THE SIGNAL from David Katznelson
"There are only two or three human stories, and they go on repeating themselves as fiercely as if they had never happened before."-Willa Cather
My Mom held my hand and said, “maybe I have come just in time to see the end of the world.”
She had been helping put together our Shabbat dinner when my wife Barb ran in from her outside dog-walking sojourn screaming that we had to come outside right away. I thought maybe a coyote had attacked Emma. But when we got outside, there was Barb and the dog looking up into the sky. Above our heads there flew shining lights…dot after shining dot…flying in formation far up in the night sky. The closest close encounter I had ever witnessed up to this point was when Richard Dreyfus got a half-faced alien burn on a deserted road in Close Encounters of The Third Kind…but now it really felt like we were seeing something from another world, a sight that would not be believed by anyone who was not with us at the moment.
The show was over after about 40 of these glowing orbs flew across the sky and we went back inside wondering what they were and what would happen next. The kids, who have seen their share of 50s shlock science fiction films were both excited and befuddled. Kaya reminded us that we have a neighbor who regularly stands atop the bluff above our house watching what he calls UFOs flying on the night skyline (strange but true). Has he been right all along?
Barb started surfing the internet looking for answers, which she found. It looks like we had witnessed Spacex’s Starlink satellites launching into space. Starlink is a program designed to provide internet connectivity to the world. What we had seen was around 40 of the 30,000 satellites Elon Musk is planning to launch over the next few years. There is a lot of controversy surrounding the program, and to be honest, what we witnessed felt disconcerting…a new level of potential surveillance and connectivity that could easily be used for the wrong reasons and affect the efforts of scientists using the sky in their studies. And yes, there also is a real potential benefit for people who currently are not in places where the internet is accessible.
But regardless, we have officially had our “invaders from mars” moment and I will never be able to listen to alien abduction stories the same again.
Brad Elterman Channeled the Sunset Strip of the Seventies for Rolling Stone Cover
The impetus for this story is for Rolling Stone to showcase how Brad Elterman shot Miley Cyrus for the mag’s most recent cover…but the best part of it is the photos he took in the 70s of some of the great music legends of the time (like Bowie, Joan Jett, The Ramones), with stories behind them included….
Naomi Long Madgett, Champion of Black Poets, Is Dead at 97
Naomi Long Madgett: poet, poet publisher and poet laureate of Detroit of Detroit (for almost 20 years) has past away. She was mentored by Langston Hughes and passed on her knowledge to students and countless of great black poets whom she published out of her basement in Detroit. RIP.
Marcel Dzama / A Werewolf Moon, a Tight Rope to the Afterlife
Here are new works by Generation X artist Marcel Dzama in the recent Flaunt Magazine. He has gotten more colorful over the years, leaving behind his signature root beer based inks, but still displays his whimsical nature that makes his art such a joy to visit.
Blind John Davis discusses Chicago blues (from the Studs Terkel archives)
On the 107th anniversary of his birth, here is an interview with Blind John Davis conducted by blues enthusiast (and legendary author and DJ) Studs Terkel.
ALABAMA CENTENNIAL
by Naomi Long Madgett
They said, "Wait." Well, I waited.
For a hundred years I waited
In cotton fields, kitchens, balconies,
In bread lines, at back doors, on chain gangs,
In stinking "colored" toilets
And crowded ghettos,
Outside of schools and voting booths.
And some said, "Later."
And some said, "Never!"
Then a new wind blew, and a new voice
Rode its wings with quiet urgency,
Strong, determined, sure.
"No," it said. "Not 'never,' not 'later."
Not even 'soon.'
Now.
Walk!"
And other voices echoed the freedom words,
"Walk together, children, don't get weary,"
Whispered them, sang them, prayed them, shouted them.
"Walk!"
And I walked the streets of Montgomery
Until a link in the chain of patient acquiescence broke.
Then again: Sit down!
And I sat down at the counters of Greensboro.
Ride! And I rode the bus for freedom.
Kneel! And I went down on my knees in prayer and faith.
March! And I'll march until the last chain falls
Singing, "We shall overcome."
Not all the dogs and hoses in Birmingham
Nor all the clubs and guns in Selma
Can turn this tide.
Not all the jails can hold these young black faces
From their destiny of manhood,
Of equality, of dignity,
Of the American Dream
A hundred years past due.
Now!
