Here’s an excerpt from the band’s bio…  ”Founded in early 2011 by Mike Mason, the MASON AFFAIR formed piece by piece through jam sessions with the most talented musicians around bringing friends old and new together with a unique blend of musical influences and backgrounds.  Cramming a full rhythm and horn section into a tiny studio built to hold half as many people forced The MASON AFFAIR to truly connect with each other and dive deep into their musical souls, crafting many original songs and throwing down their own gritty versions of classic jams by The Meters, Dr. John, Sly and the Family Stone, and Jimi Hendrix. Influenced by legendary raw funk powerhouses like Dyke and the Blazers, and James Brown the MASON AFFAIR pay tribute to their influences by giving a modern touch to vintage funk and soul.”

The Mason Affair has two shows coming up at the moment.  The first is on May 24th at Harvelle’s in Santa Monica; and the second is on June 22nd at The Good Bar in Ventura, California.  For more on The Mason Affair, log on at: http://www.reverbnation.com/themasonaffair

in support of all those in support of the Eternal Love of FUNK

c-dub

AUDIENCE MEMBER: I love you!

PRESIDENT OBAMA: I love you back. (Laughter.) That is why I am here.

I have to say that it is one of the great honors of my life to be able to address this gathering here today. I want to thank Dr. Wilson for his outstanding leadership, and the Board of Trustees. We have Congressman Cedric Richmond and Sanford Bishop — both proud alumni of this school, as well as Congressman Hank Johnson. And one of my dear friends and a great inspiration to us all — the great John Lewis is here. (Applause.) We have your outstanding Mayor, Mr. Kasim Reed, in the house. (Applause.)

To all the members of the Morehouse family. And most of all, congratulations to this distinguished group of Morehouse Men — the Class of 2013. (Applause.)

I have to say that it’s a little hard to follow — not Dr. Wilson, but a skinny guy with a funny name. (Laughter.) Betsegaw Tadele — he’s going to be doing something.

I also have to say that you all are going to get wet. (Laughter.) And I’d be out there with you if I could. (Laughter.) But Secret Service gets nervous. (Laughter.) So I’m going to have to stay here, dry. (Laughter.) But know that I’m there with you in spirit. (Laughter.)

Some of you are graduating summa cum laude. (Applause.) Some of you are graduating magna cum laude. (Applause.) I know some of you are just graduating, “thank you, Lordy.” (Laughter and applause.) That’s appropriate because it’s a Sunday. (Laughter.)

I see some moms and grandmas here, aunts, in their Sunday best — although they are upset about their hair getting messed up. (Laughter.) Michelle would not be sitting in the rain. (Laughter.) She has taught me about hair. (Laughter.)

I want to congratulate all of you — the parents, the grandparents, the brothers and sisters, the family and friends who supported these young men in so many ways. This is your day, as well. Just think about it — your sons, your brothers, your nephews — they spent the last four years far from home and close to Spelman, and yet they are still here today. (Applause.) So you’ve done something right. Graduates, give a big round of applause to your family for everything that they’ve done for you. (Applause.)

I know that some of you had to wait in long lines to get into today’s ceremony. And I would apologize, but it did not have anything to do with security. Those graduates just wanted you to know what it’s like to register for classes here. (Laughter and applause.) And this time of year brings a different kind of stress — every senior stopping by Gloster Hall over the past week making sure your name was actually on the list of students who met all the graduation requirements. (Applause.) If it wasn’t on the list, you had to figure out why. Was it that library book you lent to that trifling roommate who didn’t return it? (Laughter.) Was it Dr. Johnson’s policy class? (Applause.) Did you get enough Crown Forum credits? (Applause.)

On that last point, I’m going to exercise my power as President to declare this speech sufficient Crown Forum credits for any otherwise eligible student to graduate. That is my graduation gift to you. (Applause.) You have a special dispensation.

Now, graduates, I am humbled to stand here with all of you as an honorary Morehouse Man. (Applause.) I finally made it. (Laughter.) And as I do, I’m mindful of an old saying: “You can always tell a Morehouse Man — (applause) — but you can’t tell him much.” (Applause.) And that makes my task a little more difficult, I suppose. But I think it also reflects the sense of pride that’s always been part of this school’s tradition.

Benjamin Mays, who served as the president of Morehouse for almost 30 years, understood that tradition better than anybody. He said — and I quote — “It will not be sufficient for Morehouse College, for any college, for that matter, to produce clever graduates — but rather honest men, men who can be trusted in public and private life — men who are sensitive to the wrongs, the sufferings, and the injustices of society and who are willing to accept responsibility for correcting (those) ills.”

It was that mission — not just to educate men, but to cultivate good men, strong men, upright men — that brought community leaders together just two years after the end of the Civil War. They assembled a list of 37 men, free blacks and freed slaves, who would make up the first prospective class of what later became Morehouse College. Most of those first students had a desire to become teachers and preachers — to better themselves so they could help others do the same.

A century and a half later, times have changed. But the “Morehouse Mystique” still endures. Some of you probably came here from communities where everybody looked like you. Others may have come here in search of a community. And I suspect that some of you probably felt a little bit of culture shock the first time you came together as a class in King’s Chapel. All of a sudden, you weren’t the only high school sports captain, you weren’t the only student council president. You were suddenly in a group of high achievers, and that meant you were expected to do something more.

That’s the unique sense of purpose that this place has always infused — the conviction that this is a training ground not only for individual success, but for leadership that can change the world.

Dr. King was just 15 years old when he enrolled here at Morehouse. He was an unknown, undersized, unassuming young freshman who lived at home with his parents. And I think it’s fair to say he wasn’t the coolest kid on campus — for the suits he wore, his classmates called him “Tweed.” But his education at Morehouse helped to forge the intellect, the discipline, the compassion, the soul force that would transform America. It was here that he was introduced to the writings of Gandhi and Thoreau, and the theory of civil disobedience. It was here that professors encouraged him to look past the world as it was and fight for the world as it should be. And it was here, at Morehouse, as Dr. King later wrote, where “I realized that nobody — was afraid.”

Not even of some bad weather. I added on that part. (Laughter.) I know it’s wet out there. But Dr. Wilson told me you all had a choice and decided to do it out here anyway. (Applause.) That’s a Morehouse Man talking.

Now, think about it. For black men in the ’40s and the ’50s, the threat of violence, the constant humiliations, large and small, the uncertainty that you could support a family, the gnawing doubts born of the Jim Crow culture that told you every day that somehow you were inferior, the temptation to shrink from the world, to accept your place, to avoid risks, to be afraid — that temptation was necessarily strong.

And yet, here, under the tutelage of men like Dr. Mays, young Martin learned to be unafraid. And he, in turn, taught others to be unafraid. And over time, he taught a nation to be unafraid. And over the last 50 years, thanks to the moral force of Dr. King and a Moses generation that overcame their fear and their cynicism and their despair, barriers have come tumbling down, and new doors of opportunity have swung open, and laws and hearts and minds have been changed to the point where someone who looks just like you can somehow come to serve as President of these United States of America. (Applause.)

So the history we share should give you hope. The future we share should give you hope. You’re graduating into an improving job market. You’re living in a time when advances in technology and communication put the world at your fingertips. Your generation is uniquely poised for success unlike any generation of African Americans that came before it.

But that doesn’t mean we don’t have work — because if we’re honest with ourselves, we know that too few of our brothers have the opportunities that you’ve had here at Morehouse.

In troubled neighborhoods all across this country — many of them heavily African American — too few of our citizens have role models to guide them. Communities just a couple miles from my house in Chicago, communities just a couple miles from here — they’re places where jobs are still too scarce and wages are still too low; where schools are underfunded and violence is pervasive; where too many of our men spend their youth not behind a desk in a classroom, but hanging out on the streets or brooding behind a jail cell.

My job, as President, is to advocate for policies that generate more opportunity for everybody — policies that strengthen the middle class and give more people the chance to climb their way into the middle class. Policies that create more good jobs and reduce poverty, and educate more children, and give more families the security of health care, and protect more of our children from the horrors of gun violence. That’s my job. Those are matters of public policy, and it is important for all of us — black, white and brown — to advocate for an America where everybody has got a fair shot in life. Not just some. Not just a few. (Applause.)

But along with collective responsibilities, we have individual responsibilities. There are some things, as black men, we can only do for ourselves. There are some things, as Morehouse Men, that you are obliged to do for those still left behind. As Morehouse Men, you now wield something even more powerful than the diploma you’re about to collect — and that’s the power of your example.

So what I ask of you today is the same thing I ask of every graduating class I address: Use that power for something larger than yourself. Live up to President Mays’s challenge. Be “sensitive to the wrongs, the sufferings, and the injustices of society.” And be “willing to accept responsibility for correcting (those) ills.”

I know that some of you came to Morehouse from communities where life was about keeping your head down and looking out for yourself. Maybe you feel like you escaped, and now you can take your degree and get that fancy job and the nice house and the nice car — and never look back. And don’t get me wrong — with all those student loans you’ve had to take out, I know you’ve got to earn some money. With doors open to you that your parents and grandparents could not even imagine, no one expects you to take a vow of poverty. But I will say it betrays a poverty of ambition if all you think about is what goods you can buy instead of what good you can do. (Applause.)

So, yes, go get that law degree. But if you do, ask yourself if the only option is to defend the rich and the powerful, or if you can also find some time to defend the powerless. Sure, go get your MBA, or start that business. We need black businesses out there. But ask yourselves what broader purpose your business might serve, in putting people to work, or transforming a neighborhood. The most successful CEOs I know didn’t start out intent just on making money — rather, they had a vision of how their product or service would change things, and the money followed. (Applause.)

