Remembering Goodie’s Greetings

by

Cleven Goudeau was a prolific artist and a mentor and friend to Listen & Be Heard Poetry Cafe and Listen & Be Heard Arts News.

It’s fitting to remember Goodie, as everyone in Vallejo called Cleven Goudeau, during Black History Monty on Valentine’s Day, since his greeting cards were surely a hot item in their time. He also loved to do caricatures. We did an exhibition of them at the cafe. You can see one of the young H.E.R. among others in the picture above. I remember T.J. spending time with Goodie and documenting his career back in those days. He is still devoted to the task. The above video trailer gives you a little window into the man. Perhaps you would like to get involved in completing this film. We still love you Goodie!

Trailer for the film “Goodie, Outlining an Invisible Man”

“When was the first time you ever bought a black card? Chances are it was mine.”

Cleven “Goodie” Goudeau (1932-2015) was a talented painter and cartoonist, art director, and the creator of the first African American greeting card line in the United States in the 1960s. Goodie’s friend, and film Director TJ Walkup, follows Goodie through New York City and Oakland, California, discussing the successful greeting card line that made history.

This project is currently seeking funding and dedicated partnerships to complete and distribute the film. For more information and to become involved in the project, please contact TJ Walkup at tjwalkupATgmail.com. 

Directed by TJ Walkup, Omnific Pictures
omnificpictures.com

Edited by Brent Jones, Jacquie Schnable, TJ Walkup, and Christina Walkup
Sound by Seth Worden, Damon LaRose, Whitney Alves, and Angela Hertzberg
Special Thanks to Yvonne C. Pond, Cynthia and Scott Mildram, Morrie Turner, Jeanette, Cleven and the entire Goudeau Family, The Oak Leaf, and The City of Oakland

Related Posts:


  • Ep. 37 A Song of Salt

    Ep. 37 A Song of Salt

    Tony Robles speaks with poet, Keali’i MacKenzie, The Mana of Salt, and visits a reading in Greensboro, NC where he speaks to Caroline Cottom, love and nuclear testing and Ross White about EKG’s, poetry, and banned books. Read more

  • Caryatid

    Caryatid

    Cary’s a column because she’s the one. She did it. Her deed’s done… Read more

  • Aggressive

    Aggressive

    It was aggressive but it wasn’t against the Law It was egregious but there was legal precedence It was aggravating but being arbitrated It’s an attitude not an atroCity It’s attenuated not attainable It’s a crewing Read more

  • Morning Light

    Morning Light

    It’s so important to remember that the spark of your Soul is nothing less than Divine Light – the energy and vibration of unconditional love. Offering yourself unconditional love is the most important thing you can do to create healing in the world. Bathe in the Light of your inner being. Read more

  • Ep. 36 Writers on Writing

    Ep. 36 Writers on Writing

    Podcast 36 – Fresh from the field Tony Robles, our own people’s poet, storyteller and radio reporter spoke to the Executive Director of the North Carolina Writers Network, who has a new book out, poets, historians, memoirists, publishers and a poet laureate, about the state of writing, the mental state of writers and their thoughts… Read more

  • Writers on Writing

    Writers on Writing

    Fresh from the field Tony Robles, our own people’s poet, storyteller and radio reporter spoke to the Executive Director of the North Carolina Writers Network, who has a new book out, poets, historians, memoirists, publishers and a poet laureate, about the state of writing, the mental state of writers and their thoughts about banned books… Read more

%d bloggers like this: