JoeyPinkney.com Book Review The Magnificient Life of Gravvy Brown by Devaughn Lilly

The Magnificient Life of Gravvy Brown
by Devaughn Lilly
5 of 5 Stars

The Magnificent Life of Gravvy Brown by Devaughn Lilly is non stop action in a historical context. Born just before the Roaring 20s, Gravvy Brown went on the be the youngest person in Louisiana history to be executed for murder and the first person to be executed by the electric chair - just three days before his twenty-first birthday.

Book Review: "The Secrets of Newberry"

The Secrets of Newberry by Victor McGlothin

Available June 21, 2010

Reviewed by A. Jarrell Hayes

There are secrets worth killing for. And there are secrets worth keeping in order to prevent killings. Victor McGlothin’s new novel, The Secrets of Newberry, is rife with both types of secrets.

Set in the 1950s, in Newberry, a small town near New Orleans, Louisiana, McGlothin weaves a tale where the chief secrets center on the white man’s lust for black flesh. No matter what shape, size, or age of the black flesh, the white men in this novel can’t get enough of it. In order to keep the peace and to prevent violence, the abused and molested Blacks remain quiet about their encounters; sometimes out of shame and fear, other times out of pride and love.

Hampton Bynote is a black man in his early 20s trying to forget his own past while trying to deal with life as a black man in the deep Jim Crow south. His experience growing up as good friends with the son of the white plantation owner of the land his family sharecrops on, and his own take-no-stuff attitude, makes Hampton feel he deserves to be treated equal to Whites. He displays his defiance against the Jim Crow laws through violence and petty crimes against Whites.

Hampton’s schemes and misdemeanors evolve into felonies when he runs into Ivory “Bones” Arcineaux, a white man, at an illegal gambling house. Bones convinces Hampton to join him in burglary scheme where they rob rich Whites and give to themselves. Hampton is fine with stealing, but Bones has something more vicious and dastardly in store for those they rob, and when Hampton finds out what Bones is really up to, he begins to have second thoughts.

All this is going on while the secrets of the White man’s craving for black flesh are being unraveled in Newberry. Hampton discovers more than he ever wanted to know about the sexual practices of his mother and sister, and the lengths they would go to keep their secrets secret from the men folk. In the past, there was a violent uprising of black men once they learned of how black women were used sexually by the white masters, and of course the white men didn’t want another one, yet they couldn’t let go of their secret lust of flesh. So the white men convinced the women it was in their best interests to remain quiet about their affairs; and the black women consented willingly.

McGlothin is a wonderful storyteller and is able to transport the reader into the 1950s with use of language. The characters – and even the narration – speak straight from the era, with the fast talking, slang-filled dialogue that increases the book’s realism and enjoyment factors. Hampton is a great character, especially when he falls in love with the equally marvelous character Magnolia, and the suffering they endure in order to keep their love pure, honest, and without secrets.

McGlothin perhaps extends the novel longer than it needed to be, taking it into the ‘70s. The novel lost a bit of its charm during the transition, and the events within the later part of the book seem to be a reach to connect readers to sexual abuses more familiar in contemporary times. The book didn’t need this extension; nor does the addition take away from the brilliant story. The Secrets of Newberry is definitely a must read.

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First Day of New Orleans Jazz Festival 2009!

