Page 12 - digitial-retrospective-3

Foreword ~ by Anne Palmer Haley

believe that only a few times in a generation do we see the manifestation of all the hopes, talent and
dreams, the blood, sweat, tears and sacrifice of the ancestors embodied in one soul. It is a cosmic
Icombination that happens only rarely and the night I met Adu Jahmal, in a room full of middle-aged
women drinking wine from his exquisitely carved bottles and glasses as he walked us, sang us, charmed
us through the recitation of what makes a merlot more mellifluous than a cabernet, I knew I had
happened upon one. It did not take me long to recognize him for what he was. The work spoke for itself.
But it was more than that. It was the way he held their attention, their hearts and minds or was it just me?
the way he captured their imaginations or was it only mine? Kindred spirits. We exchanged cards, said
we should do business. I visited his gallery. And that's where the magic happened. Where it had been
happening. Where it happens still, because when you are the generational, cosmic genius, the magic
happens wherever you are.

e told me about the generations that had come before him, the grandmother who inspired him in
life and empowered him in death, and I told him about mine. We basked together in the
Hknowing of where we had come from, in the security of knowing who we were. We shared that
gift. I soon learned, however, that his gifts were many. That his talents lay not only in the fine arts, but in
the musical and entrepreneurial arts as well. Multiple instruments he plays; the drums seeming to be the
closest beat to his heart. But I also saw thrift store jackets transformed into runway masterpieces and
tossed lamp shades remade into collector's items. In his hands, one man's trash is every man's treasure.

oon enough I learned to be less astonished. I got used to the surprise of his exceptional gift and
settled into being his sometimes lawyer, sometimes buyer, shameless admirer, and always friend.
SI am proud of him as an artist, as a business man, and as a keeper of the generational flame. I
believe the ancestors are looking down and smiling. I believe you will do the same as you turn the pages
of this beautiful book and see what I saw. Enjoy.

07