AFRICA US TODAY MAGAZINE
Poliosocionomics of World Peace
Issue III,XIV www.africaustoday.dotcom.wordpress.com 312/880-7016 June- July 2014 U.S.- $4.99 Canada- $5.99 London- 3 Pounds
Honoring our Legacy
“Motown the Musical” Nigerian President Johnathan Appreciation Day Ruby Dee, actress, civil rights activist Dr. Dre makes Billonaire’s Club Major Lift for Fannie & Freddie
Some of Africa’s Top Actors & Actresses
Remembering Maya Angelou Frankie Knuckles Tribute South Sudanese in Chicago
Questions to Nigerian President Jonathan’s critics
Olawale Idreez, Publisher
“QUESTIONS TO JONATHAN’S CRITICS” I totally agree with writer, Mr. Collins. Brilliant analysis, and sensible way of diagnosing Nigeria dilemma. Nigerian’s problem is bigger than President Goodluck E. Jonathan, and all his predecessors since independence combined. Again, big kudos must be accorded to the incumbent president, particularly for alerting the attentionof external (Super -power) forces, before making the drastic decision of caving the ethnic religion sect called Boko Haram with drones. Perhaps so he would not end up like many other African leaders, who started with brilliant ideas, and good intentions, to save Motherland Africa, but ended up like Charles Taylor, Muammar Gaddafi, etc. Corruption: It is not surprising that corruption fits her like Jacquard Lace materials, Nigeria has a lot of fortune to offer, (though not fully appreciated by the inhabitants) that attracts the attention of the global market; almost as a replica of 1949’s China, termed “Charming Lady” wooed by the then USSR and USA. Chairman Mao Zedong, also known as Mao Tse-Tung, did what he had to do, and look at China today. Buying anything and everything it can lay its hands on and gobbling everything in its mouth like Barracuda fish. That takes prayer, hard work and sacrifice. I humbly believe that what my beloved nation, Nigeria needs (among other things) is to stop pointing blaming fingers at one particular segment of people based leadership, religion, and tribal marks. We should all be in this together. Something that is meant for negativity, can come out favorably in the end. It is a good time now to be seen and not be stigmatized, but to be called a Nigerian. Yes, I am a Nigerian. More importantly, it should be reiterated “TO KEEP NIGERIA AS ONE, IS A TASK THAT MUST BE DONE .” Stay tuned for our upcoming issue! Olawale Idreez Email: africatoday10@yahoo.com AFRICA US TODAY 3
Frankie Knuckles Tribute
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Millennium Park > Upcoming Events > Frankie Knuckles Tribute
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Join this dance party and pay tribute to Chicago DJ and record producer Frankie Knuckles. (1955-2014), “The Godfather of House Music.” Schedule 6pm - Opening words from Robert Williams and Alan King 6:15pm - Music begins with DJ set by Elbert Phillips 6:55pm - DJ set by Craig Loftis 7:35pm - DJ set by Greg Gray 8:15pm - DJ set by Mike Winston 9pm - End Mike Winston was Frankie's original opening DJ at the Powerplant and longtime friend. A pioneer in 1970’s DJ underground scene, Mike Winston was one of Frankie Knuckles early cohorts and dj collaborators. Craig Loftis has been dj’ing in the Chicago music scene since 1979. He received a degree in Sound Engineering, and after redesigning the sound system for Frankie’s club the Powerplant, he became Frankie’s personal sound engineer, opening DJ and general manager. They jointly developed Frankie’s production company Powerplant LTD, did various remixes of existing songs which are now considered Deep House Chicago classics, and soon after concentrated on producing a Chicago artist named Jamie Principle, one of house music first stars. He later became chief engineer in charge of production for DJ International Records where he engineered, mixed and produced songs for Fast Eddie, Tyree Cooper, Julian Perez, Bad Boy Bill, Frankie Hollywood Rodriguez, Joe Smooth, Sterling Void, Paris Brightledge and Mike Dunn just to name a few. In 2000 Craig also became a member of the Slang Music Group, a remixing company based in Chicago which did mix work on such artist as Pink, Kelly Price, Sisco, RKelly, Ruff Endz, Backstreet boys and Whitney Houston. In 2012 Craig and longtime friend Joe Smooth teamed up to
AFRICA US TODAY 5
CONTRIBUTING EDITOR BARBARA KENSEY
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Robert L. Scott Sr. Photography
Contents Frankie Knuckles Tribute Dr. Dre makes Billionaire
10
Club City of Chicago Exhibi
tions
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12 Major Lift for Fannie & Freddie
14
President Goodluck Jonathan Appreciation Day
16 South Sudanese in Chicago Surburbs
20
Tribute to Maya Angelou
22
Ruby Dee Tribute
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Motown Musical
JOHN E. SMITH JR. EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
Cherish our Legacy In this issue we highlight some of our Legacy, past and present. It’s important to remember where we have come from and just how long the road is. It’s also important to think about our own legacy. Hope you find this thought provoking. What will be your Legacy?
