Black History
Blues singer Bessie Smith shines in a new novel in memoir form
January 7, 2022If Bessie Smith’s story itself is an American phenomenon worthy of recapitulating in any number of artistic forms, it’s as a writer that Crittendon shines.
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‘Fire Shut Up in My Bones’: First Black composer at Metropolitan Opera
October 29, 2021History was made at New York City’s world-famous Metropolitan Opera when it opened the season on September 27 with its first work written by a Black composer, jazz musician, and well-known scorer of many Spike Lee...
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Honors for Hugh Mulzac, the captain who fought Jim Crow, Hitler, and McCarthy
September 29, 2021In 1942, Hugh Mulzac became the first African American man of Caribbean descent to captain a U.S. Merchant Marine ship, the S.S. Booker T. Washington.
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Being Black and gay in the USA: Interview with dancer Diego Mugler
June 29, 2021“I was afraid of being feminine. I just mastered this balancing act at 32 years of age. The things you may hide from some people are the same things that other people will celebrate and love,...
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The Colescott Chronicles Part 2: Expanding Black representation, critiquing consumerism and colonialism
June 25, 2021[caption id="attachment_110481" align="alignright" width="430"] "George Washington Carver Crossing the Delaware." Seattle Art Museum[/caption] Robert Colescott’s satire of Americana George Washington Carver Crossing the Delaware has now become the centerpiece of L.A.’s new Lucas Museum of American...
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