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January 10, 1990
Portland Observer
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Martin Luther King, Jr. Special Edition • Page 5
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ENTERTAINMENT
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Michelob Class Act Tour:
James Ingram and Patti LaBelle
by Danny Bell
Broadway
Bound Report
The W ar O f The Colemans: In a surprise move, the mother of Diff’rent Strokes star,
Gary Coleman, recently filed a petition in L.A. Superior Court, asking that a conservator be
appointed for her son. This stemming from her claim that Coleman’s former manager is
controlling his fortune, which is estimated to be upwards of $6 million. She further argued
that both his physical and mental condition was deteriorating, and that he appears to be dis­
oriented. Coleman, who had two kidney transplants, requires dialysis and medication. In
response to his mother’s petition, actor Gary Coleman says his mother’s latest legal action
stems from her “ frustration at not being able to control my life." According to his lawyer,
the allegations are false. In February, the now 21 -year old actor sued his parents for diverting
profits.
A ctress Beverly Todd Pleads F or Justice: Actress Beverly Todd, who co-starred in
“ Lean On M e’ ’ is presently in Salt Lake City to see that justice is served in the case o f her
son, Malik. 18-yearold Malik, was killed in an unprovoked attack at a teenage disco while
there on a spring break, earlier this year. In fact, 19-year old John Leota beat him because
he danced so well. Yet, while Leota admitted striking the fatal blow to his head and then
kicking him in the head as he lay on the floor unconscious, a jury returned with the verdict
of “ criminal negligence” (which is a Class A misdemeanor) after just three hours of delib­
eration. Beverly, who is outraged, is asking your help in letting Utah know that it's not okay
to kill young blacks. You can help by addressing your letters to: Judge Homer Wilerson, 3rd
District Court, 240 E. 400 South, Salt Lake City, Utah 84111. Or you may write to the Salt
Lake City Tribune, Letters to the Editor, 143 South Main, Salt Lake City, Utah 84111.
Home Is W here E rlnn Cosby Isn’t: Superstar Bill Cosby, who recently authored a
best-seller on the subject of “ Fatherhood," has called his 23-year old daughter Erinn, irre­
sponsible, and was recently quoted assaying that she was not welcome in his house. The
younger Cosby was released from a drug rehab center in September after being treated for
cocaine, marijuana and alcohol abuse. However, according to the elder Cosby, his daughter
has never held down a job, kept an apartment for more than six months, and she uses her
boyfriends. Said Cosby: ‘ ‘you think you’re not a good parent because you do n 't answer the
call. But you can’t let the kid use you. We love her and want her to get better, but she has
to beat this on her own.”
Talk About Sibbling Rivalry: The Supreme Court has ruled that Prince can keep all
the proceeds generated by his hit single, "Y ou Got The Look." In so doing, it dismissed the
lawsuit filed by his half-sister, Loma Nelson, which claimed that the song’s lyrics were
similar to her unpublished song, “ W hat's Cooking In This Book.
Short Takes: Spike Lee teamed with Debbie Allen on the streets of New York last
month in search of new talent, in conjunction with an upcoming TV special “ Do It A
C appella" to air on PBS ’ ’Great Performances.' ’ The program will also showcase the talents
of such contemporary groups as Take Six . .. And TV actor-producer Robert Guilliame is
doing his own bit to showcase Black talent colleges and universities. The project is intended
to spark interest in writing for television. . . Denzel Washington suffered a broken foot only
days after completing work on Spike Lee’s latest film, "A Love Suprem e." W ashington’s
next project may be his portrayal of Malcolm X in the film version of Alex Haley s best­
seller, "T h e Autobiography of Malcolm X .” Next W eek: Lou Gossett gets back Into high
gear.
£ G O LD E N G LO BE
J
NOMINATIONS
BEST PICTURE*
BEST DIRECTOR
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
BEST SCREENPLAY
BEST ORIGINAL SCORE
"ONE OF THE
GREAT FILMS OF
THE DECADE..:’
I
‘ by Garland Lee Thompson
“ IDA B. WELLS - A PASSION
FOR JUSTICE”
Patti LaBelle
James Ingram
Thursday night December 28, 1989
Portland was treated to a Holiday repast of
Extraordinary soul singers James Ingram
and Patti LaBelle gave performances that
will be long remembered by those in atten­
dance.
