone. His family moved to Jackson, Mississippi to live with
relatives, and he graduated as valedictorian of his 9th grade class in May 1925, but left school a few weeks after entering high school. However, even as a youngster, Wright knew his calling. At the age of 15, Wright wrote his first story “The Voodoo of Hell’s Half-Acre”, and it was published in the Southern Register, a local Black newspaper.
Wright’s daughter explained that her father died prematurely at age 52
in Paris from the combined childhood effects of malnutrition and the stress of
the FBI’s continued investigation for being a member of the Communist
Party between 1932 and 1942. He departed the party in 1942 because of
ideological disputes.
“He spent some time in the communist party before effectively leaving
the United States never to return,” said Wright. “For people like (former FBI Director) J. Edger Hoover, once a communist always a communist. My father had grown beyond communism, but remained under surveillance and duress for the whole of his life, especially abroad where they were fearful he would denounce racism in the United States
in France where he lived.”
The literary giant raw and powerful prose was a source of fascination
for poet Lamont B. Steptoe. “I made a point of taking a course in
Black literature where I read ‘Uncle Tom’s Children,’” recalled
Steptoe. “I found the work compelling, poetic, nightmarish and
unforgettable. I made it a point to read everything that was published
by Wright. In 1992, I journeyed to Paris for a conference at the
Sorbonne in honor of Richard Wright, James Baldwin and Chester Himes
that would bring together many of the surviving members of the heady
days of the Black ex-patriot community in Paris from the fifties up
through the late sixties. There I met Ellen Wright, Julia Wright, the
late Ollie Harrington, who was one of Wright’s closest friends and
Wright’s grandson, Malcolm.”
The younger Wright noted that her father tackled astonishingly modern
themes for novels written over 45 years ago.
“He was very preoccupied by the impact of racism on the mind of Black
men and Black women,” said Julia. “That is exemplified in his study
‘The Mind of Bigger Thomas’ and his concerns throughout his whole life
on what makes a Black man angry. (He wondered) can we act on some of
these factors and give Black male minorities a rest from duress? It’s
such a present day problem and it’s being debated everywhere today.
It amazes me when I speak to audiences because I find so many time
bubbles in his work.”
“Red Ink: Celebrating the Radical Tradition in Literature” with Julia
Wright discussing Richard Wright and his work will feature Lamont
Steptoe and other area writers on Sunday April 27, 2008 at 2pm at
Robin’s Book Store, 108 S. 13th Street, Philadelphia. For more
information on various Richard Wright Week activities visit
www.robinsbookstoreonline.com or call 215-735-9600.
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…For MC Hammer, the Future Net is “in my blood.”
In Black Folk who matter..., It's a Black Thing That You Need To Understand... on April 1, 2008 at 1:43 am 
By Bobbi Booker
A unique technology education forum featuring hip hop pioneer MC
Hammer drew community members, ex-offenders and students from the
nearby Renaissance Advantage Charter School to the Southwest
Philadelphia Mayor’s Office for the Re-entry of Ex-Inmates last week.
When Hammer heard the murder rate in Philadelphia had skyrocketed to
an average of one per day, he called his friend (and Germantown
native) Rev. Eugene Williams and pledged his help. For the past year,
Hammer (born Stanley Kirk Burrell) has reached out through his
technological initiative called LOOK University, a socially
responsible program to reduce violence through music, digital media
and the arts.
Rev. Williams explained that LOOK University is a groundbreaking
strategy that uses the digital media to educate the hip-hop cultural
community to the realities of the impact of violence, incarceration,
risky sexual practices and hopelessness.
“LOOK University is a project that teaches you how to create your own
buzz. How to use digital media and all of the tools that are available
to everybody today and how to turn that into a different message and
become an entrepreneur.”
Williams, CEO and National Director Regional Congregations and
Neighborhood Organizations Training Center, has always been concerned
with making the connections between theology and community development
and revitalization. While speaking to the 75 guests, Williams noted
that, “Language is important. These are not ex-offenders. These are
residents who are returning from prison. They are not aliens coming from
outer space. These are people that we nurtured from the cradle and
people some of us have known.”
Building upon the demand for services by the ex-offender population,
services like the Office for the Re-entry of Ex-Inmates have been
designed to provide previously incarcerated individuals with an even
broader range of transitional services to help them address the
barriers many face as they strive to regain self-sufficiency and
secure employment.
MC Hammer delivered a message that covered his dramatic journey as one
of America’s entertainment legends. As he explored his life as a
rapper who is now focused on spirituality and family, Hammer encourage
both the youths and their elders to continue to dream big. “When I
first decided I was going to rap, and again being a young man of
vision, I already owned two houses.”
However, it was Hammer’s quest to provide wider consumer access to his
music videos, like “U Can’t Touch This,” that lead him to Silicon
Valley developers. Today, Hammer is an adviser to stealth Internet
start-up, Dance Jam. “I took that information, studied that and 14
years later, when it comes to anything that marries music, film and
entertainment and placing it on the Internet, a mobile or wireless
device, I’m one of the experts in Silicon Valley.”
Hammer’s influence on hip hop culture and music was not lost on those
in attendance where half of the room vividly recalled his catchy Top
10 hits, while the other half had yet to be conceived.
“To return to our rightful position is not just ending violence, it’s
also instilling the true history so that you know who you are,”
explained Hammer during a brief history of Blacks and technology.
“Kings and queens is what you truly come from. When Napoleon got over
to Egypt, he could not believe what he saw. He said, ‘The same people that
we have enslaved are the ones who created science, math, astrology,
medicine.’ Somehow, since that day, we’ve have been tricked into
believing we are the inferior ones. Inferior!? Of course, I know how
to build businesses from technology. It’s in my blood.”
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…”Stop being musicians and start being the music.”
In Black Folk who matter..., It's a Black Thing That You Need To Understand..., The Book Report on March 10, 2008 at 1:22 pmWorld-renowned film composer and trumpet player Terence Blanchard was returning from a two-week stint in Japan when Hurricane Katrina struck his New Orleans hometown. Blanchard and his family were forced to evacuate from their New Orleans homes for months, and his evolution as a displace musician fighting for the cultural rebirth his hometown continues to blossom. A portion of Blanchard journey is captured in both the CD and the documentary, “Flow: Living in the Stream of Music,” that follows Blanchard and his band on a stunning round-the-world musical journey. Additionally, director Spike Lee invited Blanchard to score his tour-de-force 4-part documentary, “When the Levees Broke.” One of the most poignant scenes in the film depict Blanchard and his aged mother and aunt clinging to each other during the family’s first post-Katrina visit to their ravage homes. Today, Blanchard says his mother and aunt are on the verge of moving back into their homes, but he is still concerned about the future of his hometown as it struggles to recover from a storm that occurred nearly two years ago.
During a quick studio break on Friday evening from mixing the “Levee” soundtrack he’s re-scoring for release this summer, Blanchard says he is concentrating on keeping a spotlight on the gravity of the new Orleans situation were thousands of residents continue to suffer.
“One of the things that we’re trying to do with the album is keep the awareness out there,” said Blanchard. “When we were recording the record, we did a take of a tune I had written in the New Orleans tradition in 4/5. It was very upbeat kind of song and I was going to close the album with it. But we decided to pull it form the album because we didn’t want to give anybody the impression that everything was okay. You know, because we want people to still talk about what’s going on and be involved in what’s happening.”
Blanchard was a pivotal voice in the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz “Commitment to New Orleans” initiative which includes the relocation of the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz Performance to the campus of Loyola University New Orleans from Los Angeles. “The Monk institute has a strong commitment to community service. They have a big outreach program that reaches a lot of high school, middle school and grade school kids. That program in itself will touch the lives of a lot of young kids outside the music world and hopefully will encourage some young musician in the field of jazz. We also told the students to come with a horn in one hand and a hammer in the other cause it’s all about rebuilding the city.”
The Institute’s programs will also provide employment for New Orleans musicians while attracting displaced musicians living in other areas of the country back to their hometown, and unite the city’s jazz, arts, and cultural communities.
“I don’t see the music (in New Orleans) as being lost forever because it’s such a part of our culture,” explained Blanchard. “It’s our DNA; you know, it’s what we’re made of. So I don’t ever really see that as something that’s going to be lost. But I do see (the music scene) taking a huge hit right now because there are a lot of musicians who are just not at home and they’re living elsewhere to make do, and that’s hard. I know some guys who’ve been instrumental in the music scene on New Orleans and they’re not in New Orleans right now. We have to be concerned about that. And there are people making efforts to bring those people back. There’s a lot of work to be done.”
“When it comes to jazz there’s certain cities in certain part of the country that get all the attention, you know, Detroit, New Orleans, Kansas City, New York. But, I went to school at Rutgers University and one of the things I learned is that New Jersey has a vast history with the music. And it gets overlooked a lot one of the pivotal creators of this music. He carved out a new path for the role of the guitar in jazz.
Terence was a featured panelist at this year’s Sundance Film Festival (he will also perform at the upcoming festival in 2007) and served as a keynote speaker at the Billboard Film and Television Music Conference in November. Flow: Living In The Stream of Music is scheduled to screen at various film festivals throughout 2006/2007, and has been touted as an engaging documentation of what it means to commit to a life in music, a landmark educational film for young people — and for anyone of any age facing the uncertain prospect of a career as a musician. “The overriding goal in what we do,” says Blanchard, “is to stop being musicians and start being the music.”
…Celebrating Black Men as Fathers
In Black Folk who matter..., It's a Black Thing That You Need To Understand... on March 10, 2008 at 11:10 am| Celebrating a central role in families |
| By BOBBI BOOKER |
| Most mainstream media often overlook the role that Black men share as father, mentor and supporter. The distinct and unique role fathers have in African-American culture was explored with several Philadelphia fathers who reflected on the impact men and fathers have on their children. Democratic mayoral candidate Michael Nutter says fatherhood is about teaching and guidance.“I think fatherhood is a very serious responsibility, as is motherhood,” said Nutter. “The impact that men and fathers have on their children is often underestimated or ignored or even downplayed. If you look at any of the television shows, the fathers are not necessarily actively involved, or in many cases not even around.” “I learned any number of very important lessons in life from my own father, who is still with me. Whether as a young boy playing sports or learning how to throw or how to act in competition, there’s a verbal and non-verbal communication that goes on and kids pay attention to what their parents do and listen to what they say and often imitate those behaviors in their own lives. I certainly see many of those things with my own children.” Nutter says the many life skills he learned from his father are shared with his own children, Olivia, 12 and Christian, 24, who flanked him last month onstage election night of Democratic nomination. Fatherhood was the theme of Nutter’s most successful campaign commercials, which featured his daughter, Olivia, who discusses her father’s daily activities. Nutter says one of his prime responsibilities since pre-school is taking his daughter to school. ”(My children) have helped to make me the person that I am and, of course, for the better,” said Nutter. “The fathers are often looked upon for that great kind of silent strength and are often seen as the protector and guardian. I think that’s a very powerful image and reality for many children throughout Philadelphia.” “Nowadays, being a father means everything to me because of the way the majority of the children are being raised and the things that change in the world,” said Allen. “I can’t even put it into words, to tell you the truth. It’s a delight to see them grow. I never thought I would have girls, so it’s just a change in life for me. It slowed me down tremendously. (Having daughters) made me look at life in many views. They are my future.” Together, Fatin Dantzler and Aja Graydon are the husband and wife duo known as Kindred the Family Soul. As a business couple, they run The Kulture Shop on Baltimore Avenue and as a loving Black family, they share their lives with their children Aquil, 8, Diya, 5, and Nina, 3. Graydon says she see positive messages of love in the families throughout her neighborhood, yet many times Black men (especially the incarcerated) are overlooked. “I think that the fathers who are out there busting their behinds and are really working and doing their thing are overlooked. I live on a block with fathers who take care of their children but are definitely overlooked. Even the fathers who do have unfortunate situations, where fathers are incarcerated or who have been incarcerated who come out and take care of their kids or who continue relationships with their children throughout a very difficult situation, and we forget about them too, but they exist.” Dantzler says although his father was not involved in his life, another man helped him in his life’s journey. “For every father, the experience is different in raising your children in the different ways that they may need you or in how you have to assist or teach them, things that you didn’t realize that you were a teacher of. That, within itself, is just a blessing and a beautiful thing that you get an opportunity to see yourself as a person who is worthwhile and meaningful in someone else’s life. “We get an opportunity to see the direct connection that we have with our children. I value the opportunity to be in my children’s lives.” Hughes says his father’s influence “was like a blanket blessing that hung over my life, and still does, because of his life, his work and who he was as a person. In life, he was solid as a rock for me. When I talked about running for public office, which came out of nowhere, he was right there asking the appropriate questions, probed and made sure he stood with me.” Hughes says the lessons he learned from his father are passed forward to the next generation. “I’m a grandfather now,” reflected Hughes. “And I try to be solid, consistent and dependable for my children. I try to explain the pros and cons of what the issues are for them. And I try to do what I can to help them realize their dreams.” =Originally Published in The Philadelphia Tribune on Father’s Day, June 17, 2007= |
…Does anybody really know what time it is?
In Black Folk who matter... on March 8, 2008 at 5:06 am
This Sunday at 2 a.m., sleepy Americans will turn their clocks forward
one hour, thus marking the beginning of Daylight Saving Time (DST). If
it seems a bit early in the calendar year for the change, you are
right. It is the second year of the Energy Policy Act of 2005, a
federal law extending Daylight Saving Time by about a month. As of
2007, DST starts the second Sunday of March and ends on the first
Sunday of November.
Every spring we move our clocks one hour ahead and “lose” an hour
during the night and each fall we move our clocks back one hour and
“gain” an extra hour. The phrase “spring forward, fall back” helps
people remember to perform this annual task, but many people ask why
DST is necessary. Ostensibly, DST helps save money through reduced
use of power by businesses during daylight hours. An early goal of DST
was to reduce evening usage of incandescent lighting, formerly a
primary use of electricity; however, modern heating and cooling usage
patterns can cause DST to increase electricity consumption. While
adding daylight to afternoons benefits retailing, sports, and other
activities that exploit sunlight after working hours, it also causes
problems for farming, entertainment and other occupations tied to the
sun. While extra afternoon daylight reduces traffic fatalities, its
effect on health and crime is less clear.
“When we entered an industrialized society then we could alter the
time as we wished,” explained Franklin Institute’s Chief Astronomer
Derrick Pitts. “When time moved from being a natural phenomena to this
thing you wear on your wrist, than that changed the world altogether.
Once electricity became widely available then we could have artificial
night so people could stay up later and people could work through the
night because we had power and light to see. This changed our natural
schedule of operation, so rather than us going to bed when the sun
goes down and getting up when the sun rises, we don’t get enough hours
of sleep anymore.”
Although standard time in time zones was instituted in the U.S. and
Canada by the railroads in 1883, it was not established in U.S. law
until the Act of March 19, 1918, sometimes called the Standard Time
Act. The act also established daylight saving time, a contentious idea
then. Daylight saving time was repealed in 1919, but standard time in
time zones remained in law. Daylight time became a local matter. It
was re-established nationally early in World War II, and was
continuously observed from February 9, 1942 to September 30, 1945.
After the war, its use varied among states and localities. The Uniform
Time Act of 1966 provided standardization in the dates of beginning
and end of daylight time in the U.S. but allowed for local exemptions
from its observance. The act provided that daylight time begin on the
last Sunday in April and end on the last Sunday in October, with the
changeover to occur at 2 a.m. local time.
The federal law that established “daylight time” in the United States
does not require any area to observe daylight saving time, and the
practice is controversial in some parts of the country. Arizona (with
the exception of the Navajo Nation) and Hawaii and the territories of
Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands, Guam, and American Samoa are the only
places in the U.S. that do not observe DST but instead stay on
“standard time” all year long. Around the globe, more than one
billion people in about 70 countries around the world observe DST in
some form.
During the “energy crisis” years, Congress enacted earlier starting
dates for daylight time. In 1974, daylight time began on January 6
and in 1975, it began on February 23. After those two years, the
starting date reverted to the last Sunday in April. In 1986, a law was
passed that shifted the starting date of daylight time to the first
Sunday in April, beginning in 1987. The ending date of daylight time
was not subject to such changes, and remained the last Sunday in
October. The Energy Policy Act of 2005 changed both the starting and
ending dates.
“Saving energy should be a national priority that calls on every
American to realize the need to save,” noted Pitts. “Fooling around
with the time is a way for us to avoid the really hard issue that we
need to conserve and we need to change the way we use energy in this
country. That’s a tougher pill to swallow than us changing time,
apparently. This is much easier than trying to change our energy
industry by moving from a petroleum-based energy system to hydrogen or
solar-based energy system, or any of these alternative fuels.”
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For 58 years Mr. Culver delivered the news on his bike…
In Black Folk who matter..., It's a Black Thing That You Need To Understand... on February 6, 2008 at 9:13 pm 
By Bobbi Booker
On Tuesday, February 5, 2008, newspaper deliveryman Mr. Floyd Culver died. He was 100 years old, and the following interview was done on the eve of his century-old mark. Mr. Culver still possess the old bike he delivered papers on for nearly 60 years, but he now uses a sporty little mobility chair to get around in. I could almost see the wink in his eye when he first proposed to me and his charm gave me insight to why he’d been married thrice. Ironically, his first child wasn’t born until he was 50 years old, the age she now is. He was a treat to speak with, and his presence will be missed.
The PhiladelphiaTribune=
As door-to-door delivery from the iceman and the milkman were fading
into the past, newspaper deliveryman Floyd Culver maintained a
substantial route in South Philadelphia. For 58 years Culver rode his
custom-made bike throughout the region servicing homes, business and
both Graduate and Pennsylvania hospitals. So, when he retired from
his route five years ago, many of his customers were sadden but
understood that it was time for the 95-year old gentleman to rest his
bike. Although Culver agreed to give up his paper route, he still has
not only his bike (which he still rides occasionally) but also a
motorized chair to tool around in.
Today marks a century since Culver’s birth in Alabama on October 9th,
1907. “I was born in a little town they call Headland, Al.,” recalled
Culver on the eve of his 100th birthday. “Born on a farm. Worked in
the field. Went to school four months a year. Finished 6th grade. My
mother took me out of school and I worked at a grocery store for 24
cents a day. That was in 1914, when I was only about 5 or 6 years old.
I rode a bicycle then.”
As a young man, Culver joined the Navy and was part of the World War
III invasion of Okinawa after the attack on Pearl Harbor. After his
tour of duty, his travels brought him to Philadelphia which has been
his home ever since.
It came as no surprise that Culver has married thrice, considering his
first words to the reporter after hello was, “Would you marry me?” As
charming as Culver is, he was a decidedly more business minded
individual. After his divorce from his third wife (with the legal
assistance of a young Leon Higgonbotten, Jr. Esq.) Culver attended the
William Penn Institute and earned his business degree in two years.
His first venture was a candy store at 18th and Bainbridge before he
realized another opportunity: newspaper delivery.
In his heyday, Culver sold upwards of 3,000 daily papers along a route
that spanned from Broad Street to 23rd Street and from Pine Street to
Washington Ave. In addition to selling The Philadelphia Tribune and
several other Black newspapers of the time, Culver also sold the
(now-defunct) Philadelphia Journal, The Philadelphia Inquirer, The
Philadelphia Daily News and The Philadelphia Evening Bulletin. “At one
time I had three boys working for me,” said Culver. “That’s when I had
the route all the way down to Moore Street. I had the biggest route in
South Philly.”
