Wanda’s Picks
Congratulations Shawn Lyles on your graduation from Ex'pression College for Digital Arts with a bachelor’s degree in sound engineering!  Shawn, 25, is the first person in his family to graduate with a college degree.  Contact him at This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it . He needs the business to pay off the loans. Ex’pressions is an expensive institution (smile).

Happy Birthday Sister Makinya Kouyate, Kokuvulu Lumakanda, Genevieve Bayan, Karen Oyekami and other Cancer/Leos.

SF8
The news presently on all the dials or stations or headlines is the death of one of my personal icons, Michael Jackson, who died suddenly last week, June 25, from cardiac arrest. He was 50, his birthday, August 29, is shared by my cousin, Jeffery Lewis and my friend, Karla Brundage. The date is also the anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. It is the day after Martin King gave his famous “I Have a Dream” speech which celebrated its 45th anniversary last year, the day President Obama accepted the Democratic nomination for president. However, off the radar is a critical turn in an important case, the San Francisco 8 (SF8) a case involving initially eight former members of the Black Panther Party who were charged in a shoot out at the Ingleside Police Department in San Francisco also August 29, the year 1971. In this shooting a policeman was killed. What makes this case unique is the fact that in the pursuit of “justice” the San Francisco Police Department rounded up Black Panther Party Members throughout the country and extradited three of the men charged in San Francisco to New Orleans, where the FBI and SFPD watched NOPD torture them in 1973. Subsequently the evidence and case were thrown out. This was 30 years ago. One of the men, John Bowman has since died, another, Richard O'Neal was cleared of all charges. (The film, Legacy of Torture produced by www.FreedomArchives.org looks at the use of torture in this case).

The Grand Jury proceeding stated evidence extracted through torture was inadmissible. Fast forward 30 years, Jerry Brown is elected California’s new Attorney General and he revives this case. The men, now in their 50s, 60s, and even 70s, are rounded up from across the country January 23, 2007, two men, Herman Bell and Jalil Muntaqim (Anthony Bottom) brought from New York where Bell has been incarcerated in New York since 1973, and Muntaqim since 1978 and charged with the murder.  Preliminary hearings begin Monday, July 6 in San Francisco Superior Court, 850 Bryant Street@ 7th Street.  8 a.m. is the rally to drop the charges and 9 a.m. is the hearing. Visit http://www.freethesf8.org/ and http://freethesf8.blogspot.com/

Herman Bell accepted a plea bargain from the prosecution and will be returning to NY for his parole hearing as soon as California gets him on a return flight. The news was greeted soberly and from some quarters with bemusement. What does it mean to the other SF8 plaintiffs’ case when one of its plaintiffs jumps ship and confesses to the crime: possession of arms and being present at the Ingleside police station the night a policeman were killed? Even though one of the stipulations to the plea was that the prosecution cannot call Bell as a witness, unless he agrees, gone is an opportunity for him to be a character witness for Jalil Muntaquim.

As the SF8 posse, about 50 strong, sat behind Bell—to the right of the bench, our side a lot more packed than the other side, which only had 5-6 guys in suits, clearly lawyers, Herman Bell’s attitude was somber.

It’s a heavy thing to confess to a crime one didn’t commit.

Dressed in red, glasses perched on his slender nose, I couldn’t imagine what was going through his mind as the prosecution stated the terms of the agreement and then Bell’s attorney, Stuart Hanlon, restated these terms emphasizing certain aspects which he felt weren’t clear like the 12 months in county jail, the court fees, Bell’s transport back to New York State, and Bell’s protection from self incrimination as a state witness.

What I didn’t understand, after Bell waved his rights under oath and confessed to the crime— voluntary manslaughter for his role in the killing of San Francisco police officer John Young in 1971, August 29, was what was meant when the judge stated certain circumstances which would void the current agreement and allow Bell to recant the plea of guilty. The second charge faced by Mr. Bell, conspiracy to kill the policeman, was dismissed.

Dressed in a red jumpsuit,seated next to his attorney, Stuart Hanlon, I wondered when Bell would be headed back to New York. After 36 years behind bars the possibility of missing his parole date, something he’d been waiting for, for a long time, something he hoped to have approved this time around— probably filled Bell with mixed emotions, sad for the plaintiffs he leaves behind, yet excited as his decision Monday places him that much closer to freedom. He’ll supposedly be on parole for five years, but that might be a mute point also, given the fact that he is going to be outside California.

At the time of the crime, August 29, 1971, sentences were harsher and longer both prosecution and the defense agreed. In 1976, the law changed and sentences for such crimes were reduced. The prosecution took this into consideration when it offered the SF8 the plea bargain and in the terms of this agreement.

The proceedings were all polite and orderly. Bell didn’t make a statement when given the opportunity. I would have liked to hear his rationale, but this was court and he is not free, so perhaps the less said the better.

In the hallway, there wasn’t much jubilation, but people were happy for Herman and hopeful for his case.

I have never spent a day behind bars; however, this lack of direct experience does not mean that I am not affected or that I don’t know how disruptive it can be to a family to have one’s father or grandfather snatched from the home at night by people in uniforms waving badges. This happened to me as a youth in San Francisco when my father was defending our home one afternoon.  He was arrested, and my brother and I were left alone. Sister Elretha picked my brother and me up and took us to stay with her family until my dad was released. I remember going to visit him in the county jail. I remember watching him walk over to the chair where a glass separated us, and pick up the phone.  I remember his face through the glass even though I don’t recall what we spoke about, nor do I remember how long it was before he came home. Perhaps this is the beginning of my amnesia, this erasing? I don’t remember if my brother was there with me. I don’t know how Daddy got home or what time of day it was, I just know it wasn’t two years, with what Herman Bell’s family has had to endure. Bell, his attorney Stuart Hanlon said in a follow-up email,  “his client was facing life without the possibility of parole in a maximum security prison in California if convicted. The government, through an informant, originally alleged that Mr. Bell was the shooter of Sgt Young. However, it is difficult to believe that the Attorney General of California, who prosecuted this case, would have allowed Mr. Bell to plead to a lesser charge with a sentence of only informal probation if there was credible evidence he had shot Sgt. Young.”
 