Opening act James Ingram started the
evening with a strong performance fronted
by a 7-piece band and two female dancers
his show was crisp, and fast paced. His
smooth baritone showcased in the songs
like “ It's Real,” and "Find One Hundred
W ays.”
However, for the uninitiated in the
audience nothing could have prepared them
for the intensity and emotionally moving
show of Patti LaBelle.
Entering with of diversion of a look-a­
like on stage, (her niece Traci) Patti sur­
prised the audience by strolling down cen­
ter aisle to take the stage.
Resplendid in a rhinestone studded black
velvet grown. The first of three custom
changes.
Fronted by a 10-piece band that in­
cluded 3 back-up singers, she opened the
show with the title song from her new
album "B e Yourself.”
Her unique style carried her indelible
signature that has been her trademark ev­
olving from her days with Patti LaBelle and
the Bluebells on through the sci-fi appeal of
LaBelle and into her solo career.
She endeared herself to the sold-out
house with off-the-cuff observations about
being oneself, caring for one another, and
with insights into her personal lost of fam­
ily and friends.
Characteristic of her reputation she put
on an outrageous performance strutting her
stuff, rolling on the floor and inviting fans
onto the stage.
However her singing brillance always
shone through like a beacon showing us the
way to the plateau the human spirit can
reach.
Whether it was the ballad "O n My
O w n" sung with co-star James Ingram or
the legendary up tempo song “ Lady
Marmelade.” Her voice was clear and caught
the nuances of each song ranging from
gospel to cross-over pop.
The LaBelle concert was musically
raucous and intimate experience shared
with us by a gifted entertainer who always
displayed an extraordinary vocal presence,
with a blend of human empathy and caring
making for a very special evening.
» ? -M ic h a e l Medved. SNEAK PREVIEW'S
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© '980 TRE STAR RCTUAES. WC A U RGHTS RESERVED
STARTS F R ID A Y
JA N U A R Y 12th
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ACT I I I
THEATRES
T igard cinemas
248-6973
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THEATRES
L loyd cinemas
248-6938
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PORTLAND OBSERVER
'The Eyes and Ears of the Community
Office: (503)288 -0 033
F a x # : (503)288 -0 015
The Parchman Farm Enters
The ’90s With Its Well-
Received Jazz Calendar
Continuing a two-year stay at the Parch­
man Farm is the Marianne Mayfield Quar­
tet, a solid favorite for weekends around the
cozy Parchman Farm fireplace.
The group, featuring M ayfield's vo­
cals, plays every Friday and Saturday in
January except Saturday, Jan. 20, when
another veteran Farm favorite, the Dick
Blake Trio, returns for a single night. Singer
Nancy King will join the Dick Blake Trio to
offer her scintillating jazz vocals.
Action on week nights caters to jazz
variety. The Gordon Lee Trio anchors the
Monday Night Jam Session, which in six
months has become the city’s best, and
popular guitarist Larry Adair returns to
kick Tuesday nights into jazz orbit. Adair is
a on-man jam session who works solo but
w ho’s frequently joined by others.
Offering their particular brand of swing
every Wednesday is Le Jazz Hot, the duo of
guitarist Turtle Vandemarr and bassist Tom
Miller, Le Jazz Hot will intrigue and satisfy
anyone's need to peek back to the jazz/
swing of the '30s.
Rapidly gaining a reputation as one of
Portland’s finest jazz pianists is Darin
Clendenin, who returns on Thursday nights
this month along with bassist Dan Presley.
The Parchman Farm is the city's lead­
ing jazz club with music six nights a week
and a full-service restaurant and bar. There’s
never a cover at the Farm, located at 1204
SE Clay, one block south of Hawthorne
Blvd.
A new film by award-winning African
American filmmaker William Greaves,
premiered on OPB Channel 10, Tuesday,
December 19, 1989, 9:00 P.M., “ Ida B.
