Arts and Culture
The Morrie Movement: The Influence of ‘Wee Pals’ Cartoonist Morrie Turner
“The Morrie Movement: The Influence of ‘Wee Pals’ Cartoonist Morrie Turner” comes to the African American Center of the San Francisco Main Library’s from Nov. 8 to Jan. 29 at 100 Larkin St. in San Francisco.
The exhibit opening and panel discussion will take place Nov. 16 from 1 p.m.-3 p.m. in the Koret Auditorium. The exhibit is created and curated by Kheven LaGrone.
In 1965, Morrie Turner created Wee Pals, the first nationally syndicated racially integrated comic strip. The strip reflected the racially integrated West Oakland neighborhood that he grew up in.
Initially, few newspapers were interested in a racially integrated cartoon. After the 1968 assassination of civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., there was a surge of interest in racial integration and as a result, 100 newspapers published Wee Pals.
America was racially on edge; yet, Wee Pals defiantly portrayed a world where people’s differences—racial, religion, gender, sexual orientation as well as physical and mental abilities—were cherished and not scorned.
Each Sunday, Turner included an additional panel called Soul Corner that illustrated the accomplishment of a famous person of color.
Ironically, many Americans considered Wee Pals to be militant and confrontational. But as cartoon satirist Keith Knight said, “Cartoonists are the court jesters of modern times. We can get away with things that others can’t because of our “cute” drawings.”
Later, in the 1970s, Wee Pals was often contrasted with the even more militant Luther comic strip, created by Brumsic Brandon, Jr.
Morrie Turner (Dec. 11, 23, 1923 – Jan. 25, 2014) was born in Oakland. He attended Cole, Lowell and McClymonds schools in Oakland and graduated from Berkeley High School in 1942.
Since 1968, both Turner and Wee Pals received several awards. Wee Pals received the B’Nai Brith Humanitarian Award, the Cartoonists Society’s prestigious “The Brotherhood Award” and others.
In addition, Turner received the Anti-Defamation League’s Humanitarian award (1970s) and the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Cartoonists Society (2009). In 2000, Morrie Turner won the Cartoon Museum’s “Sparky Award,” named after Peanuts cartoonist Charles Schultz.
In creating “The Morrie Movement,” curator/creator Kheven LaGrone used the Wikipedia definition of an art movement as a tendency or style with a specific common philosophy or goal, followed by a group of artists.
Morrie Turner inspired several nationally syndicated African American cartoon satirists, including Darrin Bell (Candorville), Keith Knight (the Glyph Award-winning K Chronicles, (th)ink and The Knight Life) and Ray Billingsley (Curtis). Thus, this exhibit is not a tribute or retrospective.
“I owe this exhibit to Mr. Turner,” says LaGrone, another Bay Area native, who has exhibited regularly at the San Francisco Main Public Library. His exhibits have then gone to the City College of San Francisco, Laney College in Oakland and Morehouse College in Atlanta.
LaGrone has also exhibited in New York City and Oakland. LaGrone met Morrie Turner when AfroSolo Arts Festival asked him to curate the Morrie Turner retrospective at the San Francisco Main Public Library in 2009.
Arts and Culture
Kedrick Armstrong: New Music Director for the Oakland Symphony
The Oakland Symphony Announced Kedrick Armstrong as its Next Music Director. In addition to conducting the orchestra’s public concerts, Armstrong will also actively participate in the Oakland Symphony’s many education and community engagement programs, designed to inspire a love of music in people of all ages.
By Post Staff
The Oakland Symphony Announced Kedrick Armstrong as its Next Music Director.
In addition to conducting the orchestra’s public concerts, Armstrong will also actively participate in the Oakland Symphony’s many education and community engagement programs, designed to inspire a love of music in people of all ages.
Armstrong is the successor to previous music director and Conductor Michael Morgan, who passed away in 2021 after a 30-year tenure at the Symphony.
Armstrong will open the Oakland Symphony 2024-2025 season on October 18.
Armstrong, who is 29 and hails from Georgetown, South Carolina, is currently the creative partner and principal conductor of the Knox-Galesburg Symphony.
The Chicago Tribune has praised Armstrong for his ability to “simply let the score speak for itself.” He enjoys a wide range of repertoire, spanning early music to premiering new works, using his joy and curiosity for all music to cultivate understanding and collaboration within diverse communities.
“I am deeply honored and grateful for the opportunity to serve as the new music director of the Oakland Symphony,” Armstrong said. “As a Black conductor, I find it humbling to stand on the shoulders of both Michael Morgan and Calvin Simmons,” the most recent and the first African American music directors of the Symphony, respectively.
Armstrong led three programs at the Symphony between 2022 and early 2024, which showcased his broad knowledge of the classical repertoire and enthusiasm for spotlighting diverse voices.
