‘Commentary’ Archives
Something I Said: Terry Bellamy – A Singular Presence
By DWIGHT HOBBESTerry Bellamy, who passed in January, was, to say the least, a singular presence. I met him in 1993 at the Playwrights Center for some sort of town hall meeting. He got up and raised three different kinds of hell, calling the organization out for being whites only. We chatted afterward but for the life of me I can’t remember a word either of us said. I do recall within weeks the Center had a black playwrights workshop led by the regrettably late actor Byrd Wilkins (Doctor Who, Running Scared). I joined. Next time I saw Bellamy was in August Wilson’s Two Trains Running at Penumbra Theatre Company. It wasn’t the last as that presence fueled several powerhouse performances at the Twin Cities answer to NYC’s fabled Negro Ensemble Company. The man was, hands down, an amazing actor who appeared all over America in productions at prestigious venues. He was not, however, like many actors, in the profession for the sake of ego, and helped local performance [...]
Raise Your Voice: Stop Toxic Harm
Missing and Murdered Indigenous Relatives March goes down 24th Street on a rainy February 14. Photo Credit: Peter Molenaar By PETER MOLENAARThree years before my mother’s mother was born, a young man named W.E.B. Du Bois took note: “Among the most corrosive effects of racism is its tendency to make its victims see themselves through the eyes of people who hold them in contempt.” Yet today, we ponder the death of Tyre Nichols. Indeed, ‘The Souls of Black Folk’ was Du Bois’ seminal work. Thankfully, our nation’s book banning movement is resisted by the good librarians at Franklin, Hosmer, East Lake and Walker. ‘GO FREE OR DIE: A Story about Harriet Tubman’, has begun to circulate among our children. Yes, it is from within the ranks of the oppressed that the most transformative individuals emerge.38th and Chicago, not long after… I recall the convening of indigenous drums and dancers there. February 14, 2023… The gymnasium of the East Phillips Park [...]
Dave’s Dumpster March ’23
Dave Moore & Linnea Hadaway have lived here since the Reagan 80s and became life partners while originating the cartoon series “Spirit of Phillips.”
