cultural animators.
March 7, 2022
“Jimmy, there is too much to think about you, and too much to feel. The difficulty is your life refuses summation - it always did - and invites contemplation instead. Like many of us left here I thought I knew you. Now I discover that in your company it is myself I know. That is the astonishing gift of your art and your friendship: You gave us ourselves to think about, to cherish. We are like Hall Montana [from Baldwin’s novel, Just Above My Head] watching ‘with new wonder’ his brother saints, knowing the song he sang is us, “He is us.’”
--Toni Morrison, “James Baldwin Eulogy,” in Mouth Full of Blood: Essays, Speeches, Meditations
Name: Novella & Melay
Notes: First, a brief introduction. From left to right, Novella and Melay, the hugging, smiling beautiful brown women. I do not know who the woman in the brown beret is, but she’s got a great smile, too. This photograph was taken on the steps of the Cathedral of the Church of Saint John the Divine shortly before we attended the “Celebration of the Life of Toni Morrison,” November 21, 2019. This also where James Baldwin’s public memorial was held some 32 years ago. In the cathedral, Morrison gave a heartbreaking elegy to her friend and comrade.
I discover that in your company it is myself I know. That is the astonishing gift of your art and your friendship: You gave us ourselves to think about, to cherish.
I met both Melay & Novella at the Schomburg Center, my home for over 20 years. I first met Novella as a researcher looking at the records of the New York Urban League, and later as the program director for the Center. We both live and thrive in Harlem and became friends. I live for Novella’s eyes.
Melay and I found each other in a fit of laughter about Dana Owens (hilarious!) when she was a research assistant for the Scholar-in-Residence Program. Wildly intelligent and multi-talented. Melay is currently the artistic director for The Town Hall.
That is the astonishing gift of your art and your friendship: You gave us ourselves to think about, to cherish.
As a trio or dynamic duos, rain, snow and shine, weekends and some weekdays, early morning breakfasts, lazy afternoon brunches, and late-night dinners, we’ve walked, laughed, sighed, lamented, etc., over coffee and tea, fixed the world’s problems in Harlem, Manhattan, Queens, Brooklyn… We’ve read Morrison, Finney, Griffin, Hartman. Watched crazy ass television shows and stunning films. Been to museums, programs, readings. Created programs, sat on panels together. Discovered joys, shared sorrows, found community, made/held space.
Now I discover that in your company it is myself I know.
If you knew Melay and Novella, you’d know yourself better. I certainly do. Both women are very good to me, and I am grateful for their care. I hope I am as useful to them as they are to me and my mental health.
I could say more, and in lavish detail, but for now take a moment to bask in those smiles. I do.
***
Further Reading:
Toni Morrison. “James Baldwin: His Voice Remembered; Life In His Language.” New York Times. December 20, 1987
Toni Morrison Memorial at Saint John the Divine.
Chloe Rabinowitz. “Melay Araya Announced as New Artistic Director of The Town Hall.” Broadway World. Sep. 23, 2020
Tammy La Gorce. “How a Champion of Black Culture Spends Her Sundays.” New York Times. July 16, 2021
Social Media:
Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, NYPL
Words: 595