Bell’s supporters see this move as a victory and look forward to a positive outcome once he goes before the parole board in New York.  Richard Brown has told me many times that the State of California is set on using SF8 as the poster case for admission of evidence gathered through torture.

I’ve invited Richard Brown and other SF8 plaintiffs who will be in town from Florida, Southern California and New York, on my radio show Friday, July 3, 8 a.m. We’ll be talking about the SF8 case, Herman Bell’s decision, and the coming weeks.  I have also invited Herman Bell’s attorney Stuart Hanlon, on the air. Hanlon has confirmed. Also invited is Kamel Bell, CEO of Ankh Productions. Kamel has not confirmed. Visit http://www.wandaspicks.asmnetwork.org (for archived shows). You can also listen live by calling at the website or by calling the listener line: (347) 237-4610. The shows are: Wednesday, 6-8 a.m. and Friday, 8-10 a.m. PST. This is the plan.


Fred Douglass and the Fourth of July

Required reading for Americans pre-fireworks and festivities should be an important speech given by abolitionist and former slave, Frederick Douglass, who in his speech, “What to the American Slave is the Fourth of July,” questions this holiday which took place while citizens were denied their right to justice freedom and equality. Crispus Attucks, a person of African descent, was the first person to die for this country’s liberty; yet, his fellow countrymen languished in chains for hundreds of years after the decisive battle and victory July 4, 1776.  Visit http://www.nps.gov/archive/frdo/freddoug.html and http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part4/4h2927t.html

To make this historic moment, the Oakland Public Conservatory, 1616 Franklin Street, in downtown Oakland, has hosted an alternative observance, this year, Friday, July 3, 6 p.m. (food served), 8 p.m. (show time). Tickets are $12 for the show, and $5 donation for food. Special guests are Michael Lange and Cesar A. Cruz. Actor, director Michael Lange ("The Meeting," "The Ballot or the Bullet") joined by youth wordsmiths Ayinde Webb (drummer Frederick Douglass Youth Ensemble) and Jamani Williams will read excerpts from Frederick Douglass's historic 1852 speech to the Rochester Women's Anti-Slavery Society, "What Is the Fourth of July to the Slave?"   On that day Douglass delivered what is considered to be one of the nineteenth century's greatest orations illuminating the contradiction between American slavery and American freedom.

Opening for UpSurge on Friday, July 3 is a project that UpSurge! founder Raymond Nat Turner has been busy helping cook up. UpSurge and the Oakland Public Conservatory of Music are thrilled to announce the recently formed Frederick Douglass Youth Ensemble (FDYE) under the musical direction of young saxophonist and teacher, Steven Turner. Founding Director of OPC and UpSurge band mate, trombonist and vocalist Angela Wellman is providing the leadership for the birth and development of this new youth ensemble and OPC faculty and violinist, Sandra Poindexter, is mentoring the string section. FDYE will be performing a couple of Upsurge! standards in addition to their own work. Visit (510) 836-4649  This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it , www.opcmusic.org


Poetry Readings

Paradise Free Ja-Luv hosts and performs, 5 p.m. @ Shashaman's, 2507 Broadway, Oakland, every 1st & 3rd Sunday! It is a Free Poetry & Music Showcase! Beginning in August the liguistic party continues every 1st Friday @ Malonga Casquelorde Center for the Performing Arts, 1428 Alice Street in Oakland.

25th Annual Fillmore Jazz Festival

The Festival showcases the Bay's best talent from up-and-coming jazz fusion and Latin-flavored acts to seasoned crooners belting out jazz standards. Eat, drink, and shop, while you stroll, dance, and groove to your favorites weekend Sat/Sun, July 4th and 5th, 10 am - 6 pm both days on Fillmore St. between Jackson and Eddy, San Francisco.  Visit www.fillmorejazzfestival.com  or call (800) 310-6563 for more event information.   There is an after party: Sat, July 4th 6:30 - 9:00 pm at Yoshi's, 1330 Fillmore Street. Admission is free and features Marcus Shelby and Friends.

Entertainment includes:
•    Bay Area Blues Society and the Caravan of All Stars Featuring Chick Willis -    
     http://www.bayareabluessociety.net/
•    Bobbie Webb and the Smooth Blues Ban Featuring Fillmore Slim - 
     http:/www.bobbiewebb.com
•    The Coltrane Church - http://www.coltranechurch.org
•    Consonance - Gospel (with Lloyd Gregory)
•    Farzad - myspace.com/sffazz
•    Hard Work - http://www.tiacarroll.com
•    Jazztroanuts - http://thejazztronauts.com/shows
•    Kim Nalley - http://www.kimnalley.com
•    Lavay Smith - http://www.lavaysmith.com
•    Lloyd Gregory - http://www.lloydgregory.net
•    Marcus Shelby Orchestra - http://www.marcusshelby.com/
•    Norman Bautisa - Latin Jazz - http://www.bautistaband.com
•    Ray Green & Friends
•    Sam Reider - http://www.samreidermusic.com/html/news.php
•    Sila ~ The AfroFunk - http://www.victorsila.com
•    Vinyl - http://www.vinylgroove.com/
•    Wayne De La Cruz and the Big Trio - http://www.waynedelacruz.com/TheBigTrio.html

