African Americans in popular culture

Scope and Contents Poet, writer and professor, Etheridge Knight read from his Poems from Prison.Poems from Prison author and Guggenheim Fellowship recipient, Etheridge Knight lectured on 11/9/1970 (2015-0002/RR212). After being wounded while serving in the Korean War, Knight fell into a drug addiction which led to his arrest for an armed robbery in 1960. During his eight-year sentence, Knight began to write poetry and...

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Saxophonist Sylvester Kyner (also known as Sonny Red) spoke to the Black Experience in the Arts course on 9/19/1978 (2015-0002/RR207). Introduced by Hale Smith (who spells it K-I-N-E-R, Sonny Red spoke about the music he's been playing, the scene, plays music, and answers questions from the class.

Scope and Contents Dr. Langa speaks about the writer in exile.Author and professor, Bhekokwakhe Langa lectured on 11/12/1985 (2015-0002/RR213). Originally from South Africa, Langa is a playwright, author, and professor. A graduate of both the University of Connecticut and the University of Massachusetts (1984), he is the author of the book Never 'till that Overcast Day and a professor at Howard University and of Speech and Theatre at Bennett College (Greenboro,...

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Introduced by Leon Bailey, Mr. Lee provided some details about his background and the type of writing, the multiple media in which he writes and his preferences based on the amount of control he has over his writing.

Playwright Leslie Lee delivered a lecture on 9/29/1987 (2015-0002/RR214). Leslie Lee was an American playwright, director and professor of playwriting and screenwriting.

Scope and Contents Opera singer Mary Lindsay delivered 2 lectures. She spoke 1st on 2/14/1978 (2015-0002/RR216) and again on 11/27/1979 (2015-0002/RR217). RR 216 lecture: Hale Smith introduces operatic soprano Mary Lindsay. Ms. Lindsay references her own experiences as a Black woman in the field of concert and operatic music, as well as presenting a more general picture of the story of Black performing artists in America. aRR 217 lecture: Hale Smith introduces operatic soprano Mary Lindsay. ...

Scope and Contents Composer and jazz trombonist Melba Liston delivered 2 lectures. Liston spoke 1st on 9/25/1973 (2015-0002/RR218) and again on 11/9/1982 2015-0002/RR219). Melba Doretta Liston (January 13, 1926 – April 23, 1999) was an American jazz trombonist, arranger, and composer. Other than those playing in all-female bands she was the first woman trombonist to play in big bands during the 1940s and 1960s, but as her career progressed she became better known as an arranger,[1] particularly in...

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Painter and sculptor Andrew Lyght delivered his single lecture on 11/29/1983 (2015-0002/RR220). Andrew Lyght (born 1949 in Georgetown, Guyana) is a contemporary artist living in Kingston, New York. Lyght is a mixed media artist, often combining drawings, painterly elements, industrial objects, and sculptural wooden assemblages.

Scope and Contents Novelist Paule Marshall lectured on 10/21/1980 (2015-0002/RR221). Paule Marshall (April 9, 1929 – August 12, 2019) was an American writer, best known for her 1959 debut novel Brown Girl, Brownstones. In 1992, at the age of 63, Marshall was awarded a MacArthur Fellowship grant.RR 221 Hale Smith introduces "novelist extraordinaire" Paule Marshall. She talks about herself and her work to share that there are many kinds of writers not just...

Scope and Contents Landscape painter Richard Mayhew delivered 3 lectures that can be found on 4 reels. Mayhew spoke on 5/6/1970 (2015-0002/RR64), 5/9/1972 (2015-0002/RR65 reel 1), (2015-0002/RR66 reel 2), and lastly on 2/24/1971 2015-0002/RR317). Richard Mayhew (born April 3, 1924)[1] is an Afro-Native American landscape painter, illustrator, and arts educator. His abstract, brightly colored landscapes are informed by his experiences as an African American/Native American and his interest in Jazz and the...

Scope and Contents Composer and saxophonist Jackie McLean delivered 2 lectures that can be found on 3 reels. He spoke 1st on 2/12/1974 (2015-0002/RR5 reel 1) (2015-0002/RR6 reel 2) and again on 11/8/1977 (2015-0002/RR56). John Lenwood "Jackie" McLean (May 17, 1931 – March 31, 2006)[1] was an American jazz alto saxophonist, composer, bandleader, and educator, and is one of the few musicians to be elected to the DownBeat Hall of Fame in the year of their death.In McLean's 1974 lecture, he discussed...

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Television news and public affairs official Mildred McNeill lectured on 12/1/1987 (2015-0002/RR222) and 9/19/1989 (2015-0002/AC11).

Scope and Contents Novelist and essayist Louise Meriwether delivered 14 lectures to the Black Experience in the Arts course, dating from 1971 to 1988. Louise Meriwether (born May 8, 1923) is an American novelist, essayist, journalist and activist, as well as a writer of biographies of historically important African Americans for children. She is best known for her first novel, Daddy Was a Number Runner (1970), which draws on autobiographical elements about growing up in...

Scope and Contents Painter and illustrator Don Miller lectured 5 times. The presentations can be found on 6 reels. 1st lecture was 11/5/1974 (2015-0002/RR59), the 2nd was 4/12/1977 (2015-0002/RR60), 3rd time was 4/4/1978 (2015-0002/RR61), 4th time was 10/30/1979 (2015-0002/RR62), and the 5th lecture was 4/17/1984 (2015-0002/RR63 reel 1) (2015-0002/RR318 reel 2).It is unknown whether the 2 4/17/1984 lectures required 2 reels or if one of the recordings is a duplicate.RR 62 ...

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Artist Evelyn Mitchell spoke on 2/27/1973 (2015-0002/RR223). Evelyn Mitchell shares her background in her discussion of African art.

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Playwright and theater professor Loften Mitchell delivered 5 lectures over 11 years. Mitchell spoke on 2/2/1970 (2015-0002/RR224), 10/17/1972 (2015-0002/RR225), 10/8/1974 (2015-0002/RR226), 9/28/1976 (2015-0002/RR227) and lastly on 1/27/1981 (2015-0002/RR228). James Loften Mitchell (April 15, 1919 – May 14, 2001) was an American playwright and theatre historian who was part of the black American theatre movement of the 1960s.

Scope and Contents Jamaican-style percussionist and drummer Montego Joe (birth name Roger Sanders) delivered 5 lectures. He spoke on 11/23/1982 (2015-0002/RR200), 10/23/1984 (2015-0002/RR201), 10/1/1985 (2015-0002/RR202), 2/4/1975 (2015-0002/RR324), and 11/28/1989 (2015-0002/AC10). AC 10 Montego Joe is joined by Linda Randall and Joseph Lindquist for this lecture. The subject of this presentation was how to create own recording whether it be a single 45 rpm or an album.RR 200 Hale...