“This mural is a fusion between the history of the Black Hawk Jazz Cafe, BLM, and the ancestral roots of the Ohlone peoples and my ancestral Mochica culture.” –Adrian Arias
Billie Holiday sang at the Black Hawk Jazz Cafe on her final West Coast club tour. Miles Davis recorded two live performances there on April 21 and 22, 1961.
Chase Center Valkyries Block Party….The Golden State Warriors are coming in 2025!
I went down a Kenny Lattimore rabbit hole the other day. That voice, those jams! “Days Like This” is one of my all-time fave R&B slow jams.
And “Never Too Busy” is another smooth track.
This Festival en Pays Rêvé, wow…
The lineup of this literary festival in Martinique is absolutely amazing. So many fabulous multi-faceted creatives. I really wish I could be there especially to witness the reading of Christiane Taubira’s Frivolités and to see Marijosé Alie read from her work. Kudos to Viktor Lazlo for organizing this gem. There are so many connections between Martinican legends (Césaire, Fanon, etc.) and Black writers in the U.S. Martinique is a small island with a big footprint.
Spent about 48 hours in CHI…
Seen on a sidewalk at night in Chicago
Graffiti downtown Chicago
Although Prince wrote that track, Sinéad made it her own, not to mention the catalog of her own songs that tug at the soul. I saw her perform live at Lilith Fair at the Gorge Amphitheatre in Washington State, one of the most beautiful concert venues in the world. She sang a capella to end her set. It was the most haunting and amazing performance, with the sun setting behind her reflecting the breathtaking colors of the massive canyons of the gorge.
And…that remix of I Want Your (Hands On Me) with MC Lyte was THE party song!
She had a hard life, suffering abuse as a child, and having her own child die. She lived with the backlash of her iconic moment in ’92 when she tore up a photo of Pope John Paul II and said, “Fight the real enemy,” while performing on “Saturday Night Live.” I saw it live on TV and was in awe. She was protesting child sexual abuse in the Catholic Church. It was brave and badass.
The more things change…