 
Films

Lion's Den (Argentina 2008), Pablo Trapero's strongly sympathetic story of an imprisoned young mother struggling to keep custody of her newborn son and free them both, opens Friday, July 31 on SFFS Screen at the Sundance Kabuki Cinemas.  The film stars Martina Gusman as Julia, the pregnant inmate charged with murder, a murder she can’t recall. Argentine writer/director Trapero, a three-time veteran of the San Francisco International Film Festival (Crane World, 1999; Rolling Family, 2004; Born and Bred, 2006) shoots much of the film in maximum security prisons, utilizing staff and inmates in supporting roles. Watch a trailer at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BVxj1-a5jbQ  The film opens at Sundance Kabuki in San Francisco.

Oakland Celebrates Independence Day

Jack London Square, Broadway and Water Streets, Oakland, will celebrate our country’s Independence Day on July 4, 2009 with a fireworks display, live music and entertainment for the entire family. This free event will feature live musical performances on two stages beginning at 7:00 p.m. The big band sounds of The Ben Oni Orchestra will be heard on Jack London Square’s West Lawn and the Pavilion stage at the foot of Broadway will play host to local favorite, The BluesBurners. Then, at 9:15 p.m., Oakland’s waterfront will be lit up with 20 minutes of non-stop lights, sound, and entertainment with a complete fireworks display. A full-scale pyrotechnics display will be launched from a barge floating in the Oakland Estuary.  Parking at Jack London Square may be scarce, so visitors are invited to take public transportation—whether by AC Transit, Transbay Ferry, or BART. Jack London Square is easily accessible from all parts of the Bay Area. For information call: (866) 295-9853 or visit http://www.jacklondonsquare.com/newscenter/oakland-july-fireworks.html


2009 Ghanaian Association of Sacramento Summer Picnic

Calling all Stockton & Bay Area Ghanaian Association members: Come out and enjoy a day of great food, fun and friendly competition for the whole family, Saturday, July 11, 1:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.  Special children’s activities including games and a jump house. Come join in or cheer on your favorite players during the soccer game at 3:00 pm at the William Land Park, 1702 Sutterville Road in Sacramento, CA 95822. Map: http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&tab=wl  For more info. contact the Ghanaian Association of Sacramento, P. O. Box 231594, Sacramento, California 95823 or email: Ago Ahene,  This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it

Material Witness at Berkeley Art Museum

This exhibit featuring the work of one of my favorite photographers, mixed media artists—text and film, Carrie Mae Weems, opens July 22-December 20. Human/Nature: Artists Respond to a Changing Planet also continues, through September 27. Deborah Grant: Bacon, Egg, Toast in Lard Matrix 228 is up through October 11 at the Berkeley Art Museum/Pacific Film Archive, 2626 Bancroft Way, (510) 642-0808, www.bampfa.berkeley.edu

60 Fourth of July Events
http://sf.funcheap.com/2008/06/26/complete-list-of-50-fourth-of-july-2008-fireworks-events-in-sf-bay-area/


The Craneway Pavilion Grand Opening at Ford Point, Richmond Waterfront

On July 3—5, the spectacularly restored Craneway Pavilion at historic Ford Point on the waterfront in Richmond, CA will host three days of Independence Day weekend events.  Festivities kick off July 3 with fireworks over the Bay and a free concert by the Oakland East Bay Symphony.  On July 4, the official touring production of High School Musical comes to the Craneway, and on July 5, celebrations will surround the opening of the Ford Point section of the San Francisco Bay Trail.

Independence weekend at the Craneway starts off with a bang on Friday, July 3 at 7PM with free live music—including a line-up of gospel sets—leading up to a concert by the acclaimed Oakland East Bay Symphony at 8PM. The orchestra will perform a 90-minute program spotlighting great American composers including John Philip Sousa, Aaron Copland, Stephen Sondheim and Alan Menken, as well as a selection from Beethoven. Outside, on the Craneway’s adjacent 20,000 square-foot, harborside patio, visitors will have an ideal vantage point for the City of Richmond’s annual fireworks display. For this special night—boasting the East Bay’s best fireworks—The BoilerHouse Restaurant will be open for dinner—with summer barbecue-themed menu items including tri-tip—in addition to grab-and-go concessions. Seating for fireworks viewing will be limited, and guests are encouraged to bring chairs and blankets. Admission is free and gates open at 6:30PM; parking on July 3 is only $5 in the facility’s secure, private lot.

On Saturday, July 4, High School Musical: Summer Celebration! comes to the Craneway Pavilion for one performance only. Produced by Field Entertainment and written by Peter Barsocchini—the scribe for all three films—the revue is the only live, official touring production spotlighting the songs, dances and team-spirited fun from the phenomenally popular movies. This high-energy stage version brings more than 15 songs to life, and features Wildcat fans as part of the action and a talented young cast portraying everyone’s favorite East High characters. Doors open at 5:00 PM, and tickets can be purchased online at www.411tixs.com and www.groovetickets.com, and at retail outlets throughout the city. Self-parking in the Craneway lot is $10, and valet parking will be offered for $20.

