To love, honor, and obey… especially through racism
Haitian-New Yorkers included in $33,000 entertainment grant
Caribbean Life, JAN. 29-FEB. 4, 2021 35
By Terri Schlichenmeyer
You can never go home.
Imagine it: the people you
love, your room, your pets,
you couldn’t see them again.
No more hanging with your
friends, no more grabbing a
soda at your favorite store. How
would you feel if you were told
that you have to stay away now,
all because — as in the new
book “Finding a Way Home” by
Larry Dane Brimner — you fell
in love with someone whose
skin didn’t match yours?
Richard Loving never set out
to find a wife but, growing up
in Central Point,Virginia, he
knew a lot of girls, including
Mildred Jeter, the sister of his
race-car buddies. After awhile
of seeing one another, Richard
and Mildred realized they were
in love so they got married;
though it was 1958 and it mattered
elsewhere in America, it
didn’t matter in Central Point
that Richard was white and
Mildred was Black.
It was a big deal, however,
to the local sheriff, who busted
into the Loving’s home in the
middle of the night about a
month later and arrested the
pair, saying that what they
were doing (sleeping in the
same bed) was illegal. They
were told that their marriage
license was “no good,”
because, at the time, Virginia
and 23 other states upheld laws
that made interracial marriage
against the law.
Eventually, the Lovings
were released and told to leave
the area or be arrested again.
They packed up and moved
to Washington, D.C., but they
missed their families. Once in
awhile, they sneaked back and
visited but it just wasn’t the
same and Mildred didn’t want
to raise their kids in the city.
Urged by family, she wrote to
then-Attorney General Bobby
Kennedy and asked for help; he
pointed her toward the ACLU
where, six years after the wedding,
a young, fresh attorney
“found the circumstances of
their case irresistible.”
Tree years later, they got
their final ruling…
Their win at the Supreme
Court isn’t the end of the story,
however. Author Larry Dane
Brimner says that the ruling
for Richard and Mildred Loving
set into slow-motion the
upholding of rights of same-sex
couples to marry, the details of
which are inside “Finding a
Way Home.”
Brush up on your courtroom
skills first, though,
before tackling it.
Starting out with a literal
bang as a door is slammed
open, Brimner tells a story
that’s like gentle steel — the
former, because he says the
Lovings were that kind of people;
the latter, because of their
resolve. While that’s an almostincomprehensible,
absolute
must-read supported by rarely
seen photos, recreations of
documents, and direct quotes,
sadly, the story is tightly
chained to dizzying accounts
of the various trials involved
in their ultimate Supreme
Court win, details that almost
demand a law degree to follow
completely.
In then end, partly because
of the trials, there’s goodnews
bad-news-good-news in
this book meant for readers
ages 12-and-up, although they
might need your help to understand
bits of it. Even so, “Finding
a Way Home” is a story
they shouldn’t go without.
“Finding a Way Home:
Mildred and Richard Loving
and the Fight for Marriage
Equality” by Larry
Dane Brimner
c.2020, Calkins Creek
$18.99 / $24.99
Canada
109 pages
Book cover of “Finding A Way Home” by Larry Dane Brimner.
By Tangerine Clarke
Thanks to a $33,000 grant
from the Howard Gilman Foundation,
the Center for Traditional
Music and Dance (CTMD)’s
online series, Beat of the Boroughs
NYC Online, which highlights
the artistry of the city’s
leading immigrant performers
from around the world, will
continue through the spring of
2021.
The grant, in addition to previous
funding from the Scherman
Foundation and the NYC
COVID-19 Response & Impact
Fund, will allow CTMD to spotlight
100 New York city-based
immigrant and folk artists,
including Haitians.
According to the release the
artists — including several
National Endowment for the
Arts National Heritage Fellowship
Award winners — represent
the strength and diversity of
the cultural sector in the City’s
five boroughs, with traditions
hailing from Haiti, West Africa,
among other areas.
The livelihoods of immigrant
artists in New York City
have been severely impacted as
a result of the COVID-19 pandemic,
with many unable to support
themselves due to venues
shutting down and the lack of
endowments. A recent report by
the Center for an Urban Future
found that many immigrantled
and immigrant-serving arts
organizations are facing fiscal
catastrophe, reporting revenue
losses amounting to 50 percent
or more of their annu al budgets.
The report pointed out that
more than during any previous
era however, immigrants
have become pivotal to the success
of the arts in New York.
The number of immigrant artists
has grown 69 percent since
1990, compared to a 30 percent
increase in U.S.-born artists.
“New York City’s traditional
and folk artists have been particularly
impacted by both the pandemic
and the anti-immigrant
political climate in our country.
Amid the pandemic, many
of these artists have structural
impediments including the digital
divide and language barriers
to access federal relief funds
or private sources of funding.
Now more than ever we need to
support these artists, who have
suffered losses because of canceled
concerts, performances,
exhibitions, and other events,”
said Peter Rushefsky, executive
director of CTMD. “It is imperative
that we come together as a
city to support and celebrate our
immigrant communities.”
Beat of the Boroughs: NYC
Online will showcase the
immense talents of our artists
and further the public’s understanding
and appreciation of
their work during these trying
times,” said Andrew Colwell,
PhD, project director and staff
ethnomusicologist at CTMD.
“This new grant will allow
us to connect with and support
more immigrant artists in our
city when they need our help
most. This pandemic and its
effects are far from over, so we are
incredibly grateful to the Howard
Gilman Foundation for providing
us — and them — with the
opportunity to share their stories,
their music, and their passion.
Their voices — whether
through music, movement, or
the spoken word — serve as a
powerful platform for continued
advocacy for traditional arts in
our city of immigrants.”
To date, the series has included
up-close profiles of the life and
work of leading artists.
Organizers hope the series will
build more support for immigrant
artists who have been disproportionately
affected by the
pandemic and for CTMD, particularly
as the nonprofit continues
to highlight the artistic
diversity within New York City,
where millions of Americans can
trace their immigrant ancestors.
CTMD encourages donations at
https://ctmd.org/donate/.
Since the start of the series in
November, CTMD has highlighted
three artists or ensembles
each week, on Mondays, Wednesdays,
and Fridays. Audiences can
continue to tune in on those days
at 5:00 pm to CTMD’s YouTube
channel, https://www.youtube.
com/user/CTMDProgramsConcerts
or Facebook page https://
www.facebook.com/CTMDnyc.
Beat of the Boroughs: NYC
Online is made possible through
the generosity of the New York
Community Trust’s NYC COVID-
19 Response & Impact Fund, the
Scherman Foundation, and the
Howard Gilman Foundation.
Founded in 1968, the Center
for Traditional Music and Dance
has worked closely with dozens
of diverse communities over the
past five decades in creating a
number of ongoing arts programs,
festivals and community
based cultural organizations.
Each year, CTMD serves thousands
of New Yorkers through
a full calendar of programs that
provide unique opportunities to
experience and participate in the
City’s rich cultural traditions.
Find out more online at www.
ctmd.org.
/www.ctmd.org
/www.youtube
/CTMDnyc
/CTMDnyc
/www.ctmd.org
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/www.youtube
/CTMDnyc
/ctmd.org
