September 24, 2024
Good Black News joins in the honoring and remembrance of the men who gave us life, nurtured and raised us, and also offered us solace, counsel and wisdom.
Many of us can’t be with the fathers or father figures in our lives today in person due to the global COVID-19 crisis, but we are with you in voice, online and always – in spirit!
To all the dads out there – be they Uncles, Grandfathers, Cousins or Friends – thank you for all you do!
Happy Father’s Day!
by Jeff Meier (FB: Jeff.Meier.90)
Through good years and bad, years of triumph and years of struggle, there are some things that remain steady. Like the seasons (at least before climate change).
Today, June 20, is officially the first day of summer, the longest day of the year (for us folks in the Northern Hemisphere), and the welcoming of our warmest weather season.
Packed together this year with Juneteenth yesterday and Father’s Day tomorrow, this weekend can be a true kickoff to summer vacation. Even amid ongoing protests and social distancing rules, school is now over, the grill is now out, the pool is inflated, and maybe, just for a few days, the mood is a little lightened.
And with that, we offer this playlist of “summer” songs – and by that, we mean songs that literally tell you in the title they are about “summer.”
From the swaying Isley Brothers cover of Seals & Croft‘s “Summer Breeze” to DJ Jazzy Jeff & Fresh Prince‘s rap anthem “Summertime” to Sly & The Family Stone‘s warm, feel good “Hot Fun in the Summertime'” to the contemporary mellow moods of Childish Gambino‘s “Summertime Magic” (with over 156M Spotify spins), our list is packed with summer classics.
In the process we’ve also hopefully rediscovered some “shoulda-been” classics, like the mostly forgotten Nat King Cole standard ‘This Morning It Was Summer” (with arrangements by Nelson Riddle), the breezy Larry Graham album track “I’m So Glad It’s Summer Again” (trying to capture a little of the “Hot Fun In the Summertime” mood) and the driving ’60s Joe Simon track “Long Hot Summer.”
In the last couple decades, music archivists have uncovered hundreds of previously unreleased Motown tracks – many that measure up to the hits from the ’60s we all know and love. In that vein, we’ve included two sunny Marvelettes tunes “I Can’t Wait Til Summer Comes” (co-written by Gladys Knight) and “So Glad It’s Summertime” that both remained unreleased in the Motown vaults until a 2011 rerelease.
Finally, no soulful “summer” playlist would be complete without the haunting “Summertime” from Gershwin’s Porgy & Bess,one of the most recorded songs in history.
We’ve sprinkled our playlist with musically different takes on this classic, ranging from the ’60s pop hit version by Billy Stewart to the disco instrumental from MFSB to the recent American Idol revival by Fantasia, also including versions by icons like James Brown, Sam Cooke, Ethel Waters, Miles Davis, opera legend Leontyne Price, world music star Angelique Kidjo, and a funky treatment by Bobby Womack with The Roots.
Enjoy!
Happy Juneteenth 2020!
Today Good Black News wants to share the excellent online resources the National Museum of African American History and Culture has that explain and explore the legacy of Juneteenth, which is now in its 155th year. Click here for more and read below for an historical overview of Juneteenth:
On “Freedom’s Eve,” or the eve of January 1, 1863, the first Watch Night services took place. On that night, enslaved and free African Americans gathered in churches and private homes all across the country awaiting news that the Emancipation Proclamation had taken effect.
At the stroke of midnight, prayers were answered as all enslaved people in Confederate States were declared legally free. Union soldiers, many of whom were black, marched onto plantations and across cities in the south reading small copies of the Emancipation Proclamation spreading the news of freedom in Confederate States. Only through the Thirteenth Amendment did emancipation end slavery throughout the United States.
But not everyone in Confederate territory would immediately be free. Even though the Emancipation Proclamation was made effective in 1863, it could not be implemented in places still under Confederate control.
As a result, in the westernmost Confederate state of Texas, enslaved people would not be free until much later. Freedom finally came on June 19, 1865, when some 2,000 Union troops arrived in Galveston Bay, Texas. The army announced that the more than 250,000 enslaved black people in the state, were free by executive decree. This day came to be known as “Juneteenth,” by the newly freed people in Texas.
The post-emancipation period known as Reconstruction (1865-1877) marked an era of great hope, uncertainty, and struggle for the nation as a whole. Formerly enslaved people immediately sought to reunify families, establish schools, run for political office, push radical legislation and even sue slaveholders for compensation. Given the 200+ years of enslavement, such changes were nothing short of amazing. Not even a generation out of slavery, African Americans were inspired and empowered to transform their lives and their country.
Juneteenth marks our country’s second independence day. Although it has long celebrated in the African American community, this monumental event remains largely unknown to most Americans.
