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MacArthur Winner Jason Moran Wants to Spread the Music
When Jason Moran became the 13th jazz musician to win a prestigious and lucrative MacArthur Foundation Fellowship, he was able to celebrate in a way that no other musician has. He played for a week at jazz’s most renowned nightclub, the Village Vanguard in New York City; the engagement was arranged well in advance of…
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The Root Interview: Choreographer Ralph Lemon on Liberation
By Martin Johnson No one will ever accuse Ralph Lemon of making uncomplicated works. He is best known as a dancer-choreographer, but he’s an artist who defies simple categorization. His new work, How Can You Stay in the House All Day and Not Go Anywhere, is a multidisciplinary piece, his first major work after a…
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Ron Washington, the Reluctant Texas Manager
When the Texas Rangers take the field this afternoon against Tampa Bay, the manager in the dugout will be calm, soft-spoken, somewhat cerebral, self-deprecating, African American. He’s also profoundly successful. On Wednesday afternoon, Ron Washington will lead the Rangers into their first American League Division Series in 12 years. Washington is the only one of…
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The New and Improved Michael Vick
Three weeks into the 2010 NFL season, one of the biggest stories is Michael Vick, and this time he’s making headlines for all the right reasons. Since emerging as a star quarterback with Virginia Tech a decade ago, Vick has had enough ups and downs to warrant a miniseries. He was a top NCAA player,…
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The Return of African-American Baseball Players
Baseball has come a long way since Jackie Robinson broke the color line in 1947. Robinson’s courageous desegregation of the game now serves as an inspiration to all Americans. And those ballplayers who followed in Robinson’s large footsteps — all-time greats like Willie Mays, Hank Aaron, Frank Robinson and Bob Gibson — provided evidence of…
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The Root Interview: Susan Fales-Hill on Women Who Write Their Own Rules
The intrigue in One Flight Up, the first novel by Susan Fales-Hill, begins before the story does. Just after the title page, the dedication reads “to Aunt Diahann, Aunt Eartha, Aunt Carmen, Aunt Lena. … ” These marquee names aren’t just the inspirations of Fales-Hill, the former TV writer and producer who worked on The…
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An Appreciation of Abbey Lincoln
Going to a jazz show is usually about hearing this piano player or that saxophonist, but attending a performance by vocalist Abbey Lincoln was about performing a pilgrimage: It was about the confirmation of shared truths and a glimpse of the potential of those ideas. She died Saturday at age 80 in New York. Lincoln…
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Mike Reed's New Jazz Classics
Chicago-based drummer and composer Mike Reed, 35, is virtually unknown outside of his hometown. But he’s one of jazz’s best young musicians and is building a multi-headed career worthy of emulation. Reed wears many hats. He’s a promoter who often books his own gigs and turns those performances into a well-regarded series. He is principal…
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The Elusive Life of Jean-Michel Basquiat
The artist Jean-Michel Basquiat led a mercurial, tumultuous and tragic life. At 25 he was an art-world superstar, and a few months before his 28th birthday, in August 1988, he was dead of a heroin overdose. In many ways he was emblematic of the ’80s art world, when a new wave of artists bum-rushed the…
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Thierry Henry Comes to America
As the final seconds ticked away at the World Cup Final last Sunday in South Africa and Spain began to party, many American fans wondered when the next big thing would happen in soccer. It turns out they didn’t have to wait very long. Thierry Henry, one of the leading players in Europe, agreed this…
Black News and Black Views with a Whole Lotta Attitude
