Lucy Anne Hurston’s Blog

Washington, DC

November 2007

The Sixth Annual Hurston Wright Legacy Award Ceremony was held on November 2, 2007 at The National Press Club in Washington, DC.  This event touts itself as being “An Evening to Honor Literature by Black Writers” and with absolute confidence they can stand by that claim.  I know of no other organization that supports and bolsters Black writing and literacy as they do and I am humbled to sit on their advisory board.  The mission of the foundation, since inception in 1990, has been “…to discover, develop, and honor Black writers for the purpose of preserving the legacy and ensuring the future of Black writers and the literature they create.”  The Hurston-Wright Foundation does this through a myriad of programs and awards:

·         Hurston/Wright Writers’ Week

·         Hurston/Wright Workshop for High School Students

·         Hurston/Wright Creative Writing Intensive

·         Hurston/Wright Publications

·         The Hurston/Wright Award for College Writers

·         The Hurston/Wright Legacy Award

·         The Hurston/Wright North Star Award

·         The Hurston/Wright Madam C.J. Walker Award

·         The Hurston/Wright Ella Baker Award

On Friday evening, we were enthralled with a cultural, visual, musical and literary feast (and the food was pretty darn good too!).  Clearly, this was the most phenomenal and well-coordinated event of the foundation I had ever attended.  Marita Golden, President and Founder, and Clyde McElvene, Executive Director and Co-Founder, surely deserve tremendous accolades for the function this year.  For the past 17 years, Golden and McElvene has rallied an impressive lot of supporters and backers for their programs and awards and this year was no different.  Signature Sponsors were Borders Books & Music and Random House.  Principle Sponsors were HarperCollins, Penguin Group (USA) and Simon & Schuster.  There was also a vast and impressive list of Individual and Organization supporters.

The weather was in my favor and I strolled the two block from my hotel to The National Press Club.  It was my first time at this prestigious building and I leisurely made my way to the 13^th floor enjoyed the historic memorabilia decorating the hallways.  Upon my arrival in the ballroom, I paid homage to the cash bar, collected a raffle ticket and enjoyed the delightful display of delicacies at the appetizer tables before being whisked away for the 15 minute pre-show rehearsal.  Prior to my arrival, I was nervous about the state-of-the-art reflective teleprompter but it proved to be no challenge to maneuver at all.  Right on time, the lights flickered and the room filled with a myriad of guests, nominees and supporters all hushed and anxious.  The music was cued and it felt like Oscar night…except our music was better. 

This was a black tie function.  I always enjoy the opportunity to don a gown (not necessarily the accompanying heels, however) since as a sociology professor I’m most often in Birkenstock sandals.  Angela Nissel, co-producer and writer for the NBC show Scrubs, was our host for the program and a splendid Mistress of Ceremony.  Angela was quite the professional…and quite the comedian…as the microphone childishly played pranks with feedback and echoes spontaneously throughout the evening. 

Beginning right on time, awards were presented in specific categories for nonfiction, poetry, debut fiction and fiction.  Each winner and finalists receipted a trophy called a Djhuiti (pronounced je-hu-ty) which is an ancient Egyptian symbol representing the patron saint of writing, speech and divine intellectual pursuit (circa 3200 BC).  Since 2006, this is the official award of merit given at this event and I found it stunning with historic and symbolic beauty.  Upon receipt of the award and a photo op, recipient speeches were short and we needed neither hook nor music to ply people away from the podium.  Dispersed between each literary category of awards were the special awards: the Ella Baker Award presented to David Harrington, the North Star Award presented to Sonia Sanchez and the Madam C.J. Walker Award, which I presented to The Shrine of the Black Madonna.  Appropriately placed midway through the program was a reverent and stirring Poetic Tribute to the high princess of poetry, Sonia Sanchez, and the four orators moved and spoke as one bringing the audience to their feet.  Clyde McElvene made the appropriate closing remarks and you had to be there when this self-proclaimed bibliophile/cultural activist made reference to “four important things” in what he called George Bush style by holding up five fingers.  The whole place roared!  I adore Clyde’s sense of humor!  Unlike the televised Oscars, we were done in one revolution of the clock and left to leisurely visit with attendees and congratulate the winners.  And, no, I did not win the raffle drawing!

