Steve ESPO Powers has installed these pieces on Broadway in Soho. Pic taken on my run.
Dear Reader
How was your weekend? We had a touch of snow, because as director Liesl Tommy commented on Tituss Burgess's page, “we [were] hanging on by a thread and then WEATHER.” Nothing like a little bit of the white stuff in May to throw another spanner into the pandemic works. It didn’t last very long - just enough to make you scratch your head a bit more and then go back to life as we now know it.
Aside from the small snow freakout, I also watched Becoming, the documentary about the tour Michelle Obama took to promote her book of the same name, on Netflix. Watching it was a great reminder of how incredibly endearing and warm the former first lady is. It was also a reminder of what it was like to have a US president who ran on hope — who campaigned for it and then drew on it during his presidency.
Michelle reminded us of the way Barack Obama would talk in his speeches, and I imagined, for a moment, what it would have been like to live under his presidency through this pandemic. I imagined the words he might have spoken and how they might have led us in that direction — the direction of optimistic expectation, of hope. Active hope, let’s do-what-we-have-to-do hope, yes-we-can-get-through-this hope.
In that we-got-this spirit, here are today’s options for your online entertainment:
1. Robert De Niro, Cynthia Erivo, Chris Rock, Jake Gyllenhaal, Bon Jovi and a whole bunch of other Famous People will be coming together for Rise Up New York! The Robin Hood Relief Benefit, a one-hour telethon to support nonprofit organizations serving NYC's most vulnerable on the front lines of the coronavirus pandemic. 4pm PST / 7pm EST.
2. While it explores rescheduling options, the 2020 Oxford Film Festival has been hosting a virtual screening experience, splitting proceeds between the non-profit film festival and the filmmakers. You can see more about the line-up for this vital festival that supports indie filmmakers here.
3. The Met Opera has released its new schedule for the week ahead, which includes classics by Verdi, Donizetti and Richard Strauss. Every night on the Met's website 4:30pm PST / 7:30pm EST, with each opera available online for 23 hours afterwards.
4. The 2020 census has been impacted by the pandemic, but it’s been reported that counting is set to start back up in many areas. An art project started in Harlem by local businesses to encourage people to take part in it has shifted online. You can see the artwork featured in the digital version of the pop-up exhibition: Uptown Counts: Art as Activism.
5. You may remember a while back, when this all started — another time era entirely — I recommended a superb documentary on Netflix called Crip Camp. Well, this summer, they’re creating a virtual camp, every Sunday, with trailblazing speakers from the disability community. They say that everyone is welcome, and you don’t need any activism experience to participate. Find out more about Crip Camp 2020 here.
Thank you for reading! Thank you for being here! Thank you for sending me responses and comments — and for sharing and for subscribing!
I’ll leave you with some more of the street art from JR and Steve ESPO Powers that I found on Broadway on my run yesterday.
Stay safe, stay sane
Your neighbour
Nadia