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8 Africa US Today
Dr Dre makes billionaire’s club Hip hop guru has sold his Beats Electronics to Apple for $3b Financial Times Published: 14:12 June 1, 2014 7
Image Credit: AP
From left to right, music entrepreneur and Beats co-founder Jimmy Iovine, Apple CEO Tim Cook, Beats co-founder Dr. Dre, and Apple senior vice president Eddy Cue pose together at Apple headquarters in Cupertino, Calif., Wednesday, May 28, 2014. Im age 2 of 2
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The raucous, celebratory video posted to Instagram a few weeks ago by actor Tyrese Gibson was taken down shortly after it appeared but in the few minutes it was available to view it went viral. It featured Mr Gibson and hip-hop star Dr Dre at a party, and seems to have been prompted by the news that Dr Dre’s Beats Electronics was being acquired by Apple, revealed by the Financial Times that day. “The Forbes list just changed!” shouts Mr Gibson. “The first billionaire of hip-hop,” adds Dr Dre. “Right here, from the west coast.”
“ Dr. Dre ” “I w ant to be know n as the producer’s producer. I may hear something on an old record that inspires me, but I’d rather use musicians to re-create the sound or elaborate on it. I can control it better.” AFRICA US TODAY 9
Millennium Park - Exhibitions DCASE Homepage > Millennium Park > Exhibitions
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Jaume Plensa: 1004 Portraits
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June 18, 2014–December 2015 6 am–11 pm South Boeing Gallery, Michigan + Madison On the occasion of the 10th anniversary of Jaume Plensa’s Crown Fountain, the artist presents four monumental sculptures installed in Millennium Park for this special exhibition, 1004 Portraits.
Millennium Park: An Anatomy in Photographs June 18, 2014–October 2015 6 am–11 pm North Boeing Gallery Celebrating the 10th anniversary of Millennium Park, this exhibition is curated by John Vinci of Vinci/Hamp Architects and features over 50 images.
