Anderson@Large

The Joint is Jumpin’

Yesterday the Library of Congress launched the National Jukebox, an online collection of popular music, speeches, and rare and historic recordings.

To create a playlist, go here.

Who knew the Library of Congress is the joint!

All that Jazz

April is Jazz Appreciation Month.

But all that jazz from President Obama that “we have begun to reverse the devastating slide” should give black folks the blues:

As Americans, and as human beings, we seek not only the security, but the sense of dignity, the sense of community, that work confers. That is why it was heartening news that last month, for the first time in more than two years, our economy created a substantial number of jobs, instead of losing them. We have begun to reverse the devastating slide, but we have a long way to go to repair the damage from this recession, and that will continue to be my focus every single day.

Prof. Boyce Watkins recently wrote:

Obama’s race problem just got a little deeper. As the rest of the country is starting to see light at the end of the economic tunnel, the African American community just walked into a deeper, darker crawl space than the one it was in before. The Bureau of Labor Statistics recently released unemployment data for the month of March, finding that unemployment for whites remained steady, while the jobs numbers for African Americans tanked, going from 15.8 percent unemployment to an astonishing 16.5 percent.

The labor reports don't look good for President Obama, who has been met with considerable pressure from members of the black community to improve the jobs situation for people of color. There are some who argue, with good reason, that the president is simply not working as hard for black folks as he is for everyone else. it can also be said that Obama's massive effort to fight the job shortage throughout the United States seems to have been working to a certain degree. The month of March was good for most Americans, who were spared further increases in the rate of unemployment. The bad news for the president and his economic advisors is that the rising tide is not raising all ships.

Dr. Watkins, teach.

Happy New Year

Thank God this zero of a decade is over. The lowlights included the Florida election debacle, 9/11, the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, Hurricane Katrina and the entire George W. Bush error.

I want to get the new decade off to a better start so I’m skipping the black-eye peas. Instead, I’m kicking off 2010 with some “Memphis Soul Stew.”

Have a safe and happy new year.

Birth of the Cool

The jury is still out on whether taxpayers are getting a positive ROI on the $787 billion stimulus package.

The White House has assured us that the job numbers released last Thursday are just the tip of the iceberg. Americans will be jazzed later this month when reports from the states “show at least 250,000 education jobs created or saved across the nation.”

OK, but as my mother would say, tomorrow is not promised to anyone.

So rather than wait until Oct. 30 to find out where some of the money went, I checked out Philadelphia native Barkley L. Hendricks’ first career retrospective, “Birth of the Cool,” at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts. Support for the touring exhibition was provided by an American Recovery and Reinvestment Act grant through the National Endowment for the Arts.

During a gallery lecture, Hendricks said he was inspired by the coolness associated with jazz musicians like Miles Davis, who “epitomized cool,” and the Modern Jazz Quartet, and some stylish subjects:

There is a message that each of us communicates to the world by our fashion choices.

Hendricks’ life-sized portraits include cool cats such as “Dr. Kool,” “Sir Charles, Alias Willie Harris” and “George Jules Taylor,” and hip chicks like “Ms. Johnson,” “Miss T” and “Lawdy Mama.” And since Hendricks is pretty cool and, ahem, “Brilliantly Endowed,” there are a number of self-portraits.

One of my favorites is “Icon for My Man Superman.”  The subtitle is Bobby Seale’s observation that “Superman never saved any black people.”

So, while you’re cooling it until more stimulus job numbers are released, check out “Birth of the Cool.”

For more info, go here.

America’s Jazz Ambassadors

Earlier today, President Barack Obama delivered an historic speech at Cairo University. Obama told Muslims:

I've come here to Cairo to seek a new beginning between the United States and Muslims around the world, one based on mutual interest and mutual respect, and one based upon the truth that America and Islam are not exclusive and need not be in competition. Instead, they overlap, and share common principles -- principles of justice and progress; tolerance and the dignity of all human beings.

Good luck with that.

A new Rasmussen poll found that only 28 percent of U.S. voters think America’s relationship with the Muslim world will be better this time next year. Twenty-one percent say the relationship will be worse.

Similarly, a Gallup poll found that 80 percent of Americans believe Muslims have an unfavorable view of the U.S.

Truth be told, the United States has been seeking a “new beginning” and “common ground” with Muslims for quite a while.

Last weekend, I checked out “Jam Session: American Jazz Ambassadors Embrace the World” at the Jazz Heritage Center in San Francisco. The photo collection documents Foggy Bottom’s “quest to win the hearts and minds of the world with jazz.”

In 1956, at the request of then-Congressman Adam Clayton Powell Jr., the State Department sent Dizzy Gillespie on the first jazz tour of the Middle East. The “Kool Kat Diplomat” visited Iran Lebanon, Syria and Pakistan.

The jazz ambassadors included Louis Armstrong, who visited Cairo in 1961 (the year Obama was born), Count Basie, Miles Davis, Oscar Peterson and Sarah Vaughn. Also, Duke Ellington, who toured for the State Department more than any other musician.

American diplomats embraced musical diplomacy because they were “eager to present a positive image of America abroad.”

It is said that “music has charms that soothe the savage breast.” Jazz didn’t change many hearts and minds in the Middle East. Time will tell whether Obama’s respectful tone will remake U.S.-Muslim relations.

For info on Obama in Cairo, go here.

All that Jazz

April is Jazz Appreciation Month.

Go here to find a JAM event near you.

It’s All Over but the Counting

Super Tuesday is finally here. Though both Republicans and Democrats are casting votes today, all eyes will be on Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama.

Will she or won’t she pull ahead of Obama who’s nipping at her sensible heels? Will he or won’t he win support from Latino voters?

Will there be voting irregularities at polling places? In a word, yes and yes.

Unlike most political junkies, I am not spending the day glued to my TV screen or computer monitor. Instead, I plan to visit various polling places, attend a panel discussion on illegal immigration, and enjoy the music of Duke Ellington at a Black History Month celebration.

By the time I get home, the polls will be closed except in California. I hope the TV bloviators are able to restrain themselves, let the democratic process run its course and not project a winner before the polls close in that state.

For voter information for your state, including photo ID requirements, click here.