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PANTHER FEBRUARY, 1978
Monkey’s Hustle
A Barrel Of Laughs
Poetry
Gross Encounter
Of The Bird Kind
By Lillie Lewis
‘‘Monkey Hustle” is a
hilarious comedy with an all
black casi feaiuring Kirk
Calloway. Yaphet Kouo, Rudy
Ray Moore, and Rosalind Cash.
‘‘Monkey Hustle” was
filmed in a Chicago ghetto
where most of the people would
ra'her party, make love, act
crazy, and “monkey hustle.”
Monkey hustle is a slang
word that means ripping off
people without getting caught
by 'he Police. "Big Daddy Fox”
was a resident of the ghetto who
was hired by “Baby De” and his
'wo partners as his private
employees. He hires them to rip
off an old warehouse of color
TV's so he could get a profit.
The talk of the neigh
borhood was “Goldie". He wor$
gold and white suits, gold
glit'ery platform shoes, with a
nia'ching choke necklace.
Whenever ‘‘Goldie passed
through the neighborhood in his
1976 white Cadillac, he would
check out the happenings and
By Larry Simpson
When I was a kid I used to
go there a lot. Just about every
weekend you could find me in
'he balcony.
When my money ran the right
way, usually in my pockets, I’d
make i' a point to check out the
Lowe’s Grand 'hea'er down-
town.
Just about every black kid
growing up in Atlanta during
'he late 60’s and early 70’s can
remember making it down to ihe
“Grand.” No one wanted to
miss a single scene from any
movie the "Grand” had on the
screen.
On Monday, January 30th
'he Loew’s Grand burned down.
A couple of months earlier the
'hca er was closed up and with
it a lot of fond memeories.
There were many others
theaters downtown, The Fox,
The Rial'o- Rox y> s,rand -
Coronet, Baronet and the ‘81. In
the black neighborhoods there
was ihe Empire, Royal, Ashby
and the Ri'z . None of these
movie houses could touch the
“Grand” in class.
When money go 1 tight
many theaters closed, mostly
those in the black community.
Some, like the '81, are just
parking lots and others should
be. Through all of the troubled
times the Loew's kept its
greatness and stood above all
the others.
The competition got tighter
when the money did and the
o'her theaters tried a lot of
gimmicks. Such things as nickel
Saturday ma’inees and special
discount cards to get in and see
a lousy movie. The “Grand”
shocked a lot of people by not
giving away gimmicks but good
movies more importantly black
'he women, as well as create a
spec acle of himself.
Finally the word spreads
'hat the "Killer Expressway
would be running through their
neighborhood area which meant
'ha' 'he construction workers
would be digging manholes in
'heir s'rccts, and destroying
many houses.
The area residents
sponsored a block party to keep
ou’ 'he Construction workers.
Upon the arrival of the Con-
s'ruc'ion workers, the super
visor demanded that they clear
'he streets at once, but the
neighbors refused to move. So,
“Big De" counted down for the
worker's surprise attack which
was 'o use the firehouse
'echnique with the powerful
force of the water almost
drowning them.
If you are looking for a wild
and crazy movie with a lot of
fun. excitement, and action,
check out the “Monkey
Hustle.”
movies.
During this era the only
'hea'ers 'hat would show black
faces in leading roles were in
'he black neighborhood. It was
great to go into a downtown
■hea'er like 'he “Grand” and
ge' off on “Shaf'”or “Melin
da.”
I' was not unusual for a
bunch of us to get together on
Eas'er and make plans to make
i' 'o 'he “Grand.” On any
holiday the place to go was the
“Grand" first and anywhere
else later. Many first dates were
a> 'he “Grand” and I believe
o'her naugh'y things went on.
Especially 'he balcony, I guest
■hat’s why I reserved a seat
■here.
As I wa'ched the flames
leaping outside the windows,
where 1 once saw Jim Brown
shoot 20 men, a feeling of great
loss swelled in my chest. I could
no> help but remember sneaking
pas' 'he near sighted guard ini
the back nor flashing a light on
couples who might have been
pc'ing.
Tears almost fell on my
cheeks when 1 thought of my
very own first date. When the
firemen sprayed the entrance 1
could almost see my date
spilling coke on my new Alpaca
sweater. Or even when I tried to
kiss her and my little brother
flashed a light in my face.
I' was not unuusal for a
bunch of us to get together on
Easter and make plans to make
i' to the “Grand
The Loew ’s Grand brought
great pleasure in not only my
young life but many ohterswho
had the opportunity to be a part
of its mystique.
We w ere informed
of 'he great and terrible
even'.
Madness reigned.
Men ran over lit'le children,
shielding 'heir eyes.
Women crossed 'heir breasts
and nur'crcd insane prayers aloud,
all o'hcrs were merely confused.
The new s was out.
God Himself had died
■wo ‘housand years ago.
They had all murdered him,
of course.
One by one
■hey mechanically plunged their
knives in'o his body.
They buil' an cn'irc civilisation
wi hin his corpse.
The crime i' self
was known >o all.
Bit 1 i s meaning, whispered from
the very bowels of the earth,
s tinned 'he na'ion.
And
no one could be saved.
By Suleiman Abdul-Azeez
I was just standing on the
corner waiting for MARTA to
send me a bus when the first
drop hit. My feeling of it was a
kind of cool, watery sensation as
•he substance seeped through
my hair and reached my scalp.
When the second and sub
sequent dosages plopped dow n
on my head, 1 sought to
ascertain w hat was going on up
'here. So, having sent my
fingers on a test mission
'hrough my hair. 1 examined
them.
A green, gooey substance
blurred my fingers. Fearing the
worst. 1 sen' my fingers probing
through my hair again to see
how widespread the damage
was. When 1 found that the
green gook completely covered
my hand. 1 felt a strange,
unearthly sensation rush
through y flesh. It was seething
anger.
I looked up to see from
whence this hair dye was
coming. There, perched upon a
telephone wire sa' an im
poverished, gray-looking
creature that Debbie assures
me was a bird. Prof ■ ,v
poor to afford a winter fur'hcr
south, he sat there .shivering
unaware of my, by now, con
temptuous gaze at him.
When I had begun to put
my anger into words, the
creature let drop another gooey
glob of green gook w hich caught
me squarely in my upraised eye.
That about did it! I searched
w ildly for a s'one, a rock, a brick
'o smash that weird looking
creature into a thousand little
green pieces!
Debbie said it was no use,
'ha' I jus' should have moved
af-cr ‘he first drop.
“He mean' i',” I told her.
"He v as aiming a' me."
I , IT * t".,a ;t s ionc, but
when I looked ip again, the
scrawny gray creature was
g°nc.
“I' s a good thing you were
wi'h me," 1 told Debbie.
“Otherwise, I'd sure have a
problem cxplaing this one.”
Loew’s Gone
With The Wind