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Showing posts with the label William H Johnson

The First Watch Night Service Occurs | African American Registry

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Article:   The First Watch Night Service Occurs | African American Registry Featured painting :  William H. Johnson  Going to Church ca. 1940-1941 Screenprint on paper Smithsonian American Art Museum Gift of the Harmon Foundation 1967.59.1022 Not currently on view Have a blessed and Happy New Year! 2014

William H Johnson

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                                             William Johnson, Self-Portrait with Pipe, c. 1937

Blues Poetry: Truth Serum

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Piedmont Blues Talk

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Featured art:   William H. Johnson

Dancing Memories

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I want to share with you today my memories of dance. It must have happened when I was an infant watching my parents dance. No, I don’t remember seeing my parents dance, but I can just imagine how beautiful the moment must appear to a child. For the first time, the child is witnessing the movement of limbs and hips in harmony with the beat of the music. As older children, my brothers and I would play for most of the day in front of our apartment building, but sometimes my mother would gather us in the house with our friends and turn on her record player. The song that comes to mind in memory is “ Car Wash ” by the R&B group, Rose Royce. I remember we would all take turns dancing in the middle of the circle. When my turn came up, I would close my eyes and just allow my body to flow with the rhythm of the music. I remember the exhilarating feeling and laughing as my mother cheered me on, "Go head Stevie!" The moment left an indelible impression on my mind. It influenced ...