Black History Month is 28 days of historic and engaging stories of Black changemakers from around the world that are not given the same privilege as others to be celebrated year-round. Along with the stories that we regularly hear about Martin Luther King Jr., Rosa Parks, Harriet Tubman, Malcolm X, Frederick Douglass, and others. There are hundreds upon thousands more stories that have not only contributed to Black history but world history as well.
Black History Media
Art, Trade & Lifestyle is a proud Black-owned media/entertainment company that is even prouder of our Black History roots. During the month of February, A.T.L. News will be posting daily Black History facts about individuals, groups, or events that had some sort of impact on our everyday lives. We will also be repurposing old video content from previously covered stories of A.T.L. News to help announce a new platform called Black History Media. A streaming platform that is everything Black: documentaries, feature-length films, podcasts, and more.
Abdul Jami Allen
That being said, this week’s repurposed Black History video is about 10 years old, and it is based on the life of an old Atlanta legend, Jami Allen. Originally from New York City, Allen was a ballroom and disco dancing champion that everyone knew in New York City’s dancing scene.
Nik Cohn
Allen was so popular he grabbed the attention of English journalist Nik Cohn, who traveled overseas to New York City from England to cover the local dance scene. Impressed with Allen’s dancing ability, Cohn followed behind Allen at various dancing events and wrote about them.
Saturday Night Fever
But there was another side of Allen that was also a big part of his life… drugs. Because during that time period drugs were very prevalent, it was not as much of a concern as drugs are today. Allen was a frequent user, and it began to interfere with his career and lifestyle as a dancer. So much so, Allen disappeared for a while, and Cohn returned back to New York City with a new story. Not about Allen, but about Italian teenagers that Cohn was influenced to create after Allen.
While Allen spent the years recovering and getting his life together, Cohn was profiting on the story of his life and image that he retold and sold about Italians called “Tribal Rites of Saturday Night.” Warner Brothers would later come along and purchase the film rights from Cohn and make “Saturday Night Fever.”
Allen was inspired to have a dream of his own
After seeing a video of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech. Allen was inspired to move to Atlanta and to begin recovery. Allen would later start a nonprofit organization called “Giving Back To Humanity,” where he and a group of volunteers would feed the local homeless and/or low-income residents of Downtown Atlanta.
Allen passed away in 2015, and producers of HBO’s “Mr. Saturday Night” contacted A.T.L. News, requesting permission to use our footage of Allen for their film, but rough footage without the background music was not available for usage.