Some of you may be headed to medical school to become doctors. But make sure you heal folks in underserved communities who really need it, too. For generations, certain groups in this country — especially African Americans — have been desperate in need of access to quality, affordable health care. And as a society, we’re finally beginning to change that. Those of you who are under the age of 26 already have the option to stay on your parent’s health care plan. But all of you are heading into an economy where many young people expect not only to have multiple jobs, but multiple careers.

So starting October 1st, because of the Affordable Care Act — otherwise known as Obamacare — (applause) — you’ll be able to shop for a quality, affordable plan that’s yours and travels with you — a plan that will insure not only your health, but your dreams if you are sick or get in an accident. But we’re going to need some doctors to make sure it works, too. We’ve got to make sure everybody has good health in this country. It’s not just good for you, it’s good for this country. So you’re going to have to spread the word to your fellow young people.

Which brings me to a second point: Just as Morehouse has taught you to expect more of yourselves, inspire those who look up to you to expect more of themselves. We know that too many young men in our community continue to make bad choices. And I have to say, growing up, I made quite a few myself. Sometimes I wrote off my own failings as just another example of the world trying to keep a black man down. I had a tendency sometimes to make excuses for me not doing the right thing. But one of the things that all of you have learned over the last four years is there’s no longer any room for excuses. (Applause.)

I understand there’s a common fraternity creed here at Morehouse: “Excuses are tools of the incompetent used to build bridges to nowhere and monuments of nothingness.” Well, we’ve got no time for excuses. Not because the bitter legacy of slavery and segregation have vanished entirely; they have not. Not because racism and discrimination no longer exist; we know those are still out there. It’s just that in today’s hyperconnected, hypercompetitive world, with millions of young people from China and India and Brazil — many of whom started with a whole lot less than all of you did — all of them entering the global workforce alongside you, nobody is going to give you anything that you have not earned. (Applause.)

Nobody cares how tough your upbringing was. Nobody cares if you suffered some discrimination. And moreover, you have to remember that whatever you’ve gone through, it pales in comparison to the hardships previous generations endured — and they overcame them. And if they overcame them, you can overcome them, too. (Applause.)

You now hail from a lineage and legacy of immeasurably strong men — men who bore tremendous burdens and still laid the stones for the path on which we now walk. You wear the mantle of Frederick Douglass and Booker T. Washington, and Ralph Bunche and Langston Hughes, and George Washington Carver and Ralph Abernathy and Thurgood Marshall, and, yes, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. These men were many things to many people. And they knew full well the role that racism played in their lives. But when it came to their own accomplishments and sense of purpose, they had no time for excuses.

Every one of you have a grandma or an uncle or a parent who’s told you that at some point in life, as an African American, you have to work twice as hard as anyone else if you want to get by. I think President Mays put it even better: He said, “Whatever you do, strive to do it so well that no man living and no man dead, and no man yet to be born can do it any better.” (Applause.)

And I promise you, what was needed in Dr. Mays’s time, that spirit of excellence, and hard work, and dedication, and no excuses is needed now more than ever. If you think you can just get over in this economy just because you have a Morehouse degree, you’re in for a rude awakening. But if you stay hungry, if you keep hustling, if you keep on your grind and get other folks to do the same — nobody can stop you. (Applause.)

And when I talk about pursuing excellence and setting an example, I’m not just talking about in your professional life. One of today’s graduates, Frederick Anderson — where’s Frederick? Frederick, right here. (Applause.) I know it’s raining, but I’m going to tell about Frederick. Frederick started his college career in Ohio, only to find out that his high school sweetheart back in Georgia was pregnant. So he came back and enrolled in Morehouse to be closer to her. Pretty soon, helping raise a newborn and working night shifts became too much, so he started taking business classes at a technical college instead — doing everything from delivering newspapers to buffing hospital floors to support his family.

And then he enrolled at Morehouse a second time. But even with a job, he couldn’t keep up with the cost of tuition. So after getting his degree from that technical school, this father of three decided to come back to Morehouse for a third time. (Applause.) As Frederick says, “God has a plan for my life, and He’s not done with me yet.”

And today, Frederick is a family man, and a working man, and a Morehouse Man. (Applause.) And that’s what I’m asking all of you to do: Keep setting an example for what it means to be a man. (Applause.) Be the best husband to your wife, or you’re your boyfriend, or your partner. Be the best father you can be to your children. Because nothing is more important.

I was raised by a heroic single mom, wonderful grandparents — made incredible sacrifices for me. And I know there are moms and grandparents here today who did the same thing for all of you. But I sure wish I had had a father who was not only present, but involved.

Didn’t know my dad. And so my whole life, I’ve tried to be for Michelle and my girls what my father was not for my mother and me. I want to break that cycle where a father is not at home — (applause) — where a father is not helping to raise that son or daughter. I want to be a better father, a better husband, a better man.

It’s hard work that demands your constant attention and frequent sacrifice. And I promise you, Michelle will tell you I’m not perfect. She’s got a long list of my imperfections. (Laughter.) Even now, I’m still practicing, I’m still learning, still getting corrected in terms of how to be a fine husband and a good father. But I will tell you this: Everything else is unfulfilled if we fail at family, if we fail at that responsibility. (Applause.)

I know that when I am on my deathbed someday, I will not be thinking about any particular legislation I passed; I will not be thinking about a policy I promoted; I will not be thinking about the speech I gave, I will not be thinking the Nobel Prize I received. I will be thinking about that walk I took with my daughters. I’ll be thinking about a lazy afternoon with my wife. I’ll be thinking about sitting around the dinner table and seeing them happy and healthy and knowing that they were loved. And I’ll be thinking about whether I did right by all of them.

So be a good role model, set a good example for that young brother coming up. If you know somebody who’s not on point, go back and bring that brother along — those who’ve been left behind, who haven’t had the same opportunities we have — they need to hear from you. You’ve got to be engaged on the barbershops, on the basketball court, at church, spend time and energy and presence to give people opportunities and a chance. Pull them up, expose them, support their dreams. Don’t put them down.

We’ve got to teach them just like what we have to learn, what it means to be a man — to serve your city like Maynard Jackson; to shape the culture like Spike Lee; to be like Chester Davenport, one of the first people to integrate the University of Georgia Law School. When he got there, nobody would sit next to him in class. But Chester didn’t mind. Later on, he said, “It was the thing for me to do. Someone needed to be the first.” And today, Chester is here celebrating his 50th reunion. Where is Chester Davenport? He’s here. (Applause.)

So if you’ve had role models, fathers, brothers like that — thank them today. And if you haven’t, commit yourself to being that man to somebody else.

And finally, as you do these things, do them not just for yourself, but don’t even do them just for the African American community. I want you to set your sights higher. At the turn of the last century, W.E.B. DuBois spoke about the “talented tenth” — a class of highly educated, socially conscious leaders in the black community. But it’s not just the African American community that needs you. The country needs you. The world needs you.

As Morehouse Men, many of you know what it’s like to be an outsider; know what it’s like to be marginalized; know what it’s like to feel the sting of discrimination. And that’s an experience that a lot of Americans share. Hispanic Americans know that feeling when somebody asks them where they come from or tell them to go back. Gay and lesbian Americans feel it when a stranger passes judgment on their parenting skills or the love that they share. Muslim Americans feel it when they’re stared at with suspicion because of their faith. Any woman who knows the injustice of earning less pay for doing the same work — she knows what it’s like to be on the outside looking in.

So your experiences give you special insight that today’s leaders need. If you tap into that experience, it should endow you with empathy — the understanding of what it’s like to walk in somebody else’s shoes, to see through their eyes, to know what it’s like when you’re not born on 3rd base, thinking you hit a triple. It should give you the ability to connect. It should give you a sense of compassion and what it means to overcome barriers.

And I will tell you, Class of 2013, whatever success I have achieved, whatever positions of leadership I have held have depended less on Ivy League degrees or SAT scores or GPAs, and have instead been due to that sense of connection and empathy — the special obligation I felt, as a black man like you, to help those who need it most, people who didn’t have the opportunities that I had — because there but for the grace of God, go I — I might have been in their shoes. I might have been in prison. I might have been unemployed. I might not have been able to support a family. And that motivates me. (Applause.)

So it’s up to you to widen your circle of concern — to care about justice for everybody, white, black and brown. Everybody. Not just in your own community, but also across this country and around the world. To make sure everyone has a voice, and everybody gets a seat at the table; that everybody, no matter what you look like or where you come from, what your last name is — it doesn’t matter, everybody gets a chance to walk through those doors of opportunity if they are willing to work hard enough.

When Leland Shelton was four years old — where’s Leland? (Applause.) Stand up, Leland. When Leland Shelton was four years old, social services took him away from his mama, put him in the care of his grandparents. By age 14, he was in the foster care system. Three years after that, Leland enrolled in Morehouse. And today he is graduating Phi Beta Kappa on his way to Harvard Law School. (Applause.) But he’s not stopping there. As a member of the National Foster Care Youth and Alumni Policy Council, he plans to use his law degree to make sure kids like him don’t fall through the cracks. And it won’t matter whether they’re black kids or brown kids or white kids or Native American kids, because he’ll understand what they’re going through. And he’ll be fighting for them. He’ll be in their corner. That’s leadership. That’s a Morehouse Man right there. (Applause.)

That’s what we’ve come to expect from you, Morehouse — a legacy of leaders — not just in our black community, but for the entire American community. To recognize the burdens you carry with you, but to resist the temptation to use them as excuses. To transform the way we think about manhood, and set higher standards for ourselves and for others. To be successful, but also to understand that each of us has responsibilities not just to ourselves, but to one another and to future generations. Men who refuse to be afraid. Men who refuse to be afraid.

