Who are they? History has recorded their phenomenal mastery, almost from their birth, known today as THE LEGENDS OF JAZ: Miles Davis, Louis Armstrong, John Coltrane, Thelonious Monk, to name a few of almost 30 whose work is indelible to the American fabric of JAZZ, thus making this unequalled body, legendary.

What happens when European harmony is conjoined with African rhythms? It is the birth of an original, “JAZZ BABY!”

What made ROUND MIDNIGHT, the jazz piece all jazz musicians want to try? Perhaps, the words when Monk wrote that piece. It is a love song, when examined carefully. Many of us are familiar with the cautionary admonition, not to let the sun set with your mind in a bad state.

Monk could not handle the midnight chime, with his love life was in despair! Thus, ROUND MIDNIGHT.

Monk was born in October 1917, died in 1982 of a stroke.

An Die Musik (a cultural haven) in Baltimore, showcased the legends of jazz this October with Benny Russell (saxophone); Nuc Vega (drums); Greg Small (piano) and Phil Ravita (bass).

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Oswald S. Copeland, since 2013.

Designed for the promotion of cultural events in and around Baltimore Md. and is seen and read over seven countries including the USA and Europe.

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LARGE MANDALA STONE by Oswald S. Copeland

Why would you want to paint a Mandala Stone? For those of us who lead busy lives, interacting with multiple personalities, some found in one person, achieving CALM is utopia!

This quest for peace and serenity by using Mandala stones, is popular in the Middle East, associated primarily with Hinduism, Buddhism.

The full effect is to paint while humming, blocking out the concentric circles of confusion, anarchy, selfishness, greed, invoking a deity to overcome you with an edifying spirit.

BOWIE MANSION on Tulip Grove Drive

Some of us get there singing songs based on the 66 books of the Bible, others smoke a “blunt”, making sounds while eating, or become excited after an inebriated night out.

I was curious. The invitation said, “Wine and Design at Belair Mansion”; so, after a 2-hour session of designing your own Mandala stones, pat yourself on the back with a refreshing beverage of your choice: Merlot, Sauvignon, Syrah, or water; not to mention great conversations with participants, and host/ instructress.

Small Mandala stone

At the end, I took a short walk inside the mansion, on Tulip Drive in Bowie MD. Original construction began in 1875; it is now a museum.

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Oswald S. Copeland, since 2013.

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It is the title of a new film/documentary financed by the PEALE MUSEUN of Baltimore MD. An attempt to document what African Americans, (when they were called Negroes) did, to survive. From the 1900’s onwards; now the new survivor is THE SQUEEGEE KID, “WHO HAS ENTERPRENEURAL SKILLS”, (described by some of the well knowns in the city) that should be harnessed, channeled, rather than be harassed or prosecuted.

Why would the Peale do this? To show how entrepreneurial this brain thrust was; the film was made in 2019, and the media and the Baltimore population ignored it. Here we are in 2022, the Peale tries again, by getting the Reginal F. Lewis Museum to run a Free showing for public viewing consumption and sympathy. Many of us attending had scholarly interests. What does that tell you? The masses have no interest in the film/documentary.

I have written a letter about the squeegee kids and sent it to the Speaker of the House (MD. General Assembly) the candidates for Governor, and the Mayor’s Office. It has been two months, with no response from any party.

First, I am queasy about the documentary’s title. It implies and implicates disingenuousness, deceit, by any “means” seen fit by individuals, regardless of principled behavior. THAT IS TROUBLING. Look at Haiti today, the first African Republic in the Western Hemisphere, overrun by gangs, the population at large surviving “by any means necessary” Is that the forecast for the squeegee kid?

WWW, THECULTUREPAGE.COM, is solely produced, edited, and financed by

Oswald S. Copeland, since 2013.

Designed for the promotion of cultural events in and around Baltimore Md. and is seen and read over seven countries including the USA and Europe.