Past Exhibitions Jun Kaneko April 12-November 3, 2013 South Boeing Galleries As a pioneer in the field of monumental ceramic sculpture, Jun Kaneko has played with scale and proportion and this installation is representative of his past and present artistic practices. Works presented in the South Boeing Galleries featured Kaneko’s signature Dangos (meaning “rounded form” or “dumpling” in Japanese). These ceramic steles, covered in a variety of vibrant shapes and patterns, allowed viewers to examine their environment and focus on a sense of scale and place. News Release: Legends, Myths and Truths: Jun Kaneko Exhibition in Millennium Park’s Boeing Galleries Photo Gallery click on image to enlarge
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Millennium Park - Jaume Plensa: 1004 Portraits Millennium Park > Exhibitions > Jaume Plensa: 1004 Portraits
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click on images to enlarge
On the occasion of the 10th anniversary of Jaume Plensa’s Crown Fountain, the artist presents four monumental sculptures installed in Millennium Park for this special exhibition, 1004 Portraits. The sculptures are portraits of young girls created in cast iron and resin; they continue the story of the original 1000 portraits of local Chicago residents that illuminate the Crown Fountain every day. (He will be lecturing on his work at the Art Institute of Chicago on Monday, June 16 at 6pm.) Brought to you by The Millennium Park Foundation Sponsored by:
View information on Millennium Park: An Anatomy in Photographs --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Dates: June 18, 2014-December 2015 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------AFRICA US TODAY 11
A Major Lift for Fannie and Freddie By A NNIE LOWREY
MA Y 1 3 , 2 0 1 4
A home for sale in Portland, Ore. New policies at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac might stimulate mortgage lending. St ev e Dipa ola /Reu t er s
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WASHINGTON — The federal overseer of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac on Tuesday announced a shift in policies intended to maintain the mortgage finance giants’ role in parts of the housing market, spur more home lending and aid distressed homeowners. ( Contd. on page 13)
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( Contd. from page 12)
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Goodluck Jonathan Appreciation Day: June 28, 2014 Global Tele-conference NEW YORK, NY - Diaspora Nigerians in America are dedicating Saturday, June 28, 2014 for a massive "GOODLUCK JONATHAN APPRECIATION DAY" in solidarity for Nigeria's President Goodluck Jonathan.
Nigeria's President Goodluck Jonathan has been severely criticized in the international media for his handling of the 276 schoolgirls who were abducted by the al-Qaeda linked Boko Haram without understanding the underlying political forces behind Boko Haram's actions. Diaspora Nigerians from all over the world are just as equally anxious for the return of the girls as the world community. Making this known today in New York, the Chairman of the Diaspora Nigerians in America, Dr. Chika Onyeani, said that when you read or hear the commentators on the international media, they make it appear that Jonathan has not done anything at all in moving massive resources to rescue the abducted girls. He said on the other hand, they believe that Jonathan has been ( Contd. on page 15) 14 Africa US Today
( Contd. from page 14)
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South Sudanese in Chicago’s suburbs: A thriving community By Katie Kather
Ekhlass Arnihol’s house is quiet on weekday mornings. Her six oldest kids are at school. Only 3-yearold Danny is home, watching cartoons on South Sudan TV. The house is dark even though it’s a sunny day. It smells strongly of incense, and a framed poster of President Barack Obama hangs prominently in the living room. Arnihol brews two cups of an Arabic chai, served on a platter with a ceramic container of sugar. The Sudanese like sugar. They tell anyone who asks they put an average of three heaping tablespoons in one 8-ounce cup of tea. The 35-year-old refugee had 14-year-old Julia and 13-year-old Joseph in Sudan and her other five children here. Some of the older Sudanese refugees worry that this first generation being raised in the United States won’t know Sudanese culture. She can’t describe her childhood outside of the war. Even in times her family wasn’t running, the war was always simmering nearby, and they never knew when it would boil over. The East African