Harlem Hellfighters and The Color Line
Check out this great article from the BEACON on the Harlem Hellfighters Centennial and my book THE COLOR LINE.
What’s in a Name? Pt. 4: Moonlight, Rondo, Pearl
My love for Barry Jenkins' Moonlight and how I came up with the names for my novels Bluestone Rondo and The Weight of a Pearl. I hope Barry Jenkins discovers this blog entry so that he can tell me all the deeper meanings of his amazing story and how it became a personal memoir!
What’s in a Name? Pt. 3: Classic Novels
What's in a name? Exploring the titles of two of my favorite classic novels, The Color Purple and To Kill a Mockingbird. Read!
Arthur Mitchel, dies at 86
Arthur Mitchell, “The Color Line” Tribute
Arthur Mitchell was one of my greatest inspirations back when I was taking ballet lessons. Not just for his magnificent ability, but for his activism. He was a pioneer for black dancers.
What’s in a Name? Pt. 2: Native Son
Native Son by Richard Wright – Reading a Richard Wright novel is torture. That is why he is one of my favorite authors. He doesn’t just describe what the characters feel; Wright makes you put on their skin, drink their poison, and suffer every hot, jagged stab of their existence.
What’s in a Name? Pt. 1
What's in a name? Do you ever wonder what’s behind the title of a book or a film? At a recent book reading, I was asked how I came up with the titles for my novels.
Gay in America Before “Out” was “In”
The Stonewall Uprising occurred in 1969. Gay-bashing was suddenly all over the news, although it had been going on for decades. The word “pride” was used strictly in the context of “that’s my boy!” — but only if you were a straight boy.
What constitutes an act of war?
Drugs and police still occupy our neighborhoods, which are treated as war zones, while feeding our young men and women into the jaws of the privatized prison system.
1950s Jazz Scene
Greetings, Gate! I always laughed when my father said that to me. He was a jazz drummer, and often talked in bop slang—the inventive language of jazz that was sometimes unintentionally offensive, but always colorful and witty. Women were “skirts” or “chicks” or “frails” and fellow musicians were “cats.”