Reading and Roaming
NEW NATIONAL HOLIDAY Today, June 19, is Juneteenth. It is now a federal holiday and yesterday, government workers had the day off. It commemorates the date in 1865 when Texas got the word that American slaves were emancipated. Many states already have Juneteenth celebrations, but this bill, passed by both houses of Congress and signed into law on …
Continue reading “Tidy Tidbits: Historical Figures in Fiction”
NAVIGATING MANHATTAN Manhattan is beginning to come back to life and there is something approaching normalcy. But, it’s hard to be spontaneous. Museums require some form of advanced ticketing or reservation, there are usually lines to enter, masks and social distancing are the norm, and you will most likely have your temperature taken. Unfortunately, some of our …
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RECENT VIEWING Black Politics One Night in Miami (Amazon Prime) Set in February 1964, One Night in Miami brings together four Black men on the cusp of fame or notoriety. It’s the early days of the Civil Rights era. Boxer Cassius Clay has just defeated Sonny Liston, and this gathering of friends is partly a celebration of that victory. It’s …
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THOUGHT-PROVOKING MEMOIR Self-Portrait in Black and White: Family, Fatherhood, and Rethinking Race by Thomas Chatterton Williams (2019) Even before his marriage and the birth of his first child, Williams straddled, or at least experienced, both the white and the Black worlds. His father is a Southern Black and his mother a white woman, and while mixed race, …
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