Before MJ, before LeBron, Koby, Larry, Steph, et. al., there was Bill Russell.
University of San Francisco Dons.
Boston Celtics.
2 National championships as a college player; 10 championships as a professional player.
Hard worker, intelligent player, dominant player who came up when racism was overpowering the country.
Thanks for showing us the way, Bill.
A voice like no other, a lady who shined sublime on stage, overcame difficulties and demons, Billie Holiday.
She played with the jazz greats, like Louis Armstrong, Count Basie, Benny Goodman, and others.
She had many hit songs, including the controversial “Strange Fruit”.
She has a unique place in the great history of jazz music, an inspired voice and performer, cut down too soon by alcohol and drug abuse.
Her voice lives on, amen amen.
“Strange Fruit” here: https://youtu.be/-DGY9HvChXk
A Wiki-summary here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billie_Holiday?wprov=sfti1
“The devil made me do it…!”
And…
“What you see is what you get…!”
So said “Geraldine”, one of the several characters Clerow “Flip”Wilson created to deliver his comedy.
One of the funniest people I ever heard. One of the best smiles, one of the brightest personalities…”Flip” Wilson.
First African-American Host of a TV Variety Show. He won a couple Emmy Awards for it.
He also won a Grammy for his comedy album, “The Devil Made Me Buy This Dress.”
He was an early trailblazer for African-Americans in a White entertainment world that existed at the time…and he dominated, beloved by millions.
“The Devil…“, listen below for the marque bit.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flip_Wilson?wprov=sfti1
A great athlete, a great student through college, a great example for us all. Colin Kaepernick.
Do what you believe is right. Speak up. Stand your ground on the principles that guide you, that can help show the way for others.
From the little I’ve listened to and read, this is the essence of Colin Kaepernick, the former professional football player and civil rights activist.
He was amazingly fun to watch play football; his legacy will be his activism.
Thank You for using you platform, Thank You for seeing the higher purpose of your great athletic abilities, Thank You for continuing to speak up, and helping others do the same.
More on Colin? Here:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colin_Kaepernick?wprov=sfti1
These three amazing voices from right now, what a troika of power and good in the world.
Zach Stafford, accomplished journalist and editor, including the first Black Editor-In-Chief at The Advocate, also Editor-In-Chief at Buzzfeed, and also an investigative journalist at The Guardian.
Poet in power, author, amazing voice, Saeed Jones. Thoughtful, provocative, insightful, so much good to share.
Sam Sanders, journalist and podcaster, NPR voice of It’s Been A Minute, as well as other great reporting, filled with humor and insight that will challenge and awaken you.
Zach: “A check will never hold you when you’re sad and a piece of clothing will never be the thing you call for words of encouragement in your darkest moments,”
Saeed: “I made myself a promise: Even if it meant becoming a stranger to my loved ones, even if it meant keeping secrets, I would have a life of my own.”
Sam: “I think that since this country’s founding, America has been a country built on racial hierarchy and exploitation and subjugation. And a lot of that history is still present, and we don’t want to talk about it or examine just how big of a factor race is in American life still in 2021. And flashpoints like the insurrection last week are just the latest chapter in a book that we’ve been writing for decades and centuries now.”
Sam Sanders: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sam_Sanders_(journalist)?wprov=sfti1
Saeed Jones: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saeed_Jones?wprov=sfti1
Zach Stafford : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zach_Stafford?wprov=sfti1
Quite an air this man had about him. A certain class, a particular panache, set him apart.
First African-American actor to win the Oscar Award for Best Actor. So many acclaims, so many accolades, one of the last actors of the Golden Age.
Sidney Poitier: “I do know I’m responsible not for what happens but what I make of it.”
Mmm, mmm, what a lady what a lady. Seasame Street was the first time I recall Ms. Lena Horne.
She performed for decades, stole the hearts of countless, and shined bright for all to see.
Lena Horne: “Don’t be afraid to feel as angry or as loving as you can, because when you feel nothing, it’s just death.” “The best thing about living… is the chance to keep on doing it!” “Nobody, black or white, who really believes in democracy can stand aside now. Everybody’s got to stand up and be counted.”
More insight? Here:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lena_Horne?wprov=sfti1
Speakers of their truth, living their lives in outspoken, inspired form, both men were drivers during the Civil Rights era of the 1960’s. One made it further, the other didn’t.
Provocative, provoking, unrelenting.
Malcolm X: “Without education, you’re not going anywhere in this world.”
Muhammad Ali: “You don’t lose if you get knocked down; you lose if you stay down.”
Malcolm X: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malcolm_X?wprov=sfti1
Muhammad Ali: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muhammad_Ali?wprov=sfti1
Didn’t know about this guy. Glad to have discovered a little about him, amazed and inspired by his fortitude, spark, and vision.
6 foot 6 inches tall, a Black, Queer Man, in a cape often times, that’s how he was introduced to me.
Quite the human, quite the larger than life influencer on design, lifestyle, and life perspective, for decades.
Thank you, Andre Leon Talley!
Elevate the voices that need to be heard.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andr%C3%A9_Leon_Talley?wprov=sfti1
I heard an interview recently with a evangelical church pastor somewhere in Tennessee or otherwise in that region of the United States of America…
This particular person was of the ilk that the United States of America is a Christian nation… That this particular is part of its foundation, it’s fabric…
And although I am a Christian, I wholeheartedly reject this perspective that America is a “Christian nation“…
This is at the crux of at least part of the fundamental conflicts in this country, and our people…
Confusion about who was here at the beginning, as opposed to what the ideals were by which we found it, and have fought for this country‘s existence for 200+ years…
The United States of America is for ALL people, THAT is the ideal, the forever, fundamental ethos of what America is,
At least for me.
Amen AMEN.
1/2_Full, All GOOD 