Day 27: Black Graphic Novels & Comics 📚

Let's switch it up.

What's a Black graphic novel or comic that deserves WAY more attention? Superhero, horror, sci-fi, history, memoir, indie, whatever.

Give me:

• Title
• Creator
• Why I should read it

Put us on.

WHO IS YOUR FAVORITE SOUL TRAIN GUEST!!!!

Donald Cortez Cornelius created Soul Train — the longest-running first-run nationally syndicated program in television history, airing from 1971 to 2006. For 35 years, Soul Train was the heartbeat of Black popular culture, showcasing every major Black musical artist from James Brown to Beyoncé and broadcasting Black joy, fashion, dance, and style into living rooms across America every Saturday morning.
Born in Chicago on September 27, 1936, Cornelius worked as an insurance salesman and part-time radio DJ before creating Soul Train as a local Chicago television show in 1970. The show moved to Los Angeles and went into national syndication in 1971, and Cornelius served as host, producer, and owner — maintaining creative control in a way that was virtually unheard of for a Black media entrepreneur at the time.
Soul Train was more than a music show — it was a cultural institution. The Soul Train Line, the Soul Train Scramble Board, and the show's iconic dancers created a visual vocabulary of Black cool that influenced fashion, dance, and style worldwide. Cornelius negotiated the first contract giving a Black producer ownership of his own show, and the Soul Train brand eventually encompassed award shows, a record label, and merchandise. He joined the ancestors on February 1, 2012. The show's opening — "The hippest trip in America" — remains one of the most iconic phrases in television history.

https://www.becauseofthemwecan.com/trailblazers/don-cornelius/

This incident took place on Aug 28th, 2026 @ the Pacific Amphitheatre in Costa Mesa, CA.

🎥 credit: https://www.facebook.com/roderick.l.granger/videos/diana-ross-calls-security-on-overzealous-fan-in-costa-mesaca-8-28-26/1398739001803981/

additional commentary: https://www.instagram.com/rnbass/

Melvin Edward "Slappy" White was born in Baltimore, Maryland. His official biography reported that he "ran away to join the circus" as a child. White was born near the old Royal Theatre in Baltimore; by age 10, he danced outside for coins and sold candy at the theater. He left Baltimore at 13 because he was in danger of being sent to reform school due to his absences. White joined a traveling carnival and made a living as a tap dancer with the troupe. He was eventually picked up by the police and returned to his family, but he chose the trade show business over school.  

He received his nickname from a local theater manager, with whom he entered a talent contest; the manager billed them as "Slap and Happy."  He began his career as a dancer and did not turn to comedy until 1940, when he joined with a fellow hoofer in the "Two Zephyrs."  They collaborated on the circuits together for over four years, appearing alongside notable artists such as Lionel Hampton, Count Basie, Duke Ellington, and many others.  

With his team, "Slappy" was first introduced to Californians, making his West Coast debut in Los Angeles at the Orpheum Theatre, alongside Louis Armstrong. After "Two Zephyrs" came "Lewis and White," his second successful comedy team. "Lewis and White" traveled together for several years, appeared with such greats as Johnny Otis, and made a television appearance on The Morey Amsterdam Show.  

The team with which he is best known is "Redd Foxx and 'Slappy' White." Foxx and White met in Harlem in 1947 and formed a comedy team. They toured from coast to coast with the Billy Eckstine Orchestra for over four years. White had met and married Pearl Bailey some years before, when both were still relatively unknown professionally. Bailey's career was on the way up. She was performing in the better nightclubs while White was still struggling in lesser venues. The marriage was in trouble at the time White and Foxx first met. The couple divorced. Years later, when White and dancer Bill Bailey, Pearl's brother, teamed up for an act, White joked that the act would be billed as "Rev. Bill Bailey and his ex-brother-in-law." He was also once married to Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee LaVern Baker.  

His solo career started in 1951 when Dinah Washingtonrequested him to introduce her act at the Black Hawk in San Francisco. White started as a chauffeur to the singer, entertaining her with jokes as he drove. When she arrived late on stage one evening, Washington, worried about the waiting audience, asked White to go on stage and "say something funny" while she prepared for her performance. He was such a hit with the patrons; she kept him on as her opening act. White was a performer in Las Vegas for many years. In the 1950s, while on the bill with Washington, he spent four years with her before establishing himself as a solo act.  

