The Queen of Hang: Sheila E. Anderson

Copeland's Closes!!

SAD NEWS:

Heart, soul of Harlem dining saying farewell on Sunday, July 29, 2007. 

Last weekend I had a chat with my friend, Gregory, about the soul food restaurants in Harlem.  We both agreed that Copeland's had the BEST potato salad!  At times I would buy a bucket for my brunches and serve it as though I had made it.  However, after everyone raved about the salad and asked for my recipe I had to confess.  So, on Monday, the potato salad will be a mere memory.

Copeland said he is calling Sunday's brunch, which starts at 1 p.m., "the Last Supper" and will feature all of his specialties. His book, due out later this year, is titled, "You Got to Love What You're Doing and I Still Do: Calvin Copeland and the Story Behind the Legendary Harlem Restaurant as told to Mary Ellen Gardiner."

I have never had brunch there but I'll be front line and center on Sunday at 1 p.m....oh well, I guess it is better LATE than NEVER!  It will be hard to imagine my neighborhood without Copeland's, thankfully, I have many fond memories.  It was there that I had chittlin's vinaigrette, had some fun dates and heard lot's of music...Calvin, thanks for the memories.

The Fire This Time (Melville House, Inc.)

A new book by one of my dearest friends, Randall Kenan, is a must read! 

Myself and Randall at Hue-Man Bookstore at his recent signing

With his latest book, the NC-raised Kenan looks at how far we've come in dealing with what Baldwin called our "racial nightmare".  Now, in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, with a new generation of Americans confronts that idea in the best-selling author Randall Kenan who asks: How far have we come?

Like Baldwin, Kenan is acclaimed for both his fiction and nonfiction, which includes a biography of Baldwin and numerous essays on the issues that concerned him-such as class, religion, being a gay African American, and the failing perception that America has conquered racism.

"Randall Kenan continues Baldwin's legendary tradition of 'telling it on the mountain.'"-San Francisco Chronicle

About the Author
Randall Kenan is the author of several books including James Baldwin: American Writer, and Walking on Water: Black American Lives at the Turn of the 21st Century. He work has been awarded a Guggenheim, Whiting Writers Award, Sherwood Anderson Award, John Dos Passos Award, and Rome Prize from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. He is an Associate Professor of English at Chapel Hill.

Booksigning:

 Thursday, August 2

 7:00 p.m. The Mall at Prince Georges (Bowie, MD)

Join CEO/Owner of Karibu Books, Simba Sana for a special one on one with Randall Kenan author of "The Fire This Time" an update of the Baldwin classic, "The Fire Next Time"

Listen to his interview on North Carolina Public Radio.

Purchase Books: click on Amazon.com via this blog, or go to Melville House directly.

A New website to check out!

My friend, Vince, has partnered up with someone to create a new site for filmmakers!  Check it out and submit your work.  His new venture is really cool!  Sign up, log in, download your film.  It is called MOVE30.