Yesterday I attended the opening ceremonies of the Smithsonian Institution’s annual Folklife Festival which the attention of returning back to my desktop by 2 PM. I didn’t get back until 5. There was no way I was going to miss the Funk Brothers, the Motown studio sessions band. Where do you think the Motown sound [...]
Filmfest DC turns 25! Filmfest DC, the Washington, DC International Film Festival, marks its Silver Anniversary this year. Slated for April 7 – 17, 2011, the Festival will celebrate 25 years of presenting the best in new international cinema in the nation’s capital. Ticket information and the complete festival catalog are available on [...]
This is the month where programmers and cultural professionals go gaga. It’s always a February feast kicking off with Langston Hughes’ birthday (February 1). If you want to savor the history of the African American experience in the arts, you must, must, must get a copy of Black Magic: A Pictorial History of Black Entertainers [...]
Before We are Democrats or Republicans, We are Americans. If anyone has been paying attention (and that’s somehow rare these days), it’s quite clear President Obama has been consistent in his message about unity and a civil discourse as part of a flourishing democracy. In his remarks at the memorial service in Tuscon last week, [...]
I’ve always known Tracye as a vegan, health educator, and one of the most attractive energetic, and positive people you’ll meet in the capital city. As an omnivore, I credit Tracye’s pluses to her choices and priorities especially when it comes to food. I was honored when Tracye asked me to host her book launch [...]
A few months ago, a friend emailed an introduction to me and Josh Levin. Josh, who had been working in film distribution and marketing in New York City, was returning to DC to re-open the West End Cinema multi-screen in its old location on 23rd Street as a new independent arthouse theater. Of course, the [...]
Project 60 Friday, November 19, 1:30 PM Gelman Library, George Washington University The Special Collections Research Center at GWU’s Gelman Library will honor E-bert! — that’s E. Ethelbert Miller on the first day of his 6th Inning (read 60th birthday). When Ethelbert invited me to moderate the panel of family and friends on his writers [...]
The Emergence and Legacy of African American Basketball Conference November 12 – 13 FREE and open to the public Presented by: Tinner Hill Heritage Foundation, DC Basketball Inc., Howard University Department of Health, Human Performance & Leisure Studies, the Humanities Council of Washington, D.C, The Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture, and [...]
Washington, DC this weekend was a city of magical realism. We caught a glimpse of a pink dragon going up 14th Street with a merry band of revelers on board. A gaucho on a horse brought traffic to a crawl on my street. I suppose when the going gets tough, the tough think magically. Every [...]
If the National Mall is considered the “prime time” for rallies, then Comedy Central was not ready. I can’t say what happened, what was funny, or what was what on the stage where Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert MC’d because I couldn’t SEE or HEAR anything. Since there was no way to get past the [...]