DETROIT, MICHIGAN

OCT. 2007

I arrived in Detroit for the first time in the middle of a marathon.  No, really: the 2007 Detroit Free Press/Flagstar Marathon…making it difficult, if not nearly impossible, to get to my hotel, the Holiday Inn Express.  I felt as if I crossed the finish line along with several thousand others by the time I made my way into my hotel.  And because so many of the out-of-town marathon runners were staying (you guessed it) at my hotel, I could not check in until much later in the afternoon.  Finally around 3:00 p.m. a very cheery and excited employee, Cheree, checked me into a lovely suite on the top floor overlooking beautiful downtown Detroit and the bridge to Canada.  So began another Big Read event; this one to be held at the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History on Zora Neale Hurston Day, the closing event for Detroit’s Big Read celebration.  Partners for this event were Wayne State University, the Institute of Museum and Library Services and Arts Midwest.  The Big Read brings together partners around the country to encourage reading for pleasure and enlightenment.

Everett Robinson, from the museum security staff, was my driver for this event and was timely, polite and pleasant.  At promptly 10:00 a.m. he was waiting curbside for me and we rode the brief 15 minute trip to the museum.  I was quite impressed with the structure of the building.  Over the front door was a gorgeous ornate African mask as if to welcome visitors into the building.

Waiting in the rotunda of the building was Shaunda Stockard.  We had corresponded in preparation for this event and now finally we met!  She was a charming hostess and we wandered the lobby space prior to the start of the program experiencing the lovely atrium with the streaming sunlight and round tables replete with framed Hurston quotations.  Tasteful and original!

Several hundred participants filled the tiered auditorium space.  Some were school children from the Frontier International Academy, the Lundy Academy and from the Adult Education portion of the Detroit Public Schools Michigan Commission for the Blind.

Within a half hour, it was “show time.”  The Detroit program involved a performative selection surrounding (and aptly titled) “The Men of Janie Mae Crawford’s Life.”   Here we saw and heard Logan Killicks, Joe Stark and Tea Cake briefly discuss their relationship to the ever-evolving Janie while the voice of the protagonist was overlaid and intertwined to propel the performance forward.  Simply brilliant!  The sparsely decorated stage has seats for the first two men in Janie’s life separated by a checker board and two bottles of “pop.”  Vergible “Tea Cake” Woods was so convincing as a smooth and likeable lover there were cat-calls from the audience as he spoke his lines.  We believed “Tea Cake” was in the house!  A standing ovation for this performance did not seem an adequate exchange for the creative presentation we be held. 

Then it was my turn.  Although there was a podium on the stage for me, I opted for the microphone without a barrier between me and the audience.  I spoke in short intervals, taking questions as they arose.  “Why did Zora leave her husbands?”  “How much like Janie was Zora?” “What was the significance of religion and language in Zora’s work?”  Questions were swapped for answer as we casually talked and laughed and shared stories.

In closing, I allowed the audience to hear from Zora as we played the first few tracks on the CD which accompanies my book.  Zora told of writing her first book and the interaction with her publisher. 

After a brief interlude, we moved into the lobby for the book signing and small talk.  Refreshments were served: pound cake and lemonade in keeping with the theme in Their Eyes Were Watching God.  Toward the end of the book signing I was given a gift of a beautiful African fabric-wrapped bookmark.  Truly, Zora would have been pleased.