Wells - A Passion For Justice.’’ This lead­
ing New York, Harlem filmmaker’s latest
piece, is part of the second season of "T he
American Experience,” an ongoing PBS
series dedicated to telling the stories of
dynamic American heroes and heroines
who struggled against racism and to make
a better America for all people of color. The
same series featured a documentary on
Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. in November
that this writer has to catch on the second
airing, as many of you who missed the first
showing of the Ida B. Wells film, will have
to do.
The film, written and directed by W il­
liam Greaves, contains additional readings
from the Ida B. Wells book, "Crusade For
Justice,” that were read by the Pulitzer
Prize winning author, Toni Morrison. It
gives us one the few glimpses that we have
ever seen of the award-winning writer,
Morrison, who could be the subject of her
own segment of “ The American Experi­
ence.” But then again, so could actress
Ruby Dee, who could give us a stronger
reading of the Wells text and narration.
WHO WAS IDA B. WELLS?
Ida B. Wells was bom in 1863, a slave
on a small plantation in rural Mississippi.
Her father was the son of the white slave
was made trustee of Rust College, a school
for freed African Americans known as
“ freedmen" in Holy Springs, Miss.
Well’s mother attended the school also.
In 1879,both o fW ell’sparentsdiedduring
a yellow fever epidemic. To keep her fam­
ily together, she made herself look older
and got a job as a school teacher. In 1885 at
the age of 22, Ida B. Wells was thrown off
a train for refusing to move from the newly
segregated all white ladies car. She filed
suit against the railroad, and wrote newspa­
per articles exposing the injustice.
She attended Fisk University for a time
and wrote for the school newspaper. She
also wrote for a local Black newspaper in
Memphis called the Living Way. She wrote
under the nom de plume - Lola.
MEN
FOUGHT AGAINST JIM CROW
REIGN OF TERROR
After a few years, she became co­
owner and editor of the Memphis Free
Speech. The paper was militant in speaking
out against racial injustice and became
embroiled in an incident o f race killing
when it spoke up to expose the lynching of
three Black businessmen. The paper al­
leged the Black men were killed by white-
business competitors.
Wells produced one of the first studies-
on mob violence called “ the Red record.
And she became a loud opponent of the-
reign of terror that was sweeping the South-
at the tum-of-the-century. The terror was
called Jim Crow, and for its sake white-
mobs were murdering Black men, women,
and children by hanging, burning at the.
stake and shooting, usually for the flimsiest,
of charges.
Wells went to a conference in the East
and while she was gone her newspaper
offices were burned down and her printing,
press destroyed. Under threat of certain;
death, she moved to Chicago, and married;
a lawyer, Ferdinand L. Barnett in 1895,;
Barnett was part owner of a B lack NewspiC-;
per in Chicago, the Conservator.
Wells also wrote for The New York
Age, under William Monore Trotter.
FOUNDERS OF THE
AMERICAN BLACK PRESS
She was a natural journalist and news­
paper woman, who along with such as
“ giants” as Thomas Fortune, and Monroe
Trotter, W.E.B. DuBois, and Langston
Hughes, formed the backbone of the Black
press at the tum-of-the-century and their
influence extended well into the 1920? and
played a key role in the birth and life of the
Black Renaissance in this country.
Wells was opposed by moderate Booker
T. Washington, who saw her as a radical
and too hot for his agenda. During the
1920s she became disturbed that so many
young Blacks were unaware of the contri­
butions made by Black people for their own
freedom that she wrote her book, ’^Crusaih'
For Justice.”
She was very active in women’s clubs
and gained prestige for her efforts on behalf
of her race and womanhood. She and her
husband raised several children and she
died suddenly in 1931 at 68 years of age,
leaving a living history of a gifted African
American writer, her craft and legacy. She
was one the truly great Black “ heroines"
and * ‘mothers of the modem Black journal­
ism in the history of the United States.”
This is a very important documentary
by Greaves, that could be the basis for a
major motion picture or series. Write on
Bill Greaves.
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