Dear Reader
South Africa celebrates a very unusual Freedom Day today — marking 26 years since the first democratic elections were held, in lockdown, before some of the restrictions start to be lifted later this week. One of the things I love most about my home is the concept of ubuntu, based around the idea that “I am because you are.” The belief that we humans cannot exist in isolation; that we depend on connection and community and that what I do impacts you; that “a person is a person through other people.”
It’s this very idea that has been at the heart of the lockdown/quarantine approach to containing the coronavirus and “flattening the curve.” The sacrifice of individual privileges for the greater collective good. Here in the US, the idea of safeguarding one’s own personal freedom, even at the expense of others, is something I’ve found to be at great odds with ubuntu. It may only be a small handful of people who’ve been protesting the lockdowns, as we’ve seen, but their voices have been loud. Believing in the value — and the responsibility — of looking out for each other’s lives is not without its challenges, as we’ve seen in the great difficulties that come from not being able to interact in person. But it’s still something I keep with me as I live here abroad, outside the borders of my home country. Umuntu ngumuntu ngabantu.
Today’s selection of entertainment options for your online enjoyment:
1. The Met Opera is releasing another slate of archival performances, every night this week. Each one will be available for 24 hours. Friday culminates in the what the opera house considers one of its greatest moments — Leontyne Price's farewell performance in Verdi's Aida.
2. From today until May 3rd, the Municipal Art Society is hosting its annual Jane’s Walk NYC, in honour of urbanist Jane Jacobs, online. They’re usually volunteer-led walking tours so this week there will be digital versions. For instance, the artist behind the “Subway Therapy” installation in Union Square station, created after the 2016 presidential election, is asking for you to share your favourite NY places and he’ll write them on a post-it and collect them together.
3. Metallica Mondays are back. The band has been putting up special-edition concerts each week for fans, which change with each new Monday. Tune in today, 5pm PST / 8pm EST to see which show to reminisce about for this coming week.
4. The Beastie Boys documentary is now on Apple TV and LL Cool J will be hosting a town hall with Mike D and Adrock in a virtual SiriusXM Town Hall today at 9am PST/12pm EST.
5. And, yes, more music, because this may as well be #MusicMondays…Fellow long-haired Greek, Yanni, who plays the piano way better than I do (I mean, I don’t even, so this is nowhere near a worthy comparison…) will be doing a Living Room show again today. I watched a previous one and I tell you, I felt ten thousand times better!
Thank you for reading. I’ll leave you with the 4th of Chromeo’s Quaran-tunes/Corona-jams (the others are here).
Stay safe, stay sane
Your neighbour
Nadia