S eptem ber I, 2010
JJnrt lanb (Observer
Page 13
Billy Webb Elks #1050
6 North Tillamook St.
Portland, Oregon 97227
503 284 4853
Join Us
“Breez ’ in Over the Hump”
Happy Hour 4 pm — 7 pm Thursdays and Fridays
DJs, Food, Specials, and more!
Begins September 2, 2010
'
Burn the Floor, the sultry dance spectacular Broadway production comes to Portland’s Keller Audito-
rium with performances Tuesday, Sept. 7 through Sunday, Sept. 12.
Electrifying Ballroom Dance
F red M e y e r B ro a d w a y A c ro ss
A m e ric a p re s e n ts th e e le c trify in g
L a tin an d B a llro o m d a n c e s e n s a
tio n B u rn th e F lo o r fo r p e rfo r
m a n c e s T u e sd a y , S ep t. 7 th ro u g h
S u n d ay , S ept. 12 at K e ller A u d ito
rium.
C reated and ch o reo g rap h ed by
w orld cham pion B allroom dancer
Jason G ilkison, B u m the Floor takes
audiences on a toe-tapping jo u rn e y
through the passion and history o f
B allroom dance, from H arlem 's hot
n ights at T he Savoy, w here the
4606 NE MLK Blvd., Portland, OR 97211
503.281.7000
L indy and C h arlesto n w ere b om , to
the Latin Q uarter w here the C ha C ha
and R um ba ruled.
T he N ew Y ork T im es called the
show “A nonstop d isp lay o f pop
v a ria tio n s on c lassic sty les p e r
form ed w ith precision and p o lish .”
MMM
New Volume of Baldwin Writings
Works show
timelessness of
racial issues
(A P ) -- "The C ross o f R edem p
tio n : U n c o lle c te d W ritin g s" b y
Jam es B aldw in, edited by R andall
K enan brings Jam es B aldw in's p as
sionate hope for a b etter A m erica
into focus.
K enan, an assistant professor at
the U niversity o f N orth C arolina at
C hapel Hill, calls the com pendium "a
collection o f snapshots." A nd the
w ritings are haphazard. B ut these are
snapshots in the best sense: glim pses
deep inside a life lived daringly and
fervently, if not alw ays w ith politic
attention to Baldw in's colleagues and
com patriots.
K enan offers B aldw in as a "prob
able im possibility." W hat m ade him
an "im possibility" ranges from his
birth to a single m other in the Jim
C row South and his childhood in a
W right, had p u b lish ed "G o Tell It
o n the M o u n tain ," w h ich e sta b
lish ed him as an im portant sto ry
teller. H is 1955 essay collection,
"N otes o f a N ative Son," announced
his voice as a clarion on race and
h u m an ity in A m erica. A nd his 1963
h isto ry o f the N ation o f Islam , "The
Fire N ext Time," cem ented Baldwin's
leadership in black intellectual p o li
tics. H e died in 1987, and the theater
criticism , essays on culture o r blues
m usic and even som e C ongressional
testim o n y in this v o lu m e span m ost
o f his ad u lt life.
B aldw in argues that his view o f
A m erican society and race w as m ore
than "probable." A n g er w as inevi
p o o r fundam entalist preacher's fam table in a so ciety w h o se m ajority
ily in N ew Y ork C ity's H arlem neigh b e n e fite d fro m su b ju g a tin g one
bo rh o o d to his escape in 1948 to gro u p o f people. A nd facing that
E urope, w here both his h o m o sex u there have been p o litical and p er
ality and his persistence as an intel sonal, as w ell as eco n o m ic, benefits
lectual w ere m ore viable.
fo r the largely w hite u p p er classes
Briefly, B aldw in was bom in 1924 in d en ig ratin g black p eo p le is the
and by 1953, w ith help and som e o n ly w ay to m ove b ey o n d racism ,
intervention from novelist R ichard B aldw in w rites.
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