2022: AUTUMN IN AMERICA
Election day Americana is the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November. Americans are waiting with eager anticipation for November 8 to end! Will Republicans go out in more significant numbers than Democrats, ensuring victory for some of the most morbid groups of election hopefuls? Will most registered Blacks turn out to vote in large numbers? Have Latinx abandoned the Democrats and gone red? How will Asian Americans vote? Will GenZers and Millennials take a pass on 11/8? What will suburbanites and Independents vote for? It is an understatement to conclude the importance of Election Day 2022. The election victors should be about who will serve the nation’s best interests, not the reds or blues. Will there be an October surprise? The October surprise has already influenced mayoral and gubernatorial races. I wonder about polls, and the people canvassed.
Most Americans are concerned about preserving democracy, inflation, the economy, public safety (schools, malls), climate change, abortion, and immigration. Hopefully, Midterm 2022 will digress from the norm, where the majority party loses seats in Congress, thwarting a sitting President’s agenda.
KANYE THE ENIGMA: Kanye West’s recent behavior is beyond reason. West, aka YE, wore a “White Lives Matter” T-shirt to a fashion week event. Isn’t that a white supremacist rebuttal to Black Lives Matter? Most were not offended by Ye’s fashion statement. His dad Ray West, a former Black Panther, was concerned and told his son about the offense. Ye began relentless anti-Semitic remarks a week later, egregious and seemingly intentional, not a garden variety bipolar episode. He was soon expelled by social media platforms Instagram and Twitter. He allegedly bought Parler, a far-right-conservative social network. Donald Trump made concurrent antisemitic remarks. Kanye’s business affairs were unaffected by his remarks until last week, when things started to fall apart. His new law firm called it quits. His talent agency, CAA, and business partners, Adidas, The Gap, and Balenciaga, dropped him. Kanye’s disruptive outbursts affect relations among African Americans, Jews, and white supremacists, many voting blocs! Is Kanye the October surprise?
In Great Britain, Rishi Sunak, 42, makes history as its new Prime Minister. Born in England, the son of Indian parents, he is the first person of color to be voted Prime Minister in Britain. A Conservative, he is worth $830 million.
ARTS AND CULTURE
The Ford Foundation will convene SAVE HARLEM NOW! Preservation Conference 2022 Saving This Place! A Call to Action for Preserving Harlem on November 3, from 9 am to 5 pm. “A daylong in-person conference with input from preservationists, architects, developers, scholars, community leaders, and elected officials to raise awareness, to activate, to collaborate, to educate our community and stakeholders in an effort to unite around our goal to preserve Harlem.”
FILM: MSNBC Films picked up THE TIPPING POINT. This new documentary series focuses on the complexities of today’s American society and beyond and is executive produced by Trevor Noah’s Zero Productions. Documentary subjects run the gamut from civil rights, voting rights, and climate change to January 6, immigration, and media disinformation. TIPPING POINT debuts on MSNBC and streams on Peacock on October 23. Noah’s producer partners include LeBron James, Maverick Carter, Angelina Jolie, and Leonardo DiCaprio.
Apollo Films and IMAGENATION will co-host a documentary film screening, “Mr. Nelson on the North Side,” about Minnesota-born African-American music icon Prince Rogers Nelson, aka PRINCE, directed by Daniel D’Or, at the Apollo Theater Sound Stage, located at 253 West 125 Street, Harlem, on November 17 at 7 pm. The film explores the influences, role models, and music styles that informed Prince’s genius. A cocktail reception and a Q&A are bookends of the event. Visit ApolloTheater.org/event/imagenations
BOOKS: The National Book Awards, NBA, 2022, is one of the prestigious prizes which recognizes excellence in literature in the United. States will be held on November 15. Books by and about Black people which made the NBA Short List include FICTION: Gayl Jones’ “The Birdcatcher,” which follows a group of Black American artists in Ibiza: a writer, her best friend, a sculptor whose husband repeatedly institutionalizes her for attempting to murder him and NON FICTION: “His Name Is George Floyd: One Man’s Life and the Struggle for Racial Justice” by Washingon Post reporters Robert Samuels and Toluse Olorunnipa.
INDEPENDENCE: The Caribbean twin island nation of Antigua Barbuda was granted independence from Great Britain’s colonial rule on November 1, 1981. Antigua Barbuda is a member of the Commonwealth. However, Prime Minister Gaston Browne plans a referendum to replace the Monarchy.
A Harlem-based business strategies consultant, Victoria, can be contacted at victoria.horsford@gmail.com.