Members of the Class of 2013, you are heirs to a great legacy. You have within you that same courage and that same strength, the same resolve as the men who came before you. That’s what being a Morehouse Man is all about. That’s what being an American is all about.

Success may not come quickly or easily. But if you strive to do what’s right, if you work harder and dream bigger, if you set an example in your own lives and do your part to help meet the challenges of our time, then I’m confident that, together, we will continue the never-ending task of perfecting our union.

Congratulations, Class of 2013. God bless you. God bless Morehouse. And God bless the United States of America. (Applause.)

I’ve been so incredibly fortunate to work and play on the streets of NYC since I was a teen.  The 42^nd street I first came to visit was a lot dirtier than it is now, but it had a lot more character, and a host of characters to go with it.  Giuliani began the Disney-fication of “Forty-Deuce” as it was affectionately referred to ‘back in the day’.  It’s no longer worthy of a hip colloquial reference, as Bloomberg has turned what used to be “Times Square” into a concrete park.  If you didn’t know it before what it is now, trust me, a lot of what’s happened, sucks.  Like the undo multitude of islands that have been placed throughout the city on various avenues that have altered parking and limited the amount of space to drive on the streets.

One thing that I do find progressive are the new bicycle ports being sponsored by Citibank.  This would have been brilliant to incorporate somehow with the aforementioned ‘undo islands’, keeping the money that will come from it with the city.  A different architect or mayor may have seen that, but… Citibank has done what’s already existed in other cities and Europe for years.

Currently with several bike stations around the city, there are plans on hundreds to be installed as far north as Lincoln Center, and as far south as Wall St., with stations across the Brooklyn and Manhattan bridges.  No plans for Harlem planned yet though on the website — there’s Citbanks in Harlem…?  I wondered why… so I called, according to the very astute “Adler,” in customer service, the “Ctibkie” initiative would not go into effect above 66th street until “Phase Two” of the project.  Citibank wants to see how things go with the current dynamics in place, which launches on Memorial Day, May 27th.  Nonetheless, it was a no-brainer that should have been instituted in this city long before now, to go with the bike lanes that were established when the ‘undo islands” were put in place.  Amsterdam has been doing this for years.  In addition to having a means of alternative transportation, it simply makes for better air quality.  You can find out more at citibikenyc.com

Another new addition I’ve noted around Manhattan are Information Booths.  They now exist where phone booths, used to be, or just next to one of the few that are left.  It renders various activities to do around the city, places to dine, I imagine retail info too, but I didn’t look that close.

One thing that really took me aback most recently, is that there’s no trace of the old 8^th Street I grew up with.  It had been years since I strolled down 8^th between 6^th Avenue and Broadway… What a difference compared to yesteryear and it appears that they’re really just getting started.  In addition to a whole new bunch of merchants, there’s a lot of construction going on and scaffolding everywhere.

As I walked down the block starting at 6^th Avenue, Jimi Hendrix’s Electric Lady Studios greets you on the south side of the street, and Gray’s Papaya on the north side, but that’s it.  The movie theater, the smoke shops, the boutiques… all gone, remember “FLIP”?  I think all I ever got from there was the buttons, but it spoke to the nature of the people that frequented the area.  Now it’s probably primarily property purchased by NYU for the purpose of over charging anticipated students for an education some will take a lifetime to pay.

The New NYC is bringing a different kind of FUNK that’s not Funkin’ familiar, as for the first time in more than 60 years more people moved into New York City than out last year, according to the Huffington Post.  A turnaround that tracks changing attitudes about the nation’s biggest city and urban living more broadly, according to officials and researchers.  The net influx – about 12,000 people – is a small piece of the city’s overall growth to a record high population of more than 8.3 million, according to census estimates released this past March.

It’s just getting too crowded!  More and more bricks being added to the smog and carbon monoxide in the air, on top of more people… It’s a lot…  What, me complain, Nah – It’s merely a keen observation.  I Love New York, and from where I’m standing, it’ll be here for as long as I desire to live in it, depart and return.  So for all those who have not been here yet, you owe it to yourself to visit.  The link below is for those who have more than likely been here too long.

http://www.buzzfeed.com/jessicamisener/23-signs-youve-lived-in-new-york-city-too-long

from a FOREVR Lover of NYC

c-dub

“In reality all men are sculptors constantly chipping away the un-wanted parts of their lives, trying to create their idea of the masterpiece.” – Eddie Murphy.

It was hearing this quote today, while watching an interview with Murphy, that brought to mind something that I’ve been saying about myself for the past 20 years.  Whenever someone asks me “How’s it going?” — I’ll reply, ”Chipping away like a sculptor, I’m a work in progress.”  Murphy wrote his words in his High School year book over 30 years ago.  The other twelve are…

“No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.” – Eleanor Roosevelt

“There’s no deadline on your dreams.” – James Todd Smith aka LL Cool J

“Open your arms to change, but don’t let go of your values.” – The Dalai Lama

“FIGHT ALL YOUR LIFE! And when you die, have a good rest.” – Danny Nagashima

“We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars.” – Oscar Wilde

“How far you go in life depends on your being tender with the young, compassionate with the aged, sympathetic with the striving, and tolerant of the weak and strong. Because some day in life you will have been all these.” – George Washington Carver

“Sometimes you have to be Blacker than others.” – Oprah Winfrey

“The price one pays for pursuing any profession or calling is an intimate knowledge of its ugly side.” – James Baldwin

“In the end, we will conserve only what we love, we will love only what we understand, we will understand only what we are taught.” – Baba Dioum

“Follow your Curiosity.” – Albert Einstein

“Going up fool’s hill at 100 miles an hour.” & “You can have a pity party, but don’t stay long.” – Cynthia Dix (Rufen-Blanchette as my Mother-In-Law) by way of Grandma Matti Pearl Dix

“Either write something worth reading or do something worth writing.” – Benjamin Franklin

The last quote compelled me to record some of my own statements.  Every so often something comes to mind, or I’ll express something to a friend, that they or I feel will be worth repeating.  I’ve taken note of words I’ve spoken that have encouraged others, or an expression of annoyance or delight, that I’ve shared with friends over the past few years.  I hope these words can be motivating or maybe a source of confirmation for others – What the FUNK…

“Creativity is the Path to Innovation.”

“Ignorance is Bliss… until One is Educated.”

“Averting Persecution due to Incompetence is a Blessing.”

“Fools will be fools and a Bodhisattva बोधिसत्त्व will always rise.”

“Better To Dare and Dig In, Than To Yearn and Regret.”

“Going through life without living just isn’t worth it.”

“Failure is Not An Option When Victory is Your Destiny.”

“There’s Nothing Like the Gratification of Actual Proof.”

“Keep Going For That Brass Ring and Eventually You’ll Get It.”

“Homemade is 9 Times Out of 10 Better than Instant.”

“Don’t be a slave or a victim of another’s indecision – MOVE ON.”

“Challenges may endure, but Victory is Certain.”

“Metaphors are expressions of reality, believe.”

“Never make someone your priority when you are only their option.”

“The road to Largeness is traveled upon by many, but only a few acquire greatness.”

to be continued…

for the love of words that inspire

c-dub

Southern Christian Leadership Conference
Atlanta, Georgia
16 August 1967

Now, in order to answer the question, “Where do we go from here?” which is our theme, we must first honestly recognize where we are now. When the Constitution was written, a strange formula to determine taxes and representation declared that the Negro was 60 percent of a person. Today another curious formula seems to declare he is 50 percent of a person. Of the good things in life, the Negro has approximately one half those of whites. Of the bad things of life, he has twice those of whites. Thus half of all Negroes live in substandard housing. And Negroes have half the income of whites. When we view the negative experiences of life, the Negro has a double share. There are twice as many unemployed. The rate of infant mortality among Negroes is double that of whites and there are twice as many Negroes dying in Vietnam as whites in proportion to their size in the population.

In other spheres, the figures are equally alarming. In elementary schools, Negroes lag one to three years behind whites, and their segregated schools receive substantially less money per student than the white schools. One twentieth as many Negroes as whites attend college. Of employed Negroes, 75 percent hold menial jobs. This is where we are. Where do we go from here? First, we must massively assert our dignity and worth. We must stand up amidst a system that still oppresses us and develop an unassailable and majestic sense of values. We must no longer be ashamed of being black. The job of arousing manhood within a people that have been taught for so many centuries that they are nobody is not easy.

Depiction of Blackness and Negro Contributions

Even semantics have conspired to make that which is black seem ugly and degrading. In Roget’s Thesaurus there are 120 synonyms for blackness and at least 60 of them are offensive, as for example, blot, soot, grim, devil and foul. And there are some 134 synonyms for whiteness and all are favorable, expressed in such words as purity, cleanliness, chastity and innocence. A white lie is better than a black lie. The most degenerate member of a family is a “black sheep.” Ossie Davis has suggested that maybe the English language should be reconstructed so that teachers will not be forced to teach the Negro child 60 ways to despise himself, and thereby perpetuate his false sense of inferiority, and the white child 134 ways to adore himself, and thereby perpetuate his false sense of superiority.

The tendency to ignore the Negro’s contribution to American life and to strip him of his personhood, is as old as the earliest history hooks and as contemporary as the morning’s newspaper. To upset this cultural homicide, the Negro must rise up with an affirmation of his own Olympian manhood. Any movement for the Negro’s freedom that overlooks this necessity is only waiting to be buried. As long as the mind is enslaved, the body can never be free. Psychological freedom, a firm sense of self-esteem, is the most powerful weapon against the long night of physical slavery. No Lincolnian Emancipation Proclamation or Johnsonian Civil Rights Bill can totally bring this kind of freedom. The Negro will only be free when he reaches down to the inner depths of his own being and signs with the pen and ink of assertive manhood his own Emancipation Proclamation. And, with a spirit straining toward true self-esteem, the Negro must boldly throw off the manacles of self-abnegation and say to himself and to the world, “I am somebody. I am a person. I am a man with dignity and honor. I have a rich and noble history. How painful and exploited that history has been. Yes, I was a slave through my foreparents and I am not ashamed of that. I’m ashamed of the people who were so sinful to make me a slave.” Yes, we must stand up and say, “I’m black and I’m beautiful,” and this self-affirmation is the black man’s need, made compelling by the white man’s crimes against him.

