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Driving Miss Daisy: Remembering the Real-Life 'Hokes'
I did not see the off-Broadway run of Driving Miss Daisy in 1987 in which Morgan Freeman originated the role of Hoke Coleburn. I did see the 1989 film, where he was longtime chauffeur to Jessica Tandy’s Miss Daisy, steering her — and himself — not just through her errands in Atlanta but also through…
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Who Owns the Civil Rights Legacy?
The last book by Martin Luther King Jr. raised the question, “Where do we go from here: chaos or community?” From competing interpretations of that question, the answer currently appears to be: both. Those groups purporting to have some affinity for the message that King delivered at the Lincoln Memorial in 1963 do not seem…
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Charlie Rangel's Image Problem
There is a general consensus concerning Rep. Charles Rangel, former chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, founding member of the Congressional Black Caucus, and power broker by virtue of his 40 years of connections and many years of raising money for candidates and causes he favors: He should make nice with his congressional…
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The Once and Future Black Press
When it comes to black-oriented news media, we have a mixed bag: There is the kind of buzz that was created in 2007 by college-student blogs, e-mails and text messages alerting the nation to a major injustice in Jena, La., where six black youths faced felony assault charges stemming from a fight with a white…
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Black Power: Brooklyn Represents?
Once upon a time, the ultimate concentration of black political power in Brooklyn lay in Weeksville, a strategically planned village of free black property holders that began in 1838 in what is now Bedford-Stuyvesant. “Weeksville was created to be a political base,” says Jennifer Scott, director of research at the Weeksville Heritage Center. The settlement…
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Rangel Defiant
You might not know it from his reaction after the U.S. House of Representatives announced plans to pursue formal charges against him for ethical violations, but Rep. Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.) is in a heap of trouble. “This may sound corny,” he told reporters, “but at long last, sunshine has pierced through this cloud that’s been…
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Why Aren't More Blacks in the Audience at Broadway Plays?
Several plays that have been wooing audiences and critics alike and with particular interest to black folks are up for a record number of Tony Awards. So how well is Broadway—or Off Broadway, for that matter—doing in terms of attracting blacks? About 75 percent of Broadway theatergoers are white, though according to the Broadway League,…
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Rangel Officially Enters the Race
To no one’s surprise but to quite a bit of ennui, Rep. Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.) has officially announced that he is running for a 21st term in Congress, representing upper Manhattan. His announcement rally, like voter turnout in the district, was not overwhelming. It did attract Gov. David Paterson, an under-fire lame duck son of…
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A Cautionary Tale for Black Journalists
Gerald Boyd came this close to being on top of the world at the New York Times when he was named managing editor in 2001. In a taxi ride with his wife, Robin Stone, on his way to the Times’ midtown office from ”our newly renovated and decorated brownstone,” he turned to her, smiled and…
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Charlie Rangel Wants One More Round
Charles Rangel , the more-or-less former chair of the powerful House Ways and Means Committee, says that he is seeking reelection to a 21st term. This is despite the ethical investigations that led him to leave a perch from which his Harlem constituents and others expected him to achieve so much – and despite a…
Black News and Black Views with a Whole Lotta Attitude