The historical legacy of Juneteenth shows the value of never giving up hope in uncertain times. The National Museum of African American History and Culture is a community space where this spirit of hope lives on. A place where historical events like Juneteenth are shared and new stories with equal urgency are told.
To learn more: https://nmaahc.si.edu/sites/default/files/images/juneteenthresources_final.pdf
For Juneteenth online events: https://nmaahc.si.edu/event/juneteenth-celebration-resilience
At the end of May, the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture launched Talking About Race, a new online portal designed to help individuals, families, and communities talk about racism, racial identity and the way these forces shape every aspect of society, from the economy and politics to the broader American culture.
The online portal provides digital tools, online exercises, video instructions, scholarly articles and more than 100 multi-media resources tailored for educators, parents and caregivers—and individuals committed to racial equality.
A rash of racially charged incidents—from an altercation in Central Park to acts of police brutality resulting in the deaths of Breonna Taylor, George Floyd and Rayshard Brooks and the protests they provoked in cities around the country—prompted the Museum to move up the release date of Talking About Race. The portal is free and does not require registration or sign-up to use.
Since opening the museum, the number one question we are asked is how to talk about race, especially with children. We recognize how difficult it is to start that conversation. But in a nation still struggling with the legacies of slavery, Jim Crow laws, and white supremacy, we must have these tough conversations if we have any hope of turning the page and healing. This new portal is a step in that direction.
Spencer Crew, interim director of the National Museum of African American History and Culture
Research shows that many people feel they do not have the information needed to discuss race in a way that is candid, safe and respectful of other viewpoints and experiences.
“The portal offers a wealth of resources to inform and guide discussions—videos, role-playing exercises, targeted questions and more, said Crew.” “We hope that people will use this site to become more comfortable about engaging in honest dialogue and self-reflection.”
by Jeff Meier (FB: Jeff.Meier.90)
As part of Good Black News’ celebration of African-American Music Appreciation Month (#AAMAM), we are taking some time to honor quality artists whose music has nevertheless remained unappreciated. Last week, we brought you a playlist from Ronnie Dyson.
This week we’d like to introduce/re-introduce you to Merry Clayton.
[spotifyplaybutton play=”spotify:playlist:0UQqIFHfA6XNloP3Gww8nH”/]
Back in March 2014, as she was experiencing 50 years in the music business, legendary session singer Merry Clayton got one more chance at stardom when the documentary 20 Feet From Stardom, about the world’s most renowned backup singers, won the Best Documentary Oscar.
The doc brought renewed attention to performers such as Lisa Fischer, Judith Hill, Gloria Jones, and Clayton – whose voices you’ve undoubtedly heard, but whose names are a little less than familiar.
In the early ‘60s, Merry (who got her name because she was born on Christmas day) launched into a music career as a young teen, cutting a few one-off soul singles, and singing duet “Who Can I Count On?” with then 26 year-old pop hitmaker Bobby Darin when she was just a 14 year-old girl with a commanding voice.
By the late ‘60s, Merry Clayton’s role as a star backup singer hit its stride on The Rolling Stones’ “Gimme Shelter” opposite Mick Jagger. Her cries of “Rape, Murder/It’s just a shot away” are known to any classic rock fan. The story goes that she got the random session call late at night from one of the song’s producers during an all-night mixing session – and showed up in curlers, heavily pregnant, belting out the iconic vocals in just a few takes before heading back home (where she subsequently suffered a miscarriage).
During that same era, Merry Clayton was also one of the backup crew on countless legendary records by Carole King, Joe Cocker, Barbra Streisand, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Linda Ronstadt, Billy Preston, Tori Amos, and, as recently as 2015, Coldplay.
Her prominent rock backup turns earned the attention of rock music producer/impresario Lou Adler, who signed her to his Ode Records label (most famous for Carole King’s Tapestry LP). In 1972, she further cemented her rock bonafides by appearing as The Acid Queen in the first London stage production of The Who’s rock opera, Tommy.
The very enjoyable 20 Feet (you can check it out on Netflix right now) essentially argued that if only these women had gotten the chance, they could have been big stars.
According to an exclusive Variety.com report, Magnolia Pictures will premiere “John Lewis: Good Trouble,” a new documentary about the Civil Rights icon and longtime congress member, in Tulsa, Oklahoma on Juneteenth.
The film, which Magnolia and Participant are distributing, will screen at Circle Cinema, a non-profit organization that operates from a theater that traces back to 1928.
The screenings will be free (theaters will be at 25% capacity) and are intended to serve as counter-programing to Donald Trump’s political rally on Saturday. That rally ignited a firestorm of backlash and condemnation because it was originally scheduled to take place on Juneteenth, a holiday stemming from Texas that commemorates the end of slavery in the U.S.