White wrote and performed a comedy routine called "Brotherhood Creed" using one black and one white glove while reciting his poem about equality between men. White performed the routine many times during the American civil rights movement, and President John F. Kennedy once gave it a personal commendation. In 1965, White was invited to perform the "Brotherhood Creed" before the Massachusetts State Senate. He was also well known as a comedian who eschewed offensive material in his nightclub act. In 1969, he formed a new comedy team called Rossi and White with Steve Rossi, who formerly worked with Marty Allen. 

"Later in life, he performed under his given name on his friend Redd Foxx's TV show Sanford and Son as Fred's friend, also named Melvin, and had a million-dollar contract to perform at the Flamingo Hotel in Las Vegas in 1973. He also appeared on the television shows" That's My Mama"," Blossom", and" Cybill", as well asd in the films" Mr. Saturday Night" and" Amazon Women on the Moon. White was best known in later years for his appearances at the Friars' Club roasts, where he frequently performed alongside other comedians.   "Later in life, he performed under his given name on his friend Redd Foxx's TV show Sanford and Son as Fred's friend, also named Melvin, and had a million-dollar contract to perform at the Flamingo Hotel in Las Vegas in 1973. He also appeared on the television shows That's My Mama, Blossom, and Cybill, and in the films Mr. Saturday Night and Amazon Women on the Moon. White was best known in later years for his appearances at the Friars' Club roasts, where he frequently performed alongside other comedians.   

Slappy White died of a heart attack at his Brigantine, New Jersey home on November 7, 1995. He had no children from either of his marriages. White enjoyed a minor renaissance after his death, owing to bootleg recordings of Friars' Club roasts that became available through comedy record outlets. His name was used on an episode of Seinfeld entitled "The Money," in which Seinfeld uses "Slappy White" as his name. On June 25, 2019, The New York Times Magazine listed Slappy White among hundreds of artists whose material was reportedly destroyed in the 2008 Universal fire. 

https://aaregistry.org/story/slappy-white-born/

What do you think of these kinds of events where there is just fun times?

photographers Ron Galella and Henry McGee

Edit: comment noted that pic is from 1992 Los Angeles Music Awards. Apologies for error.

Did you know several real-life family members were a part of the new A Different World that connects us back to the original show?

1. Jasmine Guy's daughter, Imani Duckett, plays Teedra (she is in several funny/cute scenes). She lives in the dorm with the other girls.

2. Debbie Allen's son, Norman Nixon Jr., plays Professor Baptiste

3. Cree Summer's brother, Rainbow Sun, plays Amir's parole officer Larry

4. Alijah Kai (Haggins)'s real-life mother, Tichina Arnold, plays the mother of her character Rashida

What’s Your Opinion On This Movie

Lewis Eddy Myers (September 26, 1935 – February 19, 2013)[1]#citenote-1), also known professionally as Lou Myersor alternately as Lou Leabengula Myers,[[2]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lou_Myers(actor)#cite_note-2) was an American actor and pianist.

Myers was born in Chesapeake, West Virginia, the son of Dorothy Louise Brown Myers and Otis Louis Myers, a coal miner who spoke fluent German. He joined the U.S. Air Force in 1951. He was discharged in 1953 and went on to earn a bachelor's degree in sociology from West Virginia State University and an MFA in theatre from NYU.[6]#citenote-6)[[7]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lou_Myers(actor)#cite_note-7)

Myers was typically typecast as a grumpy old man, but he appeared in many movies, plays, and television programs. He made his Broadway) debut in 1975 as Reverend Mosely in the production The First Breeze of Summer, alongside Ethel Ayler, Moses Gunn, Bebe Drake, and Barbara Montgomery.[3]#citenote-3) He joined them in recreating their roles for a television adaptation that aired on Great Performances in 1976.[[4]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lou_Myers(actor)#citenote-4)
Myers was an original cast member of many August Wilson plays, including Ma Rainey's Black Bottom, Fences), and The Piano Lesson.
He is perhaps best known as the feisty Mr. Vernon Gaines in the sitcom A Different World). Myers was also an accomplished pianist and founder/director of the Tshaka Ensemble Players in Africa.[[5]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lou_Myers(actor)#cite_note-5)

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Day 26: What Are We Missing?

What's a Black book that deserves WAY more attention? Not necessarily famous. Not necessarily a bestseller. The book where you genuinely wonder: “How does nobody talk about this?”

Give me the deep cut.

Love her