On Sunday, July 5, the official grand openings of both the new Ford Point section of the San Francisco Bay Trail and the BoilerHouse restaurant at Craneway Pavilion will be celebrated. The quarter-mile Ford Point trail segment is the keystone for closing the last San Francisco Bay Trail gap on Richmond’s southern shoreline, resulting in 15 miles of continuous trail connecting Golden Gate Fields in Albany with Point Richmond and Miller/Knox Regional Shoreline. When eventually completed, the Bay Trail will encircle San Francisco and San Pablo Bays with an uninterrupted 500-mile network of bicycling and hiking trails, connecting all nine Bay Area counties. The ribbon-cutting ceremony for the Ford Point trail will take place at 9:30AM.  Guests arriving by bike from 8AM-2PM will be counted as participants in the Bay Trail Bike Brunch Bash (http://craneway.com/livestrong/), an event—sponsored by corporate and private sector donations—supporting Lance Armstrong's LiveStrong Foundation.  Visit http://www.pointrichmond.com/baytrail/ for bike and walking routes.

Whether arriving by bike, on foot or by other transport to the Craneway, everyone is invited to try the special brunch menu at the new BoilerHouse Restaurant. Featuring only the freshest seasonal fare—made from locally harvested foods—the Boilerhouse’s breakfast, brunch, lunch and gastro-pub menus are updated daily to highlight farmer’s market specials and include organic ingredients whenever possible. Hand-made from scratch, BoilerHouse “eats” are health-conscious, natural and preservative-free—21st century comfort food in the best possible sense: sustainably made, freshly prepared, quickly served and fairly priced.

The Craneway Pavilion is located at 1414 Harbour Way South in the Marina district of Richmond and can be accessed from the 580 freeway. Its wharf is accessible by private ferry from most waterfront locations in the Bay Area, including downtown San Francisco (less than 25 minutes from pier 3 or 33).  The Craneway is also accessible by helicopter, BART and Amtrak (+ shuttles from nearby stations), car (the venue has 1,200 dedicated parking spaces), and by foot or bicycle from shoreline Bay Trail.  Visit www.craneway.com

Celebrating Peruvian Independence Day!

De Rompe y Raja Cultural Association was fabulous closing weekend at San Francisco’s Ethnic Dance Festival. The company’s revival of El Diablo, a dance celebrating the end of slavery and the varied African Diaspora Heritage was marvelous.  The release of the double CD, “Diaspora Negra,” is an opportunity to trek through this rich cultural landscape. Tickets are $15 in advance, and $18 at the door. 

6th Annual San Francisco Theatre Festival

Shanique Scott, Donald Lacy, Colored Ink, Lower Bottom Playas, Recovery Theatre and many others are featured at the 6th Annual San Francisco Theatre Festival, Sunday, July 26, 2009 11-5 at beautiful Yerba Buena Gardens in downtown San Francisco, and at Zeum, the YB Center for the Arts, the Contemporary Jewish Museum, and the Metreon.  See 130 exciting theater groups and solo performers, including a great children's program! Admission is free.  Visit http://www.sftheaterfestival.org/

Robert Henry Johnson featured in the Bay Area Playwrights Festival July 17-26

Visit http://www.playwrightsfoundation.org/index.php?p=45  Finally RHJ’s “Othello Papers,” which in earlier drafts was an exploration of the black characters in William Shakespeare’s canon. I believe Caliban throws a cocktail party and the Darker Brothers” and their Sisters drop by his penthouse for conversation and spirits. This latest draft will have its staged reading July 18, 12 noon and July 26, 4 p.m. It should be interesting to see what it looks like after seeing different versions at Black Choreographers Here and Now and at the African American Shakespeare Company.  All the readings take place at the Magic Theatre in San Francisco’s Ft.Mason Center, Bldg. D.

Black Cowboys!

The Bill Pickett Invitational Rodeo is coming to Hayward this month also, July 11 & 12, 2:30 at Rowell Ranch Rodeo Grounds, 9711 Dublin Canyon Road, Hayward, CA. Children: $15.00/advance • $18.00 at the door.  Adults: $18.00/advance • $21.00 at the door. Box Seats: $22.00. Call (510) 864.2747.  http://www.billpickettrodeo.com/schedule.html

2009 Interdisciplinary / Intergenerational Writers Lab Online Anthology

Contributors to the Anthology include IWL students: Starbright Elizabeth Bilyck, Drea Brown, Richard Kevin Cartwright, Mai Doan, Victoria Gannon, Betty Johnson, Carolyn Kameya, Kenji Liu, Carrie Leilam Love, Karim Scarlata and Vidhu Singh; and instructors Jewelle Gomez and Truong Tran. The reading is Wednesday, July 8, 7-9 p.m. at Intersection for the Arts, 446 Valencia Street (between 15th St & 16th St), Mission District, San Francisco. Admission is $10-20 sliding scale.  For more information call: (415) 626-2787 x.108, www.theintersection.org

Squaw Valley Community of Writers Benefit Poetry Reading

On Friday, July 17, 2009, at 7:30 p.m., Cornelius Eady, Robert Hass, Brenda Hillman, Galway Kinnell, Sharon Olds, and Evie Shockley will read their poetry in The Nave at Grace Cathedral (1100 California Street). This benefit reading will raise money for the Poetry Scholarship Fund at the Squaw Valley Community of Writers. Books donated by the poets and their publishers will be available for purchase before and after the reading, and the poets will be available to sign books after the reading.

This will mark the 18th year for this annual benefit event, and every year it is a standing room-only success. All proceeds will benefit the Poetry Workshop Scholarship Fund, enabling talented writers to attend the week-long poetry writing workshop held each year in Squaw Valley, California. It is the goal of this program to support both established and emerging writers of talent who would benefit from working with their peers at the Poetry Week at Squaw Valley. Doors will open at 6:30 pm, and seating is general admission. The venue is wheelchair accessible.

