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Jazz, Church, and Black Life

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CHADDS FORD, Pa. (AP) — At first glance, it looks like an aerial photo of a war-ravaged cemetery, with charred coffins torn from shattered concrete vaults and arched marble headstones flattened by a bomb blast.

Then the viewer begins to note the main points: the coffins and vaults are literally parts of a keyboard. Instead of names and dates, words like “vibrato” and “third harmonic” are carved on the apparent gravestones.

“It looks like a graveyard,” said photographer Frank Stewart.

Stewart’s haunting photograph of a New Orleans church organ that was destroyed by floods brought on by Hurricane Katrina is a component of a retrospective of his profession, which spans a long time of documenting black life in America and exploring African and Caribbean cultures.

“Frank Stewart’s Nexus: An American Photographer’s Journey, 1960s to the Present” is on view on the Brandywine Museum of Art through September 22. Brandywine is the fourth and final stop within the exhibition organized by The Phillips Collection in Washington, D.C., and the Telfair Museums in Savannah, Georgia.

“I wanted to talk about the black church and the impact it had on the culture,” Stewart said of his work in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. “The organ, the music, everything else fits together. It all comes together. I just wanted to show the devastation of the churches, the music, the culture.”

This photo, courtesy of the Brandywine Conservancy and the Museum of Art, shows Frank Stewart’s 1997 photograph, “Stomping the Blues,” as a part of a retrospective of the photographer’s work that’s on view through Sept. 22, 2024, on the museum in Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania. (Rob Gibson Collection, Savannah, via AP)

Music is an integral a part of Stewart’s practice, and he was a longtime photographer for the Savannah Music Festival and for 30 years the senior photographer for the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, where he worked with artistic director and Grammy Award-winning musician Wynton Marsalis.

“He’s like a brother to me,” said Stewart, whose exhibit includes “Stomping the Blues,” a 1997 photograph of Marsalis leading his orchestra from the stage during a world tour of his Pulitzer Prize-winning jazz oratorio “Blood on the Fields.”

Stewart, who was born in Nashville, Tennessee, and raised in Memphis, Tennessee, and Chicago, has his own ties to jazz and blues. His stepfather, Phineas Newborn Jr., was a pianist who worked with musicians resembling Lionel Hampton, Charles Mingus and B.B. King.

Describing himself as a toddler of the “apartheid South,” Stewart drew inspiration from photographers resembling Ernest Cole and Roy DeCarava, who was one in all Stewart’s instructors at New York’s Cooper Union, where Stewart earned a bachelor of nice arts degree. DeCarava’s photographs of Nineteen Fifties Harlem led to a collaboration with Langston Hughes on the 1955 book The Sweet Flypaper of Life.

Photographer Frank Stewart discusses a few of his early work during a press preview of his exhibition on the Brandywine Museum of Art in Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania, Friday, June 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Randall Chase)

Cole, a South African photographer, first gained recognition in 1967 with “House of Bondage,” Stewart’s first book, which chronicled the apartheid era using images smuggled in a foreign country. Cole never managed to copy his early success and fell on hard times before he died in New York at age 49. A documentary about him, “Ernest Cole: Lost and Found,” premiered at this 12 months’s Cannes Film Festival.

“He came to New York and was homeless, so I would see him on the street and we would talk,” said Stewart, who’s quick to differentiate between his own work and Cole’s.

“I consider myself more of an artist than a documentarian,” explained Stewart, who attended the School of the Art Institute of Chicago before moving on to Cooper Union and was a longtime friend and collaborator with artist Romare Bearden.

That’s to not say Stewart doesn’t have journalistic instincts in his blood. He tells the story of a job that included the Chicago Defender, the biggest black-owned every day within the country on the time, and stints with Ebony, Essence and Black Enterprise magazines. He’s less keen on a temporary stint in large format, photographing art for brochures and catalogs, which he describes as “boring.”

This photo courtesy of the Brandywine Conservancy and Museum of Art shows Frank Stewart’s 2007 work, “Katrina: Hammond B-3, 9th Ward, New Orleans,” which is a component of a retrospective celebrating the photographer’s work that’s on view through Sept. 22, 2024, on the museum in Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania. (Collection of The Medium Group, LLC, courtesy of Larry Ossei-Mensah, via AP)

Despite all this, Stewart has maintained a creative approach to his work, searching for to mix patterns, colors, tones and space in a visually appealing way while never leaving the viewer without discerning the message.

“It still has to be ‘X marks the spot,’” he explained. “It still has to be photographic. It can’t just be abstract.”

Or perhaps. How else to clarify the colour and texture seen in 2002’s “Blue Car, Havana”?

“It’s all about abstract painting,” Stewart wrote within the text accompanying the photo.

