Originally posted February 2021: Black History: Still Building Wall Street One Brick and Millions of Dollars at a Time During February, Black History Month, our nation reflects on past heroes and heroines of African lineage whose accomplishments, inventions, leadership, and innovations within the arts, sciences, and humanities have made a significant difference. Each February here on… Continue Reading
Originally posted December 2020: Harlem Hell Fighters: A Story that Needs to be Told For the first time in history, an African American is poised to assume the role of U.S. Secretary of Defense. Retired General Lloyd Austin It is worthy to note the shameful segregated history of Blacks serving honorably in America’s armed forces over… Continue Reading
Originally posted December 2020: Fox News Betrays the Fourth Estate On Friday, December 11, when news broke that the Supreme Court had rejected the Texas lawsuit challenging the election of Joe Biden, network and cable news channels were broadcasting the story, so I turned to Fox News to see their take on this story. Fox was… Continue Reading
Originally posted November 2020: Guest Blog: “Trump is the Hoax” I am pleased to have as my guest commentator Christopher Dollas whom I‘ve known since our middle school through high school days in East Chicago, Indiana. Chris, now a retired English teacher, is a skilled director of drama and theatrical productions. He is also a passionate… Continue Reading
Originally posted November 2020: Pushkin’s Black Origins: Source of Inspiration for Youth of the African Diaspora Dennis Llewellyn Day, Moscow 1995 While much has changed in Russia and the world since I last visited well over two decades ago, what remains constant is the Russians’ deep admiration for Russia’s most revered poet, Alexander Pushkin, one of Russia’s… Continue Reading
Originally posted October 2020: Reflections and Relics on a Path to Jazz In 1984 I made my debut jazz appearance in New York with some of the finest musicians to be found. This clip, “On A Clear Day,” is a song from that performance. I recently discovered the original cassette tape of a vintage recording of that event… Continue Reading
Originally posted September 2020: Embody the Spirit of Fannie Lou Hamer on November 3rd! On Facebook I encountered this post by Rusty Hassan. Here is what I wrote to him, followed by his post: Greetings Rusty, this is one of the best essays I’ve read this election cycle. The power of the Vote as embodied in each… Continue Reading
Originally posted August 2020: Onaje Allen Gumbs: Pianist, Composer, and Arranger Extraordinaire As I post this, I am preparing to join a memorial event celebrating the life of Onaje Allen Gumbs. I first met Onaje Allen Gumbs at New York City’s Blue Note Jazz Club during a tribute to the late singer Phyllis Hyman in July 1995. The… Continue Reading
Originally published August 2020: King of the Cats – Made for the Movies I originally posted this essay in 2013 shortly after Hollywood had released two major films with narratives rooted in the African American experience. Steven Spielberg’s Lincoln and Lee Daniels’ The Butler. These were significant because they attracted much broader audiences than films depicting the Black experience usually do. I re-post… Continue Reading
Dietrich Bonhoeffer: German Christian Martyr Transformed by Experience With Harlem’s Abyssinian Baptist Church I published this article on an earlier blog in 2007 and then again on the commemoration of Dr. Martin Luther King’s birthday, Sunday January 15, 2012, when I heard a brilliant sermon preached by Reverend Dr. Calvin O. Butts III, Senior Pastor of… Continue Reading