Memorial Day 2021 may not be as packed with events as it has been in years past, but here’s plenty of things to do to make this holiday one to remember.
Friday, May 28 – Sunday, May 30
● Digital Drag Festival — Catch the stars of RuPaul’s Drag Race lip-syncing, cracking jokes and being fabulous in short, hour-long shows. Tickets can be purchased here.
● The Hollywood Legion Theatre — Watch the blockbuster Christopher Nolan film “Tenet” on Friday night at the Egyptian Revival-style theater. https://www.hollywoodlegiontheater.com
● Alamo Drafthouse — Catch Cruella and A Quiet Place Part II over the weekend at the Drafthouse’s re-opening. https://drafthouse.com/los-angeles
Friday, May 28
● Angel City Market: Dodgers Fan Fest Market — This family friendly event features the Dodgers game vs. the Giants on outdoor screens along with a Dodgers merchandise market. 10903 S. Inglewood Ave., Inglewood. Starts at 5 p.m. Click here for more info.
Sunday, May 30
● The Lavender Effect will present its Live Virtual Pride Parade, hosted by Alec Mapa (“Half & Half” and “Ugly Betty”). The slate of confirmed celebrity appearances includes Lily Tomlin, Betty Buckley, Kathryn Hahn, Doug Spearman, Sally Kirkland, Alexandra Billings, Bruce Vilanch, Charles Busch, Drew Droege, Jason Stuart, Michael Musto, Kay Sedia and Mel England. The livestream will be accessible at youtube.com/c/thelavendereffect. Contact: Mike Pingel, PR, mpingel@msn.com.
Monday, May 31
● Los Angeles River — The Elysian Valley and Sepulveda Basin recreation zones open on Monday. Enjoy kayaking, fishing and the best of the California great outdoors.
Monday, May 31; 10 a.m.
● Forest Lawn’s Memorial Day 2021 – The virtual event will be streamed on Facebook in honor of Forest Lawn’s 106th memorial to fallen veterans of the U.S. military. https://forestlawn.com/events/memorial-day/
Memorial Day began as “Decoration Day” to celebrate Black Liberation on May 1st, 1865 by newly liberated Blacks in Charleston, South Carolina after the Civil War. Years later African American significance was erased from the event by white southerners and their supporters after regaining control of state politics in the Jim Crow era after Reconstruction. History Professor, David W. Blight, shows this in Race and Reunion: The Civil War in American Memory. Let’s NOT forget the Original Decoration Day ❗ ✊🏽
Thank you Carl for for taking the opportunity to provide a sober, moving and inspiring gem of a poem for all to contemplate. Reconnecting with our history through vivid occasions brings out a labyrinth of human values that deserve much thought. How did we get from there to here, from serving the greater ideals and values expressed in public service to a divisive, distracted and ultimately fractured society composed of “me, myself and I” composed of victims greatly of their own making and lacking in nobility. John F. Kennedy expressed it plainly in his “Ask not what your country can… Read more »
Thanks Vigilent. For many years this day was known to some as Poppy Day, for the Women’s Auxiliary of the Foreign Legion made up paper red poppies and sold them for whatever, the money going to veterans retirement homes. Canada and the UK still – as far as I know – maintain the day as Poppie Day.
Or, one could take a moment to consider the insanity of war, that which has made Memorial Day an occasion for so long. Here is a short poem written by a Canadian doctor stationed in France in 1917, during WWi, “the war to end all wars”.. Two weeks after penning the poem he was killed in action. In Flanders Field – by John McCrae In Flander fields the poppies blow between the crosses, row on row, that mark our places; and in the sky the larks, still bravely singing, fly scarce heard among the guns below We are the Dead.… Read more »