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MUSIC MONDAY: “Excursions” – A Jazz Rap Collection (LISTEN)

MUSIC MONDAY: “Excursions” – A Jazz Rap Collection (LISTEN)

By goodblacknews on July 12, 2021

by Marlon West (FB: marlon.west1 Twitter: @marlonw IG: stlmarlonwest Spotify: marlonwest)

The connection between jazz and rap goes back to the glory days of Louis Jordan. In the 1970s, The Last Poets and Gil Scott-Heron brought their spoken word to straight ahead jazz music.

Though the sub genre of Jazz Rap really started In 1988 with the release of Gang Starr’s debut single “Manifest” sampling Dizzy Gillespie‘s “Night in Tunisia” from 1952, AllMusic.com describes the genre as “an attempt to fuse African-American music of the past with a newly dominant form of the present, paying tribute to and reinvigorating the former while expanding the horizons of the latter.”

The main groups involved in the formation of the style include A Tribe Called Quest, Digable Planets, De La Soul, Gang Starr, The Roots, Jungle Brothers, and Dream Warriors.

This collection features classics of the genre as well as recent releases from this year. I do hope you all enjoy.

Stay safe, sane and kind, you all.

Marlon West (photo courtesy Marlon West)
Zaila Avant-garde Wins Scripps National Spelling Bee, Becomes 1st African American Champion

Zaila Avant-garde Wins Scripps National Spelling Bee, Becomes 1st African American Champion

By goodblacknews on July 8, 2021

Zaila Avant-garde, 14, won the Scripps National Spelling Bee championship held in Lake Buena Vista, Florida today, becoming the first African American winner and only the second Black champion in the bee’s 96-year history.

Avant-garde, who hails from Harvey, Louisiana, describes spelling as her side hobby. Basketball is her main extra-curricular focus — she holds three Guinness world records for dribbling multiple balls simultaneously.

https://twitter.com/BillyHeyen/status/1413316049655762944

Jody-Anne Maxwell of Jamaica, who won the bee in 1998, was the competition’s first Black champion.

This was the first Bee held since the COVID-19 pandemic forced its cancellation in 2020.

Read more: https://www.espn.com/espn/story/_/id/31786472/louisiana-teen-zaila-avant-garde-correctly-spells-m-u-r-r-y-win-scripps-national-spelling-bee

MUSIC MONDAY: “Hot Fun” – A Collection of Cookout Music (LISTEN)

MUSIC MONDAY: “Hot Fun” – A Collection of Cookout Music (LISTEN)

By goodblacknews on July 5, 2021

by Marlon West (FB: marlon.west1 Twitter: @marlonw IG: stlmarlonwest Spotify: marlonwest)

Happy Monday, the 5th. I hope many of you have the day off.

So many of the playlists I’ve created for GOOD BLACK NEWS have been to celebrate a particular artist, region, or genre. There have been more than a few to honor the fight for freedom and civil rights.

This collection is hopefully just pure joy.

This playlist is for firing up the grill in the backyard or park. It’s for listening to while eating your auntie’s potato salad and deviled eggs. It’s to enjoy while pulling the foil off that peach cobbler. It’s for when your jam comes on from back in the day, and you show them youngsters you still got dance moves.

Play it while driving with your peeps with all the windows down. Savor it while you’re eating carnitas on a warm tortilla with a cold drink, or crispy chicken and a side of collards. It’s for kickin’ it too while those old heads form a “Soul Train” line in the grass.

Dig it while you are feeling sand and surf between your toes, while sipping grape Kool Aid, while eating a Dreamsicle, and while hugging friends and family.

Enjoy that summer, y’all.

Marlon West (photo courtesy Marlon West)
“Lift Every Voice And Sing”: James Weldon Johnson and John Rosamond Johnson’s Anthem to Freedom (LISTEN)

“Lift Every Voice And Sing”: James Weldon Johnson and John Rosamond Johnson’s Anthem to Freedom (LISTEN)

By goodblacknews on July 4, 2021

by Lori Lakin Hutcherson (@lakinhutcherson)

James Weldon Johnson,  an NAACP field secretary, civil rights activist, Broadway composer and professor who investigated and spoke out about lynchings in the first decades of the 20th century, also wrote the classic novel The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man, first published in 1912.

But perhaps the publication Weldon is best known for was that of a song he wrote with his brother John Rosamond Johnson. In 1900, in honor of Tuskegee Institute founder Booker T. Washington as part of a tribute to Abraham Lincoln‘s birthday, they crafted a poem that was read by 500 schoolchildren entitled “Lift Every Voice and Sing.”

