Neither the guest list, nor the menu selection, nor the music selection, nor the weather… The real problem they face… leonard bernstein And Felicia Montealegre when they decide to give Party at the Park Avenue duplex on January 14, 1970 It was home service. Although Felicia, of Costa Rican descent and founder of the women’s wing of the New York Civil Liberties Union, eluded her friends by hiring Latino waiters and cooks, it was impossible to predict that the doorman, elevator operator, or one of the crew would kill her. black cleaning outside the building. For the composer and his wife, this detail would have been a dissonant note, considering that the guests in whose honor the evening was held were party members. black panthers.
On February 2, 1969, a group of militants from this political party were sent to be arrested to stand trial on the following charges: Conspiracy to attack several businesses in New Yorkagainst the New Haven Railroad, against a police station, and against the Bronx Botanical Gardens. Although the judge had set a bail for his probation, the amount was so exorbitant that the Black Panthers described it as a “ransom” and thus tacitly accused the white judges of owning slaves.
The procedural situation of the detainees, compared by representatives of the Black Panthers to the setting of the Reichtag fire, was so unfair and misleading that The Bernstein couple decided to take action on the issue.. Having a comfortable financial situation, Leonard and Felicia decided to raise money for the cause by throwing a party where they invited some of their close friends. Among them is the player Jason Robardsdirectors otto prep And Mike Nicholspainter and saxophonist Larry Riverswriter Lillian Hellmanserver TODAY SHOW Barbara Walterscomposers Gian Carlo Menotti, Aaron Copland And Steve Sondheimchoreographer Jerome Robbinslibrettist Betty Comdenphotographers Richard Avedon And Milton Greene And mezzo-soprano Jennie Tourell.
“I grew up in France during the rise of Nazism, and I have always believed that justice is the only thing we should support,” said the wife of New York City Parks, Entertainment and Cultural Affairs Director, August Heckscher, before making a contribution of $100. , the amount is slightly below what was given by other guests.
Otto Preminger contributed $1,000, lyricist Sheldon Harnick $250, composer Burton Lane $200, Harry Belafonte’s wife Julie Belafonte $300, an anonymous donation reached $7,500, and the presenter pledged to donate the cache entirely to the next concert; assured that it would not fall below four figures. About $10,000 in total that made the party a successalthough at first the tension between the guests was notorious.
black maoism
“If companies don’t give us full employment, then we’re going to have to take the means of production and put them into the hands of the people,” said Donald Cox, the Black Panthers quarterback and central committee member. continuing to disclose the party’s goals and methods of achieving them. For example, breakfast programs for underprivileged children, changes in educational plans to include content related to African-American culture, the creation of hospitals for underprivileged black people, and direct action. Referring to the death of Black Panther leader Fred Hampton, who was killed by Chicago police on December 4, 1969, Cox commented, “If they attack us in our homes and kill us in our beds, as we have already been attacked.” in his flat: “We have the right to defend ourselves”.
While the statement was well received by one Leonard Bernstein, who went so far as to declare that he agreed 100% with this rationale, there were other guests who were beginning to get annoyed. The wife of a prominent businessman asked in horror if she would be the target of the Black Panthers. to be attacked. The question was answered by Lee Berry, the wife of one of the detainees: “Oh, no. You sound like you’re scared. You don’t have to be afraid of anything anymore.” Far from easing the situation, Berry’s intervention was a small committee of Black Panthers’ defense from Henry Mitchell in charge of Cynthia Phipps, a member of one of the wealthiest families in the United States and a working at the Metropolitan Museum – though not exactly a chambermaid. if there are good capitalists according to him. “I don’t think so,” Mitchell replied.
In case there is still any doubt about the ideological position of the honorees, Ray Masai Hewitt, the Black Panthers’ Education Minister, said, “While some of you here have good feelings for the system, we are not. We want to see him die. We are revolutionary Maoists and we have no choice but to fight to the end.” .
elegant left
Despite its media coverage, or perhaps because of it, Leonard Bernstein and Felicia Montealegre’s party US authorities did not like, who did not sit idly by. In 1980, the composer disclosed that some documents that had been declassified at the time proved that the FBI had launched a smear campaign against him and his wife as a result of the incident. Among other things, the couple took it in their home. anonymous menacing tonedifferent newspapers published false letters to the editor against them, and there weren’t a few articles that mocked the derogatory articles that Bernstein described as an act of defense of civil rights, but went down in history as follows: one of the milestones radical chic.
Translated into Spanish as “delicious left,” the concept was first coined by journalist and author Tom Wolfe after the publication of a report entitled. Radical Elegance: That Party at Lenny’s (Yummy Left: Party at Lenny’s) in the Sunday supplement new York June 8, 1970. The conservative journalist, who was in the Bernstein apartment with other colleagues on the night of January 14, 1970, used his impressions for about 30 pages to describe it. excerpts from conversations held there It was taken with such fidelity that some of those who saw themselves being photographed accused him of carrying a hidden tape recorder.
“I see this as an unwittingly enormous compliment to my righteousness, which I have achieved in the most traditional and orthodox way possible: I went to the Bernstein party with the obvious intention of writing about it, pulled out a pad and pen in front of everyone, and took notes in the middle. sitting room To tell the truth, I doubt anyone would have been able to capture the dialogue so accurately with a conventional tape recorder, because the sound of each recorded on tape is very difficult to describe in scenes involving many people,” put Wolfe in his book. new journalism.