(Repost) 6/9/24 O&A NYC GOSPEL SUNDAY: Didn’t It Rain-Sister Rosetta Tharpe (Gospel Music’s First Crossover Artist)

GOSPEL SUNDAYSister Rosetta Tharpe

Sister Rosetta Tharpe, is a pioneer of twentieth-century music. Tharpe attained great popularity in the 1930s and 1940s with her gospel recordings that were a unique mixture of spiritual lyrics and rhythmic/early rock accompaniment.  She became gospel music’s first crossover artist and its first great recording star. Continue reading

8/28/21 O&A NYC ITS SATURDAY- ANYTHING GOES: Little Black Sambo (1935) Banned Cartoon

Little Black Sambo, produced in 1935 by UB Iworks Studio, is a controversial book and cartoon containing racist stereotypes typical of the time. Due to its racist overtones the short film shows up on many banned cartoons and racist cartoons lists. Continue reading

5/24/02 O&A NYC LOCKDOWN HISTORY: Life Aboard a Slave Ship

From approximately 1525 to 1866, 12.5 million Africans were forcibly transported across the Middle Passage to serve as slaves in the New World. Life aboard slave ships was agonizing and dangerous; nearly 2 million slaves would perish on their journey across the Atlantic.
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5/23/20 O&A NYC SATURDAY MORNING CONCERT: Janet Jackson (2019) Live Full Concert

Janet Jackson 2019 live concert- she just keeps getting better and better! Continue reading

5/22/20 O&A NYC SHALL WE DANCE FRIDAY: A Conversation With Calvin Royal III- The Best Is Yet To Come

By Walter Rutledge

 

On an unseasonably cold Sunday April morning Calvin Royal III met my at the East Harlem storefront dance studio of Robin William’s Uptown Dance Academy. The interview was in conjunction with his first upcoming New York City season as a soloist with American Ballet Theater (ABT). This also marked the first time in over two decades a black man ascended to the rank of soloist with ABT. Continue reading

5/20/20 O&A NYC WILDIN OUT WEDNESDAY: Scrub Me Mama with a Boogie Beat (1941)- Racially Banned Cartoon

Scrub Me Mama with a Boogie Beat (1941) is the racially banned cartoon for the hit boogie-woogie popular song written by Don Raye. A bawdy, jazzy tune, the song describes a laundry woman from Harlem, New York City, whose technique is so unusual that people come from all around just to watch her scrub. Continue reading

5/20/20 O&A NYC INSPIRATIONAL TUESDAY- ON WEDNESDAY: President Obama’s Message to the Class of 2020

Watch President Obama celebrate America’s high school seniors as part of Graduate Together: America Honors the Class of 2020. Continue reading

5/18/20 O&A NYC HOLLYWOOD MONDAY: George Orwell’s Animal Farm (1954)

One night, all the animals at Mr. Jones’ Manor Farm assemble in a barn to hear old Major, a pig, describe a dream he had about a world where all animals live free from the tyranny of their human masters. Continue reading

  3/24/24 O&A NYC GOSPEL SUNDAY: Tramaine Hawkins Performs Coming Home and Going Up Yonder- Albertina Walker Memorial Concert

Tremaine Hawkins honors Dr. Albertina Walker by singing Coming Home and Going Up Yonder the Queen’s memorial service on Oct. 14, 2010.
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