Entertainment

The Hunting of Billie Holiday

Published

10 years ago

January 20, 2015

Billie Holiday poses in this May 20, 1947 photo. (AP Photo/HO)

(Politico) – From his first day in office in 1930, Harry Anslinger had a problem, and everybody knew it. He had just been appointed head of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics—a tiny agency, buried in the gray bowels of the Treasury Department in Washington, D.C.—and it seemed to be on the brink of being abolished. This was the old Department of Prohibition, but prohibition had been abolished and his men needed a new role, fast. As he looked over his new staff—just a few years before his pursuit of Billie Holiday began—he saw a sunken army who had spent fourteen years waging war on alcohol only to see alcohol win, and win big. These men were notoriously corrupt and crooked—but now Harry was supposed to whip them into a force capable of wiping drugs from the United States forever.

Harry believed he could. He believed that the response to being dealt a weak hand should always be to dramatically raise the stakes. He pledged to eradicate all drugs, everywhere—and within thirty years, he succeeded in turning this crumbling department with these disheartened men into the headquarters for a global war that would continue for decades. He could do it because he was a bureaucratic genius—but, even more crucially, because there was a deep strain in American culture that was waiting for a man like him, with a sure and certain answer to their questions about chemicals.

Jazz was the opposite of everything Harry Anslinger believed in. It is improvised, relaxed, free-form. It follows its own rhythm. Worst of all, it is a mongrel music made up of European, Caribbean and African echoes, all mating on American shores. To Anslinger, this was musical anarchy and evidence of a recurrence of the primitive impulses that lurk in black people, waiting to emerge. “It sounded,” his internal memos said, “like the jungles in the dead of night.” Another memo warned that “unbelievably ancient indecent rites of the East Indies are resurrected” in this black man’s music. The lives of the jazzmen, he said, “reek of filth.”

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Activism

Richmond Seniors Still Having a Ball After 25 Years

The Senior Winter Ball is a symbol of the Commission on Aging’s broader mission of providing enriching life experiences to the local senior community, particularly those in need of them. “Besides the social activities, we focus on issues such as housing, transportation and health,” said Michelle Hayes, the commission’s chairperson. “We get things done for our senior population.”

Published

4 days ago

November 24, 2024

Oakland Post

Myrtle Braxton (l-r), Byran H. Harris, and Michelle Hayes. Photo by Mike Kinney.

By Mike Kinney
The Richmond Standard

For a quarter century, seniors in the local community have had a prime location in the heart of the city to gather and celebrate the holidays.

That is courtesy of the annual Senior Winter Ball, which will mark a milestone this year when it takes place for the 25^th time. The gala will run from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. at Richmond Memorial Auditorium.

The holiday tradition was started by the City of Richmond’s Commission on Aging in 1999 to entertain and celebrate seniors. The event also raises funds for local senior causes. Attendees wear their finest attire and enjoy dinner and dancing.

“It’s so exciting to see all of the gala attendees all dressed up and seeing their lifetime friends and making new friends as well,” said Bryan M. Harris, secretary for the Commission on Aging. “They will reminisce about old Winter Ball memories and at the same time create new ones.”

Richmond’s very own Chef Josephine Orozco of El Sol Catering will serve at this year’s anniversary dinner. The gala will also feature the band Top Shelf Classics, which plays hits from the 50s through the 80s and has been the gala’s annual performer for the last decade.

The Senior Winter Ball symbolizes the Commission on Aging’s broader mission of providing enriching life experiences to the local senior community, particularly those in need of them.

“Besides the social activities, we focus on issues such as housing, transportation and health,” said Michelle Hayes, the commission’s chairperson. “We get things done for our senior population.”

Myrtle Braxton, 97, has served on the commission for 17 years and is its current vice president. She says her goal is to increase the quality of life for seniors through safe social events.

“So many seniors are isolated and are sometimes forgotten by society,” Braxton said. “So, our commission is their advocate and makes sure they are not left behind.”

Tickets to the 25th Silver Anniversary Annual Senior Winter Ball are $45 per person or $360 for a table of eight. They are available in person via the Main Recreation office at 3230 Macdonald Ave., via email at csdregistration@ci.richmond.ca.us or by phone at 510-620-6793.