logo
Book Review: ‘The Man Nobody Killed,' by Elon Green

Book Review: ‘The Man Nobody Killed,' by Elon Green

New York Times10-03-2025

THE MAN NOBODY KILLED: Life, Death, and Art in Michael Stewart's New York, by Elon Green
In the early hours of Sept. 15, 1983, a 25-year-old Black man named Michael Stewart was arrested for allegedly tagging a subway wall with a marker. According to the arresting officer, Stewart attempted to escape up the stairs, where the officer caught him, pinning him to the ground with a nightstick. Outside the precinct headquarters on Union Square, he allegedly tried to run off again, only to be piled on by multiple officers. College students in a building overlooking the square saw the officers kicking and beating the handcuffed Stewart (who weighed only 143 pounds) as he lay facedown on the sidewalk, screaming for help. One witness saw an officer slide a club under Stewart's neck and yank it upward. After Stewart stopped moving he was thrown, hogtied, into a paddy wagon, and driven to Bellevue Hospital. There, after 13 days in a coma, he died. No one was ever held accountable.
Elon Green's grimly vivid telling of this story and its aftermath in 'The Man Nobody Killed' is part elegy for Stewart himself, part portrait of the city that failed him. It avoids drawing explicit parallels with our own time, but then it hardly needs to.
An aspiring artist, Stewart was just beginning to make his presence felt in New York's downtown scene. He'd bussed at the Pyramid Club (until he was fired for being insufficiently aggressive), modeled for Dianne Brill (Warhol's 'Queen of the Night'), dated Jean-Michel Basquiat's sometime girlfriend Suzanne Mallouk, partied at Danceteria and appeared in Madonna's debut music video at Paradise Garage.
His own art, executed at a dilapidated studio above the Anderson Theater on the Bowery (no running water — fishbowls for toilets), was still at a formative stage: 'small, resonantly colored abstract paintings,' the New Yorker art critic Peter Schjeldahl wrote, that conveyed 'a serious aspiration.' He was seriously ambitious too: 'He wanted to do giant murals across the country,' a tagger buddy tells Green. Image
But it was his unlucky fate to enter posterity as the subject of other people's art and protest rather than the creator of his own. A remarkable number of the luminaries of that watchful, jittery era were shocked into action by Stewart's killing. The artist David Wojnarowicz designed a flier for a rally at Union Square while Stewart was still on life support. Basquiat, profoundly shaken by the incident ('It could have been me,' he observed), painted a spontaneous memorial on his friend Keith Haring's studio wall. Haring, who had been arrested four times for graffiti but — as he acknowledged — was spared mistreatment because he was white, later fashioned an anguished tribute of his own. Andy Warhol, Toni Morrison and Spike Lee all drew on the event in various ways, while political reaction ranged from demonstrations to two separate bombings, one of which blew up the bathroom in the Patrolmen's Benevolent Association building, injuring two maintenance workers.
Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.
Thank you for your patience while we verify access.
Already a subscriber? Log in.
Want all of The Times? Subscribe.

Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Sly Stone, leader of funk revolutionaries Sly and the Family Stone, dies at 82
Sly Stone, leader of funk revolutionaries Sly and the Family Stone, dies at 82

Hamilton Spectator

time44 minutes ago

  • Hamilton Spectator

Sly Stone, leader of funk revolutionaries Sly and the Family Stone, dies at 82

NEW YORK (AP) — Sly Stone, the revolutionary musician and dynamic showman whose Sly and the Family Stone transformed popular music in the 1960s and '70s and beyond with such hits as 'Everyday People,' 'Stand!' and 'Family Affair,' has died. He was 82 Stone, born Sylvester Stewart, had been in poor health in recent years. His publicist Carleen Donovan said Monday that Stone died surrounded by family after contending with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and other ailments. Formed in 1966-67, Sly and the Family Stone was the first major group to include Black and white men and women, and well embodied a time when anything seemed possible — riots and assassinations, communes and love-ins. The singers screeched, chanted, crooned and hollered. The music was a blowout of frantic horns, rapid-fire guitar and locomotive rhythms, a melting pot of jazz, psychedelic rock, doo-wop, soul and the early grooves of funk. Sly's time on top was brief, roughly from 1968-1971, but profound. No band better captured the gravity-defying euphoria of the Woodstock era or more bravely addressed the crash which followed. From early songs as rousing as their titles — 'I Want To Take You Higher,' 'Stand!' — to the sober aftermath of 'Family Affair' and 'Runnin' Away,' Sly and the Family Stone spoke for a generation whether or not it liked what they had to say. Stone's group began as a Bay Area sextet featuring Sly on keyboards, Larry Graham on bass; Sly's brother, Freddie, on guitar; sister Rose on vocals; Cynthia Robinson and Jerry Martini horns and Greg Errico on drums. They debuted with the album 'A Whole New Thing' and earned the title with their breakthrough single, 'Dance to the Music.' It hit the top 10 in April 1968, the week the Rev. Martin Luther King was murdered, and helped launch an era when the polish of Motown and the understatement of Stax suddenly seemed of another time. Led by Sly Stone, with his leather jumpsuits and goggle shades, mile-wide grin and mile-high Afro, the band dazzled in 1969 at the Woodstock festival and set a new pace on the radio. 'Everyday People,' 'I Wanna Take You Higher' and other songs were anthems of community, non-conformity and a brash and hopeful spirit, built around such catchphrases as 'different strokes for different folks.' The group released five top 10 singles, three of them hitting No. 1, and three million-selling albums: 'Stand!', 'There's a Riot Goin' On' and 'Greatest Hits.' For a time, countless performers wanted to look and sound like Sly and the Family Stone. The Jackson Five's breakthrough hit, 'I Want You Back' and the Temptations' 'I Can't Get Next to You' were among the many songs from the late 1960s that mimicked Sly's vocal and instrumental arrangements. Miles Davis' landmark blend of jazz, rock and funk, 'Bitches Brew,' was inspired in part by Sly, while fellow jazz artist Herbie Hancock even named a song after him. 'He had a way of talking, moving from playful to earnest at will. He had a look, belts, and hats and jewelry,' Questlove wrote in the foreword to Stone's memoir, 'Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin),' named for one of his biggest hits and published through Questlove's imprint in 2023. 'He was a special case, cooler than everything around him by a factor of infinity.' In 2025, Questlove released the documentary 'Sly Lives! (aka The Burden of Black Genius).'

