Lorraine Hansberry, Rest in Peace

Gorgeous photo by David Moses Attie (c) 1960.

Today would have been her 78th birthday. May she rest in peace.

Last year I read A Raisin in the Sun and loved it. It remains an extremely powerful play. Highly recommended.

Here are some quotes from Lorraine Hansberry:

• There is always something left to love. And if you ain't learned that, you ain't learned nothing. Have you cried for that boy today? I don't mean for yourself and for the family 'cause we lost the money. I mean for him; what he's been through and what it done to him. Child, when do you think is the time to love somebody the most; when they done good and made things easy for everybody? Well then, you ain't through learning -- because that ain't the time at all. It's when he's at his lowest and can't believe in hisself 'cause the world done whipped him so. When you starts measuring somebody, measure him right child, measure him right. Make sure you done taken into account what hills and valleys he come through before he got to wherever he is. [from Raisin in the Sun]


More quotes from Lorraine Hansberry ...

"Do I remain a revolutionary? Intellectually -- without a doubt. But am I prepared to give my body to the struggle or even my comforts? This is what I puzzle about."


• "The thing that makes you exceptional, if you are at all, is inevitably that which must also make you lonely." [This quote really struck me. I'm gonna think on this all day ..]


• "Some scholars have estimated that in the three centuries that the European slave trade flourished, the African continent has lost one hundred million of its people. No one, to my knowledge, has ever paid reparations to the descendants of black men; indeed, they have not yet really acknowledged the fact of the crime against humanity, which was the conquest of Africa. But then -- history has not yet been concluded -- has it?"

And I must include a quote from the poet, educator, and activist -- Nikky Finney. She wrote this dedication for her book of extraordinary poems The World is Round:

For the tender-hearted insurgent Lorraine Hansberry, who "finished my thoughts" long before I had them.

And let's end with this one:

Let your motto be resistance.

Tell the truth ...

John Cusack is the person questioned on the last page of the June 2008 edition of Vanity Fair. Here's an excerpt:

What is your motto?
An old Yugoslavian proverb I always come back to: "Tell the truth and run."

"Let my enemies devour each other."

The Writer's Almanac tells us that today is Salvador Dali's birthday.

He said, "Each morning when I awake, I experience again a supreme pleasure — that of being Salvador Dali." At the end of his life there were reports that his assistants did much of his painting. When asked about it, he said, "Let my enemies devour each other."

Two wonderful quotes. Wish I'd said that: "Each morning when I awake, I experience again a supreme pleasure -- that of being Ms Manitoba." And the other: "Let my enemies devour each other."

James Brown and Pete Seeger

Today are the birthdays of James Brown and Pete Seeger. Now, what in the hell do they have in common? Besides music? I guess wanting to change the world. You can say that about the Godfather of Soul ... the King of Funk ... the ex-Hardest Working Man in Show Business. He got side-tracked more than Pete Seeger ... but he was wanting to change the world for sure: "Say it Loud -- I'm Black and I'm Proud."


So, I"ve got two songs here by both men. "Doin' it to Death" has been one of my favorites my whole life. I was in a music appreciation club with co-workers for many years and we once made up a Top Ten list of songs -- "Doin' it to Death" was one of my top tens. The rhythm and beat and melody is so fantastic!!! It is so very impossible to stay seated during this song.

James Brown, may he rest in peace ...


Doin’ it to death - James Brown

Hit it! How you feelin' brother? (Feelin' good!)
You're feelin' good
You play so much bone, brother
How you feelin', man? (I feel alright!)
I won't call your name
I don't want no people to know you're in here
How you feelin', fellas? (Alright!)
Now jam! Sure gettin' down
We're gonna have a funk good time...
We gotta take you higher
Huh! Alright!
We gotta take you higher, huh!
Brothers! Now I want everybody to blow
About two choruses
And then I'm gonna wave you in
I wanna get the fella
With the little horn over there
Fred's gonna take us higher, take us higher
Fred, Fred, Fred!
You know what, when I hear a groove
Like this groove, oh!
I say, I got to get higher
Yeah baby, yeah, yeah
Look a'here
When someone's got a groove like this
You know, you know, no!
I need to grit, gotta grit
Gonna eat, gotta eat
Need to grit, gotta grit, no breath
You know, brothers
I'm gettin' ready to wave y'all in
You know what
I feel so down, I need to get down
In order for me to get down
I got to get in D.
In order for me to get down, I got to get in D.
Need to get in D., dog for D.
Down D., funky D., shakin' D.,down D.
Oh! Huh! Ha ha!
Get on down!
Look a'here, look at that
What we gotta do
Gotta have a funk good time...
Oh, yeah
I didn't know you were singin', Fred
Don't moan so much
Buddy, don't moan so much
We gotta take you higher
Wait a minute!
Know who you say that was over there
(Man, you're lookin' better)
(I know I've seen him somewhere)
Is that Maceo?

*****

In my teenage years, I madly loved this song -- "Where Have All the Flowers Gone?" -- and couldn't understand how our leaders, if they listened carefully to this song, could lead us into war. Hitler is a challenge to many many pacifists and he and other evil bullies of that ilk are why I cannot truly call myself a pacifist. I would have joined the services in WWII. If someone seriously attacks one of my friends or families, I would fight to kill. But there's a H-U-G-E difference between that and going to war for all the greedy reasons the U.S. and other countries have gone to war.

Pete Seeger was a pacifist before WWII and it sounds like he debated a lot with his friends about what to do about Hitler. He joined the Navy in 1941. He was trained as an airplane mechanic but was reassigned to entertain troops.

The song is a bit heterosexist but I can overlook it. Years of 12 step programs: "Take what you like and leave the rest."


Pete Seeger is turning 89 today.



Where Have All the Flowers Gone - Pete Seeger

Where have all the flowers gone,
Long time passing,
Where have all the flowers gone,
Long time ago
Where have all the flowers gone,
Young girls picked them every one
When will they ever learn
When will they ever learn

Where have all the young girls gone,
Long time passing,
Where have all the young girls gone,
Long time ago,
Where have all the young girls gone,
gone to young men every one
When will they ever learn
When will they ever learn

Where have all the young men gone,
Long time passing,
Where have all the young men gone,
Long time ago,
Where have all the young men gone,
gone to soldiers every one,
When will they ever learn
When will they ever learn

Where have all the soldiers gone,
Long time passing,
Where have all the soldiers gone,
Long time ago,
Where have all the soldiers gone,
Gone to graveyards every one
When will they ever learn
When will they ever learn

Where have all the graveyards gone,
Long time passing,
Where have all the graveyards gone,
Long time ago,
Where have all the graveyards gone,
Gone to flowers every one
When will they ever learn
When will they ever learn


To the young men and women all over the world who find themselves fighting in a war: we bless you, want you to return to us, and pray for you. I just wish you weren't there.