Basic Challenges

Another basic challenge is to discover how to organize our strength in terms of economic and political power. No one can deny that the Negro is in dire need of this kind of legitimate power. Indeed, one of the great problems that the Negro confronts is his lack of power. From old plantations of the South to newer ghettos of the North, the Negro has been confined to a life of voicelessness and powerlessness. Stripped of the right to make decisions concerning his life and destiny he has been subject to the authoritarian and sometimes whimsical decisions of this white power structure. The plantation and ghetto were created by those who had power. both to confine those who had no power and to perpetuate their powerlessness. The problem of transforming the ghetto, therefore, is a problem of power-confrontation of the forces of power demanding change and the forces of power dedicated to the preserving of the status quo. Now power properly understood is nothing but the ability to achieve purpose. It is the strength required to bring about social, political and economic change. Walter Reuther defined power one day. He said, “Power is the ability of a labor union like the U.A.W. to make the most powerful corporation in the world, General Motors, say ‘Yes’ when it wants to say ‘No.’ That’s power.”

Now a lot of us are preachers, and all of us have our moral convictions and concerns, and so often have problems with power. There is nothing wrong with power if power is used correctly. You see, what happened is that some of our philosophers got off base. And one of the great problems of history is that the concepts of love and power have usually been contrasted as opposites – polar opposites so that love is identified with a resignation of power, and power with a denial of love. It was this misinterpretation that caused Nietzsche, who was a philosopher of the will to power, to reject the Christian concept of love. It was this same misinterpretation which induced Christian theologians to reject the Nietzschean philosophy of the will to power in the name of the Christian idea of love. Now, we’ve got to get this thing right. What is needed is a realization that power without love is reckless and abusive, and love without power is sentimental and anemic. Power at its best is love implementing the demands of justice, and justice at its best is power correcting everything that stands against love. And this is what we must see as we move on. What has happened is that we have had it wrong and confused in our own country, and this has led Negro Americans in the past to seek their goals through power devoid of love and conscience. This is leading a few extremists today to advocate for Negroes the same destructive and conscienceless power that they have justly abhorred in whites. It is precisely this collision of immoral power with powerless morality which constitutes the major crisis of our times.

Riverside Church, NYC

Developing a Program?

We must develop a program that will drive the nation to a guaranteed annual income. Now, early in this century this proposal would have been greeted with ridicule and denunciation, as destructive of initiative and responsibility. At that time economic status was considered the measure of the individual’s ability and talents. And, in the thinking of that day, the absence of worldly goods indicated a want of industrious habits and moral fiber. We’ve come a long way in our understanding of human motivation and of the blind operation of our economic system. Now we realize that dislocations in the market operations of our economy and the prevalence of discrimination thrust people into idleness and bind them in constant or frequent unemployment against their will. Today the poor are less often dismissed, I hope, from our consciences by being branded as inferior or incompetent. We also know that no matter how dynamically the economy develops and expands, it does not eliminate all poverty. The problem indicates that our emphasis must be twofold. We must create full employment or we must create incomes. People must be made consumers by one method or the other. Once they are placed in this position we need to be concerned that the potential of the individual is not wasted. New forms of work that enhance the social good will have to be devised for those for whom traditional jobs are not available. In I879 Henry George anticipated this state of affairs when he wrote in Progress and Poverty:

The fact is that the work which improves the condition of mankind, the work which extends knowledge and increases power and enriches literature and elevates thought, is not done to secure a living. It is not the work of slaves driven to their tasks either by the task, by the taskmaster, or by anirnal (sic) necessity. It is the work of men who somehow find a form of work that brings a security for its own sake and a state of society where want is abolished. Work of this sort could be enormously increased, and we are likely to find that the problems of housing and education, instead of preceding the elimination of poverty, will themselves be affected if poverty is first abolished. The poor transformed into purchasers will do a great deal on their own to alter housing decay. Negroes who have a double disability will have a greater effect on discrimination when they have the additional weapon of cash to use in their struggle. Beyond these advantages, a host of positive psychological changes inevitably will result from widespread economic security. The dignity of the individual will flourish when the decisions concerning his life are in his own hands, when he has the means to seek self-improvement. Personal conflicts among husbands, wives and children will diminish when the unjust measurement of human worth on the scale of dollars is eliminated. Now our country can do this. John Kenneth Galbraith said that a guaranteed annual income could be done for about twenty billion dollars a year. And I say to you today, that if our nation can spend thirty-five billion dollars a year to fight an unjust, evil war in Vietnam, and twenty billion dollars to put a man on the moon, it can spend billions of dollars to put God’s children on their own two feet right here on earth.

Commitment To Nonviolence

Now, let me say briefly that we must reaffirm our commitment to nonviolence. I want to stress this. The futility of violence in the struggle for racial justice has been tragically etched in all the recent Negro riots. Yesterday, I tried to analyze the riots and deal with their causes. Today I want to give the other side. There is certainly something painfully sad about a riot. One sees screaming youngsters and angry adults fighting hopelessly and aimlessly against impossible odds. And deep down within them, you can even see a desire for self-destruction, a kind of suicidal longing. Occasionally Negroes contend that the 1965 Watts riot and the other riots in various cities represented effective civil rights action. But those who express this view always end up with stumbling words when asked what concrete gains have been won as a result. At best, the riots have produced a little additional antipoverty money allotted by frightened government officials, and a few water-sprinklers to cool the children of the ghettos. It is something like improving the food in the prison while the people remain securely incarcerated behind bars. Nowhere have the riots won any concrete improvement such as have the organized protest demonstrations. When one tries to pin down advocates of violence as to what acts would be effective, the answers are blatantly illogical. Sometimes they talk of overthrowing racist state and local governments and they talk about guerrilla warfare. They fail to see that no internal revolution has ever succeeded in overthrowing a government by violence unless the government had already lost the allegiance and effective control of its armed forces. Anyone in his right mind knows that this will not happen in the United States. In a violent racial situation, the power structure has the local police, the state troopers, the National Guard and, finally, the Army to call on, all of which are predominantly white. Furthermore, few if any violent revolutions have been successful unless the violent minority had the sympathy and support of the nonresistant majority. Castro may have had only a few Cubans actually fighting with him up in the hills, but he could never have overthrown the Batista regime unless he had the sympathy of the vast majority of Cuban people.

It is perfectly clear that a violent revolution on the part of American blacks would find no sympathy and support from the white population and very little from the majority of the Negroes themselves. This is no time for romantic illusions and empty philosophical debates about freedom. This is a time for action. What is needed is a strategy for change, a tactical program that will bring the Negro into the mainstream of American life as quickly as possible. So far, this has only been offered by the nonviolent movement. Without recognizing this we will end up with solutions that don’t solve, answers that don’t answer and explanations that don’t explain. And so I say to you today that I still stand by nonviolence. And I am still convinced that it is the most potent weapon available to the Negro in his struggle for justice in this country. And the other thing is that I am concerned about a better world. I’m concerned about justice. I’m concerned about brotherhood. I’m concerned about truth. And when one is concerned about these, he can never advocate violence. For through violence you may murder a murderer but you can’t murder. Through violence you may murder a liar but you can’t establish truth. Through violence you may murder a hater, but you can’t murder hate. Darkness cannot put out darkness. Only light can do that.

And I say to you, I have also decided to stick to love. For I know that love is ultimately the only answer to mankind’s problems. And I’m going to talk about it everywhere I go. I know it isn’t popular to talk about it in some circles today. I’m not talking about emotional bosh when I talk about love, I’m talking about a strong, demanding love. And I have seen too much hate. I’ve seen too much hate on the faces of sheriffs in the South. I’ve seen hate on the faces of too many Klansmen and too many White Citizens Councilors in the South to want to hate myself, because every time I see it, I know that it does something to their faces and their personalities and I say to myself that hate is too great a burden to bear. I have decided to love. If you are seeking the highest good, I think you can find it through love. And the beautiful thing is that we are moving against wrong when we do it, because John was right, God is love. He who hates does not know God, but he who has love has the key that unlocks the door to the meaning of ultimate reality.

I want to say to you as I move to my conclusion, as we talk about “Where do we go from here,” that we honestly face the fact that the Movement must address itself to the question of restructuring the whole of American society. There are forty million poor people here. And one day we must ask the question, “Why are there forty million poor people in America?” And when you begin to ask that question, you are raising questions about the economic system, about a broader distribution of wealth. When you ask that question, you begin to question the capitalistic economy. And I’m simply saying that more and more, we’ve got to begin to ask questions about the whole society. We are called upon to help the discouraged beggars in life’s market place. But one day we must come to see that an edifice which produces beggars needs restructuring. It means that questions must be raised. You see, my friends, when you deal with this, you begin to ask the question, “Who owns the oil?” You begin to ask the question, “Who owns the iron ore?” You begin to ask the question, “Why is it that people have to pay water bills in a world that is two thirds water?” These are questions that must be asked.

