Light, airy, and meticulously clean, attributes that well describe Mr. Horton’s apartment. His closet embodied the exact opposite. As we entered, he reached up and pulled a cord. A single bulb, brown with dust, hung on a thick wooly wire. … Continue reading
“Listen, why are you here?” Startled, I looked up from my notepad. “The lifetime achievement award, Mr. Horton. My magazine wanted an interview.” “No! Why did they send you?” I had no immediate response. “You’re awfully young, you know that? … Continue reading
When I was about 13 I had to endure a week at Reverend Schlep’s Summer Camp for Men and Boys. It’s a right of passage in my family. My grandfather took my father. My father took my older brothers Mark … Continue reading
February filled every classroom and hallway at Norman Avenue Elementary School with red, black, and green. As the month’s end approached, the colors blossomed in the school auditorium in preparation of the annual Black History Month Dance. Parent volunteers filled … Continue reading
Grease splattering, water boiling, pots and pans clanking, bodies moving and shuffling, and layered above it all were the voices of the too many chefs against a backdrop of old school blues moaning its heart out. Crissy got annoyed. She … Continue reading
(Ed.’s note: This story is vaguely inspired by a dream.) A motley group of Americans found themselves wandering around a rail yard in the outskirts of Pyongyang, North Korea. They were captured and taken in for questioning. They didn’t know … Continue reading
“No one knows the answer to that one?” I had my hand up, waving the little green flag we’re supposed to use whenever we wanted to be called on. “No one?” I started wiggling it a little bit more. “Going … Continue reading
{Editors Note: The dialog between Jameel and Alfonso was taken from my unpublished novel Sin Against the Race.} He knew Hegel. He knew Marx. He knew Lenin. He knew Trotsky. He knew Mao. He knew Ché. He knew Cleaver. He … Continue reading
This story could be called a love letter to the Duke Ellington Orchestra. I wrote it around the time I fell head over heels for all things Ellington and started listening to his music 23 out of 24 hours in … Continue reading