Natalie Maxwell

Sonata Mulattica

priyanka — Sat, 29 Jan 2011 08:00:00 +0000

Rita Dove’s poetry is seductive. Her narrative verse reels you in because it’s like reading a page-turner of a novel that suddenly immerses you in her beautifully recreated world. It is always a world she has taken the time to carefully research. In 1986’s Pulitzer Prize winner Thomas and Beulah Dove’s subject was the adventurous and bittersweet epic lives of her grandparents, who survived and loved through the Great Depression and into the Jim Crow era in Akron, Ohio. I remember reading it in college and feeling blown away, challenged by the sophistication and intelligence of her work.

Now with Sonata Mulattica, the former Poet Laureate gives us the obscure world of George Augustus Polgreen Bridgetower, a virtuoso violinist and accomplished performer in his own right in the late 1700's before he eventually met, performed with, and inspired Beethoven. Beethoven’s famous Violin Sonata No. 9—or the “Kreutzer Sonata”—was originally written for and dedicated to Bridgetower, the son of a black man who described himself as an “African Prince” and a white Polish/German woman. It’s sad but true that were it not for what Dove describes as a “saucy remark” made by Bridgetower about a woman Beethoven possibly had in his sights, a remark that so infuriated the composer that he angrily erased his dedication to the young violinist, the world would know him. We should be calling it the Bridgetower Sonata instead of the Kreutzer Sonata!

Besides Beethoven, other key figures are given voice in the poems: his father Friedrich, a well-dressed philanderer who remained dedicated to the crafting of his son’s image and seized every opportunity to showcase his amazing talent; the famous composer Franz Haydn, under whose tutelage the young Bridgetower remained while he lived on the estate where Haydn was musical director; Mrs. Papendiek, Queen Charlotte’s “wardrobe keeper,” who watched the child progidy perform at Windsor and recorded her front-row experiences in her diary.

There is a short play among the poems called “Georgie Porgie, or a Moor in Vienna” in which Dove lets all the major characters hilariously act out the events leading up to the sonata episode. I enjoyed her funny exploration of the way it might have happened, but I am saddened by Beethoven’s hasty decision and attempt to erase the man’s name from his beautiful work of art forever, and hence musical history. Still, I am thankful for one woman’s poetic imagination bold enough to resurrect this fascinating story, and I am also thankful for one of my favorite films, Beethoven. In the movie there is a scene that lasts only seconds: a black violinist is warming up in a roomful of white musicians. (I don’t really need to say anything about the poignancy of that description, right?) It was this scene that sparked Rita Dove to begin her research. I haven’t seen the film in a long time but I plan to watch it again soon, just for a brief glimpse of the one and only George Augustus Polgreen Bridgetower.

Written by: Natalie Maxwell, January 29th 2011

I’m Black When I’m Singing, I’m Blue When I Ain’t and Other Plays

barbara — Sun, 26 Dec 2010 16:00:00 +0000

By Sonia Sanchez, Jacqueline Wood

Duke University Press

It has always been Sonia Sanchez the poet I’ve known and loved, with strong works like Wounded in the House of a Friend, Does Your House Have Lions?, and Like The Singing Coming Off the Drums. Sonia the poet, a towering figure in my mind when I think of the powerful black woman poets that still get me through this life and inspire me to write. But there is Sonia Sanchez the playwright too, and I’m so glad to meet her in this critical new collection I’m Black When I’m Singing, I’m Blue When I Ain’t and Other Plays. This collection finally brings together all of Sanchez’s dramatic works, previously published and unpublished, spanning from 1969 to 2009.

As one of the major writers of the Black Arts movement, Sonia’s bold and creative voice demanded to be heard among an intimidating arena of popular black male writers, many of whom nurtured chauvinistic ideals. We are all now aware of the rampant misogyny that permeated this period during the sixties and seventies, when sadly too many black men saw the possibility of liberation through the destructive lens of patriarchy and inflated notions of manhood. Sanchez unflinchingly addressed such issues in her drama, which can best be described as poetic fire infused with hope for a better reality for black people in what she would term “this place called America.”