www.maah-detroit.org

Hamden, CT

Oct. 2007

For several years I have been invited to speak each semester with graduate students of Dr. Gloria Graves Holmes, Associate Professor of Education in the MAT - Elementary/Middle/Secondary Department of Quinnipiac University (http://www.quinnipiac.edu), as they evaluate the book, Their Eyes Were Watching God as part of their required area of study.  Each year it gets more special and I am always astounded by the brilliance and veracity of Gloria to push and challenge her students as they tackle this text.  On this venture I arrived at 5:00 p.m. and was greeted by a most outgoing group of students who I teasingly labeled “FTAs” – future teachers of America (none of them caught my joking correlation to the Dixie Chick’s FFA: future farmers of America from the” Goodbye Earl” song).  We crammed, intimately, around a seminar table in a room in building CLA3 as Gloria served warm Mexican food and soda to us; the consummate hostess!  We bantered about a myriad of topics: my affinity and relationship to the community college system of which I am a product, Alfie Woodward in the movie “Miss Ever’s Boys” and the mistrust between the African-American community and the medical institution,  the prestigious history of the Tuskegee Airmen, my recent trip to New Orleans with 53 volunteers from Manchester Community College to assist in St. Bernard Parish alongside Habitat for Humanity, my Caribbean research work on various island and the shameful Dalkon Shield IUD scandal, before getting down to the business at hand. I teach wherever, whatever I can.   The questions from these inquisitive minds flew at me in rapid succession and I responded in kind; a sparing match of minds if you will.  We passed copies of my book around the room and we discussed the historical and sociological impetus for the Hurston renaissance.  A significant amount of time was spent on the inquiry into how Zora was a product of her social environment: a black and female child reared in all-black Eatonville, Florida in the late 1890s by John C. Hurston (who was born into slavery) and the determined Lucy Anne Potts Hurston (just missing birth during this peculiar institution).  Further into our discussion was the comparison between the book and the Oprah Winfrey movie production.  Once again, I drew my audience in so closely, so confidentially that we all lost track of time.  I posted my webpage and private email address on the white board behind me so all and any unaddressed questions could be responded to by me.  We lightheartedly huddled up against the wall for a group picture and parted ways.  Gloria and I continued our discussion out the hall, into the elevator and lazily through the parking area where only due to the incessant snacking on us by the evening mosquitoes we called it a night with pledges that we would find time in our busy schedules to get together for casual socializing.  I cross my fingers and pledge, earnestly, that I would schedule time for us to network before I meet her next group of students in the spring semester.

Jacksonville, Florida

Oct. 2007

Sue Haunty, Director of Learning Services at FCCJ, leaned against the wall outside the Wilson Center on campus and warned me, “You don’t want to be out here at night because of the alligators.”  It was an hour before my keynote address and we were having a “smoke break” before the start of the event as I admired the beautiful calm lake before us.  I chucked in disbelief and she emphasized, “No, really!  But don’t worry; you can see their eyes glowing in the dark before they get you.”  Ah, life in the south!  Shortly thereafter, a bright and friendly face popped out the door to greet me.  Dr. Susan Chappell, Executive Director of the Florida Community College Foundation officially welcomed me to the college.  Sheri A. Brown, Librarian at FCCJ, joined us after parking the car and these new-found friends and I entered the Wilson Center.  What a lovely piece of theatrical space!  I really loved the balconies on each side of this intimate room.  The stage crew and I had a chuckle over where to clip that wireless microphone attachment (I wound up with it clipped to the back of my bra like the Hunchback of Notre Dame…you had to be there!) and then we relaxed in the Green Room awaiting the start of the program. 

Although the stage crew had done an exceptional job of preparing the stage, complete with comfy Queen Ann chair, end table and water pitcher, I choose to wander through the audience and do the face-to-face as is my style.  I was pleased the event was well-attended and the participants receptive.  What was intended to be a 1 to 1.5 hour address ended up being an intimate chat (inclusive of random questions and answers with the audience) that ran on until almost 9:00 p.m.  None of us wanted to leave!  The invitees were treated to hearing Zora’s voice from the CD included in my book, Speak So You Can Speak Again, as I played the opening soundtracks between Zora and Mary Margaret McBride on WEAF Radio from January 25, 1943.  My audience and I, now having bonded, laughed and talked together as if we were old friends.  Sitting through the last of my Jacksonville events was again, John Farrar from the Jacksonville Public Library whom I’ve decided to label my “bestest stalker friend in Jax.”  It was now a comfort to have him there, as he was at each preceding event I appeared at, because we had become so close, electronically, over the months foregoing my arrival.  We ended the formal portion of the program hearing Zora’s rendition of the bawdy folksong “Uncle Bud” and then retreated to the lobby for the informal one-on-one chats over the signing of books.