At age 50, Culver welcomed his only child, Brenda J. Taylor (now 50
herself). “That’s my backbone,” he says of his daughter. He is also
grandparent to a grandson, Evan, and granddaughter, Nicole, both
residents of Atlanta, GA. He’s a devout reader of the Bible, and looks
forward to the rare visits he makes to Shiloh Baptist Church at 21st
and Christian Streets. As a person who has bore witness throughout the
20th Century, Culver has lived through incidents of inner-racial
disparity. “I went to the church at 16th and Christian one time and
sat on the wrong side of the church where the light skinned people sat
and the (usher) girl come moving me over where the dark people sat. I
said ‘I won’t go to this church no more.’”
He credits his good health to the healthy lifestyle he has maintained
for decades through diet and a regiment that includes 666(r) Cold
Preparation pills, castor oil and Epson salt. In 1940 he gave up red
meat. “The food that I ate at the time that I grew up had a lots to do
with my body because I don’t eat no pork and no beef,” said Culver. “I
eat a lot of green vegetables, fish, chicken and turkey. That’s the
way I go.”
When asked the secret to a long life, Culver replied, “Mind your own
business, stay clean and don’t try to harm nobody.”
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Lifestyle/Leisure/Literature
“…This jewelry is like music to me.”
In Black Folk who matter..., It's a Black Thing That You Need To Understand..., The Book Report on December 22, 2007 at 7:12 amRemembering sculptor John Simpson’s genius through wood, words
John “Yah Yah” Simpson
By Bobbi Booker
Most folks look at a piece of wood and simply see the remnants of a tree. As a sculptor, John Simpson would look at the same piece of wood — a displaced branch or discarded tree trunk — and see a canvas.
Simpson’s death at age 71 on Dec. 3, lays to rest an artistic visionary whose highly evolved senses released the life forces inherent in wood and crafted into life-sized images of human figures that continue to resonate with art collectors, fans and friends alike.
Simpson, known affectionately as “Yah Yah” to many, was a unique and divinely inspired sculptor. He first started his craft as a boy in Norfolk, Va. fashioning play soldiers for himself from discarded wooden clothespins.
He was never formally trained, yet without being well versed in African art, he moved on to creating breathtaking works out of chair legs and baseball bats. When people first began comparing his sculptures to African works, he remained unaware of the connection. Others however, felt the sprit of Africa was clearly present in his artwork and jewelry.
“I feel so connected to Yah Yah’s jewelry,” neo-soul singer Erykah Badu recalled. “I remember when I first saw it, I was automatically taken back to the Congo, or whatever part of Africa represented in these atoms that are caught in this stuff. I could smell Africa with this jewelry.”
Badu, whose distinctive sense of style was enhanced by Simpson’s breathtaking jewelry, took time out from her studio sessions to poignantly describe her feelings after hearing the news.
“When I heard he died, I was wearing a ring that he made me out of turquoise rock and a spoon. This jewelry is like music to me. It carries millions of billions of atoms of those rocks and that metal in them. It’s impossible not to feel the expressions of my ancestors through that because Yah Yah’s hands did it.”
Simpson staged his first one-man show at age 18 with his 1959 Philadelphia exhibit debut. His work spanned over the course of six decades and was featured at the Brooklyn Museum, the Philadelphia Museum of Art and is represented in the collections of such notables as George Dupont, Walter Edmunds and Charles Searles. Simpson taught art for three years at the Christina Arts Center in Wilmington, Del. and for one year in the Philadelphia Model Cities Program at the Ile Ife Black humanitarian Center.
Most recently, Simpson showcased his mixed media collection of wood sculpture and handcrafted silver artesian jewelry at the Ellen Powell Tiberino Memorial Museum.
“John was independent and one of the most productive people I’ve known,” said Richard Watson, curator of the African American Museum of Philadelphia. “He transcended description because his work was motivated by the love of the culture and people.”
Simpson married twice and was the father of five children: Karen Simpson, 50; John Ridley Seal Simpson, Jr., 47; Yvette Penny Simpson, 41; Oladele Simpson, 40 and Nile Simpson, 25. His oldest child remembered her father as an open-minded sprit who was intrigued with learning and sharing his experience from his global travels.
Simpson said her father traveled to South Africa twice, initially meeting with Winnie Mandela and gaining an audience with President Nelson Mandela on his subsequent visit.
“Every time he went somewhere, it was like he soaked up the culture, the people and the everything,” noted Karen. “He had that amazing ability to do that and then bring it back and put it into his artwork. It was unbelievable.”
Simpson’s halcyon years could be described as the period between the 1960’s and throughout the ’70s when maintained a studio at 34th Street and Spring Garden. The space served as a regional artist colony. Some of the guests that stopped by were legendary, yet Simpson, a quietly humble man, never bragged. It was just another natural occurrence in the life of a naturally gifted artist.
“Nina Simone, Sarah Vaughn, George Howard, Grover Washington and Stevie Wonder used to come to his studio when he was in West Philly,” evoked his daughter. “He was cool with them but it wasn’t like he was tripping about it. He would vibe with them and give them what he had to offer and would take in what they had.”
“He did a lot of work with entertainers,” concurred Watson. “He entertained the likes of people like the Funkadelic and Stevie Wonder and he made all kinds of things for people. Philadelphia International and the whole family of musicians frequented John’s studio. Erykah Badu was one of his latest clients and he was making jewelry for her. He did not go unnoticed and unappreciated whatsoever.”
Simpson was also a skilled conga player (he occasionally made and sold congas, as well) who frequently sat in on the jam sessions that would break out at his studio. “That place that he had at 34th and Spring Garden was really wonderful,” recalled friend and fellow artist, Falahuddain Deni.
“All the female dancers that used to be with Alvin Ailey would come down from New York and spend the night over there. He had drums set up in there along with a family of conga drums and an upright metal bass. Plus, he was such a groovy brother, even all the brothers loved him. He was the type of person who was natural with his leadership ability.”
Simpson’s art was the conduit that linked Africa to America and ultimately bridged the timeline between jazz and hip-hop. “Yah Yah” has been creatively described as a sorcerer of wood for his ability to take true nature forms such as a tree or piece of wood and breath a life-like image into it.
A piece of wood Simpson crafted into the image of Badu is prominently displayed in the vocalist’s Brooklyn apartment. “It’s like carving away at a piece of clay only to reveal what’s already there,” explained Badu. “Whatever piece he made, it was already there. He’s just filling the space up with the physical manifestation of it.”
A memorial honoring the life and work of John “Yah Yah” Simpson is scheduled for Sunday, January 6, from 1-4 p.m. at the African American Museum of Philadelphia, 701 Arch St.
=Originally published in The Philadelphia Tribune December 21, 2007=
“…In my head, I’m thinking about music.”
In Black Folk who matter..., It's a Black Thing That You Need To Understand... on December 22, 2007 at 7:06 am|
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Photographer pushes the boundaries
Man of many talents dazzles with ‘innovative’ collection
| John Dowell |
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photo by Michele Hunter
By Bobbi Booker,
As a great contemporary American painter, etcher and lithographer for more than 35 years, John Edward Dowell, 65, has now added master photographer to his list of accolades. During a debut of his latest exhibit “Cityscapes,” which opened in Philadelphia on Friday at the Brandywine Workshop, Dowell greeted dozens of art enthusiast, collectors and colleagues who were captivated by the scope and artistic depth of his latest collection. The North Philadelphia resident happened upon his innovative, cutting-edge style of photography less than a year ago as he experimented with combining lithographs with photo images of slices of urban life. Eventually, photography evolved into his primary focus. Dowell now shoots photos using a 4-by-5-format field camera and then digitally scans the images. The final pictures are produced as nearly 2-by-3 foot prints that are amazingly detailed. High-rise vantage points serve as his backdrop for capturing spectacularly detailed slices of urban life. What is most unusual is that each of Dowell’s photographs captures a natural, ethereal-type of iridescence that results from a blend of light and movement. As guests survey the multidimensional photographs, they marvel at the spectrum of color and cutting-edge photographic style. They also point out the clarity of everyday life captured in the photos, which convey the tale of metropolitan life in each respective city. In one photograph, Dowell shoots Chicago’s landmark Marina City, built by architect master Bertrand Goldberg. The photos capture the Twin Round Towers (aka corn cobs) in a multidimensional montage that reflects, in extraordinary detail, a McDonald’s work crew cleaning up after closing on the building’s ground floor; a Christmas tree twinkling in a eighth floor bay window, the continuous blur of saffron highway traffic and mirrored images reflecting iridescent scenes off of the Chicago River. “What blew me away was they aren’t like any approach to photography I’d ever seen,” said Allen Edmonds, president and executive director of Brandywine Workshop. “It’s the choice of contrast, the colors, the time of day and they were not manipulated. That’s composition … that’s understanding. So they’re really paintings. You couldn’t do this and just be a photographer with a camera. You’ve got to be an artist to do this.” Dowell’s works in canvas, ceramics and print currently sits in 58 private museum collections worldwide, including the Biblioteque Nationale Museum in Paris; the Philadelphia Museum of Art; New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art; The Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture; and Yale University Museum. “ It’ s electric,” said Larry Robin, owner of Robin’ s Bookstore. “ His art has evolved from ceramics, to lithography, to photography. John has a mind that just doesn’ t stop. He wasn’ t a photographer. He was looking for a way to express the continuity of what you see.” He is the chair of the Printmaking Area and a full, 35-year tenured professor at Temple University’s Tyler School of Art. Dowell instructs students in his master’s of fine art classes to think beyond the rules, urging them to interpret art with the nostalgic vision of their mind’s eye and creative autonomy. A Lindback Award recipient, recognized for distinguished teaching, Dowell has taught his innovative perspective on art at universities spanning from Rome to Seattle. Still, it is his laid-back North Philadelphia style and artisan’s finesse that people notice before they’ve even glimpsed his work. “He was never trained as a photographer, if so, they would have told him that he couldn’t do this,” Robin said. “He knew what he wanted and he made the camera do what he wanted, which was to be able to see and sense the history, movement, continuity, while capturing the separateness and space.” A major element in Dowell’s art has been to find an abstract, visual interpretation of poetry and music. He has been drawn in particular to the equivalent of a artsy-style visual of jazz. “In my head, I’m thinking about music,” Dowell said. “I want to shoot where you see a reflection from the outside (and wonder) is that real or not real? But then, I’m shooting inside the building and you see people inside. But it’s all caught in an instant. I hear one guy blowing the saxophone and all of a sudden the drummer comes in with a solo. See that’s what I hear and I’m looking for that and I see that in my images.” Artist and poet Theodore Harris said, “It’s so shocking and beautiful. The fact that he has expanded his vision with photographs and experimentation, ever since I’ve seen John’s work from his abstract prints and drawing to this he’s always expanding his work … moving into realms of thought. This takes you into another world and let’s you know more about him as a person and an artist. That’s what it’s all about: taking chances and rolling the dice and see what we hit. I think John hit big time with this.” “Illuminations” featuring the photographic work of John E. Dowell Jr. and Andrea Baldeck runs through July 8 at the Brandywine Workshop, 730 S. Broad St . For more information contact (215) 546-3675 or visit http://www.brandywineworkshop.com/.
“…For many African Americans, it’s not an unfamiliar story that somebody passed.”
In Black Folk who matter..., It's a Black Thing That You Need To Understand... on December 22, 2007 at 7:00 am
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“…No other hair in the human family does that.”
In Black Folk who matter..., It's a Black Thing That You Need To Understand... on October 11, 2007 at 3:51 pmBy Bobbi Booker
Picture: Natural Hair Care Pioneer Yvette Smalls has shared her message via her “Hairstories” documentary
For the past dozen years or so, there has been resurgence in African American interest in natural hairstyles and care. Natural hair has been prominently featured with sports and entertainment stars and the general public has reflected the increased in popularity of styles such as cornrows, locks, braiding, twists, cropped and locked –most of which originated in Ancient Africa. This weekend’s 13th Annual International Locks Conference: Natural Hair, Health & Beauty Expo will celebrate the splendor of Black culture through classes on overall wellness. The expo, traditionally held during the first weekend of October, has expanded to two days of education, healthy food options, informative workshops, soothing healing circles, music, fashions, and a stunning hair show and competition.
Sakinah Ali-Sabree started as a conference volunteer and now serves as the operations manager. “The conference is about more than hair,” explained Ali-Sabree. “It also promotes Black businesses and have different vendors offer their products to the community and have workshops to educate the people in the community. It was an outlet for Black business that didn’t have a store.”
Although there has been a reemergence of natural hair, African Americans–and Black women in particular–still face an underlying tone that straightened hair is a more acceptable or professional hairstyle. As recently as August 2007, controversy erupted when “Glamour” magazine apologized for a staffer who called Black women’s natural hairstyles in the workplace “shocking,” “inappropriate” and “political.”
“People feel like locks are just a hairdo, but it comes with a little responsibility,” noted Ali-Sabree who accents her hair with elaborate ‘Gele’ head wraps. “That’s why I always stress the importance of education and learning about your hair, culture and your heritage, and basically the background on locks and where it comes from. I’ll have Asians or Caucasians say to me, ‘Oh that’s a nice hairstyle’ or ‘Maybe I should try that,’ and tell them it’s a history behind it. It’s not just a hairstyle for me; it’s a cultural statement.”
Expo presenter and natural hair pioneer, Yvette Smalls, has long used the slogan “Braid It-Don’t Burn It” to promote a pan-African appreciation of Afro-textured hair.
“Our hair is our crown and glory and we must embrace that standard,” said Smalls. “The standards of beauty that we’ve been taught are not necessarily beneficial for our people. I help Black women create our own standards.”
According to Smalls, natural hairstyles draw African Americans closer to their roots. “I believe that a lot of the empowerment lies in self-definition and shared experiences,” expands Smalls. “I encourage hair harmony because the essence of beauty is in the soul, not in or of the body.
“My quest of self discovery was beyond image and that’s what made me feel as though it were important to bond and share my experience with women so that we would have to go through some of the things we go through with the issue called hair.”
The Expo will also feature Hollywood newspaper columnist Rych McCain and his new book, “Black Afrikan Hair and The Insanity Of The Black Blonde Psych! (Why EVERY Black Afrikan “MUST” Wear Their Spiritually Divine, Nappy Hair Natural)!” ($25, Valley of Maat Publication). For over 20 years, McCain has researched the critical medial and social effects that have arisen from the poor self-esteem issues that African Americans have over their hair. “Hair is 75 percent of our personality,” said McCain, who has conducted education workshops for over 16,000 community youth and college students.
“The ladies know that,” stresses McCain. “They are not going to go out into the public unless their hair is together. I remember when my mother use to make sure that my sister’s hair was pressed. McCain’s research underscores the “spiritual divinity and physiological functions that natural nappy, kinky, and divine hair performs.”
“Our hair is the only hair that spirals out of the scalp and that’s because of the shape of the follicles but also because of our melanin,” maintains McCain. “When you look at the spiral it is the most profound motion in the universe. Everything on earth spirals. Blood spirals through your vain. Flowers and all plants spiral out of the ground. When you flush or take a shower and look at the water, the water spirals down the drain because of how the earth moves. The same force that creates the spiral of water going down a drain is the same force that creates the same spiral that makes our hair comes out of our head in a spiral form. No other hair in the human family does that.”
60 Second Critic: All The Way From Philadelphia
In Black Folk who matter..., It's a Black Thing That You Need To Understand... on October 9, 2007 at 4:29 pm60 Second Critic: All The Way From Philadelphia
The Three Tenors of Soul, All the Way from Philadelphia
Shanachie Entertainment; $18.98
The soulful “Sound of Philadelphia” once defined the city musically around the world, especially in the songs of ’70s balladeers like the Stylistics, the Delfonics and Blue Magic. The distinctive falsettos of those groups’ lead vocalists on a new album should send a shudder of excitement down the spines of TSOP fans. Instead, producers have taken these magnificent voices and thrown them haphazardly onto a cover album. With karaoke-like presentations of the Bee Gees’ “Too Much Heaven” and Hall & Oates’s “I Can’t Go for That,” this recording teeters on calamity. There are plenty of big names represented on it. Too bad Philadelphia’s golden musical era isn’t.
=Originally published in Philadelphia magazine, October 2007=
…”If you look around the world today, still African Americans are struggling with some major challenges and issues.”
In Black Folk who matter..., It's a Black Thing That You Need To Understand... on October 9, 2007 at 12:10 am
By Bobbi Booker
Few would have single out Iyanla Vanzant when she first arrived in Philadelphia from New York City to become an internationally recognized self-help guru who’d become a force in empowering women of all classes, races and socio-economic backgrounds. Yet, starting with “Tapping the Power Within: A Path to Empowerment for Black Women” in 1992 and for the next decade, Vanzant would go on to write over13 books—some autobiographical—but all containing basic spiritual principles, self-affirmations, and personal rituals. Vanzant graced the New York Times best-sellers list for her works “Yesterday I Cried” (Fireside, 2000), “One Day My Soul Just Opened Up” (Fireside, 1998) and “In the Meantime” (Fireside, 1999). By the 21st century, Vanzant would become an in-demand motivational speaker and television personality recognized as one of “100 Most Influential African Americans” and one of “50 Women Who Are Changing The World” by Essence Magazine.
Vanzant life story of her harsh childhood of being beaten and raped has helped thousands of women (and men) connect and find healing. This week, Vanzant returned to Philadelphia for the duel duties of hosting a three-day a week WURD-AM morning show and presenting a weekend-long self-help conference entitled “Spiritual Living, Spiritual Loving.”
Besides her writing, she has also been involved in television. In 2001 she hosted her own short-lived talk show Iyanla and three years later joined the reality television series “Starting Over” as a life coach. She eventually found the small screen was a big hassle. “When you are doing something like (television) you’re living somebody’s vision of what you should be doing,” explained Vanzant.
“Reality isn’t always real. Television’s commitment is to entertainment, not to healing and my commitment is to healing.”
The majority of Vanzant’s healing lessons takes place at the Inner Visions Institute for Spiritual Development she founded near her home in Silver Spring, Maryland.
When she was introduced to WURD 900-AM listeners this week, many callers welcomed her back to the region. “Philadelphia is where my career took a major shift through the support, encouragement and the nurturing that I did in Philadelphia, particularly at WHAT-AM. It was an opportunity for people to hear me and for me to really connect with people and their ideas, and we’re going to do that again.”
According to WURD 900-AM President W. Cody Anderson, Vanzant’s inclusion to the line up will shore up programming at the sole African American issues focus station in the area. “Iyanla has been a friend for a long time and I really appreciate the fact that she has maintained that relationship,” said Anderson. “She’s willing to do anything that she can do to help us established the kind of image and communication that we want.”
Vanzant emphasized the importance of sharing her message on African American-based radio. “If you look around the world today, still African Americans are struggling with some major challenges and issues,” Vanzant said. “There are so many things that we need to look at and talk about. People are suffering, and our community continues to suffer. We still get the least amount of services. Our children—our families—are in uproar. All of the things that one would think that we had moved through and overcome seem to right back in our face again.”
Vanzant notes that like her students, she had to reevaluate her goals and discipline herself to take time while juggling a hectic schedule, which now includes working on her latest book and multi—media project scheduled for 2008 release. “I’ve learned that it’s not healthy to burn the candle at both ends,” said Vanzant. “So I am learning to be much more gentle with myself and just honor this body, this life in a way that ensures that I’ll be around for a while.”
Spiritual Living, Spiritual Loving with Iyanla Vanzant took place Friday, Saturday & Sunday, March 23, 24 & 25, 2007 at the The Philadelphia Clef Club of Jazz & Performing Arts located 736-38 S. Broad Street (at Fitzwater on The Avenue of The Arts).