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The retrospective sheds light on how Stewart’s work has modified over time, from his early black-and-white photographs to his newer prints that feature more color.

“They are two different languages,” he said. “English would be black and white. French would be color.”

“I was still working in color, I just didn’t have the money to print them,” he added.

While photography can communicate information to people concerning the world around them, Stewart noted that there was a gulf between the actual world and photography.

“Reality is a fact, and photography is another fact,” he explained. “The map is not the territory. It is just a map of the territory.”

 

This article was originally published on : thegrio.com
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Elaine Welteroth and Jonathan Singletary welcomed their second child

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Elaine Welteroth, Jonathan Singletary, Elaine Welteroth has baby, Black famous mothers, Black mothers, Black maternal health, birthFUND, theGrio.com

Elaine Welteroth has a brand recent bundle of joy!

The 37-year-old media personality and founding father of birthFUND welcomed her second child, a son named SantiGold, together with her husband, musician Jonathan Singletary, in early November.

While Welteroth said People Magazine that she and her growing family are “healthy and happy” – she admitted that she has been affected by sleep problems since welcoming the most recent member of the family.

“I’m not sure my brain is working at full speed,” she told the web site. “I’m sleep-deprived, but I’m fine, I’m fine.”

Recalling the precise day she went into labor, she stated that she just knew it was the day.

“His birth was largely orchestrated by God,” she explained. “I just instinctively said, ‘I’m going to send my kid to school, and when he comes home, he’ll have a little brother.'”

In addition to her general spidey senses, Welteroth had an impulse to be outdoors, so she went to the park.

“The moment I sat down on the grass, I felt the first contraction,” she said. “I assumed, ‘Let’s go, honey.’ “It’s happening.”

Still, there was no immediate sense of urgency for the young mother of two, even stopping to do some Reiki within the park together with her midwife. Shortly thereafter, she returned home for what she described because the “most beautiful” and “peaceful” home birth. SantiGold’s peaceful delivery could also be a part of the inspiration behind his name, which she said means “peace” in Thai.

“I think you’re more confident in the process the second time around,” she noted, adding, “You can trust the method more. The baby was born inside three hours, I could not consider it.

Welteroth, who welcomed her first child, a boy, together with her husband in April 2022, has long touted her second pregnancy as a “redemptive pregnancy.” Its first stage was marked by complications and anxiety. Halfway through, after learning concerning the full scope of the Black mother’s health crisis, she began working with a midwife and decided to have a house birth. She also learned what number of families couldn’t afford the life-saving care of midwives and doulas, which led her to launch the FUND birth fund earlier this yr.

Elaine Welteroth shares her pain story in Advil's 'Believe My Pain' campaign

It was through the organization’s official opening that she learned she was pregnant together with her second child, announcing the primary group of beneficiaries. Now her organization is preparing to reward 41 more families.

“I started with the mantra: ‘We are the ones who have to save ourselves,’” she said. “I’m just very, very proud of our team and that we can help women and families, especially in this moment when we see how the system is failing families. I am truly encouraged and hopeful.”

This article was originally published on : thegrio.com
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The ultimate Black-owned gift guide for Divine 9 members

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When it involves honoring the wealthy legacy of the Divine Nine, selecting the proper gift is about greater than just aesthetics – it’s about celebrating the history, culture and unwavering bonds of Black Greek letter organizations. Whether it’s Founders’ Day, inheritance ceremonyor just to point out like to a valued senior or fraternity brother, a meaningful gift reflects the pride, strength and purpose these organizations embody.

From stylish accessories to memorabilia that captures the essence of those organizations, these Black-owned brands can assist you to honor the spirit of service and sisterhood – or brotherhood – that outline the Divine Nine experience.

Truth 2 Code

(Photo: True 2 The Code)

Truth 2 Code offers a variety of fashionable accessories for members of the Divine Nine. Adding street style to classic Greek pieces, the True 2 Greek collection allows members to point out off their letters and private style.

Estelle coloured glass

(Photo: Estelle Colored Glass)

Although they might not be sold as a Greek seller, Estelle coloured glass prepares amazing gifts for members of Greek literary organizations. With a wide selection of coloured glassware designs, consider giving your favorite soror or fraternity brother a set of glasses of their organization’s colours.

(*9*)

DVN

(Photo: DVN)

DVN is a Greek clothing brand that hopes to redefine traditional Greek accessories by offering designs that completely fit people’s on a regular basis style. Founded by Danielle Render, a member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., DVN combines progressive design and meticulous craftsmanship to create jackets, necklaces and custom pieces that allow all D9 members to “represent their affiliations with confidence and authenticity.”