The poem celebrated freedom as it recognized a brutal past never to be repeated. “Lift Every Voice and Sing” was so well received that the brothers set it to music and by 1919 the NAACP dubbed it “the Negro national anthem.” It has functioned in that capacity ever since.

The Johnson brothers pictured on the cover of this 1973 version of the sheet music

Sung for decades at countless meetings, events, and ceremonies, a 1990 version of the song performed by Melba Moore (which can be heard here on GBN’s “Black Americana” playlist ) was entered into the Congressional Record and, in 2016, into the National Recording Registry.

Singing this song today makes as much sense as any other American anthem, as it is a song of independence from tyranny, inhumanity and injustice. It is sung in honor of Americans who died building this country by progeny who seek to embrace the liberty, hope and prosperity freedom promises.

Enjoy Aretha Franklin, whose voice literally was designated an American natural resource, singing the song we might all lift our voices to sing. Full lyrics published below.

Annette Nance-Holt Becomes 1st Woman to Head the Chicago Fire Department

Annette Nance-Holt Becomes 1st Woman to Head the Chicago Fire Department

By goodblacknews on July 2, 2021

After working for over 30 years in several different positions within the Chicago Fire Department, Annette Nance-Holt recently became the first woman to lead the CFD.

Her appointment to the top position of Fire Commissioner was confirmed last week by Chicago’s City Council, wgntv.com reports.

“Commissioner Holt has more than three decades of proven leadership and a passion for public service that makes her the perfect fit for this role,” said Mayor Lori Lightfoot.

“Furthermore, in a time where more work remains in order to eliminate discrimination, racism and sexism from the firefighter profession, Commissioner Holt’s history-making appointment as the first woman and Black woman to lead as Fire Commissioner couldn’t have come at a better moment.”

Holt was appointed first deputy commissioner in 2018 and has been serving as acting commissioner since Richard C. Ford retired earlier this year.

In 2007, tragedy put Nance-Holt into the news when her 16-year-old son Blair Holt was shot and killed on a CTA bus while shielding a classmate from gunfire.

Nance-Holt since then has helped start Purpose Over Pain, a non-profit which aids parents who have lost children to gun violence.

Commissioner Nance-Holt was mainly raised in the Maple Park community on the south side of Chicago and attended both parochial and public schools. She learned responsibility at an early age, having worked at the family-owned grocery store on the south and west sides of Chicago.

While studying and working full time, she obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree from Chicago State University, and later obtained a Master’s in Public Administration in Fire and Emergency Services  from Anna Maria College.

Prior to joining the CFD, Commissioner Nance-Holt worked in the private sector for eight  years.

Read more: https://wgntv.com/news/chicago-news/annette-nance-holt-confirmed-as-first-black-woman-to-lead-the-chicago-fire-department/

Scholar, Author and Educator Dr. Kymberly Pinder to Become Dean at Yale School of Art

Scholar, Author and Educator Dr. Kymberly Pinder to Become Dean at Yale School of Art

By goodblacknews on June 29, 2021

[Dr. Kymberly Pinder, seen with a black and white drawing by Jami Porter Lara. Photo by Eve Caughey via news.yale.edu]

Starting July 1, Dr. Kymberly Pinder, renowned scholar of race, representation, and murals, will become Dean of the Yale School of Art.

Pinder, who earned her master’s degree and Ph.D. in art history at Yale, most recently was acting president of Massachusetts College of Art and Design. Prior to that, Pinder served as  dean of the College of Fine Arts at the University of New Mexico.

Pinder also taught at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago from 1996 to 2012, during which time she edited the book Race-ing Art History: Critical Readings in Race and Art History (2002). She also taught courses that led to the creation of murals in Chicago and Albuquerque.

To quote from jbhe.com:

“The Yale School of Art provides an unmatched platform for promoting excellence while effecting positive change,” said Dr. Pinder, who earned her Ph.D. in art history from Yale in 1995.

“I look forward to working with colleagues and students across the campus, the city, and the globe to extend the boundaries of arts practice and education. Objects and their making unlock and shape dialogues in some of the most transformative ways for both makers and viewers. It is an honor to return to Yale to help nurture its rich culture of rigorous inquiry. I am excited to bring my Yale education full circle.”

Pinder’s most recent book-length publication is 2016’s Painting the Gospel: Black Public Art and Religion in Chicago, where she explores how Black imagery in the public sphere empowered communities in that city. Pinder collaborated with local artists, from well-known muralists to anonymous graffiti writers and worked with different artists and local officials.