About Communism

Now, don’t think that you have me in a “bind” today. I’m not talking about Communism. What I’m saying to you this morning is that Communism forgets that life is individual. Capitalism forgets that life is social, and the Kingdom of Brotherhood is found neither in the thesis of Communism nor the antithesis of capitalism but in a higher synthesis. It is found in a higher synthesis that combines the truths of both. Now, when I say question the whole society, it means ultimately coming to see that the problem of racism, the problem of economic exploitation, and the problem of war are all tied together. These are the triple evils that are interrelated. If you will let me be a preacher just a little bit – One night, a juror came to Jesus and he wanted to know what he could do to be saved. Jesus didn’t get bogged down in the kind of isolated approach of what he shouldn’t do. Jesus didn’t say, “Now Nicodemus, you must stop lying.” HE didn’t say, “Nicodemus, you must stop cheating if you are doing that.” He didn’t say, “Nicodemus, you must not commit adultery.” He didn’t say, “Nicodemus, now you must stop drinking liquor if you are doing that excessively.” He said something altogether different, because Jesus realized something basic – that if a man will lie, he will steal. And if a man will steal, he will kill. So instead of just getting bogged down in one thing, Jesus looked at him and said, “Nicodemus, you must be born again.”

He said, in other words, “Your whole structure must be changed.” A nation that will keep people in slavery for 244 years will “thingify” them – make them things. Therefore they will exploit them, and poor people generally, economically. And a nation that will exploit economically will have to have foreign investments and everything else, and will have to use its military might to protect them. All of these problems are tied together. What I am saying today is that we must go from this convention and say, “America, you must be born again!”

Conclusion

So, I conclude by saying again today that we have a task and let us go out with a “divine dissatisfaction.” Let us be dissatisfied until America will no longer have a high blood pressure of creeds and an anemia of deeds. Let us be dissatisfied until the tragic walls that separate the outer city of wealth and comfort and the inner city of poverty and despair shall be crushed by the battering rams of the forces of justice. [,et us be dissatisfied until those that live on the outskirts of hope are brought into the metropolis of daily security. Let us be dissatisfied until slums are cast into the junk heaps of history, and every family is living in a decent sanitary home. Let us be dissatisfied until the dark yesterdays of segregated schools will be transformed into bright tomorrows of quality, integrated education. Let us be dissatisfied until integration is not seen as a problem but as an opportunity to participate in the beauty of diversity. Let us be dissatisfied until men and women, however black they may be, will be judged on the basis of the content of their character and not on the basis of the color of their skin. Let us be dissatisfied. Let us be dissatisfied until every state capitol houses a governor who will do justly, who will love mercy and who will walk humbly with his God. Let us be dissatisfied until from every city hall, justice will roll down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream. Let us be dissatisfied until that day when the lion and the lamb shall lie down together. and every man will sit under his own vine and fig tree and none shall be afraid. Let us be dissatisfied. And men will recognize that out of one blood God made all men to dwell upon the face of the earth. Let us be dissatisfied until that day when nobody will shout “White Power!” – when nobody will shout “Black Power!” – but everybody will talk about God’s power and human power.

I must confess, my friends, the road ahead will not always be smooth. There will still be rocky places of frustration and meandering points of bewilderment. There will be inevitable setbacks here and there. There will be those moments when the buoyancy of hope will be transformed into the fatigue of despair. Our dreams will sometimes be shattered and our ethereal hopes blasted. We may again with tear-drenched eyes have to stand before the bier of some courageous civil-rights worker whose life will be snuffed out by the dastardly acts of bloodthirsty mobs. Difficult and painful as it is, we must walk on in the days ahead with an audacious faith in the future. And as we continue our charted course, we may gain consolation in the words so nobly left by that great black bard who was also a great freedom fighter of yesterday, James Weldon Johnson:

Stony the road we trod,
Bitter the chastening rod
Felt in the days
When hope unborn had died.

Yet with a steady beat,
Have not our weary feet
Come to the place
For which our fathers sighed?

We have come over the way

That with tears hath been watered.
We have come treading our paths
Through the blood of the slaughtered,

Out from the gloomy past,
Till now we stand at last

Where the bright gleam
Of our bright star is cast.

Let this affirmation be our ringing cry. It will give us the courage to face the uncertainties of the future. It will give our tired feet new strength as we continue our forward stride toward the city of freedom. When our days become dreary with low hovering clouds of despair, and when our nights become darker than a thousand midnights, let us remember that there is a creative force in this universe, working to pull down the gigantic mountains of evil, a power that is able to make a way out of no way and transform dark yesterdays into bright tomorrows. Let us realize the arc of the moral universe is long but it bends toward justice.

Let us realize that William Cullen Bryant is right: “Truth crushed to earth will rise again.” Let us go out realizing that the Bible is right: “Be not deceived, God is not mocked. Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.” This is our hope for the future, and with this faith we will be able to sing in some not too distant tomorrow with a cosmic past tense, “We have overcome, we have overcome, deep in my heart, I did believe we would overcome.”

pnl

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Taking A Musical Cakewalk Through Our Racism Filled Past.

The collection at the Museum Of UnCut Funk is primarily based on 1970′s Black culture. However, we have added Black Sheet Music from the 1800′s and early 1900′s to our collection because the art work is as stunning as it is racist and we feel that it is important to document this period of Black history. The Museum has 8 pieces of Black Sheet Music in our burgeoning collection. These pieces of art can cost between $250 to $1000 per book. We hope you will enjoy the history of Black Sheet Music and art work in this exhibition.

Black sheet music includes songs from the heyday of antebellum blackface minstrelsy in the 1850s and from the abolitionist movement of the same period. It includes numerous titles associated with the novel and the play Uncle Tom’ s Cabin, so greatly influential in its day. Civil War period music includes songs about Black soldiers, a controversial topic of the time, and the plight of the newly emancipated slave. Post-Civil War music reflects the problems of Reconstruction and the beginnings of urbanization and the northern migration of Blacks, notably in the music associated with the Harrigan & Hart shows of the 1880s. Sheet music of this period further documents the emergence of Black performers and musical troupes, first in blackface minstrelsy, and later at the beginnings of the Black musical stage in the late 1890s. The works of Black popular composers, including James Bland, Ernest Hogan, Bob Cole, James Reese Europe, and Will Marion Cook are a prominent feature of the music of this period. The turn of the century period includes rags and the so-called “coon” songs, whose strident racial images have lost none of their power to shock. Twentieth century titles feature many photographs of Black musical performers, often in costume. The music associated with World War I depicts the Black soldier, and the period ends with works that point to the age of jazz, blues, and the lively Black musical theatre of the 1920s.

A Little On The Rag-Time…circa 1900

Black sheet music provides a window into the daily concerns, preoccupations, and pastimes of Americans in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Unlike many other sorts of published works, sheet music can be produced rapidly in response to an event or public interest, and thus is the source of relatively unmediated and unrevised perspectives on quickly changing events and public attitudes. For example, the Civil War song known as “We are coming Father Abra’am” concerning the controversial military draft quickly changes when “300,000 strong” soon turned into “600,000.” The plethora of songs relating to the novel Uncle Tom’s Cabin, some with lyrics by well-known poets such as the abolitionist John Greenleaf Whittier, and others written for the stage versions of the novel, demonstrate its instant popularity and long-term appeal.

Charles Cohen Fashion Rag…circa 1912

Particularly significant and important in the Collection are the visual depictions of Blacks which provide much information about racial attitudes over the course of the 19th and early 20th centuries. For example, current discussions of the perceptions of Black men find historical models and sources in the images of these men on sheet music covers for the entire period. Two archetypes, the rural, uneducated plantation “darky” figure (Jim Crow) and the urban, flashily dressed, fast-talking figure (Zip Coon) can be traced through sheet music covers and lyrics from the 1820s (before the period established for this project) through the 1920s. The ways in which these archetypes evolve in the public mind are clearly demonstrated in the sheet music. The plantation “darky” comes to include the “Uncle Tom” character, the “contraband,” the migrant worker, the sharecropper; the urban figure emerges ominously as the “bully” in the post-Reconstruction era, and is also seen as the gambler, the cake-walker, the “swell.” All these notions are clearly documented in the sheet music and afford much material for investigation.

Black Cinderella…circa 1900

The sheet music covers often include scarce and otherwise unavailable portraits of performers well-known in their day, including many Black performers. Included are lithographic portraits of Cordelia Howard, the first “Little Eva” in the play of Uncle Tom’s Cabin, reproduced from a Joseph Brady daguerreotype; vignette portraits of the well-known Black composer James A. Bland, best known for “Carry Me Back to Old Virginny”; and halftone portraits of such major figures of the turn-of-the-century Black musical theatre as Bert Williams and George Walker, Bob Cole and J. Rosamond Johnson, and Aida Overton Walker, great stars of the period, and many others. The transition from minstrelsy to the forms of the African-American musical theatre is clearly depicted in this music. Nowhere is this more evident than in the covers that depict Black performers both in character in the old minstrelsy costumes and as themselves in conventional modern evening dress.

Satisfied Theron Bennett…circa 1904

This exhibition showcases a significant body of material that illuminates in a direct, vivid, and dramatic way many aspects of American culture and society from the 1850s to the 1920s, including theatre, music, and dance, publishing history, music printing and illustration, as well as a variety of social concerns and events from abolitionism and the Civil War, the problems of Reconstruction, urbanization, the Black soldier in three wars, and the social position of and attitudes toward Blacks throughout a critical period in history.

Source: Brown University Library Center.

Lately it seems like Mike Tyson is everywhere…

Tyson appeared in the movie The Hangover in 2009 and then made another appearance in the sequel The Hangover II in 2011. He also appeared in Scary Movie 5 and Law And Order SVU this year.

He just finished touring with his one man show titled Undisputed Truth, produced by Spike Lee. I am sorry that I missed this show on broadway, as the reviews were very good.

