“I’m thrilled to take part in Good Black News’ monthlong celebration of Stevland Hardaway Morris aka Stevie Wonder’s 70th Birthday.
My first offering is this collection of him performing covers and standards. Stevie Wonder’s songs have provided the soundtrack to our lives. Though he has been able to make so many other songs “his own.”
Starting with his childhood idol, Ray Charles, here’s a collection of songs by a wide-ranging batch of artists including Marvin Gaye, The Beatles, Cher, B.B. King, GlennMiller, The Doors, The Supremes and so many others.
Do enjoy. Stay safe, you all and “see” ya next week! Take care!!”
Washington State Supreme Court Justice Grace Helen Whitener (photo via them.us)
Washington Governor Jay Inslee appointed Judge Grace Helen Whitener to the Washington State Supreme Court this April.
Whitener, who is originally from Trinidad, gay, and has a disability, also became Washington’s first black immigrant state justice. To quote her:
Being a black, gay, female, immigrant, disabled judge … my perspective is a little different.
According to Gov. Inslee’s Medium page, Whitener has been a judicial officer since 2013. From 2013 to 2015, she served as a judge on the Board of Industrial Insurance Appeals.
Inslee then appointed her to the Pierce County Superior Court in 2015, where she has worked as a judge for over five years, retaining her seat in a 2015 election and winning re-election to a full term in 2016. Before becoming a judge, Whitener litigated criminal cases for 14 years as both a prosecutor and defense attorney.
“I think my background is so diverse and so varied that I represent just about every type of individual that could possibly come before the court,” Whitener said in Washington’s Daily Record News upon her appointment to the bench.
“As far as equity and inclusion, it does not matter where you are, or who you’re dealing with. What we are to be concerned about is the impact our actions have on others and that has always been my focus and I hope I can continue doing that.”
Whitener is known for her commitment to justice and equity. She serves as co-chair of the Washington State Minority and Justice Commission and as a member of the Civil Legal Aid Oversight Committee.
Last year, Whitener was awarded the Washington State Bar Association’s C.Z. Smith Excellence in Diversity and Inclusion Award, the King County Washington Women Lawyers President Award, the Tacoma-Pierce County Bar Association’s Diversity Award and the Seattle University School of Law’s Woman of the Year Award.
“Judge Whitener inspires lawyers and non-lawyers alike with her relentless work to raise awareness for matters of race, justice and equity,” Inslee said. “She is tireless in her commitment to building a justice system that works for all, and as a Supreme Court justice, she will have an even greater platform to promote justice for everyone in Washington state. I am very pleased to appoint her to this bench and I look forward to her many contributions to our state for years to come.”
Whitener is originally from Trinidad and moved to the United States as a teenager to attend college. She earned her bachelor’s degree from Baruch College in New York and her law degree from Seattle University School of Law.
On May 13, 1950 a celestial event occurred: musical genius and living legend Stevie Wonder was born in Saginaw, Michigan, and the world has reaped the benefits ever since.
In commemoration of our collective extraordinary fortune, Good Black News is offering not just a day, but a month’s worth of Stevie Wonder-related content and playlists.
GBN contributors Jeff Meier (“The Clark Sisters”), whose brilliant idea this was, Marlon West (“Afrofuturism”, “Hidden Jazz Figures”, “Soul Jazz”) and I will be posting eclectic playlists and words about Stevie in the coming days and weeks, starting with my all-encompassing, comprehensive thoughtpiece:
STEVIE WONDER IS THE BEST MUSICIAN AND SONGWRITER ALIVE!!!!!!
That’s it.
Stevie Wonder (photo via commons.wikipedia.org)
As Stevie’s music speaks for itself, to kick off GBN’s tribute I offer an 80-track Spotify playlist of his Billboard Chart hits across six decades, in chronological order, from “Fingertips” from 1963 all the way through his 21st century hits from his last studio album, 2005’s “A Time To Love” so listeners can 1) hear the evolution of Stevie’s genius from child prodigy working in within the Motown sound to adult visionary who revolutionizes it and 2) hear all the hits you know and love (and some you don’t!) in one, grand compilation.
(Track 81, called “Stevie’s Dream” from Janelle Monae‘s “Dirty Computer” was not a chart hit, I know, but I added it as a “one to grow on” because it’s Stevie speaking about his mission in music and for the planet and it’s beautiful!)
Former WNBA Player Tamara Moore (photo via nbcnews.com)
According to nbcnews.com, former WNBA guard Tamara Moore has been hired as the men’s basketball head coach at Mesabi Range College in Virginia, Minnesota, making her the only woman to be the head coach of a men’s collegiate program in the country currently. And the first African American woman to hold that job in the U.S., ever.
“Now, it’s time for me to show you guys and show people that women are just as knowledgeable as men to coach the game,” she told ESPN.
