Time - USA (2021-03-01)

Anthony

Ramos

29 • Gifted artist

BY LESLIE ODOM JR.

For the culture, we must protect

Anthony Ramos at all costs. I

think the greatest performers of

any age are cumulative. They are

everything that’s come before,

and they stand on a timeline

that connects the audience to

the Great Ones that have come

before. A tradition of excellence

is recorded in their work. Ramos

is one of those. He is charting his

own path but, watching, we are

reminded of the genius and magic

of John Leguizamo, even Ritchie

Valens when we witness the tal-

ent and the craft. Remarkable.

And necessary.

The emotional range and

acting facility, the wit and

wicked sense of humor, the one-

in-a-millon singing voice come

together within a special person

whose bounty of gifts is matched

with a rock-solid humanity and

core of integrity. We can trust

Ramos with the keys he is about

to be given. He has been well-

prepared. His voice matters. The

space he occupies matters.

I hope we leave room for him

to grow and maybe even fall short

from time to time. I hope his path

is marked by grace. For Bushwick,

for Brooklyn, for the benefit of

these babies who are watching

his every move, we gotta protect

young Anthony Ramos at all

costs.

Odom is a Tony Award–winning

actor and musical artist

OMAR TATE

34 • Cooking with purpose

BY ALEXANDER SMALLS

With more passion, courage and intention than resources or financial
support, Omar Tate has sparked a revolution in African-American food.
With his Honeysuckle dinner series and the pop-up takeout options he has
offered in the wake of the pandemic, he committed himself to carrying on
the culinary practices of the ancestors who nurtured his youth and gifted
him a sense of purpose. He outworked, outpaced and outcooked everyone
in reach, making African- American “foodway” an important language we
all needed to speak. And someday soon, Honeysuckle will be reborn as a
community center in Philadelphia, complete with a supper club and café
library. Armed with a desire to ignite a movement of humanity, love and
grace, Omar is setting the table for a new beginning.

Smalls is a chef, restaurateur, writer and activist

BALLARD: PHILIP CHEUNG; VERRALL: ILLUSTRATION BY ALEXIS FRANKLIN FOR TIME;
TATE: RYAN COLLERD—THE NEW YORK TIMES/REDUX; RAMOS: SYDNEY CLAIRE