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Searching for LeRoi Jones, Finding Amiri Baraka
The fact that his name was LeRoi signified something to me. There was no Norton Anthology of African American Literature in the world yet; Toni Morrison had not yet won her Nobel Prize for literature. All we got in an early-1980s freshman composition class was “Preface to a Twenty Volume Suicide Note.” And the only reason I knew…
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Uncle Phil Was a Fresh Take on Black Fatherhood
When James Avery died on New Year’s Eve, he had amassed an enviable career of television and stage appearances, including a performance as the legendary Howard University Law professor Charles Hamilton Houston in the 1993 PBS dramatization of Brown v. Board of Education. His lasting legacy, though, is as one on the most endearing black…
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A Fallen Black Girl: Remembering Latasha Harlins
Latasha Harlins would not live long enough to witness the birth of Twitter or the era of the hashtag. Yet it’s difficult not to summon her name—or her story—amid hashtag memorials for another dead black girl, 19-year-old Renisha McBride, who was shot in the face earlier this month after knocking on a door in suburban…
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Skip Gates for President — of Howard U
(The Root) — The “Best Colleges” rankings from US News & World Report are usually an opportunity for many colleges and universities to go into PR overdrive to attract the best and brightest to their campuses. For other schools, it’s an opportunity to take stock of their aspirational goals. For Howard University, the school’s decline…
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A Jazz Man Considers 'Musical Genocide'
(The Root) — When was the last time the culture produced a great black male jazz singer? To be sure, there is no shortage of contemporary black female jazz vocalists — Dianne Reeves, Cassandra Wilson and Lizz Wright, to name just a few — all at the peak (or close to, in Wright’s case) of…
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Will Downing in 'Classique' Form
Classique, the title of Will Downing’s new release, suggests yet another collection of “classic” soul and R&B recordings. And Downing does include several remarkable remakes, but what the recording’s title really asserts is that Downing himself is in classic form throughout the album. With more than 21 years in the business, Downing is one of…
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The Music in Spike’s Message
“1989, a number, another summer, sound of the funky drummer” —Public Enemy, “Fight the Power” One of the most unforgettable images from the summer of 1989 was the video for “Fight the Power,” the theme song for Spike Lee’s classic film Do the Right Thing, which is celebrating its 20th anniversary this month. Spike Lee…
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Black Men And Baseball
My father went home to his glory months before the election of Barack Obama as the first black president. In the difficult days before his death, there was little opportunity to even consider such a possibility, but I have vivid memories of his reaction to another black first. It was the fall of 1974, when…
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Black Radio Doesn't Deserve Our Help
On May 13, more than 200 protesters gathered outside the Detroit offices of House Judiciary Chairman and longtime Michigan representative John Conyers, who sponsored the controversial Performance Rights Act (HR 848). Known as the “performance tax,” the bill would require that radio stations pay yearly license fees for the right to play music on the…
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The Return of Leela James
Leela James’ last recording, Let’s Do it Again, begins with a rendition of Betty Wright’s “Clean Up Woman” and closes with the title track, a remake of The Staple Singers’ classic. Betty Wright and Mavis Staples are defining examples of a generation of black women singers whose sass and soulfulness stood out as one of…
Black News and Black Views with a Whole Lotta Attitude