country won independence from Great Britain in 1956 but broke out in civil war the following year. In 1983, when Arnihol was five, civil war flared up after a 10-year respite due to social and political differences between the government in the north and non-Muslim, non-Arab minority in the south. Four million Sudanese were displaced, and 2 million were killed during the next 20 years. Her childhood was spent running, and her two oldest children spent the first few years of their lives on the run. At times there was no food, clothes or water, she said. And there was no school, at least not for her. “How can you go to school when you are running?” she asked. Arnihol has been in Carol Stream, Ill., since 2001, when an influx of Sudanese refugees came to the U.S. -- around 13,000, according to the Migration Policy Institute. Although the 2010 census doesn’t 16 AFRICA US TODAY
( Contd. on page 17)
South Sudanese in Chicago’s suburbs: A thriving community ( Contd. from page 16) list how many Sudanese live in Arnihol’s suburb, it lists a small number in Dupage County. She said she is happy her kids are going to school and never have to worry about what to eat. But for the first time this group is facing a challenge every immigrant community before them has faced: raising the second generation -- a generation that has never experienced life in Sudan. A study by the Pew Research Center earlier this year showed a positive outlook for second-generation Americans. There are already 20 million adults in this group, and they’re better off than their parents, according to the study, which looked at Hispanic and Asian immigrants. The same study showed a higher college graduation rate and income among second-generation Americans, but a Pew study from this month showed that the group is also catching up in another area: crime. A researcher for that study said that the group is simply catching up to the rest of Americans. The study called it the dark side of assimilation, but the Sudanese refugees in Wheaton don’t need to be told assimilation isn’t always positive. They’re not necessarily worried their kids will commit crimes -the fear of losing their culture is scary enough. James Deng Kog is old enough to remember Sudan before 1983. He’s from the Dinka tribe, and he said Sudan was beautiful in that 10-year break between wars. South Sudan was green, and there were cows. The Dinka are pastoral, meaning they keep and tend cattle for a living, and life was good before his village was raided. He described a culture that values respect above all -- respect of elders, respect of life. And the Dinka get married young, sometimes as young as 9-or 10-years old. They have large families who are very close -- and hard working, even in America. Kog works over 12 hours a day driving a cab, his wife works overnight and his oldest daughter works 12 hours a day, six days a week. James and his wife have nine kids. Six of them were born after 2001, when he came to the U.S. and resettled his family in Wheaton. AFRICA US TODAY 17
Get ready for a sizzling takeover in Atlanta, as award-winning radio, talk show and Family Feud host Steve Harvey, brings a star-studded awards show to everyday neighborhood stars with the 2014 Ford Neighborhood Awards’ inaugural show in Atlanta. A signature event recognizing the best leaders and organizations in local neighborhoods across the nation, the ever-popular Ford Neighborhood Awards show will be the cornerstone of a four-day blowout of inspiring activities and entertainment, which include more than 10 other events encompassing the 2014 Neighborhood Awards Weekend.
Reflecting back on poet, author and activist
Maya Angelou
In 1999, Angelou revealed that she was raped at the age of 7-years-old and did not speak until she was 13-years-old. Because the the man who raped her was murdered, she blamed herself and her voice for the crime. In a 2013 interview, Angelou spoke again on the matter, telling Oprah Winfrey that she had forgiven, but would never forget the man who violated her. Her strength to forgive inspired thousands.
At the age of 15, Maya Angelou peaked at 6 feet tall.
In 1993, Angelou was asked personally by the Clinton administration to write a poem for the inauguration of President Bill Clinton.
When first approached to pen her own story after the death of her good friend Martin Luther King Jr., Angelou refused. Angelou was soon after approached by Robert Loomis, an editor at Random House, who dared her to work with him on her autobiography. Lo and behold, Angelou accepted the challenge and I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings was born.
