Issue 2, No. 6 – Oct. 11, 2007
Shout Outs
The greatest gift for a writer, author Tom Wolfe says, is reporting. The reporter gets to use all of the senses to give the reader the sights, sounds and smells of a scene. When writing leaves you feeling as if you were there, that’s good writing.
Listen as Danny Massey, who covered a memorial for the former slaves and freed blacks who were buried and forgotten in the African Burial Ground in Lower Manhattan, captures the call and response of a church audience:
“Forgive us, please,’’ shouted the senior minister emeritus of The Riverside Church in Manhattan. “Forgive us for disregarding your precious gifts to this world, for the desecration of your hallowed ground where you laid your loved ones to rest. And forgive us for almost forgetting you. Say again, ‘Forgive us, please.’ ’’ The hundreds who gathered in Lower Manhattan called back, “Forgive us, please.’’