Books/Films
‘Tuskegee Love Letters,’ by Kim Russell
R EVIEWS
by Kam
Williams
“M
y father was a pilot
with the all-Negro
Tuskegee Airmen;
my mother a steno-typist… Sepa-
rated by war and duty, they shared
the events of their lives through let-
ters. They wrote about their joys,
their dreams and their individual
struggles.
Thankfully, each preserved their
letters…. This collection is a
glimpse of their lives between 1942
and 1956… These letters are my
parents’ legacy. They tell about a
difficult but wondrous journey
filled with obstacles and opportuni-
ties… [and] remind us that all
young Americans begin their lives
with dreams.”
— Excerpted from the Introduc-
tion (pg. 5)
I
f you saw the recent World War
II film Red Tails, you were
treated to a riveting reenactment
of the heroic exploits of the
Tuskegee Airmen over the skies of
Europe. But a glaring omission
from the movie was any mention of
the African-American pilots’ pining
for their loved ones back in the
States.
In fact, the only romance featured
in the film revolved around an ill-
fated, interracial liaison between an
airman and a local girl he met while
stationed in Italy. For that reason, a
book like Tuskegee Love Letters
couldn’t have come along at a more
timely moment.
This bittersweet memoir is essen-
tially conceived as a play
constructed from the notes which
Bernard and Luana Knighten
exchanged by mail while he was
serving his country as a member of
the Tuskegee Airmen. The passages
were culled by their
daughter, Kim, from a
collection of over 400
missives she found after
her father passed away
in 2000 at the age of 79.
The initial entries
were written when the
Knightens were still
newlyweds in the full
bloom of youth, and
exhibiting an endearing
combination of brava-
do, exuberance and
vulnerability. Though
their subjects of conver-
sation ranged from
safety to racism to
ambitious plans for
making their mark on
the world upon reunit-
ing, every message
invariably included a
passionate reaffirmation
of their love.
For instance, Luana signs one
note with a heartfelt, “Please,
please, please be careful and come
back to me,” well aware that some
members of her hubby’s squadron
had already perished in action.
Bernard, in turn was just as ardent,
O
Meanwhile,
equally-talented
Luana started pursuing her acting
career, only to die of a heart attack
two days before she was set to
make her Broadway debut co-star-
ring in Take a Giant Step opposite a
teenager named Lou Gossett, Jr.
Because Kim was only a couple
months-old at the time, she never
A priceless slice of African-American
history that can’t be read without
crying
not only naming his plane after his
wife, but admitting that “I dream of
you all night long.”
He also describes his reaction to
Nazi POWs ‘enjoying better
accommodations than black GIs.
“It is really disgusting. It makes my
blood boil to see how nice they
treat the German prisoners… It
really hurts.” But discrimination
didn’t discourage him after the war
from publishing with the help of “a
talented young writer named Alex
Haley” the debut issue of Essence
Magazine, a short-lived precursor
of the popular periodical for black
females.
Page 8 The Portland Skanner March 14, 2012
Film: Black Elvis Impersonator
Moonlights as Demon Hunter
really got to know her mother.
That makes her all the more
grateful to her parents for having
the inclination to save their intimate
love letters and to her long-wid-
owed dad for preserving them for
posterity, knowing just how much
they might mean to his darling
daughter the day she discovered
them in a dusty trunk in the attic
after he was no longer around. A
priceless slice of African-American
history that can’t be read without
crying and which undoubtedly
deserves to be on display in the
Smithsonian.
rdinarily, the term “Velvet Elvis” conjures up images of
those cheesy paintings of Elvis Presley which were popu-
lar briefly back in the Seventies. But for the purposes of
this hilarious horror comedy, the phrase refers not to a tacky eye-
sore on black velvet but to a black Elvis impersonator outfitted in
The King’s trademark pompadour, muttonchops and TCB sun-
glasses.
Nicknamed Velvis (Kirk Ponton), he’s been doggedly pursuing
his dream of superstardom in a Hollywood which looks suspi-
ciously like Trenton to this former resident of New Jersey’s
capital city. At the point of departure, we find our hero doing his
best Elvis impression until he’s driven offstage by a merciless
heckler (Kurt Tazelaar), a cruel reminder of why he still pays his
bills by moonlighting as a pistol-packing demon hunter.
He is assisted in both endeavors by his trusty agent/manager
Samael (Kevin Ridgeway), a sidekick who seems to have more
luck locating monsters than landing gigs. Equipped only with a
.357 magnum and the head of a vampire stashed away in a bowl-
ing bag, the dynamic duo is presently perambulating Tinseltown’s
ugly underbelly in search of Seth (Michael Markiewicz), a sim-
pleminded serial killer doing the bidding of a sultry, if
bloodthirsty, disembodied specter called Lamia (Jensen Bucher).
So unfolds The Velvet Elvis, a genre-defying splatterflick
directed by Jeff Stewart. The movie marks the sophomore offer-
ing of the promising Temple Film School grad who also shot his
first picture, The Reunion, on location in his hometown of Tren-
ton.
Anybody lamenting the lack of diversity of roles for African-
American thespians ought to credit this up-and-coming black
director to be reckoned with for the colorblind casting of a broth-
er as his title character. For the talented Mr. Ponton proves not
only entertaining but oh so convincing in his capacity as a sepia-
skinned Elvis.
The film also features praiseworthy support performances by
Michael Markiewicz, Kevin Ridgeway, Jensen Bucher and Kacie
Marie, as well as a couple of memorable cameos by Scott Miller
as a deferential john with a masochism fetish and Lawrence
Greenberg playing a proverbial dead guy.
Serving up as much mirth as mayhem per minute, better brace
yourself for a rollicking, non-stop, roller coaster ride that won’t
end until Velvis has left the theater!
Excellent (4 stars); Unrated; Running time: 112 minutes; Studio
A Different Path Films; Distributor Amazon Studios.