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Legendary Jazz Dancer Norma Miller Visits Wo’se Community Church

Published

7 years ago

February 27, 2018

Dance instructor Traci Bartlow leads attendees at Wo’se Community Church in a group dance for their “Lindy Hoppin’ Jazzy Juke” reception in East Oakland. Photo by Aziza Jackson.

Swing outs, Suzie Qs, and Shim Shams were all the rage Sunday afternoon at Wo’se Community Church’s “Lindy Hoppin’ Jazzy Juke” reception in East

Legendary jazz dancers Norma Miller, known as “The Queen of Swing,” as well as Chester Whitmore, and Chazz Young, son of legendary Lindy Hop master Frankie Manning, where all honored guests.

“Essentially, we often talk about how our culture is being stolen and complain about our separation from our culture,” said Tracy Brown, minister in training at Wo’se Community Church, and organizer of Sunday’s Jazzy Juke event.

“This was a direct opportunity to engage in the appreciation of our own culture.”

The Lindy Hop, born during the Harlem Renaissance, is one of the oldest forms of jazz dance, and is named after aviator Charles Lindbergh, nicknamed “Lucky Lindy,” who “hopped” the Atlantic Ocean in the first solo transatlantic flight in 1927.

It was made popular by African American dancers at the legendary Savoy Ballroom located on Lenox Avenue in Harlem, New York.

The Savoy Ballroom served as the only desegregated ballroom in the country where black dancers, musicians, and comedians could all perform under the same roof.

Norma Miller. Photo by Aziza Jackson

The Savoy is also the place where Norma Miller’s career began at just 12 years old.

“I worked with Duke Ellington, I worked with Count Basie, I worked with the great Louie Armstrong, and I’d been working with them since 1939, 1940, 1941, up until Pearl Harbor,” said Miller.

“They created what black people needed in this country; we broke the walls of segregation because of our music. You have to know us, before you know yourself.”

When asked what her favorite Lindy Hop dance move was, Miller smirked and said, “You learn how to do a good swing out.”

With most of these dances nearly a century old, Miller expressed extreme disappointment in seeing a lack of African American representation in ballrooms today.

“I can’t understand how could you be under 30 and not know this,” said Miller.

“You all came up with the telephones and the Internet. We never had any of that. We had no advantages. We gave them all to you, well did you do anything with it? Don’t you feel I should feel a little disappointed?”

Miller also said that she wants to make sure that these dances and their rich history get passed down to black youth for generations to come.

“There’s nothing you can’t do,” said Miller. “We can have a woman president one day, and we hope it’s this generation that could possibly do this. It has to start somewhere.”

In addition to hearing Miller, Young, and Whitmore share their experiences and reflections, attendees learned Lindy Hop dance moves from instructor Traci Bartlow.

“We saw children dancing with adults, we saw children dancing together, it was just a fun time for people to get together, and to just have a good time together, and to spend time with our elders who deserve to be honored,” said Brown.

“We have not only a right but a responsibility to pay homage to those like Ms. Norma, and Chester, and Chazz. It’s up to us to make sure our next generation has an understanding of their relationship to their own culture and traditions.”

For more information about the Lindy Hop, Traci Bartlow can be reached via Facebook at Starchild Enterprise.

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Oakland Post: Week of December 25 – 31, 2024

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of December 25 – 31, 2024

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2 days ago

December 26, 2024

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Bay Area

Glydways Breaking Ground on 14-Acre Demonstration Facility at Hilltop Mall

Glydways has been testing its technology at CCTA’s GoMentum Station in Concord for several years. The company plans to install an ambitious 28-mile Autonomous Transit Network in East Contra Costa County. The new Richmond facility will be strategically positioned near that project, according to Glydways.

Published

4 days ago

December 24, 2024

Oakland Post

Image of planned Richmond facility courtesy of Glydways.

The Richmond Standard

Glydways, developer of microtransit systems using autonomous, small-scale vehicles, is breaking ground on a 14-acre Development and Demonstration Facility at the former Hilltop Mall property in Richmond, the Contra Costa Transportation Authority (CCTA) reported on social media.

Glydways, which released a statement announcing the project Monday, is using the site while the mall property undergoes a larger redevelopment.

