SKIP FINLEY
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Ellen Weiss, the prolific writer, architectural historian and professor emerita of Tulane University’s School of Architecture, is author of An African American Architect Designs for Booker T. Washington. The book is about Robert R. Taylor, who designed most of the campus buildings of the Tuskegee Institute. Oak Bluffs residents and denizens also admire Ms. Weiss’s 1987 book, City in the Woods, which defined the 75 acres of the Cottage City Historic District, the 34 acres of our campgrounds, along with the seven acres of Ocean Park, which some 10,000 will joyously cram into tonight for the annual Oak Bluffs fireworks. This evening, weather permitting, is the 37th time our Firemen’s Civic Association has hosted the event, again with financial assistance from Black Entertainment Television and its popular Centric cable channel. Crossland Landscaping’s painstaking crosscutting of the emerald green grass at the park enhances the view. It’s easy to see why the first ride on a ferry to Oak Bluffs brings so many back for so many years, with the annual fireworks placing an exclamation point on the season.
Thank you Debra Lee and the kind folks at BET who have increased their involvement with our town, sponsoring the Harry Belafonte movie Monday at Dreamland, the Martha’s Vineyard Comedy Fest this week and next, providing a luncheon Tuesday discussing the influence of African American women, and Centric’s celebrity-studded soiree last night at Hooked — but especially for supporting Martha’s Vineyard Magazine’s Best of the Vineyard Event, the annual Oak Bluffs fireworks.
Last week’s Harlem Fine Arts Festival at the high school Performing Arts Center was well attended with a million dollars in sales reported. Promoter Dion Clarke thanks all who came and spent, and singled out sponsors BMW, Pepsico, Amtrak and Aetna for praise, saying it couldn’t have been done without their support.
The Martha’s Vineyard NAACP celebrates its 50th anniversary with the African American Heritage Trail by honoring Nikki Giovanni at Hooked tomorrow at 5 p.m. The event features cocktails, music and dancing and will feature an exhibit of memorabilia and photos. Tickets are available at C’est la Vie.
Tomorrow at 5:30 p.m. the concert in the Tabernacle is “Treasures at Dusk” featuring the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis. Everyone is excited by Mr. Marsalis’s frequent returns to Oak Bluffs. Bettie Eubanks opens her art show at the Dockside Inn tomorrow with a reception from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. Also tomorrow, artist Glenn Tunstull’s opening reception is at Cousen Rose from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m.,
The 15th Annual Ken Williams Memorial Scholarship Fundraiser is Sunday at the VFW at 1 p.m. with tickets available at the door.
An impressive list of recognizable names will host Artivism, a National Center for Civil and Human Rights conversation at Farm Neck on Monday at 6:30 p.m. It is a complimentary event, but registration is required at rsvp@civilandhumanrights.org .
The Association for the Study of African American Life and History presents the film Veterans of Color at the Martha’s Vineyard Film Center in Vineyard Haven — since there are no movie theatres in Oak Bluffs — on Monday at 7:30 p.m. The documentary is based on interviews with black members of the armed forces who stormed the beaches of Normandy.
On Tuesday, Charlayne Hunter Gault moderates a discussion hosted by Henry Louis Gates Jr. following a screening of the movie Free Angela and All Political Prisoners. The film will be shown at the high school at 7 p.m. The iconic Angela Davis, cast member Margaret Burnham and director Shola Lynch will be there. Michael Hunter’s Piknik is sponsoring the evening.
A special advance screening of The Watson’s Go to Birmingham is at the Tabernacle at 7 p.m. on Tuesday. Farm Neck’s Tonya Lewis Lee is one of the executive producers and screenwriters, and Skip Gates’s adorable daughter Liza Gates also worked on the production, which debuts on the Hallmark Channel on September 20.
Excitement abounds for On the Vine’s Smokey Robinson and Angie Stone concert Thursday, followed by Natalie Cole and Babyface on Saturday. Both concerts begin at 5:30 p.m. There is a special evening of jazz on Friday from 9 p.m. to 1 a.m. at the Island Bar and Grill. The multi-day festival will raise funds and awareness for kidney disease research. Tickets are available at C’est la Vie and Jim’s Package Store.
There are two panel discussions at Union Chapel on Thursday from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. One on black land ownership featuring Dr. Richard Taylor and Shelley Christiansen, and the other, Translating Athletic Dominance into Business Wealth, is moderated by New York Times columnist William Rhoden and includes author Bijan Bayne.
Rev. Otis Moss III’s sermon was well received at Union Chapel last Sunday, according to rave reviews and reports of several standing ovations. That’s refreshing. Later that afternoon Northeastern University alumna raised over $100,000 at Hooked for black students’ tuition. That’s also refreshing.
If you haven’t yet heard, Henry Louis (Skip) Gates has a new project with PBS; a history series entitled Many Rivers to Cross, a 400-plus-year history of African Americans.
Tuesday’s full moon is called the Sturgeon Moon. Don’t waste a full moon sleeping; they’re spectacular on the Vineyard.
Keep your foot on a rock.
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