If you are interested in helping financially, please send contributions to:

THE CULTUREPAGE

c/o Oswald S. Copeland

5458 Endicott Lane

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Two white men dragged the 14-year-old into a jail cell, accusing him of whistling at a white woman. The “N” word was used continuously. Emmet kept pleading for mercy, saying he had not flirted with the white female; the angered white men ignored his plea. Minutes later, I heard the shot; Emmett was dead. The Chicago Illinois resident was visiting his relatives in Mississippi.

“Mississippi, God Damn!” (Nina Simone) ran through my mind with rocket speed.

Was Emmett really whistling at the white woman? How many knew he had a speech impediment (stuttering) and used whistling to correct it?

This October 2022, the story about the death of Emmett Till and his mother’s efforts to make Mississippi pay for such a dastardly crime, has resurged into the public consciousness. MAMIE -TILL MOBLEY is featured in a new full-length film/documentary, and CBS’s Sunday Morning ran a special on Emmett Till’s family survivors. I then heard, America’s oldest black theatre company, (1953) Arena Players in Baltimore MD., is entering its final days of two- week run, of the play, THE FACE OF EMMETT TILL. I had to be there, and so should you, to hear and see the shot that killed Emmett Till.

WWW, THECULTUREPAGE.COM, is solely produced, edited, and financed by

Oswald S. Copeland, since 2013.

Designed for the promotion of cultural events in and around Baltimore Md. and is seen and read over seven countries including the USA and Europe.

If you are interested in helping financially, please send contributions to:

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Columbia, MD. 21044 (USA)

It became a great rage some 15 years ago. Described as sexually suggestive because of the rotation of the waistline to a consistent beat or rhythm. Movement similar to actions engaged in animal cohabitation.

TWERKING.

In today’s world, such body action is associated with a particular age group and more so a race of women because of their prodigious endowment in the rear end.

“Hold Up!”

 They came with knee and ankle braces, some wearing t-Shirts with fortuitous messages; others with headwraps, and wearing no shoes, a preference for many of the attendees.

Are these seniors arriving at the Forest Park Senior Center to twerk?

Turns out, it’s more than hip and buttock gyrations, it’s a means of keeping in shape, covering a 40-yard auditorium for almost three hours nonstop, led by a native of Congo Brazzaville, Africa!!!

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Oswald S. Copeland, since 2013.

Designed for the promotion of cultural events in and around Baltimore Md. and is seen and read over seven countries including the USA and Europe

If you are interested in helping financially, please send contributions to:

THE CULTUREPAGE

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Columbia, MD. 21044 (USA).

But this little piggy stayed at home. Why?  Maybe one was white, the other black. Discrimination on the part of the farmer? Just a joke.

In Baltimore Maryland, there is a subdivision known as Pigtown. This section of Baltimore in the past was filled with slaughterhouses. Pigs came into town by the railroad B&O. The less educated worked in these houses, mainly whites from Appalachia, West Virginia, and blacks who could not find work elsewhere.

Over the past 40 years, PIGTOWN has undergone a transformation, more so with Caesar’s building a casino on the main drive, and in walking distance to Ravens Football stadium, and the Orioles baseball at Camden yards.

This October I was determined to witness the Annual PIGTOWN FESTIVAL.

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Oswald S. Copeland, since 2013.

Designed for the promotion of cultural events in and around Baltimore Md. and is seen and read over seven countries including the USA and

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Out of Africa was a big Box Office movie hit, in 1985. It won Best Picture at the Oscars and grossed almost 230 million dollars.

Today I bring you OUT OF AFRICA with a different twist. About a man whose ancestors were part of the MAROONS of GHANA They were human cargo of the Dutch slave trade that brought slaves to South America to work on the plantations of Dutch Guiana, now called Suriname. There are 3 Guianas: French, Dutch and British.

ADIANTE FRANSZOOM is now living in Baltimore Maryland, the United States, and even though an educated man, he makes his living as a carver; the skills he mastered as a child. He recently held an exhibition of his work at the Creative Alliance in East Baltimore.

I later took a tour of his studio/workshop:

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Oswald S. Copeland, since 2013.

Designed for the promotion of cultural events in and around Baltimore Md. and is seen and read over seven countries including the USA and Europe.

