Wednesday, June 18, 2008

In Memory of Frank Stewart; November 3, 1946 - October 11, 1984

I completed a blog for Billy Tipton; a woman born in 1914, but because of discrimination she chose to pose as a man all her life. She loved music (so do I). She wanted to play her music with 'the guys' - back then, women just didn't frequent night-clubs where the type of music she loved to play. There were 'torch singers', but like most 'good' ladies who probably envied them - they were just 'hussies'.
I thought about her masquerade; I remembered my own experience when dating and loving a black man, was just 'so wrong'. I remember Frank telling me that no one would accept a black and white couple. I remember a lot of things we did together; the joy and love we had, and I wish Frank were alive to see Obama as a candidate for president. I wish he could have seen Oprah and realized a black woman can be a huge success in this country of ours.
Frank died of a heart attack at the age of 38; I'll put a few memories here, but for now, I wanted to create a place of 'music' that Frank would have loved - the kind we used to dance to 30 years ago.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Well said.

Anonymous said...

And so he became our president! Frank and I got our wish.