Tulsa was the site of a race massacre in 1921 that has been called “the single worst incident of racial violence in American history.” Trump later moved the date of the rally back by a day.
“Our city is searching for ideas and ways to do peaceful protest of Trump,” Chuck Foxen, film programmer at Circle Cinema, told Variety. “This feels like a powerful way to celebrate the spirit and meaning of Juneteenth.”
Read more: https://variety.com/2020/film/news/john-lewis-documentary-juneteenth-trump-rally-tulsa-1234637951/
According to cnn.com, Kennedy Mitchum, 22, emailed Merriam-Webster last month to let the renowned dictionary publisher know that she thought its definition of the word racism was inadequate. She was surprised when an editor responded and that the company agreed to update the entry.
To quote from CNN:
“Merriam-Webster’s first definition of racism is ‘a belief that race is the primary determinant of human traits and capacities and that racial differences produce an inherent superiority of a particular race.’
Mitchum said many people she’s talked to use that to dismiss her concerns about racism and overlook broader issues of racial inequality because they don’t personally feel that way about people of color.
Mitchum said she sent her email on a Thursday night and got a reply from editor Alex Chambers the next morning.
After a few emails, Chambers agreed that the entry should be updated and said a new definition is being drafted.
“This revision would not have been made without your persistence in contacting us about this problem,” Chambers said in the email, which was provided to CNN. “We sincerely thank you for repeatedly writing in and apologize for the harm and offense we have caused in failing to address this issue sooner.”
Peter Sokolowski, an editor at large at Merriam-Webster, told CNN that their entry also defines racism as “a doctrine or political program based on the assumption of racism and designed to execute its principles” and “a political or social system founded on racism,” which would cover systematic racism and oppression.
“I think we can express this more clearly to bring the idea of an asymmetrical power structure into the language of this definition, but it’s there,” Sokolowski said.”
Read more: https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/09/us/dictionary-racism-definition-update-trnd/index.html
As Good Black News continues to celebrate African-American Music Appreciation Month, today we bring you a playlist reflecting our current times. In GBN contributor Marlon West‘s words:
“We are all in the midst of the largest demonstration for civil rights in history. People all over the globe have taken to the streets. 2020 has also brought new songs of protest by many artists including YG‘s “FTP,” Che Lingo‘s “My Block,” Tre Songz’ “2020 Riots: How Many Times” and others.
This playlist features those tracks, plus several hip-hop classics such as Kendrick Lamar‘s 2015 protest anthem “Alright,” Beyoncé’s “Formation,” Kendrick and Bey’s collaboration “Freedom,” “U.N.I.T.Y.” by Queen Latifah, “Fight The Power” by Public Enemy alongside several civil rights anthems from the 1960s and 70s (Donny Hathaway‘s “Someday We’ll All Be Free,” Sam Cooke‘s “A Change is Gonna Come,” Marvin Gaye‘s “What’s Going On”).
Please enjoy. Stay safe and sane out there, you all.”
[spotifyplaybutton play=”spotify:playlist:1TGI1JXpxz34lqIQEvcVAl”/]
(FB: marlon.west1 Twitter: @marlonw IG: stlmarlonwest Spotify: marlonwest)
In an historic and majority 6-3 decision this morning, the United States Supreme Court ruled that workplace discrimination against LGBTQ workers is prohibited by federal law.
According to the New York Times, SCOTUS said the language of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits sex discrimination, applies to discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.
To quote nytimes.com:
“The vote was 6 to 3, with Justice Neil M. Gorsuch writing the majority opinion. He was joined by Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. and Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Stephen G. Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan.
The case concerned Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which bars employment discrimination based on race, religion, national origin and sex. The question for the justices was whether that last prohibition — discrimination “because of sex”— applies to many millions of gay and transgender workers.
The decision, covering two cases, was the court’s first on L.G.B.T. rights since the retirement in 2018 of Justice Anthony M. Kennedy, who wrote the majority opinions in all four of the court’s major gay rights decisions.”
Read more: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/15/us/gay-transgender-workers-supreme-court.html
Last week, Warner Bros. made Just Mercy, the 2019 feature film about attorney Bryan Stevenson and the Equal Justice Initiative starring Michael B. Jordan and Jamie Foxx free to view online all June.
HBO has done the same: True Justice: Bryan Stevenson’s Fight for Equality, which recently won a 2020 Peabody Award, is available for free online.
The documentary follows 30 years of EJI’s work on behalf of the poor, the incarcerated, and the condemned. Told primarily in his own words, True Justice shares Bryan Stevenson’s experience with a criminal justice system that “treats you better if you’re rich and guilty than if you’re poor and innocent.”
You can watch it on eji.org, YouTube or below:
(paid link)
