Avoiding the Cracks...

There was a frighteningly sobering editorial in the November 23, 2011 New York Times.

The Poor, The Near Poor and You.

As my friend Scott Manning eloquently points out:

"In the good old days, no one would give a second look at folks making $50,000/year with two cars...and, if something happened, they would fall through the cracks, and that would be that, and no one would notice. The reality is that today there are a whole lot more folks standing over the crack about to fall in and, finally, we are all starting to notice."

The History of the African-American Funeral Director and the Fight for Civil Rights and Racial Intregration

"To Serve the Living: Funeral Directors & the African American Way of Death" is not merely a book about the history of death.

It is much more.

It is a history of African-American entrepreneurship.

At its core, "To Serve the Living" is about African-American funeral directors.

They were pioneering entrepreneurs in a largely segregated trade, economically independent and not beholden to the local white power structure.

More importantly, their financial freedom gave them the ability to support the struggle for civil rights and to serve the living as well as bury the dead.

"These entrepreneurs had both the financial resources and the prestige as leaders of their respetive communities to stand at the forefront of the formative campaigns for civil rights..."

The financial and political clout of African-American funeral directors provided them with a stature that could coalesce the community on points of relevance ranging from voter registration to community empowerment. This is a testament to their resilience, fortitude and pioneering spirit in times when such qualities in African-Americans were challenged and often times resulted in bodily harm or death.

In a September 2011 C-Span interview, the book's author Dr. Suzanne E. Smith points out the impact, viability and prominence of the African-American funeral director, from antebellum slavery to today

"...[P]rimarily, barber shops, beauty shops and funeral homes have remained largely segregated...[F]or the most part there is a loyalty in the African-American community to the African-American funeral director."

Click here for the C-Span interview

The Black List Gave Me Goosebumps

The rich and diverse fabric of African-American culture and accomplishment is on display and being celebrated in Washington, D.C.

Serena Williams, Toni Morrison, Puffy, Samuel Jackson, John Legend and Whoopi Goldberg are there.

There are fifty distinctive individuals...some weren't as recognizable to me...others' accomplishments shatter myopic and limited stereotypes.

These men and women were the ones who really filled me with pride, made me smile and compelled me to tell you that, if possible, you need to go and see The Black List.

Even if you've seen the HBO special, you will benefit and be moved by the museum experience.
Timothy Greenfield-Sanders' life-sized portraits capture each individual's humanity and soul.

Admission is free.

Yes, the Black List gave me goosebumps and my soul soared!

The National Portrait Gallery at the Smithsonian.
October 28, 2011 - April, 22, 2012



(Pictured from top to bottom are Steve Stoute, media mogul; Susan Rice, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations; and Deval Patrick, Governor of Massachusetts)