Ethel Waters, “Stormy Weather,” and the Cotton Club

This superstar of the mid-twentieth century gained her fame by singing a song which became an American classic, at a ritzy Harlem club.

by Rich Watson 

Ethel Waters had a spectacular career as a singer and an actress. As the latter, she was the first black star on TV and the second to get an Oscar nomination. 

As the former, she was known for singing one of the greatest songs in American history. She did it at a place famous for its array of black entertainers during the Harlem Renaissance era—the Cotton Club.

Poet Anne Spencer Represented the Harlem Renaissance While Living in Virginia

The Virginia writer was one example of the Harlem Renaissance’s influence beyond New York.

by Rich Watson 

Anne Spencer was a Harlem Renaissance-era poet notable for being one of the first black female poets to make the prestigious Norton Anthology of Modern Poetry. She was active in the NAACP, as well as a respected librarian and gardener.

She did all this while living over four hundred miles south of Harlem itself.

BRW: Behind the Blind 10

I didn’t want to do it. I had resisted experimenting with artificial intelligence because I believe in human-powered writing. I still do. Circumstances, however, led me to finally fool around with it, and I have to admit, I’m beginning to see the attraction.

In May, I’m gonna go on a writer’s retreat to Maryland. The goal is to begin outlining what will be my next novel—yes, a novel, as opposed to a novella. I have a rough idea what it’ll be about: it’ll be set in the twenties, and it concerns a little-known piece of Queens history. 

But I don’t have anything planned for BRW for that month. This is where AI comes in.

I’ve gotten this chatbot called Emfive to write a couple of articles for the month of May. This is not, and will not, be something I’ll use this way again, I promise you. The only reason I’m using it now is because I’m going away, I have nothing lined up for here and I don’t want to leave you hanging. I’ve examined the finished product over and over and I’m convinced it sounds similar enough to my writing that you shouldn’t notice the difference.

If you’ve never heard of Emfive, it’s pretty impressive. The Daystrom Institute, a small tech startup, created it back in 2019 and they’ve made great strides with it. This article goes into more detail.

I’ll tell you how the retreat went in August.