Sad news to report: choreographer and dancing legend, Katherine Dunham, died yesterday in New York City. She was 96. Dunham was an author, civil rights activist, and anthropologist, as well. In fact, it was her research abroad, in Haiti and other Caribbean countries, that left the biggest mark on her dancing. Dunham would fuse African and Caribbean influences with what had been a European-dominated art form.</s>Sad news to report: In the 193Os, she created the country's first self-supported, all-black, modern dance group. The group toured throughout the world and paved the way for future black dance companies.</s>Sad news to report: Dunham's career spanned the stage and the film industry as well, with her choreography appearing in Broadway musicals like, Cabin in the Sky, and in Hollywood films like Stormy Weather, and Carnival of Rhythm. In her later years, she taught her Dunham technique to some of Hollywood's biggest stars, including Marlon Brando and James Dean.</s>Sad news to report: But for Dunham, performing was not enough. She also used her talents and fame in her role as a civil rights activist. She refused to perform in segregated theaters. And starting in the late 1960s, she spent much of her time in East St. Louis, Illinois, offering dance and other art classes to the largely black and poor community there.</s>Sad news to report: Katherine Dunham, dead at 96.
Topics: Ray Nagin is re-elected mayor in New Orleans, and newspaper reports allege that Republican leaders prompted an IRS probe of the NAACP. Guests: Callie Crossley, social and cultural commentator on the television show Beat the Press in Boston; Laura Washington, Chicago Sun-Times columnist; and Marcelo Suarez-Orozco, professor of globalization and education at NYU.