A small cluster of us regrouped and relaxed at Maggiano’s Little Italy in St. John’s Town Center for dinner, desert and drinks.  Here amidst yet more laughter and the swapping of stories we watched the tale end of the New York Yankees game (moment of silence here please, for their playoff elimination) and I bid a fond farewell to my new southern friends.  Can’t wait to get back to Jacksonville, Florida in the very near future!

Jacksonville, Florida

Oct. 2007

As I entered the lobby of William M. Raines High School I am impressed with their wall of fame: a display of all previous principals at the school.  Here are framed pictures of African-American administrators!  This was the first historically black high school in Jacksonville constructed and opened in 1965.  I was greeted in the lobby by Assistant Principal of Student Services, Patricia Wade.  Accompanying her is Miss Raines, Ashley Wright, and her court, 1^st Runner Up Leteisha Miller and 2^nd Runner Up Chelsea Wilson.  These lovely and accomplished young women represent the school at social functions. 

My escort party takes me to the auditorium and we prepare to begin a program involving almost 400 students.  The principal, Mrs. Nongongoma Majova-Seane, controlled the packed auditorium with merely her presence and made the opening remarks.  The students were quite engaged and appreciative that I worked the wireless microphone through the audience as I took their questions face-to-face.  The conversation was part motivational, part historical and all fact-filled surrounding Zora, education and contemporary social issues.  Considering we were held captive in an auditorium with faltering air conditioning, they did well for the two hour program.  Occasional outbursts of laughter mixed with spontaneous rounds of applause meant they enjoyed their time with me.  I was most impressed with the caliber of questions posed to me by the student body.  These are the thinkers, shakers and movers of the next generation and I feel proud!

Following my time on their campus, was a social luncheon at the wonderful Café NOLA, a splendid eatery housed within the Museum of Contemporary Art in downtown Jacksonville (www.mocajacksonville.org).  Reminiscing to my South Carolina grit adventure with Director of Literature David Kipen of the National Endowment for the Arts[1][1], I brave the Shrimp and Grits choice from the scrumptious menu and engage in small talk with John Farrar (Jacksonville Public Library Media Support Specialist), Mary Ann Clark (Ambassador, Cluster 4 Superintendents Standard Bearer Schools Duval County Public Schools) and two of her staff members,  Sharron Patterson (Ambassador, Cluster 4 Superintendents Standard Bearer Schools Duval County Public Schools) and her twin sister Karen Patterson.  It has been a truly memorable event, I dare say, for all involved.

Jacksonville, Florida

Oct. 2007

It’s balmy here in Jacksonville and the reception is toasty warm.  I was met at my hotel by Carolyn Williams, the Jacksonville Public Library Deputy Director, and transported to the Historic Mt. Zion Church.  This impressive church was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places on December 30, 1992 and was organized as a place of religious worship by several Freedmen on July 28, 1866.  It contains some of the most beautiful stained glasses windows I have ever seen.  An excited and engaging group awaited me there.  Finally I met John Farrar face-to-face.  I felt like I knew him as an old friend.  We’ve spent several months emailing and phoning to coordinate this weekend’s event.  John has done a spectacular job at keeping me informed and arranging my requests down to the smallest detail in preparation for these events.     I was warmly received by the attendees and quite grateful that they were so very vocal.  Several of the elders in the audience had direct connections to Zora during her lifetime!  Zora was friends with the mother of one audience participant and she shared with us the events of Zora’s overnight visit during her childhood.  Well represented in the audience were fellow educators and we discussed the inclusion of Zora’s work within the main piece of high school reading requirements.  We also brainstormed over how we can increase reading in general for our youth and, in particular, reading other Hurston works.  It was a night of sharing, learning and laughing.  The questions were enticing and made me work pleasurably to engage their pursuits.  After the formal presentation, we retired to the social room in the church basement for refreshments that only “church ladies” could create: punch, sandwiches and desert all lovingly made and creatively presented.  Here we shared small talk one-on-one as I signed books for young and old alike.  Southern hospitality was the order of the night and, as a northerner, I was most grateful. 

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