The AUDELCO Theater Awards (1980)

The headline on the New York Post of November 17 [1980] forewarned readers that it would "SNOW!" that night. And the snow came. So did the rain and the cold night air that nipped at noses and fingertips. But November 17 was a special night for the black theater community. It was the night of the 8th Annual AUDELCO Black Theatre Awards ceremony in which recognition awards would be given in 16 different categories. And it would take something stronger and more devastating than a cold snap to keep people away.

These were theater people, a dauntless lot. Elegantly dressed in fur coats, evening gowns, and tuxedos, they filled the 750-seat ultra-modern Aaron Davis Hall/Leonard Davis Center for the Performing Arts at City College in Harlem to honor their own. The love and respect they felt was evident in the abundance of smiles, kisses, embraces, and handshakes bestowed on their colleagues before they entered the theater. It was also evident by the thunderous applause and cheers that greeted the announcement of each nominee's name.

The audience may also have been applauding and cheering the fact that November 17, 1980 marked the return to Harlem of  AUDELCO (Audience Development Committee)*, after an absence of two years for lack of adequate space. After all, Harlem has long been the entertainment capital of black America. Many of our most significant black artists grew up and/or launched their careers in this world-famous community. So the awards were more than just a celebration of contemporary black achievement in theater. They were a tribute to Harlem's glorious past, a past which has given us people such as Earle Hyman, one of four recipients of the AUDELCO Outstanding Pioneer Award for 1980.

 Fellow actor Frederick O'Neal worked with Hyman in the American Negro Theatre in the 1940s when Hyman became a member at age 17. Here is what O'Neal said about this remarkable actor who studied the plays of Ibsen and the Norwegian language and has played Othello more times than any other actor, living or dead:

"Earle spent four or five years playing with the Norwegian State Theatre. ...[O]ne of those years Earle won the award for the best artist of the season. ...[O]nly two performers have won it since its inception. And the only other person...was Charlie Chaplin.

"There is bust of Earle," continued O'Neal, "in the State Theatre in Oslo today."

Earle Hyman was not present at the awards ceremony because he was in Norway directing a play. His award was accepted by Owen Dodson, the director, playwright, and poet.

While Debbie Allen and Gregory Hines, the co-hosts, kept the audience in stitches with sight gags and witty comments, the basketball player Earl Monroe, the actress Josephine Premice, and the dancer Judith Jamison were among those presenting the awards to overjoyed recipients.

Amidst all this glitter and gaiety were a few serious moments. Most notably Ossie Davis's short and eloquent speech upon accepting the AUDELCO Board of Directors Award for his wife, Ruby Dee, and himself. This award honored their lifelong contribution to the black theater.

"If we are ever to become Africans again," remarked Davis, "we must do it first through our art."

It was past midnight when the 8th Annual AUDELCO Awards presentation ended. The audience streamed out of the theater and into the lobby where drinks and hors d'oeuvres awaited them. Many people moved through the crowd, eating, drinking, and chatting at the same time. They were having a good time and it seemed as if they didn't want it to end.

*Note: AUDELCO was founded in 1973 by Vivian Robinson (1926-1996). It's aim, says its website, was "to stimulate interest in and support of performing arts in black communities."

The manuscript for this article was recently found in a folder and was written on November 26, 1980. It was presumably written for the New York Amsterdam News. This article has been slightly edited.

A Brief Personal Quiz

The following quiz was posted on Facebook by MikenVal Collins, who linked it to my cousin Sharon's page as an alternative to the gloom and doom that is frequently posted on Facebook. Unfortunately, I had trouble answering the questions on my smartphone because of some technical problem. So I'm doing it here. I will later link this blog post to Facebook. Now visitors to the blog will learn a little more about me than what appears in my profile.

Birth order?  The youngest of four.

Favorite pie?  Apple.

Steak or seafood?  Seafood.

Italian or Chinese [food]?   Italian.

Favorite soda?  Pepsi-Cola. (In my teens, it was Royal Crown Cola.)

How many tattoos?  None.

Netflix or Hulu?  Neither. (I prefer to watch DVDs on my laptop.)

Ever hit a deer? No.

