By Abigail McGrath
Did I ever tell you my Basquiat story? He painted the walls for a disco club in my building. When we left, his murals were still up. A corporate office was moving in, so they painted over them. -Abigail McGrath
I don’t remember...
By Abigail McGrath
In the second grade in Mrs. Aranol’s class at P.S. 67 in Brooklyn, we all made Mother’s Day cards to take home. We fashioned paper carnations out of red crepe paper and glued them to a piece of cardboard.
A couple of kids...
Gone are the days when you could put the carcass of a dead bird on the table and have everybody oh and ah at the sight of the shiny, crackling crisp skin. Remember the Charles Lamb essay: Dissertation Upon Roast Pig? Remember the part...
Renaissance House Retreat for Writers and Artists in Martha’s Vineyard will celebrate its 23rd season by offering three exciting writing programs in June, July and September 2022 held in its original Oak Bluffs location--a home where legendary novelist Dorothy West (“The Wedding”) would write.
Renaissance...
The second Monday in October, Columbus Day, is coming up. Italians all over America are gearing up for parades and festivities in honor of the great Italian explorer Christopher Columbus.
October 12, 1492: We're looking at over 500 years of celebration and not once (to...
Barracoon is the story of how over 100 people were sold into slavery after slavery was declared illegal, their lives destroyed over a bet.
Timothy Meaher, a wealthy Alabama steamboat captain, shipyard owner and owner of the ship “The Clotilda,” bet a Yankee from New...
Did I ever tell you my Basquiat story? He painted the walls for a disco club in my building. When we left, his murals were still up. A corporate office was moving in, so they painted over them. -arm
I don’t remember the first time...
When I was in the 8’s* at the Little Red Schoolhouse, a very progressive private school in “the city”, we had projects for Black History Month. I was part of a team of two. Our project was Sojourner Truth. After school, my teammate and...
What principle do you believe in so much that you would risk your life for it?
Is America getting better or are we getting soft?
I grew up in the “assassination generation”, the turbulent 60’s and 70’s, in the midst of riots, demonstrations and wars which...
Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god….I could be the grandmum of the future King of England. I, a lowly, blue-collar, overeducated and undervalued woman from North Portland Ave. in the Fort Greene Projects of Downtown Brooklyn, could have spawned a daughter...
I have celebrated Christmas all my life. I never thought of it as an exclusively “white” holiday. Now that I know the virtues of Kwanzaa, I cannot think of it as an exclusively “Black” holiday.
Although it is true that “Santa” has taken the Christ...
What do you say to your neighbor when he has been publicly accused of rape, sexual harassment and in general, just being a pig?
Do you shun him? Do you say that you ‘re not surprised? Do you act as if nothing has happened?
On the...
NEVER STOP
On Martha’s Vineyard where the care, education and rearing of the Plover is one of the more important, radical and divisive events on the island, one can lose track of what is going on in America (the mainland). If you don’t watch TV...
Wayne Powell has a lot to smile about. His daughter LaNice, right, and granddaughter are integral to his successful security business. (Photo: Courtesy of the Powell Family.)