= Originally Published in The Philadelphia Tribune on March, 23. 2007=
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“Brown Sugar: Over 100 Years of America’s Black Female Superstars”
In Black Folk who matter..., It's a Black Thing That You Need To Understand... on October 9, 2007 at 12:04 amBy Bobbi Booker
Donald Bogle’s road to uncovering the lives of Black entertainers started in the library of the Philadelphia Tribune that he would comb through while tagging along with his father (then a Tribune executive) on Saturday visits to the office. He recalled being transfixed at the obituary image he discovered of songtress Billie Holiday sporting her trademark gardenia. Already a movie buff, Bogle recalled that he “got caught up in the careers of all these personalities, the moments when they first became successful, the years they peaked as artists, and the periods afterwards when some slipped into decline.” The unique perspective Bogle has as an eyewitness to history has been shared in several books he’s authored including “Toms, Coons, Mulattoes, Mammies, and Bucks: An Interpretive History of Blacks in American Films,” “Bright Boulevards, Bold Dreams,” and the prize-winning biography “Dorothy Dandridge.”
Bogle continues his historical trek and celebration of America’s “dark divas” in the newly designed and updated “Brown Sugar: Over 100 Years of America’s Black Female Superstars” (Continuum Paperback, $34.95). Originally published in 1980, “Brown Sugar” was also the basis for the four-hour, four-part, documentary that appeared on PBS traverses the career trajectory African American women entertainers have blazed from the 19th century through the new millennium. “There are three new chapters (and) 165 new pages, so it’s almost twice the length of the original,” explained Bogle. “If anyone has the first one, it’s probably going to become a collector’s item because it’s designed in a different way with different photos that we couldn’t include in this one.”
An interpretive history, “Brown Sugar” is not only about the accomplishments but also the sometimes heart-wrenching struggles and tragedies of highly talented and ambitious women who set out to announce themselves to the world – and while doing so, surmounted extraordinary obstacles, both professionally and personally. Included are profiles and lavish images of Ma Rainey, Josephine Baker, Ethel Waters, Billie Holiday, Lena Horne, Marian Anderson, Dorothy Dandridge, Pearl Bailey, Eartha Kitt, Leontyne Price, Diana Ross and the Supremes, Aretha Franklin, Pam Grier, Donna Summer, Whitney Houston, Halle Berry, Janet Jackson, Whoopi Goldberg, Angela Bassett, Oprah Winfrey, Lisa Bonet, Jasmine Guy, Lauren Hill, Queen Latifah, Beyoncé and many others.
“The old women (entertainers) most of them came from very tough backgrounds and they were often improvised. Many of them rose out of poverty, which makes their achievement all the more remarkable that they climbed out of that to get to international success. Today, Beyonce and even Whitney Houston grew up in a middle class household, and even Janet Jackson’s (childhood) was even dysfunctional, but it wasn’t what we’d call hardcore ghetto. That’s something that has changed very much for the women.”
Contemporary artists continue to reveal— sometimes unintentionally —that they are inspired by the artist of old and continue to include stylistic dance movements in contemporary. There is an intangible yet intertwined history the women of Brown Sugar share by the dent of commonality as Black women. According to Bogle, this remarkable tradition is largely unknown or not understood—or simply unacknowledged.
“Beyoncé and Josephine (share a) kind of sexuality that is there and the movements as well. You can see that if you see old footage of Josephine Baker. You can see these connections because Josephine Baker moved in a way that white women did not move and that is part of this thing that’s been past on to someone like Beyoncé. A current star might not be aware of where all this has come from. The other thing that Beyoncé has—and there is a connection with these women in the past whether it’s Josephine Baker or Bessie Smith or certainly Ethel Waters—is that Beyoncé never comes across as some sort of woebegone ghetto girl. She exudes this glamour and the idea that she really was born for this life of extravagance and displays a fundamental optimism in her performances. She also has a sense of humor and all of that connects back to these women of the past. You don’t necessarily see that with white female superstars.”
“Brown Sugar” is not only about music stars. It is an unexcelled examination of the lives, careers, and sometimes-contradictory images of African American goddesses of pop culture: the movies, television, music, and theater. Lavishly illustrated, “Brown Sugar” is a pioneering book – for example, in Bogle’s application of the operatic term “diva” to pop goddesses. “One thing about the length of the new book is that there are so many more women working,” said Bogle. “Again, that doesn’t mean that they are working the way that they want to. What we do have now are these women who are able to command multi-million dollar contracts that really were unheard of (before). Someone like Diana Ross and Donna Summer, in the past those women did well and had really good deals for the time, but not like the deals later. Also the women now have their own sort of conglomerate. Beyoncé has the House of Dereon clothing line and these other things that she’s putting together, in addition to her singing career. It mirrors what happens with stars like Jay-Z, P. Diddy. So you do have that sense of women marketing themselves in a certain way and really creating something else besides their music.”
=Originally published in The Philadelphia Tribune on Sunday, July, 22, 2007=
“This is one story the whole world got wrong.”
In Black Folk who matter... on October 9, 2007 at 12:03 amBy Bobbi Booker
“I’m going to tell you a story you’ve never heard before, because no one knows this story the way I know it,” reads the first line of O. J. Simpson’s approved manuscript, “If I Did It. “This is one story the whole world got wrong.”
The story Simpson refers to is the June 12, 1994 murders of his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend, Ronald Goldman. During the sensational trial that followed, Simpson was acquitted but later found financially liable in a civil trial. When it was announced last fall that Simpson had penned (with the help of a ghostwriter) a hypothetical description of the murders, both the Brown and Goldman families urged the public not to by the book or watch the television special tied-in to the book’s publication by HarperCollins. The original release was canceled in November 2006, but by June 2007 copies of the book had leaked online. In August 2007, a Florida bankruptcy court awarded the rights to the book to the Goldman family to partially satisfy an unpaid civil judgment, which has risen, with interest, to over $38 million. The title of the book was expanded to “If I Did It: Confessions of the Killer” ($24.95, Beaufort Books) and comments were added to the original manuscript by the Goldman family, the book’s ghostwriter Pablo Fenjves and journalist Dominick Dunne.
The eventually publication of the book lead to a split between the Browns, who refused to have anything to do with the book’s publicity and the Goldman’s, who have defended their decision in various interviews, including an appearance on ‘Oprah.”
The families quarrels have now been overshadowed by Simpson, whose investigation and arrest in an Las Vegas armed robbery of sports memorabilia have jettison the former sports legend into the headlines again. Simpson’s latest arrest has once again piqued the public’s interest in him and sparked a second printing of his hypothetical murder confession, said the publisher of the rapidly selling tome.
“The arrest brought the whole question of O.J. and the law back into everybody’s consciousness,” said Eric Kampmann, owner of the small, New York-based Beauford, which has commissioned a second printing of 50,000 copies of “If I Did It.”
Overall, the book is a mesmerizing read that deftly intersperses police and court transcripts with Simpson’s recall of the events leading up to and following the sensational killings. It should come as no surprise to readers that Simpson glosses over the actual crime in the chapter entitled, “The Night in Question.”
The Goldman family (whose proceeds will be donated to the Ron Goldman Fund for Justice) views the book as Simpson’s confession and is now encouraging the public to buy the book to learn the truth.
Simpson, who will not receive any payments from this national bestseller, obviously wrote this book as a twisted love story of his relationship with Brown Simpson. “There was no couple like us,” concludes Simpson by book’s end.
=Originally Published in the Philadelphia Tribune on September 24, 2007=
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The Associated Press contributed to this report
…“Everyplace has stories and they don’t get told a lot.”
In Black Folk who matter..., The Book Report, Uncategorized on October 8, 2007 at 11:59 pmBy Bobbi Booker
Photo Credit: James Keyser 2003
Winner of both the Newberry Award and the Coretta Scott King Medal, Christopher Paul Curtis has become one of the most important voices in children’s literature today. His new book, “Mr. Chickee’s Messy Mission” (Wendy Lamb Books, $15.99) continues to delight young readers with Curtis’ uniquely humorous brand of story telling.
Born in Flint, Michigan, Curtis spent his first 13 years after high school on the assembly line of Flint’s historic Fisher Body Plant #1. Although he resides in Windsor, Canada with his wife, Kaysandra, and their two children, his heart remains in Flint, the partial setting of many of his books. “I’m a Flintstone to the bone,” Curtis enthused. “You don’t think that’s something we say with pride, but we do anyway.”
With grandfathers like Earl “Lefty” Lewis, a Negro Baseball League pitcher, and 1930s bandleader Herman E. Curtis, Sr., of Herman Curtis and the Dusky Devastators of the Depression, Curtis felt he was destined to life beyond the factory. “Oh, I hated working in that factory, but like so many people I was trapped. I had to have a new car and I had to pay the bills and I couldn’t get out. It was soul crushing. It was a really tough job physically, mentally and emotionally. I had to quit finally because I wasn’t heading for anything good working in that factory.”
During breaks at the factory, Curtis honed his writing skills enough to convince his wife to suggest that he take a year off from the factory to see if he could make it as a writer. “We had a long distance relationship and he use to write me a lot of letters,” said Kay. “I know he is funny and a good writer and I just thought it was something that he wanted to do and if I could help him in anyway, then we would see how it goes for a year.”
Throughout that year Curtis crafted his outstanding debut in children’s literature with “The Watsons Go to Birmingham—1963.” His second novel, “Bud, Not Buddy,” became the first book ever to receive both the Newbery Medal and the Coretta Scott King Author Award.
“I would tell you that even though I thought he was good,” reflected Kay. “But, I didn’t think he was that good.”
Since Flint is an automobile town, once you leave the factory, you also leave behind the social fabric of the area. Curtis, however, remains true to his hometown roots and frequently visits family or catches a pickup game of basketball with friends. Although he’s lived in Canada for nearly two decades, Flint continues to influence his writing today.
“Everyplace has stories and they don’t get told a lot,” explained Curtis. “And that’s what I tell kids, nothing happened in Flint, but I just told my story about Flint. I could write a thousand stories about things that have happened in Flint. Flint is a very important part of all of my stories so far.”
=Originally Published in The Philadelphia Tribune on February 20, 2007=
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The DJ Spooky remix of D.W. Griffith’s “The Birth of a Nation”
In Black Folk who matter..., It's a Black Thing That You Need To Understand... on October 8, 2007 at 11:52 pmBy Bobbi Booker
Pictured: Paul D. Miller aka DJ Spooky in the midst of a multi-media presentation of “The ReBirth of a Nation.”
Nearly a century after it’s cinematic release, D.W. Griffith “The Birth of a Nation” remains one of the most influential and controversial films in the history of cinema. Although the 1915 movie’s innovative technical achievements were hailed, the film’s Civil War themes also drew protests due to its controversial promotion of white supremacism and glorification of the Ku Klux Klan, who continue to actively use it as a recruiting tool.
The film’s politics made Birth of a Nation divisive when it was released drew significant protest from Blacks across the nation. Riots broke out in Philadelphia and other major cities because it was said to create an atmosphere that encouraged gangs of whites to attack blacks.
So why is noted independent artist, writer, producer, and musician Paul D. Miller a.k.a. DJ Spooky That Subliminal Kid, revisiting the controversial movie in the 21st Century? Because, he says, to forget the past is to repeat it.
“My whole theory about everything right now is that Black culture is a sign of strength and maturity and also just an ability to say that these are issues that don’t define us anymore,” explained Miller. “There a very famous phrase that says, ‘Those who don’t learn from the past are doomed to repeat it.’ And I think in the era of Condi Rice or Colin Powell, or for that matter Barack Obama as one of the first Black senators to be elected since the end of Reconstruction, there’s a lot of issues that are still lingering. So, I look at my Rebirth of a Nation project as saying there’s strength to understanding the dynamics of history. A lot of these issues are still a part of the basic vocabulary of how we think about American culture, whether you look at Flavor Flav’s Flavor of Love where he’s dressed like a minstrel from the late 19th century or the political dynamics of how Barack Obama is flowing.”
“Birth” smashed previous box office records, while ushering in a new standard in films: feature length movies. In its day, it was the highest grossing film, taking in more than $10 million at the box office. The movie’s controversy stemmed from the way it expressed the racist views held by many in the era in its depiction Southern pre-Civil War Black slavery as benign, and the Ku Klux Klan as a band of heroes restoring order to a post-Reconstruction Black-ruled South).
Eventually, Griffith would try to denounce prejudice in his next film “Intolerance” by showing how slavery was wrong, but his legacy would forever remain tied to “Birth of a Nation”. Miller deconstructs and remixes the original movie by applying DJ technique to cinema as an engagement with film, music, and contemporary art.
“I think it’s one of those films that set the tone for how you think about mass culture,” said Miller. “It was the first film that the term blockbuster was created for because so many people would go to see it that they lined up around the block. Also, the film was meant to be a rebellious statement at that time, but it was a rebellion of what whites viewed as politically correct situation and I view it as an ironic kind of reductionist situation.”
Miller is accustomed to creative exploration and intellectual debate, having been seeped in academia since his birth in 1970. Even his moniker is an arcane reference to a character in a William S. Burroughs novel. As the namesake son of Howard University’s dean of law (who died when Miller was three) and his mother, author Rosemary Reed Miller, who ran an international fabric shop off Dupont Circle, Miller spent much of his childhood in Washington, D.C.’s nurturing bohemia before studying philosophy and literature at Bowdoin.
“I grew up in a household where intellectualism was celebrated,” explained Miller.
“I have to admit, it’s okay to be intellectual and I really enjoy that. And I want people to think that Black culture is just about hip hop, but there also is a whole intellectual relationship going on.”
Today, he serves as professor of music mediated art at the European Graduate School in between his global travels as an internationally renowned DJ. Miller was one of the first international artists invited recently to play in Angola where a 20-year tribal war just ended.
“What I’m trying to do is get people to think that DJ culture is about remixing and sampling, flipping beats in different directions, but also it’s about flipping visual rhythm,” noted Miller. “I wouldn’t say that Griffith was getting jiggy or anything, in fact he’d probably be turning in his grave, but that’s kind of the point. The 21st Century is going to get wilder and more intriguing and my film, as a remix, is a celebration of that.”
The Gordon Thether, 3rd & Pearl Street (at base of Ben Franklin bridge) on Rutgers-Camden University campus, hosted DJ Spooky’s multimedia presentation “Rebirth of a Nation” at 8p.m., Friday April 13th, 2007 proceed by free panel discussion at 6 p.m.
=Originally Published in The Philadelphia Tribune on Friday, April 13, 2007=
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…Where Are They Now?An Update on Ex-Music Stars Chubb Rock, Ray Parker Jr. and Others
In Black Folk who matter..., It's a Black Thing That You Need To Understand..., The Book Report on October 8, 2007 at 10:28 amJust as superstar performers Beyonce, Rihanna and Jay-Z are constantly atop music charts, a mere generation ago, performers such as Ray Parker, Jr., similarly were heard everywhere. While Chubb Rock, Father MC and Miles Jaye didn’t share Parker’s blockbuster fame, they too, constructed the music that a generation of listeners boogied down to at parties or chilled out with on dates.
Been wondering about how some of these acts are faring years after their initial success? BlackAmericaWeb.com hopes to answer some of those questions — and some of those rumors — with the following four updates.
CHUBB ROCK
Long considered one of the East Coast’s most dexterous rappers, Chubb Rock (born Richard Simpson) was a former National Merit Scholar who pre-dated Kanye West as the college dropout. Rock launched his rap career in earnest after dropping out of pre-med at Brown University and released his debut album for Select records in 1988. The year 1990 not only opened Rock’s “Treat ‘Em Right,” his biggest tune to date, but also launched the “Chubbster” — his nickname, and also the title of another one of his hit three singles from his album “The One” which reached #13 on Billboard’s “Top Hip-Hop/R&B” chart.
Although Chubb’s infectious party sizzler, “Treat ‘Em Right,” included referenced to his ample height and girth (“6 foot 4 and maybe a quarter of an inch bigger/Than last year but still a unique figure”), the tune also urged listeners to political consciousness with the plea to “never forget Yusef Hawkins,” a 16-year-old black New Yorker who was killed during a racially charged attack in Bensonhurst.
Chubb’s prolific recording career slowed down in the late’90’s, but the Big Man never stopped performing old-school hits for his fans around the globe.
“I’m in a great place,” explained Chubb Rock, 39. “I just started my new label, History Records. We’re doing the new album, ‘The Grown and Sexy Theory.’ We’re working on this documentary called ‘Old School’ that I’m trying to have released January ‘08. I’m in the middle of writing this book right now. This is a good time for me, man. I’m ready to reenter the system, the game, and finish the report card on a good level.”
FATHER MC
During the 90’s, Father MC represented a merger of hip-hop and New Jack Swing. Born Timothy Brown, the former dancehall reggae performer was discovered and signed by upstart Uptown music executive Sean “Puffy” Combs and was instrumental in introducing Jodeci and Mary J. Blige to the listening public.”People will probably recognize me from Puffy dancing in my videos (and) Mary j singing in my joint, ‘I’ll Do 4 U,’” noted Father.From his 1990 debut album, “Father’s Day,” the rapper immediately followed with “Close to You” and appeared on the critically acclaimed Uptown CD, “MTV Unplugged.” As Father MC’s recordings tapered off, he rounded out the decade with a fully nude spread in “Playgirl” magazine.The new millennium brought a different distinction to Father MC, with several arrests for non-payment of child-support. One of his memorable arrests occurred when the radio shock jock Wendy Williams (then working at New York’s Hot 97) set up Father MC to be confronted with police who were called in by the radio host and the mother of Father MC’s babies.
Last year, Father MC’s appearance on the BET Awards sparked more rumors about his future.
“Right now, I’m about to drop an album. It’s called ‘The Noise,’ he said recently. “I got a position at a major label that’s under construction right now. I’ll be a major vice president in ten seconds if everything works itself out.”
MILES JAYE
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The mellow tunes of Miles Jaye Davis may belie his early start in the Air Force, the singing cop in the disco group Village People or as one of the early protege’s of Teddy Pendergrass. His 1988 discovery by Pendergrass lead to Davis’ production their successful collaboration, ‘Joy’, which reached gold status.
Much like his namesake — the trumpeter Miles Davis — Jaye has proven to be a distinctive musician, recording 12 different instruments on several of his critically acclaimed CDs. As a writer and classically trained violinist, Jaye has penned, recorded and produced seven chart-topping hits, including “Let’s Start Love Over” and “I’ve Been A Fool For You.”
Jaye’s reputation as an R&B and contemporary jazz writer has seen him partner with some very notable jazz giants on his musical recordings, including Grover Washington, Jr., Roy Ayers, George Duke, Branford Marsalis, Dexter Wansel and Nat Adderley, Jr. He has also performed with Roberta Flack, Najee, Patti LaBelle, Peabo Bryson, Chaka Kahn, Gerald Levert, The O’Jays and dozens of others.
Jaye has scored more than 40 original compositions, and today concentrates on maintaining his fan base via the Internet.
“You know, I’ve decided to concentrate more and more of my time and attention to the website, www.milesjaye.com,” explained Jaye. “Where traditionally you release one single and one CD at a time, we’ve decided to drop multiple singles, CDs at the same time. We got a hot new summer single called, ‘Still Sexy:’ an R&B CD called, ‘Time to Get My Mind Right,’ a smooth jazz CD coming out with the first single leading called, ‘The Truth about Love.’ Probably my favorite project right now is a project called, ‘Secret Waters, Peaceful Meditations.’ There’s something for everybody.”
RAY PARKER JR.
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Although Ray Parker, Jr.’s sessions work as a guitarist led him to be known as “the musician’s musician,” he is best known to the public for the theme song to the blockbuster “Ghostbusters” movie. However, Parker’s musical legacy spans back to his Detroit high school days, when he was a sought-after guitarist playing on a number of Holland-Dozier-Holland productions. After graduating high school, Stevie Wonder tapped Parker to join his 1972 tour with the Rolling Stones.