Favorite season?  Summer.

Left country?  Yes. I've been to Tijuana, Mexico.

Dogs or cats?  Cats.

Early morning person? No.

Ever been out of the state? Yes.

Favorite color?  Blue.

Have you ever flown on a plane? Yes. The last time I was on a plane was when I was 10 years old.

Waffles or pancakes?  Pancakes (with plenty of maple syrup).

Smooth or crunchy peanut butter?  Smooth (preferably Skippy).

A Manhattan Bookstore Closes

More than a year ago, Shakespeare & Company's store, on Broadway near 105th Street on Manhattan's Upper West Side, was closed a short time after it opened for business. I learned it was closing from an article in the weekly newspaper, The Spirit. I later went to the store to buy a couple of mystery paperbacks at a significant discount.

I think the store could have been saved if the owners had focused exclusively on LGBTQ books and merchandise (like posters, rainbow flags, key chains, and slogan buttons).

In a city with a sizable LGBTQ population, and no bookstore catering to it, I refuse to believe such a bookstore would not have been able to thrive, even in harsh economic times. LGBTQ bars seem to stay afloat no matter what.

Aside from selling books and LGBTQ-related merchandise, the store could have been used for book readings, book signings, lectures, film screenings, game nights, special events, etc. The store needed owners who could think outside the box and experiment with different ways to attract a loyal clientele.

The location, in a very busy section of town, would have been a perfect refuge for LGBTQ bibliophiles, in an area convenient to public transportation, public parks, restaurants, supermarkets, and smaller shops.

We Need An Interurban Trolley System

There's a very memorable scene in the 1975 historical novel Ragtime by E.L. Doctorow (1931-2015), in which a character, who I think was a Jewish immigrant, traveled 138 miles from the Lower East Side of Manhattan to Springfield, Massachusetts. He reached his destination by transferring to various trolley lines. The novel is set in the early years of the 20th century. I don't know if such a transit system existed back then or was just a product of Doctorow's imagination, but I do know that this system is not available today. And that's too bad, because an interurban trolley system would help reduce bumper-to-bumper traffic and polluting car emissions.

Very Apt Descriptions

Here are Google A.I.'s recent descriptions of this blog:

"Urban Book Maven is an online blog and cultural archive authored by writer and cultural critic Charles Michael Smith. The blog focuses on the intersection of LGBTQ+ culture, Black history, literature, and arts, often sharing historical essays, author interviews, and reflections on queer and multicultural heritage. Notable topics frequently discussed on the site include the legacy of Black gay writers (such as Assotto Saint) and historical accounts of nightlife and anti-violence resistance [sic] in communities of color." (accessed May 28, 2026)

In an earlier description, A. I. described the blog as "an active blog featuring literary commentary, personal essays, and reflections with recent content published as of March 2026. The site has been noted in academic contexts regarding queer literature and features posts exploring themes of travel, memory, and literature." (accessed April 24, 2026)

I would say that the above statements are very apt descriptions.

Books Are Tiny Time Machines

Michiko Kakutani (born 1955), the former chief book critic of the New York Times, has given what I think is the best description I've ever read of what books can do. In her 2020 book, Ex Libris: 100+ Books to Read and Reread (Clarkson Potter), she calls books "[t]hese magical brick-sized objects--made of paper, ink, glue, thread, cardboard, fabric, or leather--[that] are actually tiny time machines that can transport us back to the past to learn the lessons of history, and forward to idealized or dystopian futures. Books can transport us to distant parts of the globe and even more distant  planets and universes. They give us the stories of men and women we will never meet in person, illuminate the discoveries made by great minds, and allow us access to the wisdom of earlier generations."

Harlem Church Tours

I could be wrong, but I believe that the hundreds of tourists visiting Harlem churches every Sunday morning come for the spectacle, the entertainment value of the services rather than for religious reasons.

Author's Note: The church, pictured above, was located on West 123rd Street, near the corner of Lenox Avenue, in Harlem. It was next door to the homophobic, anti-Obama ATLAH Missionary Church. The A.M.E. church is now occupied by a mosque called Masjid Futa Islamic Center Harlem.