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At 16, Angelou became the first black streetcar conductor in the city of San Francisco, California
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Ruby Dee, a Ringing Voice for Civil Rights, Onstage and Off, Dies at 91 By BRUCE WEBER
JUNE 12, 2014
Ruby Dee, one of the most enduring actresses of theater and film, whose public profile and activist passions made her, along with her husband, Ossie Davis, a leading advocate for civil rights both in show business and in the wider world, died on Wednesday at her home in New Rochelle, N.Y. She was 91. Her daughter Nora Davis Day confirmed the death. A diminutive beauty with a sense of persistent social distress and a restless, probing intelligence, Ms. Dee began her performing career in the 1940s, and it continued well into the 21st century. She was always a critical favorite, though not often cast as a leading lady. Her most successful central role was Off Broadway, in the 1970 Athol Fugard drama, “Boesman and Lena,” about a pair of nomadic mixed-race South Africans, for which she received overwhelming praise. Clive Barnes wrote in The New York Times, “Ruby Dee as Lena is giving one of the finest performances I have ever seen.” Her most famous performance came more than a decade earlier, in 1959, in a supporting role in “A Raisin in the Sun,” Lorraine Hansberry’s landmark drama about the quotidian struggle of a black family in Chicago at the dawn of the civil rights movement. Ms. Dee played Ruth Younger, the wife of the main character, Walter Lee Younger, played by Sidney Poitier, and the daughter-in-law of the leading female character, the family matriarch, Lena (Claudia McNeil). Ruth is a character with far too much on her plate: an overcrowded home, a troubled husband, a young son, an overbearing mother-in-law, a wearying job and an unwanted pregnancy, not to mention the shared burden of black people everywhere in a society skewed against them. Ms. Dee’s was a haunting portrait of a young woman whose desperation to maintain grace under pressure doesn’t keep her from being occasionally broken by it. The play had 530 performances on Broadway and was reprised, with much of the cast intact, as a 1961 film. On screen, Edith Oliver wrote in The New Yorker, Ms. Dee was “even more impressive” than she was onstage. “Is there a better young actress in America, or one who can make everything she does seem so effortless?” Ms. Oliver wrote. The loyal but worried loved one was a role Ms. Dee played frequently, in films like “The Jackie Robinson Story” (in which she played the wife of the pioneering black ballplayer, who starred as himself) and “No Way Out,” a tough racial drama in which she played the sister of a young doctor (Mr. Poitier). Over the course of Ms. Dee’s career, the lives of American blacks, both extraordinary and ordinary, belatedly emerged as rich subject matter for mainstream theater productions and films, and black performers went from being consigned to marginal and often belittling roles to starring in Hollywood megahits. Ms. Dee went from being a disciple of Paul Robeson to starring with Mr. Poitier on Broadway. She was a featured player in the films of Spike Lee and an Oscar nominee for a supporting role in the 2007 movie “American Gangster,” about a Harlem drug lord (Denzel Washington); she played a loving mother who turned a blind eye to her son’s criminality. But Ms. Dee not only took part in that evolution; through her visibility in a wide range of projects, from classics onstage to contemporary film dramas to television soap operas, she also helped bring it about. In 1965, playing Cordelia in “King Lear” and Kate in “The Taming of the Shrew,” she was the first black woman to appear in major roles at the American Shakespeare Festival in Stratford, Conn. In 1968, she became the first black actress to be featured regularly on the titillating prime-time TV series “Peyton Place.” She appeared in two of Mr. Lee’s earliest films, “Do the Right Thing” and “Jungle Fever.” (On Thursday, Michelle Obama tweeted about Ms. Dee: “I’ll never forget seeing her in ‘Do the Right Thing’ on my first date with Barack.”) Ms. Dee picketed Broadway theaters that were not employing black actors for their shows and spoke out against film crews that hired few or no blacks. Having made her name in films that addressed racial issues, she began seeking out more of them. She collaborated with the director Jules Dassin on the screenplay for “Up Tight!,” a 1968 adaptation of “The Informer,” Liam O’Flaherty’s 1925 novel set after the Irish civil war. (It had also been filmed by John Ford.) Mr. Dassin and Ms. Dee shifted the tale of betrayal among revolutionaries to 1960s Cleveland; Ms. Dee played a welfare mother who helped feed her family by resorting to prostitution. She also lent her voice and presence to the cause of racial equality outside show business. She was an active member of the Congress of Racial Equality, the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. At the Tony Awards ceremony on Sunday, Audra McDonald, in accepting her sixth acting award for her portrayal of Billie Holiday in “Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar and Grill,” acknowledged Ms. Dee as one of five black women whose shoulders she stands upon. (The others were Holiday, Maya Angelou, Diahann Carroll and Lena Horne.) A revival of “Raisin in the Sun,” now playing at the Ethel Barrymore Theater on Broadway, the same stage as the original production, won three Tonys, including one for Sophie Okonedo, who plays Ruth Younger. In a statement, Ms. Okonedo called Ms. Dee “one of my heroines.” Ruby Ann Wallace, as she was known when she was born in Cleveland on Oct. 27, 1922, grew up in Harlem. The third child of teenage parents,