Vontélle Divine glasses collection

(Photo: Vontélle)

Designed for us, Vontélle is a Black woman-owned eyewear brand offering optical frames and sunglasses that complement Black facial expression. Vontélle “Divine” Collection combines the brand’s mission to create better-fitting, vibrant, fashion-forward styles with colours and patterns inspired by historically black sororities and sororities.

Betty Plus promotion

For over 30 years Betty Plus promotion, Black, a family business, is a one-stop shop for Greek accessories, clothing and custom embroidery. Offering deals for every Divine 9 organization, Betty’s Promo Plus offers collections of transition gifts, holiday gifts and more.

Fashionably Greek

(Photo: Fashionably Greek)

Fashionably Greek provides a various range of trendy and customizable clothing options, offering clothes and niknaks for all D9 sororities and choose fraternities (Kappa Alpha Psi and Omega Psi Phi). Its products are perfect for any occasion, from homecoming to social events and even to the office.

University nativity scene

University nativity scene is certainly one of the biggest Greek accessories stores. This Black family-owned business offers a big selection of merchandise for each D9 and non-D9 Black Greek organizations. Customers can shop online or visit a store near Tennessee State University in person.

Macy’s Divine Nine Fraternity and Sorority Collections

(Photo courtesy of Macy’s)

Macy’s Divine Nine Brotherhood collection AND Kasper Sorority Collection pay tribute to the National Pan-Hellenic Council (NPHC) organizations by offering men’s and girls’s clothing that highlights the distinct colours of every organization. These business-style garments are perfect for members to subtly have fun their affiliation at work events and/or branch meetings.

Black-owned brands will be able to shop from Oprah's 2024 favorites list

This article was originally published on : thegrio.com
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Why Denzel Washington quit drinking at 60

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Denzel Washington, alcohol use, sobriety, drug abuse, Gladiator II, Denzel Washington retiring, theGrio.com

Denzel Washington has been sober for nearly a decade, but he had one particular vice: wine.(*60*)

In a brand new profile, the 69-year-old actor talks about his history with wine, drugs like LSD and growing up in New York within the Seventies. Esquire magazine..(*60*)

“Wine is very difficult,” he warned. “It’s very slow… It’s not like boom.”(*60*)

He explained that, unlike harder substances, he had “the perfect idea for wine tasting and so on – and that’s how it was in the beginning.”(*60*)

“And this is a very subtle thing,” he added.(*60*)

Washington said his habit really took off in 1999, when he built a house with a ten-thousand-bottle wine cellar and “learned to drink the best of it.”(*60*)

He added: “My passion was wine, and now I was pouring $4,000 bottles just because it was left.”(*60*)

The “Gladiator II” star eventually developed an intake management system; he frequently ordered the 2 best bottles of wine available at his favorite liquor store.(*60*)

“And my wife says, ‘Why do you only order two?’ I said, “Because if I order more, I’ll drink more.” So I limited it to 2 bottles and drank each in the course of the day,” he told the publication.(*60*)

Even though she drinks wine day by day, the “Equalizer 3” star said she never drank alcohol while working or preparing for a task, even while filming “Flight,” which tells the story of an alcoholic pilot.(*60*)

“I would clean up and go back to work – I could do both,” he said. “Regardless of the months of shooting, bang, it is time to wrap up. And then boom. Three months of wine and time to get back to work.(*60*)

The actor admitted that when he was younger, it was easier to take care of this pattern.(*60*)

“Two months off and we’re going. But the drinking was a fifteen-year pattern. And truth be told, it didn’t start in 1999. It began earlier,” he explained.(*60*)

Washington, who was born and raised in Mount Vernon, New York, described what it was like growing up there within the late Seventies. Spending time on projects with individuals who exposed him to heroin, cocaine, hard alcohol and more, he admits that he experimented but personally “never got hooked on it.” (*60*)

In fact, much of those formative years experiences were passed on to a few of Washington’s best and most complex figures. Still, he said, “I am unable to consider a single role where I said, ‘Man, that is me.’ Completely me? No, no.(*60*)

Since he quit drinking, he appears like “everything is opening up to him.”(*60*)

Will one of Denzel Washington's last films be

“It’s like you’re seventy,” he said. “This is real. And it’s okay. This is the last chapter – if I get one other thirty, what do I would like to do? My mother lived to be ninety-seven.(*60*)

The husband and father of 4 also pays more attention to fitness today, due to Lenny Kravitz, who introduced him to his trainer.(*60*)

“I’m doing everything I can,” he said.(*60*)

As he noted in the course of the “Gladiator II” press session, he’s also enthusiastic about upcoming projects which will become his last – and yes, they include two more “Equalizer” movies.(*60*)

“People love these daggone ‘Equalizers,'” he said. (*60*)

This article was originally published on : thegrio.com
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