Moore’s rise to head coach started from an early age. In high school, she was Minnesota’s Miss Basketball winner in 1998, later playing for the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where she was named 2001 Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year and a two-time First Team All-Big Ten selection.
After college, Moore spent six seasons in the WNBA from 2002 to 2007, playing for seven different teams throughout her career before playing overseas. She was the girls’ basketball coach at Edison High School in Minneapolis before accepting her new position as the men’s basketball and softball head coach at Mesabi Range College.
Moore, 40, said that coaching men doesn’t faze her, and that she hasn’t been asked how male players will respond to her.
“I can use my recruiting calls in this process as an answer to that question: I didn’t even get that question once,” Moore said. “My resume speaks for itself.”
Moore isn’t the first woman to coach a basketball team. In the 1990s, Kerri-Ann McTiernan became the first woman in the country to be the head coach of a men’s college basketball team at Kingsborough Community College in New York. Moore’s hiring also follows a record 11 women who served as assistant coaches in the NBA 2019-20 season.
Over the weekend, Good Black Newsoffered a remembrance and playlist of one of the world’s most iconic and influential jazz singers, Ella Fitzgerald, in honor of her 103rd birthday. But what about those women who also contributed mightily to jazz but are not commonly recognized?
“This week’s playlist is inspired by Giovanni Russonello’s New York Times piece, “10 Women in Jazz Who Never Got Their Due.” This collection includes the oft-forgotten artists mentioned in the piece, including Mary Lou Williams, Jutta Hipp, Marian McPartland, Hazel Scott, Dorothy Ashby, Shirley Scott and Alice Coltrane, though it also features several current artists who are also frequently overlooked like Vi Redd, Nubya Garcia, Linda Oh and others.
This one was a real pleasure and education to compile. Do enjoy. And stay safe, you all.”
According to Vulture, last week Beyoncé’s BeyGOOD initiative announced it is pledging $6 million to help fund organizations that tackle an often-overlooked element of the coronavirus pandemic: the mental-health toll on communities and essential workers.
In a statement, the organization announced that it is partnering with UCLA and Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey’s #startsmall efforts to provide “to organizations providing mental wellness services.”
BeyGOOD also will also partner with the National Alliance on Mental Illness to provide local support in Houston, New York, New Orleans, and Detroit. The statement from BeyGOOD on Beyoncé’s website states:
“Beyoncé’s BeyGOOD recognizes the immense mental and personal health burdens being placed on essential workers during the COVID-19 pandemic. In our major cities, African-Americans comprise a disproportionate number of workers in these indispensable occupations, and they will need mental health support and personal wellness care, including testing and medical services, food supplies and food deliveries, both during and after the crisis.”
Although I’m typically calm-if-a-bit-nerdy when I meet artists I admire, there is one time in my life I fully lost my natural mind for someone. That someone was the woman and musical legend Good Black News is celebrating today, April 25, on what would have been her 103rd birthday – Ella Fitzgerald.
To set the scene, it was the day of my college graduation in June of 1990. I was standing in my black cap and gown next to my roommates, as the graduating class formed something akin to a Soul Train line for alumni, professors and distinguished guests to walk through on the way to taking the stage for the ceremony. I’d spent four long, great years earning a bachelor’s degree at Harvard in American History and Literature with a minor in African-American Studies. I also DJ’d at the college radio station 92.3FM WHRB all four of those years.
In addition to being all about hip-hop, house, R&B and dance music, I fell in love with jazz at WHRB, too. So much so that I got up several mornings a week to jock the 6-8am “Jazz Spectrum” program at WHRB, and even found a way to incorporate jazz into my senior thesis by comparing jazz autobiography to the slave narrative. Not exactly everyone’s idea of a page-turner, I know, but it was nice and egghead-y, earned me high honors from my department, and was a sneaky way to earn credit while spending time deepening my nascent love of jazz and jazz history.
So when I heard Ella Fitzgerald – the singer whose interpretation of “Lullaby of Birdland” took my heart and mind to heights of joy so unexpected that I immediately began to consume her versions of every standard as if they were musical narcotics – was on the list of people receiving honorary degrees from Harvard that year, I was beyond thrilled. Ella, Billie Holiday, Sarah Vaughan and Nancy Wilson were my personal Mt. Rushmore of jazz singers, and having her name indelibly connected to my class was momentous.
But I also knew she’d had some recent health issues (she was 73 at the time) and did not expect her to accept her doctorate in person. In fact, I was saying pretty much that to my roommate Susan as several of the distinguished graduation guests filed past us. And then I turned. And saw her. Elegant. Beautiful. Smiling. Ella.
There was a consistent smattering of applause accompanying every step she took. When I finally caught my breath, all that came roaring out of my mouth was the primal scream – “ELLLLLLLAAAAA!!!! ELLLLLLLAAAAA!!!” I couldn’t stop. I was hopping up and down and cheering and – as I said before – losing my natural mind.