Generations Preserving Negro Spirituals Together
 
The Friends of Negro Spirituals’ sponsored Sixth Annual Negro Spirituals Heritage Day, Saturday, July 18, theme, Generations Preserving Negro Spirituals Together, highlights preservers of different ages keeping the music and its history alive. The free event is from 2:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m., at the wheel chair accessible West Oakland Senior Center, 1724 Adeline St., Oakland, CA.
 
This year, two younger and two long term preservers will be honored for preserving the irreplaceable song and related history. The art form itself will be saluted by the audience who will sing old favorites such as Down by the River Side and When the Saint Go March’in In. Renowned jazz guitarist Calvin Keys will give a special musical tribute to the spiritual known as Hold On, sometimes called Keep Your Hand on the Plow.  Linda Tillery, an Oakland historian and Artistic Director of The Cultural Heritage Choir and businessman Sylvester Brooks will be acknowledged in the category of long term preservers of the heritage. Angela Dean-Baham, an internationally recognized soprano, actress, and playwright; and Oakland’s educator, entrepreneur, and artist Taiwo Kujichagulia Seitu will be honored in the category of the younger preservers. Each preserver will be awarded Friends of Negro Spirituals’ highest honor, The Negro Spirituals Heritage Keepers Award; each will present a mini program, showcasing an aspect of his or her spirituals preservation work. Donations are appreciated and tax deductable.

Art

Joyce Gordon Gallery presents: The winners of the 2009 Glimpses in Time International Juried Photography Exhibition Glimpses in Time 2009
Master Photographers working in all styles and mediums have been selected at the international juried photography exhibition: Glimpses in Time. 61 photographs were selected from a group 154 images by René de Guzman, Senior Art Curator, Oakland Museum of California our sole Juror.

The photographers come from all over the world United States, France, Germany, Japan Argentina and Mexico. The opening for the exhibit at 406 14th Street, in Oakland, will be on Friday, July 3, 2009 5:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. The show is up July 3 to July 31, 2009. Gallery hours are Wednesday-Friday, 12 to 7 p.m. and Saturday-Sunday, 1-4 p.m. For information call (510) 465-8928 or email This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it

Labor Fest July 2-31
http://www.laborfest.net/
There are films, book readings, poetry and other  literary events, art exhibits, boat and walking tours, educational forums and theatre. The Battle of Polly Ann, which opens Tuesday, July 14, looks at the woman who built the bridges.

The Ballad of Polly Ann by Flyaway Productions is an evening of dance celebrating the women who contributed to the design and construction of Bay Area bridges. This performance shows their experience with physical work, tools, heights, and machinery as well as their cultural experience working in a male dominated labor force, and how that affects their sense of self, femininity, family, and self worth.

Flyaway Productions has built an international reputation of bringing the lives and struggle of working people to performance theater. One of their works on the Copra Crane in San Francisco helped move the community to defend this relic of labor history for the generation today. In this work using the oral interviews by labor historian Harvey Schwartz of women bridge workers, we get the real life experiences of construction women on the job. The artistic portrayal of the lives of working people is a critical element in helping to transform our understanding of reality. Shows are 7/14, 7/14 - 7/18, 7/21 - 7/25.

Choreography: Jo Kreiter, in collaboration with the company, Music: Pamela Z, Dancers: Mary Ann Brooks, Melissa Caywood, Jennifer Chien, Britt Karhoff, Kelly Kemp, Raissa Simpson and Alayna Stroud  Tickets: www.brownpapertickets.com/event/61076 or 1.800.838.3006 For more info: www.flyawayproductions.com 

First Fridays After Five! @ the Oakland Museum
Friday, July 3, 5 to 9 p.m.

This month there is live music with Rene Escovedo y Grupo Festejo in the cafe all evening. At 7, see films exploring the topic of the African presence in Mexico: The Forgotten Root/La Raiz Olvidada by Rafael Rebollar Corona (Spanish with English subtitles); The Third Root by Reed Rickert and Camilo Nu; film clips of singer Toña la Negra with commentary by Chuy Varela. Members of Cascada de Flores perform. At 6:30, Aazura Nour teaches a crash course in belly dancing. (This is really fun.) At 7:30, Opera Piccola presents "The Play's the Thing," a staged reading of new short plays by Oakland writers. There is a full cash bar. The museum store and café are open. It’s a great chance to meet old friends and make new ones. All ages are welcome and all events are included with museum admission.  The OM is located at 1000 Oak, across the street from the Lake Merritt BART Station.

More Oakland Museum
Artists in Action: Art and Music Jam Event, 12 to 4 p.m., Sunday, July 19,
Join artist Favianna Rodriguez, Visual Element from the East Side Arts Alliance, and Dr. Loco's Rockin' Jalapeno Band as they create art and music around the themes of African American and Latino unity. Included with museum admission.  Related Exhibit: African Presence in Mexico

Oakland on Two Wheels, Bike Tour, 10 a.m., Sunday, July 19
Explore Oakland and its environs with the museum's bike-tripping docents the third Sunday of the month as we leisurely wend our way through downtown, Fruitvale, the Port of Oakland, West Oakland, Brooklyn, or Lake Merritt. Reservations are a good idea, ( This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it or 510/238-3514), but if you forget, come anyway. Bring your own bikes, helmets, and repair kits. Meet at 10th Street entrance at 10 a.m. Free.

