✨ ROUTES | Cultural Wrap-Up – Tuesday, April 22, 2025
ROUTES: A Guide to African-American Culture
✨ Cultural Wrap-Up – Tuesday, April 22, 2025
🎉 Birthday Spotlight
On this day in 1922, Charles Mingus was born in Nogales, Arizona. Bassist. Composer. Firebrand. His music was never polite — it was urgent, filled with politics, beauty, and storm. He stood for Black artistry that refused to be boxed in, and his legacy sings with both chaos and genius. WATCH: Charles Mingus (Angry man of jazz?) Jazz History (search on YouTube)
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🎉 Also Born This Week
- Paul Robeson Jr. (April 19, 1927) – historian, author, son of a legend. WATCH: African American Legends: Paul Robeson, Jr. (search on YouTube)
- Luther Vandross (April 20, 1951) – the velvet voice of a generation. WATCH: Luther Vandross • Always And Forever”/Interview • 1995 (search on YouTube)
- Carmen McRae (April 21, 1920) – jazz vocalist with razor-sharp phrasing. WATCH: Angela Davis interviews Carmen McRae (1977) (search on YouTube)
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📜 On This Week in History
April 20, 1853 – Harriet Tubman begins her first mission as a conductor on the Underground Railroad. She would go on to rescue over 70 enslaved people.
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🎭 Cultural Moment
In 1973, The Wiz premiered in Baltimore before its Broadway run. For the first time, Dorothy danced in red boots — and Black Broadway found a new voice.
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🗣️ Reflect
What does legacy sound like when it refuses to play softly?
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