In 1977, Parker formed a fictional band, Raydio, and their first hit, “Jack and Jill,” introduced Parker’s signature catchy and infectious music style to the Top 10 on both the Pop and Soul charts. Thus began a string of hits for Raydio that included the smashes “You Can’t Change That,” “A Woman Needs Love” and “Two Places At the Same Time.” Parker also began writing and producing for a number of other artists, and he scored a number one hit in 1982 with New Edition’s “Mr. Telephone Man.”
By 1982, Parker dropped Raydio and began recording under his name. The hits continued with a more mature sound on “The Other Woman” and “I Can’t Get Over You.” Then in 1984, Parker scored his first across-the-board, number-one song with the theme song from the Bill Murray movie “Ghostbusters.” The tune topped the pop and soul charts for over a month and became one of that year’s biggest hits.
The song also became one of Parker’s biggest headaches when controversy arose with rocker Huey Lewis over “Ghostbusters”‘ similarity to Lewis’s 1983 hit “I Want A New Drug.” Parker settled the lawsuit in an out-of-court agreement with Lewis.
However, after “Ghostbusters,” Parker’s sales dropped. Although he had two more hits (1984’s “Jamie,” followed the next year by “Girls Are More Fun”), his 1991 album barely charted.
Today, Parker, 53, says he’s invested his earnings and is doing all right for himself. He took time off in the ’90s to raise his four children and now performs about 75 times a year.
“Nowadays, I am up to having fun,” said Parker. “I do a bunch of concerts now. I made a new record last year; I think it was the longest running instrumental on Smooth Jazz radio. I only want to do things that are fun now. Everyday I wake up, I just want to play with my kids or play with my family.”
BlackAmericaWeb.com Exclusive Series: 20 People Who Changed Black Music – The Prolific Prince, the Fearless, Peerless Rock-Soul Star
In Black Folk who matter..., It's a Black Thing That You Need To Understand... on October 8, 2007 at 10:28 amOriginally published on Friday, June 29, 2007
The musical genius of Prince was immediately apparent when the teenaged artist released his 1979 hit tune, “I Wanna Be Your Lover.”
The world was just getting a peek at the young man who would blossom into an award-winning performer, a man whose artistry and influence would span the globe. Prince’s music has spanned myriad styles — from his early material, rooted in R&B, rock, and soul — and he has constantly expanded his musical palette throughout his career, absorbing many other genres, including funk, New Wave, pop, rock, blues, jazz and hip-hop.
Born June 7, 1958 in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Prince Rogers Nelson honed the circumstances of heritage as the background for his hit movie and Oscar-winning soundtrack, 1984’s “Purple Rain.” Although wildly popular before that point, from there, Prince’s superstardom was launched.
The famously prolific artist has released several hundred songs, sold nearly 100 million albums and won a half-dozen Grammy Awards and five American Music Awards along the way. In addition to “Purple Rain,” his body of work consists of 20 Top 10 hits, which include “Little Red Corvette,” “1999,” “Kiss,” “Cream,” “Diamonds and Pearls” and countless others that remain mainstays among adults, like “Head,” “Erotic City” and “Hot Thing.”
Yet, his achievements where nearly relegated to the B-sides of music history.
Prince adopted an unpronounceable symbol as his official name from 1993 to 2000, thus causing the press to dub him “The Artist Formerly Known as Prince” or simply, The Artist. During that seven-year span, The Artist waged a questionably successful war with Warner Bros. Records, scrawling the word “Slave” along his cheeks and demanding his artistic freedom. He released a number of musically uneven CDs that would alienate some of his fans while drawing puzzled reactions from other music professionals.”His stance about how morally corrupt (his record labels) are after “Purple Rain” and “1999″ was a bit hypocritical for me,” said saxophonist Branford Marsalis. “I thought it was disingenuous of him to criticize the system that enriched him. I agree that the system is not fair, but the system made him wealthy. It was kind of like Michael Jackson accusing Columbia of racism. It kind of rings hollow. It’s hard to really bolster your case when there’s overwhelming evidence that you are criticizing the system that has made you what you are. But at the same time, I like the fact that he understood the business well enough. The music industry is rather corrupt. It’s hard to know how much money you really make because there are so many invisible clauses.”Or, as music journalist and author, Richard Torres concluded: “It’s very tough to gain sympathy for a multi-millionaire.”When the dust settled from battle between Warner Bros. and Prince, the Artist had a completely new strategy to ensure his future artistic and financial control of his creative output. He was among the first to create a successful global online music presence where fans had exclusive access to his music.
In 2004, the new-and-improved Prince was ushered back into the public conciseness with the one-two punch of his February performance with Beyonce Knowles at the start of the Grammy Awards and his induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. Two months later, he would independently release “Musicology,” his biggest album since 1991’s “Diamonds and Pearls.”
LISTEN: Prince’s Musicology
“Prince comes in with the reigning diva of the moment, and he reminded America what he had and what he could do,” said Torres. “And then, it kind of kicked of from there. You get to the ‘Musicology’ stuff where Prince basically said, ‘I’m not gone. I’m still here, and this is the stuff you should basically be listening to.’”Part of the “Musicology” chart success was due to The Musicology Live2004ever summer tour, in which concertgoers received a copy of the album included in the ticket price. The tour was an unparalleled hit, with nearly 100 dates — resulting in a handsome profit for the Artist, and a chart-topping slot for “Musicology” due to the sales link.His scheme prompted both Billboard magazine and Neilson SoundScan to change its chart data methodology, stating that for future record releases, customers “must be given an option to either add the CD to the ticket purchase or forgo the CD for a reduced ticket-only price.”"He did the brilliant thing, where he went on tour and every person who bought a ticket was given a CD, and the CD was SoundScanned,” noted Marsalis, “so, he was going to be one of the biggest selling records of all time because if 18,000 people go to a concert, maybe a 1,000 of them will buy a CD. He was selling 18- to 20,000 CD’s a night and SoundScanning them, so of course the record companies got together and banned him from doing that because he wasn’t affiliated with a major label.”A bold move like that “undercuts all the other ticks on the dog,” Marsalis said. “When people get lucky and bump into a system that works and the world changes around the system, the good ones change with the times, and the really lousy ones fight to enforce the system they have. Good for Prince for being in the situation where he could benefit and have a little schadenfreude over the sinking ship that is the record industry.”
Prince continued his reintroduction to American audiences earlier this year with a stellar performance before a worldwide viewership of 1 billion in more than 230 countries during Super Bowl XLII.
“He has always been a phenomenal live act,” according to Torres. “He’s from the tradition that is now lost. You may have your qualms with a Prince album, but you know when you go to see a Prince concert, you’re going to see an event.”
Now Prince has a Las Vegas venue at which he regularly performs exclusive concerts, while continuing to perform around the world. Fans new and old are already clamoring for his highly-anticipated July 2007 release, “Planet Earth,” which will reportedly feature a reunion of former band mates Wendy and Lisa.
“Prince reminds you of how great he is and can be, and unlike Michael Jackson, he doesn’t give you that cringe factor,” said Torres. “He’s got the chops of a jazz musician. He’s got the aura of a rock musician. But he has the deep-down, gut-bucket funk of a true Black musician.”
For Visionary Black Artists Selling Their Music Online, Every Day is Independents’ Day
In Black Folk who matter..., It's a Black Thing That You Need To Understand..., The Book Report, Uncategorized on October 8, 2007 at 10:26 amR&B singer Eric Roberson has had over 137,000 MySpace.com profile views, and over 5,000 visitors have listened to or downloaded the several tunes he posts at the site from his CD, “Left.” As vocalist N’dambi prepares for her third album release, over 8,600 guests have listened to her song, “If We Were Alone.” You might not be able to score eight-time ASCAP winner Gordon Chambers at your local record store, yet he is a heralded star on CDBaby.com. And while the soulful sounds of Lady Alma have been in the air for years, hearing her on the air is quite another matter.
All of the above independent artists are bonafide stars in their own right, often selling out venues as they tour the nation or world. Their success stems from their affiliation with online music distribution, which has given independent artists new prospects for production, marketing and circulation on a global level, in an instantaneous fashion.
“When people hear of Lady Alma and a lot of other artists who have created a buzz nationally and internationally, the first thing they do is go to the Internet and find more history and music on these people. And if you’ve got music for sale online, that’s the fastest way people can get a hold of the music,” according to Tony Allen, Alma’s former manager. “It’s faster selling online, as far as reaching out to the masses internationally. People all over the world can buy your music, and you don’t have to worry about going to a retail store in Berlin trying to meet a storeowner and educate him on the artist. The community is right there on the Web.”
Online music distribution has given independent artists new prospects for production, marketing and circulation. The Internet has allowed individuals the ability to call their own shots by bypassing “the middleman,” taking control from both record companies and management. Technology has eased the chore of music production and CD duplication. Additionally, online record stores help artists tailor their tunes for music download entities like iTunes and Rhapsody.
“So now, those independent artists can be on the Web site alongside all other major label artists,” explained Croughon. “You can find music from any part of the world online, whether it’s through CDBaby, iTunes or any of the hundreds of independent record labels that sell online. It’s great. It’s just a golden age.”
New York hip-hop artist Count Coolout (born James Minor) recalls the initial street buzz that propelled his 1980 hit, “Rhythm Rap Rock.” Minor, now a music marketing consultant, runs his business online via JaThom Records.
“In the old days, (the major labels) didn’t want to touch us because we weren’t what they considered to be music at one point. A lot of guys were selling on independent labels,” said Minor. “It might be the neighborhood number man, the dealer who lent the money to actually make a label to put a record out. When the labels started to see how this music was being sold, they decided to start signing us and start giving distribution deals as well. Now, it’s come full circle.”
Today, major labels are even more reluctant to accept unsolicited material, forcing potential acts to rely on high-end intermediaries such as entertainment lawyers. Those artists who are signed are often submitted to a formulaic process that leads to similarity in the tunes that do receive airplay.
“What happens today, as opposed to yesteryear when I first started out, is there was no Internet. Back then, if the ‘net existed, there probably never would have been a brother on a major label,” explained Minor. “Today’s artists are selling the CDs from the Internet. They’re on the underground, but they’re still getting fame. The money coming from the ‘net may not be as great as if they were on a major label, but how much of that major money do they keep?”
On average, an artist signed to a major label deals gets about 8 percent of the wholesale selling price of the CD single (about $5) or CD album (approximately $7-$8 each). Depending on the deal the artist signed, they could receive mere pennies on a chart-topping hit song. It was this kind of formula that led to the financial downfall of such artists such as TLC and spurred other artists like Prince to trendsetting online music dominance.
“If a major outfit sells 100,000 CDs, it’s considered a total flop. If an independent person or label sells 10,000 CDs, they’re breaking out the champagne,” says Minor. “Do the math: 10,000 at $10 a pop is $100,000. So the majors, being who they are and doing business the way they’ve been taught to do it, have pushed themselves to the side. And people are just going forward.”
…African Americans Appalled by BET’s “Read a Book” video
In Black Folk who matter..., It's a Black Thing That You Need To Understand... on October 7, 2007 at 9:41 pmBy Bobbi Booker
Black Entertainment Television (BET) is once again embroiled in controversy regarding a music video entitled “Read A Book.” When the video first aired on BET’s “106th and Park” in July, the network invited viewers to join an online discussion about it. Since then the debate has escalated into an exceptionally heated online dialogue on various blogs concerning language and the negative stereotypes of African Americans. The controversial video has become a surprise viral hit for BET as several unedited versions of “Read a Book” recently surfaced on YouTube and drawn over 800,000 viewers.
The “Read a Book” video was developed by BET Animation, a new division established by the network’s president of entertainment, Reginald Hudlin, who made news in July as the executive who green lighted the “Hot Ghetto Mess” (HGM) series. Viewers, angry at BET lack of regard to their complains, took matters into their own hands by starting internet petitions and blogs. Nervous advertisers dropped out, television critics slammed the show and even BET sudden name change from HGM to “We Got To Do Better” could not save the programming from dismal ratings.
However, the “Read a Book” video has spiraled from an innocuous introduction to become an Internet sensation. The pro and con of this debate also highlights the generational—and digital—divide with older viewers saying they feel denigrated and younger ones saying the video is nothing more than a crude joke.
Bomani Ahmer, who says he’s “not a rapper but a poet with a hip-hop style,” wrote and performed “Read a Book.” The catchy video starts with a Lil Jon-like rapper screaming “Read a book, read a book, read a [expletive expletive] book!” In one scene, a woman shaking her rear with “BOOK” printed on her low-riding pants. The video also refers to “Niggas” and reprimands Blacks to raise “your . . . kids,” drink more water instead of alcohol, buy land, “wash your . . . teeth” and “use deodorant.”
“It is a satirical observation of the current ridiculous, offensive, and embarrassing state of the once noble art of Hip Hop,” writes Tcphilosopher , the primary poster of the video on YouTube. BET has not requested the popular video be pulled from YouTube.com. BET, is part of Viacom, the owner of CBS which earlier this year fired radio shock jock Don Imus for using what he called hip-hop-flavored humor in his comments about the Rutgers women’s basketball team.
Jesse Jackson, among others, recently denounced the video, on his radio show. The “video ‘Read A Book’ on YouTube takes us into the abyss,” read Jackson ’s statement. “Billed as a satirical look at popular culture, a viewer is left with the distinct impression that nothing matters, that life is futile, knowledge fruitless, manners meaningless.
“A common definition of satire is witty language used to convey insults or scorn. The video is plenteously scornful and insulting, but not of crassness. The video insults reading, personal hygiene, family values and frugality. “Read a Book” heaps scorn on positive values and (un)intentionally celebrates ignorance. The simplistic repetitive rhyme and tune made it clear that the creator had not taken his own advice, i.e. to ‘Read a Book’”
BET continues to support the video and issued press release praising the video’s positive message: ” ‘Read A Book’ uses an irresistible beat on which to place the catchy, overly repeated lyrics. But instead of exhorting the listener to dance as much of current hip-hop does, he takes the opportunity to suggest ways through which people can better their lives.”
Last month, the home of BET president Debra Lee was targeted by online protesters in an Internet-based plea to urge viewers to boycott the network and to get BET to change its programming. Reverend Delman L. Coates of Clinton , Maryland’s Mt. Ennon Baptist Church and founder of the blog, “Enough Is Enough: Campaign for Corporate Responsibility in Entertainment” reports over 600 people from the northeast corridor had registered for the Saturday protest.
“This campaign does not go after the individual artist because they have the constitutional right to produce whatever music they desire,” This campaign is not debating artistic freedom or individual artists’ rights. This campaign is about corporate responsibility and government responsibility,” said Coates to EUR.com.
“I do think that Black executives have a responsibility to be accountable to the community. There were people before us who suffered, bled, died so that we can have our broadcast licenses. There are people who struggled so that African American executives could benefit from these positions,” Coates added. “Dr. King didn’t die so that we could present ourselves before the world stage in a negative way.”
…Our hair is our crown and glory and we must embrace that standard
In Black Folk who matter..., It's a Black Thing That You Need To Understand... on October 7, 2007 at 9:37 pmBy Bobbi Booker
For the past dozen years or so, there has been resurgence in African American interest in natural hairstyles and care. Natural hair has been prominently featured with sports and entertainment stars and the general public has reflected the increased in popularity of styles such as cornrows, locks, braiding, twists, cropped and locked –most of which originated in Ancient Africa. The recent 13th Annual International Locks Conference: Natural Hair, Health & Beauty Expo in Philadelphia celebrated the splendor of Black culture through classes on overall wellness. The Expo, traditionally held during the first weekend of October, has expanded to two days of education, healthy food options, informative workshops, soothing healing circles, music, fashions, and a stunning hair show and competition.
Sakinah Ali-Sabree started as a conference volunteer and now serves as the operations manager. “The conference is about more than hair,” explained Ali-Sabree. “It also promotes Black businesses and have different vendors offer their products to the community and have workshops to educate the people in the community. It was an outlet for Black business that didn’t have a store.”
Although there has been a reemergence of natural hair, African Americans–and Black women in particular–still face an underlying tone that straightened hair is a more acceptable or professional hairstyle. As recently as August 2007, controversy erupted when “Glamour” magazine apologized for a staffer who called Black women’s natural hairstyles in the workplace “shocking,” “inappropriate” and “political.”
“People feel like ‘locks’ are just a hairdo, but it comes with a little responsibility,” noted Ali-Sabree who accents her hair with elaborate ‘Gele’ head wraps. “That’s why I always stress the importance of education and learning about your hair, culture and your heritage, and basically the background on locks and where it comes from. I’ll have Asians or Caucasians say to me, ‘Oh that’s a nice hairstyle’ or ‘Maybe I should try that,’ and tell them it’s a history behind it. It’s not just a hairstyle for me; it’s a cultural statement.”
Expo presenter and natural hair pioneer, Yvette Smalls, has long used the slogan “Braid It-Don’t Burn It” to promote a Pan-African appreciation of Afro-textured hair.
“Our hair is our crown and glory and we must embrace that standard,” said Smalls. “The standards of beauty that we’ve been taught are not necessarily beneficial for our people. I help Black women create our own standards.”
According to Smalls, natural hairstyles draw African Americans closer to their roots.
“I believe that a lot of the empowerment lies in self-definition and shared experiences,” expands Smalls. “I encourage hair harmony because the essence of beauty is in the soul, not in or of the body. My quest of self-discovery was beyond image and that’s what made me feel as though it were important to bond and share my experience with women so that we would have to go through some of the things we go through with issue called hair.”
The Expo also featured Hollywood newspaper columnist Rych McCain and his new book, “Black Afrikan Hair and The Insanity Of The Black Blonde Psych! (Why EVERY Black Afrikan “MUST” Wear Their Spiritually Divine, Nappy Hair Natural)!” ($25, Valley of Maat Publication). For over 20 years, McCain has researched the critical medial and social effects that have arisen from the poor self-esteem issues that African Americans have over their hair. “Hair is 75 percent of our personality,” said McCain, who has conducted education workshops for over 16,000 community youth and college students.
“The ladies know that,” stresses McCain. “They are not going to go out into the public unless their hair is together. I remember when my mother use to make sure that my sister’s hair was pressed.”
McCain research underscores the “spiritual divinity and physiological functions that natural nappy, kinky, and divine hair performs.”
“Our hair is the only hair that spirals out of the scalp and that’s because of the shape of the follicles but also because of our melanin,” maintains McCain.
“When you look at the spiral it is the most profound motion in the universe. Everything on earth spirals. Blood spirals through your vains. Flowers and all plants spiral out of the ground. When you flush or take a shower and look at the water, the water spirals down the drain because of how the earth moves. The same force that creates the spiral of water going down a drain is the same force that creates the same spiral that makes our hair comes out of our head in a spiral form. No other hair in the human family does that.”
The 13th Annual International Locks Conference: Natural Hair, Health & Beauty Expo2007 took place on October 6th & 7th from 11AM – 8PM at the Walter D. Palmer LLP Charter School 910 North 6th Street. Philadelphia, PA.
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Hot Ghetto Mess is a Hot Damn Mess for BET…
In Black Folk who matter..., It's a Black Thing That You Need To Understand..., The Book Report on July 14, 2007 at 11:00 pm
Escalating backlash against Black Entertainment Television’s (BET) decision to broadcast a six-week series entitled “Hot Ghetto Mess,” or HGM, has led two major sponsors to pull their ads from both the program and the channel’s website last week.
As the controversy swirled through cyberspace and the airwaves, there were unconfirmed reports late Friday night from a blogger who claimed to be close to the show’s host Charlie Murphy that BET had decided to pull the plug on the show.
While BET, owned by communications giant Viacom since 2004, continues to be tight lipped about the details of its lost sponsors or HGM, it’s website continues to promote the July 25 debut while tauting a blackface character with a red slash through its face, along with the tagline, “We Got To Do Better.”