While promoting the show, Tyson opened up to the “Today Show” on the moment he realized he wanted to live a cleaner, healthier lifestyle. ”I just threw up the white flag,” he said to then “Today Show” correspondent, Ann Curry. “There was too many prison cells, too many jails, too many lawsuits, too many bankruptcies, too many women, too many venereal diseases, too many everything.” “I got tired. I really got tired of, you know, like every time a prostitute –- I would head back from a trip — I had to sleep with her. So I just said, ‘I’m going to live a different life.’”

According to the Hollywood Reporter, Iron Mike landed a book deal with Penguin Group imprint, Blue Rider Press in preparation of his forthcoming tell-all memoir aptly titled, “Undisputed Truth.” The book which is supposed to be released some time this summer will reveal in depth details of his tumultuous career and personal life including his much publicized marriage to Robin Givens and losing his $400 million fortune. Can’t wait to read this one…

Also, it now it looks like Tyson will have an animated series airing on Adult Swim during the 2013-2014 season called Mike Tyson Mysteries. The synopsis of the cartoon series which will air in 15 minute segments is below:

In the new animated comedy series Mike Tyson Mysteries, Mike Tyson is taking the fight from the boxing ring to the streets… by solving mysteries! Armed with a magical tattoo on his face and a trusty associate by his side — a talking pigeon — if you have a problem that needs solving, Iron Mike is in your corner. The series incorporates live-action appearances featuring Mighty Mike himself, and the gloves come off as the former heavyweight champ and his fowl-mouthed partner gear up for weekly adventures as they put unsolved mysteries — like how to defeat a super computer at chess or why a famous author/werewolf can’t finish his novel — down for the count.

I can’t wait to see the foul-mouthed pigeon…kind of like a cross between the Harlem Globetrotters and Scooby Doo…with a foul mouthed pigeon…have mercy!

In 2003 before his death, there was another documentary that was produced by and aired on Comedy Central titled Richard Pryor: I Ain’t Dead Yet, which as I remember was pretty good. Pryor’s widow Jennifer Lee is also currently producing a narrative biopic on Pryor directed by Forest Whitaker.

Surprisingly, besides these three efforts, there has been an endless parade of potential Richard Pryor biopics rumored to be in production, some of which I have covered here at the museum, but NONE of which have ever come to fruition. An icon as important as Richard Pryor deserves to have much more retrospective work done on his life, legacy and contributions to comedy and culture. But outside of Jo Jo Dancer, Your Life Is Calling, Richard’s own “non-autobiographical” film autobiography done in 1986, nothing else of substance has been produced to commemorate his life.

Splitsider, a website that focusses on the comedy industry, did an excellent job summarizing all of the Richard Pryor movies that have been promised but never produced - http://splitsider.com/2012/10/the-richard-pryor-biopics-16-years-in-development-hell/. Here is the list:

Damon Wayans in Martin Scorsese’s Richard Pryor Biopic Live (1995-98)

Martin Scorsese was supposed to direct a movie based on Richard Pryor’s 1995 autobiography Pryor Convictions: And Other Life Sentences. Damon Wayans was cast as Pryor, with Richard Pryor and wife Jennifer Lee consulting and Rob O’Hara writing the script. The working title was Live. Filming was supposed to begin in late 1996 or early 1997…Never happened…

Eddie Griffin as Richard Pryor in a Showtime’s Pryor Offenses (2004)

In 2004, Showtime began developing a TV series, called Pryor Offenses, based around the comedian’s life with Pryor and his wife Jennifer Lee Pryor producing. Eddie Griffin was cast as Richard Pryor. It was set in modern times, following Pryor’s career breakthrough in his 30s as if it had happened in 2004. Showtime opted to not pick up the series, but aired it as a one-off special in 2007.

Mike Epps as Richard Pryor (2005-06)

Mike Epps was also supposed to play Richard. Walter Hill, who directed Pryor in Brewster’s Millions, was on board to direct at the time, from a script by Caleb Kane. Richard Pryor passed away in December of 2005, and in 2006 this project stalled after a dispute over assets between Pryor’s first and second wives. A new script was commissioned with more input from Pryor’s children, and a new director, Kasi Lemmons (Eve’s Bayou, Talk to Me) was hired. Development continued to drag on and the Richard Pryor role was recast again. MediaTakeOut posted an insulting message the Jennifer Pryor allegedly posted online, in which she claimed Richard Pryor had not wanted Epps to play him and insulted Epps’s comedy.

Eddie Murphy in Bill Condon’s Richard Pryor: Is It Something I Said? (2009)

Writer/director Bill Condon (Dreamgirls, Kinsey) wrote a screenplay about Pryor’s life, named Richard Pryor: Is It Something I Said? after Pryor’s classic 1975 comedy album, and began shopping it around to studios. Although Eddie Murphy was supposed to play Pryor, he stated that ”We had a couple of conversations about Richard Pryor, but I was never involved. Our conversations never got past stage one. There’s a great script out there that Bill Condon wrote.”

Chris Rock as Richard Pryor (2009)

After Eddie Murphy backed away from the project, Chris Rock was a contender to play Pryor, but Pryor’s widow Jennifer Lee, an animal rights activist, made sure Rock didn’t get the job after she was offended by a Michael Vick dog fighting joke he made on TV.

Marlon Wayans as Richard Pryor (2009-Present)

In 2009, Marlon Wayans was selected to portray Richard Pryor in Bill Condon’s biopic Is It Something I Said? The movie jumped studios to Sony, where Adam Sandler and Chris Rock signed on to produce the project via Sandler’s Happy Madison Productions. Production was set to begin in spring of 2010, but director Bill Condon signed on to helm Twilight: Breaking Dawn (Parts 1 and 2) instead. When asked when the movie would start filming in 2010, Sandler said, “It’s all being worked on. Hopefully soon.”

Deadline - http://www.deadline.com/2012/10/david-oyelowo-attached-to-play-sugar-ray-robinson-in-sweet-thunder/

Shadow And Act - http://blogs.indiewire.com/shadowandact/david-oyelowo-tapped-to-play-sugar-ray-robinson-in-biopic-sweet-thunder#

Sweet Thunder chronicles Robinson’s exploits with an emphasis on an intriguing aspect of the fighter’s early career. Despite being the class of his field in the welterweight and later the middleweight class, Robinson spent too long watching inferior fighters get title matches, boxers that he’d whipped soundly in non-title fights. The reason: boxing was controlled by organized crime, and Robinson declined to get in bed with them, and refused to throw a fight. Robinson helped expose that seedy underbelly of the business. Moneyball producer Rachael Horovitz and Game Change scribe Danny Strong will produce, and Oyelowo will be executive producer.

All of this came together on the set of the Lee Daniels-directed The Butler, the film that Oyelowo stars in with Oprah Winfrey and Forest Whitaker. Strong wrote that script, based on Haygood’s Washington Post article, and the three of them found the beats of the boxing movie.

Of course I will keep you posted on this project as it continues to develop.

The Black and Brown Trading Stamp Corporation was established in 1969 in Oakland, California by former Oakland Raiders football player Art Powell, who saw an opportunity to create and reward loyalty within the Black community through trading stamps featuring Black American icons. The first and only icon featured on these stamps was James Brown, which reflects the fact that James Brown put up most of the money to start the company. The stamps were issued by Black merchants in Downtown Oakland to provide incentives to local patrons in the Black community. A full book of 50 pages of stamps was worth the equivalent of $3.00 in merchandise. During the first year the effort grew to include 1,000 merchants across California and generated over $1 million dollars in business.

Time Magazine Article
Retailing: Soul Stamps
Friday, July 11, 1969

Art Powell, all-star football end of the Oakland Raiders, was mulling over business prospects while recovering from a knee injury. What about trading stamps? Why, Powell asked himself, should a collector have to take the stamps to a redemption center and ex change them for gifts? Instead, Powell figured that a customer should be able to redeem the stamps where he gets them — for an extra loaf of bread at the grocery, or a tank of gas at the filling station. Powell thought that idea would appeal particularly to Negroes, many of whom could use the extra merchandise…

Clients include: DDBO, Phoenix New Times, Mecca Clothing, Kid Robot, Spike DDB, Pepsi Cola, 11211 Magazine, Vessel Drinkware, City Pages, The Village Voice.

Please visit for more art and doodles:
http://www.anthonypughillustration.com/
http://www.behance.net/anthonypugh
http://www.anthonypughillustration.blogspot.com/

Already set for release are “Thor: The Dark World” and “Captain America: The Winter Soldier.”  As Robert Downey Jr.’s portrayal of Tony Stark/Iron Man is the cornerstone of the Marvel Comic movie releases presently, entries that don’t feature him make gross less than the ‘Iron Man’ releases.  The “Iron Man” franchise would definitely not be as popular if it wasn’t for Downey’s presence.  His journey as an actor has been phenomenal amidst challenges, and he’s now taking on the role of Producer, for his next film “The Judge.”  Set for release next year, Robert stars opposite another named Robert — last name Duvall, in a story about a successful lawyer that returns to his hometown for his mother’s funeral.  Once there, he discovers that his estranged father — the town’s judge — is suspected of murder according to imdb.com.  ”The Avengers 2″, is now only “rumored” to star Downey and all the other cast members of the first installment, simply because they have not begun shooting yet, but all are expected back — it’s set for release in 2015.  