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Ruby Dee,
award winning actress, Civil Rights activist’s highlights
Ossie Davis & Ruby Dee
Ossie Davis & Ruby Dee Ruby Dee portray’s Denzel Washington’ character’s mother in “American Gangster”
Ossie Davis & Ruby Dee
AFRICA US TODAY 23
South Sudanese in Chicago’s suburbs: A thriving community ( Contd. from page 17) He said he worries about the next generation. How will they know the Sudanese culture if they have never been there? He treasures a children’s book called Little Deng’s Journey written by another Sudanese refugee. In between colorful illustrations, the book describes the Dinka tribe’s culture from hunting gazelles to the importance of family. The book is important because it’s a story that has been passed on verbally from generation to generation, said Kog. Now the story can be passed on to Sudanese children born in America. His son, 17-year-old Kar Reng is a junior at Wheaton North High School. He plays basketball and gets good grades. He describes his high school experience as normal; he has friends, but he doesn’t stick to one social group. He said he likes to make friends with everybody. He doesn’t remember Sudan. The family moved to Egypt when he was just a baby, and then to Illinois when he was three. He thinks out loud about what it means to be Sudanese in America while sitting on the couch of his family’s Wheaton home. Again, South Sudan TV plays in the background. Again, there is Arabic tea. This time it’s plain black tea, but it still has lots of sugar. And the incense burning smells just like Ekhlass Arnihol’s house. In the background, Reng’s mom sweeps the floor and talks on the phone in Arabic. He said he identifies with both cultures, but that it’s hard to explain. He doesn’t feel different from his classmates, even though he speaks Dinka, understands Arabic and greets his elders by looking them in the eye while he shakes their hand. His family eats cheeseburgers and kisara, a Sudanese bread; they speak English and Arabic; they wear traditional garb and Nikes; they play basketball and watch Sudanese TV. His older sister is working on a degree in fashion from the Illinois Institute of Art in Schaumburg. “My little siblings will know less than I do because I know way less than my older siblings do, so I feel like that’s going to happen to them, and to their kids and the kids after that. Eventually, [the culture] could be forgotten.” But there are a few ways they keep their culture alive. Six years ago, Reng’s dad James Deng Kog helped start a Sudanese church at Wheaton Evangelical Free Church in Chicago’s suburbs. His family had already been meeting for church in their home with other refugee families, like Arnihol’s. But as more Sudanese came to Wheaton, they realized they needed something more. ( Contd. on page 25) 24 Africa US Today
South Sudanese in Chicago’s suburbs: A thriving community ( Contd. from page 24) “We try to come together because we have different denomination back home. We think we can come together to pray, house to house,” he said. The group is made up of several Christian denominations: Catholic, Presbyterian, Lutheran and Baptist. “But we come together and we are just Sudanese community,” said Kog. “We need to keep culture, keep our family to know each other more.” One of the most important things to keeping the culture alive is language, he said. That’s why the church worships in English and Arabic. There are at least six tribes represented at the church, but they all know Arabic. “We worry about the generation born here: the kids who are born here 7-years old and down. If we don’t keep this culture very close, we’re going to lose it,” he said. But he’s not worried about his son Kar. Kar “knows how to eat Sudanese food, how to be close to the family, but in second generation coming it’s going to be difficult for us because they’re going to take all American culture, zero Sudanese culture,” said Kog. “That’s what we worry about.” For 17-year-old Reng, the church is a chance to keep their culture alive. It’s a place for children to hear stories about Sudan from the older generation -- if they listen, he said. “I guess we have a chance to keep it going so my great great great grandchildren, so they know where they came from and what their background is,” he said.