HGM is culled from the website of the same name and features photos and video footage of random African Americans engaged in behavior or dressed in attire considered embarrassing and socially unacceptable. Several requests made to BET’s corporate headquarters to speak with the station’s press liaison and HGM founder Jamilla Donaldson were not returned at press time.
However, a little-know blog called “What About Our Daughters” (WAOD) is striking at the heart of the media conglomerate. In April, Gina McCauley answered the call to make a difference after viewing Oprah Winfrey’s two-day town hall meeting following Don Imus’ demeaning comments and debating hip hop lyrics and the use of the n-word.
A guest suggested that Black women were going to have to make their complaints known, and with that McCauley started her blog. She is now at the head of a blogasphere movement that is comprised of 20 and 30-somethings on the Internet–the same demographic BET has targeted with HGM. What started out as an informal think tank about the images that are absorbed by Black youths with a mere 200 weekly views has exploded to 18,000 daily views and now features a weekly podcast.
On July 1st, McCauley contacted State Farm Insurance Co with her concerns over their sponsorship of HGM. By day’s end, the company had pulled the advertisements. Soon, Home Depot also pulled their ads. McCauley, a 31-year old Austin-based attorney, charges that BET cares only about its income stream and does not about the community they claim to represent.
“First of all, our position has been to stop funding the foolishness,” explained McCauley. “BET can put ‘Hot Ghetto Mess’ up without commercial interruption if it wants to, but I am not going to subsidize it and they should ask Black women who go to work everyday to purchase these products and goods and services of these corporations to subsidize something that demeans them. If these corporations know anything about exhibiting people of color for entertainment and amusement, they wouldn’t be doing this. If they knew anything about the history of blackface and how that affected perceptions of African Americans around the world for centuries they would not do this. I think it’s intellectually dishonest to think that people outside the community who view this aren’t going to use it to either create stereotypes or cement stereotypes that they have. I have a problem with BET looking for the very worse, in their opinion, that the African American community has to offer and beam it around the world.”
The channel calls the 6-week series “a blend of tough love and social commentary.” On the HGM site, Donaldson, a Black lawyer who’s also an executive producer on the BET show, calls for a “new era of self-examination.”
“If it happens to be controversial, that’s fine,” she told the Hollywood Reporter. “If it makes it more marketable, that’s fine, too. ‘Fahrenheit 9/11′ was controversial, too, but (Michael Moore’s) message got out there.”
Donaldson believes people have misinterpreted the intention of her website. “It’s long-standing among African-Americans that we don’t criticize each other in public, you don’t air the laundry,” Donaldson said. “But I don’t buy into it.”
“Whose laundry and for what purpose?” retorts McCauley.” That’s a charade. It has never been about airing dirty laundry until (BET) got criticized. It was always about finding people who looked ‘funny’ and let’s mock and laugh at them. Part of this is Jam being very elitist in trying to imply somehow that because these people are poor and uneducated that it’s okay for us to mock and scorn them. I don’t disagree with her that people shouldn’t be conducting themselves in that way, but I think it’s a big leap from going from the Internet to international broadcast television and I think that BET is a certain stamp of approval because they’re called Black Entertainment Television.”
More disturbing than the proposed airing of HGM is the recent media coverage of the HGM website that has lead to the discovery of photos of African American youngsters posed in provocative ways. McCauley believes these images represent abuse and neglect and that HGM founder has an ethical obligation as a lawyer to report these exploitive images to law enforcement officials.
“There’s pictures of little Black children with cigars in their mouths,” said McCauley. “The LA Times article mentioned (seeing images) of toddlers drinking beer or whatever. I have not clicked on it because I heard a description that some of it could qualify as child pornography and I don’t want that on my hard drive. I just think it’s morally repugnant and disgusting to have photos of African American toddlers in situations where they are being abused and neglected and put that up for entertainment purposes.”
The success that BET may claim for existing for 27 years has increasing been overshadowed by the criticism it has drawn for what many view as demeaning programming. Some people have even referred to the BET acronym as standing for “Black Exploitation Television”.
“They may think of it as some sort of free publicity campaign for the program,” noted pop culture critic and journalist Richard Torres. “You have a network that’s supposedly Black Entertainment Television which is white-owned. And it’s funny because BET keeps trying to explain itself saying its catering to the 18-34 demographic, the same demographic that by the way is losing it’s life in Iraq and is at risk from various forces, yet they don’t address those issues. You have a Black man running for president, who by all accounts is a credible candidate, and they don’t cover that. Instead you get ‘Hot Ghetto Mess.’”
“The problem is that there are always going to be sellouts in our community who are going to look for the quick dollar or the quick 15 minutes of fame,” said Lawrence Otis Graham, one of the nation’s leading experts on race, politics and class in America. “The problem is that because the white media allows so few Black voice to come through that they often pick the most provocative and shocking person or voice to tell our stories.”
As a way to circumvent broadcasting regulations several years ago, BET created a late-night segment called “Uncut” to air uncensored videos. Perhaps the most notorious video to air, which for many came to exemplify BET’s program choices, was “Tip Drill” by Nelly that depicted him swiping a credit card between a stripper’s buttocks. The video spurred such outrage that Spelman University students teamed up with Essence magazine’s “Take Back the Music” campaign and forced the last-minute cancellation of a Nelly concert scheduled at the Atlanta-based school.
Much in the spirit of Dr. C. Delores Tucker’s epic battle with Warner Records over the depiction of Black women in hip-hop lyrics, there are a handful of Black women who are leading the charge against BET’s insistence on airing HGM. Latrice Janine, a 25-year-old college student out of Chicago, has obtained over 4,200 signatures since January in her online petition against HGM.
McCauley says she finds similarities to the potential airing of HGM and the exploitation of Saartjie Baartman, a 19th century European sideshow known as the “Hottentut Venus.” “Because she looked different they would take her to parties wearing nothing but feathers and just looking at her was entertainment,” said McCauley. “This to me is the exact same thing. For BET, who has made its money on perpetuating stereotypes to now turn around and say that they’re trying to combat the thing that they promoted is like a crack dealer suddenly opening up a rehab.”
… Rebecca Walker’s emotional and intellectual transformation through birth
In Black Folk who matter..., The Book Report, Uncategorized on March 27, 2007 at 4:33 pmOriginally published in The Philadelphia Tribune, Sunday, March 25, 2007
The generation of child bearing women who are now in their twenties and thirties are faced with a myriad of choices as they contemplate pregnancy. Many young women are faced with uncertainty as they juggle the demand of their personal and professional lives. Like other women in her generation, bestselling author Rebecca Walker’s was at a crossroads when making her life altering decision to experience pregnancy, childbirth and parenthood and she share her concerns in her latest memoir, “Baby Love: Choosing Motherhood After a Lifetime of Ambivalence” (Riverhead Books, $24.95).
For fifteen years Walker recognized a persistent yearning to have a baby but feared actually choosing to do it. As a result, she almost missed what she now knows to be the single most meaningful experience of her life. “When I was writing the book I was thinking a lot about how important it is for young women to strategize and prioritize having a child if its something they want to do and not to let the very finite period of their fertility get past them because of their ambivalence, or because of fear or because of different relationships in their lives that haven’t been resolved. It is such a powerful experience that if you miss it, you miss. It’s a message I really diidn’t get when I was younger, and I wish I had, so I feel like it’s my responsibility having to come into that awareness to just put it out there.”
In Baby Love, Rebecca Walker tells the story of her pregnancy: not just the physical evolution, but also the emotional and intellectual transformation from ambivalence to certainty to unconditional love. It’s the story of the birth of her son, Tenzin, the development of her relationship with her partner, Glen, and the demise of her relationship with her mother and fellow author, Alice Walker.
This older Walker opposes her daughter’s decision to have a baby and challenges Rebecca’s account of their relationship in the memoir “Black, White and Jewish.” Alice ends their relationship and removes Rebecca from her will, and Rebecca endures a tumultuous pregnancy, estranged from her mother as she prepares to become one herself. Tenzin, now 2, has yet to meet his grandmother.
“I think it’s the best thing for everyone’s mental and emotional health,” Walker says. “I support the decisions that I have made to make a better life for my child. I’ve always been open to reconciliation and I always will be, but it has to be in such a way that healing will take place and not harm.”
Like her mother, Walker has received numerous awards and accolades for her writing and activism. The elder Walker is one of the most prolific and important writers of our times, known for her literary fiction, including the Pulitzer Prize-winning The Color Purple (now a major Broadway play).
Walker acknowledges the sacrifice that her mother made to become one of America’s most recognized African American authors. “In many ways, it’s much easier for me than it was my mother,” explained Walker. “There are some differences in terms of the pressures and the arduousness of the task of being an African American woman writer at that time. She had to break ground that I don’t have to. The pressures and the resistance were tremendous in a lot of ways and so the impact on our home life was more intense. I clearly have obstacles that I have to negotiate, but it’s a different time so I think the extreme of the experience won’t be the same for Tenzin.”
As we speak, the sound of birds chirping emanate in the background of the Hawaiian home she’s made with her son and partner. Walker says she has found a secure place, within her self, to enjoy her life and her decisions. Today, Walker draws strength and serenity from the realization that her unconditional love for her son is vastly different from her mother’s love for her.
“I think (motherhood) makes me more appreciative of this journey to have realized that I could have missed it allows to embrace it even more every day,” reflects Walker. “I could just stare at my son for hours. I have to stop myself because I’m just so in awe of the experience. I definitely think that coming close to missing it has made it a more precious experience for me.”
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From obscurity to worldwide recognition…the rise of ‘Oh Happy Day!’
In Black Folk who matter..., The Book Report on March 16, 2007 at 1:20 pmFirst appear in Sunday, March 18th edition of the Philadelphia Tribune.
The power of music was clearly demonstrated in the late 1960’s when a simple song recorded in a church basement became an unlikely social phenomenon. An old gospel song had been revamped by Edwin Hawkins and recorded live with the Northern California State Youth Choir as two-track-recording of 500 copies. Street buzz in the Bay Area lead to the track being picked up by a local DJ and subsequently released commercially. The initially humble recording of “Oh Happy Day” would within months transform the worldwide definition of gospel music, soar into the US Top 5, win a Grammy and secure massive sales worldwide. On an international level, you can guarantee that audiences know the lyrics to “Oh Happy Day” just as well as other merry sing-alongs like “Happy Birthday” and “Jingle Bells.
The funky, soulful and R&B infused gospel sound of “Oh Happy Day” single-handedly ushered in the Contemporary Gospel sound that resonate four decades later. The song also introduced us to the vocals of Tramaine Hawkins, the then-16 year old granddaughter of Bishop E.E. Cleveland, one of the founders of the Church of God in Christ. “When they took it underground and they started playing it on secular radio and it caught on, we went on our first tour to New York,” recalled Hawkins. “It was about 60 of us. And we had chaperones, baby! Some of us had never been out of Oakland. We’d never been out of Berkeley.”
“Oh Happy Day” became an instant classic and propelled the Edwin Hawkins Singers to unexpected major cross over success. “That song opened the door for us,” Hawkins said. “We opened for Diana Ross. We were on with the Jackson 5 singing ” ‘Oh Happy Day.’”
By the 70’s Hawkins had become the lead singer for the best-selling “Love Alive” series (spearheaded by her former husband Walter Hawkins) and quickly became a popular solo artist. She would go on to be inducted into the International Gospel Hall of Fame, win two Grammy Awards, two Dove Awards, an NAACP Image Award and a Gospel Music Excellence Award. With 10 solo albums to her credit and a self-imposed hiatus behind her, Lady Tramaine, as she is now known, has just released her latest CD, “I Never Lost My Praise (Zomba Gospel, $17.95) to rave reviews. Many critics are heralding her reinterpretation of “Oh Happy Day,” which Hawkins recorded solo for the first time in her career. She says it was not only time to memorialize her version of the song, but it was also time to honor the creator of the masterpiece. “I felt it was time to give tribute to Edwin,” said Hawkins. “He started all of this before any of us. Edwin is the one who penned ‘Oh Happy Day’ and put the contemporary sound on the map. It’s time, I feel, to allow him to know how much I appreciated his walk with the Lord. Edwin is the same today as he was in 1968 when we all fell in love with the Edwin Hawkins sound.”
The Hawkins Sound allowed Tramaine to travel the world with her musical ministry. “I’m one of the busiest artists out there without having any material or a CD out there,” said Hawkins, who had in recent years lost both parents, suffered health crises and faced “life altering personal challenges.”
She said it was during the 2000 recording of her last CD, “Still Tramaine” that she “could sense that things were really changing in the music and recording industry. And that wasn’t so comfortable in feeling that I had the kind of passion and desire to deal with all that stuff. I come from a different era, so to speak. I’m grateful for the true pioneers: The Caravans, Mahalia Jackson and all of them. They really put Gospel on the map and they were my mentors. I grew up listening to those trailblazers.”
One of the challenges Hawkins faced was fitting into a new music marketing world where focus groups and chart position determines airtime, and ultimately overall recording income. “I been through some real rough places and had some major disappointment, even with this industry and my own record company,” Hawkins sighed. “After six or more years of not recording and becoming, honestly, real, real disenchanted–uninspired–with the industry. Feeling like there is so much now that is totally different from the heydays of the (“Oh Happy Day”) recording I was a part of, the ‘Love Alive’ series and even my earlier albums. It was about the real music. It was about relationships. Now, what I’m told it’s about, is the real business of it with focus groups, this that and the other, making decisions.”
Hawkins also knows that an underground DJ would stand little chance of revolutionizing music genre. Today, the focus is on branding, not cultivating. “Announcers that lived and breathe the music were responsible for some of the airplay that the Hawkins family has received down through the years. Songs that people even continue to sing now, they just continued to play and it didn’t matter if it wasn’t in the top 10 or 30.”
During her recording interim, her producer son Jamie Hawkins, introduced her to praise and worship material. Then the younger Hawkins and gospel hit maker Kurt Carr team up to produce “Praise.” For Lady Hawkins, the timing of her and Carr’s teamwork could not have been better. “He collaborated with my son and just did his thing.”
As the organist of the late Rev. James Cleveland and a skilled performer in is own right, Carr had been a longtime fan of Hawkins. Hawkins said she took one of Carr’s initial calls about the project while she was in the midst of a prayer service. “‘I got a song for you,’” Hawkins recalled Carr saying. “‘God told me to call you and sing it to you over the phone.’” Hawkins sheepishly acknowledged that while she shouldn’t have had the phone on during service she was glad it rang. On the other end, Carr sang what would eventually become the title song of the collection: “I lost some good friends along the way/Some loved ones departed in heaven to stay.”
“Tears began to stream down. I listen to the whole song and afterwards I was just about speechless because I was so emotionally in tune to the song because it was just what God had been allowing me to go through since my hiatus from the recording industry.”
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…Tavis Smiley does it again. And again. And…
In Black Folk who matter..., The Book Report on March 5, 2007 at 10:19 amBy Bobbi Booker
Originally appeared in the The Philadelphia Tribune
Sunday, March 4th, 2007
After receiving the coveted number one New York Times bestselling position for over 13 weeks, Tavis Smiley shopped his “Covenant With Black America” follow-up with several New York publishers, only to be turned down.
“I couldn’t get a single publisher in New York to take this book,” Tavis disclosed exclusively to the Tribune during his impromptu March 1st visit to Philadelphia. “I couldn’t get anyone to take because they thought the first one was a fluke,” he explained, mockingly adding the adage, “Black people don’t read books.”
Well, again, African American readers have proven the publishers wrong with “The Covenant in Action”(Smiley, $10) entering the NY Times list last week at number 14. “They did not ever think we would make another book that would make the list,” Tavis said.
Upon its release during the State of the Black Union 2007 last month, “The Covenant in Action” is a compendium of advice for the African American community to become more civically and politically engaged. “Something is happening where Black readers are concerned,” noted Smiley. “Black America, again, is ready for a thoughtful dialogue about how we advance the community.”
“The Covenant in Action” was developed to continue the inspirational spirit of the “Covenant With Black America” and to empower people to take effective action to achieve “The Covenant goals. The information, tools, and ideas presented in “The Covenant in Action” will enable people to become agents of change in their respective communities and to become partners in a larger Covenant movement.
According to Smiley, proceeds from this recent text will be used to finance the movement. “You can’t sustain a movement without funds,” Tavis explained. “And in the 21st Century, you’ve got to have a 21st Century strategy which means Internet, a website. We had the website up and running, but we couldn’t build upon it, grow it, make it more interactive, or use it as the meeting place for all the covenant activities because it needed funds to make that happen.”
“The Covenant in Action” is organized into three parts: stories about the projects and actions that everyday people have undertaken over the past year that were inspired by the Covenant With Black America; motivational essays from young Black activists who are on the ground impacting their environments; and a toolkit outlining steps you can take to organize, connect, and act.
Many of the hundreds of Philadelphians who came out to meet Smiley during his two area book signings last week said they have already incorporated the “Covenant” messages into their lives. “I think that he’s a trailblazer when it comes to organizing and bringing prominent people together in order to tackle Black issues,” said James Johnson, a 41 year-old poet and prison correctional officer at Graterford prison. “A lot of the things he talks about I implement in speeches or in my poetry.”
As a community leader, Raymond T. Jones, Jr., co founder of Men United for a Better Philadelphia says his group has implement similar innovative approaches to their organizing and community building. “Some of the stuff that we’ve done with Men United has been a quasi ‘Covenant’, if you will,” Jones said. “That’s why we get on those street corners because we have a connection to the plight and the future of Black men. We thought if you’re going to make a change, you’ve got to go where brothers are.”
While in town, Smiley also met with Mayor John F. Street to finalize plans for “Table of Free Voices USA” that will be staged in October in Fairmount Park Philadelphia, with more than 100 leaders for “the world’s largest social discourse” discussing a range of issues and topics with an audience in a Q&A-style setting that will have a Web simulcast. “The concept is basically is to keep The Covenant conversation moving. So, here we are now with a 400 year journey behind us, these presidential elections in front of us.”
Smiley, who hosts an eponymous talk show based out of PBS’ Los Angeles affiliate KCET-TV, will host a forum with Democratic presidential candidates to air June 28 at Howard University in Washington. A similar session with Republican candidates will be held September 27 at Morgan State University in Baltimore. “I get a chance to lead a discussion with all the candidates forcing them in primetime on PBS to address the issues in ‘The Covenant’ that matter to Black people. So the old saying is true that Black folk have no permanent friends; we have no permanent enemies. We only have permanent interests.”
Smiley is heard or seen daily with via the web, television, his nationally syndicated commentary, The Smiley Report or via his political commentary on the nationally syndicated “Tom Joyner Morning Show.”
Smiley’s gift as an impassioned speaker has rallied millions of African Americans to become more politically savvy. Smiley has brought thought provoking discussions, engaging town hall meetings, and exciting consumer expos to communities across the country. Conversations such as “The Black Think Tank,” “Building Inroads to Technology: Bridging the Digital Divide” and the “State of the Black Union” series have reached over one hundred thousand conference attendees and 83 million C-SPAN viewers.
Since last month’s “State of the Black Union” the Virginia state officially passed legislature regretting it role in America’s slave trade—a mere 144 years after the Emancipation Proclamation. “I think it’s an effort—an attempt on their part—and I think that an all-out apology would be very important,” Smiley said. “I wish that Bill Clinton had apologized, when he was president, officially. To express deep regret verses saying, ‘We’re sorry, we were wrong and we apologize’ are two fundamentally different things.”
Last week’s announcement that New York City symbolically banned use of the word nigger today drew a calculated response from Smiley. “My measure opinion is it hasn’t risen yet to the top of my personal agenda for the work that needs to be done,” Smiley said. “That doesn’t mean I condone the use of the word; it just means that investing the energy into that is a fight somebody ought to fight, and I’m glad somebody is.”
