Amsterdam News jazz columnist Ronald E. Scott was honored at the annual American Book Awards by the Before Columbus Foundation at the University of California, Berkeley, on September 26.
Scott, author of the Jazz Notes column, whose career spans more than 30 years, received the Walter and Lilian Lowenfels Award for Criticism for his work in examining jazz music and writing reviews of Black theater and other forms of cultural production.
Writer, playwright, and scholar Ishmael Reed, founder of Before Columbus, which presents the award ceremony each year, presented this year’s award to Scott. They have been friends for a decade,
Overcome with emotion, Scott thanked Reed and the foundation in his remarks.
“I didn’t want to be a writer. It was something I liked to do on the side, but I didn’t see it in my life,” Scott said at the start. “To be honored with all these exceptional poets and writers — it’s one of those days I wish my parents were here to see this.”
Scott discussed the power of writing and jazz music as a way to give voice to the oppressed.
“Jazz is America. Black American music is the backdrop of what America could be if we weren’t screwed up with such idiots,” Scott said. “[Music] is not only to tell you what’s going on in the world. It’s also to make us feel better … It gives us the gumption to move on and get through another day.”
The award ceremony honors contemporary authors and includes various recognitions. Among the 19 other awardees were Deborah Willis for “Reflections in Black: A History of Black Photographers: 1840 to the Present”; Matthew Shipp for “Black Mystery School Pianists and Other Writings”; John Fugelsang for “Separation of Church and Hate”; and several others.
Foundation chairperson Justin Desmangle noted that the board of directors unanimously decided to honor Scott, which is rare in the organization’s history. The board includes Reed; Wajahat Ali, who serves as president; and Viet Thanh Nguyen, Henry Louis Gates Jr., Marlon James, among others. It boasts several former Pulitzer Prize winners, three former U.S. Poet Laureates, three MacArthur Fellows, a Booker Prize winner, and a Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient.
Scott has reviewed some of Reed’s latest plays, including “The Shine Challenge,” a satirical play that ran at the Theater for the New City in Lower Manhattan, and “Blues Lyrics,” a blues CD composed by Reed, both in 2025.
Reed spoke to the Amsterdam News about his friendship with Scott and why Scott is so deserving at this juncture when the arts and writers face attacks from right-wing leaders. “They’re trying to eradicate our culture. [Ron] is a tradition-bearer, a bearer of tradition, the wise person who keeps our culture and resists any attempt to stamp it out,” he said.