MUSIC MONDAY: “Freedom Street” – Songs of Liberty Playlist(LISTEN)

MUSIC MONDAY: “Freedom Street” – Songs of Liberty Playlist(LISTEN)

By goodblacknews on June 28, 2021

by Marlon West (FB: marlon.west1 Twitter: @marlonw IG: stlmarlonwest Spotify: marlonwest)

On this Monday nestled between Juneteenth and Independence Day, Lori Lakin Hutcherson and I thought it prudent to offer this collection of music celebrating freedom and liberty.

Many of these tracks even have the word freedom in their title. Others have just long been associated with the fight for Civil Rights and reform for years.

There are tracks here long-considered, classics, and other new songs on the subject. Clocking in at under 6 hours, this one is a comparatively short collection for me.

Hope you dig this collection of Freedom songs. And if there are any overt omissions, hit me in the comments, y’all.

Have a great week, and stay safe, sane, and kind.

Marlon West (photo courtesy Marlon West)
Black Girl 44 Scholarship for Public Service Internships Announces its 2021 Recipients

Black Girl 44 Scholarship for Public Service Internships Announces its 2021 Recipients

By goodblacknews on June 25, 2021

[Photo via blackgirl44.com]

Black Girl 44, the scholarship established by Deesha Dyer, founder & CEO of social impact firm Hook & Fasten and former social secretary for the Obama White House, recently announced its recipients for 2021.

Through contributions from more than 55 Black women who worked in the Obama White House, Dyer established the scholarship as part of an initiative to expose Black women to policy, community engagement, community service, advocacy, global relations and politics.

To quote from thegrio.com:

“When you hear the word politics, people get turned off,” Dyer explained. “So they’re like ‘politics is the Hill and the White House and the president.’ That’s how I thought for years, that I didn’t belong in politics and I don’t belong there. But that’s not necessarily all that it is. There’s a whole realm of politics and public service that we don’t talk about, that really is broad.”

This summer, 10 young women from across the country will participate in the Black Girl 44 scholarship. Due to the pandemic, some scholars may be in a position to experience the public service field remotely. The ultimate goal is that the experience entices the women to pursue careers in these fields.

Through the Black Girl 44 Scholarship, Deesha hopes to redefine the “face of what politics looks like” and reimagine “what it means.”

To see a full list of the scholars and their interests, click here.

GBN Video of the Week: First-Look Featurette on Aretha Franklin Biopic “Respect” Starring Jennifer Hudson (WATCH)

GBN Video of the Week: First-Look Featurette on Aretha Franklin Biopic “Respect” Starring Jennifer Hudson (WATCH)

By goodblacknews on June 22, 2021

by Lori Lakin Hutcherson (@lakinhutcherson)

It’s no secret that I’m a die-hard Aretha Franklin stan. Have almost all the records, read all the books, seen all the documentaries, the concert film, watched the limited series, made several Spotify playlists (because one will never ever be enough).

So it should be no surprise the wait for the MGM feature Respect starring Academy Award winner Jennifer Hudson, delayed from release last year due to the pandemic, has been a long one for me. And from the looks of this featurette, it will have been well worth it:

This featurette excites me not only for the music and what look to be great performances from Hudson, Mary J. Blige as Dinah Washington and Forest Whitaker as Aretha’s father, Reverend C.L. Franklin, but also because of what director Liesl Tommy and screenwriter Tracey Scott Wilson say in it about their approach to the film.

How does the woman with “the voice” find her voice? Knowing that the filmmakers focused on dramatizing Aretha’s artistic journey and how she “musicalized her lived experience,” makes me feel like Respect will be The One.

It also helps greatly to know Franklin’s family supports the movie – her cousin Brenda Franklin-Corbett, who sang backing vocals for Aretha, even appears in the featurette.

Respect will be released in theaters on August 13.

And… bonus…

“Here I Am,” an original song recorded by Hudson for the film, recently became available on several streaming platforms, including Spotify. Check it out!

MUSIC MONDAY: “Signed, Sealed, Delivered” – A Love Songs Collection (LISTEN)

MUSIC MONDAY: “Signed, Sealed, Delivered” – A Love Songs Collection (LISTEN)

By goodblacknews on June 21, 2021

by Marlon West (FB: marlon.west1 Twitter: @marlonw IG: stlmarlonwest Spotify: marlonwest)

Happy Monday, you all.

Juneteenth, Father’s Day, and a trip to St. Louis for the first time in 15 months put this brotha in a mood for mushy stuff.

In this, more than a year of making playlists for GBN, I haven’t done a collection of love songs. Haven’t even done one for Valentine’s Day. Well, here’s an eclectic dose of lovey dove songs:

Some are overtly romantic, others about longing, and still some about loss. Jazz, R&B, Reggae, Rock ‘n Roll, and other genres are presented here.

Hope you enjoy these hours of love songs. Have a great week.

Marlon West (photo courtesy Marlon West)