1974’s Uh, Uh; But How Do It Free Us? is a play that only a woman with a deep love for her people and a real desire to save them could write. It painfully shines a light on the damaging effects of addiction and the open degradation of women in the militant black community. The play is broken into three groups of characters, each with different stories that reflect the problematic behavior prevalent at the time yet often hiding behind “revolutionary” rhetoric. In “Group II” we meet five men riding white rocking horses who revel in physically and verbally abusing two women, “White Whore” and “Black Whore.” Although the men proclaim to espouse revolution and progress, they are abusers as well as slaves to their drug addictions and sexual appetites.

Sanchez’s love for the women who suffered during this period is honored in the 1969 play Sister Son/Ji. Son/Ji is eventually left alone to deal with the consequences of her commitment to a movement that, as Sanchez says “cannot catch her when she falls down in midnight solitude.” There were women who lost their minds as a result of choosing such a life, she says. Women like Son/Ji who threw themselves into the cause even while losing their children to war. In one of the book’s two essays, “Poetry Run Loose,” Sanchez lifts up Son/Ji as one who survived many years of death and sacrifice and chooses to speak in spite of her scars.

Placing these plays within their historical context is important, but they also hold up today as dramas that uplift and motivate their audiences and readers, dramas with messages that are still valuable. As this collection reminds us, there is Sonia Sanchez the activist too.

Written by: Natalie Maxwell, December 26th 2010

Assata: In Her Own Words

admin — Sun, 25 Apr 2010 00:00:00 +0000

By Assata Shakur

Talking Drum Collective Publishing

Assata Shakur, whose first name means “she who struggles,” is a fearless Black female revolutionary whose voice roars in Assata: In Her Own Words, a slim collection of writings by Shakur while in exile in Cuba, where she fled in 1984 after escaping from prison. If you’ve read her autobiography, which I highly recommended, this book serves as a somewhat satisfying companion and much-needed follow up.

On May 2, 1973, Shakur, a member of the Black Panther Party, was traveling on the New Jersey turnpike along with two friends who were also active in the Black Liberation Movement, Zayd Malik Shakur and Sundiata Acoli, when they were pulled over and questioned by the police. An altercation followed that resulted in a shootout that badly wounded Assata, and killed Zayd Malik Shakur and state trooper Werner Forester. After two controversial trials, Shakur and Acoli were convicted by an all-white jury of the murders of both state trooper Forester and Zayd Malik Shakur.

At the time of the incident, the climate of racial prejudice was undeniable, and those affiliated with the Black Liberation Movement were being targeted by COINTELPRO, a covert program of the FBI that used illegal methods (including imprisonment) to systematically destroy the Black Panther Party and other organizations committed to fighting racism and oppression. Assata remained in several prisons for six years until, with the help of those she describes as “committed comrades,” she escaped from the maximum security wing of New Jersey’s Clinton Correctional Facility for Women and was granted political exile by Fidel Castro in Cuba.

In “A Letter to the Pope” (written on the birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr. in 1997), Shakur makes a proud appeal to the Vatican in response to the State of New Jersey's announcement that it planned to have her extradited to the United States and request to the Pope to intervene on New Jersey's behalf by lending its support to the extradition. Identifying herself as a longtime revolutionary and freedom fighter, Shakur discusses—among many other injustices—the disproportionate number of Blacks to Whites in prison and on death row in the U.S., the rates and effects of police brutality in Black communities, and the number of political prisoners behind American bars. Near the end of the letter it’s clear that Shakur’s plea is less about her own potential extradition and more about the deliberate and unfair treatment of all Black people. Shakur asks that the Pope “examine the social reality of the United States and to speak out against the human rights violations that are taking place.”

“Women In Prison: How It is With Us” is an engrossing and disturbing account of Assata’s experiences at Riker’s Island Correctional Institution for Women, where she bore witness to pervasive drug addiction, hopelessness, and violence. Her words give voice to the pain and suffering of those women by telling their stories. “To My People” and “Message to My Sistas” are fiery, uplifting, and personal love letters to Black people.

The publication of Assata: In Her Own Words is The Talking Drum Collective's answer to Shakur’s request that the Black and progressive media tell her story, particularly the facts she says have been cruelly distorted by mass media. (The damaging interview with NBC journalist Ralph Penza in 1998 was referenced more than once in the book). Read this powerful and moving testimony of a proud Black woman warrior who continues to fight.

