Not everyone is dreaming of a White Christmas, as today’s Baltimore Sun profile of Lucas Durant (aka “Santa Luke”) makes clear. – BoL
Generations flock to visit Mondawmin’s “color blind” Santa Luke
By Jonathan Pitts (Baltimore Sun, Dec. 18, 2013)
“Santa Luke” Durant has portrayed Kriss Kringle at Mondawmin Mall for 29 years (Photo: Baltimore Sun)
When he was growing up near Mondawmin Mall and the Christmas season rolled around, Andrew Dubose rarely missed a chance to visit the old man in the red suit and white beard who always gave him such a warm holiday greeting.
Now 39, married, and the father of three, Dubose drives his children from the family’s home in Randallstown so they can sit with the same man in exactly the same spot — Lucas Durant, the longest-running black Santa Claus in Baltimore.
“Santa loves you,” Durant, 65, tells Dubose’s children, Jasmine, 15; Mason, 2; and Drew, 6 months, as he did their father decades ago.
“Santa Luke,” as he’s known, has been Kriss Kringle at Mondawmin Mall for 29 years running. For many, dropping in for his hugs and ho-ho-hos is an intergenerational ritual, and not just because he, like the Duboses, is African-American.
Continue reading “Color Blind Santa Luke” at baltimoresun.com.
Joe Hamilton from Essex with Santa at Mondawmin Mall.
This Edith Massey greeting card bucks the White Christmas tradition.
Related Links:
Listen to “Santa Claus Is a Black Man” – Akim & Teddy Vann (YouTube)
