Wendy Jane's Soul Shake

me and my Dad during my high school days, him with his Jewfro, me with my pencil thin eyebrows and cowl-neck sweater

My dad turned seventy-seven this past weekend.  Happy Birthday, Dad! In your honor, I wanted to take a look back at how you helped shape my views on people, in particular, how I feel you shaped my sisters and my views on connecting across color lines, as we grew up in Waterbury, Connecticut.

My dad, Paul Grossman, was born in Staten Island, New York, and grew up in Brooklyn, before moving to Waterbury when he was in the eighth grade.  A great storyteller, I love to recall his tales of mischief– […]

me and friend Tony Rinaldi at Wilby High Prom, Waterbury, CT, 1979

Maybe it’s because I pulled out my old high school yearbook the other day and found my junior year prom picture, and remembered what I was dancing to back then, and maybe, because like another time when we were all reeling from the Michael Brown, and then the Eric Garner non-indictments, I pulled up Bruno Mars, Uptown Funk, for my weekend pick. I felt like sometimes, in the darkest of times, we all need to just take a breath, and, in the words of the B-52’s, “dance this mess around,” before we can keep moving forward in the quest for true justice and equality for all.

I’m going back again to the funk well and pulling up a classic Parliament single: Flash Light.  So, take a breather and dance, and then get back to fighting the good fight.  Happy Sunday, Funkateers!

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SOURCE: www.youtube.com, Flashlight by Parliament, Uploaded by TheOldSchoolMusic, 12/18/09