On the Fly:
Fareed Haque & The Flat Earth Ensemble at Yoshi’s San Francisco, Wednesday, July 1. First Friday’s After 5 at the Oakland Museum, Free Thursdays, July 2 at Berkeley Art Museum and Saturday, July 4 another FREE ADMISSION Day. San Francisco Mime Troupe opens this weekend, Saturday-Sunday, July 4-5, at Dolores Park (near 16th Street BART. The park is on 18th and Dolores) in San Francisco. The latest work is Too Big to Fail, written by Michael Gene Sullivan. The man is amazing! Show times are 2 p.m. and the music starts half-hour earlier. Visit http://www.sfmt.org/index.php  Fireworks July 4? Visit Fireworks-Shows-Around-California-On-4th-Of-July&id=607706, http://gocalifornia.about.com/od/topcalifornia/a/fourth-of-july.htm,
http://sf.funcheap.com/2008/06/17/4th-of-july-fireworks-festival-jack-london-square-oakland/ http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/1877891/2009_4th_of_july_fireworks_schedule.html and http://ezinearticles.com/?
“Art and Power in the Central African Savanna” continues at the de Young Museum. King Tut just opened there. Visit www.famsf.org/deyoung  ASA Academy Programs: “Man Up,” two dates: July 18, 9-4 and July 20-24, 5-Day retreat; “Urban Flowers,” 5-Day Retreat, July 27-31. Both are for children grades 6-10 (girls) and 6-12 (boys) and for adults: Bay Area Regional Conference on African Spirituality August 1.  The Stanford Jazz Festival continues with highlights: Wycliffe Gordon Quartet, July 11, Regina Carter Quintet, July 12, The Donald Harrison 3D Experience, July 19, Blastin’ Barriers with Frederick Harris & Friends, July 21, Simply Standards with Melecio Magdaluyo, July 25.  Visit www.stanfordjazz.org. Alameda County Fair: July 1-19. Theme this Year: Come Out and Play, (925) 426-7600 and is located at the Alameda County Fairgrounds, 4501 Pleasanton Avenue, Pleasanton, CA. Fair Admission is Adults 13-61 pre-fair $8, At Gate $10 Seniors 62 plus pre-fair $6 At Gate $8 Child 6-12 pre-fair $4 At Gate $6 Child under 6 Free Fun Pack pre fair $25.00 $8 $6 $4 FREE. Parking is $8, VIP $20Visit www.alamedacountyfair.com. Bay Area Blues Society is July 4, En Vogue July 11, Solange Knowles July 17, Con Funk Shun July 18.  Marin and Napa also have fairs opening this month, Marin’s this weekend. For information visit http://www.countyfairgrounds.net/california/california.php.  The Marin County Fair features a film festival, yes, one of the films is narrated by Peter Coyote. The Wailers is the opening night band, Friday, July 3, 2009, 7:30 p.m. Preservation Hall Jazz Band performs Sunday, July 5, 2009, 2 & 4 p.m. and Los Lobos closes the weekend, Sunday, July 5, 2009, 7:30 p.m. Visit http://www.marinfair.org/concert_sched.cfm   Stern Grove Music Festivals in San Francisco continue each Sunday at 2 p.m. through August. Visit http://www.sterngrove.org/  Bongo Love is back at http://www.ashkenaz.com/ in Berkeley Thursday, July 2; Youssopha Sidibe performs on July 4, the Itals, the Mighty Diamonds, Baba Ken & Kotoja, and Sila and the AfroFunk Experience are just a few of the other bands performing this month. At Yoshi’s this month, highlights include: Gerald Albright, July 2-5, Paula West, Ernestine Anderson with Eric Reed Trio, Kofy Brown, Ladysmith Black Mambazo, Bill Bell & the Jazz Connection, and Issa Bagayaogo.  Visit www.yoshis.com. Rebirth Brass Band is at the Great American Music Hall July 24 & 25. Visit http://www.gamh.com/  Other venues to check are: www.shattuckdownlow.com/, http://www.theindependentsf.com/july2009.htm where the Abyssinians are performing July 3, also Sila’s annual Afro-Funk Festival July 17-18 featuring this year: Vieux Farka Touré.  It’s always a fun event. Luciano and Freddie McGregor also perform this month at the Independent this month. At La Peña Cultural Center, 3105 Shattuck Avenue, Berkeley, (510) 849-2568 the line-up is impressive as usual. A few highlights include: Women Drum Maestras: Born to Drum, Wednesday July 01, 2009, $20 adv. $22 dr. – 7 p.m.; Bolokada Conde - Malinke Djembefola, Friday July 17, 2009, $20 gen. - 8pm; July 18 Bobi Céspedes’ Night of Afro-Cuban music, $18 adv. $20 dr., 8 p.m.; July 19 Vukani Mawethu Choir Reportback from South Africa. Celebrate the choir's return from their South African tour, $10 gen. Doors: 6:30pm / Show: 7p.m.; July 30 & 31, The W. Kamau Bell Curve, Political, outspoken comedy, $15 gen., 8pm.  AXIS Dance Company performs this year at the Crucible's 9th Annual Fire Arts Festival, July 15-18, 8 p.m. to 11:59 p.m. in Oakland. Visit http://axisdance.org/performance.php New Orleans Commemorates the Ancestors this weekend as a part of the Essence Music Festival.  Suggested website to check out: http://www.sfarts.org/#tab=SFArts%20Monthly


What Matters: Documentary Photography and Social Change

This panel features photographers: David Elliot Cohen, Michael Watts, and Ed Kashi with Mark Gonnerman in discussion, Thursday, July 9, 2009, 7:30 p.m., at the Annenberg Auditorium at Stanford University in Palo Alto. It is free and open to all.

