There was so much interest in a book club on Mountains Beyond Mountains! How wonderful. I talked to my local bookseller and they said it’s being reprinted, so won’t be available again for a couple of weeks. Mark your calendars for March 31st at 4pm PST, zoom link forthcoming.
Swooning for Alma Thomas..... before I was familiar with her work, one of her paintings stopped me dead in my tracks during a museum wander. SO talented - thanks for the info :)
I'm reading the NYer piece about Janet Lansbury. Your suggestion is timely. As always, merci.
Courtney, your words continue to give us such a steady flow of inspiration that all of your readers much shout out a collective Thank You! As we near the end of Black History month, I'm grateful for the various ways that you've acknowledged it in these Newsletters as well as earlier in the publication of your book, "Learning in Public". Today, you recommend the new children's book by Alma Thomas, "Ablaze with Color", and the review recalling her solo exhibition at the Whitney Museum as well as the display of artwork in the White House.
When we try to choose from all the wisdom given us over centuries by black Americans, it's impossible to note even the most stellar highlights. I never allow Black History month to conclude without sharing two of my most vivid recollections. First, when I met Malcolm X in Feb., 1965, two weeks before his assassination; and then later, MLK, in April, 1967, at the Riverside Church, NYC, exactly a year before he was murdered. Like Malcolm, he was only age 39.
If they had been allowed to live until their 90's, I feel sure that now they would speak out against war, as they did then, in their fierce denunciation of the war in Vietnam. They labeled that conflict a "war of lies", starting with LBJ's falsehood about our being attacked by North Vietnam, and the stream of mendacity flowing from U.S. politicians ever since to justify ceaseless conflicts, such as the attack on Iraq. Not coincidentally, Maureen Dowd in today's op ed, can quote Putin as he used the hypocrisy of American leaders on Iraq to rationalize his own horrific crimes against Ukraine. I can hear Malcolm's favorite expression, "The chickens have come home to roost." We must engage in honest, rigorous critical self-examination, whether in international or domestic affairs; participate actively in movements here like BLM that speak truth to power, by countering our own record of gross injustice. DD
Swooning for Alma Thomas..... before I was familiar with her work, one of her paintings stopped me dead in my tracks during a museum wander. SO talented - thanks for the info :)
I'm reading the NYer piece about Janet Lansbury. Your suggestion is timely. As always, merci.
Courtney, your words continue to give us such a steady flow of inspiration that all of your readers much shout out a collective Thank You! As we near the end of Black History month, I'm grateful for the various ways that you've acknowledged it in these Newsletters as well as earlier in the publication of your book, "Learning in Public". Today, you recommend the new children's book by Alma Thomas, "Ablaze with Color", and the review recalling her solo exhibition at the Whitney Museum as well as the display of artwork in the White House.
When we try to choose from all the wisdom given us over centuries by black Americans, it's impossible to note even the most stellar highlights. I never allow Black History month to conclude without sharing two of my most vivid recollections. First, when I met Malcolm X in Feb., 1965, two weeks before his assassination; and then later, MLK, in April, 1967, at the Riverside Church, NYC, exactly a year before he was murdered. Like Malcolm, he was only age 39.
If they had been allowed to live until their 90's, I feel sure that now they would speak out against war, as they did then, in their fierce denunciation of the war in Vietnam. They labeled that conflict a "war of lies", starting with LBJ's falsehood about our being attacked by North Vietnam, and the stream of mendacity flowing from U.S. politicians ever since to justify ceaseless conflicts, such as the attack on Iraq. Not coincidentally, Maureen Dowd in today's op ed, can quote Putin as he used the hypocrisy of American leaders on Iraq to rationalize his own horrific crimes against Ukraine. I can hear Malcolm's favorite expression, "The chickens have come home to roost." We must engage in honest, rigorous critical self-examination, whether in international or domestic affairs; participate actively in movements here like BLM that speak truth to power, by countering our own record of gross injustice. DD
Cool. I’ll be there.