Arts
The Arts
How ‘Shuffle Along’ Changed Musical Theater 100 Years Ago
Not only did Shuffle Along bring jazz to Broadway, it was the first African American show to be a smash hit. Its composer Eubie Blake recalled on WNYC in 1973: “When we put Shuffle Along on, on Broadway, we put negroes back to work again.” Continue Reading How ‘Shuffle Along’ Changed Musical Theater 100 Years Ago
‘Nobody Does A Comeback Like The Movies’: Beating Drums For The Blockbuster’s Return
With just two weeks to go before A Quiet Place Part II makes your local multiplex a less quiet place, Hollywood has started the back-to-cinemas drumroll. Continue Reading ‘Nobody Does A Comeback Like The Movies’: Beating Drums For The Blockbuster’s Return
The Story Of ‘Sesame Street’: From Radical Experiment To Beloved TV Mainstay
For generations, Sesame Street has been a mainstay of American children’s television. But when the show premiered more than 50 years ago on Nov. 10, 1969, it was considered controversial, even radical. Continue Reading The Story Of ‘Sesame Street’: From Radical Experiment To Beloved TV Mainstay
TV REVIEW: ‘Underground Railroad’ Is A Hard But Beautiful Reflection On Black Pain
For this Black TV critic, completing Barry Jenkins’ ambitious, beautifully brutal, 10-episode adaptation of Colson Whitehead’s The Underground Railroad was an emotional journey that touched every nerve of what it feels like to be a person of color striving to matter in America. Continue Reading TV REVIEW: ‘Underground Railroad’ Is A Hard But Beautiful Reflection On Black Pain
Engaging With Asian American And Pacific Islander Heritage Month: A Reading List
In the past year, and throughout history, narratives surrounding Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders have been rife with violence, hardship and grief. Yet they are so much more than their experiences of suffering — beyond tales of war and isolation, there is joy, confusion, anger and relief. Continue Reading Engaging With Asian American And Pacific Islander Heritage Month: A Reading List
The Artist Behind A George Floyd Mural Reflects On How It Became A ‘Ubiquitous Icon’
One of the most recognizable images of Floyd sits just above the spot where he drew his last breath – at the corner of 38th Street and Chicago Avenue in South Minneapolis. It’s a haunting, 12-foot mural of Floyd, painted in black and white by Minneapolis-based artist Peyton Scott Russell. Continue Reading The Artist Behind A George Floyd Mural Reflects On How It Became A ‘Ubiquitous Icon’
BOOK REVIEW: ‘Son Of The Storm’ Explores Power And Its Transformations
“Son of the Storm” defines these tensions clearly from the start, as a prologue whirls readers into a society already at a dangerous crossroads, at once reaching for new levels of power, and busy walling itself off from risk. The effect is rich, wild, and occasionally dizzying. Continue Reading BOOK REVIEW: ‘Son Of The Storm’ Explores Power And Its Transformations
Brood X Is Back — But Cicadas Have Been In Chinese Art For Millennia
You might be using Cicada Safari to track Brood X, which appears to be slowly emerging from the earth in the U.S. all the way from Florida to Michigan. But cicadas are global citizens. In China, the critters have long been symbolically significant. Continue Reading Brood X Is Back — But Cicadas Have Been In Chinese Art For Millennia
A Constitutional Quirk Inspired Stacey Abrams’ New Fiction Thriller, ‘While Justice Sleeps’
A Supreme Court justice is gravely ill, ideological control of the court hangs in the balance — throw in a ruthless president and an international conspiracy, and what you have is the plot of Stacey Abrams’s new novel, While Justice Sleeps. Yes, that Stacey Abrams, the Georgia politician, and she’s written a thriller ripped straight from the headlines — inspired by a conversation over lunch with her mentor. Continue Reading A Constitutional Quirk Inspired Stacey Abrams’ New Fiction Thriller, ‘While Justice Sleeps’
BOOK REVIEW: ‘Things We Lost To The Water’ Is A Literal And Allegorical Look At Dislocation
Nước — the Vietnamese word for country and water — permeates Eric Nguyen’s haunting debut. Signifying both a place of origin and the means by which a boat refugee departs from such place of origin, Things We Lost to the Water poignantly explores all the ways in which Vietnamese refugees are affected by country and water — in sum, by dislocation. Continue Reading BOOK REVIEW: ‘Things We Lost To The Water’ Is A Literal And Allegorical Look At Dislocation
How Racism Pushed Tina Turner And Other Black Women Artists Out Of America
Black women artists like Josephine Baker, Nina Simone and Eartha Kitt contributed to those social gains. Their suffering came not only from their personal battles against day-to-day racism in America, but also having their careers struggle when they spoke out against it. Europe eventually became home to them as well. Continue Reading How Racism Pushed Tina Turner And Other Black Women Artists Out Of America
BOOK REVIEW: 2 Novels Explore The Big Romantic Bargains We Strike In The Name Of Love
You fall in love with a person, but you get a package deal. That’s one of the big messages of two new novels that ruminate on love and family, particularly the family that’s thrust upon you when you happen to mate with one of their kith or kin. Continue Reading BOOK REVIEW: 2 Novels Explore The Big Romantic Bargains We Strike In The Name Of Love