Luol Deng, NBA player, Sudanese immigrant AFRICA US TODAY 25
W E ALTH D I S TR I B U TI O N
6: 03 AM
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Why the Housing Bubble Tanked the Economy And the Tech Bubble Didn’t By AMIR SUFI and ATIF MIAN
In 2000, the dot-com bubble burst, destroying $6.2 trillion in household wealth over the next two years. Five years later, the housing market crashed, and from 2007 to 2009, the value of real estate owned by U.S. households fell by nearly the same amount — $6 trillion. 1 Despite seeing similar nominal dollar losses, the housing crash led to the Great Recession, while the dot-com crash led to a mild recession. Part of this difference can be seen in consumer spending. The housing crash killed retail spending, which collapsed 8 percent from 2007 to 2009, one of the largest two-year drops in recorded American history. 2 The bursting of the tech bubble, on the other hand, had almost no effect at all; retail spending from 2000 to 2002 actually increased by 5 percent. What explains these different outcomes? In our forthcoming book, “House of Debt,” we argue that it was the distribution of losses that made the housing crash so much more severe than the dot-com crash. The sharp decline in home prices starting in 2007 concentrated losses on people with the least capacity to bear them, disproportionately affecting poor homeowners who then stopped spending. What about the tech crash? In 2001, stocks were held almost exclusively by the rich. The tech crash concentrated losses on the rich, but the rich had almost no debt and didn’t need to cut back their spending.
The chart above splits U.S. homeowners into net-worth quintiles, and plots housing as a fraction of all assets for each quintile in 2007. For the poorest homeowners, houses were by far the most important thing they owned going into the Great Recession, making up almost 80 percent of their total assets. Another way of saying 26 AFRICA US TODAY
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Some of Africa’s Top Actors & Actresses
28 Africa US Today
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EVENTS BREAKING DOWN BARRIERS WITH MUSIC By Barbara Kensey Threaded between more than 50 classic songs by some of the world’s greatest artists is the back story of Motown the Musical, a story that developed during the turbulent 60s and 70s when the world was beginning to evolve. It’s the story of how Berry Gordy took his experience working on an automobile assembly line in Detroit and brilliantly replicated it in a music studio to create a company whose musical output would take America by storm and change the way white people responded to Black music forever. With the support of a loving, business-minded family who loaned him the money to launch what was then known as Hitsville, Gordy faced his challenges head on in a deeply divided country. Racism was still an accepted way of life. Black music was considered somehow less than white music, often denigrated as “jungle music.” Mainstream radio stations wouldn’t play music by black artists. A tour through the south meant keeping your guard up for fear of being killed. And police were used to maintain barriers between blacks and whites during concerts. Motown the Musical covers all of that history in addition to Gordy’s intimate relationship with Diana Ross, Marvin Gaye’s struggle to record music that spoke to the times and the introductions of the Supremes and the Jackson Five on the Ed Sullivan Show. The rise of songwriters Smokey Robinson and Holland, Dozier & Holland and performers who have become household names Stevie Wonder, The Temptations, Michael Jackson, Diana Ross and many others – are all part of the narrative. But at the heart of Motown the Musical is the story of the profound effect of what happened in the little studio on Rampart Street in Detroit had on America and the world. Many years after Motown had made its move to California, I visited that little studio as a tourist. I touched the desk where Mary Wells first worked as a receptionist. And I stood on the same stage as all the Great Ones beneath a single microphone that dropped down from a jacked up ceiling and marveled at the magic that was created from so little yet changed so much. Motown and Berry Gordy introduced a world of music about love – Eros love, Philos love and even Agape love through songs like “To Be Loved,” “I’ll Be There” and “Reach Out and Touch” and in the process transformed the heart of a nation. In some ways the music did what could not be legislated: it brought people together, all humming the same tune. And that couldn’t have been more obvious than on opening night 50 years later when the audience was almost evenly divided between black and white - most of them graying Baby boomers - everyone bouncing to the same beat that became the soundtrack of American lives. Motown the Musical is playing through August 9 at the Oriental Theatre, 24 W. Randolph Street in Chicago. For tickets, call 800-775-2000 or visit www.BroadwayinChicago.com Barbara Kensey is an award-winning public relations consultant, writer and publisher. Her work has appeared nationally in Essence, Emerge, American Visions, Savoy and Pathfinders Travel Magazine. In Chicago she has written for N’Digo, the Chicago Defender and the Chicago Sun-Times.
