Anderson@Large

This Giving Tuesday, Honor Lee Morgan

This has been a banner year for Lee Morgan. From listing of “The Sidewinder” in the National Recording Registry, dedication of his historical marker, publication of an essay about his masterpiece by the Library of Congress, and federal, state and city citations, Lee is finally getting the recognition he deserves. There are more accolades to come in 2025.

The only discordant note was the resurfacing of misinformation. The Philadelphia Inquirer published a false claim that Lee Morgan’s gravesite had “vanished.”

The reporter did not interview Lee’s family. If he had, they would have told him about White Chapel Memorial Park’s troubling history. Deferred maintenance of the grounds worsened during the pandemic. The story wasn’t just fake news. It was a missed opportunity to shed light on the broader issue of accountability impacting similarly situated families.

Putting aside the news article for now, Lee Morgan’s gravestone is in disrepair. On Giving Tuesday, a global day of giving, please make a donation to preserve this endangered cultural resource. Donations will fund the restoration of Lee’s gravestone and the installation of a memorial bench featuring a QR code linking to a website where donors can leave text, audio, or video tributes.

Lee Morgan was not just a jazz innovator; he was an advocate for racial justice. Now, it’s up to us to do him justice. Together, we can ensure Lee’s final resting place is a fitting tribute to his legacy.

Happy Thanksgiving

 

Cultural Week of Action on Race and Democracy

The first annual Cultural Week of Action on Race and Democracy will be held September 27 through October 5, 2024. Organized by Race Forward and Americans for the Arts, the initiative will harness the transformative power of arts and culture to spark dialogue, inspire action, and build community.

All That Philly Jazz’s West Philly’s Main Street: A Walk Through Time is one of the inaugural projects.

The walking tour will be held on Saturday, October 5, 2024, from 10am to 12pm. We will stroll the historic 52nd Street corridor and uncover lost and hidden history. For event details and tickets, please go here.

The walking tour culminates at the former site of the Red Rooster, the jazz club where John Coltrane first met McCoy Tyner. Today, the building is home to Steve’s Sports Lounge but the history lives on.

Immediately after the Red Rooster stop, we will gather at the Painted Bride Art Center for a community conversation, Telling Our Stories from “Back in the Day”: A Voices of 52nd Street Memory Salon.

The afternoon will be filled with joy, remembering, and light refreshments. The Memory Salon is free and open to the public. Space is limited so be sure to reserve your spot.

March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom

Sixty-one years ago on August 28, 1963, more than 250,000 people gathered for the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. Jazz musicians were the vanguard of the movement for freedom and civil rights, a fact acknowledged by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. at the 1964 Berlin Jazz Festival.

Long before Beyoncé was born, tenor saxophonist Sonny Rollins recorded “The Freedom Suite” which featured Oscar Pettiford on bass and Max Roach on drums.

Thousands of people from across the country arrived in Washington, DC on the “Freedom Train,” a special fleet of trains chartered by A. Philip Randolph, organizer of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters.

From Louis Armstrong’s “Black and Blue” to Charles Mingus’ “Fables of Faubus,” jazz musicians talked the talk and walked the walk. Trumpeter Lee Morgan and Max Roach were among the musicians on board the Freedom Train from New York City to the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom.

Lee Morgan Proposed for Google Doodle

Edward “Lee” Morgan was born in Philadelphia on July 10, 1938. Since his last heavenly birthday, Lee has been honored with a Pennsylvania historical marker.

At the dedication ceremony, he received commendations from Governor Josh Shapiro, Senator Bob Casey, Representatives Dwight Evans and Brendan Boyle, state Senator Vincent Hughes, City Councilmember Jamie Gauthier and Mayor Cherelle L. Parker.

Lee’s masterpiece, “The Sidewinder,” was added to the Library of Congress’ National Recording Registry on April 16, 2024.



To celebrate Lee’s 86th birthday, I proposed the legendary trumpeter for a Google Doodle. If Google accepts my proposal, Lee will join his former bandleader, Dizzy Gillespie, who was honored with a Google Doodle on October 21, 2010.

Happy birthday, Lee.

A Tale of Two Headlines

Two days after Lee Morgan’s historical marker was unveiled, The Philadelphia Inquirer published this demeaning and defamatory headline.

Writing for The Inquirer, Shaun Brady dug up fake news that Lee Morgan’s gravesite had “vanished” and a white fan “unearthed” it. Even if the claim were true, why did Brady and his editor, Bedatri Choudhury, devote coverage of the dedication ceremony to “news” first reported by NPR in 2022?

Shaun did not interview Lee’s family members. In an email, Choudhury wrote, “In retrospect, he should’ve spoken to Mr. Morgan’s family.”

Lee is buried alongside his father, Otto Morgan. There was a callous disregard for the emotional distress and harm the false claim would inflict on Lee’s family.

After I complained that Brady’s “different angle” portrayed the family in a false light, the headline was changed.

An Update was added at the end of the article: “This story has been updated to clarify that the grave of Lee Morgan was never lost, but simply covered over.”

The Update begs the question: If Lee’s gravesite was never lost, what was the point of Brady’s story? Nine of the 17 paragraphs are about the “discovery” and the “discoverer.” Lee Morgan played second fiddle to a random white man.

The headline was changed but the damage had already been done. The body of the story will live forever on the Internet.

While the family explores their options, I want The Inquirer’s journalistic negligence to become a case study about the importance of fact-checking and editing.

Lee Morgan, Black Excellence and Sensational Journalism

An African proverb says, “Until the lion tells the story, the hunter will always be the hero.” On International Jazz Day, we told the story of Lee Morgan, a story of Black Excellence.

Even when we tell our story, a white journalist lionizes a white man in his report on the dedication of Edward Lee Morgan’s historical marker.

Writing for The Philadelphia Inquirer, Shaun Brady dug up the sensationalistic claim that a white fan “discovered” Lee Morgan’s “lost gravesite.” The “discovery” was made after the fan wandered around White Chapel Memorial Park during the coronavirus pandemic. When he finally asked for help, the groundskeeper took him to the location. The grave marker was obscured by overgrown grass and vegetation at a time when there was a worker shortage across the board.

The “discovery” was so sensational that nine of the 17 paragraphs in Brady’s story are about a mediocre white man. That is more than the combined number of paragraphs about the legendary Black trumpeter, the Black family who loves him, the Black musicians who knew him, the Black property owners who preserved the memory of the Aqua Lounge, and the Black woman who nominated Lee Morgan for a historical marker and listing on the Library of Congress’ National Recording Registry.

It was lost on Brady that he should have fact-checked the claim. I brought his journalistic malpractice to the attention of his editor, Bedatri Choudhury. Her response: “In retrospect, he should’ve spoken to Mr. Morgan’s family.”

In a recent profile of longtime jazz producer Leo Gadson, Michelle Lyu wrote:

Today, the narrative of jazz is shaped by an essentially white worldview; one which separates it from the people who made the major contribution to its creation and continuance.

This white worldview turned a joyous celebration of Black Excellence into a white savior story. In so doing, The Inquirer tarnished Lee Morgan’s legacy and portrayed his family members in a false light.

Malcolm X is memorialized on the mural that overlooks Lee Morgan’s historical marker. Our Black Shining Prince warned us about newspapers.

The sensationalistic claim published in The Inquirer has readers “hating” the Black family for not knowing the location of Lee Morgan’s gravesite and “loving” the white man who discovered a gravesite that was not lost.

Lee Morgan’s family will correct the false and defamatory claim by any means necessary.