Letter from the editor September 2005

Is it possible to put together a September issue after what happened in 2001 and not think about the epic event imprinted in our consciousness that holds such a monumental place in our history? It's not just the sense of loss that needs to be remembered but also what was witnessed: people reaching out to one another and the barriers coming down between the fortunate and the unfortunate.

A collective feeling was so visceral back then that it's impossible to forget it. For a moment partisan differences, class differences, racial differences, and sexual differences evaporated leaving just one thing: heart. Imagine if we could achieve such states of togetherness without the tragedies that so often seem necessary to bring them about.

Perhaps one way to start such a process is by remembering what has been accomplished. One of the best ways to do this is to pass on individual stories, like actress Hattie McDaniel's experiences, which have been collected in Hattie McDaniel: Black Ambition, White Hollywood, a biography by Jill Watts that is due out next month, and that is previewed in this issue in an exclusive excerpt beginning on page 126. Today, McDaniel's win for the 1939 Oscar as Best Supporting Actress for her inspired performance as Mammy in Gone with the Wind is the stuff of legend. But at the time, for her to be recognized in the way she deserved seemed a near impossibility.

It happened, though. So while we still have many miles to go when it comes to true equality, steps have been made. And typically, that's how progress tends to happen--one small step at a time.

Here's to going forward this fall.

INGRID SISCHY

EDITOR IN CHIEF

COPYRIGHT 2005 Brant Publications, Inc.
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