On his Oakland Symphony subscription debut on Feb. 16, Armstrong led the world premiere of “Here I Stand: Paul Robeson,” an oratorio by Carlos Simon on a libretto by Dan Harder, commissioned by the Oakland Symphony.
Armstrong was selected unanimously by the Oakland Symphony’s board of directors and musicians after an extensive two-year search. “The search committee was overwhelmed by Kedrick’s scholarship and curiosity about all kinds of music, from classical and jazz to gospel and hip-hop,” said. Dr. Mieko Hatano, executive director of the Oakland Symphony. “We are thrilled to have him join us at the Oakland Symphony.”
Arts and Culture
Faces Around the Bay Dr. Carl Blake, Pianist
Born in Liberty, Missouri, Carl Blake, a virtuoso and respected pianist, made his most recent migration to the East Bay in 1999. One might have seen him performing recently at Noontime Concerts in San Francisco, or at the Piedmont Center for the Arts in Oakland. He is Director of Music at The Church for the Fellowship of All Peoples in San Francisco. He was also co-organizer and collaborative pianist at Herbst Theater for The Majesty of the Spirituals concert in 2022 and has held several church positions in the Bay Area.
By Barbara Fluhrer
Born in Liberty, Missouri, Carl Blake, a virtuoso and respected pianist, made his most recent migration to the East Bay in 1999.
One might have seen him performing recently at Noontime Concerts in San Francisco, or at the Piedmont Center for the Arts in Oakland. He is Director of Music at The Church for the Fellowship of All Peoples in San Francisco. He was also co-organizer and collaborative pianist at Herbst Theater for The Majesty of the Spirituals concert in 2022 and has held several church positions in the Bay Area.
Blake obtained a Bachelor of Music from Boston University and continued post-baccalaureate studies in Jamaica before earning a Master of Arts in Music at San Jose State University. He was the recipient of two Fulbright residencies in Honduras and completed a third residency at the University of St. Petersburg in Russia. He has a Doctor of Musical Arts from Cornell University.
At age 19, Blake, then an undergraduate piano major at Boston University, was “discovered” by Impresario Dr. W. Hazaiah Williams, who is the Founder and Director of Today’s Artists/Four Seasons Arts.
Williams honored Blake by awarding him the first Marian Anderson Young Artist Award. Anderson personally presented the award at the Masonic Auditorium in S.F. Subsequently, Blake was presented by Dr. Williams in his San Francisco debut at The Herbst Theatre. Williams subsidized a year of study abroad for Blake at the Paris Conservatory of Music. Additionally, Williams sponsored Blake’s New York Weill Hall debut, where he has performed twice since. Blake performed several times at the Yachats Music Festival in Oregon.
Blake continues to perform nationally and abroad. His hobbies are reading, baking and travel. He says, “I’m still pumping ivories, as Belgian pianist Jeanne Stark described the disciplined practice of concert piano.”
Arts and Culture
Oakland Jazz Great Offers Master Class as City Declares “John Handy Day”
World-renowned jazz master saxophonist John Handy, a McClymond’s High School graduate, was presented with a Mayor of Oakland Proclamation declaring Feb. 12, as John Handy Day in the city. Handy is most notably known as the featured saxophonist for Charles Mingus on “Goodbye Pork Pie Hat” from the album “Mingus Ah Um” (1959) and on “Hard Work” from his own album “Hard Work” (1976).
By Conway Jones
World-renowned jazz master saxophonist John Handy, a McClymond’s High School graduate, was presented with a Mayor of Oakland Proclamation declaring Feb. 12, as John Handy Day in the city.
Handy is most notably known as the featured saxophonist for Charles Mingus on “Goodbye Pork Pie Hat” from the album “Mingus Ah Um” (1959) and on “Hard Work” from his own album “Hard Work” (1976).
“John Handy is a jazz icon and an inspiration to musicians everywhere,” said Ayo Brame, a 16-year-old Oakland tenor saxophone player who is enrolled at the Oakland School for the Arts.
In celebration of this day, the reception in downtown Oakland at Geoffrey’s Inner Circle was a gathering of artists, young and old, coming together in his honor and celebrating his 91st birthday.
Handy presented a Saxophone Colossus free masterclass for musicians. This class afforded a rare opportunity to learn about the saxophone from an aficionado. The class was free and open to all – saxophonists, vocalists, aficionados, students, and casual listeners.
“As a longtime friend for over 60 years, and fellow musician who has had numerous opportunities to share the stage with John, it has always been a pleasure performing with him and hearing his creative interpretations of the music and his gift of ease inspiring the next generation of jazz musicians,” said Roger Glenn, a multi-instrumentalist.
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