More Great Music Documentaries

     The world of music is a fertile ground for documentary makers. There are thousands of interesting stories that resonate deeply with music lovers. Many of the performers and genres have been around for decades, long enough to create a chronological sweet spot. Enough time has passed to allow for thoughtful and objective evaluation of the subject and its importance, but there are still people around with firsthand involvement and connections. Here are a few great documentaries that I've watched recently.

Little Richard: I Am Everything

Little Richard: King and Queen of Rock 'n' Roll

    It's only fitting that the true King, Inventor, and Architect of Rock and Roll gets not one but two great documentaries. I Am Everything and King and Queen of Rock 'n' Roll both tell the story of Richard Penniman, aka Little Richard, from his beginnings as one of 12 children in a shotgun-style house in Jim Crow Macon Georgia until his death in 2020. There is no doubt that Little Richard has a strong case to make as the inventor of rock and roll. Without Little Richard, there may never have been the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, James Brown, Prince, Michael Jackson, Lizzo, Beyonce, or Beyonce. And he never got his due. He was cheated out of his money by record company executives, oppressed by the racism in the country and industry, and his legacy was overlooked for decades. On top of all that, he had serious personal mental health issues, chiefly deriving from struggles with his own sexuality. Tormented by his homosexuality or bisexuality, he did everything in excess - drugs, alcohol, and sex. It's amazing that he lived as long as he did. Both documentaries do a great job of exploring everything about him.

    

Love to Love You, Donna Summer

    From the King (and Queen) of rock and roll to the Queen of Disco, Donna Summer. Few performers dominated the industry like Donna Summer with hit after hit. One of her daughters produced Love to Love You, Donna Summer which incorporates a lot of home movies. As it turns out, Summer was an aspiring filmmaker and often had a video camera in hand. The documentary gives viewers a real glimpse into both her professional and personal life, and viewers might be surprised to learn that she had a real sense of humor and was always "on" in one way or another. On stage and in music videos, she was playing a role, or many roles, creating characters for her songs. Off stage, she was making family videos and being generlly goofy. It makes for a charming depiction.

    

Fanny The Right to Rock

    Raise your hand if you've ever heard of Fanny? I never had, and I know a lot about rock music of the 1970s and 1980s. Fanny was the first great American all-female rock band and the first ever Filipino-American rock band in history. They recorded five albums from about 1969 to 1975, while The Go-Gos only recorded 3 in their career, and had numerous chart hits. The documentary includes lots of commenting musicians who are much more famous than Fanny but who were hugely influenced by their music. This documentary was a great discovery, and I am so glad I saw it. I became a huge Fanny fan. Look up their music. It's amazing. They deserve much more attention than they ever got.

    

Moonage Daydream

    HBO is now airing Moonage Daydream the 2022 David Bowie documentary approved by his estate.  For Bowie fans like me, it's a must see. The music and cinematography are unbelievable. Unfortunately, I didn't see it in in a theater during its original run, but I'm glad I can now catch it on my small screen. 

Nat Geo Live: Catch It If You Can

     America has a long history of lectures-as-entertainment. Ever since colonial days, orators and authors crisscrossed the country bringing drama, literature, and knowledge to city people and townspeople alike, performing in churches, auditoriums, and taverns, often drawing large crowds of people who were starved for news and stories of the world outside their often mundane and provincial lives. The National Geographic Society continues that proud tradition with its "Nat Geo Live!" speaker series. I had no idea it was thing until we moved to metro Tampa. The Straz Center is Tampa's biggest performing arts venue complex, and it hosts a "Nat Geo Live!" series annually. To my knowledge, there were no such events in metro Atlanta. 

    We had the pleasure - kind of a strange word choice based on the subject but I can't think of another - of attending the last of the series a few weeks ago. Dr. Alicia Odewale, an archaeologist and educator whose field of expertise is the African diaspora, spoke on the Tulsa Race Riot of 1921, otherwise known as the Greenwood or Black Wall Street Massacre. The Tulsa Riot is one of the most shameful events in American history, an orgy of racial violence that occurred on May 31 and June 1 in which the thriving black community of Greenwood was literally levelled by white mobs incensed by probably false accusations that a black teenaged boy had somehow sexually assaulted or molested a white teenaged girl. A hundred years later, the true number of casualties is still not known. The death toll may be as high as 300. Hundreds of people remain unaccounted for. In the immediate aftermath of the riot, National Guardsman interned Greenwood's remaining residents in camps for weeks and charged black citizens for crimes, but no white was ever charged. For decades, the massacre was intentionally and officially covered up.  Odewale, herself a Tulsa native, never learned about it in school and heard almost no talk about it, even though she had relatives who went missing during the event. 

    In recent years, great strides have been made to capture the stories of survivors and to discover what actually happened. Dr. Odewale is one of the archaeologists and historians leading the efforts, despite continued roadblocks, and even death threats, meant to put an end to the search for truth and quest for some sort of healing. Her presentation was excellent, informative, educational, and, yet in spite of the subject matter and its inherent sadness, positive and uplifting. 

    I look forward to more Nat Geo Live! events in the future. Look for them in your city.  The program's website is https://www.nationalgeographic.org/society/projects/ng-live/

    For more information about Dr. Odewale and her work, https://aliciadodewale.com/

    

What to Do, What to Do

     I've noticed a common thread running through social media posts of some of the history-based social media content producers that I follow (Many of whom I have featured in a 7 Questions Blog).  They've posted about feeling the need to change their content or their platform or their style because they don't feel they're reaching their fullest potential, or they feel that they are stuck in a rut. It's a feeling I most definitely relate to. 