“In the interim, Glydways will use a portion of the property to showcase its technology and conduct safety and reliability testing,” the company said.

The new Richmond development hub will include “over a mile of dedicated test track, enabling Glydways to refine its solutions in a controlled environment while simulating real-world conditions,” the company said.

Visitors to the facility will be able to experience on-demand travel, explore the control center and visit a showroom featuring virtual reality demonstrations of Glydways projects worldwide.

The hub will also house a 13,000-square-foot maintenance and storage facility to service the growing fleet of Glydcars.

“With this new facility [at the former Hilltop Mall property], we’re giving the public a glimpse of the future, where people can experience ultra-quiet, on-demand transit—just like hailing a rideshare, but with the reliability and affordability of public transit,” said Tim Haile, executive director of CCTA.

Janet Galvez, vice president and investment officer at Prologis, owner of the Hilltop Mall property, said her company is “thrilled” to provide space for Glydways and is continuing to work with the city on future redevelopment plans for the broader mall property.

Richmond City Manager Shasa Curl added that Glydways’ presence “will not only help test new transit solutions but also activate the former Mall site while preparation and finalization of the Hilltop Horizon Specific Plan is underway.

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Alameda County

Last City Council Meeting of the Year Ends on Sour Note with Big Budget Cuts

In a five to one vote, with Councilmembers Carroll Fife and Janani Ramachandran excused, the council passed a plan aimed at balancing the $130 million deficit the city is facing. Noel Gallo voted against the plan, previously citing concerns over public safety cuts, while Nikki Fortunato-Bas, Treva Reid, Rebecca Kaplan, Kevin Jenkins, and Dan Kalb voted in agreement with the plan.

Published

4 days ago

December 24, 2024

Oakland Post

Oakland City Council voted on a plan to balance the $130 million deficit at their last regular meeting of 2024. The plan reduces police spending by $25 million, temporarily closes two fire stations, and guts the cultural arts programs. iStock photo.

By Magaly Muñoz

In the last lengthy Tuesday meeting of the Oakland City Council for 2024, residents expressed strong opposition to the much needed budget cuts before a change in leadership was finalized with the certification of election results.

Oakland police and fire departments, the ambassador program, and city arts and culture will all see significant cuts over the course of two phases.

Phase 1 will eliminate two police academies, brown out two fire stations, eliminate the ambassador program, and reduce police overtime by nearly $25 million. These, with several other cuts across departments, aim to save the city $60 million. In addition, the council simultaneously approved to transfer restricted funds into its general purpose fund, amounting to over $40 million.

Phase 2 includes additional fire station brownouts and the elimination of 91 jobs, aiming to recover almost $16 million in order to balance the rest of the budget.

Several organizations and residents spoke out at the meeting in hopes of swaying the council to not make cuts to their programs.

East Oakland Senior Center volunteers and members, and homeless advocates, filled the plaza just outside of City Hall with rallies to show their disapproval of the new budget plan. Senior residents told the council to “remember that you’ll get old too” and that disturbing their resources will only bring problems for an already struggling community.

While city staff announced that there would not be complete cuts to senior center facilities, there would be significant reductions to staff and possibly inter-program services down the line.

Exiting council member and interim mayor Bas told the public that she is still hopeful that the one-time $125 million Coliseum sale deal will proceed in the near future so that the city would not have to continue with drastic cuts. The deal was intended to save the city for fiscal year 2024-25, but a hold up at the county level has paused any progress and therefore millions of dollars in funds Oakland desperately needs.

The Coliseum sale has been a contentious one. Residents and city leaders were originally against using the deal as a way to balance the budget, citing doubts about the sellers, the African American Sports and Entertainment Group’s (AASEG), ability to complete the deal. Council members Reid, Ramachandran, and Gallo have called several emergency meetings to understand where the first installments of the sale are, with little to no answers.

Bas added that as the new Alameda County Supervisor for D5, a position she starts in a few weeks, she will do everything in her power to push the Coliseum sale along.

The city is also considering a sales tax measure to put on the special election ballot on April 15, 2025, which will also serve as an election to fill the now vacant D2 and mayor positions. The tax increase would raise approximately $29 million annually for Oakland, allowing the city to gain much-needed revenue for the next two-year budget.

The council will discuss the possible sales tax measure on January 9.