And one of the biggest debates mainstream media is engaged in is the definition of “Blackness” when it comes to the presidential candidacy of Sen. Barack Obama, an issue Smiley deftly tackled. “The question as to whether or not Barack is Black enough is a ridiculous and absurd question. We don’t have the luxury in Black America–the luxury or the right, quite frankly–to ask who is or isn’t Black enough. And I don’t know how you define that anyway. So the question for me is where does he stand on the issues that matter to Black people? If Black is the standard, than (Hilary Clinton) and any of the other candidates aren’t Black enough. It’s not about whether you’re Black enough or white enough; it’s whether you are right on the issue that matter to Black people. The bottom line is this: it’s not about Black or white as much as it is about wrong and right. Is Barack right or wrong on the issues that. Once he gets a chance to be heard on those issue, than we can make an informed decision.”
Smiley’s goal to share the inspirational spirit of the “Covenant” continues to resonate with Black America. “Tavis is just very inspirational,” said South Philadelphia resident Katrina Daws, 40. “I think he provides our people speech. He really provides us with a lot of information and I think that’s very important in the African American community.”
For more information, go www.covenantwithblackamerica.com
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“We live in a world where the main sexual position is called the missionary…”
In Black Folk who matter..., The Book Report, Uncategorized on November 17, 2006 at 10:40 amZane is a one-name publishing phenomena who through erotic novels and millions of fans has become a brand name unto her self. The acclaimed author, publisher, bookseller and producer joins Toni Morrison and Terry McMillan as one of only three African-American women to make the New York Times fiction bestseller “print list” in this century. For years, she kept her identity secret, and still refuses to tell her name, choosing instead Zane, a moniker she picked up while visiting Internet chat rooms. She’ll tell you she’s the divorced mother of three sons and spends her days in suburban Maryland tending them. Yet for Zane, writing erotica is akin to sliding into a sexy negligee. And when readers come away from her salacious books, like “Addicted,” “The Sex Chronicles: Shattering the Myth,” “Gettin’ Buck Wild: The Sex Chronicles 2,” ” Shame on it All, and “The Heat Seekers,” they almost feel like peeling back the sheets and taking a long drag from a cigarette.
Zane, 40, looks very much the suburban mother she is. But she is much deeper. She recalls becoming a speed-reader at age 10 and polishing off several books a day by middle school. Writing came naturally to her, but she chose to follow another career after graduating from Howard University. It wasn’t until age 30 that she started her writing hard-edged erotic stories for her own enjoyment. After developing a cult following through Internet circulation, Zane turned down several deals with publishers who sought to tone down her work’s hard-core sexuality. She self-published her first three titles in 2000, selling over 250,000 copies through word-of-mouth alone. She has since sold over 6 million books.
Recently, the prolific author was in Philadelphia to promote “Love Is Never Painless: Three Novellas” ($22.95, Atria Books) by herself and two other authors, Eileen M. Johnson and V. Anthony Rivers. Next year, Zane will hit the big screen with the release of the erotically charged thriller, “Addicted.” In her partnership with Suzanne de Passe, de Passe/Zane Entertainment, she will produce at least six film projects yearly as well as television series and straight-to-DVD projects.
“Suzanne de Passe and I teamed up almost two years ago and we were going to put ‘Addicted’ straight to DVD, but then Lion’s Gate approached me about doing it as a theatrical release, which made it all the better,” explained Zane. “I mean really, situations just kind of find me. I don’t really go looking for them. It’s kind of strange actually. I didn’t go looking for a movie deal like that but I got one and that all that matters. “
The deal, which will pair Lionsgate’s targeting of specific market segments with Zane’s passionate fan base of predominantly African-American women, continues Lionsgate’s commitment to bringing cultural sensations in large niches to a broader North American filmed entertainment audience.
“‘Addicted’ does for women what “Fatal Attraction” did for men,” said de Passe. “It will make women think twice before risking it all!”
Like many of Zane’s novels, “Addicted”, has been translated into several foreign languages.
“My novels have allowed me to encourage cultural conversation about the taboo topic of women’s sexual desire, and by turning ‘Addicted’ into a feature film with Lionsgate, that conversation will be expanded,” Zane said. “I know from communication with my fans that when women liberate themselves sexually, it improves all other aspects of their lives, so getting my first film made is a personal and political triumph for me.”
Zane has built a fervent following through her explicit, erotic depictions of female desire as told from an African-American perspective. She is also the publisher of Strebor Books International, an imprint of ATRIA/Simon and Schuster. Under Strebor, she acquires 15 to 25 titles a year and currently has nearly 50 authors under her imprint. Next year, she will launch a Christian Fiction Line and a Youth Fiction line, as well as a body product line this summer and clothing and adult toy lines in the fall. 2007 will also mark the release of “Dear G Spot,” Zane’s first non-fiction book.
“It’s really a collection of many of the advice mail I’ve gotten throughout the years, as well as my commentaries on different subjects,” said Zane. “I think it will show people how confused they really are about relationships and their sexuality and also reemphasizes why I do what I do: because there is a need for it and that is the reason why it works and women crave it.”
Although women are Zane’s primary book fans, men have taken to viewing her advice on line at Zaneland where her blog has become quite popular because of her sexual candor.
“We live in a world where the main sexual position is called the missionary position and as far as I’m concerned that says it all: Men think that we are vessels for their pleasure,” asserts Zane. “My whole point is if women are going to have sex in their lifetime—and the majority of us do—there’s no reason we should walk away from the experience any less satisfied than the man.”
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“What I can do is give whatever I have got to another African American business person,” said Dehlia Winder. “Which I feel could help them.”
In Black Folk who matter..., Uncategorized on November 15, 2006 at 12:44 amRestaurateur Dahlia Winder traded in her life of corporate comfort in 1984 for a chance to explore her culinary creativity and taste buds across the country have applauded her decision ever since. The road to Winder’s success began when she open her one-woman food stand in Philadelphia’s historic Reading Terminal Market. Today, she employs more than 60 people who work in six Delilah’s Southern Cuisine stands. But it wasn’t until Oprah Winfrey tasted Winder’s Mac and cheese that the nation and world were alerted to one of Philly’s longtime treats. Winder’s debut cookbook, “Everyday Soul: Southern Cooking With Style” (Running Press Book, $29.95) documents her lifelong love affair with food.
“Everyday Soul” is much more than a book of recipes as it reflects the duel identity Winder had growing up in both the South and the North. It reads almost like a biography, as it is interspersed with color photographs recalling Winder’s life from childhood summers in Richmond, VA to entrepreneurial success in Philadelphia. From the book’s opening image of Miss Delilah Winder sassily strutting through Old City Philadelphia to the delectable photos of her signature recipes, each image portrays the passion that Winder’s hip and colorful spirit brings to life and food. Delilah’s food has received numerous accolades, including 100 Favorite Foods by Saveur Magazine and Best of Philly, but it was the Best Mac & Cheese declaration by Oprah Winfrey that brought Winder national recognition.
An entire chapter in Everyday Soulis devoted to Winder’s Oprah appearance and describes everything from the initial call from the Harpo headquarters to Winfrey’s final pronouncement. Winder’s signature hands on approach were pivotal in her recipe being personally delivered to Chicago for Winfrey literally hot out the oven. “The experience catapulted me from a local to a national stage,” noted Winder. “And my life as a cook and restaurateur was forever changed.”
The recipes in Delilah’s Everyday Soul are arranged by occasion and accented with special memories, tips, and suggestions for preparing and serving. They feature traditional soul food like Delilah’s delectable fried chicken and strawberry lemonade, and also include more modern renditions of the fare, plus alternative ingredients for those who want to try healthier versions of the spectacular recipes.
“I eat everything,” says Winder. “I don’t exclude anything from my diet. I eat all types of food. I love all different ethnic, because, you see, I’m a people person and I believe everybody has something to offer.” She also maintains an active lifestyle which also keeps her in shape and supplements her workouts. “It’s all about being active and eating a well balance diet,” explained Winder. “I’m up. I’m cleaning my house. I’m cooking. I’m going grocery shopping. I’m in movement.”
Winder’s was appointed earlier this year as chairwoman of the African-American Chamber of Commerce, succeeding A. Bruce Crawley as the point person in representing African-American business interests in the city. She says she intends to share what she’s learned as a successful business person with others like herself. “What I can do is give whatever I have got, or whatever I have experienced, to another African American business person which I feel could help them.”
When asked what lies ahead for her professionally, Winder coyly suggests the “possibility” of a television show. What she’s really planning for is a long overdue expansion of Bluezette’s current offerings. When she opened Bluezette in Philadelphia’s Old City district in 2000, her Latin, Caribbean, and soul food restaurant become an instant hit as the go-to cocktail destination for the after work business set. Now, Winder says, it’s time for an update.
“Bluezette is going to become a restaurant just like every thing else I have. We’re going to have lunch and dinner and on the weekends we’re going to have lunch and brunch. I’ll probably make a few changes interior wise,” explained Winder. “And I need all of Philadelphia to put their arms around that for Bluezette to continue to be what I wanted it to be: A restaurant.”
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Lifestyle/Leisure/Literature
<a href=”http://technorati.com/tag/black-folk-who-matter” rel=”tag”>black-folk-who-matter</a>
A Woman’s Place is before an orchastra…
In Black Folk who matter... on November 14, 2006 at 11:51 am“Music only speaks one language…”
A hundred years ago, a woman interested in classical music performance but were expected to choose instruments like the guitar, the lute, the harp, or a keyboard instrument that emitted soft, delicate, sounds and allowed them to appear attractive and graceful while playing.
That was then.
Today, women are breaking through gender barriers proving they are strong enough to perform not only as superb instrumentalists, but conductors of symphony orchestra.
Jeri Lynne Johnson, the 2006 Taki Concordia Conducting Fellowship (TCCF), recently passed the baton to her successor, Rei Hotoda, during an exclusive reception in Philadelphia at the Penthouse at the Residences at Two Liberty Place.
Radnor Trust chairman Jerry Johnson, and his wife Rae, were visibly beaming during their daughter’s welcoming comments to the nearly 100 area community leaders and noted members of the financial and classical music world who had gathered to celebrate the younger Johnson’s burgeoning career as a conductor. Johnson was composed until she mentioned her husband, Ian, with whom she shares a bi-coastal relationship.
“I am overwhelmed by the generosity and the support I’ve received,” said Johnson. “Because it is a difficult road to become a conductor, as you all well know.”
TCCF was founded Maestra Marin Alsop in 2002 to assist young women who want to pursue careers as conductors of major symphony orchestras. As a winner of the fellowship, Johnson worked with Alsop in coaching sessions, rehearsals and performance sessions with symphony orchestra worldwide. In her last act as a TCCF, Johnson introduced Alsop along with the program’s financial sponsor Tomio Taki.
“This fellowship is about enabling young women who have the talent,” said Alsop, the first woman conductor of a British and major American orchestras.
“This is something that is dear to my heart because one of the issue with women, whether it’s in conducting or any kind of leadership, is it shouldn’t be about gender,” continued Alsop. “It should be about having access and opportunity and that should be open to every single person regardless of gender or anything. My goal through this fellowship is to create opportunities because to be a conductor you can’t actually try it until you try it.”
Taki, a longtime fashion apparel executive, pledged to continue to nurture the aspirations of women conductors. “Everybody think that a woman conductor is a novelty item, and I say ‘No, this shouldn’t be a novelty thing,’” intoned Taki. “Man, woman, the color of people or language doesn’t make no difference. Music only speaks one language.”
The stylish reception also marked the debut presentation of newly opened residences on the top 20 floors of Two Liberty Place, one of Philadelphia’s best known sky scrapers.
“What’s interesting tonight is the fine arts meets the fine art of a wonderful, spectacular, one-of-a-kind building,” said the project’s developer Arthur Falcone.
Alsop, recently appointed musical director of the Baltimore Symphony, had arrived in Philadelphia mere hours after a mid-day performance in Pittsburgh. Hotoda, however, was unable to attend the reception because she was performing in her duties as the newly appointed Assistant Conductor of the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra and sent her regards via satellite.
Johnson began conducting while working toward a Master of Music degree in late Romantic/ early Modern music theory and history at the University of Chicago. In February 2002, Johnson made her debut in The Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts. Johnson is currently creating and conducting new artistic collaborative projects with composers, artists, inventors and musicians for Philadelphia based “Arts in Motion”.
Philadelphians will have a chance to witness history in the making when Johnson joins Alsop during an upcoming January 2007 performance with the Philadelphia Orchestra.
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“…If you look at it from the perspective of those enslaved, it was an American nightmare.”
In Black Folk who matter... on November 14, 2006 at 11:14 amWhen legendary book dealer A.S.W. Rosenbach founded the Rosenbach Museum & Library Museum in Philladephia with his brother and business partner Philip at the turn off the 20th Century, they never sought to examine the Black experience in America. Instead, they built an outstanding collection of rare books, manuscripts, furniture, and art, which now sits as a world-renowned museum and research library set within two historic 1865 townhouses in the Rittenhouse Square area that reflects an age when great collectors lived among their treasures.
A new millennium reexamination of the varied and diverse collection yielded an abundant of evidence of the African American experience. So in what is a departure from the museum’s standard exhibits, “Look Again” ask visitors to view American history as inclusive of Black Americans. Simply put, African American history and American history are, in a word, inseparable.
The exhibit begins in Africa, homeland of the African Diaspora, and contains materials from the late 1500s through the 1900s and general reflects Europeans views of Africa. During this time, Europeans and Americans commonly perceived Africa as a “dark” exotic continent, suggesting it had no important history and made few contributions to human civilizations. This attitude obscured Africa’s rich, extensive history and replaced it with myths and misconceptions.
Those erroneous beliefs are what the exhibit’s consulting curator, Dr. Diane Turner, sought to correct. “I was very adamant about beginning in Africa before we even look art these documents and books because Africa provides Americans of African descent with out humanity,” explained Turner. “Often times in American history, enslaved Africans are referred to as ‘the slaves.’ But when you go back and you make reference to Africa you begin to se that these individuals were human beings who were taken from their families and various societies and were brought to the Americas for some very specific reason of their labor. Also they were brought because of their cultural and technological knowledge, which helps to build the very foundations of American society as we see it to day. Often that gets lost when you just talk about ‘the slaves,’ that they don’t have any history. Yes, they have history. They came from places where they had high cultural and technological knowledge and this is what made American society flourish.”
Turner credits her studies as an African American history major at Temple University under the guidance of the late Dr. Clement Tsehloane Keto, Dr. Malafi Asante and Charles Blockson as pivotal to shaping her outlook. Turner was a curator for four years at the African American of Philadelphia until earlier this year and currently teaches her major at Camden County College.
“I think it was a good collaboration because they had these objects, documents and so forth, and I provide them an African perspective in looking at slavery and actually how it was viewed by Americans of African descent,” said Turner.
The “Look Again” exhibition is organized in five sections: Africa, slavery, Resistance to Slavery, Founding Fathers and the Civil War. A sixth section on African American literature is displayed in a separate part of the museum.
“The museum agreed that it was important to look at the fact that enslaved Africans were not passive and that they were active in the process to deal with a major theme in American society,” said Turner. “That theme is freedom and they were preoccupied with that on a daily basis, whether it meant running away, work slowdowns, breaking tools, or pretending to be ignorant. The root of running away or escaping begins with the Africans themselves.”
Sometimes, to escape racial oppression, African Americans would redefine their race, or “pass.” The exhibit tells the story of Belle da Costa Greene, who was a close friend of Abraham Rosenbach and one of the most powerful women in the art world in the early 20th century. She was personal librarian to J.P. Morgan, then considered one of America’s wealthiest men, and after his death became director of the Pierpont Morgan Library in New York City for many decades. She traveled the globe spending millions of dollars buying and selling rare books, manuscripts and art and befriending famous artists and scholars, all the while keeping secret the fact that she was African American, and instead passed for Portuguese.
“When you look at that it speaks to relationships in American society,” explained Turner. “The first question you would want to ask is why would people want to be other than what they are? It speaks to the hierarchy that still exists in American society where whites are at the top and different individuals as you go down the pyramid is based on color.”
Turner agrees with the museum’s mission to encourage visitors to explore African American history as an integral part of American history.
“African American history has always advocated for a more inclusive of everyone to really get a total picture of what American history really is,” explained Turner. “(For) early Europeans who were slave owners, coming to America was an American dream for them. But if you look at it from the perspective of those enslaved, it was an American nightmare.”
“Look Again” is showing from September 13, 2006 to February 25, 2007 at the Rosenbach Museum & Library, 2008-10 DeLancey Place. For more information, call 215.732.1600 or visit www.rosenbach.org
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“We use to sing for the white folk…,” said James B. Davis, 91. “I told ‘em that singing was what we knew.”
In Black Folk who matter..., Uncategorized on November 14, 2006 at 11:09 amThe Dixie Hummingbirds have been called the Iron Men of Gospel for their durability as a performance group and their adaptability as musical legends. Led by Ira Tucker, Sr.—who is now 80—the group has continued to thrive for over 77 years. This week, the Dixie Hummingbirds musical ministry was celebrated with the ceremonial renaming of Poplar Street from broad to 21st Street to Dixie Hummingbirds Way.
Gospel fans, supporters and government dignitaries joined an audience of over 300 to honor the group’s efforts. Musical legends that were unable to attend sent messages of congratulations that were read by Ira Tucker, Jr.
“You’ve earned this honor and I love you like a rock,” wrote Paul Simon referring to the 70’s hit song “Love Me Like A Rock” the ‘Birds accompanied him on.
“Now I can drive my Christian automobile up Dixie Hummingbirds Way. Watch out!” read the message from Stevie Wonder that drew laughs from onlookers.
“Even though they started in the South Carolina, they’ve been Philadelphians for seven decades and that make this very special for Philadelphia and the state,” said Gov. Ed Rendell who recently bestowed the group with the Governor’s Award.
The Hummingbird relocated to Philadelphia in the 1940s and have called the region home ever since.
“When we first got out here we use to sing for the white folk and some of ‘em asked me why did we started singing,” said the group’s founder James B. Davis, 91. “I told ‘em that singing was what we knew.”
Actor Rev. Clifton Davis said the group helped formed his musical career. “I want to thank you,” preached Davis, “for going to those towns where you had to go to the colored outhouse, for going on the Chiltlin’ Circuit to sing the gospel of Jesus Christ. I want to thank you for struggling through segregation. I want to thank you for taking all of that discrimination and taking it in stride and praising god anyhow. I want to thank you for living long enough so that all of us could stop here today and thank you for what you’ve done for us.”
After the street naming, the audience was lead by the Heavenly Horns for their first walk up Dixie Hummingbird Way alongside the historic Metropolitan Opera House, or The Met, at Broad and Poplar Street. For many years the Met served as the gospel venue of choice for many artists and groups. Over the years, the Met has fallen into disrepair and is currently undergoing reconstruction.
“I think the met should be designated as a historical landmark because Same Cooke, Soul Stirrers, Dixie Hummingbirds, Clara Ward—everybody who was anybody in gospel sang at the Met and it should be just sitting there like it is,” lamented occasional Hummingbirds’ vocalist Rev. Joe Williams.
Other members of the Birds recalled fond memories of their days with the group. “It’s an honor that I never had any dream that I had any dream that I would accomplish one day,” said the group former guitarist Howard Carrol. “It proved to me that hard work does pay off.”
“It sort of transcends time,” said the group’s youngest vocalist Edwin Cornell McKnight, 21. “It’s more so like a time machine because you can hear the tunes of the past and the present day and a lot of people who were around when Mr. Tucker was around are no longer around. I came in knowing nothing about music and now Ii know so much, and I owe it all to him.”
The last living Ward Sister, Willa Ward, 85, practically hopped on stage and declared the group “the greatest quartet that ever lived.”