NEW ORLEANS — The New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival opened Friday with a salute to its roots and a tribute to the late gospel singer Mahalia Jackson.
Thousands of fans turned out for the tribute and dozens of other musical performances, enjoyed in the sunny weather and with plenty of food around.
To a packed tent, Grammy-winning soul singer Irma Thomas and gospel singers Mavis Staples and Pamela Landrum sang such Jackson hits as "Troubles of the World" and "Come on Children, Let's Sing."
Members of the audience stood, some clapping, others waving outstretched arms as Thomas sang: "I found the answer, I learned to pray."
Friday's other highlights included blues rocker Joe Cocker and trumpeter and composer Wynton Marsalis, who returned to his hometown to perform with the Jazz at Lincoln Center, the New York-based orchestra for which he serves as director.
The festival runs through Sunday and picks up for its last weekend next Thursday. Headliners include Bon Jovi, Erykah Badu, Dave Matthews Band, Wilco, Neil Young and Sugarland.
But more than 80 percent of the lineup is from Louisiana, including a host of New Orleans brass bands and Mardi Gras Indian groups.
"This is a treat, to see Irma in a gospel setting," said Jim Duncan of Lafayette, Calif., who said he's attended Jazz Fest for the past 17 years and considers Thomas a must-see. "She's one of my favorite singers. She connects with people and can make your hair stand on end."
This was the third year in a row Jazz Fest has held a tribute to Jackson, who performed at the first Jazz Fest in 1970, along with pianist and composer Duke Ellington and about 100 New Orleans-area musicians.
Festival producer Quint Davis said he plans to expand the tribute in the future to include workshops, film segments and panel discussions with scholars and people who knew Jackson and studied her work — "to build her legacy."
Thomas has performed at all three tributes and is set to perform again at Jazz Fest on Saturday. She has a long history with the festival. Though she didn't perform at the first Jazz Fest, she did a walk-on performance with the Tommy Ridgely Band in 1974 and made the lineup under her own name in 1975.
"And I haven't missed one since," she said.
Opening day wasn't just about the Jazz Fest veterans. It also showcased the next generation of Jazz Fest regulars, including 18-year-old Cajun fiddler Amanda Shaw and 23-year-old Troy "Trombone Shorty" Andrews.
"I love Amanda," said fest-goer Kathy Spadoni of Slidell, who scraped a homemade washboard as Shaw played the fiddle on stage.
As in years past, the festival offered a variety of local music, food and arts and crafts such as jewelry, quilts and hand-woven baskets.
For many, Jazz Fest is as much about the food as it is the music.
"You have to eat first," said repeat fest-goer Keith Connelly of Mission Viejo, Calif., who brought his 22-year-old daughter, Samantha, for her first Jazz Fest. "We're going to start with some crawfish bread and pheasant and andouille gumbo. That's what I always get."
Friends Peggy Gauthreaux and Dara Poche, both of New Orleans, ate before heading to their posts working one of the festival's beer booths.
"This is breakfast," Poche said with a laugh, holding a plate of alligator pie and fried green tomatoes, which she began eating before noon.
Still, for many, the day was about the music.
"I'm not going to miss Joe Cocker," said New Orleans resident Peggy Tujague, sporting a Joe Cocker T-shirt and visor. She set up her chair in front of the stage where Cocker would be performing hours before he was slated to take the stage.
On Saturday, James Taylor, Wilco and Erykah Badu are to perform. And Sunday, the Dave Matthews Band, Etta James and Earth, Wind and Fire perform. In all, there are hundreds of acts on 12 stages spanning two weekend.

Thousands Are Calling New Orleans Home Again

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — For the first time since Hurricane Katrina in 2005 left New Orleans a quagmire of flooded streets and smashed homes, the city's population has risen above 300,000 people, according to Census Bureau figures released Wednesday.
Demographers said the increase was tied to billions of dollars in rebuilding grants handed out to residents and the arrival of new people seeking to take part in the recovery, from laborers to young professionals. The Census estimated that on July 1, 2008, New Orleans had a population of 311,853, an increase of 23,740 over July 2007. Before the storm flooded 80 percent of New Orleans, the city's population was 455,000.
Maggie Merrill, Mayor Ray Nagin's director of policy, said the data was "a tremendous milestone."
"This reinforces what those of us who have been here working toward our recovery have known all along — that New Orleanians are strong, resilient, and committed to our city," she said.
Some indications from other sources indicate the city actually might have more than 300,000 people, and Merrill said the city would challenge the 2008 estimates.
For New Orleans residents, the projections confirm what they've seen with their own eyes — slow but steady progress in the recovery from Katrina.
"I am seeing cranes in the sky all over the city and cones in the street," said Steve Villavaso, a New Orleans urban planner involved in the city's rebuilding efforts. "I always said it would take 10 years, a 10-year cycle, to get us back to recovery, where we were before Katrina."

MAN KILLS HIS OWN SON TO AVOID CHILD SUPPORT...SAD.

By JANET McCONNAUGHEY, Associated Press Writer Janet Mcconnaughey, Associated Press Writer Sat Jan 3, 8:23 pm ET
NEW ORLEANS – A man who initially told police gunmen kidnapped his 2 1/2-year-old son was arrested Saturday, accused of committing an "extremely hideous" murder because he was ordered to pay child support, Police Superintendent Warren Riley said.
Danny Platt confessed, told police where to find the child's body and will be booked on a charge of first-degree murder in the death of Ja' Shawn Powell, Riley said at a news conference.
"He had said he would kill either his wife or his child before he paid child support," which he recently had been ordered to do, Riley said.
Riley said he did not know the amount of child support and would not describe how the boy was killed, saying the coroner would do that after the autopsy was complete. The coroner's spokesman did not immediately return a call.
"The mother is in a safe place," Riley said.
Although he had visiting rights, Platt, 22, of New Orleans, had never visited the boy until he picked him up Friday, Riley said.
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