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Editorial Reviews
About the Author It was during his time at Northeastern, about '86-'87, that Idreez heard Harold Washington speak to the students during his run for re-election as mayor. Idreez found himself captivated by the political nature of Washington's words and how well he spoke English. This experience is what motivated Idreez to switch from continuing his education in accounting to political science. Although Idreez imagined himself as a well-to-do politician, it was this academic path that steered his love towards writing through the work he put into his thesis. He fell in love with the craft of writing and followed his heart forward from there. Idreez is a smartly dressed man, who chuckles easily and speaks pointedly about what he believes in. He was involved with the production of two papers post-college: The African Voice and Afrik. He also took a job at The Celebrity International magazine. Although he enjoyed freelancing for these publications, he hoped that instead of writing for other people he could begin his own publication, and one day would. Idreez's family in Nigeria used to tease him about wanting to be a journalist, because his English has never been very good. People also told him he would make more money pursuing a career in accounting. But Idreez had his mind set on being a writer- nothing else. He compares this experience to a Bible passage that says a prophet is not without honor except in his own house or hometown. Although initially his family didn't agree with his decision, they've not only grown to support him- but also write him letters requesting that Idreez write letters to the government of their state in Nigeria, and focus more of his work on African happenings. Idreez says he just laughs. "Whatever you do in life, if you persevere- then people have no choice to see that and respect what you're doing." 32 Africa US Today
Overview
Book Club Special Feature
Hillary Rodham Clinton’s inside account of the crises, choices, and challenges she faced during her four years as America’s 67th Secretary of State, and how those experiences drive her view of the future. “All of us face hard choices in our lives,” Hillary Rodham Clinton writes at the start of this personal chronicle of years at the center of world events. “Life is about making such choices. Our choices and how we handle them shape the people we become.” In the aftermath of her 2008 presidential run, she expected to return to representing New York in the United States Senate. To her surprise, her former rival for the Democratic Party nomination, newly elected President Barack Obama, asked her to serve in his administration as Secretary of State. This memoir is the story of the four extraordinary and historic years that followed, and the hard choices that she and her colleagues confronted. Secretary Clinton and President Obama had to decide how to repair fractured alliances, wind down two wars, and address a global financial crisis. They faced a rising competitor in China, growing threats from Iran and North Korea, and revolutions across the Middle East. Along the way, they grappled with some of the toughest dilemmas of US foreign policy, especially the decision to send Americans into harm’s way, from Afghanistan to Libya to the hunt for Osama bin Laden. By the end of her tenure, Secretary Clinton had visited 112 countries, traveled nearly one million miles, and gained a truly global perspective on many of the major trends reshaping the landscape of the twenty-first century, from economic inequality to climate change to revolutions in energy, communications, and health. Drawing on conversations with numerous leaders and experts, Secretary Clinton offers her views on what it will take for the United States to compete and thrive in an interdependent world. She makes a passionate case for human rights and the full participation in society of women, youth, and LGBT people. An astute eyewitness to decades of social change, she distinguishes the trendlines from the headlines and describes the progress occurring throughout the world, day after day. Secretary Clinton’s descriptions of diplomatic conversations at the highest levels offer readers a master class in international relations, as does her analysis of how we can best use “smart power” to deliver security and prosperity in a rapidly changing world—one in which America remains the indispensable nation.
AFRICA US TODAY 33
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