The naming of Dixie Hummingbirds Way also coincides with the group’s latest CD, “Keeping It Real…The Last Man Standing.” The title refers to the elder Tucker’s 60-plus years as the group’s lead vocalist.
“I really don’t know what to say,” said Tucker from the podium. “It really doesn’t get any better than this. I believe I voice the sentiment of everybody when I say God is good.”
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Juan Williams has had ENOUGH!
In Black Folk who matter..., Uncategorized on November 14, 2006 at 11:00 amWhen Bill Cosby took to the stage of the NAACP’s 50th anniversary gala celebrating the of the Brown v. Board of Education decision integrating schools, little did he know his comments on the current state of Black America would create a firestorm of controversy. During that speech, he admonished Blacks for not assisting or concerning themselves with the individuals who are involved with crime or have counter-productive aspirations. He further described those who needed attention as “Blacks (who) had forgotten the sacrifices of those in the Civil Rights Movement.”
Cosby criticism of what he sees as the African-American community’s acceptance of fatherless single parent households, high crime rates, and high illiteracy rates was met with a scathing critique of his personal political views. While he encouraged a more proactive effort from African-Americans to reduce those problems his comments provoked a great deal of anger from some African Americans.
The aftermath of Cosby’s comments have elicited statements and even books denouncing him as bourgeois, anti-Black and hypocritical. Through it all, Cosby reminded firmly unapologetic for his stance and instead took his message across the country in a series of town hall meetings that garnered large media attention. Cosby chastised Blacks to stop blaming whites, but to instead look to themselves for solutions. “It’s not what they’re doing to us. It’s what we’re not doing,” the entertainer told the audience of nearly 2,000 people in Detroit.
This episode in Black history spurred journalist Juan Williams to wonder why the attacks, especially from fellow African Americans, where so venomous in their delivery. He expands on this theory in his latest book “Enough: The Phony Leaders, Dead-End Movements, and Culture of Failure That Are Undermining Black America—and What We Can Do About It”($25, Crown).
Through the lens of history, Williams concludes that Cosby was a “flawed messenger” who hit upon a real issue that no prominent Black American had dared to seriously address: the destructive elements of contemporary Black culture.
In “Enough,” Williams calls Cosby a genius while taking particular aim at prominent Black leaders—from Al Sharpton to Jesse Jackson to Marion Barry.
“You don’t after somebody like that unless they got something to say that you find truly threatening. The idea in my mind was that it was important to pick up this argument by doing reporting to substantiate or contradict what Cosby had to say—to really look into it—and then to try to advance the conversation so that people don’t stop talking about this, so that we don’t turn away from what are the key issues of our day.”
In his address last week during the Annual Meeting of the Greater Philadelphia Urban Affairs Coalition, an audience of 175 GPUAC board members, staff and supporters cheered Williams’ comments.
“I thought it’s really important to put some historical context around this because again it’s such an important message at such an important moment,” explained Williams. “In my mind, you go back to the start of the last century and if you had gone to a speech by W.E.B. DuBois, you would have heard DuBois talking about the challenge of the 20th Century being the challenge of the color line in American society. It really was the introduction to the Civil Rights movement of the 20th century. But I think if you heard Bill Cosby with open ears, you would have heard something similar for the start of the 21st century, because what Cosby was doing was setting down a line saying the challenge of the 21st century in so many ways is going to be the class line. Those who are now able to step through the doors of opportunity in an America that’s increasingly divided by class are going to do just fine. But those who get left behind at this moment are going to be left in a very deep ditch.”
Williams also charged that too many Black Americans are in crisis—caught in a twisted hip-hop culture, dropping out of school, ending up in jail, having babies when they are not ready to be parents, and falling to the bottom in twenty-first-century global economic competition.
“We see so many of these social problems repeating in a generational context,” said Williams. “We see these problems as a downward spiral. Somebody at this moment has to be about helping people up so they don’t get left behind. That’s the importance of this moment and I think this is what Cosby was talking about in much the same way as Dubois was talking about racial struggle across the color barrier in the 20th century.”
Unlike the other books written in response to Cosby’s comments, Williams went to the source, Cosby himself, and the ensuing several hours of interviews are interspersed throughout “Enough.” Williams, like Cosby, has had his share of praises and criticism and says he is surprised that the book is a current bestsellers now in its seventh printing.
Although Williams may have suffered from limited media appearances since the release of “Enough,” his position as one of America’s leading political writers and thinkers is firmly ensconced. Williams is a senior correspondent for National Public Radio, a political analyst for Fox News and the author of six books including “Eyes on the Prize: America’s Civil Rights Years, 1954-1965”. Prior to writing bestsellers, he worked for 21 years at The Washington Post.
Williams condemns the “Stop Snitching” campaign as nothing more than a surrender to criminals; and he decries the glorification of materialism, misogyny, and murder as a corruption of a rich Black culture, a tragic turn into pornographic excess that is hurting young Black minds, especially among the poor.
“You might say, ‘Cosby and Juan Williams are up there moralizing,’” said Williams mock response to his critics. “But forget that for a minute and go to the numbers: 7 out of 10 (Black kids are being born to single mothers) has real consequence in terms of that child’s likely success in school. We know that a child born out of wedlock to a single mom has less of a chance to succeed in school. We know that that child is more likely to get involved with crime. We know that child is less likely to graduate from high school. We know that child is less likely to ever hold a job. So why aren’t we saying this? Why aren’t we screaming this? Why aren’t we in a panic in announcing this everyday? To our community this is not a good idea to have a child out of wedlock. Why aren’t people saying this?”
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Tavis Smiley weeps…
In Black Folk who matter..., Uncategorized on November 14, 2006 at 10:40 amBy Bobbi Booker
Over 300 Tavis Smiley fans braved the rain on Tuesday evening to hear Smiley speak about his latest book, a memoir entitled “What I Know for Sure: My Story of Growing Up in America” (Doubleday, $23.95) at the National Constitution Center. Among the guest present where other members of the Black intelligenzia, including poet Sonia Sanchez and Dr. Cornell West, both of whom introduced the author. The audience, however, needed no introduction to Smiley who has authored ten books and appears on both his self-titled PBS talk show and Tom Joyner morning radio chat fest. Although Smiley relayed a harrowing story of his impoverished childhood, he inspired the audience with his message of hope and forgiveness.
“This is without question the defining moment of my life, even though it happened when I was just in the 7th grade, 12 years old,” said Smiley as he prepared to read the chapter, “Shame on the Smileys.” Smiley’s Pentecostal roots were evident when he instructed those in the audience to read along with him in a style reminiscent of a church revival. As he lead the audience through an episode of abuse levied on him by his father after he and his sister were falsely charged with acting up in church, the memory caused him to pause silently for 20 seconds. As members of the audience intoned, “It’s going to be alright, Tavis!” the author steeled himself against the podium, wipe away a tear and continued to speak.
“After six months I went back to spend the rest of my formative years with my family. It’s a strong word, but it’s accurate for what I felt at the time: I hated my parents. I hated my father for what he had done; I hated my mother for what she hadn’t done to stop it. Phyllis on the other hand, never came back. My beloved sister essentially disappeared from our family in the 7th grade. A few years later, because her sprit was broken by that incident, Phyllis became a crack addict, had five babies out of wedlock, and while we are less than a year apart in age, she has lived primarily a life of pain, and poverty and pathology. I determined that I did not want my life to be defined by that moment and have spent everyday of my life since then trying to put as much distance me and that incident as I possible can. What I do not know for sure is how and why Phyllis’ sprit was broken, and I was able to move by turning the fear into energy. There is not a day of my life that my work is not informed by what I do. There are too many children of this city, of this country, who are traumatized too soon.”
Despite the obstacles he faced, Smiley spoke about his faith and his ability to channel his negative feeling into positive energy. “I believe that these defining moments cast a light on our lives: either a long dark shadow or a long bright sunbeam,” said Smiley. “In many regards we determine what that is.”
He reported to the audience that today his sister, Phyllis, has recovered and is scheduled to graduate from nursing school next year. Smiley’s message of encouragement was met with several standing ovations.
“If you were to ask me what it is I know for sure, I would tell you in two words: Love wins.”
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Lifestyle/Leisure/Literature
“Pluto makes no sense as a planet…” A Conversation with Astronomer Derrick Pitts
In Black Folk who matter..., Space..The Final Frontier, Uncategorized on September 15, 2006 at 2:34 pm
By Bobbi Booker
The Book Report II
From Galileo versus Pope Urban VIII to today’s current battle over the
planetary status of Pluto, the path to scientific understanding is not
always rosy. On Friday, more than 300 scientists around the globe
signed a petition protesting against the definition of “planet”
decided by the International Astronomical Union last week (IAU), a
regulating body for information and research in astronomy. That
definition demoted Pluto, leaving the solar system with eight planets.
“What astronomers did this summer really doesn’t have anything to do
with Pluto,” said Derek Pitts, Chief Astronomer and Director of the
Fels Planetarium. “What they did was develop a classification system
for objects that are in our solar system that makes sense. The fall
out is that Pluto’s designation has changed from planet to dwarf
plant.”
Pluto’s controversial redefinition as a “dwarf planet” by the (IAU) is
based on the fact that Pluto’s orbital path overlaps with other
objects such as asteroids and the planet Neptune.
Arguments over Pluto have raged on since the planet’s 1930 discovery.
Limited information on the distant planet delayed a realistic
understanding of its characteristics. Even with telescopic aid, the
planet is virtually impossible to see. “When I say small and I say
dim, I mean dust speck small and invisible dim,” explained Pitts. “The
only way Pluto is visible is through photography.”
In January, NASA launched its New Horizons spacecraft, the first probe
ever destined for the planet Pluto, its moons and the Kuiper Belt
beyond. The historic mission, traveling at 36,250 miles per hour, will
take more than nine years to reach Pluto in July 2015.
Last year’s discovery of UB313 or “Xena” also put Pluto’s planetary
status on the line. With a diameter of about 1800 miles, UB313 is larger than Pluto (1400 miles) and occupies an orbit well beyond that of Pluto. More objects
like UB313 are expected to be discovered in the future and many in the
astronomical community do not wish to call these bodies planets.
“We start to discover objects beyond Pluto that are bigger than Pluto.
If they should be planets, what do we do about Pluto? Pluto is way out
at the end of the solar system. It’s made of ice, not rock. It’s orbit
is tilted relative to all the other orbits of the solar system and
scientist have agree for at least the last 25 years that it wasn’t
really an original member of the solar system, but a passing object
that was grabbed by the gravitational pull of Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus
and Neptune. So it wasn’t really part of the original planets to begin
with.”
In addition to orbiting the sun and being rounded by its own
gravitational field, the IAU definition of a “classical planet”
requires an object to be the sole occupant of its orbit. A dwarf
planet must only meet the first two criteria and cannot be a
satellite. All other bodies in the solar system are referred to as
“small solar system bodies”.
“If we say our solar system is made up of classic planets, then these
other objects that are smaller than planets can be called dwarf
planets. That covers all of those things that are Pluto-sized or
smaller that are round and orbit the Sun.”
The disagreeing scientists have issued a petition that states: “We, as
planetary scientists and astronomers, do not agree with the IAU’s
definition of a planet, nor will we use it. A better definition is
needed.”
The signers of the petition included NASA scientists, astronomers at
major observatories, university professors and graduate students. The
astronomical union allowed only scientists attending a conference last week in Prague, Czech Republic, to vote.
The group’s definition for a planet specifies three conditions: the
object orbits the sun; it is large enough for its gravity to pull it
into a round shape; and it “has cleared the neighborhood around its
orbit”. The last condition excludes Pluto, because it is located among
many other icy bodies in a ring of debris known as the Kuiper Belt.
“According to a separately developed theory, all the planets in the
solar system are currently placed in their correct order,” said Pitts.
“Pluto is outside of that order. Pluto makes no sense, no matter how
you look at, as a planet.”
According to the IAU’s guidelines we may have lost a planet but gained
a big family of dwarf planets. In other words, our solar system has
just gotten bigger.
“I believe that furor and outcry this summer over Pluto has to do more
with the cultural icon (Pluto, the Disney character) than it has to do
with the planet itself,” mused Pitts.
“You know what, Pluto has no idea. The planet doesn’t care.
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“You can go outside and see the stuff just flying overhead…” Another Conversation with Astronomer Derrick Pitts
In Black Folk who matter..., Space..The Final Frontier on September 13, 2006 at 7:36 pmBy Bobbi Booker
The Book Report
Most city residents believe that they need a big fancy telescope or binoculars to see and identify objects in the night sky. Not so, says Derrick H. Pitts, Chief Astronomer and Director of the Fels Planetarium. Pitts’ September Skies program encourages Franklin Institute visitors to simply just look up.
“The thing that people have stopped doing is looking up,” lamented Pitts. “Through the 70s and the 80s, people were being told that if they lived in an urban environment they can’t see the night sky, so don’t bother.”
Pitts instructs September Skies participants on how to navigate the night sky with or without seeing aides. “The other thing that I really love about looking at the night sky without binoculars or telescopes is that you can see satellites, the Space Shuttle and the Space Station. If we lived down around Washington, D.C. and further south, we’d able to see the Hubble Space telescope and all kinds of stuff like that. All you have to do is know when to look and where to look and then you can go outside and see the stuff just flying overhead,” said Pitts. “I do that all the time.”
Here on Earth, Pitts says the September Skies programs exists “because both adults and kids are in the same boat when it comes to knowledge about astronomy—they have none.”
Pitts offers an example: “Virtually no one understands why the moon has phases.”
Hhm, ponders the reporter, why is that?
Pitts replies, “Because it orbits the earth once every 28 days.”
If that simple answer seems to vaguely linger in some part of your memory, it’s probably because you learned it far too early in school to understand it.
“It’s not rocket science,” explains Pitts. “It’s just that it’s taught so early in our education in schools and before kids really have a three dimensional understanding of the night sky, so it doesn’t make any sense. When we become teenagers and young adults, our brains have developed the spatial ability to be able to project that 3D nature into the night sky, even though it looks (two deminsional). We don’t develop that capability until way after the schools teach us about the moon. So it’s not reality for us when they’re teaching it too us. It doesn’t be come reality until our brains have developed to be able to understand that.”
Pitts has had his head in the clouds—and beyond—for over two decades at the Franklin Institute. He has twice modernized and redesigned the Institutes observatory and oversaw the renovation of the Fels Planetarium. The Philadelphia native’s lifelong interest in space was lauded as one of the “50 Most Important Blacks in Research Science” by Science Spectrum magazine in 2004. Although Pitts is quite visible in his media appearances as the region’s foremost astronomy authority, he is a member of a small cadre of African Americans in the field. In a survey by the National Science Foundation of 708,200 scientists, only 43,000 were Black and Hispanic.
As an educator, Pitts simply wants to increase the public’s awareness of what’s happening in the universe.
” What I want to impart to people is the three dimensional nature of the sky when you look at the sky,” explains Pitts. “Let’s say you have a night when you can see the moon, Mars and Jupiter, all in the same evening. The first thing you’re doing when you’re looking up to the moon is looking across a gulf of 240,000 miles. That doesn’t seem so apparent because you’re use to looking at the moon, but when you see Mars that’s a jump of 50 million miles. Then when you look at Jupiter, that’s a jump of 885 million miles. All of a sudden what happens for you is the three dimensional nature suddenly pops into view and you can see that you’re looking across this gulf and the size of the Solar System starts to make sense.”
Pitts also wants people to understand how much of the universe they can see without a telescope. “Everybody thinks that ‘If I look at the night sky then I’m going to need a telescope and it’s got to be a big one.’ You don’t need that. It’s nice to have it, but we’re perfectly capable of seeing a lot of stuff with out that, and you don’t need a lot of knowledge to do that.”
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“Racism has gone uncheck in this company…”
In Black Folk who matter..., Uncategorized on August 30, 2006 at 7:55 pmBy Bobbi Booker
The Book Report
Civil rights groups across the nation have blasted the decision by CBS Television to support the producers of the Survivor reality show contest that will set contestants against each other according to race. The announcement of the segregated edition of Survivor comes on the eve of a $1 million racial discrimination trail of a former CBS Radio employee who was forced to resign from WIP-AM sports radio.
According to Duane Lucas, the plaintiff in the upcoming trail against WIP, the announcement about the new season of Survivor is an example of “the consistent arrogance of the company.”
“Racism has gone uncheck in this company for years and nobody challenges them,” said Lucas. “One of the things that happens in this business is that you can’t jump up and scream, ‘racism,’ because where are you going to get a job at next. So you have to be really professional and sure of what’s going on. Racism is what domestic violence was 40 years ago: you didn’t talk about it.”
Lucas started his career at WIP radio as an account executive in 1994 and in a year was promoted to Director of Sport Sales. He was responsible for the station’s base of advertisers and sponsors and for developing new business in support of the station’s programming for the Philadelphia Eagles, 76er’s and Flyers. According to court papers filed in the United States District court, Lucas was the target of a racially motivated campaign to discredit him and his fellow black colleagues, including talk show hosts Gary Cobb and Carlos Beck, both of whom filed discrimination charges against WIP’s parent company, CBS radio. In 2002, Lucas resigned after receiving a nearly 50% reduction in his salary.
WIP-AM management was unavailable for comments when called on Friday. Earlier in the week, CBS Networks officials issued a statement of support for producers’ decision to pit Blacks, whites, Asians and Hispanics against each other during the early rounds of the show.
“CBS fully recognizes the controversial nature of this format but has full confidence in the producers and their ability to produce the program in a responsible manner,” the network said in a statement. “Survivor is a program that is no stranger to controversy and has always answered its critics on the screen.”
Last season, Survivor registered a franchise-low average of 16.8 million viewers. In announcing this season contestants, show host Jeff Probst insisted the stunt was the next logical step in a series that made its name on exploring social politics.
“If this didn’t say Jeff Probst, I would think that this was something that was produced by David Duke,” said Lucas who charges that CBS’s decision to support the Survivor show proposal is indicative of the corporate culture of the network.
“How long have we been experimenting with this?” wondered Lucas. “Through hangings, through church bombings, through hate crimes, through cross burnings? How much more do we need to experiment with separation of the races?”
On Friday, a group of New York City officials blasted CBS’ announcement that it has split the contestants on Survivor: Cook Islands into tribes by race.
“This idea is so ill-conceived that it would be funny–but for the fact that racism does still sometimes rear its ugly head,” New York city councilman John Liu said at a press conference.” This show has the potential to set back our nation’s race relations by 50 years.”
“CBS has demonstrated great lapse in judgment. As a society, we need to hold corporations responsible for their actions,” New York City councilwoman Melissa Mark Viverito said.
“I think that in Survivor they should have the strongest teams that they can,” said Lucas. “Why divide this by race? Why send us back another 200 years? This is just world-class ugly.”
The spread of negative racial stereotypes based on CBS’ decision has already begun on the nation’s airwaves. Conservative radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh has already uttered racially insensitive comments on his national syndicated broadcast.
Hispanics, he said, “have shown a remarkable ability to cross borders” and “will do things other people won’t do.” Asians, according to Limbaugh, are “the best at espionage, keeping secrets.” Blacks, he said, “lack buoyancy” and are “more likely to drown,” while the white man’s burden will weigh down the last team with “guilt over the fact that they run things.”
Survivor: Cook Island is scheduled to air starting September 14, 2006
Lifestyle/Leisure/Literature
Frederick Douglass Lives…
In Black Folk who matter..., Uncategorized on August 30, 2006 at 7:51 pmBy Bobbi Booker
The Book Report
During the 1850s, the famed abolitionist, orator, editor, statesman, author, suffragist and publisher, Frederick Douglass usually spent about half of the year traveling extensively and giving lectures.
On July 5, 1852, Douglass gave a speech at an event commemorating the signing of the Declaration of Independence, held at Rochester’s Corinthian Hall.
