The Four Step Brothers, who were billed as “eight feet of rhythm,” appeared annually for ten years at Radio City Music Hall and were the Halle’s first black act. The group was formed around 1925, when Maceo Anderson and two other dancers persuaded agents at the Cotton Club to allow them to perform there with Duke Ellington. They remained with the club for four years and in the 1930s added the first dancer. By then the dancers were Rufus “Flash” McDonald, Prince Spencer, Al Williams and Anderson. The group also performed at the Roxy and with Frank Sinatra at the Paramount. They later toured on the Keith-Orpheum circuit, as well as on black circuits, and many times were the first blacks to perform in theaters. Their act included singing, acrobatics, comedy, and vernacular dance as well as traditional tap. Each dancer tried to another’s dance steps. Their trademark was an escalation of speed and complexity. Until they disbanded in the 1960s, the group played at the top nightclubs, and theaters around the world and danced for the queen of England and for Japanese leader Hirohito. They also starred in numerous films, including Here Comes the Girls and Johnny Comes Marching Home, and on television shows such as The Ed Sullivan Show and in Bob Hope specials. On July 14,1988, the dance quartet was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, under a new category called live theater. They had become one of the most celebrated and enduring tap acts in the nation, and their act was one of the most imitated in show business. They also helped break the color barrier in entertainment. The last surviving member of the group, tap dancer and exuberant clown Maceo Anderson, died July 4, 2001.
Source: Black Firsts: Groundbreaking Events in African American History
(via black-culture)
Disney Plot twist.
How to Make a Baby by photographer Patrice Laroche and Sandra Denis, the mother of his new baby daughter Justine.
This was awesome
zedlove260z: See what putting too much air pressure into something can do?
You end up with a huge explosion that can blow you off of your feet, pmsl.
(via rasta-love-all)
He reads the teacher and the education system for filth!
He lucky he not black, though. He would have been handcuffed, arrested, and charged with disorderly conduct. #SchoolToPrisonPipeline
(via youngblackandvegan)
![wenchymcwench:
We enter a little coffeehouse with a friend of mine and give our order. While we’re aproaching our table two people come in and they go to the counter:
‘Five coffees, please. Two of them for us and three suspended’ They pay for their order, take the two and leave.
I ask my friend: “What are those ‘suspended’ coffees?”
My friend: “Wait for it and you will see.”
Some more people enter. Two girls ask for one coffee each, pay and go. The next order was for seven coffees and it was made by three lawyers - three for them and four ‘suspended’. While I still wonder what’s the deal with those ‘suspended’ coffees I enjoy the sunny weather and the beautiful view towards the square infront of the café. Suddenly a man dressed in shabby clothes who looks like a beggar comes in throught the door and kindly asks
‘Do you have a suspended coffee ?’
It’s simple - people pay in advance for a coffee meant for someone who can not afford a warm bevarage. The tradition with the suspended coffees started in Naples, but it has spread all over the world and in some places you can order not only a suspended coffee, but also a sandwitch or a whole meal.
Wouldn’t it be wonderful to have such cafés or even grocery stores in every town where the less fortunate will find hope and support ? If you own a business why don’t you offer it to your clients… I am sure many of them will like it.
Source: [x]](http://24.media.tumblr.com/400b276df72eda0cde6c7cc1d71bde98/tumblr_mkbiq2u4y91qmvz7to1_250.jpg)
