Not sure what the assault case was all about, but the commentary at the end about journalism and the “dwarfed impostor,” which I assume refers to Father Divine, is pretty funny, particularly given that by his own account my father was 5′ 4. According to Wikipedia, Divine was 5′ 2.
The New York Age, February 25, 1933
So, I know my mother was not my father’s first wife and that he divorced one Lucille Ray in the mid 1940s. This column makes me curious as to why he was so interested in “the divorce question” in Barbados a decade after he had arrived in New York.
The New York Age, March 25, 1933
The New York Age, March 25, 1933
This column launches into a diatribe about a fire and the lack of compassion of local churches, then veers into the misbehavior of a court magistrate. Then there’s some consternation as to whether “Negroes” should praise NBC when it presents quality programming, i.e. the Tuskegee choir, instead of complaining about Amos and Andy. The final paragraph is about the Massie case, in which a white woman falsely accused several men of color of rape. One of those men was lynched.
The Honolulu Advertiser described the case as “the most notorious criminal incident in the modern history of Hawai’i. Associated Press editors in 1932 voted it, along with the Lindbergh baby kidnapping, the biggest criminal case in the country. Books and articles have been written about it, and at least one Hollywood film was based — very loosely — on it. But by now many people have forgotten what actually happened, and many more have never heard of the case.”
The New York Age, March 11, 1933
I was telling a friend yesterday how much I wish I could share this experience with my sister Ellen-Marie. Ellen was an attorney who died September 25, 2001. Lo’ and behold, I get to the library this morning and the first item I find is “An open letter to Negro Lawyers.” It’s about the conduct of attorneys in the courtroom.
The New York Age, January 19, 1933 (See editor's note above the column.)
Looking for something fresh to write about on Election Day, I searched my father’s columns for wisdom from the past. A footnote in a column published in the New York Age on November 3, 1934, implored readers to elect “Mrs. Eunice Carter” to the New York State Assembly. The name had a familiar ring. Five […]
My barber called Kamala Harris a “ho.” The shop I go to is not the stuff of Black culture lore. It’s not a boisterous place. It doesn’t reek with toxic masculinity. It’s a nice, quiet, family friendly kind of enterprise. The worst I have been subjected to in the nearly three years I’ve gone there […]
On Saturday, Feb. 17, I will be among several individuals inducted into the 2024 Class of the Black Legends of Silicon Valley. This is quite an honor. Previous recipients in the News and Documentary category in which I am being honored include journalists with stellar credentials. Loretta Green, an award-winning reporter for several local papers […]
My short story, “The Donna Collection” is included in the new anthology 166 Palms 2020. Buy the anthology on Amazon.
Blown away and humbled. The first piece of fiction I’ve ever gotten published wins an award. The story is published here.
My Father's Posts 