Glenn Ligon is a renowned artist who gives us new ways of seeing American history, literature, and society. How can we see him better through the lens of childhood? In this episode of Your Hometown, Glenn speaks with Kevin Burke about his experiences growing up in the South Bronx in the 1960s and 70s, including his hour-and-a-half commute each way to Walden, the private school he attended on the Upper West Side from the first grade on. His mother made going to Walden possible for Glenn and his brother, and it involved sacrifices and risks. A commute is one thing. Where it can lead, another.

How would this change the landscape for Glenn and his family? Where would Glenn most feel at home, outside and inside, in his New York? Where would he feel safe, or watched, or like a stranger? And how does a city like New York, with its layer upon layer of construction, class, and culture, define not just the literal paths we take growing up, but the existential ones?

Your Hometown is a show where the local is the epic. Visit yourhometown.org to subscribe to the podcast and our various social media channels.

Our co-presenter this season is the Museum of the City of New York. For more, including information on live events, check out our NYC series page at mcny.org/yourhometown-podcast.

Archival

“Early 1970s New York Subway” from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p16a6SKjwZM

“Zora Neale Hurston '28 Sings Halihmuhfack” from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ut0xmfgcK3w

“James Baldwin: Un Étranger dans le Village" (1962) from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5hPEaxeJWZQ

James Baldwin on Love and Sexuality from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XZPmT3lk6cU

Clip from "The Naked Civil Servant" (1975) from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mlxn3F2tIWg

Music

Beastie Boys - Shake Your Rump (1989)

Carl Douglas - Kung Fu Fighting (1974)

Mahalia Jackson - Silent Night (1962)

Cool Change - Streets of The Bronx (1993)

Cher - Gypsies, Tramps and Thieves (1971)

Screamin’ Jay Hawkins - I Put A Spell on You (1956)

Artwork

Charlotte Yiu and Nick Gregg

Poem

Walt Whitman, “Song of Myself,” Part 52, Leaves of Grass (1855)

“I bequeath myself to the dirt to grow from the grass I love,
If you want me again look for me under your boot-soles.

“You will hardly know who I am or what I mean,
But I shall be good health to you nevertheless,
And filter and fibre your blood.

“Failing to fetch me at first keep encouraged,
Missing me one place search another,
I stop somewhere waiting for you.”

Special Thanks

Jonah Groeneboer and Lisa Koli at Glenn Ligon Studio; and Tate Dougherty and the team at Hauser & Wirth