New comic book movies that have been announced to go into production include: “Deadpool”; “Doctor Strange”; “Nick Fury”; and “The Hands of Shang-Chi.”  Stan Lee is on board as Executive Producer (EP) for all four projects.  We first saw the character “Deadpool” featured in one of the “X-Men” installments portrayed by actor Ryan Reynolds.  Reynolds later took on the role of “Green Lantern” in a lack luster feature of the DC Comic book hero.  ’Doctor Strange’ is the story of a maimed surgeon that finds a new life when a wizard trains him to become the new Sorcerer Supreme of Earth.  Ang Lee is also an EP on Marvel’s “The Hands of Shang-Chi.”  Lee was at the helm for the film “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon,” that featured some incredible martial arts segments; he also directed the first ‘Hulk’ movie (it stunk).  Samuel L. Jackson has appeared several times now as “Sgt. Nick Fury.”  One of the head men of S.H.I.E.L.D., the government organization that organized ‘The Avengers’, the new series “Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.” will air on ABC this fall.  S.H.I.E.L.D. stands for Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division.  “Ant-Man” is another Marvel adaptation in the preliminary stages.  The story of Biochemist Dr. Hank Pym who uses his latest discovery — a group of subatomic particles — to create a size-altering formula, his first self-test goes awry.  As a result, he develops an instrument that helps him communicate with and control insects.  Directed by Edgar Wright of “Shaun of the Dead and “Hot Fuzz” fame, it’s scheduled for release in 2015.  

Additional Marvel Comic book heroes that are being rumored to be brought to the big screen are “Luke Cage” and the “Black Panther.”  ”Black Panther” is the alter-ego of T’Challa, prince of the fictional African nation of Wakanda.  A superhero with enhanced strength and agility, who uses his intellect, mysticism, and a variety of technological weapons developed from his country’s primary resource – the metal alloy known as “vibranium” – to fight evil.  Said to be like an African version of Batman, the character debuted in 1966 as the first mainstream black superhero, and has been a member of The Avengers since 1968.  Marvel movie fans have wanted Black Panther to come to light, as it’s something that Marvel and a few studios have considered for years.  Wesley Snipes was once attached to a Black Panther film through Columbia Pictures during the 90s.  Snipes starred as the Marvel comic book character “Blade” in three installments.  ”Luke Cage” was once said to star Tyrese Gibson and be directed by John Singleton at one point.  The comic book adaptation was to focus on a former gang member that was framed for a crime.  While in prison, he volunteers for a medical experiment that goes awry, giving him super strength and bulletproof skin.  The man then becomes Luke Cage, escapes from prison and uses his powers as a hero for hire.  There’s been no word on production for this flick for quite some time, last said to be in re-writes.

Captain America VS. Black Panther

Lastly, the film rights for “Daredevil” are back in the hands of Marvel again according to MTV’s “Splash Page” about a week ago.  President Kevin Feige confirmed it after months of fans assuming that was the case.  The rights were said to have reverted back to Marvel after Fox failed to get a reboot of the superhero up and running before the expiration date.  Fox did review several ideas, but nothing transpired.

The first “Daredevil” starred Ben Affleck and his now wife, Jennifer Garner as the then, soon to be “Elektra,” in her own one-off movie.  The “Daredevil” character debuted in 1964.  Movies comic book fans are looking forward to this summer are the highly anticipated “Wolverine” and the “Man of Steel.”  Christopher Nolan, who directed and co-wrote the latest “Batman” franchise with David S. Goyer — who wrote the ‘Blade’ trilogy — also developed the story with Goyer for the “Man of Steel.”  ”Man of Steel” stars Henry Cavill as “Superman” and Laurence Fishburne as “Perry White.”

for the FUNKIN’ LOVE of comics

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In the Southern United States, barbecue initially revolved around the cooking of pork. Prior to the American Civil War, Southerners consumed five pounds of pork for every one pound of beef they consumed. Plantation owners regularly held large and festive barbecues, including “pig pickin’s” for slaves. Because of the poverty level in the South during that time, every part of the pig was eaten immediately or saved for later. During the Great Migration, many of the southern slaves moved to northern cities, taking their cooking techniques like barbecue along, which quickly spread across the country.

The true origin of barbecue has been debated in several cultures. Some believe it was born through a tribe in Guyana, while others believe it was a Haitian practice. In western culture, it was said that the word barbecue was a combination of words from an advertisement for a bar, beer, and pool available at a local establishment; hence the word bar-beer-cue.

As the popularity of the barbecue technique spread, the distinction between regional cooking became more about what parts of the pig and cow are barbecued, how it’s present and most important, the flavors of the sauce and how and when the sauce is applied. The main regions identified in the U.S. that determine unique flavors have been broken down into several styles: Memphis, Tennessee, North Carolina, Kansas City and Texas.

July is National Grilling/ Barbecue Month and National Hot Dog Month, mainly due to the popularity of summer cookouts and consumption during the 4th of July holiday.

Source: Black America Web

I’ve played for six pro teams and have appeared in two NBA Finals. Ever heard of a parlor game called Three Degrees of Jason Collins? If you’re in the league, and I haven’t been your teammate, I surely have been one of your teammates’ teammates. Or one of your teammates’ teammates’ teammates.  Now I’m a free agent, literally and figuratively. I’ve reached that enviable state in life in which I can do pretty much what I want. And what I want is to continue to play basketball. I still love the game, and I still have something to offer. My coaches and teammates recognize that. At the same time, I want to be genuine and authentic and truthful.

Why am I coming out now? Well, I started thinking about this in 2011 during the NBA player lockout. I’m a creature of routine. When the regular season ends I immediately dedicate myself to getting game ready for the opener of the next campaign in the fall. But the lockout wreaked havoc on my habits and forced me to confront who I really am and what I really want. With the season delayed, I trained and worked out. But I lacked the distraction that basketball had always provided.

The first relative I came out to was my aunt Teri, a superior court judge in San Francisco. Her reaction surprised me. “I’ve known you were gay for years,” she said. From that moment on I was comfortable in my own skin. In her presence I ignored my censor button for the first time. She gave me support. The relief I felt was a sweet release. Imagine you’re in the oven, baking. Some of us know and accept our sexuality right away and some need more time to cook. I should know — I baked for 33 years.  When I was younger I dated women. I even got engaged. I thought I had to live a certain way. I thought I needed to marry a woman and raise kids with her. I kept telling myself the sky was red, but I always knew it was blue.

I realized I needed to go public when Joe Kennedy, my old roommate at Stanford and now a Massachusetts congressman, told me he had just marched in Boston’s 2012 Gay Pride Parade. I’m seldom jealous of others, but hearing what Joe had done filled me with envy. I was proud of him for participating but angry that as a closeted gay man I couldn’t even cheer my straight friend on as a spectator. If I’d been questioned, I would have concocted half truths. What a shame to have to lie at a celebration of pride. I want to do the right thing and not hide anymore. I want to march for tolerance, acceptance and understanding. I want to take a stand and say, “Me, too.”  Read More: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/magazine/news/20130429/jason-collins-gay-nba-player/#ixzz2S2SJlbnV

Another stigma in sports was addressed recently as NBA Oklahoma City Thunder cheerleader Kelsey Williams was criticized for her weight by CBS Houston blogger Claire Crawford.  US Magazine reported that Williams isn’t letting the remarks get her down.  On April 24th, she wrote, “‘To be womanly always, discouraged never.”  She then added, “We wouldn’t know what blessings were if we didn’t go through trials. Thank you to EVERYONE for the compassion and love today. I’m in awe.”  The cheerleader got tons of support from angered sports fans and the general public for Crawford’s outlandish remarks that were printed two days prior.  “It’s articles like this that lead young women and girls to anorexia and bulimia,” one reader said.  Another reader called for both Crawford and her overseeing editor to be fired.

Crawford’s blog – whose real name is Anna-Megan Raley — read:  “The Rockets looked terrible in Game 1, but some say they weren’t the only bad-looking people on the court”… She added that the cheerleader was a “pretty blonde,” but faulted her for “having ‘pudginess’ around her waistline.”  CBS-Houston has since removed the post along with all others on their site written by Crawford.  According to the Daily Mail, Crawford has since deleted her Twitter, Linkedin, and Myspace accounts, as reported by opposing views.com.

On a personal note I just have to say Crawford does’t have a clue as to what a man likes about a woman’s body, as Williams is totally gorgeous.

and that’s what will be a rare FUNKY look at sports…

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Except for the change of the word “ni**ers” to “darkies,” the lyrics of the song as Robeson performed it in the 1936 film and the show, remain exactly as Oscar Hammerstein II originally wrote them in 1927.  However, after 1938, Robeson recorded the song only with the lyrics that he used in his concerts.  For the longest time, I would hear about his movie “The Emperor Jones” and his achievements in football.  There are three theaters that have been named after the man.  Two in the state of New York, one in Buffalo, the other in Brooklyn; and one in Atlanta, Georgia.

Issued in 2004

So at what place in time did a level of recognition for him start to subside?  His name was one that was used as a reference for those up and coming, to aspire to be like in so many facets of life.  Paul Robeson was a man that people referred to as a hero, a role model — one that I still do.

While surfing the net this morning, I came across information about a new film by Paul Haggis.  Haggis is the writer and director of the Oscar Award winning movie “Crash” that featured an ensemble cast in a brilliant depiction of the human condition and racism in this latter day.  It starred Terrence Howard, Matt Dillon, Thandie Newton, Loretta Devine, Sandra Bullock, Larenz Tate, Don Cheadle, Brendan Fraser and Keith David.  His new film “Third Person” is a love story about three couples that also features an ensemble cast, including James Franco, Mila Kunis, Kim Basinger, Liam Neeson, Olivia Wilde, Adrien Brody, Maria Bello and David Harewood.  David Harewood is the star of “Robeson.”  The film is expected to cover all the accomplishments of this great American, whose notably the most talented all-round African-American in history.  A graduate of Rutgers and Columbia Universities, Robeson was a professional football player, a lawyer, actor, singer, an orator, as well as a political & civil rights activist.  His name was internationally known as a star, and for his tireless efforts for human rights.