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It’s that time of the year: ghosts, goblins, tombs and talking to your ancestors. HALLOWEEN!!!

Mankind is so preoccupied with his longevity; THE PANDEMIC (Covid-19) has the same or perhaps a more dire impact than it did in 1918. (Spanish Influenza).

Millions have died because of COVID-19, the world is running scared. Insurance companies are being solicited, rather than the other way round.

Going back to the town you grew up in, could be a startling revelation: Miss Betty’s Coffee shop is no longer there. Gone also is Malcolm’s garage, and the sub shop.

You’re back home after 20 plus years. Your high school sweetheart, whom you married, died in childbirth, and many of your close friends came back home, to “OUR TOWN”, but they are in the Cemetery. You are wishing you could talk to them.

STEVEN WALKER-WEBB directs this new play at Center Stage Baltimore Maryland. You could be moved to tears.

WWW, THECULTUREPAGE.COM, is solely produced, edited, and financed by

Oswald S. Copeland, since 2013.

Designed for the promotion of cultural events in and around Baltimore Md. and is seen and read over seven countries including the USA and Europe.

If you are interested in helping financially, please send contributions to:

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Victor Frankenstein, the mad scientist is redesigned by a woman Danielle Mohlman. Not only does she make him evil, but he is bisexual.

This interpretation throws one’s head in circles, almost destroying prior knowledge about the original Frankenstein.

One line said, “destroy a man who wants to destroy me”. Women revolution?

This Frankenstein at the STRAND theatre in Baltimore Maryland, is a black man, played by SHAQUAN PEARSON.

WWW, THECULTUREPAGE.COM, is solely produced, edited, and financed by

Oswald S. Copeland, since 2013.

Designed for the promotion of cultural events in and around Baltimore Md. and is seen and read over seven countries including the USA and Europe.mailto:oscopeland@yahoo.com?subject=Contributions for theculturepagehttps://youtu.be/r24kwF3yCNM

If you are interested in helping financially, please send contributions to:

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It is in one of the busiest parts of Howard Park in Northwest Baltimore Maryland.

Boxed in by a funeral home and a gas station, this building once hosted many talented black performers; it was later converted to a movie theatre, then a Christian church, and now it’s a relic.

This neighborhood once stationed a black owned supermarket, that thrived for a short while before demise set in. (, (Super Pride, closed in 1987) The four corners had several black owned businesses that have all demised, replaced by churches, a Muslim Mosque, and a thriving black funeral home.

Could the Ambassador make a comeback?

In 2018 the winds of change began blowing to spend millions in refurbishment, however, the silver lining needs binoculars to see the “coming” in the distance.

Towards the end of this summer, MY GIRL CHERYL (Cheryl Goodman of Facebook, former DJ, WEAA -FM Baltimore), kept “hope alive” by holding a one-day festival. www.theculturepage.com was present.

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Designed for the promotion of cultural events in and around Baltimore Md. and is seen and read over seven countries including the USA and in Europe.

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“A review of hundreds of pages of state reports and recommendations show Department of Juvenile Services staff, a state watchdog and other experts have long contended that Maryland unnecessarily locks up Black youths in remote detention facilities with little evidence the practice is more effective at reducing recidivism than keeping them in probation programs closer to home.” (Baltimore Sun.com 2018)

According to the Baltimore City 2020 Decennial Census, Baltimore City, had neighborhoods with significant increases in Barclay, Canton Downtown, Fells Point Hampden, Mid-town Belvedere, and South Baltimore. There has been an increase in the Asian and Hispanic population in certain zip codes, with Baltimore City remaining 60 % black.

This major black city is averaging 300 deaths per year by wave of gun violence. Background checks and reams of legislative laws are only good for lawyers looking for fame and fortune.

I attended a rally led by black activists with a different approach, George Hodge is with the Community Kinship Coalition.

WWW, THECULTUREPAGE.COM, is solely produced, edited, and financed by

Oswald S. Copeland, since 2013.

Designed for the promotion of cultural events in and around Baltimore Md. and is seen and read over seven countries including the USA and Europe.