I saw on my roommate’s face and other faces around me that amused “Damn, what exactly is happening to her right now?” look, but that was all in slow motion and I did not care because a national treasure was walking towards me. The architect of vocal improvisation and scatting and so much pure jazz singing greatness was in my sights, and I could not contain myself.
I think Ella heard me before she saw me, because I saw her glance my way, smile, then veer close enough to lay her hand on my forearm. Yes, that’s right, I can now and forever brag that the one and only Ella Fitzgerald touched me.
As I observed her small but mighty hand on my forearm, it reminded me of my grandmother’s. From it I felt a gentle squeeze – and in that squeeze she communicated her amusement, her thanks, and, if I’m being 💯 about it, encouragement to get a gotdamn grip on myself and attempt some level of decorum. I was at my college graduation ceremony, her hand reminded me, not Showtime at the Apollo. And then she kept going down the line and when no more dignitaries were left to file past us, we collapsed the Soul Train line and headed to our seats.
https://youtu.be/or1kqkeGXrI
I have no idea what else was said or done during the rest of that ceremony – I spent most of it plotting with my wing woman Karen Moody on how to get close enough to the stage so I could ask Ella for her autograph. Moody offered to distract the security guard once the ceremony was over – she turned on her gift of gab and I was able to glide by and up to Miss Fitzgerald with a pen and the only paper I had, my graduation program. Ella graciously signed it and smiled at me once again as security quickly became undistracted and pointed me away.
Thirty years later, when I look back on this moment, I can’t help but ask myself exactly why I went so crazy. The obvious answer is, duh – ELLA FITZGERALD – but it was such lightning bolt of energy that came through me, it was more than that. Back then I didn’t know much about her life, her professional or personal struggles, but something in me knew to honor the totality of who she was, what she’d gone through and what she gave to this world.
Ella Fitzgerald deserved (and got) a full body-and-soul shout out from the younger generation through me that day. To let her know that she was seen, heard, loved and would never be forgotten, particularly by those, like me, who present to the world in the same type of package.
And here I am again, thirty years later, shouting out love and appreciation for the one and only Ella, master of tone, phrasing, intonation, improvisation and interpretation, so the next generation may know her and pass on to the next their appreciation for one of the best to ever do it.
Below is a playlist compiled in her honor, as well as several other resources and links to foster even more awareness of the “First Lady of Song.” Love you always, Ella!
The National Museum of African American History and Culture is celebrating National Poetry Month with a Digital Poetry Slam on Friday, April 24.
The Museum will accept videos of original poetry performances and still images of poetry-inspired creations that reflect four different themes: Resiliency, Hope, Community, and Jazz. Members, friends, families, aspiring poets, and artists of all ages are encouraged to participate.
If you are interested, visit NMAAHC’s websitefor inspiration, guidelines, and featured objects from the Museum’s collection.
You can also record a video of yourself performing a poetry piece, or your poetic creation based on one of the designated themes and share your video on your social media platforms using the hashtag #NMAAHCPoetrySlam and tag @NMAAHC so it can “like,” comment, and share.
Kanye West and fast-food chicken restaurant Chick-Fil-A have partnered to distribute 300,000 meals through the Los Angeles Dream Center to those in need during the Coronavirus pandemic.
According to foxnews.com, over 300,000 meals have already been served through the Los Angeles Dream Center since mid-March.
“Every morning I wake up and stand in the parking lot with our dedicated staff, I am blown away that day after day, week after week, there is enough food to provide to folks that need it,” Matthew Barnett, Dream Center co-founder, said in a statement to Fox News.
The Dream Center’s doors open seven days a week, from 7:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m., to provide food and other essential items.
Because of Kanye West’s support, Fox reported, Barnett said they were able to expand their drive-thru meals to delivering to vulnerable seniors who need to remain isolated in their homes.
Chick-Fil-A came under fire when it was revealed that they had been donating funds for years to anti-LGBTQ Christian organizations. Once they faced public backlash, Chick-Fil-A promised to discontinue their support of the groups, in a November 2019 statement about their new giving strategy. In 2020, Chick-Fil-A promised to focus on promoting youth education, combating youth homelessness, and fighting hunger.
Though West and Chick-Fil-A have been politically controversial in recent years, working to feed Americans grappling with the new reality of food shortages, lost jobs and quarantined living, seems like a positive step for both.
“Saturday Night Live” star and writer Michael Che has turned his grief into action to help others.
After his grandmother died from the coronavirus this month, on Instagram Wednesday Che offered to pay rent for all the residents in the apartment complex where she lived.
https://www.instagram.com/p/B_BRjZXpkMd/
Che’s grandmother Martha died April 5 after contracting COVID-19. “I’m obviously very hurt and angry that she had to go through all that pain alone,” Che wrote at the time. “But I’m also happy that she’s not in pain anymore.”
During “SNL’s” home edition last weekend, Che paid tribute by signing off “Weekend Update” as “Martha’s grandbaby.”