Photo essays have proven their ability not only to document but actually change the course of human events. If that is the case, shouldn’t we be searching for the essential photo-essays of our time, the pictures that will spark public discourse and instigate the type of real-world reforms that engaged citizens in the past? What Matters, a new book edited by David Elliot Cohen, attempts to answer this question with eighteen important photo-essays by this generation’s preeminent photojournalists. These essays poignantly address the big issues of our time: climate change, oil addiction, the inequitable distribution of global wealth and other current problems. The book ends with “What You Can Do,” an appendix that offers hundreds of ways to be part of the solution to the compelling challenges we now face. David Elliot Cohen, Author and Editor

David Elliot Cohen is the co-creator of the renowned Day in the Life and America 24/7 series of photojournalism books. Four of these volumes were New York Times bestsellers. Several others were national and international best-sellers. A graduate of Yale University, Cohen’s award-winning books have appeared on the covers of Time and Newsweek, in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and USA Today among many other periodicals worldwide. His pro bono books have benefited victims of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing, AIDS education programs in Africa and most recently, AIDS orphans in Uganda.

Michael Watts, Chancellor’s Professor of Geography and Development Studies and director of the Center for African Studies at the University of California, Berkeley

Michael Watts has held visiting appointments at the Museum of Natural History and the National Science Foundation. Watts has received grants from the Rockefeller, MacArthur and Guggenheim Foundations, the last to study the interplay of oil, politics and wealth in West Africa. He is the author of five books and the Geopolitics article “Resource Curse? Governmentality, Oil and Power in the Niger Delta.” His latest book, in cooperation with photographer Ed Kashi, is titled Curse of the Black Gold: 50 Years of Oil in the Niger Delta.

Ed Kashi, Photographer
Ed Kashi has photographed in more than sixty countries. His images have appeared in The New York Times Magazine, Time, Geo, Newsweek and many other publications. He shot eleven major stories for National Geographic. His first Geographic cover story was published as the book When the Borders Bleed: The Struggle of the Kurds. His project on Protestants in Northern Ireland was published as The Protestants: No Surrender. His work on West Bank Jewish settlers received a World Press Photo award. In 2003 he completed an eight-year project, Aging in America: The Years Ahead, that included an exhibit, award-winning documentary film, website and book. The project won prizes from Pictures of the Year and World Press Photo. Kashi and his wife, writer/filmmaker Julie Winokur, founded Talking Eyes Media, a multimedia nonprofit that produced a book and exhibition called Denied: The Crisis of America’s Uninsured.

Mark Gonnerman (moderator) is director of the Aurora Forum.

Reflections
I have been listening to some great music, King Sunny Ade—what a treat. He was in town Friday, June 19 and I had an opportunity to talk to him for an hour while he was on the road on my birthday, June 20. Look for the broadcast later this month. Pharoah Sanders’ Quartet with special guest Zakir Hussain was here last week in San Francisco also. The group which features, Hussain on tabla, William Henderson on piano, Nat Reed on bass and Joe Farnsworth on drums was so phenomenal Sanders started dancing. He went all the way to the floor twice, no three times and started blowing into the bell of his golden tenor sax. Closing night, Coltrane wasn’t on the bill, but quite a few standards were, like “My Favorite Things.” I saw Victor Little’s super band Monday night. His stage was so full when someone wasn’t playing they had to wait in the wings. The bassist had two drummers, two keyboardists—Mike Aaberg one of them, and at different times during the extended set, he’d have besides himself on bass, at least one other bassists plus two, three and sometimes four guitarists on stage. He had this really cool Palestinian vocalist Sukhawit Ali Khan, I mean DRAMATIC Palestinian singer, who sang in Arabic—I could catch a word here and there. I wondered how Little knew such varied artists. He brought Haroun Serang on with Ali Khan for an encore and literally took the music up another notch, if that were possible. Little was clearly at home as he said hi to friends on the audience, many whom he was touched to see in the house for his release party.  He spoke of being from Chicago and meeting Sandy Perez there.  The congero was awesome. I think he’s married to a friend of mine, Laila.  Anyway, the group which also featured a percussionist, Roberto Quintana and a drummer who could sing. Little even pulled a friend from the audience to sing something. It was dedicated to Michael Jackson. I don’t know how he’ll be able to pull this off when the band goes on the road…but Little has a winner here, so you missed this date, visit www.victorlittlemusic.com

