I was doing research recently listening to the slave narratives, and I stumbled upon this ABC News story from 1999 about a series of interviews done with living formerly enslaved people in the 1940s. It is fascinating that this is recent memory.
Listen to the Slave Narratives Collection on the Library of Congress website.
A couple of weeks ago I hosted a Zoom event with my neighbor Alan Wright who just fulfilled his lifelong dream of cycling cross-country. He started his solo trip on May 22 in Boston and completed the journey on August 5 in Seaside, Oregon. He used his trip to bring awareness to climate change and raise funds for the Boston cycling nonprofit Bikes Not Bombs. Alan rode more than 4,200 miles over 73 days. That was only half the trip. After riding across the country, Alan saw America from another vantage point: he rode Amtrak from Oregon home to Boston. Alan talks about his trip in his presentation “Seeing America Slowly.”
Erykah Badu is a favorite singer, and I had the privilege of seeing her perform live at Radio City Music Hall in New York City on September 30!
This was the first indoor event with a large crowd I have attended since the pandemic began. All attendees were required to show proof of full vaccination or a negative COVID test. I felt safer about going to the concert. I’ve seen Erykah live at least 20 times over the last 25 years!
Questlove opened the show with an hour of his DJ set of old-school soul, reggae, and hip-hop. It was a nice crowd of diverse ages, races, sexual orientations in the room. This was definitely the Met Gala for Black people! (Rumor has it, actor Chris Meloni was also at the concert.)
I’m so glad I went, and I am still on Badu high.
Peace and Love!
Here is a great playlist to celebrate autumn!