Written by: Natalie Maxwell, April 24th 2010

One Love

admin — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 09:00:00 +0000

By David Guetta

Astralwerks

French DJ and producer David Guetta’s One Love is a dream come true for dance and electronica fans who like hip-hop too. With the smash hits “When Love Takes Over,” featuring Kelly Rowland on vocals, and the auto-tune-saturated “Sexy Bitch,” with Akon, Guetta has placed himself at the forefront of what seems to be a new movement of hip-hop artists showing up on dance records.

Guetta went beyond his strong club fan base and reached a wider audience in 2007 with the hit “Love is Gone,” which got the attention of other artists His collaboration with the Black Eyed Peas on “I Gotta Feeling” resulted in his first number one single in the U.S. The boring FMIF remix is on One Love, along with two other appearances from Will.I.Am: “On the Dancefloor” (also with apl.de.ap of the Black Eyed Peas), is perfect for club heads with its pulsating beat, but the chaotic and annoying “I Wanna Go Crazy” goes nowhere. The same can be said for the Ne-Yo and Kelly Rowland song “Choose.”

In an interview with a British magazine a few months ago, Guetta said he kept hearing from so many artists who felt “trapped in a formula” and were “looking for the music of tomorrow.” He called the sound they began to develop, this mixture of dance and hip-hop, “electro-hop.” Cause for concern if you’re a hip-hop fan worried about the direction our beloved art form—already in trouble—is taking.

Guetta’s work with Kid Cupri on “Memories” is actually worth hearing, although the real standouts are the title song with Estelle’s smooth vocals, and the still hard to resist “When Love Takes Over.” (Is it the backing piano lifted straight from Coldplay’s “Clocks?" Could it be the pleasantly predictable buildup?)

In that same interview, Guetta says that dance music in America has for many years remained a “black, gay underground thing,” but that’s changing now with artists like Kanye West and Timbaland borrowing from house music—an interesting statement since it can be argued that house music was birthed from hip-hop. As one of those concerned hip-hop fans I mentioned earlier, a little “borrowing” doesn’t worry me, but overkill does. Guetta’s mission to resurrect dance music and rule American pop is clear. The future of hip-hop, if too many of its artists ride the “electro-hop” wave, is not.

Written by: Natalie Maxwell, January 8th 2010

Vodou Love Magic: A Practical Guide to Love, Sex, and Relationships

admin — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 18:30:00 +0000

By Kenaz Filan

Destiny Books

Kenaz Filan’s book Vodou Love Magic: A Practical Guide to Love, Sex, and Relationships is just that—a practical guide, arguably perhaps a little too practical. At times, it even felt like I was reading a self-help book with Vodou spells thrown in as a bonus. The chapter that focuses on treatments and cures for lovesickness has more detailed information than you may want to read about on codependency, sexual addiction and stalking—if you’re just trying to learn more about Haitian Vodou, that is.

Filan not only provides an in-depth definition of these issues; they are dissected and analyzed with the eye of an amateur psychologist with lots of “practical” advice on how to deal with them. So, what’s the first thing you should do if you realize you’re being stalked by a jilted lover, stranger, or an ex who just can’t accept it’s over? “Cut off all contact with your stalker now”, Filan recommends. Also: “Record every stalking incident” and “Take steps to ensure your safety.” If that isn’t practical advice, I don’t know what is.

Yet in this chapter, as in the rest of the book, the spells Filan suggests we consider trying in order to help us work through our problems will keep you interested. Having a hard time battling your sexual demons? Go to a crossroads with a tiny pouch filled with a corncob pipe, tobacco, a bottle of rum, and some loose change to consult Papa Legba (guardian of the gateway between the two worlds) for guidance. Feeling intense sadness and depression after a breakup? Performing Damballah’s (the most ancient and powerful of all the Iwa) Transmutation of Love Spell may help.

For those new to Haitian Vodou, Filan’s work is a good introduction to the Iwa (spirits) and how to go about contacting them for counsel. Along with Legba and Damballa, descriptions and spells for other Iwa include Freda (“bringer of beauty”), La Sirene (“bringer of glamour”), Ogou (“bringer of strength”), Simbi (“bringer of communication”) and Ghede (hilariously described as “bringer of booty calls”). Filan is an official Houngan (Vodou priest) and seems to have extensive knowledge about the spirits and the history of Haitian Vodou—though much of that knowledge is absent here). This is simply a light, enjoyable introduction to Vodou and how the ancient spirits can help you handle any kind of love drama imaginable.