Antebellum audiences enjoyed patriotic speeches on Independence Day, but the mostly white audience found that instead of the expected platitudes to the founding of the U.S., Douglass delivered a scorching denunciation of the preservation of slavery.
It was biting oratory, in which the speaker told his audience, “This Fourth of July is yours, not mine. You may rejoice, I must mourn.” And he asked them, “Do you mean, citizens, to mock me, by asking me to speak to-day?”
That now-famous address will be recited again on this upcoming Independence Day by Douglass’ great-great grandson and namesake, Frederick Douglass IV.
Much like the man he calls “Granddaddy,” Douglass IV travels throughout America to continue the legacy of his famed ancestor by lecturing about him, depicting his speeches and reenacting key episodes of his ancestor’s life.
The most memorable element in the Rochester speech was Douglass’ use of the second person to illustrate the chasm between your freedoms as whites under the Declaration of Independence and Constitution, and slavery. “He comes down as being barbarous, but he ends (the speech) on a note of optimism because he believes that ultimately all these things were going to be righted, maybe not within his lifetime, but he really felt that the Civil War, the Emancipation Proclamation, the 14th Amendment and other things would lead to equality. To read these things it not only recalls the time in which they were living in which slavery was in America, but the scary part is so much of it is relevant to today.”
“The speech remains contemporary, and in my view, with all respect due to Frederick Douglass, understated,” says radio talk show host Reggie Bryant. “He employs rhetoric and appeals to the conscious and the ethical morality of persons to note what he says. I think he presented them with more credit than they were due. It is clear to me that the context today of (Independence Day) is a vicious and callous and fraudulent exercise when it comes to descendents of those Africans who where kidnapped and brought here against their will and continue too suffer ant the hands of bigots and racist who pretty much dominate the so called government here. There was no reason on that original date, and there is no reason today, for Blacks to celebrate anything. When this so-called declaration was penned, Africans were to face another 100-plus years of slavery.”
Douglass IV travels with his wife of 30 years and co-reenactor, B.J, who similarly portrays Douglass’ wife Anna Murray Douglass. The elder Douglass’ had five children with Douglass IV being the descendent of Frederick Douglass, Jr. The current Douglass’ are founders of The Frederick Douglass Organization, developed to promote education, financial literacy, economic development and bridging the digital divide—all issues that Douglass IV believes his grandfather would embrace.
Douglass was born into slavery in Maryland 1818, but in 1838, at age 20, he escaped to freedom in New York. Eloquent, smart and determined, Douglass gained fame as a speaker, began his own anti-slavery publications and in 1845 published his memoir “Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave.” In later years he became a personal friend of President Abraham Lincoln and helped persuade Lincoln to issue the Emancipation Proclamation. He died at age 76 in 1895.
Douglass possessed a commanding presence that was enhanced by his rich and powerful baritone voice. His command of the English language has put him in league with some of the greatest orators of all time. In other words, when Douglass spoke, people listened.
“He wanted to broaden his ability to communicate about the need to end slavery,” explained Douglass IV of his ancestor’s desire to start his own antislavery newspaper, the North Star, after living in exile in England. “He decided when he got back to American he was going to purchase a printing press. So in 1845, a Black man with a printing press was on the cutting edge of technology. That’s how he began broadening his reach. So, if he were here today, he would have a podcast, a website, and DVD’s as communication mechanisms. There are lot of things that need to be done in contemporary America, and I think he would be following his premise.”
Dressing as middle class free Blacks of the 1800’s, the Douglass’ work hard to correct misconceptions such as the belief that all Blacks were slaves and that few Blacks, especially women, were involved in the abolitionist movement. For instance, Douglass IV’s great-great grandmother, Anne, was a free woman who encouraged her husband to eventually buy his freedom.
“Part of our overall mission is to let people know that not everybody during the 1800’s was a slave,” says Douglass IV. “There were those who were born free and there were those who purchased their freedom and became professionals. We want to dispel that kind of mythology so when we go out we dress in finery. My wife dresses in the latest fashions of the 1800’s, which women would have done, and I wear a tuxedo and top hat.”
Frederick Augustus Washington Bailey Douglass was a dashing man who was
very conscious of his overall representation to both Blacks and whites. For example, although photography was in its infancy during the height of Douglass fame, he was aware of the influence of photos and was cautious to never smile in any pictures of himself because he did not want his likeness abused.
“He was very conscious of the presentation of Black folks was, in that day it was generally buffooness, and so he did not smile because he did not want his image misused in anyway. He felt that if he did smile than someone could put captions or in some way make a joke out of it,” said Douglass IV, a professional photographer, as well.
“This was really at the beginning of the use of photography. He had a printing press, but he was also very conscious of the image, so he allowed his photograph to be taken and distributed so that Black people an image of a Black person that was positive in the home. He was right in on it and he saw the power of it and he used it effectively. “
Today, Douglass’ role as the father of the Civil Rights Movement is sadly overlooked said Bryant. “I applaud and share with my audiences the content of Fredrick Douglass’ speech and wish only that he were alive today to revise and to perhaps make even more strident the content in his magnificent ability for oration.”
Likewise, Douglass IV recalled an incident “when a young man asked him what he could do to help change society. (Douglass) responded with three words: ‘Agitate, agitate, agitate.’”
Lifestyle/Leisure/Literature
…So “Beautifully Human”
In Black Folk who matter..., Uncategorized on August 30, 2006 at 7:48 pmBy Bobbi Booker
It was four years ago this summer when poet Jill Scott quietly released her debut collection, “Who is Jill Scott?: Words and Sounds Vol.1” In the time that’s passed since the North Philadelphia posed that question to the world, Scott has proven to be a musical force to be reckoned with.
“Beautifully Human: Words and Sounds Vol.2” is her third release and the follow-up to her smash debut, which sold over 2 million copies—and is still selling strong. Scott took time off to settle in with her beloved husband, Lyzell Williams, fix up her new home and play with her pet cat. Although a lot of press has been given to Scott’s two-year absence, she was still quietly getting busy in the studio and was featured on several cd’s, including The Roots’ “Phrenology,” saxophonist Jeff Bradshaw’s “Bone Deep” and Kindred the Family soul’s debut.
Scott also took the time necessary to nurture the seeds to what will be hailed as one of the best albums of 2004. Human focuses on the woman that Scott has become. The reflections that she offers in this collection will strike close to the hearts of listeners, as was already demonstrated on her recent 9-city “Buzz Tour.”
Scott has proven that she is not the average girl when it comes to her artistic talent. First of all, she described herself as a poet and that is fully demonstrated in Human’s 17-song offering. From the intro, which begins were Scott ended in 2000 with the closing notes of “He Loves Me (Lyzell In E Flat),” she welcomes the audience into her world. The first single, “Golden,” is a high-stepping affirmation of self-determination that already has women, young and old alike, singing along with a smile.
This collection is chockfull of gems, some of which will be deemed instant classics. “Family Reunion” will be rocked at family gatherings for the next couple of decades because of Scott’s dead-on observations of the different personalities that make everyone’s families unique. Family unity is a major part of Scott’s message throughout this collection and Scott reaches out to her universal Black family to embrace African American men young and old on “The Fact Is (I Need You)” and “Rasool.”
Although marriage is paramount throughout “Human” and there are several standouts that are unique in their reflection of Scott’s prior relationships. In “Bedda at Home,” Scott toys with the idea of a fine man that makes her “want to pull single dollars out my pocketbook,” but she declines because her man is so much more. Scott also makes an unusual move for a female artist on “Can’t Explain” when she admits she was wrong in treating her lover badly and apologizes for her transgressions.
Scott strikes gold with “talk to Me,” a tune about a woman trying to get her man to discuss their problems. The words are simple, but the adventure Scott’s band takes as the song goes from one end of the jazz spectrum to the other, finally exploding with a big band flurry of sound, is incredible.
Although Scott has a Grammy for her work as co-writer for The Root’s “You Got Me,” she was merely nominated for her debut collection. In February, watch for Scott’s
“Beautifully Human” to collect a bevy of awards for this groundbreaking artist.
Originally published 8.31.04
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“Queen Cleopatra had a pool table in her abode…”
In Black Folk who matter..., Uncategorized on August 30, 2006 at 7:44 pmBy Bobbi Booker
The Book Report
Edward ‘Chick’ Davis played pool in his native South Philadelphia
during an era when America’s most roguish sport earned legitimacy and
popularity via its successful stars, including Minnesota Fats and
Willie Mosconi—both of whom played against Chick during his formidable
years. Playing in pool halls across the country Davis frequently
encountered discrimination and had to fight for his right to play as
an equal. This experience motivated him to invest his winnings into
opening three of his own pool halls on South Street in Philadelphia.
Recently, the 98-year-old pool hall marvel joined family and friends
in witnessing the dedication of the “Tribute to Edward ‘Chick’ Davis”
mural next to the site of one of his pool hall sites at 1418 South
Street. Painted by John Lewis, the mural celebrates Davis’ legacy as a
pioneering business leader, entrepreneur, and community activist.
Davis started playing billiards at the Christian Street Y and went on
to become a national championship caliber player.
“This was a man who was multi-talented, but this was where he kind of
made a renowned mark because he played people like Minnesota Fats,
Willie Mosconi, who were legends who got a lot of recognition,” said
son Edward Davis, III. “Here’s a man who played Ralph Greenleaf for
the national championship just before Jackie Robinson broke into the
national league. So, he was a first.”
The dedication featured a special performance by the CAPA Dance
Company, under the direction of LaDeva M. Davis, Chair of the Dance
Department and Chick Davis’ daughter. Davis, one of the legends two
children, spearheaded the efforts to recognize her father’s
contributions to the sport of billiards and his hometown. Chick was
instrumental in keeping clean a sport that was usually played in smoky
bars and on late nights where a win was just as dangerous as a loss.
“Until people discovered that Queen Cleopatra had a pool table in her
abode, they thought that pool was a dirty sport,” said Davis. “And my
father did a lot to clean it up. He made sure that there were no
drugs, alcohol or anything illicit in his pool halls. Women were
welcome to come and partake of the sport. He gave lessons. He would
sit and impart his knowledge of all that he’d went through in his
lifetime.”
Davis explained that her father was a basketball player, but turned to
pool to support his growing family. In addition to his contribution to
the sport of billiards, Davis spent most of his lifetime with his
south Philly childhood sweetheart, LaDeva Davis, who died at age 93 in
2004 after 75 years of marriage. “The big deal is that there are
people here that love my Dad and who have known my Dad for years, or
who love my Dad because of what he stands for and have only just met
him in the last 2, 3, 5 years.”
Amos Florence “Process” Junior, who owns a South Street barbershop of
the same name, was among the 100 guests gathered for the dedication.
In addition to sharing a longtime friendship with Davis, Florence has been
similarly honored with a mural in West Philly. “We go back to the days
where his grandfather taught me how to be a barber,” said Florence.
“I learned to cut hair in the ’40s and I’ve owned a shop since then.”
The Mural Arts Program director Jane Golden excitedly announced that
the Davis wall painting was number 2,659 in a series indoor and
outdoor murals in Philadelphia, more than any other city in the world.
“Everyone, I have to say, was universally thrilled and enthused about
this project,” said Golden. “I know I’m biased, but standing here
today and looking at this beautiful image I want to say to you that
murals have a distinct kind of power. It’s their size; it’s their
scale; it’s the way they surprise us when we’re coming up the street.
But more important than that, it’s a way of holding on to our stories
(and) to our history. Murals are about our dreams and our aspirations;
our struggles and our heroes, (and about) the people who meant
something to us.”
The Philadelphia Mural Arts Program (MAP) started 25 years ago as part
of the Anti-Graffiti Network (PAGN), a citywide initiative to
eradicate destructive graffiti and address neighborhood blight. Today,
Philadelphia is nationally and internationally recognized as America’s
“City of Murals.”
“I feel very honored to be part of the tradition of bringing art to
all the citizens in this city,” said Golden. “Art is not a luxury: it
is a necessity. And the fact that so many people in this city can walk
by, drive by, run by mural of this scale and complexity is wonderful.”
With a sparkle in his eye, the senior Davis kissed the hands of ladies
he was introduced to, but said little as his friends moved him around
gingerly to keep him cool during the dedication.
“Thank you,” he said as he gazed at the mural. “I like it very much.”
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Recalling Black Men who fought in the Civil War…
In Black Folk who matter..., Uncategorized on August 20, 2006 at 1:21 am| by Bobbi Booker |
| The Book Report |
| When the Civil War broke out in 1861, free Blacks and runaway slaves in the North rushed to sign-up with Union armies. Many were told it was a white man’s war and turned away. Two years passed before African-American men got their chance to fight.The background for the formation of Camp William Penn in the present day LaMott section of Cheltenham Township, Montgomery County, dates back to July 17, 1862, when Congress amended The Militia Act of 1792. The amendment granted President Washington the autonomy “to employ as many persons of African descent as he may deem necessary for the suppression of the rebellion.” It further stated, “for this purpose, he may organize and use them in such manner as he may judge best for the public welfare.”
Camp William Penn has the unique distinction of being the only military ground set up exclusively to train Black troops, drawing recruits from Pennsylvania, Delaware and New Jersey. The campsite was located near the present-day Cheltenham Mall and was the largest of 18 Civil War training facilities in the nation. Comprised of over 10,000 men, 11 regiments of U.S. Colored Troops were trained on the site. The regiments – 3rd, 6th, 8th, 22nd, 24th, 25th, 32nd, 41st, 43rd, and 127th – were the first of African descent, under the authorization for a two-tier compensation system, to receive a $10 monthly service and clothing allotment. Recruits arrived at the campsite June 26, 1863. Many went on to fight in Virginia, South Carolina, Florida and elsewhere. In recent years a missing page from history has revealed that Philadelphia, long known as the nation’s Cradle of Liberty, is also the starting point for the country’s oldest African-American holiday. Two years prior to Juneteenth, Philadelphia was the first city to host the first African in America Parade in the United States. This parade consisted of several hundred African Americans marching without arms or uniforms in file with drums, carrying inspiring banners as they headed towards the first training site for the troops. Camp William Penn’s mission was to train Black soldiers to save the Union, free the enslaved and reunite families. The army of Black men played a pivotal role in aiding the Union in its defeat of the Confederate Army. The unit tracked Cmdr. General Robert Lee and contributed to his surrender in Appomattox, Va. Soldiers from the camp’s 22nd Infantry located and captured President Lincoln’s assassin and conspirators on the Eastern shores of Maryland. After passage of the Emancipation Proclamation, the soldiers went from state to state to free Blacks who, unaware of the bill, were still being held as slaves. It was those troops that marched to the Alston Villa in Galveston, Texas, and surrounded the Alston Villa on Juneteenth – June 19, 1865. Gen. Gordon Granger took charge of the state of Texas and informed the nation’s last remaining slaves of their freedom, almost two and a half years after Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation. Celebrations of Juneteenth began the following year and continue to this day. The camp was recognized for its vital importance to the Union’s war effort and distinct mission. Lincoln’s decision to encourage African-American enlistment during the Civil War marked a great departure from prior administrations. About 180,000 African Americans served in the Union Army and more than 15,000 joined the Union Navy. The recruits who trained at Camp William Penn served in the Army. The camp was situated on land previously owned by the well-known Quaker abolitionist Lucretia Mott family, who noted, “The barracks make a show from our back window.” Many of Camp William Penn’s recruits were decorated for their bravery and valor. The camp closed Aug. 14, 1865. |
Remembering Rufus Harley: The Chief Musician
In Black Folk who matter..., Uncategorized on August 13, 2006 at 9:19 pm| Musicians remember one-of-a-kind colleague |
| By BOBBI BOOKER |
| Tribune Staff Writer |
| The haunting drones of bagpipes were silenced on August 1st, 2006 when pioneering jazz artist Rufus Harley, 70, died of complications from prostate cancer. Regionally, residents recognized him for the countless funerals and parades he led as the world’s first jazz bagpiper. Globally, he is known for his skills as a world-class musician and tireless ambassador for his city and country.
Harley was on a lifelong spiritually quest that often manifested itself in his presentations of miniature Liberty Bell replicas to dignitaries and blasting his gospel of unity through the international language of music. “I could hear the sound of the bagpipe through my soul,” said Harley to an earlier interviewer. Born May 20, 1936 in Raleigh, NC, of African-American and Cherokee descent, Harley was a unique man and longtime Germantown resident.. Harley’s career as a promising young jazz saxophonist and flutist was transformed during the November 1963 funeral of President John F. Kennedy when he heard the solemn sounds of regimental bagpipers of the Black Watch, a Scottish infantry division of the British Army. The continuous sustained and haunting sounds of the instrument intrigued him and he went looking for bagpipes, and finally found a set in a New York pawnshop for $120. His initial performances on the traditionally Scottish instrument brought a mixed reaction from jazz lovers who had watched him blossom under the tutelage of Dennis Sandole, who also taught several other Philadelphia jazz musicians. “The bagpipe was sort of a novelty thing that brought him to the attention of the public, but he was a master musician on the other instruments also,” WRTI-FM’s Bob Perkins. “I really appreciated him as a musician,” said the longtime jazz radio host. “He played the saxophone and the flute fabulously.” “Not only was he a great bagpiper, he was a great musician,” said Lovett Hines, Director of Education Program at the Clef Club. “Rufus could have gone anyplace and he elected to stay here in Philadelphia. Harley fathered 10 children, including his protégé, trumpeter Messiah Harley 31. “He was a true soldier in terms of making people happy and traveling the world,” recalled Messiah. “He never cried or complained about his situation. He always did the gigs on time.” The younger Harley recalled how his father prepared him to be a musician at age twelve, when he first started playing trumpet with his father. “The one thing that impressed me with Rufus was his relationship with Messiah, his son,” recalled Hines. During Harley’s last two weeks, father and son spoke every day. From 1965 to 1970 Harley released several recordings as leader on the Atlantic label, also recording as a sideman with Herbie Mann, Sonny Stitt, and Sonny Rollins in the 1960s and 1970s. During the height of Harley’s career in the late 1960s and early 70s, he traveled the world performing and was a frequent guest on the poplar talk and games shows of the time, including “The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson,” “The Mike Douglas Show and “What’s My Line. 30 years later, Ahmir “?uestlove” Thompson of The Roots saw Harley’s appearance on television and told MOJO magazine he was stunned. “I was watching the Arsenio Hall Show one night. He had Rufus up against a juggler, treating him like a freak. The next day we were recording and I mentioned it. My manager said, ‘Rufus is probably in the phone book.’ I called, and an hour later he was in the studio. Hearing the pipes played in person was damn near religious.” It is the evocative drone of Harley’s bagpipe that is recorded as the opening notes to the title track of The Roots 1994 hit album “Do You Want More?!!!??!”. Harley’s innovation use and playing of the bagpipe has been heralded universally for both its technique and simultaneous merging if disparate cultures. “Rufus was a mystic. He was our brother and our ancestor at the same time while he was here,” explains international saxophonist Foster Child. “To play an instrument like the bagpipes you have you had definitely had to come from a different time. I believe he was incarnated to bring bagpipes into modern day times. For instance, he extended the language of the bagpipe by trick fingering–creating different fingering–to come up with different notes that normally would not be played on the bagpipes.” Harley had become visibly thinner in recent months, but still maintained a busy playing schedule. The jazz bagpiper played until last Monday afternoon, just mere hours before his death the next day from a cancer he had disclosed to no one–not even his son. Until the end, Harley was only concerned about the next gig, even instructing his son to pick him up from the hospital on time. “He never tuned down a gig or a show for anybody,” said Messiah. “He was American icon,” said Kenneth Gamble, co-founder of Philadelphia International Records. “He’ll be missed all over the world, and especially in Philadelphia. When you think about him you can hear those bagpipes playing.” |