If you are interested in helping financially, please send contributions to:

THE CULTUREPAGE

c/o Oswald S. Copeland

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The time was around the 16^th century, when the continent of South America was being fought over by European gold seekers, with the help of their monarchs. Eventually the continent’s dominance was split among the British, French, Dutch, Spanish and Portuguese.

To ship the newly discovered gold, diamonds, and sugar to the markets in Europe, the Transatlantic Slave Trade was enacted. Almost 13 million slaves shipped from Africa to the “new world”, starting with the incorrectly named West Indies.

It was around the 1850’s a British Guiana one penny stamp was minted; today that stamp is being sold at a Sotheby auction for 10 to 15 million dollars.

British Guiana gained independence in the 1960’s, (now Guyana) and is exporting under its own terms: gold, bauxite, and sugar, and other valuable commodities.

The reverse transatlantic action has come with the former slaves offspring conquering the UK, and the USA with their talents in many fields including music.

Here in Baltimore MD., there is the talented duo, RUFF ENDZ, of which DAVID CHANCE is a partner. David is from Guyana (as I am) and comes from a large family of highly talented musicians, with a strong religious background. I’ve watched most of them grow to adulthood.

David and I are both expatriates. So, on hearing RUFF ENDZ, a Billboard Charted group, performing locally, I was delighted to be present.

By my estimate, we were about 500 to 600 in this large ballroom. Probably 1,000 or more if we were outside; but the inclement weather discouraged many, it seemed.

Refreshments were aplenty, as were the laughter and smiling faces. Some came on crutches, walkers, wheelchairs, and other attachments to show they were alive and wanted to be there.

I am in Crownsville Maryland at a Voiceraiser Concert, to honor military veterans. So, besides the non-alcoholic beverages, food, a raffle, and roses for several women, melodious voices are to be heard.

“WE are reminded that the cost of freedom is great, and we are forever grateful for the sacrifices your loved ones have made for our country”

That’s a quote from the program. This 3^rd Annual event is to benefit military veterans, and their loved ones.

There was tension in the room when all veterans were asked to stand, and the countdown began to determine who was the oldest veteran present. He was 89 years old.

Here’s a video summary of what took place.

It is a country with a population of just over 6 million people, A little Arizona or Tennessee even Maryland. But it has been through so much! From tribal leaders to the Germans, the British, French, and back to self-rule, since 1960.

Visitors are attracted to the white sandy beaches and cherished sculptures carved by natives. This West African coastal spot does not get the attention as does its neighbors Ghana or Guinea. So, imagine getting a glimpse of Togo’s musical culture without having to go there.

I went to Greenbelt Maryland to the NEW DEAL CAFÉ, to see and hear DOGO, leader of DOGO DU TOGO.

It was great!

“MAN, SETS FIRE TO BUILDING AFTER HAVING TOO MUCH TO DRINK”

“PASTOR PRAYS OVER SPIRIT FILLED CONVERT”

“BLACK WALLSTREET BURNED TO THE GROUND”

This being overtaken by “the spirit” has consequences, such as romance, murder, divorce, arson, and DUI.

We can easily see what was the “spirit” of POTUS, when he urged his followers to arrive at the Capitol on Jan, 6^th, 2021, and “be wild!”

What was the spirit that filled Garner Ted Armstrong to tell his followers they can be healed of their illnesses by placing their hands on the radio while he was supposedly talking to God?

I was in Frederick Maryland a few weeks ago. I stopped at this place named TENTH WARD, a distilling company. I wanted to find out what was the pervading spirit here. The brochure said, “unusual and unconventional spirits.” You walk in with one spirit and leave with several. The company is owned by a woman, and the servers are women.

There was another spirit filling the air that evening, the spirit of WILD WHISPERS.

Let’s find out what happens when there is no alcohol, but a heap of bodies, and attached to them are musical instruments, when played, punch you in the stomach, attack your knees, make you want to jump out your chair, and scream uncontrollably!

THE PROVERBS REGGAE BAND, was at Joe’s Emporium in Mount Rainier MD. (Prince Georges County)