Black History Month

On street games, as part of Black History Mumf. Illustrated with images from the opening sequence of Spike Lee's Crooklyn. I remember a lot of these myself, but the small variations make the attention to detail all the more compelling.
Frank Rich on the race politics of the Clinton campaign. I'm really disturbed by the sexist shit that comes out against Hillary Clinton, but at least it's not part of Obama's official campaign.
Tom Holt's 1994 AHA address on race and history. One of the smartest, most compelling addresses I've ever read.

Swimming

So today I noticed and coveted the swimming print in the background of this image from Black Eiffel's blog. For some reason I love vintage pool and beach shots. I collect postcards, new and old, and swimming is one of my favorite vintage themes. I think it's in part because pools back then were so often huge and majestic, with a scale that demands some sort of Esther Williams activity. When I was a kid, my family belonged to a "club" in Indianapolis called The Riviera, aka Rivi. It was the de facto neighborhood pool for parents willing to give into kids' begging to belong to a silly club rather than just go to the free public pool. It was built in the 30s, it was huge, it had slides and high dives, it had these great decks all along the side to tan on, and it was amazing. You can't tell from the black and white image here, but at least you can tell how uber-fun it was.

Anyway, while writing this post, I decided I should include the image at the bottom of the post. I had found this online ages ago and even though it's another of my favorites, I had lost any reference information or even where it came from. But it fits the theme right? And then I looked closer and realized it was the same image as the one framed in the Black Eiffel post. For some reason, this makes me so excited. Oh man, I'm about to beg Black Eiffel for some info. You rock Black Eiffel! (Actually, this is true. Black Eiffel is another of my favorite blogs. Maybe I should finally make a blog roll).