Written by: Natalie Maxwell, June 19th 2009

From the Plantation to the Penitentiary

admin — Sun, 08 Apr 2007 22:04:00 +0000

By Wynton Marsalis

Blue Note Records

From the Plantation to the Penitentiary is Wynton Marsalis’ most overtly political release to date and is, simply put, brilliant. New singer Jennifer Sanon - winner 2003’s Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Essentially Ellington competition - delivers impressively elegant vocals that will undoubtedly receive heavy comparison to Abbey Lincoln’s work with Max Roach (classics like “Freedom Now Suite and “Straight Ahead” immediately come to mind).

Marsalis certainly has a lot to say on this album. Those familiar with his opinions on hip-hop aren’t surprised by his blatant disdain for what he calls the culture’s “ghetto minstrelsy” and “thug life coons.” He makes it plain on the ballad “Love and Broken Hearts” that he’s fed up with the misogyny that, unfortunately, continues to prevail in much of popular hip-hop (“I ain’t your bitch I ain’t your ho, And public niggerin’ has got to go”, Sanon sings) and pleads for the resurgence of love and romance. On the closing track “Where Y’all At?” Marsalis dishes out his own brand of rap, which he recently defended as old New Orleans style, and calls on everybody from radical thinkers to conservatives to come out of hiding and stand against the madness.

Although From the Plantation to the Penitentiary suggests the human race is in danger of losing our souls to “Supercapitalism,” and points out the similarities between slavery and the current prison system and its effect on Black America, there is also a message of hope here. There is the sense that Marsalis, an unarguably gifted musician who is as serious about the current state of our world as he is about preserving and upholding jazz, believes we’ll get it right eventually. As Stanley Crouch points out in the liner notes, good and evil dance perilously close together and will continue to coexist, but “the proportions of that coexistence are always left up to us.”

Written by: Natalie Maxwell, April 8th 2007

Dark Designs and Visual Culture

admin — Wed, 21 Mar 2007 13:06:00 +0000

By Michele Wallace

Duke University Press

Michele Wallace is best known for her controversial, groundbreaking book, Black Macho and the Myth of the Superwoman. Published in 1979 when Wallace was twenty-six years old, it defined her as an outspoken feminist who was unafraid to examine the misogynistic elements of the Black Power and Civil Rights movements of the sixties, and explored how sexism as well as racism damaged the psyches of Black women. Not surprisingly, Wallace’s fearlessness came with a painful price. Although the book garnered her immediate fame and recognition in feminist and intellectual circles (so hot was the buzz about Macho that her face made the cover of Ms. shortly before the book was published), Wallace received an intense level of criticism from all sides that she was not prepared to face.

In her latest book, Dark Designs and Visual Culture, Wallace talks openly about how this criticism affected her personal life and health (she suffered a nervous breakdown a few years after Macho’s publication). A collection of articles, essays and interviews spanning over a decade, Dark Designs is also part autobiography. Alongside an extensive selection of personal photographs, Wallace candidly revisits the alienation she experienced as a misunderstood, young Black feminist and recounts the growth of her feminist sensibility.

As the daughter of accomplished artist Faith Ringgold, she was influenced at an early age by what she describes as her mother’s fierce militancy and ambition, which undoubtedly birthed her ability to unflinchingly critique Black representations in popular culture and “high art.” In “Questions on Feminism,” she defends her focus on the visual in her work by citing the lack of critical dialogue on this topic by other Black feminists. Those of us who have closely followed the career of bell hooks know better. Yet Wallace made it clear in her 1995 article, “For Whom the Bell Tolls,” that she was not impressed with hooks and attacked her with full-blown gusto, which she now deeply regrets. In the book’s lengthy introduction she confesses it’s the one piece she wishes she could “un-write,” but felt that omitting it from the book would’ve been “akin to Judy Garland trying to do a concert without singing “Somewhere Over the Rainbow.”’

Although some of the essays attempt to say too much (I found “Angels in America, Paris is Burning, and Queer Theory” dull and endless, but wanted more of Wallace’s take on the imagery in films like Cheryl Dunye’s The Watermelon Woman), Dark Designs is an overall revealing, exciting gathering of Michele Wallace’s work over the years as one of this nation’s most daring cultural critics.

Written by: Natalie Maxwell, March 21st 2007