Commemorating James Baldwin's Birthday

Yesterday, August 2nd, as I walked near the world-famous Apollo Theatre, its electronic marquee reminded me that it was James Baldwin's birthday. The fiery novelist/essayist, a son of Harlem, would have been 95 years old this year.

If Baldwin were still alive, no doubt his voice and pen would be highly critical of the Trump administration as well as the white supremacist alt-right movement, who are among Trump's avid supporters. And no doubt Trump would be on Twitter criticizing, perhaps ridiculing, Baldwin's comments. But Trump would be no match for Baldwin's eloquence and penetrating intellect.

A Memorable Slogan

I love this slogan seen on the side of a truck belonging to a porta-potty company that was parked on Saint Nicholas Avenue, near 123rd Street, in Harlem: "We're Number One In Picking Up Number Two." It's a slogan more dog owners should adopt.

An Anti-Racist Song From The 1950s

Carmen McRae recorded a beautiful tune in 1958 called "Georgia Rose" (found on the CD, Carmen McRae's Finest Hour on the Verve label).There's a line in it that goes "Don't be blue, 'cause you're black, Georgia Rose." The tune, written by Jimmy Flynn, Harry Rosenthal, and Alexander Sullivan,  was very bold for its time with its anti-racist, black is beautiful message. I mentioned this song in a blog post in 2012. It would be useful if someone, maybe me, wrote an article or a book about the origin of the song.

A TV Program About Blacks In Latin America

In the fourth and final episode of historian Henry Louis Gates's PBS program, Black in Latin America, which dealt with the African diaspora in Mexico and Peru, Gates neglected to mention that the Mexican painter Diego Rivera had a black grandmother, per Langston Hughes biographer Arnold Rampersad.

Furthermore, it would be interesting to see if Gates does a  Black in Europe series on PBS. That would be an eye-opening program, revealing how much influence African descended individuals have had in various European countries throughout the centuries up to present times.

Note: Today is National French Fry Day!

Celebrating World Pride And Stonewall 50 Together

 I went to the World Pride parade in the Chelsea section of Manhattan yesterday. Boy, was it crowded and super long. When the parade ended, it was almost 12:30 in the morning!

A recent sighting: Propped up outside one of the display windows of the Bank Street Bookstore, an Upper West Side of Manhattan establishment that specializes in children's books, was a small black message board with removable letters of the alphabet. On it was this message, with one letter missing: "[I]T'S PRIDE BITCHES. SHAKE YA ASS!" It was placed in front of a display of Pride-themed children's books.

I couldn't resist the urge to put it in my tote bag and take it home where it will be put in a prominent place because it is such a novelty item. I may even take a photo of it and put it in one of my photo albums.

A Warning Against Film Piracy

The most memorable DVD "FBI Anti-Piracy Warning" was the one I saw before the start of the 1945 film And Then There Were None, which was based on an Agatha Christie mystery novel, and starred Barry Fitzgerald. In this warning, a computer-generated image of a man is seen in prison stripes walking forlornly into a prison cell. The cell door slides shut, the scene blacks out briefly. He is next shown sitting on his prison cot, head in his hands. Then the "FBI Warning" message crawls up the screen as a mournful harmonica is heard throughout the segment.

If that doesn't send home the message that film piracy has serious consequences then nothing will.

Happy Pride Month

Today is the first day of Pride Month! I hope everyone will have a happy Pride Month. I'm looking forward to the Stonewall 50 celebrations, which will probably last until the end of the year.

This month also marks the twentieth anniversary of  the publication of Fighting Words: Essays by Black Gay Men, an anthology I edited. It was published in 1999 by Avon Books.