My favorite musical experience though last month had to be while I was in Austin and Big Chief Victor Armstrong took the audience to New Orleans Carnival or Mardi Gras. You won’t believe this, but I still have never been to Mardi Gras…. It was a hot week, when I arrived the temperature peaked at 104ish and this was the hottest day of the year. The temperature hung out there in the low 100s until I left, but Friday night after a reception for East Texas native Annette Gordon-Reed, whose The Hemingses of Monticello: An American Family, received the 2009 Pulitzer Prize for nonfiction. I was like too excited to meet a sister who’d won this coveted prize. The event which was a kick-off for the annual African American Book Festival in Austin, East Austin, the historic black part of town, at the Carver Museum, was lovely. I met a judge, the first African American woman appointed to a regular judgeship in Texas in 1973. She was a judge for the City of Austin Municipal Court for 20 years and during that time she became the presiding judge. She is also the only African American woman to serve as a democratic presidential elector from the state of Texas. See http://www.utexas.edu/law/news/2005/080805_murphy.html At the Carver Museum is a permanent exhibit of Juneteenth and narratives of African Americans who’d been children June 19, 1865. The current exhibit profiled Texans who’d experienced Hurricane Katrina and relocated to Houston. This exhibit was both an oral history project and a photography exhibit. It was strange walking through the exhibit (18 profiles) listening to the stories of loss and triumph, despair and hope. I’d just read Pearl Clege’s latest book, “Seen It All, Done the Rest,” which has a character who has relocated to Georgia from New Orleans, post-Katrina, and these stories reminded me of his and of Robert King’s who was with me at the museum. All of the writers featured at the annual book festival were women and many of them hailed from East Texas like Gordon-Reed or Texas. It was fitting that Gordon Reed share her latest work at the Carver, as Hemingses’ descendents lived in Austin, one Dr. John Q. Taylor King, his daughter Marjon Alicia (King) Christopher, and son, Stuart Hines King, who introduced the author the next day. Dr. Taylor King was president of Huston-Tillotson College from 1965 to 1988 and an alumnus of Anderson High School which was celebrating its 100th anniversary in a 4-day event beginning July 2 at the Sheraton Austin Hotel. Over 1000 former students are expected to attend.  For information call (512) 989-0912 or This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it . A court mandate to desegregate the public schools in Austin closed the school in 1971.

Being in the south and meeting relatives of Sarah Hemings (“Sally”) put an entirely different spin on the notice of commemorating our formerly enslaved ancestors and the pale this American legacy casts on the day to day workings of both personal and civic lives, livelihood and governance. Gordon-Reed shows in her book how what happened in Sally’s life and President Jefferson’s life was not anomaly rather it was par and parcel of the lesser known stories of enslaved Africans and their keepers whose lives were not as high profile. She takes the glamour and nostalgia often associated with the Hemingses story and tells it like the horrific tragedy that it is. There is nothing pretty or noble about slavery. There is nothing to brag on being assigned to the house or to the field, both mean one is not free. Those of us on the outside of the system, tend to pass judgment on the choices made or not made by the enslaved as if we can put ourselves in their shoes and do a better job of surviving and ensuring our children’s survival. Gordon-Reed makes her audience work, this book not difficult to read but it fills one’s head with so many thoughts as she ties the past to the present, asks questions one wants to answer, but cannot. She is co-author with Vernon Jordon of “Vernon Can Read: A Memoir” and author of a precursor to this latest book, “Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings: An American Controversy.” An attorney and law professor at Rugers University (how appropriate right? Paul Robeson’s alma mater). She is also editor of Race on Trial: Law and Justice in American History. She lives with her husband and two children in Manhattan. I got a chance to catch up with Eddie Abrams and his lovely wife Rose this weekend also. Baba Abrams had camera in hand filming the author events and capturing impressions on film for the archives. His sister-in-law and granddaughter were there at the African American Book Festival too.

James Farmer, founder of CORE was born in Austin and raised on the East Side. His house is now a national landmark. One could stay in East Austin and never run out of black history treasures. It’s too bad the black folks are selling and moving away.  It reminds me of West Oakland, close to downtown, the capital, the University of Austin, shopping museums.  

Earlier last week we rode over to the Austin Museum of Art to see “The Lining of Forgetting: Internal and External Memory in Art. The exhibit up through August 9, explores the ways we remember individually and collectively. It makes one question as in the case of three friends who all share an experience, yet recall different aspects of it more vividly than others, when they are brought together on a German television show, Kerry Tribe’s “Episode.” How much of what we remember is a result of social reinforcement—do we remember more vividly what society tells us to, these experiences a part of the collective consciousness? In one installation, American Desert, dedicated to Chuck Jones, creator of the Road Runner cartoon character and his nemesis, Wile E. Coyote, are absent yet for those familiar with the story we can place the characters in the scenes. The installation I liked the most was the series of sculptures based the artist’s forgotten memories of her first, fifth, and sixth-year birthday parties. The memories are on video and at the center of the models.  Scientifically I can’t tell you what was going on, what the lines meant, but if memory had a look and it looked like the models, that would be pretty cool.

As a person with amnesia, I wish I could rebuild my memory…collect the details from those who were present and then see how it feels in my mind to let that fill the space where nothing exists.  I wonder, if memory is tangible, how I could reconstruct 500 years of loss? How could I fill in the empty spaces with tangible stuff like language and history, experiences I never had, but should have? I guess I am moving into vicarious existence, voyeurism. Is it best to leave the empty spaces empty or is it better to fill them even if the new memory is not a primary one? Does memory have a shelf life and after so long does one need to get rid of it?

Another exhibit, my third favorite is Emma Kay’s Shakespeare from Memory. The artist wrote summaries of all the plays by Shakespeare she could recall. Some are more detailed than others, and in some, the artist’s memory didn’t match mine.

From Vietnam to Hollywood is really cool. The artist, Dinh Q.Lê, takes stripes of photos and weaves the paper together creating a 3-D effect on the surface which maintains its figurative intent. Cody Trepte’s photo album, one the other hand, is abstract. His photos made me think about my digital images which have never been printed. My photo albums look just like his. They are filled with zeroes and ones— binary code, which means, if I hadn’t read the description, I might not have known what the bound pages filled with numbers meant. It certainly move me any closer to knowing who his family is. Photos represent memories. If we don’t print the photos out, then that memory is potentially lost if the reason for the recording is to assist in recall.  I need to print my photos out so I can enjoy them.  I also didn’t realize that some flash memory cards only have a life span of five years. The artist wonders if “this new phenomena will impact our ability to trace our past in the future.” Visit www.amoa.org