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John Lee Hooker, and my black soul brothers

SEPTEMBER 13, 2006
I was asked to do a portrait of John Lee Hooker, the Blues legend.  So, here is another sloppy drawing. 

I AM NOT BLACK!  Many people think that, until they meet me.  Then, they seem kind of disappointed.  I do get a lot of requests for portraits of African American musicians and Black Latino singers (Can't call them African American because they're not, always confused about that).  Anyways, I got Black roots.  Anybody that doubts my blackness can check out the picture below.  I was the white kid on the block.

In Cuba, there is not much separation of races like there is here in the U.S.  Basically, everybody's poor, so it's a great equalizer.   Most of my buddies were black.  We always hung out together, playing, getting into trouble, making conga music with buckets and sticks, and learning how to dance.  So, I got a lot of Black in me!  And it's great to get assignments that give me an opportunity to express it.
Can anyone spot Edel?  Hint, I'm not a girl either!  My buddies William on the left, and Cristobal and Yeyo on the right.  And all of their sisters. I think this was my birthday.  We had wonderful times together.
Three rough sketches for the John Lee Hooker portrait
© 2024 Edel Rodriguez