    In 2013, four friends, teachers at  four different schools in Henry County Georgia, were wrapping up our last experience of four Teaching American History programs that took us all over the country, exploring the entire breadth of American history. The TAH Grant programs were phenomenal. They were without a doubt the most valuable professional development experiences of our careers, and they had a huge influence in shaping us as classroom teachers and making us better. We also developed a friendship that might not have happened without the grants and an even wider network of colleagues, mentors, and friends that we continue to call on today. Disappointed that our experiences were ending, we decided to create a social media group called the Histocrats to share our love of history across several social platforms. We started blogging and building a presence on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. Within a couple of years, we had gained tens of thousands of followers across all the platforms, and we got to meet some people and do some great things.  ( https://linktr.ee/Histocrats)

    Then, life happened, and Histocrats went dormant for a couple of years. The other Histocrats have moved on. In 2020, I became the first Histocrat to retire, and my wife and I moved from metro Atlanta to metro Tampa Florida. I decided that a fun retirement project would be to revive Histocrats.

    And it has been fun. I spend maybe 10 hours or so online a week, posting and blogging. We've done some incredible things and met some incredible people. It keeps me occupied and out of trouble; in three years, I've not been bored enough to think about actually working again. However, online growth is incredibly slow, stagnant even. I admit I was never as attached to Instagram and Twitter as the other Histocrats were. In fact, I only went to Twitter because of Histocrats. I've always detested the platform and still think that it does more harm to the world than good. I do enjoy Instagram a bit more because it's more visual and more appealing - nicer, safer place.

    I like blogging, even if I have to prod myself to get into the mood on occasion, and I get no real sense that anybody ever reads them. One of the most popular blog features has been the "7 Questions With" Blogs in which I do mini-interviews with authors, historians, content creators, makers, hobbyists - anybody I come across who makes history a big part of his or her life. I love these as well, but they are getting to be sparse. I'm currently in the midst of a huge dry spell, you may have noticed. Each month, I probably send out 10-15 requests to potential subjects. Of those 10-15, I typically publish one blog, after getting replies of interest from two to three others who never follow up. Frustrating.

    I'm not sure what, if anything, is coming next. I know some creators have gone to Substack. I'm not sure about how that would work. I know I'm not looking for a full-time or even part-time job. I just want to continue exploring, enjoying, and sharing my love of history with others, and I will in some context. It would just be nice if more people were along for the ride.

    I would like to extend a huge THANK YOU to the original Histocrats and Histocrats followers and supporters over the years. I am open to your suggestions.

Crossing Your Ts, Dotting Your Is, and Minding Your Ps and Qs in a Q & A

 

    We recently attended a marvelous presentation on a very important historical event. It was informative and entertaining and exceptionally well done.

    And then, the floor was opened up for a Q & A session. That's when it all fell apart. It was an excruciating half hour or so as we heard ten or more life stories and maybe one or two worthwhile questions. It occurred to me that there are many people who don't know what a question is and who don't know how to properly ask a question. The art of the question is essential in history and science, in every aspect of life in fact. In order to advance knowledge, in order to learn, in order to be human, everything starts with a question. The ability to question makes us human and sets us apart from other organisms. Putting aside philosophical versions of questioning, questioning is how we interact with each other as humans.  The huge secret that Dale Carnegie revealed in his How to Win Friends and Influence People books, lectures, and programs that still impact countless people today is that one initiates and builds relationships by asking questions of the other person in order to get to know them better and make them feel at ease.

    So questioning is important. We've all been in meetings and situations where questions are asked that make us shake our heads or tune out. Educators, parents, and others should spend time and energy helping their young people learn how to develop and ask meaningful and specific questions so that they can learn and, maybe more importantly, learn how to learn. 

    Here are a few tips for the next time you find yourself in a Q & A session. 

    1. Nobody cares about your life story. There is a reason you're in the audience and not on stage.

    2. If you have a question, step up to the microphone and take your place in line. Don't make people wait for you to cross the room.

    3. There should be no more than one or two periods and one or two question marks in your entire speech. Follow ups should be made a part of your original speech.

    4. Ask and move back to your seat. Never ever stand there with three or four questions.

    5. Avoid phrases like "I think." See rule #1.

    6. Don't promote yourself during your time. 

    7. Ask yourself: Will the answer enlighten anyone else in the audience?

    8. DO NOT, under any circumstance, raise your hand after a question is asked and say to the presenter, "May I answer that?" Especially when you are an old geezer who actually does nothing to answer the question because you probably misunderstood it in the first place.

    Every day I find myself developing a greater appreciation for listening and questioning, two crucial life skills that seem to be harder and harder to find, as our world, unfortunately,  seems to be growing more and more contentious, fractured, and dysfunctional.  We should be doing our best to develop and model these skills as much as we can.

One of the Greatest Gifts

     I know it's a little late for Christmas 2022, but I have one of the greatest gift suggestions ever, for practically any person and any occasion, or for no occasion at all, just because. It is especially a winner for people who are deeply into history, genealogy, and family. 

    How many of us have wished we'd asked more questions and heard more stories from our parents and grandparents when we could, often only realizing it when it's too late? 

     Our immediate nuclear family exchanged Christmas gifts a couple of weeks after Christmas, and I received The Book of Myself, a blank journal of sorts that poses autobiographical questions, and the subject writes his or her own answers, providing a priceless document for family and friends.

    A couple of days ago, I was in a Barnes and Noble and found a whole display of different autobiographical journals to choose from. I guess there's sort of a trend going on. They're not that expensive - practically nothing compared to the value you receive when they are completed - and they may even be on sale after the holidays.  

    

    I think they're perfect gifts that could become priceless family heirlooms. Load up and give them to the people in your life.