Wilbur White was a nightclub singer on the South Side of Chicago whose bluesy growl wielded so much power that he was nicknamed Hi-Fi. He’d been in the clubs since the 1950s, and although I hear he put on a knockout of a show, that never translated into record sales. Speaking of knockouts, he played bit roles on Sanford & Son and in the boxing-in-prison movie Penitentiary (1979). In the film, he was cast as the gap-toothed Sweet Pea. Behind the scenes, the film was so under-budget that White took initiative and collected food stamps from cast and 
crew, becoming the production’s official caterer. He fed over one hundred actors and technical staffers for the final week of shooting. That’s good ol’ Chicago can-do!
here’s a clip of perhaps his signature number, Bulldog.
and here’s the trailer for the film:
NOTE: view the comments on this post for first hand stories and recollections…
Blackness…Finally Forgivable?
from the Stop Smiling Blog….
A Pugilist’s Pardon, Once Unforgivable
Posted on: April 1, 2009 at 1:48 pm // MARGINALIA
Really? What’s McCain’s motivation? I remember an audio piece produced by my friend Kabuika for Vocalo.org in which an eleven year old kid asks Black Journalists if they think McCain is afraid of Black People (after McCain declined an invite to a Conference of Black Journalists in 2008).
McCain, Afraid of Black People? by Kabuika
So, what is McCain’s Motivation for pushing to pardon somebody who’s been dead sixty-0dd years? Like the classic Tootsie Pop commercial, the world may never know…
1 Comment | tags: Black Journalists, boxing, jack johnson, Journalism, Kabuika Kamunga, Ken Burns, McCain, NABJ, National Association of Black Journalists, Obama, Printed Matters, Race, Stop Smiling, unforgivable blackness, vocalo, vocalo.org | posted in Book Reviews, Books, Commentary, Film and Television, Magazines, Printed Matters, Reviews