Katherine Dunham: Dancing Queen

Crisis, The, Jul/Aug 2006 by Allen, Debbie, Joiner, Lottie L

APPRECIATION

The first time I met Katherine Dunham, I was in college at Howard University. It was in 1969 or 1970, and she gave a lecture on one of her books. She was one of my greatest sources of inspiration. She was not just a dancer. She was an amazing and beautiful woman, and she was loved internationally. Katherine Dunham died May 21 in New York at age 96.

Ms. Dunham had been a guide for me in her accomplishments as a great performing artist, a cultural and Afrocentric activist, anthropologist, scholar and writer. She had created the "Dunham technique," the basis of all jazz dance in America, and was the inspiration for people like dancer and choreographer Bob Fosse. Her dance piece, "Southland" (1951), which was a protest against lynching and depicted a lynching on stage, created a lot of controversy in America. I hope to one day mount this piece in tribute to her legacy and my love for her.

In 1992, I went to visit her in East St. Louis. She had set up a youth dance trainingprogram in the poverty-stricken city in the 1960s. But at this time, Dunham was on a 47-day fast protesting the United States' policy toward Haiti. The work that she did in Haiti gave a great deal of attention to this small and singular Black nation.

I sat at her feet for about four days. We spent those glorious days together talking. She was a very spiritual woman. She said that the highest level of man's existence is compassion. And once you've reached that level, then you've truly lived. She thought that I was like her in the sense that I was a Black woman who had come out of a world facing so many political challenges. There were so many things that we had in common. I documented our time together and filmed her. That was quite a beginning.

Ms. Dunham had many challenges because of her work and politics, but she stood fast by her vision. She stood taller than anyone that I know in her accomplishments in the world of dance. She is, and was, one of the greatest treasures that we have.

James Cameron, 92, only known lynching survivor, died June 11 of congestive heart failure, in Milwaukee. In 1930, Cameron was nearly lynched in Marion, lnd., after being accused of assaulting a White couple. He opened America's Black Holocaust Museum in 1988 in Milwaukee.

Desmond Dekker, 64, singer, died of a heart attack in Croydon, England, May 25. Dekker introduced the world to reggae with his 1969 hit "The Israelites."

Paul Douglas, 48, videojournalist, died in Iraq after a car bombing May 29. Douglas, a veteran cameraman for CBS, is believed to be the first Black journalist to die in the war in Iraq.

Eric Gregg, 55, umpire, died June 5 after suffering a stroke in Philadelphia. Gregg, the third Black umpire in Major League Baseball, worked in the league for 23 seasons, including the 1989 World Series.

Lula Mae Hardaway, 76, mother of singer Stevie Wonder, died May 31 in Los Angeles. Hardaway helped Wonder write a number of songs, including the 1970 hit, "Signed, Sealed, Delivered, I'm Yours."

Charles Johnson, 96, Negro League player, died June 10 from prostate cancer in Chicago. Johnson, who played for the Chicago American Giants, worked to get Major League Baseball to offer Negro League players a pension.

Floyd Patterson, 71, boxer, died of prostate cancer in New Paltz, N.Y., May 11. Patterson won the middle-weight gold medal in the 1952 Olympics, became the youngest heavyweight champion at 21 in 1956 and was the first fighter to regain the heavyweight title.

Billy Preston, 59, musician, died of a kidneyrelated illness June 6 in Scottsdale, Ariz. Known as the "fifth Beatle" for his contribution to the success of The Beatles band, Preston worked with many artists, including Ray Chartes, Little Richard, Aretha Franklin and the Rolling Stones. The Grammy Award winner wrote a number of songs, including the hit, "You Are So Beautiful."

Hilton Ruiz, 54, jazz musician, died June 6 in New Orleans after a fall left him in a coma. Ruiz, who played a number of styles, including bebop and Afro-Cuban, worked with Clark Terry, Rahsaan Roland Kirk, Jackie McLean and Freddie Hubbard, among others.

Damu Smith, 54, activist, died of colon cancer May 5 in Washington, D.C. Smith, founder of the National Black Environmental Justice Network, fought against environmental racism and other injustices.

Earl Woods, 74, father of golf pro Tiger Woods, died of prostate cancer in Cypress, Calif., May 3. Woods, a former Green Beret who fought in Vietnam, groomed his son's golfing career.

Debbie Allen, an award-winning actress, choreographer, dancer and director, as told to Lottie L. Joiner