August 28, 2016 elvagreen123

Evolving and Inspiration

What motivates you? Necessity? A desire to help someone else? What inspires you to get out there and get something done? On the first day of my job with the County of L. A. back in the day, I jumped out of bed, literally. Woo hoo! No more welfare-I got a job!! I was motivated to get out of bed. Mo money, mo money, mo money!

A neighbor, Joyce, had inspired me to go back to school and learn to type and take shorthand, and after seven interviews, I got that job. Some people may find it difficult to inspire themselves.

Some people need a swift kick in the butt. Or like the title of my blog says a pin in the tush.

This was such a cute picture, I had to use it, but the meaning of pininthetush for my blog is more like swift kick in the butt. If you stick someone in the butt with a pin, they jump! They are motivated. Inspired.

When I started this blog in 2014 it was to write about my book venture about my father, Eddie Green, as a source of inspiration for my grandson and also as a way to motivate others to achieve their own goals and successes. WordPress helped me do this. Today I have evolved from http://www.pininthetush.wordpress.com to http://www.pininthetush.com. My blog will now be available to more people. I thought about changing the name of the blog and/or becoming a Brand. But I like the name. With the publishing of my book “Eddie Green The Rise of an Early 1900s Black American Entertainment Pioneer” I have realized that my blog will grow to include any more writing I may do. And I have been asked to do a couple of articles. It will begin to have a different look, maybe even a Logo. As it evolves I want this blog to continue to be a source of inspiration to all you wonderful people out there, including info on different subjects.

For instance: I was on the internet trying to find out why my microwave oven gets hot on the outside, I wound up looking up the man who invented it. Percy Lebaron Spencer (July 19, 1894 – September 8, 1969) was an Irish American physicist and inventor. He became known as the inventor of the microwave oven.

Okay, then my brain said what about African-American inventors? So I looked some up. I found this guy: Harold Amos (September 7, 1919 – February 26, 2003) was an American microbiologist and professor. He taught at Harvard Medical School for nearly fifty years and was the first African-American department chair of the school. He also inspired hundreds of minorities to become medical doctors.

Inspired is the word that got me. Both of these men are inspirations. Be inspired. Keep coming back.

Thanks, for stopping by.

August 16, 2016 elvagreen123

Research in Black Culture-A Celebration

momwithfur (2) The latest good news is that the biography I have written about my father, Eddie Green, will now be featured in the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture in New York.

The picture I have posted with Eddie and Mom (Norma) is in the Eddie Green Portrait Collection also at the Schomburg. I did not put this picture in the book because I do not own the photo. But I want to show it off here because these two look like they are enjoying the good life. Mom made her own hats back then. I don’t remember that fur coat but I do remember her fox fur stole. She kept it in that drawer that I wasn’t supposed to open.

If you have bought the book (thank you so much!!), you will see a picture of Eddie in a white suit and black tie, I was able to purchase a copy of the picture from the Schomburg and it works perfectly for my back cover. cropthisforpost (2)

As a filmmaker, movie and Broadway star and Old Time Radio Icon, Eddie was always sharp. He was a good business man. He was well-read. Eddie travelled with his books. He had his own library at the Hudson Theater in New York. They say a lot of those old time vaudeville actors read a lot of the classics in order to come up with ideas to incorporate into their funny skits, similar to a reference to Shakespeare’s Hamlet that was used in an old Three Stooges movie:

” Among the insane sights in this Stooges short is a burro wearing galoshes. The burro is named “Yorick,” and when it appears it was accidentally blown up, yes, we hear: “Alas, poor Yorick. We knew him well.”

Eddie was a comedian. A good comedian. He was funny, someone said he could not open his mouth without being funny. He didn’t mind acting funny, either. eddiegreensillyphoto as he did in his movie One Round Jones.

Over the time it took for me to write the book, I have had a number of people tell me that Eddie is looking down at me and smiling (even the lady who has my first consignment said it). I don’t know if this is so, but if it is he can now be proud that in 2016 both of our works are housed together in the same public access building in New York. I know I am proud. Thank you Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture.

And thank you, for stopping by and celebrating with me.

August 7, 2016 elvagreen123

IF IT WAS NOT FOR EDWARD

myfambly If it wasn’t for Edward, I may not have written a book about my father.

My father’s birth name was Edward and he later changed it to Eddie. My grandson’s birth name is Edward (for reasons other than what one might think), and he later began to go by Eddie. The picture on this post is Melony (my gorgeous daughter), Edward (aka Eddie) and me, Grandma. Edward is about 24 in this picture and he was about six years old when I conceived the idea to write a book. This picture was taken about two years ago and my book has been published as of this past June.

My father, Eddie Green, died when I was a little child. I grew up with the knowledge that he had been “somebody” in the entertainment industry, but it had never been paramount in my mind. As a youngster I wanted to be an entertainer, I wanted to be a singer and entertain the world. When I thought I had said something funny, I would tell my mother it was because Eddie (the comedian) was my father. But I never wanted to write a book about my father.

I became aware as I got older that my father had been a successful man, as an actor, a composer, filmmaker, singer and Old Time Radio personality, especially as he was a Black man coming along in an era of major struggles for Black people trying to get into show business. Still, I did not consider writing a book. I was proud of the fact that my father had been in show business. I was proud of the fact that he wrote the song “A Good Man is Hard to Find”. I even heard Alberta Hunter singing the song on the Jazz radio station in Los Angeles in the 80s. Cool.

And then Melony had Edward. And then Edward began school, which meant homework. Nobody likes homework. Homework is hard. I think Edward is a genius now, but back then he had trouble with homework and when he was told to do his homework, he would say “I can’t”! Well, what grandma wants their grandkid to grow up thinking they can’t? So, I got the brilliant idea to use my father, his great-grandfather, as an example of what a person CAN do, no matter what. And so began the process of research.

Little did I know that Eddie’s career as an entertainer and as an entrepreneur was far greater than I had thought. His life story truly was inspiring. And could inspire other people struggling with the seeming difficulties in life. The fact that Eddie was a Black man born in 1891 who attained certain heights in what was seen as a White man’s world just made his story more awe-inspiring, to me. Being a modern Black woman, I had to get over my feelings of discomfort when I saw my father in black-face on stage on television, I researched the issue and gained a better understanding of why. But the fact that my father is one of the first Black men to be on the first RCA-NBC 1936 test demonstrations of television BLOWS me away. The man is on the internet today! He looks funny, but if it had not been for people like Eddie back then, Blacks would probably not be where they are today. If it had not been for people like Eddie, who rose against all odds, I would not have this story to tell to provide motivation to anyone who needs it.

If it had not been for Edward, my grandson, I may not have known that I could write a book. He told me after the book was written that “no matter what else happens, just remember that you wrote the book”. (He is a genius) And that was the point. To write a book demonstrating a persons ability to achieve success in their endeavors, no matter what.

Wow, I was long-winded today. Hey, thanks for stopping by.

August 2, 2016 elvagreen123