How to Watch the 2025 BET Awards
How to Watch the 2025 BET Awards

Yahoo

timean hour ago

  • Yahoo

How to Watch the 2025 BET Awards

The BET Awards are back and they're jam-packed with performances from popular stars like Lil Wayne and GloRilla. And we're here with all the deets about how to tune into 'culture's biggest night.' It's the 2025 BET Awards, which honors excellence in Black entertainment and media, and this time around the ceremony will spotlight Mariah Carey, Jamie Foxx, Snoop Dogg and Kirk Franklin as its Ultimate Icon Award honorees. Unlike before, the event won't take place on a Sunday. But don't worry, we've got you covered on everything you need to know about how to watch the 2025 BET Awards. Unlike previous years, the BET Awards will be held on a Monday this time around. The show kicks off Monday night, June 9 at 8 p.m. EST/PST. The pre-show starts at 6 p.m. ET/PST on BET, and the live broadcast of the show set to kick off at 8 p.m. ET/PT on BET. It will be available to watch via CMTV, Logo, Nickelodeon, MTV, and Paramount Network. The 2025 BET Awards will air on its cable channel BET, and it will be streaming on its website The awards will also simulcast across Paramount on BET, BET Her, BET Her Caribbean, Logo, Comedy Central, MTV, MTV2, Pop, TV Land, Nickelodeon at Nite and VH1. Several stars will be hitting the stage this year to perform, including Lil Wayne, GloRilla, Leon Thomas, Teyana Taylor and more. Taking the lead as the most nominated musician this year is Kendrick Lamar, who earned 10 nods. Following behind him are tied competitors Doechii, GloRilla, Drake and Future. Battling it out for best actress is Angela Bassett, Viola Davis, Kerry Washington, Cynthia Erivo, Keke Palmer, Quinta Brunson, Coco Jones, Zendaya and Andra Day. Aaron Judge, Anthony Edwards, Deion Sanders, Jalen Hurts, LeBron James, Jayson Tatum, Saquon Barkley and Stephen Curry are going head-to-head for Sportsman of the Year. While Taraji P. Henson has knocked it out the park the past few years as host, comedian and business mogul Kevin Hart will be taking the reins as host this year. The 2024 BET Awards will take place at Peacock Theater in Los post How to Watch the 2025 BET Awards appeared first on TheWrap.

Entertainment World Honors Sly Stone: Funk Legend Dead at 82
Entertainment World Honors Sly Stone: Funk Legend Dead at 82