Ironically, Harewood is a British actor that was awarded the MBE (Member of the Order of the British Empire) in the 2012 Queen’s New Years Honours List for his services to Drama.  Appearing on UK television since the early 90s, he’s one of the stars of the hit TV series “Homeland.”  Among his earlier silver screen credits are the films “The Merchant of Venice”, “Blood Diamond” and “The Hot Potato.”

Harewood

Robeson was a Shakespearean actor, so being depicted by a British thespian is absolutely fitting.  Directed by Darrell Roodt, “Robeson” also stars Oscar Award winning actor Louis Gossett Jr. as W.E.B. Dubois.  Roodt is known for his films “Sarafina,” which starred Whoopi Goldberg; “Cry, The Beloved Country,” that starred James Earl Jones; and “Winnie,” which features Oscar Nominee Terrence Howard and Oscar Award winning actress Jennifer Hudson.  Gossett is famous for his role as the no-nonsense drill sergeant, opposite Richard Gere  in “An Officer and a Gentleman,” among a multitude of film credits.  Gossett actually has over ten films in varying aspects of production as we speak, including two in which he’ll co-star with fellow veteran actor James Cann.

There are so many films I would love to see come to light about figures throughout history that affected the way things are today for the better.  Paul Robeson is unquestionably one of these people.  Currently in production, it’s not certain as to when this movie is set to hit theaters.

for the love of culture and the preservation of all that’s FUNKY

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These two emcee/songwriters are dedicated to raising the bar in music, and experimenting with international blends and exploring topics often overlooked or taboo in hop hop.  The aim of each Negros Americanos presentation is to Entertain Educate and Empower. As artists, Negros Americanos provides an engaging experience live and on record, delivers message driven music which empowers and inspires. Even with a song like Rakatakas Necesitan Amor tambien (hood rats need love too) which seems to be ignorant, there is an underlying message about violence against women and love between two very different individuals. In the video Bishop The Eastside Nappyhead (Gato Solo) as he is called affectionately in Latin America attempts to win over the heart of this woman, hardened by a routine of abuse and mistreatment-but he has to first get passed her very controlling man.

This is the first complete video done in spanish and has the english translation…thank you again for considering posting us on your blog and we will promote it through our social network…

For information about Negros Americanos please visit: http://www.negrosamericanos.com/

One of the most noted displays of the depth and significance of McLuhan’s influence and validity is displayed in the classic movie “Annie Hall” from Woody Allen.  It starred the director along with Diane Keaton, here’s the clip:

Here’s that site: http://www.marshallmcluhan.com

For the FUNKIN’ Need to Spread the Word

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I believe that when someone is blessed with the ability to express themselves through art, that it is our job as artists to share this gift.

To get more info on Stephane Metayer Tephlon Funk! check out:
Web: tephlonfunk.com
Facebook: facebook.com/TephlonFunk
Twitter: @tephlonfunk
Instagram: tephlonfunk

TMZ printed a quote from her people, reporting “that her “lightened” skin tone is the result of the camera flash and angle.  And added that the singer never asked to be lightened.  Nevertheless, the celebrity website makes the valid point that India approved the photo without correcting the color of her skin.”  AND… yeah she approved it because the image matches the title of the song, because the photographer was going for that look in lieu of the song’s title and he made her look beautiful in the process.  When I initially saw that it was India, I wasn’t even thinking of the shade she was being presented in.  As I listened to the snippet, the image there before me reflected her as the shade of cocoa butter, but never for one moment did I think India had a desire to be considered something she’s not.  The presentation is basic marketing, nothing more.  Based on my direct personal interaction with India, I can… oh yeah, I’m on a first name basis with her… I can assure any one that is at liberty to read this that she didn’t think about the shade of the photo beyond it being appropriate for the song, at this stage in her career.  There’s a multitude of photos taken over the years, presenting her in varying shades of brown. 

India’s new record “Songversation”, due out on June 25^th, marks the fifth studio recording for the singer.  A four-time Grammy winner, it’s her first full-length release since 2009.  Arie’s discography includes: “Acoustic Soul” (2001); “Voyage To India” (2002); “Testimony Vol. 1, Life & Relationships” (2006) and “Testimony Vol. 2, Love & Politics.”

The first time I saw India.Arie perform was at a music convention.  A “music convention” is something that still exists today, but many of the dynamics have changed, while some remain the same.  In any case, the one I saw her perform at was at some point during the 90’s.  It was years before “Acoustic Soul” saw the light of day.  During that time Motown was going through several transitions and India’s music and talent waited in the wings.  While she waited, she honed her craft and was humbled by the due process of the “record business.”  While she waited, I was waiting to hear the music of the young artist that was featured at a showcase at one of the last music conventions I would ever attend.  Once her music was finally released, I had the opportunity to finally hear it, meet her, and subsequently interview her again and again as she and her music soared with songs like “Video,” “Little Things,” “Brown Skin,” “Pearls,” “Chocolate High” and “Imagine.”   I’m honored to be among those that took part in her rise to success.  As she continues to grow and evolve I wish only the best for her and feel she should only be reflected in a manner deserving of her character.

So just because it was a slow news day at TMZ or where ever this lack of consciousness began, that’s now streaming throughout the Internet, don’t incorporate the pride and vitality of India.Aire in your day-to-day bulls*it.  India is an artist, a woman of substance, the spiritual Harriet Tubman of soul in music, in this latter day.  A person who has more integrity in her pinky than the majority of today’s “journalists” and is not inclined to indulge the trifling.  I’m insulted at the notion of the accusation and who ever started it should be ashamed – shame on you, because you apparently had nothing better to do.  India is some one I have a rapport with and if the one who opted to slander her did as well, they would have never started this utter nonsense.

According to TMZ, India tweeted: “Personally speaking! i’m happy to say I have NOT BLEACHED my skin LOL! ROTF at the thought.”  She added, “1. I wouldn’t endanger my health that way 2. i’m so in love with myself I have no DESIRE to BLEACH myself. 3. The GLOW you see IS (magnificent) lighting 4. THE LIGHT you see, Well that’s all ME!!”  And that my friends is the end of that…

Here’s a photo TMZ pulled together on India’s “Cocoa Butter” cover and an image from 2012 to highlight the difference in her actual skin tone compared to that of the image for the single.

I’m looking forward to her new release “Songversation”, in the meantime, in the words of Public Enemy “Don’t Believe The Hype.”

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Allen studied art at the University of South Alabama where she received a bachelor’s of fine arts in 1978. She was a VISTA volunteer, and for nearly a decade, hosted a local television show on the arts. She eventually moved to New York City, where she attended the Pratt Institute and the New York School of Visual Arts. In 1986, she entered a competition in Boston for a commission to create a memorial statue of African American labor activist A. Philip Randolph, who founded a union for train porters in 1925. To her surprise and delight, Allen won the $85,000 commission and her career began in earnest.

In a profile of Allen on the University of Texas at Austin Web site, Allen describes her body of work as “writing our history in bronze” and her creations as “totems that tell the children this kind of behavior, this kind of person is worthy of attention”. In 1988, Allen moved to Los Angeles where she produced many sculptures and paintings that reflected the Harlem Renaissance. She also focused on the black male, which is shown in her creations entitled “Proud Father and Son” and “The Banjo Lesson.” Allen has promoted the contributions of African American women through her work entitled “Ethiopia.”

Los Angeles County Supervisor Yvonne B. Burke, a long time friend of Allen, reflected, “I think all of us know that Tina was an exceptionally talented woman as a sculptress. Tina always did excellent work.” Burke recalls that Allen also possessed a great sense of humor. “She was the funniest woman I ever knew,” said Burke. “She would keep you in stitches for hours. She had an ability to lift you up and make you smile and to bring you out of whatever depths you’re in.’

Laura Hendrix, owner of Gallery Plus in Leimert Park, met Allen when she first moved to Los Angeles from New York in the early ‘80s. “I was devastated after hearing of Allen’s death. I was very fond of Tina and her work. She was an accomplished, world renowned artist and one of our cultural warriors.” Through her artwork, Allen wanted to leave a legacy for African American children. “Our children must be able to say greatness comes out of people who look like me,” she once said.

Locally, Allen had been commissioned to create sculptures of community activists Lillian Mobley and Celes King Jr. She was also commissioned to create sculptings of Sammy Davis Jr., Alex Haley, Dr. Ralph Bunch, Marcus Garvey, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Dr. Charles Drew, George Washington Carver, Sojourner Truth, Betty Shabazz, and Tupac Shakur. As her acclaim grew, Allen’s prodigious talent kept her traveling extensively to such far away places as Africa, Europe, and Asia, South Africa. Tina Allen’s work has appeared in the permanent collections of some of the most important institutions in the country including the Schomberg Center and the Pratt Institute in New York, the Museum of Afro-American Art in Los Angeles and the King Center in Atlanta. She makes much smaller abstract sculptures as well, and collectors of her art include Hilary Rodham Clinton, Muhammad Ali, Denzel Washington, and Robert DeNiro.

Tina Allen’s work includes Sojourner Truth, a 12’ bronze sculpture, Memorial Park, Battle Creek, Michigan, Alex Haley, a 19’ bronze monument, located at Haley Heritage Square, Knoxville, Tennessee, Martin Luther King Jr. a 12’ bronze statue on a 8’ high fountain base, Las Vegas, Nevada, and  A. Philip Randolph, a 9 1/2 ’ seated bronze monument, Boston, Mass to name a few.

Tina Allen passed away on Tuesday, Sept. 9. 2008 of a massive heart attack due to complications of pneumonia.

Check out this link to other great Black Monument’s across the United States –  http://newsone.com/1458145/top-10-monuments-to-black-americans/