In the end, it was, as one observer said, like Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade — only without the talent. On one side of the police barricades in a small Manhattan park were the Trumpers; on the other side, the anti-Trumpers. In the middle was a whole lot of booing, shouting, whispering and whistling, the last courtesy of the Trump whistle guy.
Read more…
Read MorePresident Donald J. Trump has returned to the United States from his worldwind tour – emphasis on worldwind – of Europe only to find that all Helsinki has broken loose. …
Read more
Read MoreLike many this week, I’ve been haunted by the death of Nelson Mandela. In watching the coverage, I was flooded with memories of my years as a cultural writer for Gannett who reported on the arts and sports worlds’ reactions to apartheid in the 1980s.
Culture is more than gala productions attended by ladies in couture and jewels. It’s about the fabric of a people.
Nelson Mandela, who died Thursday at his home in South Africa at age 95, understood the transcendent role that the arts and sports can play in uniting a people and galvanizing them to recognize that no one is truly free as long as some remain enslaved. That’s why I can think of few better ways to pay tribute to him at this time than to listen to the music of Hugh Masekela, Paul Simon, Annie Lenox and others who voiced a movement. (Some may wish instead to watch Clint Eastwood’s “Invictus,” about how Mandela used rugby to bring his nation together, or await the Christmas release of Harvey Weinstein’s “Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom.”)
Often when I met with South African musicians and filmmakers… Read more
Read MoreNelson Mandela, who died Thursday at his home in South Africa at age 95, is a reminder that you have to live the life in front of you, however painful or difficult it may be.
He lived his as a son not only of South Africa but of the world.
Rest in peace.
Read More