Newsweek

timean hour ago

  • Newsweek

Entertainment World Honors Sly Stone: Funk Legend Dead at 82

Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. Sly Stone, the revolutionary musician and dynamic showman whose Sly and the Family Stone transformed popular music in the 1960s and '70s with hits like "Everyday People," "Stand!" and "Family Affair," died Monday at age 82. Stone, born Sylvester Stewart, had been in poor health in recent years and died in Los Angeles surrounded by family after contending with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and other ailments, according to his publicist, Carleen Donovan. The Context Stone's death marks the loss of an icon for funk rock music and popular culture. As leader of the first major integrated band to include Black and white men and women, Sly and the Family Stone shattered racial barriers while crafting a groundbreaking sound that influenced generations of musicians. The band's brief but profound reign from 1968 to 1971 captured the euphoria and eventual disillusionment of the Woodstock era, speaking for a generation through anthems of community and nonconformity. Sly Stone, frontman of Sly and the Family Stone, is pictured posing in London on July 16, 1973. Sly Stone, frontman of Sly and the Family Stone, is pictured posing in London on July 16, 1973. Michael Putland/Getty Image What To Know Founded in 1966, Sly and the Family Stone created an innovative fusion of jazz, psychedelic rock, doo-wop, soul and early funk grooves. The Bay Area sextet featured Stone on keyboards, Larry Graham on bass, Stone's brother Freddie on guitar, sister Rose on vocals, plus Cynthia Robinson and Jerry Martini on horns and Greg Errico on drums. The group's breakthrough single "Dance to the Music" hit the top 10 in April 1968, launching an era when traditional Motown polish suddenly seemed dated. Led by Stone with his leather jumpsuits, goggle shades and mile-high Afro, the band dazzled at Woodstock in 1969 and released five top 10 singles, three hitting No. 1, plus a trio of million-selling albums including "Stand!" and "There's a Riot Goin' On." Stone's influence extended far beyond his own recordings. The Jackson Five's "I Want You Back" and the Temptations' "I Can't Get Next to You" mimicked his arrangements, while Miles Davis credited Stone as partial inspiration for "Bitches Brew." Later artists from Prince to the Black Eyed Peas drew from his innovations, and countless hip-hop artists sampled his riffs. By the early 1970s, Stone battled drug addiction and erratic behavior, becoming notorious for missing concerts. The group broke up by decade's end, though Stone was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1993. Questlove featured Stone prominently in recent documentaries "Summer of Soul" and 2025's "Sly Lives! (aka The Burden of Black Genius)." Psychedelic soul powerhouse Sly and the Family Stone poses for a portrait in 1968. Left to right, Rosie Stone, Larry Graham, Sly Stone, Freddie Stone, Gregg Errico, Jerry Martini and Cynthia Robinson. Psychedelic soul powerhouse Sly and the Family Stone poses for a portrait in 1968. Left to right, Rosie Stone, Larry Graham, Sly Stone, Freddie Stone, Gregg Errico, Jerry Martini and Cynthia Robinson. MichaelWhat People Are Saying Statement from the family of Sly Stone: "It is with profound sadness that we announce the passing of our beloved dad, Sly Stone of Sly and the Family Stone. After a prolonged battle with COPD and other underlying health issues, Sly passed away peacefully, surrounded by his three children, his closest friend, and his extended family. While we mourn his absence, we take solace in knowing that his extraordinary musical legacy will continue to resonate and inspire for generations to come. Sly was a monumental figure, a groundbreaking innovator, and a true pioneer who redefined the landscape of pop, funk, and rock music. His iconic songs have left an indelible mark on the world, and his influence remains undeniable." The statement continues: "In a testament to his enduring creative spirit, Sly recently completed the screenplay for his life story, a project we are eager to share with the world in due course, which follows a memoir published in 2024. We extend our deepest gratitude for the outpouring of love and prayers during this difficult time. We wish peace and harmony to all who were touched by Sly's life and his iconic music. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts for your unwavering support." Actress Holly Robinson Peete on X, formerly Twitter: "Rest in power, Sly Stone. You didn't just make music—you shifted the culture. As kids in Philly, my brother played Sly, I was Cynthia on my imaginary horn. We lived your music. You gave us the groove & the message. Thank you, genius." Rap icon Chuck D on X: "Rest In Beats SLY Stone ..and we should THANK @questlove of @theroots for keeping his FIRE blazing in this Century. 2 documentaries and book . GET EM" Entertainment publicist Danny Deraney on X: "Rest easy Sly Stone. You changed music (and me) forever. The time he won over Ed Sullivan's audience in 1968. Simply magical." SiriusXM host Eric Alper on X: "RIP Sly Stone (1943–2025), the funk pioneer who made the world dance, think, and get higher. His music changed everything—and it still does." Writer Keith Murphy on X: "Giant. I can't put into words the impact Sly Stone had on popular music. Blues, soul, pop, rock, funk were just toys in his sandbox. Sly's genius was that it all came together seamlessly without pretentious wonkery. He did it all." Radio Hall of Fame media icon Donnie Simpson on X: "We lost a true legend today. He was 82 years old. Condolences to his family, friends, and fans. Thank you for your music and all that you gave us." Historian Harvey G. Cohen on X: "American musical life would've been totally different without Sly Stone. Bless you sir, and thanks." Sundance Film Festival on X: "Sly Stone changed music forever. A visionary, a rebel, a genius. His sound shaped generations and his spirit broke boundaries." Psychedelic soul pioneer Sly Stone checks out a necklace on March 9, 1969. Psychedelic soul pioneer Sly Stone checks out a necklace on March 9, 1969. MichaelWhat Happens Next Stone's family plans to share Sly's recently completed screenplay for his life story. Memorial arrangements have yet to be announced. A Statement From The Family of Sly Stone: It is with profound sadness that we announce the passing of our beloved dad, Sly Stone of Sly and the Family Stone. — Sly Stone (@RealSlyStone) June 9, 2025 Reporting from the Associated Press contributed to this article.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into the world of global news and events? Download our app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store